“Let go of me! Let go of me!”
In the apothecary, the little elf Ruil was dangling upside down, her ankle tightly wound by a suddenly animated branch. Panic made her thrash.
In desperation she grabbed a silver spoon nearby, scooped a half-congealed dollop of potion from a still-glowing cauldron, and hurled it at the branch choking her!
With a hissing, corrosive sound the branch snapped.
Ruil smacked down onto the floor, blood spurting from her nose. The splashed potion burned a red line into her calf.
Poor Ruil had no idea what was happening.
She sobbed and tried to crawl to the counter for a healing draught, but two twisted branches had already grown toward her, slowly closing in!
When she turned to flee, the doorway was blocked by newly formed twigs.
The whole apothecary had been built against the giant tree’s trunk and branches — and now the wood itself was coming alive.
The tree-activation wasn’t limited to the Divine Tree’s dungeon.
With a global view, Lin Jun could see the anomaly radiating outward from the dungeon — it had already spread through much of the Isildorin Forest, and the affected area kept growing.
Distance made a difference.
The giant trees inside the dungeon were the most violent: they attacked Pujis and other monsters, even uprooting themselves to move and smashing great swathes of mycelial carpet.
Luckily Lin Jun had previously constructed a vast, deep underground network, which barely preserved sightlines inside the dungeon.
In the elf tree city, however, only small branches had animated so far.
Thicker limbs twitched faintly but hadn’t started uprooting and rampaging — at least not yet.
Inside the shop, Ruil was backed into the corner of the counter, grabbing whatever potion bottles she could and flinging them at the closing branches.
To her surprise, the potions helped — she managed to fend off two or three branches.
“Help! Anyone there? Please help!” Ruil cried through tears, hoping nearby elves might hear.
Her shout vanished into the cacophony.
Every tree around had come alive; she wasn’t the only one in danger. Even if someone heard, they might not be able to help — not every elf is a trained warrior.
Then a branch struck Ruil from above and looped around her throat, hoisting her up.
She clawed at the woody noose, but it wouldn’t give.
The loop tightened, her breath came in ragged gasps, and her face flushed red from lack of oxygen.
Worse, other branches coiled about her like a nest of snakes, binding her limbs.
“Gr-… Grandpa…” Her consciousness blurred, saliva and tears mixing and slipping from her lips. Just as she teetered on the edge of blacking out—
Bang—
A window was smashed inward and a round, rolling shape tumbled into Ruil’s blurred view.
A puji!
It stuck there in the window frame for a moment; Lin Jun didn’t care about the broken property this time.
The puji contracted and then sprang, a row of razor-bright blades erupting from its body!
Then, in a flash of motion — a Blade Storm — the window and the nearest branches were shredded. Wood chips flew; some struck Ruil’s forehead.
【Assault Launch LV8】
Two jumps later the puji landed before Ruil.
Its blades flashed, cutting every binding branch cleanly!
Ruil collapsed to the floor, clutching her neck as she coughed violently.
“Da… Da Mogu?” Ruil stammered, uncertain, staring at the spiky, murderous little puji.
The blades slid neatly back into the puji’s body and it reverted to its familiar, rounded form. Ruil realized with relief it was indeed the same creature.
She clung to the puji and sobbed.
Her face was streaked with blood, tears, and drool — her looks were ruined, but the puji didn’t push her away. It let her hug it for a little while.
Lin Jun felt a little embarrassed — he’d meant to keep the puji on simple patrol, not to have it nearly get one of his elf pets killed.
Still, it wasn’t entirely his fault. He’d been cautious, having the puji check panels and scan for suspicious persons nearby — who could’ve expected the enemy to spawn right in his home? The important thing: Ruil wasn’t dead, nor missing any limbs.
He stopped Ruil’s trembling by gesturing through the puji. More branches were animating; they needed to leave before things got worse.
The puji slashed a few incoming branches cleanly and carried Ruil out of the apothecary.
Only then did Ruil see the devastation outside.
Elves dangled from trees across from the shop — some completely still, some struggling — and she even recognized a few faces among them.
On the platforms, townsfolk ran and panicked; some grabbed weapons to hack at branches. From time to time someone fell and screamed; the sound vanished in an instant.
The tree-city’s civilians far outnumbered trained rangers and druids. Despite desperate rescue efforts, they were overwhelmed.
Ruil stood frozen. The puji wasted no time. It hopped onto her head and fixed itself there with two tiny legs braced; mycelial tendrils wrapped her arms while its little wings beat hard, slowly lifting her from the ground.
Ruil was small, so although their flight was slow, the puji could manage to get her airborne.
Its destination was a nearby clearing on the mycelial carpet — a relatively safe spot with fewer trees.
Ruil watched a neighbor fighting for life among the branches and wanted to help, but could only let the puji carry her away.
Lin Jun had no time to worry about strangers’ fates. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t mind doing small, unnoticed favors, but now protecting his own little Ruil came first.
Once the puji set Ruil down on the carpeted clearing, a few sacrificial Artillery pujis jumped forward to form a protective ring. They were both guards and a way to stop her from panicking and running off.
This sudden chaos wasn’t ending anytime soon.
Lin Jun tried to have the puji cast Purification on the Divine Tree itself, but the effect was… negligible. Not instant salvation — mostly symbolic, a tiny waste of mana.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Elaven’s situation looked very different.
She was anxious and spacey by nature, but her strength was solidly Gold tier. She rode atop the broad back of a baby earth bear while clutching a furry ball, followed by the swamp python Bubble, and with a round blue fat bird named Feifei perched above. The odd troupe moved through the forest floor, rescuing many elves.
Lin Jun’s scout puji trailed them at a distance, but for now he didn’t need to worry about Elaven’s safety.
…
On the high terrace of the Elven Royal City two figures stood watching the chaos below in silence.
Guards from the royal garrison were already being dispatched rapidly to aid the citizens.
Iros stepped forward. His voice was heavy. “Your Majesty, the Isildorin Forest has been attacked. Rangers from the dungeon are temporarily out of contact, and Eko and others are trapped in an alternate space. It seems the Divine Tree has completely lost control. If this continues, our vigor will be greatly diminished…”
King Aurel turned his gaze to his long-time chief mage. “You mean…?”
“We must use the artifact.” Iros’s tone was grave and resolute. Yet despite the severity of his words, his face showed no panic — only calm.