"It might also be possible that only one person took action," Colin whispered.
"Yes," Lillian nodded slightly. "Let's move on."
She glanced at the sculpture on the floor. "On the bright side, at least they cleared a lot of obstacles for us."
Despite saying this, Lillian's expression inevitably darkened slightly.
There were not many traces of battle in front of the door, and the entire battle ended in an extremely crisp and decisive manner... although the displayed attack strength was only that of a First Rank Advanced.
But that could only represent the lower limit of the third group's strength.
As for the upper limit... no one could be sure.
If it was a Second Rank, or perhaps not just one person but three or four... Even if we take a step back and there were only two people, both of First Rank Advanced strength, it would probably be very difficult for her alone, being a First Rank Advanced Wizard, to handle it, even with Colin's help.
However, the only consolation was—she and Colin were still in the shadows.
'Thankfully I ran into Colin.' With this thought, Lillian couldn't help but feel a moment of emotion.
The blue sky above was discovered by Colin, the white flower that indicated the existence of the third group was also found by Colin... and also his little elf.
If it weren't for meeting Colin and that little elf named Nasi, she might still be trapped in the Subspace of the High Level Elves right now, unsure if she could find a way to survive... or might ultimately have died there.
Colin, walking behind her, naturally did not perceive Lillian's complex thoughts. Still, he was slightly worried about the strength of the third group, occasionally looking in the direction suggested by Anando's Dice.
"Another trace of battle."
Just then, Lillian suddenly spoke telepathically, pointing towards the hall in front of them.
Colin followed her pointing and saw another shattered sculpture, this time of a High Level Elf, with long hair and pointed ears, only its armor was even more ornate than that of the sculptures at the entrance.
As for its strength... it probably had decayed to about the same as the sculptures outside.
Because from the traces of the battle, it was also a swift one, using an attack strength of only First Rank Advanced.
"Let's continue moving forward," Lillian withdrew her gaze and softly spoke.
Next, the two of them continued deeper into the palace... and without needing Colin to intentionally guide them, according to the occasional battle scars, Lillian's direction was exactly as Anando's Dice had indicated.
This only made Colin more certain that Anando's Dice's results were indeed pointing towards that third group.
In this way, after a while, the two had to stop in a grand hall.
Before them lay a giant tree-like carcass.
The tree had a face carved by knives and axes, stern and resolute, possessing not only a human-like torso but also a head and limbs like humans, only made from entwined wooden material and much larger in size—roughly, it stood at least ten meters tall!
"Is this a War Tree?" Lillian frowned slightly. "Such a cruel creature, weren't they supposed to be completely destroyed after the war a thousand years ago?"
"War Tree...?" Colin questioned.
"Wizards, with the help of the Elf Clan and leveraging the Tree Elves' Talent in plant life, along with knowledge of flesh manipulation through witchcraft, developed these giant weapons specifically for warfare... Behind each War Tree, there lies a tormented soul imprisoned."
As Lillian spoke, she cautiously walked closer to the War Tree, reaching out to touch it.
"If it were just the soul, it wouldn't be considered cruel... after all, during the war a thousand years ago, there were always some whose souls weren't worthy of preservation.
But the souls required for War Trees aren't so simple... A soul of a First Rank Wizard's strength merely scrapes the bottom line needed for transformation, and it must also possess immense determination to resist the madness brought by merging flesh with the massive tree body."
"Yet, despite this," Lillian sighed, "those Wizards or Elves, who endured the transformation and could bear the torment of madness up until their souls dissipated, in any era, wouldn't be just any ordinary individuals."
Yet in the war a thousand years ago, they could only be used as such expendables...
"This is probably not an original War Tree."
As she spoke, Colin suddenly pointed to the chest of the War Tree.
There, instead of the rough bark of the tree concealed by green leaves, there was a round cavity.
In the center of the groove was a dark red gemstone, shattered into several pieces.
Lillian noticed this as well, her expression changing slightly.
"This is something that has never been recorded... The Elf Clan, could it be that they continued their research on war tree beings after the war?!"
"Perhaps there was the involvement of wizards behind it, otherwise relying solely on the Elf Clan..." Colin speculated.
"No, it could also be that the Elf Clan alone continued the research!" Lillian shook her head, denying Colin's speculation as she turned to explain, "To the outside world, the Elf Clan is seen as a race that only relies on the power of their bloodline and does not explore and research knowledge like wizards...
However, when I was young, my mother told me that during the war, perhaps influenced by the wizards, the Elf Clan gradually began to research their own powers!
Especially the Tree Elf Clan, known for their wisdom, who collaborated with wizards during the war and achieved many results, one of which is the war tree being right in front of us."
Colin nodded slightly.
In truth, he did not care whether the Elf Clan was researching war tree beings; he only knew that they might be in considerable trouble now...
"Lillian, the dark red gemstone on the chest of this war tree being shows clear signs of contamination."
Colin, with a solemn expression, pointed at the shattered gemstone on the tree being's chest and continued,
"And look closer at that gemstone... Inside, there seem to be characters that resemble the ancient Elven language we saw earlier on the lower shelves!"
Upon hearing this, Lillian stepped closer and scrutinized it carefully.
After a moment, her pupils contracted slightly.
In the shattered pieces of the gemstone, almost each shard harbored one or several characters tinged with a purple-red hue, faintly undulating in and out of visibility!
"Also, Lillian, judging from the gemstone's fractured surface, it has been shattered for a long time... The tree being's skin and trunk are also extremely desiccated," Colin added, feeling a vague unease inside.
This war tree being, just from its appearance, should have died a long time ago... but the fresh battle marks around them reminded them—this war tree being was still active until not too long ago.
"Could it be due to the Dark Red Wind previously?" Lillian frowned tightly, suddenly struck by an idea.
'The Contamination Wind...' Colin paused, then in the next second, connected everything together.
"Are you saying this tree being, which should have been long dead, just like those lifeless books, came back to life during the descent of the Dark Red Wind, spurred by those strange characters?"
"Mmm." Lillian nodded and then shook her head, "Those peculiar characters are so unusual they likely aren't ancient Elven language.
Now it seems, perhaps it's better that they've disappeared..."
Colin felt a slight sinking in his heart, but quickly, he suppressed the additional thoughts and casting his gaze over the war tree being, he said solemnly:
"I've taken a close look, and there are a total of forty-eight fresh wounds exposed on the body of the war tree being, but the fatal wound is probably only one."
Saying this, he pointed at a through-and-through wound the size of a baby's skull located on the head of the war tree being.
As for why it could be determined to be a fatal wound,
The reason was simple—
The other forty-seven wounds were merely minor abrasions to the skin or were just shallow indentations, the deepest of which was only about a dozen centimeters.
For the massive body of a war tree being, these were clearly not fatal injuries.
"Of course, it might not be a fatal wound, the lifeless state of the war tree being could also be because the Dark Red Wind has already ceased...
But regardless, that through-and-through wound on the head was mostly likely caused by a third party!"
Colin added:
"The attack that caused such a wound..."
"At least a Second Rank," Lillian finished his sentence, her expression slightly grave.
Colin closed his mouth, his expression also becoming somber.