The next morning, Lilly was awoken by the loud roar of thunder. The sky cried torrents and the wind raged like a beast.
She sat up and looked around.
Her sister, Luna, was still recovering. She had been heavily bandaged, and a multitude of medicines were applied to her body. Lilly felt like some of those medicines were actually poisons, but she wasn't in any position to ask, and she was a little scared to, anyway…
She moved her little legs to the front door.
After coming outside, Lilly discovered Petra, sitting on a crudely made wooden recliner in front of the cottage.
She rocked back and forth, looking into the distance with a deep gaze.
Lilly almost felt like she was looking at an old sage… or at least, a person pretending to be one.
Today's morning skies were dark and thunderous, but the little girl seemed unperturbed, as she sipped her scalding hot water. A large leaf covered her like a blanket, and a black and green frog about the size of a head sat on her lap.
The gigantic tree seemed to isolate them from the surroundings, making Lilly almost feel like she was a mere spectator, viewing the fury of heaven from the position of a god.
Petra, seeing the girl, offered her a large leaf and an equally disappointing cup of hot water.
Petra and Lilly sat beneath the tree, enjoying nature's performance.
After a while, Petra asked, "What happened to the treasure near Evergreen Town?"
Lilly, who had relaxed a lot, jumped.
It seemed like this wasn't something she wanted to think about.
But since it was a request from Petra, she began her story.
The two little lolitas talked back and forth under the lightning and rain.
* * *
It all started after the location of the ancient ruins was leaked by the Silver Eye.
They had stolen the information from the Silver Shield and publicized it.
Because of this, things quickly became chaotic.
The silver shield had wanted to take its time and prepare, but because of the sudden change, many of their preparations were rushed. The surrounding forces were now running to the location of the 'treasure', so they could only make their move as well.
After a long and bloody battle through the forest, many people had lost their lives.
The many large forces all arrived around the same time.
The Adventurers Guild, the Mercenary Alliances Silver Shield, the Mercenary Alliances Silver Eye, the Green Academy, the Church of Light, the Greenhand Sect, the Blackstone Sect, the Forest Garden Sect, the Azurefell Family, the Tibon Family, and the Hellion Empire were just a few of the big powers that had gathered.
They set up camp around the entrance of the ruins. While they waited, some people investigated the way to open the ruins. A combination of linguists, engineers, and experienced adventurers took turns inspecting the exterior and interior of the entrance hall.
Many days passed, and the green tide finally arrived.
At the same time, the ruins were finally opened.
Many forces sent in small teams to probe.
After confirming that there was no problem, they began the real exploration with small teams of experienced individuals with specialised training.
After another day had passed, some teams returned to make their reports.
The ruins were a standard setup for an ancient elven excavation site. The only thing that was unnerving was the language on the walls.
After inviting some experts who specialised in ancient languages, it was determined that these ruins were a fortress city of the fallen Elfefalein Empire, the ancient empire of the High-Elves. This city existed to prevent 'something' from leaving the north.
Some found this news exciting, while others became very worried.
The Green Academy left directly.
Although the high elves were long gone, during their time, they were an unmatched force. Unlike now, where the five regions were all divided, the Elfefalein Empire ruled over the entire Cross Continent.
Despite many concerns, the pressure from the higher ups urged their respective forces to investigate. If there was truly an ancient treasure left behind by the Elfefalein Empire, then it was impossible for any single force to monopolize it.
A few more days went by.
At this point, it was discovered that these weren't just the ruins of an old fortress city, but the secret sight of an abandoned research facility.
This discovery caused many of the forces hiding in the dark to step out.
Ancient high elven technology was something very few people could pass up.
Many powers that were originally hidden in the dark joined the exploration.
As more exploration teams continued to descend, they discovered something strange.
Not only were there no insects or wild animals, but there were no signs of life at all. Only an unusually high quantity of glowing green moss stretched across the ceiling and walls, illuminating the path forward. When investigated, it was discovered to be a new breed of fast-growing moss.
Many research focused teams stayed behind to study this unknown species.
They let the main body of the exploration group descend, while they stayed back.
It wasn't until one of the researchers made a horrifying discovery that things started to change.
After spending two days studying the properties of the moss, one of the researchers discovered that this wasn't a new species, instead, it was a long lost and extinct species of moss called 'Star Seeking Moss'.
Star Seeking Moss was synonymous with the high elves.
This was because the high elves had eradicated this species during their long rule.
The human race wasn't always the rulers of the Cross Continent. A very long time ago, they had come over from a distant continent after discovering that this small and seemingly unimportant landmass was actually the location of the fallen Elfefalein Empire.
Shortly after the human race had taken a firm foothold on the continent, one of the first things that was discovered to be left behind by the ancient high elves was a book containing information about the calamity races.
This star seeking moss was one of these so called calamity races.
Star Seeking Moss was actually not a 'Moss'. It was a special type of mushroom that would cover the continent in a large layer of glowing green moss, absorb all its biomass, then transform into a massive mushroom and launch itself into the void.
The high elves wrote about the mushroom seeking to devour stars.
The final battle that the high elves had with the Star Seeking Moss was actually deep in the void. It was said that billions of lives disappeared to fuel the Star Seeking Moss's ascension. An entire continent fell to its hunger.
The high elves fought a long battle to destroy the star seeking moss, but here it was, alive and well, growing in one of their research bases.
After this discovery was made, the leaders of the many top forces immediately convened a meeting. They decided to seal the ruins and wait for an opportunity to exterminate the moss before it got out of hand.
The problem was, the forward team could not be contacted. The majority of their manpower remained in the depths of the abandoned research facility.
One must know that the only known weakness of star seeking moss was seawater. It wasn't because the composition of seawater was special, but in fact, it just seemed to work. Even the high elves didn't quite know the reason why seawater would harm the star seeking moss. They speculated that there was something hidden within the depths of the sea that gave seawater its special properties, but they could never confirm their guesses.
If the ruins were flooded, then it would be possible to resolve this problem before it got out of hand.
All sides argued back and forth, struggling to find the best course of action.
It wasn't until the green tide had an especially bad wave, that someone accidentally discovered that the rain from the green tide had the same effects as seawater on the moss.
This was a surprising discovery.
Some ambitious people who thought they could use this to control the moss began to have bad ideas.
Public opinion slowly turned away from sealing the ruins.
Eventually, it was decided that the rainwater would be used to control the entrance of the ruins. The ruins would remain unsealed, and an extra team would be sent in to contact the main exploration team.
While the researchers and aristocrats were deciding the fate of those below from above, the large group of explorers ran into a different problem.
Besides the moss, many other species of unrecognisable plants began to appear one after another.
Some were docile, while others would erupt with the ferocity of a wild beast. Without the research team, many of these rare and forgotten species were cut down like weeds at the side of the road.
If one were to look at it with all the information ahead of time, they would realise something was wrong. Many ancient and extinct species had all gathered here, living peacefully despite the scarce resources.
This was clearly not normal.
If one could look back, discovering that something like a 'King' ruled over these countless species was not too hard to understand.
Unfortunately, those with a brain had stayed back, wanting to research the strange moss on the floor.
If you told these battle-hardened warriors that 'something' had made a calamity species dossal, their warning alarms would immediately go off like crazy.
Unfortunately, fate had its own arrangements.
After a long and grueling march through the ruins, the main team eventually arrived at the heart of the research facility.
This was a large cylindrical room with eight massive spirit stone pillars holding up the roof. In the center of the room was something similar to an altar. It was raised off the ground slightly, and gave off an ethereal blue glow. Vain-like patterns branched out from its base, reaching the walls and climbing up towards the ceiling like tree roots.
There, a small glowing 'ball' floated silently in the center of the room. It looked like a lotus that had yet to open. Surrounding it were countless unique species of plants that none of the men had seen before.
After scanning the room, the group discovered that there was no movement, not even a fly.
The cannon fodder quickly caught onto the trope.
Having left behind everyone who could tell them what that thing was, people began to panic.
Before they could even turn around, the attack came.
It was not from the massive glowing lotus, nor was it from behind. Their allies didn't turn on them, and nothing emerged from the shadows. The attack came from inside, and it was instant.
Their chests split open and their bodies collapsed like dolls.
One after another, their chests burst open and countless vines drilled out. Not unlike a certain 'alien' themed movie, this bone-chilling scene happened in an instant. These vines began devouring their hosts using small mouths that ran down the body of the vine. The way they twisted and self devoured was chaotic and nonsensical. Watching this scene would cause even the most strong willed individual to feel a strong sense of repulsion.
What did you think a bunch of meat heads with no understanding of spores could casually walk into the depths of a place containing things called 'calamity races' and not drop dead from the environment?
Why would the big boss even need to turn his head?
What a joke!
One after another, these men died in screams of pain and agony.
Those who were intelligent enough to simply cover their mouths were horrified by the scene.
As for the number of 'those intelligent enough', that was one.
The only survivor stood amidst the sea of corpses.
Fear overwhelmed her.
Nothing had changed, but in the span of three seconds, the room was turned into the scene of carnage.
The crushing of bones, the tearing of flesh, and countless blood curdling thuds echoed in the 'lifeless' hall.
The girl wanted to run, but a single vine casually blocked the exit. The vine wasn't even thick enough to block the whole door, but the only survivor still got the message.
There was no way out.
She broke down.
Why did she have to come here!
The camera panned to the girl, slowly moving up.
The massive lotus loomed, its petals slightly opening.
Like a terrifying maw, it closed around the girl and sucked her in before returning to its original spot.
Silence returned to the room.
-
Topside, the remaining explorers were all waiting for the return of the first team.
After three days had passed, they chose to send in a rescue team.
Another day passed.
After the rescue team failed to return, it was decided that the plan to seal the ruins would return to the table.
Unfortunately, before they could begin, the disaster came.
One day, the ground began to shake.
It was only a little at first, like the distant vibrations of a machine. After a few minutes, that small vibration had turned into violent quakes, shaking the forest floor.
Like an awakening beast, everything began to shake.
An emergency signal was sent out, but it was too late.
Countless intertwining and deformed bone-like white vines burst out from the entrance of the ruins. The thickness varied, but they flowed together like a green tide, destroying everything in their wake.
The wave of nature's wrath slaughtered its way through the surrounding camps.
Life after life was crushed beneath the sheer power of nature.
The largest of the vines suddenly split. Like the veins of the body, it exploded outwards and quickly covered everything in sight. The vines used the pre-existing forest as scaffolding to quickly spread its body.
As the seemingly endless sea of vines continued to erupt from the ruins, people finally began to fight back.
The initial battle lasted for two days.
They fought as hard as they could, but failed to stop the spread of this unknown sea of vines.
The Adventurers Guild finally called over some experts.
When news of the Star Seeking Moss spread, many people began to take this seriously.
Over the next few days, more and more powerful names steadily appeared.
They cut and burned, constantly fighting, all to prevent the sea of vines from expanding.
After another two days, the situation only continued to worsen. It was unknown what it was doing, but the sea of vines seemed to be turning the surrounding forest into the foundation of 'something'.
After the situation was determined to have gotten completely out of hand, an evacuation notice was given.
The Sky Tower finally stepped in. They contacted a Legendary Expert and sent him over.
When he arrived, he came with a monstrous momentum. He cleaved the sky in two with his spear, transforming it into an endless sea of red. The green tide momentarily retreated, only to return with a vengeance. The ethereal current flowed back, resulting in a sky shaking shockwave. Lightning roared through the night as the battle between the legend and the vine continued.
After a long battle, the duo reached the end of their clash.
Taking no chances, the legendary expert used his strongest attack to cleanse the area around the ruins of all life. He swung his spear around and chanted a mysterious incantation.
Fire engulfed the earth and drained all life from its body.
The vines burned to ash; the surrounding forest was reduced to nothing.
This was still not enough.
The man finished the fight with a powerful explosion. His spear erupted with an earthshaking aura and shot down the mouth of the ruins.
The ruins stood undamaged, but this just focused the firepower down the throat of the stone beast.
The flames expanded to fill every corner of the ancient Elfefalein Ruins.
After the earth was turned to ash and the ruins were sealed, the surrounding forces took the opportunity to help with the cleanup.
They surveyed the surroundings to make sure that there were no remaining contaminants.
What they didn't know was, the lotus had already achieved its goal.
The flesh and blood of thousands of people.
The gates to the ruins closed, but the eyes lurking deep underground were slowly opening.
The legendary figure felt the presence of this unseen threat, but even he was unwilling to delve deep into the bowels of this stony prison. He made his report and departed.
Standing under the green tide, he could feel the 'will' that existed in every drop of rain. This uncomfortable feeling was like standing in someone else's home.
At his level, he understood that the 'Rain', 'Wind', and 'Thunder' were all manifestations of three unique existences.
These three monsters guarded the Green Wind Forest, silently keeping 'something' asleep. His eyes looked at the ruins. At the very least, what they were sealing was not this monster.
The man could not imagine what kind of secrets were hidden in the depths of the Green Wind Forest.
Neither he nor Elena had ever gone to the depths...