Chapter 70 - 66: [Who Are You?]

Chapter 70: Chapter 66: [Who Are You?]

The ice wall melted away rapidly, and a great green forest flooded everyone’s vision.

Lian’s heart surged with excitement. When he saw the Tree Monsters again, it was as if he wasn’t looking at fearsome beasts, but at living treasures.

Their bark could be used for medicine, their hearts juiced, their flesh eaten, and their curses could even be used to accumulate Points.

’Bone Forest, I’m really starting to like you more and more.’

Quite a few Tree Monsters had already gathered outside the ice wall. They had been extremely curious about this sudden obstruction since yesterday.

When the wall vanished, the Tree Monsters spotted the humans enclosed within and revealed greedy expressions. Little did they know, this was the beginning of their Nightmare.

"Sophie."

Lian looked at Sophie again.

Sophie nodded slightly and erected another ice wall, enclosing the second area.

Many Tree Monsters were frozen directly into the wall, becoming living specimens.

Kob was ready to have his men fire rockets and oil cans, but Lian stopped him.

"We can’t burn all that precious bark. Today, we’re doing things differently."

Lian planned to invent a hundred ways for the Tree Monsters to die a glorious death; fiery assaults were merely a last resort.

"What do you plan to do?"

Kob asked excitedly.

Lian looked at Sophie. "Freeze them all."

Sophie immediately cast her Freezing Magic, turning all the Tree Monsters before them into ice sculptures.

"Father Simo, please rally everyone and enhance the Guards’ Power."

Father Simo rubbed the bridge of his nose. As an unpaid laborer, he was being exploited every single day.

’If Lian goes back on his word when I need help, I swear I’ll stop at nothing to ruin this ’boss’ of mine.’

Father Simo held up the Green Book in his hands and chanted an ancient Spell,

"Great God of Tiger, please grant Power to your Guards! Make them brave, confident, and strong! Let them be fearless and give their all!"

A golden light shone down upon all the Guards, instantly filling them with Power.

The dark circles under Father Simo’s eyes grew heavier, and his steps became unsteady. His palms were slick with sweat.

As a Priest, rallying so many people at once had subjected him to a level of pressure his position was never meant to endure.

Nun Sally steadied Simo, shooting Lian a look of displeasure.

’With Simo this weak, he definitely won’t be able to satisfy me tonight.’

Lian turned his head to look at the Guards.

"Separate these frozen Tree Monsters one by one. Twenty men to a monster. When I tell Sophie to unfreeze them, you will drive your Long Spears into their bodies and pull back quickly."

The Guards immediately did as they were told. Several men grabbed each Tree Monster, pulling them apart. Then they aimed their Long Spears at the monsters’ bodies, waiting in formation.

Lian nodded at Sophie.

Sophie released the Freezing Magic.

The Tree Monsters instantly regained their mobility, as if time, which had been paused for them, had begun to flow again.

But in the next second, countless spears plunged into their bodies and were quickly withdrawn.

The vast majority of the Guards succeeded, but a small few were too nervous and failed to retrieve their weapons in time.

Just as the Tree Monsters were about to counterattack, Lian called out again, "Sophie."

Sophie once again used her Freezing Magic on the Tree Monsters. Her control was so exquisite that she could freeze every monster while avoiding the humans.

But achieving this level of precision came at a great cost to her.

The Tree Monsters lost their mobility again, becoming statues once more. The weapons that hadn’t been retrieved in time were frozen along with them.

Following Lian’s instructions, the Guards raised their weapons again, aiming for the Tree Monsters’ vitals.

Sophie released her Magic again, and the Guards thrust their Long Spears in unison.

The Tree Monsters’ bodies were pierced through once more.

This was repeated four or five times. The Tree Monsters could only take the beating passively, turned into living targets riddled with holes.

The Guards’ confidence soared. When had they ever fought such a smooth battle?

They completely overcame their fear of the Tree Monsters, knowing only to thrust, thrust, thrust.

Compared to the Guards, who only needed to focus on stabbing, Sophie’s task was clearly much more demanding.

She was responsible for crowd control, frequently using precise, large-scale Magic, which caused fine beads of sweat to appear on her forehead.

She even put down her fishbowl to concentrate better.

Kob asked with concern, "Lord Lian, is it really okay for the Ice Witch to use her Magic Power so frequently?"

Lian looked at Sophie. "Sophie, how many more times can you use Magic like this?"

Sophie held up one finger.

Indeed, a spell this precise and widespread could only be used one more time, at most.

Lian nodded slightly and said to Kob, "See? Our Witch is fine. She says she can use it indefinitely."

Kob: "???"

Sophie: "???"

Under Lian’s command, Sophie froze the Tree Monsters in Area 2 again.

The Tree Monsters had been stabbed so many times they were starting to doubt their own existence. They didn’t even have a chance to fight back. Every time they were unfrozen, they felt excruciating pain, and after being frozen again, they felt an unbearable cold.

Under this repeated torture, the Tree Monsters finally fell, batch after batch.

Finally, the long-awaited red entry appeared above Sophie’s head: [Bordering on Loss of Control].

Lian nodded in satisfaction and steadied Sophie.

"That’s enough for today. Kob, have everyone clear out the second area. We’ll make camp here."

"Oh, and don’t forget the finishing blows. Every Tree Monster needs to be stabbed at least thirty-three more times. Check if they have a Heart of the Tree Monster. Follow the procedure: skinning, heart-digging, juicing, then skinning again, and juicing again. Finally, all Guards responsible for processing will gather in one tent to rest. You may contract Tree-man Disease, but don’t worry, I will treat you."

"As you command!"

The Guards shouted in unison.

This time, Lian had indeed managed to keep casualties to a minimum.

The few Guards who were attacked by the Tree Monsters only suffered minor scrapes.

The Tree Monsters simply had no time to launch a fatal attack. They were kept under the Ice Witch’s firm control, unable even to release the Hearts of the Tree Monsters within them.

Lian brought the weakened Sophie back to the tent to perform an Entry Cleaning for her.

This time, the red entry above Sophie’s head was clearly moving much slower.

To preserve Sophie’s beautiful hair, Lian waited until the entry had moved down to her chest before reaching out to grab it.

A faint blush appeared on Sophie’s cheeks.

At the same time, she once again felt her Magic Power channels being invaded.

A formidable power entered her channels, domineeringly cleansing the Magic Power she was leaking.

Sophie’s face flushed from the pain, her breathing quickened, and her body trembled.

Lian’s consciousness also broke through Sophie’s mental barrier for the first time, entering her subconscious Illusion Realm.

Within a hazy white mist, the towering High Walls of the Green Shade Territory gradually emerged.

A silver-haired girl stood atop the High Wall. Her silver hair flowed freely, and her eyes were devoid of light. The entire Green Shade Territory had become a forbidden zone for humanity, with a thick layer of ice encasing all buildings and life.

The girl seemed to be the sole ruler of this Ice and Snow World, as well as the only being with a beating heart.

The girl was like a leaking vessel of Magic Power; wherever she went, Ice and Snow followed, until her body completely collapsed, perishing along with all the surrounding frost.

Lian felt as if he were witnessing a grand, self-destructive ritual, and he felt a bone-chilling cold.

Lian knew this must be the scene of Sophie losing control.

Then, just like when he was in Catherine’s Illusion Realm, Lian saw Sophie’s past experiences.

From the sleepless nights she spent guarding the High Wall, to the countless battles she fought to stop invading monsters, to the scene of her being selected for the Guardian Bureau.

Finally, all the images shattered. Within the gray-white mist, entries began to pop up one by one.

[Ice Witch] [Heart of Loyalty] [Silver-Haired] [Exquisite Beauty] [Out of Control] [Restrained] [Abstinent] [Tenacious] [Expressionless] [Pure]...

These entries combined to form a phantom image of Sophie, making her look like a model constructed from streams of data, filled with a sense of unreality.

Then, the entries separated and converged, converged and separated, shifting from a human form into a chaotic word bank, before finally arranging themselves into a string of text.

[Who are you?]

In the next second, countless entries formed into chains that shot out from all directions like a dense tide, threatening to engulf Lian in an instant.