"Jungle of Defamation!!"
Drayrin smiled as he opened his arms widely as if he was welcoming everyone.
Jungle of Defamation was one of the aces of the Hall of Power, designed to handle anyone who dared to confront them. Its use meant that the Hall of Power was on its last legs.
Franklin stared at the surroundings with a gloomy look. Dense woods strangled a large number of people, draining their mana out of their bodies. It was also a type of sacrificial ritual to speed up the awakening process of their emperor.
Franklin then glanced at Eztein, who was wrapped tightly by several branches of trees. He struggled to break free, but the branches were slowly draining his energy with each passing moment.
"Nothing of you can escape us! No matter how much you struggle, in the end, we will take over this land by the time our emperor arrives here!" Drayrin said to Franklin with a huge smile plastered on his face. He was already imagining the moment when his emperor would return to this land.
"You... This is not your power. The energy isn't coming from you," Franklin said.
"You're quick. I don't have to hide it since all of you are going to die. The Jungle of Defamation is hidden in this land. No one could break it unless they shattered the core. It will continue to absorb all energy and eventually free our emperor. This is our last resort," Drayrin explained calmly. In his point of view, these people gave them a challenge, but once the Jungle of Defamation was activated, all of them were just fodder. That's why he was calm and easygoing right now.
"Hmm..." Franklin looked around.
"You can't find it. The entire central region is huge. It is 6,598 square kilometers. It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Drayrin laughed at Franklin.
Franklin shook his head and smiled. "I don't have to think about it. I will just kill you. I'll leave that part to my comrades."
"Huh? You really think you could kill me?!" Drayrin frowned. He pointed his fingers at Franklin.
In the next second, thousands of trees stretched out, rushing at Franklin with extreme speed.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Franklin moved his body from side to side, avoiding all the branches while launching energy beams at Drayrin.
Boom!!
"You piece of shit! I will show you what despair is!" Drayrin was angry. He charged forward and clashed with Franklin.
Bang!!
"Your mind is very simple! You guys will not place the core of what you call the Jungle of Defamation near the border of the central region! If some of your people are protecting an object somewhere in this land, then it would have gathered attention!" Franklin said as he repeatedly swung his blade-like hands.
Drayrin smiled before he answered, "It doesn't matter. The one who is protecting the core is stronger than me. Even if you find it, it is still useless if you can't defeat that person."
"Oh, you have no idea what we are capable of. You thought that you knew everything just because you have our information. I'm saying this because I know that you guys will fall sooner or later. I'm not kidding at all." Franklin mocked his opponent.
"Prove it to me!! Show me what you're capable of!!" Drayrin got angry at Franklin's words. His energy spread out as he attacked Franklin fiercely.
His elemental power rose sharply. His strength and speed had grown too as he activated his strongest skills.
"I'll show you what I'm capable of!!"
Drayrin roared. His body moved too fast and it exceeded Franklin's perception. In an instant, he had blown his opponent to the ground.
Bang!
The ground shook as thousands of branches swiftly rushed to strangle Franklin.
Franklin wanted to escape quickly but one of the branches managed to coil around his left leg. Without hesitation, he severed his left leg. Blood sprayed in the surroundings like a fountain. It was bad but he was lucky that he removed the branch.
"Damn!"
He smiled to himself thinking that this was the greatest fight that he experienced in his entire life. The chances of him winning was too low but it only made him more excited.
It was thrilling.
It made his blood boil.
...
Alexander was close to the Mountain of Demise when tens of thousands of trees suddenly emerged from the ground. Some of the trees even reached fifty meters in height.
In just a second, some of the branches wrapped around him. Confused, he realized that this was happening throughout the entire land.
"Hmm... These branches have the energy absorption ability?"
Alexander muttered to himself. He looked around and saw that other people have their energy drained by these branches. Some of the people escaped and were hurling heavy attacks at the trees. However, they seem to be never-ending. They kept coming again and again without a sign of their number decreasing.
He raised his hands and yanked the branches around his body.
These branches couldn't drain even a tiny bit of his mana. They sapped the mana inside his body, but Alexander's control over his mana overpowered them.
It was simple but hard to do. In the entire Hall Plains, only a few selected people could achieve the same feat.
Alexander turned his attention to the top of the Mountain of Demise.
"There is something ongoing there. It is close to the crimson net, so there must be more of this ritual than what we saw," He muttered before he advanced.
...
At the secret passage of the Mountain of Demise...
Alice arrived at the focal point of the passage and saw a man blocking her way.
The man had a snow-white face, pitch-black short hair, and a pair of red eyes. His name was Ragnis, the one who kidnapped Yenxa in White Wheat City.
Alice was alert as she could feel the danger oozing out of the man's body.
This man was strong. There's no doubt about it.
Her instinct alone was telling her that this unknown person was dangerous.
Behind the man was a huge tree, which was emitting a dim green and yellow light. The energy around it was too dense and it made the whole area slightly vibrate every second. It was wrapped in a semi-transparent barrier.
"What is that?" Alice frowned. She had a bad feeling about this. She had no idea what was happening on the surface.
"Oh, someone managed to find this area." Ragnis raised his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth slightly curved upward when he saw Alice. "I'm going to say that this area is off-limits so I advise that you go out and never return to this place."
"Are you with the Hall of Power?" Alice asked even though she was sure. She just wanted some time to observe what that mysterious tree was.
"You already know the answer to that question, Alice..." Ragnis replied.
Alice widened her eyes as she subconsciously took a step backward. She didn't expect this man to know her.
"You must be wondering how, right? It's simple, ever since we've located the perfect vessel we have started to investigate Souta and his people." Ragnis explained.
Alice didn't say anything. She just kept staring at this man while slowly circulating her mana around her body.
"Return now. If you don't, I'll kill you." Ragnis said.
"I can't return now. That tree is probably important to you." Alice said in a serious tone.
"Then, die!" Ragnis instantly appeared in front of Alice.
Alice already expected this so she managed to react quickly. She took out her spear and swiftly thrust it at her opponent.
Swoosh!
Ragnis shifted his body to the side. Then, he took out a pair of daggers on his back. The daggers emitted lightning arcs around its blade, amplifying its power to a higher level.
Clang! Clang!
Alice and Ragnis exchanged high-speed blows in just a second. Alice, who was in an offensive position, quickly changed her stance to a defensive one. Ragnis was faster than her and it was putting her in a pinch. Each of his blows created a lightning arc that traveled through her skin. This alone made both of her hands slightly numb.
[Boosted Lightning Speed]!!
Ragnis moved even faster than before. In just a second, he slashed Alice thousands of times. Then, he spun around and kicked her in the stomach.
Bang!
Alice crashed into the wall and spat a mouthful of blood. Some of her opponent's attacks still managed to bypass her defense and caused several cuts on her body.
Ugh!
She wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth as she stared intently at her opponent. She wanted to meet someone that could test her strength before and now an opponent that could make her go all out has really appeared.
"I told you to return now. Don't make me repeat myself." Ragnis said coldly.
"Why don't you show me what you are going to do if I didn't heed your words." Alice smiled faintly as her aura rose sharply. She tightly gripped the spear in her hand and cold energy slowly seeped out of it.
