Adrian returned to the Paradox Planes and immediately went to find Ascalor in order to give the letter that the Elder Dryad Danaya entrusted to him. He was just about to use the spatial fracture that led to Neo Alfheim when he received he heard a world message.
[The Tree of Life protecting Neo Alfheim is close to dying. If the tree dies then Neo Alfheim will be destroyed by tides of ramgaing monsters. The restriction for the monsters will be lifted. No village, town, city or kingdom will no longer be called safe zones once the tree of life is dead.] .
[Time before the Tree of Life dies is 71: 59: 59]
Adrian opened his eyes wide as he ran rowards the spatial fracture to see what is happening to Neo Alfheim. Adrian entered the portal easily but is surprised to see the city of Neo Alfheim emitting fumes of dark smoke. The most worrying thing that he sees is not just the smoke but the forest city is on fire.
Screams are echoing in the distance as the inhabitants of the city is fleeing. Adrian just bolted towards the city in hopes of finding out what happened. He tried sending a whisper to his best friend Levin Cloud but it says that the receiver could not get messages for the time being.
“This is bad. I must teleport to the secretive restaurant.” Adrian thought as he activated his Teleportation skill.
[Cannot Teleport to the desired location. The spatial integrity in the area is too weak and anymore breach in space could unexpectedly tear the space making a black hole.]
“Seriously? Can you get any more annoying?!” Adrian stated as he run towards the city.
“Sludge monsters are attacking!” someone shouted as the others ran further away from the city.
“I better shut my mouth.” Adrian thought to himself as he saw what is happening to the city.
The trees that make up the city are no longer as lively as they once were. The trees are now all rotten and releasing fumes that are toxic. The clean and fresh air surrounding the city is no longer something that heals the soul but something that decays the body.
You can see traces of battle as there are bodies of elves and sludge scattered all over the surroundings. Adrian is on his way to the restaurant when a sludge monster stood on his way. The sludge monster is like a huge blob of sewage that would make your nose die from the rotten smell while making your eyes water.
Monster: Living Sludge (Medium)
Level: 120
Health: 3,000,000 / 3,000,000
Mana: 50,000 / 50,000
Description: A monster made through mysterious means. It is speculated that a mad scientist infused a tormented human soul inside sewer water that is infected with miasma to bring life to this monstrosity. It has a large health pool but has mediocre defenses as losing its body mass is equal to losing its form. It will take time for it to regenerate once its body is split apart.
Upon reading the monster’s description, Adrian immediately knew what to do.
“Quantum Repulsion!” Adrian chanted and a strong force blew away the Living Sludge into pieces.
Adrian did not kill the living sludge but split it into pieces which scattered everywhere. Some even managed to splatter into his clothes which greatly irked him. The pieces of the living sludge could be seen slowly coming together at a snail’s pace but Adrian had much more important things to settle.
He flicked the sludge away from his body and immediately summoned Sirius to ride. He directed Sirius towards the strange restaurant. All around the city is chaos and destruction but Adrian had no time to help anyone.
They reached the restaurant in record time but it was closed up from the inside. Adrian knocked a few times in order to test if anyone was inside. Adrian even called out only for no one to answer. As he was about to check the church, he heard a whisper from the blocked window.
“Ad…Equinox. Just Blink inside the room.” The voice of a panicked Levin Cloud stated.
“I could but I will not unless you want a black hole opening inside the room that you are in.” Adrian replied.
“There is a hidden door at the back.” A female voice inside the restaurant stated.
Adrian then hastily searched for the hidden door after making Sirius smaller in order to fit inside the restaurant. The hidden door is actually a pile of leaves bundled together at the back of the restaurant. Adrian wanted to know how to get in but two pairs of hands grabbed him and dragged him towards the pile of leaves.
Sirius immediately followed his master by diving towards the pile of leaves. The hands that dragged Adrian inside is actually from two beaten up elves that are even struggling to stand up. It was even a wonder that they managed to drag Adrian inside the restaurant.
Adrian is greeted with an unsightly scene of beaten up people and some even losing their limbs. Adrian could only give a bitter smile to them but the thing that saddened him the most are the two people lying in the middle of the room. Surrounded by crying and beaten up elves are an old man and a beautiful woman lying down.
The two are in the worse shape possible as their bodies look like it is rotting from the inside. Even his best friend is shedding tears while his body is battered which greatly confused Adrian. He went closer to the two people lying down and he was right. It was Elder Willow and Makiling.
Out of the two, Makiling looked in the worst condition but that did not make anything light for Elder Willow. Adrian wanted to know what exactly happened so he immediately asked Levin Cloud but even he was in shock and needed to collect his thoughts to piece together what happened.
“What happened to Makiling? Why is she dying like the tree of life?” Adrian asked.
“The great dryad Makiling is tied to Neo Alfheim’s tree of life but it is not enough to make her like that. We thought she just weakened because of the dying tree but it seems she was attacked by the one who poisoned the tree. Thankfully, the champion is here now and has find a cure to the poison right?” an elf asked with teary eyes.
Adrian could only slowly peel away the hands of the elf and be the bearer of bad news. Seeing Adrian’s reaction, the place became even gloomier than before as if all hope is sucked away.
“I am sorry but there is no antidote or cure or even something to prevent the poison from spreading. I was given a seed for another tree of life but the Blessing of Earth Renewal must be performed by a dryad. But seeing as Makiling is close to dying, it seems we have to evacuate Neo Alfheim.” Adrian suggested.
Some of the elves want to lash out at him but at the same time they do not have the strength to do it. Adrian then went to his best friend who has collected his thoughts. Adrian knows that this build up was too fast even for the tree of life’s preventive magic to disappear.
“What happened?” Adrian asked Levin Cloud.
“Someone attacked us at the Council of Elders. More like something attacked us.” Levin Cloud replied.
.