Because the mechanical army was made of machinery, they were directly immune to the foul-smelling gas, which was equivalent to a poison gas attack.
They poured out energy bullets powered by reaction furnaces. The golden bullets, carrying arcs of electricity, exploded upon contact with the tree's body. The bursting energy caused large patches of filthy blood from the Curse-Rotted Greatwood to splatter in all directions.
The blood, eroded by the curse, emitted an ominous black mist, and the small purple flowers splashed by the blood withered instantly.
Facing the attack of the mechanical army, the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, despite clearly having no vocal organs, could still let out a loud roar.
That roar sounded as if thousands of people were howling in pain at the same time, mixed with countless dense whispers. The corpses hanging from the branches did not seem to be dead.
Although the Curse-Rotted Greatwood had no eyes, it didn't need them; its massive body was enough to crush all enemies.
Boom—!
Two massive branches suddenly sprouted from the surface of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, sweeping fiercely toward the surroundings with the sound of breaking wind. The nearby mechanical army had just activated their energy shields when a large group of them was sent flying.
The massive impact made the ground rumble, and dust spread in all directions.
The mechanical units that were knocked away took the opportunity to crawl toward the Curse-Rotted Greatwood's feet, which were composed of tree roots. There, roots and branches were intertwined, and fleshy pustules bulged high.
The black-spotted pustules seemed to have living things nesting inside, wriggling incessantly. The mechanical army clung to them without concern and then self-destructed.
Boom, boom, boom—!
Violent explosions rang out. The tumors, damaged by the blasts, splattered dark red blood, and chunks of flesh fell, wriggling continuously on the ground.
The Curse-Rotted Greatwood, having its weak points damaged by the explosions, suddenly began to sway. It frantically spat out stream after stream of yellowish pus; any robot splashed by it was directly corroded.
But the robots did not stop there. Instead, they exerted their final remaining utility, charging forward frantically to self-destruct, blowing off piece after piece of flesh.
Roaring frantically once more, the Curse-Rotted Greatwood suddenly used all its roots to push up its bloated, massive body, causing its entire form to suspend in mid-air.
Then the roots released, and the tree body fell heavily. The massive impact directly overturned the nearby robots. The round-headed robots were not to be outdone, self-destructing one after another on the spot.
In an instant, the roaring sound was incessant. The plaza floor, which was already built over a Hollow space, could no longer support the frantic destruction.
In the next moment, the entire floor of the plaza collapsed. The Curse-Rotted Greatwood, along with the nearby mechanical army, all fell into the pit below.
Xia Yu, who had known this would happen, did not hesitate. He strode forward to the edge of the pit. He had been watching the battle from the steps at the entrance, so he was not affected at all.
Although as an Ashen One he would not die, it would still hurt. Moreover, he didn't know if his humanity and memories would be lost after death, and he didn't want to find out. Therefore, it was better to be as steady as possible.
The Curse-Rotted Greatwood that fell below soon recovered, but the dense explosions had ultimately left it heavily wounded and on the verge of death.
The corpses originally hanging from the branches had long since turned into large patches of bright red dye staining the cave. The swollen, broken tumors also leaked filthy cursed blood.
Just as the Curse-Rotted Greatwood seemed to have reached its end, a pale giant hand suddenly stretched out from its trunk in the next second. The pale color formed a sharp contrast with the filthy husk. That giant hand, without a trace of blood, actually revealed a hint of holiness.
But the mechanical army would not be deceived. They still launched near-suicidal attacks.
Standing above, Xia Yu watched the battle below and silently claimed another batch of the mechanical army from the group chat. This batch was a new model; according to AI Xia Yu, the model for this mechanical army was the self-detonation type.
This model relied purely on the violent explosion of its furnace to eliminate enemies. Therefore, these robots were not equipped with any weapons and only had the most basic mobility.
In the next moment, a rain of machinery that blotted out the sky suddenly fell from the top of the cave. The red lights in the eyes of the round heads, painted in dangerous red, flashed faster and faster until—
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion rang out from within the cave. The surroundings of the cathedral shook incessantly, and a blinding light shot straight into the sky from the cave entrance.
The commotion here spread in all directions, and even the Hollows in the distant Undead Settlement couldn't help but look in this direction.
A moment later, a scorching breath emerged from the cave entrance, and the air was filled with the smell of charring and a faint stench.
"As expected, art is an explosion."
After a sigh of admiration, Xia Yu peeked toward the bottom of the cave. He hadn't received the soul of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, which meant the opponent wasn't dead yet.
At the bottom of the cave, although the Curse-Rotted Greatwood was not yet dead, it was not far from it. At this moment, the Curse-Rotted Greatwood was broken and charred all over, with no part of it intact.
The white giant hand that had stretched out from its body had long since turned into fragments all over the ground, revealing the soft, tender white inner cavity of the tree's heart.
"Damn, I actually think that tree heart looks edible?"
Xia Yu, looking at the miserable state of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, suddenly shook his head violently. He had actually developed such a terrifying thought; he was truly going crazy.
After shaking off the horrific thought from his mind, Xia Yu propped himself up and then leaped forward, falling straight toward the bottom of the cave.
If he were a previous Ashen One, he would definitely have fallen to his death from such a height, but he was no ordinary Ashen One—he was an Ashen One who could jump!
As he was about to reach the ground, Xia Yu emitted a massive amount of psychokinesis to support his body for a steady landing. Then, he walked toward the dying Curse-Rotted Greatwood.
"Curse... sacrifice... blood... soul..."
The dying Curse-Rotted Greatwood seemed to sense the approach of life, and the voice that sounded like thousands of people had turned into intermittent whispers.
Hearing the strange sounds in his ears, Xia Yu raised an eyebrow. This monster still had the strength to make a sound; he would help it find release.
Looking at the tender white inner cavity revealed after the Curse-Rotted Greatwood's body shattered, Xia Yu held his right hand high. A red-orange flame suddenly ignited from his hand and then covered his entire palm.
This was the Pyromancy Flame, the fire catalyst used when a pyromancer wants to use pyromancy. It was the flame passed on to him by the pyromancy teacher after he rescued him.
A cursed monster transformed from a divine tree should be purified by fire!
Squelch!
Xia Yu violently thrust his flaming palm into the inner cavity of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, then he grabbed a circular core and pulled it out!
It was a sphere composed of something like a biological shell, pitch black inside, shimmering with the starlight-like glow of a soul.
Deprived of its core, the Curse-Rotted Greatwood trembled violently for a moment. The intermittent whispers finally stopped. The spirit tree eroded by the curse became history today.
Xia Yu held the core in his hand, which was also his goal for this trip, the Transposing Kiln, and looked thoughtfully at the body of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood.
The soul of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood had already been absorbed into his body. It was a deformed soul formed by the mixture and condensation of thousands of souls, appearing in a hazy pale gold color.
In the game, this soul could be exchanged at the Transposing Kiln for two weapons—two weapons that existed within the body of the Curse-Rotted Greatwood.
But in reality... Xia Yu put away the Transposing Kiln, his hands ignited with the Pyromancy Flame again, and he thrust them violently into the Curse-Rotted Greatwood's body.
After fumbling around for a moment, a smile suddenly curved at the corners of his mouth, and then his hands pulled out two weapons.
The Hollowslayer Greatsword and Arstor's Spear, one of the two cursed weapons hidden inside the great tree.
Seeing his guess come true, Xia Yu excitedly put away these two weapons and began fumbling around inside the Curse-Rotted Greatwood again.
For the first time, he felt that looting a corpse could be this joyful.
A one-sentence summary of the two chapters: Xia Yu defeated the Curse-Rotted Greatwood!