Chapter 1578: Chapter 1578

"At most a day’s journey, considering that once they emerge from the forest, undistracted, their speed might increase significantly. They are likely to reach the City of Usmer by noon tomorrow. It’s very possible they will use the cover of darkness to launch an attack here, as those Dark Animated Plants are unaffected by the dark," Hanso said solemnly.

"How many troops do they have?"

"It is difficult to assess accurately, as their main forces hide in the dense forest and expand their numbers with the Corruption Forest. It is now basically confirmed they have at least more than fifty Demon Trees."

"More than fifty Demon Trees?" Everyone present couldn’t help but gasp.

The exact origin of these bizarre, ferocious carnivorous animated plants is unknown. Some say they were spawned from the darkest, most evil regions of the Fairy Wilderness, others say they are products of Ancient Evil Beings devouring nature.

In any case, their existence completely overturns the world’s understanding of animated plants; plants can also be so greedy, so bloodthirsty.

Their greatest feature is that they never act alone, but consume the flesh and souls of their victims, forming pod-like fruits on themselves, each containing a Treants. They are seeds of the Demon Trees, and also its servants, collecting more blood meals for it.

Don’t underestimate the size of these Treants; to ordinary people, they are quite troublesome.

After all, they are animated plants, not flesh and blood animals. They possess both plant traits and considerable damage reduction capabilities, posing a calamity-like threat to ordinary people.

To the Demon Trees, Treants are expendable items. As long as there is enough flesh replenishment, they can continuously produce new Treants. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩

Each Demon Tree can be seen as a mobile weapons factory.

The only fortunate aspect is that the Treants have very short lifespans, from two to five days, depending on their activity level. The more frequent and intense their activities and battles, the quicker they perish.

Because they cannot replenish energy, since they are not animated plants in the usual sense, but animated seeds.

Once they take root, they cannot transform back into Treants. Instead, they disguise themselves as ordinary trees and start growing. If they are not felled within a year (in this state, they are as helpless and defenseless as ordinary trees), they will become new Demon Trees (in a juvenile state). At this point, they can re-animate, leave their rooted location, seek blood meals to nourish themselves, and grow further.

Under normal circumstances, a Demon Tree will only instruct its still-living Treants to do this when it has wiped out all food in an area and is preparing to leave, ensuring its food source is not diminished and that the saplings can safely pass through the most dangerous stage.

A Demon Tree with its squad of Treants can devour all creatures—a small village or community—overnight, which is not an uncommon occurrence.

In those Mercenary Guilds, the challenge rating set for a Demon Tree is legendary level.

The challenge rating established by the Mercenary Guild is based on well-equipped mercenary teams of four to five members.

In other words, to take down a Demon Tree without significant personnel losses on their side, at least four or five complementary Legendary Professionals must join forces to do so. After all, the challenge rating is referred to as such because achieving the task is seriously challenging, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a downfall.

One Demon Tree is already terrifying; thinking about fifty Demon Trees uniting into an army mode is enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

"Something’s not right." Gaven immediately responded, "If there were so many Demon Trees in the Laisel Forest, they would have already eaten all life in the forest, yet you didn’t notice anything?"

"That’s what confuses me as well," Hanso said, puzzled. "Indeed, there is a Demon Tree named The Lord of Withering in the Laisel Forest, but it is a servant to the Lady of Poisons, Talona, and the Ancient Evil Tree, Gantias. It mainly uses the Withering Power of the Ancient Evil Tree to infect and corrupt this forest. Our Lys Sect has been trying to suppress its expansion and has never seen so many Demon Trees. They seem to have appeared overnight."

The area where The Lord of Withering originally resided is shrouded with a powerful and evil force, and whether from the air or the ground, there is no way to approach and scout the situation inside."

"I think I know what happened," said the Laiserman Witch Red Feather from the side. "What enveloped that area is the Power of Slaughter, resembling the power that Khan Yamun currently possesses. The Lady of Poisons, Talona, has always been a subservient deity of the God of Slaughter, Bal, sharing commonality in their powers. If Khan Yamun disregards his own expenditure and shares the Slaughter Divine Power he has accumulated over a long time..."

Hanso’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "That’s it, it must be . It’s not only because of Talona but also due to the Ancient Evil Tree Gantias. This tree was reborn by absorbing the blood essence released by the death of Ancient Vampires, and thus has an unimaginable thirst for and use of blood and souls.