Chapter 257 The Weight of History Franka held the "Judgment" card and whispered in Hermes: "Request a trial!" The seemingly ordinary tarot card did not change at all, but after just a few seconds, the Golden Rooster Hotel began to shake noticeably. The brown-green branches and green vines covering the surface of the building retreated a lot, as if they were afraid of something. This made Franca's view of the scene outside the window suddenly increase. She saw the sky connected to the blurred treetops, and the clouds were like encountering a hurricane, being blown in the same direction. As the wind direction changed, countless white clouds formed a huge vortex, hanging down to the ground, stretching into a giant sword of airflow that penetrated the sky and the earth. The giant sword fell, and a figure stood steadily in the middle of the chaotic street. It was a woman with blond hair that fell to her shoulders, and she was wearing a traditional gray-white knight training uniform. She is over meters tall, with delicate features and gentle eyes, but she has a kind of majesty that makes people submit and obey. The chaotic street where she was standing was no longer the same as usual. The surrounding buildings, the not-so-wide roads, and the vendors and pedestrians who were collectively immersed in various desires were separated into sections, scattered throughout the strange wilderness, and mixed with other streets.
Between them are a large number of gnarled tree roots that have grown out of the ground. They are distributed outward in layers, with the giant brown-green tree as the center. The closer to the center, the denser the roots. It is precisely because of the existence of that strange wilderness that the several streets occupied by giant trees have not been discovered as abnormal by outsiders! Upon seeing the short but majestic yellow-haired lady arrive, Franka visibly breathed a sigh of relief. She held the two cards, Judgment and Two of Cups, and said sincerely: “Praise the fool! "Praise the 'Judgment' lady!" The lady called "Judgment" looked to the side of the giant brown-green tree as soon as she landed. A cradle-style dark red open carriage had been parked there at some point, and the two tall creatures that looked like demons, with black bodies and burning dark flames, were pulling the carriage. Sitting in the carriage was a woman wearing a light veil and a loose white robe. Her belly was slightly protruding, and her whole body was filled with a tangible maternal glow. "Ms. Moon"! The weird wilderness is her "other world"! "Ms. Yue"... You really crawled out of the rat hole... The eyes of the yellow-haired lady named "Judgment" suddenly became blurred, as if they were dyed with golden color. Through this she saw the extraordinary forces that were intertwined with the woman in the carriage, existing in different colors and states. "Deprive!" A solemn voice came out of the mouth of Ms. Judgment. That is an ancient Hermetic word. With a simple movement of her right hand, "Ms. Moon" temporarily deprived creatures of different sexes and species of their ability to reproduce. Then, Ms. Judgment leaned forward, extended her palm, and announced again in the ancient Hermetic language: "exile!" With a whooshing sound, an invisible and powerful force rolled into a terrifying hurricane, whistling in front of "Ms. Moon". They ignored distance and seemed to spawn right where the carriage was. The rosy lips that were faintly visible under the veil of "Ms. Moon" suddenly opened and she took a deep breath. The exaggerated hurricane that seemed to be able to lift up the entire building finally found an outlet in a closed container, rushing into the mouth of "Ms. Moon" and pouring into her body. In just one second, the hurricane disappeared without a trace and was completely swallowed by "Ms. Moon". With a strong maternal glow, she stretched out her right hand and touched her bulging belly soothingly.
………… In that world where the blue sky and white clouds are like an oil painting and the ground is covered with gnarled tree roots. Lumian saw Susanna Mathis in the tree canopy, and after exchanging a glance with her, he immediately condensed semi-illusory red fire crows around him once again. The fire crows circled and flew high into the sky, but they could not reach the virtual tree canopy. They could only get close but could not touch it. They fell onto the brown-green trunk, burning it into blackened spots. Seeing this, Lumian quickly changed his target of attack. He had previously discovered that fire could cause certain damage to this strange thing called the "Shadow Tree"! One after another, red fireballs condensed and exploded towards the branches of the giant tree, but they only burned them and failed to achieve more obvious effects. Lumian stopped his actions temporarily, and while Susanna Mathis was busy with something and Charlotte Calvino had not yet recovered from the burns, he seemed to hide in some illusory scene, allowing the red flame in his palm to condense layer by layer, and finally turned into a fist-sized white sphere. Boom! The explosion sound caused by the blazing white fireball was several times stronger than before, however, not even a piece of the "Shadow Tree"'s skin fell off. Only a larger area of charring and a slight curling of a light-colored giant flower proved that the blazing white flame flow was not an illusion. Lumian's expression was solemn. He took a moment to produce a spear wrapped in white flames in his palm. He threw the spear at the giant brown-green tree and saw it poke needle-sized holes in the charred bark, then disintegrated into streams of flames, spreading to different parts of the tree. Seeing this, Lumian's heart tightened, and he remembered a phrase his sister Aurore liked to use to describe people who overestimated their own abilities and made unrealistic moves: "It's like an ant trying to shake a tree." Lumian waved his fists in anxiety, restlessness and fear. His fists were covered in red flames. With every blow he struck at the giant brown-green tree, a ray of fire seeped into it. "Fire!" Lumian wanted to avoid the hard bark of the Shadow Tree and directly damage its heart. clap clap clap! Lumian's flaming fists landed densely on the trunk of the giant brown-green tree, as if he wanted to pour all the flames accumulated in his body into it. Bang, bang, bang. After a round of crazy attacks, he retracted his fists and took a step back. Rumble! There was a dull explosion sound from inside the tree trunk, and the already charred bark finally fell off with flames. It suddenly became blurred and hazy, as if a beautiful dream from the past was lit up by a match. Lumian was in a trance for a moment, as if he had become the man in the dream, having a fierce physical fight with a beautiful lady whose gorgeous long dress was intact except for the hem which was lifted up. The strange feeling was so clear and tangible that Lumian felt as if he had experienced it himself. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his ankle and he woke up instantly. He saw a large number of branches and vines extending from his side, some of which had wrapped around his feet. After successive efforts, the spikes finally pierced through his blood-red robe, sank into his skin, and absorbed his blood. Lumian snorted, and waves of red emerged from his body, forming a flamboyant cloak of flames outside his flesh-and-blood robe.
With crackling sounds, all the branches and vines were lit up, burning fiercely, and quickly turned into dead branches and ashes. Lumian took the opportunity to escape, jumped to the side, and cast his eyes on the wound he had just created. What caught his eyes was still the brown-green bark, but it was a little sunken compared to the surrounding area. Under the bark is still bark! Lumian's pupils dilated rapidly, and he had a rough idea of the current situation: The "Shadow Tree" has been nourished by countless abnormal desires in Trier over the past one or two thousand years. Each piece of its bark may correspond to certain human activities in a certain period of time. They are superimposed on each other, with both the weight of history and the subtlety of humanity. Simply put, if Lumian wants to destroy this "Shadow Tree", he will have to face the countless desires that have accumulated over the past one or two thousand years, and he just used up all his strength to kill one of them, one of hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions. How can we fight this! It was only then that Lumian realized that his behavior was abnormal: He actually just sat there attacking the Shadow Tree instead of looking for a way to help himself leave. After exchanging glances with Susanna Mathis, his mind was filled with fear, anxiety, and eagerness! No wonder Susanna Matisse let me act, no wonder Charlotte Calvino didn't come out to stop me despite her injuries... Although Lumian had been on guard against the "fallen tree spirit" and "actor" arousing his desires and emotions, he was still affected unconsciously. He raised his head again, looking upwards, and saw Susanna Matisse, wrapped in long green hair, constantly changing her position in the blurred tree canopy, chanting strange spells. Charlotte Calvino resumed her previous actions, walking from one imaginary scene to another in a strolling posture. Her clothes, hairstyle, and makeup were constantly changing according to different eras. This seemed to be more than just a performance requirement. Lumian's thoughts raced, and he suddenly felt dizzy and his strength was rapidly draining away. He had never had this experience before, but he had made several people experience it. The kind of drug used by the "Supreme Bliss Society"! Lumian, who was good at observing the environment, quickly took out the mystic smelling salts and locked his eyes on the large number of light-colored giant flowers on the brown-green giant tree. He suspected that the gas that caused people to become unconscious was released by them! A sneeze! Lumian sneezed and turned around, trying to distance himself from the Shadow Tree. At this time, Mr. K still did not show up. The next second, tree roots frantically drilled out from the ground, forming a wooden fence more than ten meters high around the giant brown-green tree, blocking Lumian's escape route. Lumian stopped and turned around. He saw countless cracks on the trunk, branches and many roots of the Shadow Tree. Some of them had wet, light-colored flowers growing on them, while others looked like dark, deep, mucus-filled giant mouths that were rapidly extending towards him. After staring for a second, Lumian, who had nowhere to escape, curled the corners of his mouth. He suddenly stretched out his right hand, pressed his left chest, and said in a mocking tone: "Thermopylae, they really look down on you. They actually want to use you as a sacrifice." (End of this chapter)