Quite a few Elves sensed something wrong inside the Barrier, and then they saw it. A strange black shadow blotted out the sky, slamming down again and again, and each impact made golden patterns of the Holy Tree flash across the heavens as large golden Shard fragments fell away. Panic spread as disbelief turned into fear.
"Could it be an attack?"
"That is impossible, this is inside the Barrier…"
The thought itself felt unreal to the Elves. The only way in or out of Elven Homeland was through the Teleportation Array, an ancient remnant of mysterious Magic, and even locating a Magic Array required the Elves's innate Nature's Blessing and Empathic Communion. The Barrier itself also shifted locations periodically and never stayed in one place, and interfering with it required Laws and power that ordinary enemies simply did not possess.
That was why this place had always felt like a fairy tale refuge. Every Elves believed it to be so. But when a corner of the Barrier finally cracked under repeated attacks and exposed the outside, releasing an unspeakable malice, they realized the truth. A fairy tale was only a fairy tale, and reality was never short of cruelty.
Dense, twisted limbs tangled together into ugly tentacles that writhed into the sky. As they surged, muffled roars echoed while they forced their way into this narrow world. The sacred Barrier passed down through generations of the Elven Race was being gnawed open by distorted, malicious Laws. Beyond it, a starving existence tasted the scent within and let drool fall, delighted by high quality souls rich in Magic.
It also sensed a young kindred.
Vines warped into grotesque shapes, opening petal-like maws that devoured water, air, light, and even space itself. Wherever they passed, nothing remained. The sky looked like a whirlpool, writhing vines and naturally leaking distortion forming a sickly dark green vortex, like a giant mouth.
Ugly green masses poured down like waterfalls, piling into waves that shaped themselves into giant trees on the ground. Roots like claws locked into the earth, greedily consuming everything around them. The urge was simple. Eat.
"Huh…?"
"Run… run!"
The Elves were not foolish and tried to flee at once, but they quickly discovered they no longer could. From the moment they saw that twisted form, tentacle-like fibers surfaced across their skin, and without noticing, their feet turned into green roots fixed to the ground. Terror froze them in place.
"Pff!"
Dull blood mixed with corroded organs burst out and hung from branch-like growths extending from arm bones. A person transformed into a bizarre green tree of flesh. Companions screamed and instinctively used Empathic Communion to sense what was happening, only for another spray of blood to erupt as fleeing Elves turned into a forest.
The phenomenon spread at once. If the Elves could not escape, then plants and all other life here had no chance either. Death advanced without pause.
"All Elves, immediately enter the Barrier and take shelter in the Holy Tree hall!"
Vivian swept her staff and spoke in the name of the queen. She did not dare use Empathic Communion, instead sending her command through massive air vibrations, plain sound reaching every ear. Her face was pale, and even after activating the internal defenses of the Barrier to block the spreading polluted Laws, more than fifty thousand Elves had already been turned into forest in that brief instant.
Relying on a fleeting touch of Empathic Communion, she had felt the blasphemous thoughts flood her mind. It was not even an attack, only the other side's passive presence. She steadied herself, shaken to the core.
"Is an Evil God really this terrifying? Even with the rituals here and the Barrier's protection…"
She possessed supreme protective relics and was herself a Ascendant Hall level existence, yet she had nearly fallen to polluted Laws in an instant. An elder appeared behind her, grave-faced, explaining that all ancestors above Ascendant Hall had been awakened. The choice was stark. Fight head on, or something else.
"Everyone above Gold Rank, come with me and try to block that descending existence."
She paused, then spoke again. "And then, please have the Grand Elder send Luna out first. We cannot let the world tree…"
"No. It is too late."
The crown-ranked Grand Elder appeared, his expression just as grim. "I have sealed all exits of the Barrier. Every outside destination is already polluted by that thing. It does not only want to devour us, it wants to turn the entire Barrier into part of itself."
"What?"
A deafening roar answered.
If one could see the creature's true body outside, it would be shocking. Countless mountains were fused together, all covered in nauseating dark green slime. Plant flesh, corpses, and even inorganic matter were churned together into a single repulsive mass, waving innumerable tentacles and claws as it forced itself into a torn Shard void.
Outside the Elven Homeland Barrier, several forests had already become a living hell. Worse still, the monster's roots did not dig into the ground but into the sky itself. Eight enormous pillars made of blasphemous statues and Great Dragon corpses nailed the heavens, tearing open a massive eight-sided Rend opening.
That Rend opening was like a giant mouth, chewing through the fabric of reality. Its edges were lined with Shard fragments like fangs, and even a hint of its unreal colors was enough to drive one mad. The monster's lower body lay within that opening, likely far larger than the mountain-like bulk outside.
"So it opened here… Pope, you really have your methods."
"Heh. It is thanks to a bit of help from some Elves friends of the church."
In a carved-out space, a strange green dragon and a shattered statue that retained only its head watched the scene with interest and zeal. The Rift they had opened led to a lost old era, filled with forbidden power beyond technique, the abyss most people only knew by name.
Restoring a shambling corpse to a god at full strength was impossible and not worth the resources. It only needed to be useful. The abyss itself was already stripped bare by mad gods, but this one was special.
"The Elven Race… they were its creation when it still lived."
"Probably. I only know fragments of the secrets."
To truly revive and return required feeding, and ready-made prey was best. The world and the Elves plane were like two bubbles, and the abyssal Rift lay in the thin gap between them. To higher beings, this overlap was not a barrier but a clear beacon.
That was one reason. Another was that devouring the Elven Race would yield high quality souls and perhaps traces of divine power within the Elves. There was also the last remaining world tree seed. Once consumed, it would provide a foundation to invade reality, allowing the being to descend again as a world tree and blur the line between reality and abyss.
In time, it could even seize the nest and turn the entire Elven Homeland into a proto Divine Kingdom. Those were reasons one and two. But the most important was reason three.
"This really is a massive offering," the green dragon sighed, half tempted to reach out and grab some.
"There is no choice. That nearly revived Crimson God being crushed by that monster last time was unforgettable. We have to gather power fast."
They both understood. Such an investment was meant to let this monster take root, like laying down a fungal mat, far more useful than either of them. But such a commotion would surely attract the other monster. Even hiding in space, the green dragon had nearly been discovered, and its Clone had almost been blown apart by a charged particle cannon.
Time was short. Even if resources were wasted, this monster had to be strengthened enough to withstand the other one.
"At least sanctuary level, already forming a personal world, wielding Laws tied to pure destruction, a demigod on the path to godhood, and possessing a similar monster…"
"It really is a perfect counter."
"When did the Dragonkin get something like this? Even that silver dragon seemed unaware. Or can a Dragon God that already split its Authority still grant divine favor?"
The green dragon muttered, eyes burning with excitement. The plan was close. In at most a few decades, that reincarnation would descend.
The living mountain slammed its tentacles down again and thrust its massive dragon-beast-like head inside, opening its greedy maw. It swallowed a roaring golden sphere with ease, a large ritual Magic launched under the Grand Elder's the Lord, joined by nearly ten Ascendant Hall and close to a hundred Gold Rank.
"No good… it is too strong!"
"Our Magic has no effect, and my own Laws is close to being twisted."
A phantom dandelion floated in the air, wavering as an ancestral Elves spoke. Vivian knelt on one knee with her staff, while three other Gold Rank of the Elven Race lay unconscious beside her, their Magic drained dry.
"Watch out, its tentacles are coming again!"
A massive vine pierced and devoured the defensive Barrier with ease. Two Ascendant Hall were swallowed on the spot. It then stabbed into the supreme sanctuary of the Elven Race, the Holy Tree hall, where over five hundred thousand Elves were sheltering.