"The world before us changes every day."This was doubtlessly the most suitable explanation for what was happening in this Forest of Dreams. It was just that, perhaps, the words "every day" should be changed to "every instant," instead.
Under the dimensional will"s control—fine then, Amelia was in deep hibernation, so it should be said that under my guidance—this forest was changing at every moment. What was a forested path one second would become a deep pit the very next instant.
Not only would this confuse any attacking undead armies, but even the wood spirits themselves would get lost in their own forest.
Let"s not mention those so-called natural talent abilities that go on about how children of the forest would never get lost in a forest. As far as I knew, those druids and rangers would only show off their pretend knowledge after memorizing some maps.
In the end, memories were limited in capacity. If, for example, someone slept by a lakeside in the night but woke up, the next day, and saw a flouris.h.i.+ng city, it was only natural for that person to feel that their circ.u.mstances were unfamiliar. It would be strange, instead, if that person actually knew their way around.
"…Why has the market disappeared yet again? Why is Blue Smurf #356 who lived next to me now living on top of the tree? Also, most importantly, why am I in the middle of a lake! Ahhh! My collectibles have all been ruined!"
This unlucky child spent half an hour hauling all her belongings out of the water. Yet it wasn"t a rare occurrence; those who were sent to the very tops of the trees after waking up were the unluckiest of all.
Wood spirits had the ability to communicate with trees, and it would require no effort for them to descend from the treetops—as long as they didn"t have acrophobia, of course. However, it was another story for transporting their collectibles—that, indeed, was a huge headache.
Collectibles? What would the newly-born wood spirit species even like to collect? Indeed, it was truly peculiar that this newly-born species had hobbies of collecting various useless items, similar to a squirrel. They would collect all sorts of seeds and fruits, and subtle items, such as their victory loot from the undead—lich hip bones or zombie cavities—were especially gathered.
They didn"t seem like calm forest spirits whenever they discussed their favorite collectibles; instead, they acted like shoppers arguing over discounts at a store having a major sale. This was all the more so as they felt that the best treasures came from outside the forest. In fact, the first thing they would do after a battle with the undead was to try and obtain as much victory loot as possible.
"…This is a good thing. At the very least, they have their own hobbies. This is the behavior of an intelligent species displaying their independence."
Although I said that in my mind, the subtle feeling of discomfort became stronger and stronger as I watched how the little lolis around me were bragging about Abomination guts with those cute and innocent smiles of theirs.
"Forget it. Since they"re Amelia"s species, it"ll be even more inconceivable if they were too normal."
[You"re talking as if it totally has nothing to do with you, father of a species. Right, should I give you a "glorious t.i.tle" that"s impossible to hide? "Father of Ten Thousand Lolis." That way, everyone will get to know the joyful news that you became a father!]
"Please don"t!"
Alright then. I immediately surrendered. That System of mine was too vicious. If I wore this t.i.tle out every day, wouldn"t everyone laugh at me forever? That would be pure torture.
Cough, let"s get back to the main topic. Since the geography of this region changed far too rapidly, the first thing each wood spirit would do after waking up was use their mental abilities to communicate with the other wood spirits and the trees around them to download the newest map to their minds. Otherwise, they"d surely get lost in the surrounding area.
Spending all this effort of mine in helping evolve this forest obviously meant that these changes weren"t meaningless. In fact, it was the opposite. This was all evidence that the entire forest was evolving.
"What type of opponent is the scariest? The fastest? The strongest? No, the one who"s one hundred times larger than you is the scariest. One step from him will equal several hundred steps from you. Can your speed possibly top his? If his little finger is as large as your entire body, no matter how strong you are, can an ant possibly lift an elephant?"
Actually, that was just how it was in real life. If you miniaturized a dragon by a hundred times, it would be nothing more than a tiny fire-breathing lizard. Miniaturizing a t.i.tan giant would make it into nothing more than a slightly large doll. But if you expanded something like a scorpion, ant, or c.o.c.kroach to the size of a dragon, an ant"s strength for its body proportion, a scorpion"s poison, or the undying nature of a c.o.c.kroach would become peerless terrors.
That was why, in order to completely increase this forest"s overall defensive attributes, I believed that all I needed to do was increase this forest"s size by ten, one hundred, even one thousand times. In that case, all the various magical plants created here would naturally grow larger as well, greatly improving the power levels.
Actually, the results were better than I expected. Those pinecone bombs that were ten times larger than me were utterly impossible to a.s.sess. Their explosions could reach the clouds, and I suspected that they were on the scale of the small nuclear weapons from my previous world. The roots that were originally for the purpose of tripping our enemies became webs of death that could kill anything. Even those large strengthened outer sh.e.l.ls that the wood spirits liked to wear became t.i.tan giants that reached the clouds.
With the support of a dimensional will, things were just that unreasonable. Still, there were limits.
Dimensional laws could overwrite the natural laws of a dimension. These lifeforms that far surpa.s.sed the natural laws, however, thrived in this dimension—it was their natural environment. The moment they leave it they would be drastically weakened. Yet, within the forest, the dimensional will was the strongest existence. As long as they remained in the forest, Amelia would be able to help them and transform what shouldn"t have been physically possible into reality. The unreasonable would become the reasonable.
This was indubitably a ma.s.sive advantage for us when defending. It seemed that the gap between us and the undead would only keep growing as time pa.s.sed. If I was the undead commander, I definitely wouldn"t have allowed the dimensional will to continue evolving. I would have taken everything to a full-out battle as early as possible.
Perhaps my existence gave the two familiar commanders on the other side too much pressure. Perhaps they didn"t have experience in this area. Or perhaps they were simply slacking off. Although they kept probing the forest"s defenses, they never truly sent their main forces. The way they were treating things seemed far too conservative in my eyes.
This obviously seemed unreasonable. Before, the dimensional will had been in hibernation, and the forest had defended itself instinctively. Now that I was here and acting as the forest"s strategist, the evolutions were obviously heading in an anti-undead direction. They should have sent everything they had as early as possible, which would have given them the greatest chances of victory.
Of course, the overly high speed of evolution did bring about a few small problems. For example, the wood spirits who were still too slender and small would occasionally have difficulty balancing and controlling their strengthened outer sh.e.l.ls. Some would have great adventures when finding their way home every day. After all, the wood spirits were now truly an independent species of their own—they were no longer able to change themselves at will. A young bird that had left the nest wouldn"t return.
However, this also meant that these wood spirits were an intelligent species equal to humanity and the elves. As one of the very few newly-born species in the recent generation, they had limitless potential for development. I did some very rough estimating and figured that the average mature wood spirit combined with a strengthened outer sh.e.l.l usable in the mortal plane would be able to easily reach Silver rank combat strength. This made them equal to the upper-ranked elves, a newly-born Silver rank species. Amelia was destined to leave her name in history just by creating the wood spirit species.
"You"ve accomplished something incredible without realizing it, Amelia."
These past few days, I had been resting at that core lake where Amelia resided where it was more convenient for me to guide the forest"s evolution.
I lightly brushed Amelia"s slightly messy hair. The seemingly pure sleeping princess didn"t seem to have any intentions of waking up. Her features, while she slept, were unenc.u.mbered by traces of her typical insanity. Instead, it bore a look of weakness, which was rare for Amelia, and resembled the softness of drenched white lily flowers post the rain. It really made me want to care for her.
"If she doesn"t talk, she"s actually quite cute."
I lightly brushed off the leaves that had fallen on her, attracted by her face that had regained some of its normal complexion.
Ever since she fell into a deep sleep, Amelia had been smiling almost childishly. The typical dark circles around her eyes had vanished, and the natural color of her skin was more resplendent than even the best makeup.
With a pure appearance that would cause anyone to calm down, her formerly pale lips had become red and luscious. It was as if she was a sleeping angel that shouldn"t be desecrated.
Yet even while I admired the beauty before me, I was thinking about a topic which ruined the idyllic scenery.
"It would seem that I still need more sacrifices to help wake you up."
Souls were the source of everything. The two highest G.o.ddesses of Order and Chaos needed to absorb nutrition from soul shards that entered the Cycle of Reincarnation to help themselves recover. Amelia, too, required a large number of souls to recover after becoming a newly-born dimensional will. And the undead were undoubtedly the best source of souls for her.
"You owe me, and I"m going to remember this debt. You better pay it back to me later."
I lightly flicked her upturned nose, but to my surprise, it felt rather good, so I took advantage of her and rubbed her nose two more times…
While I was sighing to myself that she actually became so easy to pick on, Rosa sent me an urgent message through our mental connection.
She informed me of a new wave of seemingly different enemy attacks. When she told me that she surprisingly lost control of the situation, I knew that it was time for me to leave.
"It"s far more fun to pick on you when you"re awake. I shall help you wake up again."
It wasn"t an oath, nor was it a promise. It was just something that I wanted to do—a decision that I had come to.
I didn"t notice how the sleeping beauty"s mouth seemed to arc upwards, as if she was secretly smiling as I left.
Leaves fluttered down the trees—a delicate message that revealed the beauty"s inner thoughts about the dense block of wood that had just left.
"I shall use everything I have to return my debt to you, dear Roland. You"re not allowed to refuse. As long as you don"t leave me, I shall stay by your side during my life and in death."
This Forest of Dreams had become an independent dimension of its own and was incredibly difficult to deal with because of the dimensional will"s existence. However, its true enemies were more than just some mid- and low-level undead.
Feyman didn"t have enough experience with dimensional wills so he didn"t know anything about what was going on. However, the former First Senator Gricasio had both power and experience. He had long since figured out that dimensional laws were at work here. Yet he didn"t intend to say anything.
After all, Gricasio knew that if he pointed out the situation, and everyone found out that this was a time-limited battle where the best strategy would be to rush the forest as quickly as possible, he would most likely be sent out as the vanguard. At such a time, unless he was willing to resist against the Undead Emperors" wills, not only would he have to face that person head-on, but his own gigantic body would be the best target of all. There was a ninety-nine percent probability of him becoming cannon fodder.
Fighting that person on his home turf? While simultaneously challenging a newly-born dimensional will? Gricasio could be considered quite wise, and he still wanted to live much longer.
"Who cares. It"s not my matter to worry about anyways. Even if the sky collapses, there"s someone higher than me who can shoulder things. The Undead Emperors aren"t going to personally come out so why should I work my hardest and risk my life for someone else"s benefit?"
The First Senator Gricasio, who was at the doorstep of the SemiG.o.d rank, was indeed incredible in power level. However, the Undead Emperors had underestimated his own selfishness. Since he could become a SemiG.o.d by simply waiting for two hundred more years, why should he risk his own life to fight for others? Gricasio was never a good person who would sacrifice himself for the sake of others, nor was he some brave warrior who believed in the concept of justice. Otherwise, he wouldn"t have survived until today.
And that was how the sly Immemorial Dragon intentionally did nothing at all and watched as Feyman anxiously tried to think of solutions. But, when Gricasio"s only companion could no longer stand waiting and intended to personally go in the forest to fight, Gricasio stopped him and secretly told him about dimensional laws and secrets. And then… both the top-ranked commanders of the undead army intentionally sat around and did nothing!
From a certain standpoint, Undead Emperor Aso from the Desecration Plane truly chose the wrong people to lead his army. Both Feyman and Gricasio had respectable power levels but lacked the courage to go out and fight. The two of them added together had both brains and power, but how would they have gotten to only where they were if they were capable of great things?
Gricasio was a natural-born steed. He had undergone all sorts of hard work and humiliation. "It"s fine if I"m treated like a dog or a steed. Everything"s fine as long as I"m alive" was his quote about how he wanted to live as a dragon. Making him fight with his life on the line was practically impossible. This was all the more so after the Undead Emperors were foolish enough to reward him with the knowledge that he wanted beforehand, so he wanted even less to fight with his life on the line.
"…As long as I live on, I"ll enter the SemiG.o.d rank! Aso wants me to face that person head-on? Impossible."
Yet someone was finally unable to watch this situation continually worsen. Despite the fact that he spent so many resources on transferring these two Undead Lords over here, the Forest of Dreams had become only stronger and stronger.
When another undead squadron left—they seemed more like they were going over to feed the forest rather than scout it out—the black pillar of dimensional transportation violently trembled. The entire area around it began to shake, while dark clouds gathered at a furious rate. The earthquake was so strong that large fissures opened up in the ground, burying many smaller undead alive. The aerial troops managed to escape to safer locations, but even the strong bone giants were forced to take refuge.
And then… the black pillar of light which reached the sky vanished. Yes, it vanished entirely. Although there were still some traces, the dimensional connection had obviously been severed.
What remained where the black pillar had been was only a bone-white skeleton. When the cyan soulfire ignited itself in that skull, the entire world appeared to change. Frightened souls fled with all their might in every direction while innumerable bones crawled to the surface by themselves. In the pitch-black night, the joyous dances of the undead could be seen—the undying emperor had finally descended!
"Emperor Aso!!"
Feyman and Gricasio hurriedly rushed over to give their reports, but Aso didn"t even so much as glance at them. It was obvious that their intentional stalling couldn"t fool Aso. Even though Aso didn"t intend to point it out directly and turn on them at the moment, he was still filled with anger.
Well, that was only natural. Aso had paid a price in order to be able to descend to this plane. He lost so much that he would never be able to regain his losses.
"Only death is eternal. When the undead control the lands, souls shall become the new master of this world…"
A low voice reverberated across the lands, and every living creature felt as if their deaths were approaching. The moment this Undead Emperor descended, he began uttering a eulogy to himself—"The Song to End All Souls."
"A forbidden spell!!"
Although I was in the forest, the mana waves sent out by that forbidden spell caused the very air itself to tremble. How could I possibly miss it?
"d.a.m.n it! This is the worst possible result."
If a city was unconquerable, then all I had to do was eradicate the entire city. That"s what I did back in the day as Yongye, and Aso was evidently intending to do the exact same thing. Although this type of development was within my expectations, it definitely wasn"t easy to deal with.
"I said before that I hate how Undead Emperors can just toss out so many forbidden spells as they please, taking advantage of their undying natures and ability to switch bodies to ignore physical repercussions. It"s basically no different from flipping the table if you can"t win a board game! There"s no finesse to it at all!"
"…Do you ever take a look in the mirror? You have the nerve to make such a statement? Do you know who tossed out more forbidden spells than anyone else in this generation? That would be you, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
As expected of Harloys who was getting more and more skilled at making sarcastic comments. Dis.h.i.+ng out those jabs at me were part of her very nature, and it was her first reaction upon waking up.
"Was that Holy Light hammer delicious?"
"It was terrible, worse than even your stinky shoes."
Hearing this, I covered my face and pretended to be embarra.s.sed.
"Ah, you actually sniffed them secretly? You pervert! Did you lick them as well? Oh, sorry, I forgot. All cats lick in order to taste things. Instead, I should ask: how was the taste?"
In a normal situation, the silly cat would have been furious at this point, but right now, Harloys had no intention of playing around. The tremendous waves of the forbidden spell in the distance had already attracted all her attention.
"The Song to End All Souls? This is a mega AoE forbidden spell that will kill absolutely everything.[1]1It"s ranked in the top ten for attack power. Based on current developments, it should take Aso slightly less than ten hours to finish chanting it. Do you have the confidence to reach him within this time limit?"
This was a rather silly question that caused me to chuckle.
"Until we actually fight, who knows? Only the courageous will come out victorious in the end. You think those pieces of trash can block me? Those useless cowards? What a joke."
We finished our combat preparations after a few minutes. I put on my armor of ice and snow and held a s.h.i.+ny silver hammer that had materialized out of midair. The ancient bone dragon Gria descended from the sky for me to ride on her.
"Right. Harloys? Since we"re facing an Undead Emperor, should we shout "For the Holy Light" at such a time? …but why does it feel so wrong? It somehow feels too unlucky."
"Ridiculous! Back in the year, we were the unlucky ones that others charged at to attack—all because of the situations you forced us into. Did you ever bring us good luck?"
"As expected, asking you was a mistake. You"re shaking our forces" morale before the battle? I"m going to have you executed, you silly cat!"
"I doubt our forces" morale will be shaken at all. Just look behind you."
When I looked behind me, I saw that the wood spirits had finished their combat preparations as well. These young-appearing girls entered their powerfully enhanced outer sh.e.l.ls, their soft-seeming eyes filled with the resolution to defend their home. Now that their mother and home were threatened, these wood spirits had prepared themselves to leave the safety of their forest for the sake of defending everything dear to them.
"For Mother!"
"For our pinecones!"
"For my bone collection! n.o.body is going to take away my lich rib bones, skeleton fingerbones, and Abomination skulls from me!"
I shook my head rather helplessly. Just as how parents never understood their children, I was destined to never understand these young ones, either. After some hesitation, I spoke softly in a voice that only I could hear.
"For… for Amelia."
"Heh, I heard that. I"ll be telling Amelia." Whoops, I seemed to have forgotten that the hammer I was holding was that d.a.m.ned silly cat"s transformation…
"Hmph! I heard that as well." Fine then, Gria was currently right under my crotch… Even though I was supposed to be doing something as cool as riding a dragon, why did my description of it sound so awkward?
[I also heard you.]
"That"s enough! Why the h.e.l.l is even my System joining in!? Isn"t it too overboard that you only think about how to make me suffer with your comments every day? Can"t you do something proper and learn from other protagonists" systems for once!?"
[Are you certain? Actually, I was considering whether or not I should change myself into a limitless System for challenging the Main G.o.ds. If you don"t complete your Quests, you"ll be deleted. For your first Quest, how about challenging Ayer to single combat?]
"I apologize! Please—no!! That"s no different from suicide!"
"Hey—hey—we"re about to start fighting. Can you be a little more serious!?"
Alright then, even Gria was getting tired of me.
Note:
[1] ED/N: Area of effect (or AoE) is a term used in many role-playing and strategy games to describe attacks or spells that can affect multiple targets within a specified area. (Source: League of Legends Wiki)ED/N: Area of effect (or AoE) is a term used in many role-playing and strategy games to describe attacks or spells that can affect multiple targets within a specified area. (Source: League of Legends Wiki)