W—what in the world am I looking at here? Is that—an ant? But why does it look so—different? Its appearance seems to be a hybrid between an ant and a human. It is bipedal with four legs fused together into two instead. However, those spiky arms and claws are something I should be cautious of.
It was lifting what appears to be one of the watchers, who turns out to be some sort of robotic figure. There were a couple of them littered all around the tree in pieces. The ant glanced towards my direction as it dropped the Watcher it was holding and stomped on its face.
This "ant"— is dangerous.Only one insect to protect that damn massive bug who appears to be sucking on the Cosmic Tree? Must be pretty confident in thinking that this ant is capable of handling all of us at the same time.
"T— this humanoid-looking ant defeated all the Watchers single-handedly? Dear Goddess, we're screwed," uttered the Elementalist who was flying beside me.
"Are the Watchers actually powerful? They appear to be some sort of robots," I asked him.
"The Watchers—were beings that were originally created and brought over from our realm. Invented and handcrafted from the brightest of minds, the Watchers are capable of defeating even a red dragon single-handedly without much effort. With a handful of them, they are capable of taking over the world should they wish. But—this ant took all of them down. We are in for the fight of our lives," sighed the Elementalist with concern.
Hm, was I mistaken in thinking that the massive bug was the Vessel of a God? Can it be this ant instead? No, my gut feeling is telling me that this ant is just the henchman for that massive bug there. It must be vulnerable now and requires a powerful being to keep it protected while it feeds on the tree. Perhaps it had poured all of its powers into this ant while it knew it could gain more from the Cosmic Tree.
"We should split ourselves. One team will eliminate that massive bug happily sucking there, while the remaining tries to stall this humanoid ant. I'm troubled about what that massive bug is doing and what powers it'll obtain from sucking the tree. One thing's for sure, the fate of the elves is at stake here. We need to win," I spoke loudly.
"I agree with your assessment. We are dealing with two unknowns here, but we can't afford to waste any time. As much as I wish to proceed with caution, we can't allow that giant insect to feed on our Cosmic Tree even a second longer. We need to eliminate it, now," answered Noah.
"As you wish, Supreme Commander. We will do your bidding," replied the Elementalist as half of the forces split themselves.
"Who will you be going for, Zen?" asked Noah.
"Neither. I don't have a clear picture of where I'm needed yet. I know our main target is that giant sucking bug, but I'm rather concerned about this ant. Allow me to hang back before I make my decision," I explained to him.
"Well, don't take too long. I need all available hands to protect the tree," he warned me as he began his descent.
"What shall we do, Master Zen?" asked Kogarashi.
"Is it possible for you to remain out of sight, hidden among the trees? It will be better for us to be hidden if we wish to oversee the situation," I whispered to her.
"Stealth isn't exactly my forte, but I'll try my best," answered Kogarashi as she flew on top of some trees and hid among some dense covered leaves.
Hm, I wonder if I were to use Conceal now, will it affect Kogarashi too? That sounds rather tempting. Definitely a good time for me to check whether my spell affects mounts. And without hesitation, I cast Conceal on myself.
Well, what do you know, it does affect mounts too. I wonder if Kogarashi is aware that her body is partially invisible right now. I continued to monitor the scene from above and I still have no answer as to where I'm needed. I know full well that the damn large sucking bug needs to be eliminated, but my instinct is telling me that the ant is who I should be prioritising instead. What a wrong time to be stuck in a dilemma.
***
*Elementalist Perspective*
Never thought I would be leading half of the army in taking down this massive insect that both Zen and the Viking Lord were talking about. Despite being half the size of the Cosmic Tree, it is certainly one of the largest creatures I have ever seen. I should apologise for doubting them earlier.
However, what is this insect trying to do? What is its objective by sucking the sap of the Cosmic Tree? Is it trying to obtain some sort of power from the tree itself? I shudder to think of the possibilities. Whatever it is, we need to stop it immediately.
"Archers! Take it down!" I roared as I pointed my dagger towards the massive insect.
Hundreds of arrows flew towards the insect, but none of them struck home. All of them bounced off or were deflected by the insect. Is it due to its thick carapace? Our arrows were made from the strongest of bones or materials and imbued with elemental properties. How can it deflect every single one of them? Fine then, I shall strike it between the carapaces then!
My winged dire wolf flew closer as I readied my daggers to pierce the soft tissues of the insect. I struck out and thought I managed to pierce it between the crevices of the carapace. It was not until I realised my hand was shaking as my dagger was just a few inches away from reaching the soft tissues. The body of the giant insect suddenly started glowing gold, and with a burst of golden energy, it sent me flying backwards along with my mount.
W—What in the world just happened? Is that its defence mechanism to prevent us from killing it? If melee is out of the question, we'll need a strong ranged weapon that is capable of piercing through its carapace then. Damn it, we don't have any cannons with us currently as all of them are being brought along with our remaining foot forces, who have yet to trek their way here. The Viking Lord! Shit! He's protecting our city right now. The only remaining option I can think of is—Zen. His lighting should be strong enough to pierce through the carapace of the massive insect!
My forces continued to attack the insect with ranged attacks, but it was relatively pointless. A couple of soldiers went in to melee the massive bug but were met with the same fate as me. We need Zen here. Where the hell is he?!
"HOLD!" I shouted as loudly as I could to stop my forces from wasting their ammunition or thinking of doing something stupid. I thought of seeking the Supreme Commander's advice, but the massive bug suddenly released a golden energy once again for no apparent reason. That can't be right. I scanned its surroundings, trying to find out whether there were any foolish soldiers that had ignored my order, but there were none that I could see. Why did it suddenly release that energy burst then?
It was then a massive bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the top portion of the bug directly. But an extremely loud pinging sound erupted where it struck, causing all of the elves to cover their ears, including me. Once again, a burst of golden energy erupted from the bug, sending something flying towards my direction.
I knew full well what it was and quickly rushed over to grab him before he skidded across the ground. He appears to be unharmed, which is good, but my worst fears are realised. We can't harm this insect with whatever we have right now. Is there nothing we can do at all? Are we just going to stare at it sucking the life-force out of our Cosmic Tree? There mustbe something we can do to prevent it from harming our Cosmic Tree!
"Is there a way we can cut the Cosmic Tree?" whispered Zen.
"W— what? That is preposterous! How could you even suggest such a thing?! Under no circumstances will any of us be cutting down the Cosmic Tree." I scolded him.
"Elementalist, with all due respect, open your bloody eyes and see the bigger picture. Didn't you notice the Cosmic Tree is getting duller with every passing second? What's gonna happen when this damn bug sucks out the entire life-force of the Cosmic Tree? What if it becomes unstoppable? What if it ends up wiping all the elves of this realm? For all we know, this bug might end up becoming the next Demon King. Am I going to sit by and do nothing? Absolutely not! I'm not gonna let this entire realm be destroyed just because you don't want to stop it," he warned me.
I was stunned and taken aback by his words. His tone was sharp and direct, but— every word he said was true. We don't know what will happen if this bug absorbs all the life-force of the Cosmic Tree. We worship this tree for a reason, and we are willing to defend it with our lives. But right now, there was just no way for us to even defend it from the giant insect feeding on it.
I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts to process things logically. Zen is right on all accounts. We had never fully understood the power of the Cosmic Tree and what it is capable of. For all we know, it might translate into something unfathomable beyond our comprehension. It is not far-fetched to say that this insect might end up becoming the next Demon King with the absorbed power of the Cosmic Tree. Realising that fact, I opened my eyes and glanced at the Supreme Commander, who was fighting against the ant. They will not last long with how fast that ant is taking down our forces like—well, ants. We need to do something. I—I need to do something. I gestured for Zen to lean closer to me as I whispered to him.
"There is a— legendary sword, called the Vengeful Flame, that is embedded inside a boulder within our city. Legend has it that it is capable of slicing through anything with its flame. That weapon might be powerful enough to bring down the Cosmic Tree. But it has never been tested or anything, and the sword can only be pulled out by a chosen one," I whispered to him.
He absorbed the information as he closed his eyes and looked upwards. With a sigh, he pulled me closer and gave me an order.
"Elementalist, get this sword from the city and get back here to burn the shit out of that insect. If that fails, cut the Cosmic Tree. Focus on this order and nothing else. When all of this is over, head towards the West and seek out my sensei, Peter Borage. You can seek shelter at my place there while I take responsibility for everything that happens here," he whispered to me.
"No, I will take responsibility for my actions. Should the council deem me a traitor and have me executed, I will gladly do so to protect this realm and my people," I assured him.
"Never will I ever let that happen. Go, you know what you need to do. I will take over the forces from here. Pull that damn sword as though your life depends on it. Carry the boulder here if you need to," he ushered me to go.
"Understood. I'll be on my way then," I whistled to my wolf, who flew directly towards me to perform a quick mount. I know what needs to be done. I will be a traitor in the elf's eyes. I will have to forgo my beliefs, my culture, my duty; but I have to protect this realm and my people from being destroyed. We chose to come here when it was not our realm. We chose to bring the Cosmic Tree to this realm even when we didn't have to. This realm does not deserve to be destroyed due to our stubbornness to change. And I will change that.