Chapter 285. Terrifying Lakeborn Forest.

Words : 1242 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Chapter 285. Terrifying Lakeborn Forest. Once inside the forest, maintaining the marching lines was much more complicated. Forests in the Ceperet World had very tall trees, averaging over sixty meters in height inside mid-level zones. That wasn’t the only problem since the wildlife that lives in those forests wouldn’t allow their terrain to be invaded without a fight. Naturally, like all living beings, survival instinct would prevent them from attacking large-scale armies such as Lorbase’s army. “Lord, there are no sights of local fauna!” Baron Lorbase looked around and nodded, showing that he had heard the report. “If that’s the case, continue marching forward.” Elenara spoke up, still not entirely convinced about Baron Lorbase’s actions. “Lord, if we continue forward, the right part of our army will go dangerously close to the giant lake of this forest. We must not underestimate nature!” Before he answered, Evangeline interrupted, continuing to guide Lorbase according to her plans. “General Elenara, you are worrying too much again.” Evangeline kicked the side of her quadrupedal mount and approached. “Our army is strong and won’t be crippled by the forest. And if it tries to... Well, we’ll show it why it shouldn’t.” Elenara protested with a harsh tone. “The forest doesn’t have a will, and it will see any large group of beings that gather as an enemy! It is our responsibility to avoid such things from happening and protect nature!” Baron Lorbase raised his voice, glaring at Elenara. “You shouldn’t speak like that to Lady Evangeline, Elenara. She is someone important!” Elenara’s expression twisted as if she had eaten a bug. She looked once at Lord Lorbase and then switched her gaze to the front. ‘... When has this woman become someone that important? She must’ve done something when I wasn’t looking!’ Jolie, marching at the side on a fantastical brown beast, looked at this with an interested face, learning quite a lot from it. ‘Control... Mother does it in a slick way. Why try to control the animal's entire body when, by controlling how the head thinks, you can manipulate the rest of the body to your will.’ Still, she was not very sure about her mother’s tactic. She brought it up when Evangeline returned, speaking low so that nobody else listened. “Mother, why are you trying to weaken their army? We are facing a World Tree at the end of the day. Shouldn’t we use our own army to come later and sweep in?” Evangeline fanned her face, making her silvery locks wave in a fascinating manner. “Isn’t this army a bit too strong? I fear that, at this pace, they will be the ones sweeping everything.” “But...” Jolie trailed off on her words. Evangeline looked at her thoughtful daughter and smiled. “Love, I understand that you are worried. However, I’ve fought World Trees many other times in the past. Believe me, this time it won’t go too differently...” Evangeline paused. “Still, since you are worried. How about we avoid participating in the assault? We can look at everything from a distance and then see if your fears are right or wrong.” Jolie didn’t have any more complaints. She smiled faintly. “Okay, Mother. Thank you for trusting my strange feelings.” Evangeline laughed softly. “Worry not, dear. You are my daughter, so I rather trust your senses and worry. If we fail...” Evangeline shook her head. “Well, we’ll see what we do when that time comes. Let’s not be defeatists.” Meanwhile, deep inside the lake, a being was awakened by the rhythmic steps of the large army. “Hm...? What now?” The algae all around the lake started twitching, communicating with the forest around it. Soon, it understood. “An army is crossing our forest? Why is this the case? Did we get discovered?” His face twisted with anger, and he shouted underwater. “RAAH!!” However, as he was preparing to take his last stance, the voice of a thousand creatures echoed in his mind. “...Noisy.” “Gah!?” The impact of the single word made his eyesight flash white as if a ten-ton hammer had hammered his mind. Several algae coiled around his body and dragged him down at a terrifying speed. As darkness swallowed his sight, he muttered, water entering through his nose and throat as he did so. “What... Are... you?” The last thing he heard was a chorus that seemed to come from the deepest hellscape, burning his mind from the overcharging of his senses. “We are the Lakeborn Forst... Now, silence.” On the other hand, several messages of Experience Points appeared in the Lakeborn Forest’s mind, making it curious. ‘Oh? While most are giving me zero Experience Points... There are a few interesting preys between all of them... Some actually gave us some Experience Points.” Looking outside the lake, Lakeborn Forest noticed that many people were looking over the edge of the now-silent lake—their varied emotions encompassed from deep fear to morbid curiosity. Lakeborn Forest looked between her Accumulated Experience Points and the people over the edge a few times. “... We should protect Liu Shu... It is our generous effort to protect her as a former World Tree.” And so, the water broke again, and a massacre unfolded. When Elenara arrived, she saw not a carnage but an imagery that looked much more terrifying. Several green plants were speeding from the lake at frightening speeds, yanking her people into the lake in the dozens and creating loud splashes. Those fighting could barely resist until they were inevitably dragged with the rest. Her first intention was to fight whatever that thing was. ‘I need to protect them!... Huh?’ Just when she was about to leap forward, her entire body and senses as a Sylvan screamed danger, forcing her to jump from her mount. A millisecond later, several dozen vines surrounded her mount and dragged it into the water. Her heart tightened with fear. If she was on her mount, forget about fighting; she might’ve been dragged helplessly like the rest. ‘W-What is this creature?!’ Elenara, still mid-air, looked at the Lake as if it were the maws of a terrifying creature. Using her entire strength, her voice boomed outward. “DON’T FIGHT! ESCAPE! GET AWAY FROM THE LAKE!” Whatever was hiding in that lake, it was strong enough to make her, a Level 32 Sylvan, feel like she would be helpless to resist. This was not a being that they should fight. Lakeborn Forest heard the woman shout, and her mood worsened. “... Noisy. Should we grab her? She looks somewhat strong; she should be good fish food.” However, knowing that if she pursued them now, they might become actually motivated to attack her, Lakeborn Forest decided to snatch away only those who didn’t reach the treeline surrounding the lake. That distance was not small, though. At the end of the day, the lake of the forest was enormous. Hence, the range it spoke of was a massive stretch that claimed many more lives before everyone was outside of its range. The number of losses as people tried to save others and got tangled instead was terrible. When Baron Lorbase arrived, she saw Elenara looking around with a pale face and a group of terrified soldiers who didn’t even dare look toward the lake.

Chapter 285. Terrifying Lakeborn Forest.

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