Chapter 408 - 380: Infiltrating the Heart of the Tree Spirit, Slaying!
When the Ancient Tree Hero, whose enormous body was like a mobile fortress, took a step that spanned half the battlefield, Da Fei was shocked, his eyes wide open and mouth agape! Da Fei’s first reaction was to wonder if the Vine Demon could urgently airlift the Catapult away? However, based on game logic, such good fortunes usually cannot be enacted once battle has commenced, right?
And it was at this moment that Tachiusu exploded in a burst of green light and shouted, "Evil Branch, you’ve finally shown your true colors!"
A blood-red giant Array once again covered the battlefield; the bodies of hundreds of dead Evil Tree Spirits exploded violently, each corpse releasing a sturdy, blood-red vine, which lassoed around the Ancient Tree’s moving massive roots like ropes!
— System Prompt: Legion Commander Tachiusu has released the large Mysterious Magic "Parasitic Sapping Demon Vine"! The Demon Vine must be summoned using flesh and blood corpses. Once parasitic, it will bind the enemy and continuously absorb their life, Mana, and Stamina. This Spell requires the casting hero to maintain channeling continuously; when the hero’s Mana and Stamina are insufficient to sustain the Demon Vine, or if the casting hero is attacked, the Spell effect disappears!
In an instant, the Ancient Tree’s advance was suddenly halted by the entanglement of hundreds of vines around its roots! Da Fei was so amazed that he was lost for words; this Vine Demon Hero’s Spell was unbelievably dramatic!
The Ancient Tree said in a deep voice, "Little thing, how long do you think your Spell can hold me?"
At this time, Tachiusu, still shimmering with green light, maintained her casting stance and said through gritted teeth, "Hero, I must focus all my energy on binding the enemy and cannot move now. My troops are now under your command; do not let me be attacked! Victory or defeat depends on you now!"
— System Prompt: You have gained command of the Vine Demon Army!
Pfft! Da Fei couldn’t help but snort! So it turns out, the player’s role is to clean up this mess? That’s not how you fight a battle, is it?
If I had been in command from the start, I would have definitely taken advantage of the Flying Army’s mobility to clear the area of regular Tree Spirits from the river bank, gathering Experience as we weeded them out before taking on this big boss. As for tomorrow’s task of dealing with the insect nest, that’s something trivial that my Xiao Fei wouldn’t even need to worry about, right? A perfectly good mobile warfare tactic was turned into a tiresome siege by her; how could I not be frustrated?
Anyway, since I’ve taken over, there’s nothing more to say. Continue bombarding it with the Catapult!
Seconds ticked by, and Tree Spirits kept joining the battlefield, further scattering the troops’ firepower. The hundreds of blood vines entwining the Ancient Tree kept showing "-1" "-1" Damage, while blue flashes indicated the continuous absorption of Mana to make up for Tachiusu’s Mana consumption. Yet, Tachiusu’s Mana Value continued to decrease, meaning the Mana absorbed by the blood vines was nowhere near compensating for the consumption of casting the Spell. At this rate, the Spell might not even last a minute.
Would the Catapult be able to topple this Ancient Tree within a minute? If the enemy had 20,000 health, that would be impossible! Not to mention that such a large body doesn’t look anything like a low-level wall with only 20,000 health.
Da Fei felt like he had missed something again.
Under normal circumstances, how should a player appear here? Either by leading a large army to defeat the Eight-Headed Snake blocking the gate and marching to this point, or by entering from another unknown entrance. In any case, it certainly shouldn’t be like my current situation as a Commander without any troops, right?
However, as such a Commander, I have Xiao Fei’s incredible Divine Skill to instantly clear the field, completing a progress that even a player’s large army could not achieve, which led the system NPC to a tactical misjudgment, thinking that victory was within reach, hence starting the beheading battle?
Impossible! The system is very smart, and system NPCs, even if they are blind, can distinguish the difference between a Commander without troops and a large army. Try taking troops or not taking them into enemy Alliance territory and see?
That is to say, there must be a trick to this battle, and it probably is not greatly related to having a portable Catapult! It has nothing much to do with the player’s own military strength either!
The trick should be the weakness of the Tree Spirits. They cannot be as strong as they seem; without the beetles, what they can do is nothing but boldly confronting and using their lives to deplete the Vine Demon Ammo. How pathetically heroic?
Wait? Beetles? Tachiusu had said that the Ancient Tree is the largest Beetle Nest, and must be eliminated, which means—
A thought struck Da Fei, and he immediately assigned a Vine Demon to help him operate the cannon. Both the Catapult and Crossbow Cannon can be manned by medium or small-sized human-shaped troops to assist with operation, and the Attack attribute is calculated based on the hero’s.
Then Da Fei, fully focused, switched his perspective to Xiao Fei’s view—right, since this Tree Spirit is a Beetle Nest, then the little bugs should be flying out from the Tree Spirit’s body, right? And since these Vine Demons are Flying Soldiers, won’t they just rush into the Tree Spirit and destroy its nest from within? This means, the battle could be solely completed by the Vine Demon Army!
So the first step now is to locate the entrance to the Beetle Nest. Obviously, the dozens of thick vines continually swaying above the Tree Spirit’s head deeply betray the location of the nest entrance! It must be the gateway specifically designed to prevent Vine Demons from sneaking in through aerial assault!
That means players need to have excellent control to break through the barriers of the vines with their Flying Soldiers! Otherwise, the losses will be heavy! The key to completing this task is how many Vine Demons the player can successfully infiltrate!
I see! But for me, operations and such are unnecessary luxuries; my level is to simply crush through with high-tech!
— System Prompt: Your Reconnaissance Eagle Xiao Fei cannot enter Plane Surveillance state during combat!
Huh? Psh! Doesn’t matter! I’ll just disengage from combat then.
Da Fei immediately maneuvered Xiao Fei to fly away from the battlefield, then, Stealth! Wahahaha! Brother’s back again, don’t tell brother that a big tree like you that doesn’t even know magic can spot brother’s Stealth-ed Spiritual Eagle! No no no, this isn’t just Stealth, Stealth is just a visual misdirection with light, the body is still on this Plane. Only an indiscriminate Attack could blast the true body out. But Plane Surveillance means that the body has already entered another Plane. Unless the opponent has spatial skills, they can’t detect or interfere! This is the high tech that only ghosts possess!
Now, Xiao Fei, in Plane Surveillance mode, approached above the ancient tree where vines danced and saw—a huge rot hole between the thick branches and lush leaves!
Go through it!
The vines passed through Xiao Fei like illusions, without any interference at all!
Da Fei let out a long, triumphant laugh!
Xiao Fei entered the tree hollow, where a dim light flickered and a thunderous heartbeat-like rhythm echoed. Following the direction of the light and rhythm, a shimmering Space Gate appeared—Haha! Just as expected, jackpot!
The scene changed, and a circular hall appeared with rows of hexagon windows densely packed like a Hive. Countless insect eggs and larvae filled the hall, and in the center of the hall was a huge heart-like flesh ball pulsing!
Wahahaha, so it’s you! Brother’s best at kicking Demon Kindergartens, Xiao Fei, show yourself!
With a spatial fluctuation, blood-red Xiao Fei emerged with a whoosh and headed straight for the heart—"44!"
And just then, the entire Insect Nest Hall screeched, and countless larvae swarmed from all directions, but under Xiao Fei’s Petrification Aura, they were instantly turned to stone statues!
Nothing can stop Xiao Fei now! Brother’s high tech is so strong, even brother is scared of it! Haha, Wahahaha! Brother says, with such badass and formidable skills, how could there be a mission brother can’t handle! These Vine Demon beauties were indeed right in rushing to decapitate their target, it’s reasonable. Otherwise, if there were a bunch of Leader-level guards, Xiao Fei would have had real trouble taking this down!
Now, it’s good, Vine Demon beauties, adore brother! From today on, only think of me in your hearts, dream of me in your sleep, and chant my name with your lips, I am your God!!!
As Xiao Fei rampaged through the Insect Nest space, the ancient tree outside erupted with agonizing roars: "How is this possible! Why is this happening!"
Tachiusu cheered: "Regulas, today is your end!"
The ancient tree growled resentfully: "You finally call my name, and I finally remember yours, Tachiusu, but I am a great hero, I will not die, don’t be pleased for long, I’ve will come back—Ah—"
Boom!!! With the heart of the Insect Nest Space exploding, Regulas’ fortress-like gigantic body thunderously fell, raising a cloud of dust!
...
—System Prompt: Congratulations! You have defeated the Evil Tree Spirit Hero Regulas, You’ve won the battle, you’ve gained Experience +730,000, and you’ve obtained the spoils of war: the troop building "Evil Tree Spirit Fortress."
—Evil Tree Spirit Fortress: Can recruit Evil Tree Spirits, Evil Beetles.
—System Prompt: Congratulations! You’ve achieved "Victory in the 14th Battle," and received a reward of Command Power +10.
—System Prompt: Congratulations! You’ve achieved "Victory in the 8th Glorious Battle," and received a reward of Command Power +20, Personal Life +20.
—System Prompt: Congratulations! You’ve completed the mission "Assault on the Evil Branch Tribe" perfectly with zero casualties, gaining Experience 1,000,000, your reputation among the Lumang Tribe has now become "Revered!" You have obtained the recruitment rights of Lumang Fortress, able to recruit the Special Forces "Forest Vine Demons".
—System Prompt: Congratulations! You’ve leveled up to Level 40! You’ve gained free attribute points +1, Skill Points +1, Life +2, Command Power +1, Personal Damage Value +1, tactical position +1, Ranger profession extra provides Attack +1, Master-level Navigator extra provides free attribute points +1, Intermediate Treasure Appraiser extra provides free attribute points +1, temporary Reconnaissance Sentinel extra provides temporary Attack +1.
"Victory!!!" The Vine Demons cheered jubilantly, encircling Da Fei among waves of cheer and excitement!
Wahahaha! That’s the reaction I wanted. Brother didn’t care for you all for nothing! Brother thought this was a losing deal, but who knew I could recruit the opponent’s troops after taking them down! Now I can recruit Special Soldiers from both sides!
Very good, now the battle is over, little darling Tachiusu, isn’t it time you tell brother about this map’s secrets?
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