"N-no... this is bad! Your Highness, something has gotten in!" Enjou, carrying his own light source, ran out of the darkness.
Today was truly his unlucky day. He had thought he could spend his days leisurely in the warehouse as usual, but something had actually attacked The Order.
This was the first time since The Order was established. So Enjou decisively dragged his companions and fled.
It wasn't that he wasn't trying; it was just that the enemy was too powerful.
The thought of the gigantic tree that had ascended through the earth's crust made Enjou shiver. Regardless of what those trees were, their sheer size alone was enough to crush him to death.
"What? To the warehouse!" Aether's eyes suddenly widened, then he suppressed his shock and ran towards the warehouse.
He wanted to see what dared to attack the headquarters of the Abyss Order!
Aether, leading Enjou and a large group of deployable Abyss Heralds behind him, swiftly moved through the dark underground.
The pitch-black darkness, where one couldn't see their own hand, seemed to not exist for them at all.
It was hard not to suspect that the bonfires were simply there to set the mood.
The boundless darkness finally showed a new change. At the end of Aether's vision, a brilliant golden curtain descended from the Sky, appearing so abruptly in the darkness.
"W-what is that thing!"
"It looks like gold. Is there any nation on the surface with a style like this?"
"Gold... no! That's a tree, a huge tree!"
...Even the Abyss Heralds, known for their taciturnity, couldn't help but exclaim at the sight before them.
A Sky-obscuring golden hue descended from the dome, as if something had shattered the thick earth's crust, allowing light to pour into the underground.
But all Apostles knew that the light underground wasn't like this. That light was emitted by gigantic tree vines interwoven above the dome.
Enjou heard his companions' exclamations and curled his lips. Apostles? They couldn't even recognize a tree.
Unlike him, he recognized it as a big tree at first glance, and immediately dragged his companions and ran without hesitation.
Of course, Enjou wouldn't dare to say that out loud. He was already a nobody in The Order; if he said that, not to mention how Aether would punish him for dereliction of duty, his colleagues wouldn't let him off.
What? You said Enjou was a Singer? Sorry, what's the difference between being a nobody among Abyss Mages and a nobody among Abyss Heralds?
There was still a difference. At least Enjou didn't have to be sent to the surface to cause destruction, and he could also slack off with his companions.
"Alright! Activate the element shields! I won't say more; you all understand!"
Aether raised an arm, and the Heralds' exclamations stopped. Then, a dull sword appeared in his other hand, and he charged first towards the coiling Golden Tree.
"Clang--"
Sparks rained down between Aether's dull sword and the Golden Tree's bark, the sound even shattering the stalactites on the distant dome.
"So hard!" Aether looked at his sword tip, which had barely penetrated an inch, his face filled with shock.
Although his strength had not fully recovered, fighting two rounds with the Seven Archons was still not a problem.
This power, yet it could only leave such a shallow gash on this tree?
Could this be Irminsul mutated?
Aether looked up at the gigantic wooden vine before him. What he didn't know was that the Golden Tree was also looking at him.
Something could leave a wound on him?
"Rumble!" The giant roots on the ground suddenly stirred. They were like wooden dragons rising from flat ground, destroying everything in their path.
Did it, the Golden Tree, really seem easy to bully? To bully it, one at least had to defeat its avatar first. Although it hadn't even condensed an avatar yet.
Xiao Huang was submissive to Yu Jin because Yu Jin had beaten its mother's avatar, the Elden Beast, to its knees, singing 'conquer'.
Aether? Who was he? Could he be eaten?
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The advantage of large size was fully displayed at this moment. Each strike of the Golden Tree was like an earthquake.
Huge dust and smoke splattered from the golden radiance. Deep purple, stable Abyss clumps flew, and the entire underground let out mournful wails.
Aether looked up at the dome of the cavern. Due to the Golden Tree's swaying, the earth's crust above the dome had even cracked.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before this cavern, hidden deep beneath the earth, would be submerged by rock and soil.
"Damn it."
Aether spread his palm, and countless water elements gathered. In the underground, where gold and black intertwined, a new expanse of indigo blue suddenly emerged.
These elements transformed into pure water, continuously compressing in Aether's hand.
"Hiss--"
Then he waved his hand, and the long-compressed water erupted as a fine line, its speed so fast that it traversed to the side of the Golden Tree in the blink of an eye.
Although it was water, its sharpness was enough to cut human skin.
The Golden Tree keenly sensed the approaching danger. Its giant roots on the ground danced, trying to dodge Aether's strike.
"Come down!"
Aether's other hand pulled downwards, and gigantic green vines drilled out of the earth, swiftly coiling around the rising Golden Tree.
"Bang bang bang!"
The roughly stimulated vines, though also gigantic, were not as tough as the Golden Tree. In just a moment, these green vines snapped.
But that moment was enough.
"Boom!"
The water line struck the Golden Tree's giant root, immediately emitting bursts of roaring sounds.
The water line, less than a finger's thickness, exploded, forming a mist that almost covered the entire battlefield, showing the immense amount of compressed water within.
"Bang bang bang!"
Amidst the roars, the sound of cracking rocks was faintly intertwined—the water droplets splashed from the water line, their power no less than the Fatui's bullets!
"Whoosh--"
The hazy golden color suddenly swayed, and the Golden Tree actually struck directly towards the sharp water blade.
"Hah!" Seeing this, Aether immediately retracted his element combat skill, gripping the hilt with one hand and supporting the blade with the other to block.
"Clang!"
A tremendous metallic clang echoed, and Aether was instantly sent flying. However, as his Wind Glider unfolded in mid-air, Aether actually flew directly in the windless area.
"Whoosh--, Whoosh--" Aether propelled the flowing wind, stabilizing his figure in the air.
Through the faint light emitted by the Golden Tree, Aether saw the terrifying wound on the Golden Tree's giant root.
But Aether looked up at the writhing golden Sky above the dome, and a wave of frustration couldn't help but rise in his heart.
A wound of this magnitude was just a drop in the bucket for the behemoth before him.
"Is this all I can do?" Aether took a few deep breaths, muttering softly.
"A bit of training is good!" Then his eyes became resolute. Aether raised his hand, looked at the Golden Tree's position, and clenched his hand.
"Buzz--"
Space seemed to be corroded by some terrifying entity, and irregular gaps appeared out of thin air. Within the gaps was a brilliant starry Sky.
But what flowed out of the starry Sky was not so beautiful.
Pitch black mixed with crimson seeped out from the gap. It seemed to be the most insane thing in the world, destroying everything in its path.
The power of the Abyss flowed, quickly covering the Golden Tree. The Abyss did not obey Aether's command; it attached itself to the Golden Tree simply because the Golden Tree was closest to it.
The gold was covered by black, and soon, the underground returned to darkness. Only the golden hue above the dome still shone.
Aether shook his dizzy head, and just as he was about to make the gap larger, he saw the golden hue above the dome gradually dissipate.
"Cough cough cough!"
Seeing this, Aether instantly closed the gap from which the Abyss was flowing. Just that short moment made him feel like his entire head was about to explode.
"Your Highness, how do you feel?"
The Heralds with their shields open rushed over. Aether had them open their shields not for combat, but for fear that they would be affected by the aftershocks of the battle.
"Send a few people to investigate above."
"Enjou, you go to Enkanomiya and bring back the "before sun and moon". Bring those few guys who ran away with you!"
Aether, while gasping, arranged the Abyss Order's next actions.
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