My world-tree system-Chapter 70 - 69: The Voracious Tree

Escape was a nightmare.

Branches whipped across their skin, scratching their flesh like invisible fangs. Treacherous roots tried to topple them with every step. The air was saturated with an almost palpable tension, heavy and oppressive. Each breath seemed to steal a fraction of the time they had left before they were caught.

Foster didn’t need to look back. He could feel the threat closing in on them, implacable. The eight presences he’d sensed were drawing ever closer, swift and relentless, tracing a trail of destruction through the forest. Behind them, the Obscurus advanced in relentless waves, their unhealthy murmur mingling with the sounds of the woods.

- We can’t lose them like that!" shouted Köflik, his voice almost covered by the din of their race.

- We can’t fight them here! replied Kassandra, casting a worried glance behind her.

But it was obvious. The terrain was against them, trapping their steps at the slightest false move. Yet Foster knew they couldn’t just run forever.

An inhuman howl split the air, and a black silhouette swooped down on them. One of Hell’s Generals, huge and swift, cut through the shadows, his spear flashing darkly towards Kähn.

- NO!

Foster raised his hand and his grimoire opened of its own accord, projecting a green glow through the night.

- Roots of the World Tree]!

The ground shook.

Huge roots sprang up in an instant, twisted, thick and full of life. They struck the General with full force, throwing him back against a trunk with a sinister crack.

- Keep going!" roared Foster.

They resumed their frantic race.

But behind them, the Generals of Hell were tightening their grip. Countless Obscurus swarmed in a swarming tide of shadows and cursed whispers. Time was running out.

Foster closed his eyes for a split second, searching for a solution. His eyes lit up as he found the solution.

- Get ready!" he ordered.

He exhaled deeply and placed one hand on the ground.

The next instant, an explosion of green flames engulfed the forest behind them.

The trees caught fire instantly, projecting crackling gleams from the twisted trunks. A titanic wall of flame rose in their wake, transforming the night into an incandescent inferno.

Suffocating heat filled the air. The flickering light blurred the shadows, blurring the bearings of the Generals and Obscurus.

- Hurry up!" roared Foster.

Without hesitation, they plunged into the growing darkness, escaping into the unknown.

And immediately, everything changed.

Where the previous forest had been dense but familiar, this one was an aberration.

The trunks were huge, twisted like broken bones, covered in black, slimy bark. No light shone through. The leaves, thick and gaunt, absorbed every flash of fire as if they were drinking in the clarity of the world.

The air was heavy, oppressive, unbreathable. The smell of damp earth, decaying wood and poisoned ashes filled their nostrils.

They ran, but suddenly silence enveloped them.

Not a sound. No sound.

Not even the breath of the wind.

Their own footsteps seemed absorbed by the dark moss-covered ground. Even their breaths seemed muffled, strangled by the density of the darkness.

- Where are we?" murmured Köflik, finally breaking the silence.

Foster didn’t answer immediately. He looked around, his body tense, his senses alert.

Each step seemed heavier, as if the ground itself was trying to hold them back. Roots intertwined beneath their feet, twisted and covered with a strange dark moss that clung to their ankles, slippery and cold.

- No one knows this part of the forest..." murmured Kassandra, casting a worried glance at Foster.

He himself had never heard of such a place. How could he? Vollua was his world, he knew every corner of the mother forest, every root, every breath of wind. But here... here, everything was different.

- Let’s move on. We can’t stay here.

His voice was hoarser than he would have liked. He didn’t want to show his fear.

The group moved on, but soon realized that the path led nowhere.

The trees seemed to change places. They formed walls where there had been a passage a second earlier. The forest was enclosing them.

- It’s impossible..." hissed Köflik.

He placed a hand on the bark of a blackish trunk and stepped back, breathless.

- It’s... it’s moving.

Foster clenched his fists. This wasn’t just some ancient forest or forgotten territory. This was something else.

He activated his grimoire in one swift motion.

- Roots of the World Tree].

Luminous filaments sprang up beneath his feet, snaking along the foreign roots, seeking to understand, to anchor themselves. But as soon as they touched the dark matter... they were absorbed. It was as if this forest devoured even magic.

Foster stifled an expletive.

- This can’t be right.

The others turned to him.

- And what do we do?" asked Kassandra, a palpable tension in her voice.

Foster scanned the oppressive darkness around them. There was no turning back. The Generals were still on their tail.

- Let’s keep going!

Foster and the others slowed their pace as they entered this unknown part of the forest. The atmosphere was heavy, stifling, as if the air itself were repelling them. Every breath was more difficult, every sound seemed distorted by an invisible presence.

Then, suddenly, the forest opened up.

A vast clearing stretched out before them, silent and unreal. At its center stood an immense tree, so imposing that its trunk seemed to reach to the sky.

Foster stopped dead in his tracks.

- It can’t be..." murmured Kassandra, her throat in knots.

- It looks like..." stammered Köflik. It looks like the Mother Tree.

Foster didn’t answer immediately. His gaze glided over the familiar contours of the trunk, over the imposing silhouette, over the branches strangely reminiscent of Vollua... but everything was distorted, deformed.

- No, it wasn’t. Foster shook his head. This isn’t the Mother Tree.

The others exchanged worried glances.

- We know that, Foster, but it looks very similar. What’s different about it?" asked Kassandra.

- Take a good look.

They watched more closely. Where the Mother Tree radiated life and warmth, this one seemed to absorb the light around it. Its trunk was darker, more tortured, marked with long black scars that pulsed gently, like a sickly heartbeat.

- It’s... it’s like his reflection, but in a broken mirror," Köflik breathed, his voice trembling.

Foster clenched his fists. An unpleasant sensation gnawed at his mind, as if something in that tree recognized him.

Then, suddenly, the ground shook.

Roots sprang violently from the earth, swift as hungry snakes. In an instant, they rose up, winding around each other, weaving, criss-crossing...

Until they formed an impenetrable dome around them.

- Oh, hell, no! Köflik leapt back and drew his weapon, striking the plant wall with a sharp blow. But his blade bounced back, as if it had struck metal.

- We’re locked in," Kassandra let out, her fists clenching.

Foster placed a hand on the roots. They vibrated under his fingers, as if they were breathing. As if they were listening.

Then he slowly raised his head towards the huge trunk.

And he felt.

A presence. Silent. Deep. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Hostile.

This tree... it wasn’t just an imitation of the Mother Tree.

It was something else.

Something older.

Suddenly, the roots quivered.

Foster felt the ground vibrate beneath his feet. Something was moving.

- Get back!" he shouted.

But it was too late.

Vines sprang up from the ground, snapping like living whips. They came down on them with frightening speed. Foster barely dodged, rolling to the side as a vine crashed down where he had been a second earlier.

Kassandra leapt back, slicing through a root with a swift stroke of her blade. But another immediately sprang up, wrapping itself around her arm. She barely managed to tear it off, leaving a deep red mark on her skin.

- They’re trying to catch us!" shouted Köflik as he jumped from side to side to avoid the tendrils trying to grab him.

Foster raised his hand and whispered urgently:

- [World Tree Roots]!

Instantly, silver roots sprang up from the ground, pushing back the dark tendrils. They clashed violently, struggling like hungry beasts.

But the tree was faster.

A cry rang out.

Kähn.

Foster turned just in time to see a thick root wrap itself around Kähn’s torso.

- NO!

Kähn struggled like a madman, muscles tense, teeth clenched. He tried to free his arms, but the root tightened, almost cracking his ribs.

- Grab my hand!" shouted Köflik, throwing himself forward.

But the tree gave them no time.

With brutal force, it pulled Kähn backwards.

The ground opened up beneath him like a hungry maw.

Kähn disappeared into the darkness.

For a moment, his outstretched fingers were still visible. Then... nothing.

The ground closed with a thud.

A deathly silence fell over the clearing.

Foster froze, breathless.

Kähn...

The roots didn’t stop.

The tree was hungry.

Foster had no time to catch his breath. More vines sprang up, whistling through the air like living whips. They came down on them with increasing violence, striking, grabbing, trying to crush them.

- Stay together!" Foster shouted, waving his hands.

He unleashed a wave of mana, throwing the nearest vines backwards. But the tree seemed to adapt. New roots, thicker and more voracious, sprang up from the ground with frightening speed.

- We can’t hold out much longer!" Kassandra shouted, snapping off a vine.

Köflik narrowly dodged a root that almost crushed his skull. But he wasn’t fast enough.

Another tendril sprang up from behind, wrapping itself around his ankle.

- Crap!

He thrust his dagger into the root, but it didn’t give way. On the contrary, it tightened, pulling him back violently.

- Köflik!

Foster rushed forward, grabbing her arm at the last moment.

Their eyes met. A moment frozen in chaos.

- Don’t let go!" growled Foster, pulling with all his might.

Kassandra threw herself on top of them to help, but the tree wouldn’t let them.

Another root struck Kassandra in the stomach, sending her rolling to the ground. Foster lost his balance under the violence of the impact, and in that brief moment of weakness...

Köflik was ripped away.

- FOSTER!" he screamed, stretched between their hands and the darkness that was sucking him in.

Foster tried desperately to hold him back.

His fingers tightened on his wrist. He pulled with all his might, but the tree’s power was implacable.

- No... No!

The pressure was too strong.

Köflik felt his arm slip.

And suddenly...

His gaze changed.

He understood.

- Protect them.

One last breath. One last word.

And he disappeared into the shadow of the ground.

The ground closed in, swallowing up a second of their number.

Foster fell to his knees, his heart beating wildly.

Two down.

- Fucking tree! You’ll pay for this! he swore.