Chapter 1226: Chapter 1226: Sacrifice
Without any further hesitation, they entered the giant whirlpool in the middle of the two dead tree spirits.
They figured they would be safe there for the time being.
Vivian took the woman from Zen's arms, prepared her longbow and pulled out a green arrow from the quiver behind her.
Turning the arrowhead, she wielded it in her hand and shot straight toward the woman's forehead.
The scene was startling, even for Zen, but he soon realized that the green arrow was not meant to kill.
The weapon contained strong life energy. Piercing the woman's body with it was harmless—it could probably even save her.
Clearly, Vivian was there to treat the woman. The other warriors, on the other hand, were all busy sizing Zen up carefully.
Just how powerful was Zen to have managed to disentangle himself from the two enormous dead tree spirits?
The gazes of the surrounding warriors naturally became cautious. When they thought of what they said to Zen just earlier, they all felt a lingering sense of fear.
If they truly angered this man, none of the Demon Night members there would even survive.
A moment after the green arrow pierced through the woman's forehead, she woke up.
The instant she opened her eyes, she looked bewildered.
When she was knocked unconscious by the branches, she was certain that she was going to die.
The next time she woke up, she assumed she would find herself in the city.
Never did she expect to find herself at the Deadwood Gate. Examining her surroundings, she saw Vivian standing beside her. It was as if she were dreaming something unfathomable.
Noticing the woman's confusion, Vivian explained, “That human warrior saved you.”
'That human warrior...' The woman's gaze landed on Zen and she sent him a look of gratitude.
While Zen merely nodded slightly at the woman's gesture, he sized up the world behind the Deadwood Gate.
In front of him stood an extremely tall, sturdy, and giant tree. The trunk must have been several hundred miles wide, its height even more so indescribable—it was so tall that the top seemed to disappear into the atmosphere. Ṝа₦ÖBΕṣ
When Vivian saw Zen's gaze, she took the initiative to explain, “This tree is an ancient Sacred Ailanthus, the holy tree of the ancient sorcerer race. There are a total of thirteen branches of the holy tree and our Demon Night warriors are trapped on the seventh branch.”
'An ancient Sacred Ailanthus? The ancient sorcerer race?' The terms only confused Zen further.
In the cave he entered in the past, many statues of eighteen arhats were there—those should have been the inheritances of the Blessed Buddha Land.
The Sacred Ailanthus in front of him was the inheritance of the ancient sorcerer race.
In other words, the Illusion Battlefield should have been able to gather the inheritances of various races in the entire universe.
But the items obtained from each inheritance site seemed to vary completely. Instead of earning any Illusion Points from the cave, Zen lost 300, 000 Illusion Points.
But his Illusion Points weren't deducted after he entered the Deadwood Gate. According to Vivian's explanation, he would be able to obtain a large number of Illusion Points here.
“Let's go up as well, then.” Zen was certain that they needed to pick up their pace to keep Amber alive.
With a nod, Vivian took the lead, flying into the sky.
Zen followed closely behind before the other Demon Night members.
His speed was by no means slow, but as he flew upward for half an hour, the bare trunk of the Sacred Ailanthus was still clear in his view.
According to Vivian's explanation, there were thirteen branches in total. After flying for half an hour, they had finally reached tens of millions of feet up the tree's height. Still, there wasn't a single branch in sight. It was almost impossible to imagine how tall the Sacred Ailanthus really was.
The higher Zen went, the more clouds and mist surrounded him. Even the tree trunk that was mere inches away from him was hidden in the clouds.
Vivian, who led the way, slowed down for a moment to warn those behind her, “Everyone, be careful. Ailanthus Venomous Bugs are probably lurking above us. Be sure to avoid the bugs' venom!”
With her warning, everyone grew more vigilant.
Not long after she said so, knobs began to appear on the originally bare tree trunk. Countless cracks then began to appear on the knobs.
Pak!
Making a crisp sound, a small, black bug with a pointed horn shot out from the tree.
It spread its wings and charged straight at them.
The Demon Night members didn't think much of it at first. Because of the massive tree trunk, the bug didn't seem too big.
But as it rapidly approached, they realized that the bug was about 10 feet long—such size was that of a massive monster to an ordinary warrior.
“That's an Ailanthus Venomous Bug. Hurry and get rid of this thing!” As she called out to them, Vivian flew even faster.
No one would be willing to face such a terrifying bug. Even if the Ailanthus Venomous Bug were a palm's size, it would still make people's hair stand on end. And the truth was it was ten feet long!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Everyone rapidly sped up as they flew up along the trunk.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
Explosions came one after another and the bugs following behind them grew in number.
“What do we do? We can't just get rid of the Ailanthus Venomous Bugs,” one of the Demon Night warriors remarked.
But all the while, Vivian remained calm. “We can't get rid of them. The Deadwood Gate has opened three times already. Not even Aurora or Amber can get rid of them.”
“Then how did they climb to the upper part of the Sacred Ailanthus?” Zen asked, still puzzled.
“A sacrifice must be made. Every time warriors climb up the tree, they have to pick a victim.” Vivian's gaze then wandered for a moment before landing on a man clad in black.
This man was also flying at full speed, right behind Zen and Vivian. When he met her gaze, his eyes turned wide. “What do you mean? Vivian, you want me to…”
Vivian nodded. “It's very easy to lure these Ailanthus Venomous Bugs. Harley, get down!”
“I don't want to!” Harley, from the Demon Night, quickly shook his head. “I came here to help Aurora! Why should I—”
“Your death would be the greatest help to Aurora.” Vivian's tone turned cold.
“Why don't you let this guy die!” Harley angrily pointed at Zen. “He's a human!”
Something flashed in Zen's eyes when he was pointed at, but he didn't make any move.
The Ailanthus Venomous Bugs should be highly toxic, but Zen wasn't necessarily afraid of them. With his divine weapon body, he was immune to poison, after all.
He could easily lure the bugs away from them and return in one piece.
But Harley's words were deeply displeasing. He was a human—what did the lives and deaths of the Demon Night members have to do with him? And Zen cared only about Amber. Back on the Sea God Continent, she had helped him tremendously, after all. He couldn't care about the other Demon Night warriors, in truth.
Harley's words made Vivian's face darken. But with a cold expression, she said, “If you go down and lure the bugs away, I will report it directly to Aurora to make up for the Illusion Points you will lose. You will also be compensated for double the amount. Otherwise...”
Although there weren't many internal battles in the city of the Demon Night, the consequences were dire for anyone who went against the norm.
At her words, Harley hesitated for a moment. In the end, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and charged down.
Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!
As he flew downward, an orange light flashed around him, where countless spears of majestic auras flew out.
Harley's attacks drew in the attention of the hundreds of Ailanthus Venomous Bugs following behind the group. They flocked together and charged at him.
“Go to perdition!” he yelled.
Being forced to die would be frustrating for anyone—Harley took the chance to attack the bugs without restraining his anger.
But while the orange spears were sharp, they were still insufficient to break through the bugs' shells. With clear sounds of impact, black venom seeped out from their horns, shooting straight toward Harley.