NOVEL NEXT Chapter 350: World Treants
The battle for the Thunder Highlands was a large-scale conflict with a battlefield radius spanning several hundred miles, divided into numerous smaller skirmishes. In such a massive battle, if no decisive, overwhelming factor emerged, it could easily drag on for days, nights, or even longer.
Lucas did not rush to take action. He first observed the battlefield carefully. He sensed something peculiar about this fight. Firstly, the scale of the Chaos Federation's participating forces was extraordinarily large. The Abyssal Dragon Legion alone numbered twenty thousand, in addition to a vast number of Guardian Knights, high-level demons, and ents.
The total number of these top-tier troops exceeded thirty thousand. Such a massive force was enough to cause significant resistance and casualties for the church coalition. Even under the leadership of three demigod-level Heroes, victory would be hard-won and likely close to a pyrrhic victory. The Radiant Church would inevitably suffer great losses from this battle.
However, this did not concern Lucas. To him, the Radiant Church was not of paramount importance. As long as he could secure victory in this battle, destroy the Darkness City, and eliminate the Demon King Zhang Nu, any cost would be worth it. Even if it meant sacrificing the entire Radiant Church, it would still be worthwhile. After all, if he could destroy the Darkness City and kill Zhang Nu, the rewards would make Lucas the number one Hero, elevating him to a god-like status.
At that point, with his own power and the artifact Heart of Holy Light, no force in the world could oppose him. The Radiant Church, no matter how strong, was just a faction. Once he achieved absolute power, what need would he have for any particular faction when he could command any force to his will?
At this moment, Lucas felt a sense of gravity, not because of the battle situation, but due to a strange phenomenon he couldn't understand. Why hadn't the Demon King Zhang Nu appeared yet?
The Demon King Army was not weak. With the home-field advantage of the Chaos Forest, their forces could match the church coalition evenly if the top combat powers on both sides didn't engage. In such circumstances, the top combatants' importance would directly determine the battle's outcome.
Han Kexin had already shown such formidable strength, enough to resist a Level 7 legendary figure. Logically, Zhang Nu should be even stronger than Han Kexin. If Zhang Nu were to engage and leverage the vast numbers of the Demon King's forces, it wouldn't necessarily lead to a decisive victory, but it would certainly increase their chances significantly.
So, why wasn't he taking action?
Lucas shared his confusion with the other two demigod Heroes. Mandell said, "There must be a reason why Zhang Nu isn't taking action. Either he's unable to return in time due to some reasons, or he's preparing some other scheme against us."Wang Badao nodded, "Makes sense. Which possibility do you think is more likely?"
"I think it's probably the second one," Lucas concluded. "Zhang Nu killed the Prophet of Doom Primo and very likely has stolen Primo's abilities. He should have foreseen this battle and prepared in advance."
Indeed, using the prophet's abilities, if he could foresee the battle, how could Zhang Nu, the Lord of Darkness City and the number one Demon King, miss such a crucial fight? What could be more important than this?
Lucas proposed, "I have an idea. Let's have our troops continue fighting the Demon King's army while the three of us each lead an elite unit directly towards the Darkness City."
The others agreed. Wang Badao said, "I support this. If the enemy is indeed plotting something, we can uncover and disrupt it in time. If he's absent, we can seize the opportunity to destroy Darkness City. Without their base, even if he has extraordinary abilities, it will be futile."
After their discussion, the three immediately took action.
Lucas led thirty-six archbishops from the Radiant Archdiocese and five hundred Paladins from the Holy Order. Each archbishop was a Level 6 overlord, and even the weakest of the knights were top-tier Level 5, with a tenth of them reaching Level 6.
Wang Badao and Mandell also selected some elite troops from their forces.
"Let's go!" Lucas activated a space-attribute skill, transporting this elite unit from the rear of the battlefield directly to the center of the Chaos Forest.
"Damn it! Vice City Lord! Those three have left!" Nancilia sensed the spatial fluctuation and immediately reported to Han Kexin, "They're going to attack the Darkness City!"
Han Kexin's eyebrows furrowed slightly at first, but then, as if sensing something, she smiled. "If they had made such a move yesterday, we would have had to fight for time with our lives. As for now... let them go!"
It was too late! Han Kexin knew well that the Darkness City would not be easily breached!
Lucas successfully used his teleportation skill to transport an elite force of over a thousand top-tier units to the vicinity of the Darkness City. From a distance, he could see the entire Darkness City shrouded in a massive barrier.
Unlike other areas, the density of World Trees within a few hundred miles of the Darkness City was much higher. In this vicinity, there was even a colossal World Tree, over ten times larger and reaching a height of tens of thousands of meters. The energy it emitted was far stronger than that of other World Trees.
This was no ordinary tree. It was the core mother tree of the World Tree!
Unlike other World Trees, the power of the Mother World Tree was vastly superior. When it sensed intruders entering this area, hundreds of World Tree Priests, led by Arch-Priestess Gu Yi, acted from atop the Mother Tree. The towering World Tree immediately unleashed its immense power, causing the surrounding hundreds of Offspring World Trees to undergo astonishing transformations. These energy-filled World Trees all transformed into ents, each possessing at least the power of a Level 6 overlord.
At this instance, the three demigod Heroes faced not only a barrier several times stronger than one outside but also a massive group of Level 6 overlord units. Moreover, these Level 6 overlord units, being transformed World Trees, could draw power from the earth and had nearly infinite stamina. The longer the battle dragged on, the more formidable the attrition they would cause.
"Damn it!" Lucas hadn't anticipated encountering such a predicament.
But compared to these formidable World Treants, what truly shocked and intimidated Lucas was the sight above Darkness City. Countless chaotic black clouds were brewing, and within them, a colossal dragon, thousands of meters long with nine claws, was forming.
"This dragon's aura..." Wang Badao sensed a hint of the dragon fear. Even as the Holy Dragon Emperor, the pinnacle of dragon-kind, he felt like an ant before a giant dragon. It was an absolute suppression of bloodline and status!
"What's going on?" Wang Badao was incredulous. "Isn't Zhang Nu an abyssal dragon? Why is he transforming into this?"
Mandell's face turned pale with fear. "No, this is Level 7's aura. He's breaking through!"
Finally, they understood. Lucas, with a grim expression, said, "If his aura is this terrifying even before the breakthrough, the consequences will be unimaginable if he succeeds... We must stop him!"
The three Heroes were all demigods, but from the dragon before them, they could sense the aura of a true god!
Demigods and true gods might seem similar in name, but they were vastly different, completely incomparable. A demigod merely possessed a touch of divinity. In contrast to a true god, they were leagues apart, not even in the same realm.