Amidst the screams, the priest hurriedly divulged all that he could.
He was a distant relative of Lord Sosa, and through this connection, had managed to climb to a rather high position. The responsibility of handling the Sacred Tree fell on him. Upon seeing the tree, he heard a faint call, and without much thought, responded to it in his mind. This action unleashed a deafening roar, as if thunder, and the sound pierced into his consciousness like sharp needles, almost causing him to pass out from the pain.
Qian Ye pressed for more details and finally understood that the call most likely came from the Sacred Tree itself. The Morsal werewolves had nearly destroyed the tree, yet this priest still dared to respond to its will, leading to a dire outcome.
The Morsal werewolves were known for their ferocity and prowess in battle, but their attempts to colonize the new world had been fraught with difficulties. After the “Gate” opened, Lord Sosa, unfamiliar with the combat tactics of the beast army, failed to gather enough forces and set up a proper defensive formation. As a result, the beast army overwhelmed the werewolf positions.
In the fierce battle, the Morsal warriors eventually exterminated the beast army, but at a great cost; the priest group, which should have been in the rear, was almost completely wiped out.
In the tribe, the priests were both the custodians of knowledge and healers, holding a crucial position. The loss of the priest group plunged half the continent’s werewolf tribes into fear and chaos, forcing Lord Sosa to intervene personally to restore order.
When exploring the new world, the werewolves initially proceeded cautiously, clearing out the first forest of its beast army. However, during the battle with the six-armed creatures, a duke and three marquises were injured, and their conditions deteriorated rapidly. Fortunately, being close to the Gate, they managed to evacuate the wounded, though one marquis succumbed to his injuries.
This was the second forest they attacked, where they had already defeated the beast army and the six-armed beings. It was only because Lord Sosa’s priest suggested using the Sacred Tree’s wood to make a statue that the warriors entered the forest again.
“Why didn’t you cut it down? What about the Sacred Tree in the first forest?”
“Due to the heavy losses, in a fit of rage, Lord Sosa burned the entire forest.”
Qian Ye grew even more curious. “How did he do that?”
The trees in the new world were not like the ordinary ones in Evernight. They possessed remarkable defensive properties, resistant to normal flames. Only origin flames could ignite them. Burning a few trees was manageable, but incinerating an entire forest required considerable skill.
The priest replied, “Lord Sosa mobilized ten thousand laborers to transport black stones to the new world, piling them throughout the forest. They set it ablaze with those.”
“Were there any special individuals among the injured?”
“The one who died was Lord Sosa’s nephew.”
“No wonder,” Qian Ye understood. Such a costly endeavor would not be undertaken without a compelling reason, suggesting Sosa had his own motivations.
Seeing no more information to extract, Qian Ye grabbed the priest by the throat. The priest panicked, “I told you everything, shouldn’t you let me go now?”
“Did I ever promise that?” Qian Ye tightened his grip, crushing the priest’s neck.
Carrying the priest’s body, Qian Ye intended to discard it when he felt a faint call. He looked at the Sacred Tree, noticing its branches moving rhythmically. There was no wind in the forest, so how could the tree move on its own? Remembering the priest’s experience, Qian Ye did not respond. Instead, he placed the body against the tree trunk.
The bark of the Sacred Tree cracked, and countless fine roots emerged, enveloping the body and pulling it into the tree. The roots fused and hardened, forming a bark-like structure, leaving only a human-shaped outline on the surface.
Watching silently, Qian Ye sensed that more changes might follow.
Indeed, a surge of powerful origin energy flowed from within the tree, activating all life. A branch sprouted from where the priest’s body was absorbed, blooming and fruiting at an incredible speed. A fist-sized green fruit appeared, turning brown, and then fell with a thud, rolling to Qian Ye’s feet.
After bearing the fruit, the Sacred Tree seemed to reach the end of its life. Its body withered, leaves turned yellow and fell off.
With the Sacred Tree dead, the forest lost its magical effects. The internal origin energy dissipated, becoming like the external world. The soil dried up, unable to sustain any growth.
Qian Ye picked up the fruit, feeling an odd sensation as if it carried a hint of the priest’s essence. Regardless, it was not the time for research. Qian Ye stored the fruit and quickly returned, summoning the Ancestral Hall on his way. By the time he reached the base of the Four Sacred Trees, the Ancestral Hall was ready for battle.
Qian Ye ordered the Ancestral Hall to prepare ample ammunition, taking along several thousand Morsal warriors. He piloted the ship, heading towards the Morsal werewolves’ “Gate.”
According to the priest’s confession, the Morsal werewolves were busy expanding their base, overseen by a deputy duke. Still recovering from their defeat in the Sacred Tree forest, they were reassembling their forces in the Evernight world, leaving the new world relatively undefended.
For Qian Ye, except for William, all the Evernight werewolves were enemies, especially these ancestors. The Morsal werewolves’ status in the Evernight Council must be low, as they lacked vital intelligence on the new world.
In a vast natural valley, a werewolf fortress was under construction. Tens of thousands of laborers brought rocks and soil from other parts of the valley, depositing them between layers of steel plates. When the rocks and soil reached a certain level, another layer of horizontal steel plates was added, and the process repeated.
This was a method of rapid fortification learned by the werewolves from human wars. However, the scale of this fortress, designed to accommodate over a hundred thousand people, meant the construction was slow.
A group of laborers, carrying soil, stumbled into the fortress, heading to their designated work area. One laborer suddenly swayed and collapsed. A werewolf warrior, noticing this, lashed the laborer with a whip, shouting, “Get up and work! Don’t pretend to be dead!”
The laborer screamed, trying to rise, but his body convulsed violently, and soon, he stopped moving.
The werewolf spat, “Damn, another one who couldn’t make it.”
He raised his whip, yelling at the remaining laborers, “Work hard, or you’ll end up like him, all dead in the new world! Understood?”
The laborers moved forward, a little faster this time.
The massive base had just begun to take shape, with many sections of the walls still incomplete. Several watchtowers, however, stood tall. At the center, a towering werewolf with a stern face scanned the site, exuding a ducal aura that made all the werewolves shiver.
Before a deputy duke, any deceit was easily detected. His formidable strength allowed him to oversee the construction tirelessly, never seeming to need rest.
Not far away, several barons were struggling to haul a heavy crossbow onto a tower. Seeing this, the deputy duke’s expression softened. The deployment of such weapons indicated the fortress was nearing completion, and they could finally leave this wretched place.
As the crossbow was halfway up, a deafening boom shook the tower! Startled, the barons dropped the crossbow, crushing a dozen werewolf warriors below. Most critically, the valuable weapon was destroyed.
The deputy duke’s eyes narrowed, looking towards the horizon. On the edge of the valley, a massive shadow emerged. It was in the direction of the sun, making it difficult to discern what it was.
A flash of light came from the center of the shadow, and an enormous bolt shot towards them. The deputy duke instantly recognized the flickering origin arrays on its surface, his heart skipping a beat.
The bolt flew at incredible speed, traversing thousands of meters in an instant, striking the partially built fortress. In a thunderous explosion, the upper part of the tower was flung dozens of meters into the air, while the unfinished walls tilted. With the third bolt, a section of the wall over a hundred meters long crumbled!
The deputy duke recovered from his shock, but his dread intensified. “That’s a battleship’s main cannon! At least a cruiser! How can the beast army have such a thing?”
He issued orders continuously, and his guards swiftly dispersed, setting up anti-aircraft defenses. Before they could complete their preparations, a second wave of attacks arrived.
Two more bolts hit the fortress’s power towers. Though robust, the towers could not withstand the cannon fire. After two shots, the tower split, the upper half crashing down, destroying more buildings.
Finally, the Ancestral Hall flew overhead, its massive hull fully revealed to the Morsal werewolves.
The dreadnought’s broadside, though its main cannons were out of range, displayed a terrifying array of guns. The Morsal werewolves, still unsure if it was a battleship or some void beast, saw fiery streams raining down, turning the fortress into a hell of smoke and flames.
Hundreds of cannons fired in unison, igniting lines of fire on the ground. Buildings turned to rubble, and werewolves, whether warriors or slaves, were incinerated in the inferno.
The Ancestral Hall’s firepower was overwhelming, and the natural pressure from the dragon ships in the sky shattered the werewolves’ morale. The deputy duke, barely able to issue commands, saw his forces scatter in panic.
Before he could vent his anger, the building beneath him erupted into flames, with explosions shaking the ground. This prominent target was subjected to intense bombardment.
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