Chapter 73 - 69: Sophie’s Capacity Increased

Chapter 73: Chapter 69: Sophie’s Capacity Increased

Two more of Sophie’s fish died, but she didn’t have time to grieve.

The army was mustering, and as a member of the expeditionary force, Sophie had to be there.

The two [Entry Cleaning] sessions for her [Bordering on Loss of Control] status weren’t for nothing. Sophie discovered that she could now use large-scale Magic more frequently.

It seemed Lian’s overbearing Power had forcefully widened her Magic Power channels.

This meant she could contain more Magic Power, use it more often, and without any leakage.

The joy from this change briefly washed away her sorrow over losing two goldfish. ’Perhaps one day, I’ll never have to face the threat of losing control again.’

At Lian’s command, the entire Southern Army assembled before the command tent.

Holding Long Spears and shields, they stood with their chests out and heads held high.

After two victories, the Guards’ confidence had soared. They no longer saw the Tree Monsters as an unbeatable foe, but as a defanged tiger.

As long as the powerful Ice Witch and the great Lord Lian were with them, the Southern Army was invincible.

Countless Tree Monsters had gathered outside the ice wall. Although the Tree Monsters weren’t highly intelligent, they possessed a special language to communicate with each other and had a strong sense of community. Their home had been reduced by two-fifths, and the woeful cries of the six survivors had finally made the Slow-Witted Tree Monsters realize that a true crisis was upon them.

They could not sit back and wait for death; they would fight to the bitter end! They would tear these reckless humans to shreds, devour them, and turn them into food for their bellies, bones under their feet, and fertilizer for the forest.

Led by the Tree King, the Tree Monsters began their assault on the ice wall.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—

They relentlessly slammed their bodies against the solid ice wall.

Hearing the massive commotion, the Guards inside the ice wall instantly tensed up.

"Lord Lian, the Tree Monsters are attacking the ice wall."

A Guard reported.

Lian gave a slight nod and addressed all the Guards.

"The number of Tree Monsters we face today will be many times greater than before—perhaps even tens of times greater. Our previous encounters were just skirmishes, but now we must get serious. The Tree Monsters won’t give us another chance to pick them off one by one. We settle this here and now. Are you afraid?"

The Guards raised their Long Spears and shields, roaring in response, "We are not afraid!"

"Good. All troops, stand ready."

Lian, mounted on his warhorse, rode to the very front of the formation.

Everyone stared nervously at the countless silhouettes of the Tree Monsters reflected on the ice wall, their Spiritual Power focused to the extreme.

CRACK—

The first Fissure appeared on the ice wall. Then, accompanied by a continuous cracking, more and more Fissures spread across its surface until it finally collapsed with a deafening crash.

The Tree Monsters had smashed through the ice wall at all costs, breaking through the humans’ first line of defense.

The two armies finally stood in opposition.

A dense, terrifying horde of Tree Monsters appeared before the Southern Army. Their numbers were staggering, just as Lian had said, far exceeding what they had encountered in Areas 1 and 2.

The outermost layer consisted of the weakest juvenile Tree Monsters. They were the most numerous, akin to human infantry.

The next layer was adult Tree Monsters, each with over fifty years of growth rings, controlled by the Heart of the Tree Monster and acting as cavalry.

In the middle were the Knight Tree Monsters. These were larger than the first two types, their bodies draped in the tattered clothing of countless humans. These clothes were their medals, proof of the merchant caravans and Adventurers they had hunted and tortured to death.

The inner layer was composed of Elite Commander Tree Monsters. These creatures were so massive they were like forests unto themselves. There were only ten of them, all enormous and ferocious-looking.

And in the very center was the King of Tree Monsters. It sat upon a towering throne-like tree, watching the human army with bizarre, twisted eyes.

This layered formation of protection proved the existence of a strict hierarchy among the Tree Monsters.

The sheer, dark mass of the Tree Monster Legion was incredibly intimidating. There were so many of them that the confidence the Guards had built began to waver, and their mental fortitude started to crumble.

It took ten Elite Guards to barely handle a single ordinary Tree Monster. Yet now they faced a sea of them, including elite versions. ’Can we really win?’

In stark contrast to the Guards’ anxiety, Lian’s eyes glinted with excitement.

’If we can take down this Tree Monster Legion, Green Shade Territory will have its pillar industry. Then we can build a few Tree Monster farms, pen up their young for breeding, and in the future, the Bone Forest can be renamed the Treasure Forest.’

’These aren’t monsters. They’re glittering Gold Coins, a rapidly growing GDP, the key to escaping poverty and building wealth.’

The first wave of ordinary Tree Monsters to charge were instantly frozen into ice sculptures by Sophie, blocking the path for those behind.

"What do you see?"

Lian shouted.

"A Tree Monster Legion!"

The Guards yelled.

"No, that’s not a Tree Monster Legion! That’s a treasure belonging to the Green Shade Territory! It’s walking gold!"

Lian corrected them, his voice booming.

"Their sap is the finest anesthetic! Their bark, the finest medicine! Their hearts, the finest rubber, and their flesh, the finest rations! They are a gift from the God of Tiger, our ideal prey!"

Inspired by Lian’s words, the Guards’ spirits soared.

They believed Lian without question. The dark horde before them now seemed like a glittering treasure.

"Unleash your greedy nature! Go forth and plunder, fight for, and take everything you desire! We are natural-born predators!"

Lian raised his longsword.

The Guards roared in unison, "Plunder! Plunder! Plunder!"

The human army’s soaring morale baffled the Tree Monster Legion. The humans clearly had no advantage in either height or size, so why were they so confident? Was it merely because of the ice?

The Tree Monsters trampled over the corpses of their brethren and continued to advance, determined to tear these overconfident humans to shreds.

Sophie used her Freezing Magic again. This time, she froze everything from the front-rank Tree Monsters to the furthest limit of her vision.

For miles in every direction, everything turned to frost. In an instant, a world of Ice and Snow swept over the Bone Forest.

Just as the Guards were about to cheer for Witch Sophie, the ground beneath them began to shift.

CRACK, CRACK—

Mounds of earth began to bulge from the ground.

Giant Tree Monsters burrowed out from these mounds.

It turned out they had split their forces in two all along. The Tree Monsters on the surface were just a Blinding Technique.

The true vanguard had already passed under the ice wall by burrowing underground.

The human Guards and the Tree Monster Legion were now fully engaged in battle.

Already inspired by Lian, the Guards no longer feared the monsters and fought them with desperate ferocity.

Meanwhile, Sophie rushed out immediately. Her target was the only one who hadn’t been frozen: the King of Tree Monsters.

The King of Tree Monsters’ Magic Resistance was formidable, far surpassing that of its kin.

It extended ten tentacles from its body, inserting them into the ten Elite Commander Tree Monsters and shattering the ice that encased them.

The newly freed Elite Commander Tree Monsters, in turn, extended countless tentacles of their own to rescue the Knight Tree Monsters.

The ice was cracking piece by piece, but Sophie paid it no mind.

She was already hovering above the King of Tree Monsters, a Long Spear of condensed frost in her hand.

SHLIIICK—

She threw the Long Spear, and it pierced through the King of Tree Monsters’ body, splitting both it and its throne in two.

Sophie frowned.

’This isn’t the King of Tree Monsters!’