Chapter 211 - Treant Ruins Fifth Level
With over a hundred Heroic Osteomancers, and thousands of Iron Skeletons acting as cannon fodder, Han Wu’s army stretched for hundreds of meters. This impressive display, however, represented only a fraction of his total forces. He nodded confidently, believing that clearing the Treant Ruins wouldn’t be too challenging this time. Leading his vast army into the ruins, he commenced the trials once more.
His skeleton army made short work of the 1,000 treants in the first trial. In the second trial, the 500 Decaguard Treants likewise succumbed to the concentrated attacks of the skeletons. During the third trial, though the 100 Centurion Treants proved incredibly formidable, showcasing astonishingly destructive power with their wooden weaponry, the skeletons, this time, managed to overwhelm them through sheer numerical superiority.
Thousands upon thousands of Iron Skeletons surged forward, throwing themselves recklessly at the Centurion Treants and directly bearing the brunt of their powerful blows. With every passing second, bone fragments continuously flew and scattered across the entire battlefield, yet the Centurion Treants, though greatly overwhelmed, had thus far suffered only minor injuries.
Han Wu maintained a serene demeanor as he observed the unfolding battle, showing no concern for the demise of his Iron Skeletons—their sacrifice was an essential component of his strategy. Only when a substantial amount of bone fragments covered the battlefield did his Osteomancers finally surge forward, expertly manipulating the scattered fragments and seamlessly melding them into their own skeletal forms.
Moments later, hundreds of towering, ten-meter-tall bone giants emerged on Han Wu’s side. With each earth-shaking stride, they utterly decimated everything in their path—the mighty Centurion Treants, once terrifying, were quickly reduced to mere wooden toys in their massive hands. With just a few powerful swings of their limbs, the Osteomancers, now wielding these Treants like wooden bats, effortlessly crushed the remaining Treants, thereby finally clearing the third trial.
As the fourth trial commenced, Han Wu observed that the clear objective was significantly smaller this time; he only needed to defeat 20 enemies. However, it quickly became apparent that these 20 units had been reinforced to an alarming, even terrifying, degree.
[Millennium Treant King. Heroic life form. Skills: Branch Bludgeon, Entangling Roots, Branch Pierce, Natural Weapon, Nature Heart. A King of Treants. A being nigh impossible to defeat.]
Han Wu ordered his remaining Osteomancers to attack. His plan was straightforward: five Osteomancers would encircle and relentlessly beat up each Millennium Treant King, ensuring the Treant Kings sustained damage far exceeding their regenerative abilities. Naturally, the inherent risk was high; any slip-up from an Osteomancer would present the Millennium Treant Kings with the opportunity to utterly crush them.
Yet, the sight of the battle soon left Han Wu utterly bewildered, his expression one of complete astonishment.
Osteomancers are supposed to be the strongest Heroic life forms, so why are the Heroic Millennium Treant Kings crushing them with such ease instead?
It was a fact that Osteomancers were the strongest Heroic life forms. In truth, Millennium Treant Kings, despite their power, actually ranked one step lower than them. A key advantage for Osteomancers was their ability to repair the damage inflicted on their bone giant forms as long as their core bodies remained unharmed. Millennium Treant Kings, on the other hand, continuously drained their energy reserves for their healing and regeneration, a fundamental weakness that implied that they would almost certainly be defeated in a battle of attrition.
The true challenge, however, stemmed from the environment itself. The Treant Ruins, as the name implied, were the natural habitat of the treants. This meant that the Millennium Treant Kings, as the rulers of this domain, had a significant home-ground buff, which eliminated their primary vulnerability and amplified their strength.
It was now clear why five Osteomancers had struggled for so long just to defeat one Millennium Treant King. Ultimately, the skeleton army did succeed in the trial, but only by the narrowest of margins. Han Wu was forced to acknowledge the sheer difficulty involved in clearing this particular trial.
The final trial now loomed, and Han Wu’s Osteomancers stood poised for battle. Soon, his gaze fell upon a single figure emerging from the distance. This colossal entity stood hundreds of meters tall, its tree trunk so incredibly massive that it would require at least a hundred people linking arms just to encircle it.
This enormous figure was none other than the ultimate leader of all treants: the Myrannium Treant Sovereign. As Han Wu attempted to inspect its data, he involuntarily winced, a sharp, stabbing pain shooting through his eyes as though pierced by countless needles. The realization hit him immediately: the approaching Myrannium Treant Sovereign possessed a power far exceeding his own—it was simply too powerful for him to inspect, rendering him incapable of casually viewing its status window.
Nevertheless, for the sake of clearing the final trial, Han Wu gritted his teeth, forcing himself to withstand the persistent, stinging pain in his eyes. His resolve paid off, and he finally managed to access the complete data of the terrifying adversary before him.
[Myrannium Treant Sovereign. Lord life form. Skills: Branch Bludgeon, Entangling Roots, Branch Pierce, Natural Weapon, Nature Heart, Life Domain. It is the Sovereign of all treants, a being that has lived for ten millennia. To provoke it is to choose death.]
Han Wu faltered—he was at a complete loss as to how his Osteomancers should even begin to attack such an opponent. Offering him no precious time for strategic thought, the Myrannium Treant Sovereign initiated its own devastating attack, violently lashing out with its massive tree branches, each so thick it would require five people to wrap their arms around.
With that one strike, three Osteomancers were instantly smashed to smithereens. Furthermore, the Treant Sovereign’s Life Energy was actively eroding the Osteomancers’ Undead Energy, leaving them temporarily unable to manifest their powerful bone giant forms.
This, however, was merely the prelude to the Myrannium Treant Sovereign’s full assault. Han Wu could only watch in stunned silence as his once formidable Osteomancers were systematically crushed, one after another. This time, his adversary was simply too overwhelming. Although the Treant Ruins possessed only one additional level compared to the Wight Ruins, the increase in difficulty was exponentially greater, easily surpassing a hundred times the previous challenge.
Just how am I supposed to clear this floor?
Han Wu watched in dread as his Osteomancers were annihilated one after another, all while the Myrannium Treant Sovereign remained infuriatingly unscathed.
I’ve sacrificed tens of thousands of skeletons just to reach this stage, Han Wu thought, a wave of panic washing over him. Am I going to lose again?
He flat-out refused to accept returning in defeat, not after the countless Iron Skeletons he had already sacrificed to reach this point. Yet, the situation on the battlefield was undeniably dire, signaling an urgent need for a breakthrough. He was acutely aware that his army could only endure for another five minutes before it would be utterly decimated.
“There has to be a way. I must find a way!”
He adamantly refused to allow several days’ worth of tireless effort to simply go to waste. As his gaze narrowed, fixed intently on the gargantuan Treant, a sudden idea flashed into his mind. His skeletons were being relentlessly pushed back because the Myrannium Treant Sovereign’s extensive roots were voraciously siphoning energy from the earth to heal itself. What if he could somehow find a method to halt this process?
“Fire!”
He needed fire. Treants, being made of wood, naturally feared it above all else. Han Wu quickly accessed his storage and retrieved the flute—one of the treasures he’d swiped from Li Chuming’s corpse. This artifact allowed him to summon 100 Burnbull Guards, and he knew, with certainty, that this was the precise moment to unleash them.
The moment he played the flute, a large gate began to materialize slowly on the chaotic battlefield. From within this portal, a hundred fierce Burnbull Guards surged forth, their very presence causing the ambient temperature to rise significantly.
“Burn it down!” Han Wu’s voice boomed as he ordered his recently added forces to throw themselves into a reckless, headlong charge at the colossal Myrannium Treant Sovereign.
The Myrannium Treant Sovereign furiously whipped its enormous branches at the charging Burnbull Guards, only for them to parry the attack quite effortlessly. Furthermore, the moment their bodies made direct contact, the flames on the Burnbull Guards’ constantly burning forms rapidly spread, immediately engulfing parts of the Myrannium Treant Sovereign in flames.
The Myrannium Treant Sovereign let out a high-pitched shriek of agony, its immense regenerative capabilities rapidly weakening due to the intense, scorching heat. It was now forced into a desperate state, continuously drawing energy just to barely counteract the inflicted damage.
Finally, Han Wu saw the opening he needed to completely turn the tide of battle.