According to Lurie’s prophecy, staying outside the ring of fire was extremely dangerous. Those tens of thousands of tumor-like growths were no pushovers. Even if Chapter Three could swat a whole cluster to death with one slap, they couldn’t possibly watch every direction. Casualties were inevitable.

The Elderly Elf rose into the air first. He tried to use a Formation to disperse all the flames before them, but he could only redirect the fire. At least he opened a path wide enough for two people to pass through side by side.

“You go first.”

The others didn’t hesitate. They led the main group into the ring of fire.

Their feet stepped across the scorching ground, and unease crept into everyone’s hearts.

The Dual Blade Sorceress examined the space around them. She discovered that the space at the very center was extremely fragile. If they tore it open, they could create the spatial rift they had seen more than ten days ago.

But tearing open the space here was easier said than done.

Neither the Dual Blade Sorceress nor the Greatsword Woman knew anything about space. Once again, the entire group fell into a deathly silence.

At that moment, the Elderly Elf flew over.

He set up a spatial Formation designed to shake the surrounding space and weaken it. At the same time, he called over the anxious Lurie and asked her to provide assistance.

The disaster Lurie had seen in her earlier prophecy had taken place outside the ring of fire. But because they had reacted in time, those tumor-like growths never had the chance to attack.

But…

Prophecy was destined to come true.

Those tumor-like growths would come. And the civilians behind them would inevitably suffer casualties.

“Isn’t nothing happening right now? Relax. The three of us are here.”

The Greatsword Woman saw through Lurie’s thoughts. She slapped Lurie hard on the shoulder, making it ache.

Lurie chose to trust her words. She walked up to the Elderly Elf, invoked the Elven Codex, and began tearing open the spatial rift bit by bit.

But just as the rift opened a corner, the silent earth began to tremble.

One thick vine after another burst from the ground. They resembled the tumor-like growths, but were countless times larger. Their surfaces were covered in rough bark, and their colors were deep and eerie.

As the vines broke through the earth, they released a series of strange, low growls.

The sounds were wild and primitive. They brought to mind the roars of ancient beasts, making everyone’s heartbeat stutter.

“It’s here!”

Lurie’s heart clenched. She quickly turned her head and stopped what she was doing.

Her eyes locked onto the strangely moving vines.

They twisted and clawed at the ground as if they were alive, as though trying to drag something hidden deep beneath the earth to the surface.

“We absolutely can’t let them pull up whatever’s underground!”

Before Lurie could finish, the Elderly Elf and the other two had already understood.

They began destroying the vines on the surface.

But the vines were even more troublesome than the three had expected.

They chanted Magic Spells, cutting, melting, and burning the troublesome vines. Under their attacks, the vines twisted and struck back, sweeping away dozens of people in an instant.

At last, the surface of the earth began to bulge slightly.

Even an idiot could tell that something was about to emerge.

The surrounding people scattered in panic. But trapped inside the wall of fire, where could they run?

The ground swelled more violently. Cracks spread across the earth in dense webs.

Strands of Black Flame rose from the fissures, curling with tongues of fire. Everyone nearby shuddered in fear.

“It’s here!”

The Elderly Elf’s gaze sharpened.

The Formation rose into the air. He actually intended to force the monster that was about to break through the ground back into the earth.

But the unknown creature below was clearly no ordinary beast.

A single roar left the three people in the air drenched in sweat.

At last, the monster buried beneath the earth revealed itself.

Its head and slender neck suddenly shot out from underground, like a demon breaking free from the Abyss.

Countless tumor-like growths clung to its exposed skin like parasites. They covered its dull blue-green scales.

Next, a pair of thin, badly corroded wings slowly unfolded.

Every stretch of those wings came with another strange, low growl, as if announcing its arrival to the world.

It gently beat its wings.

Its long, slender body rose into the air, covered from head to toe in tumor-like growths.

“It’s… a dragon!”

The Elderly Elf was widely experienced and recognized the creature first.

Lurie found the dragon strangely familiar. Then she remembered the records in the Elven Codex.

That long, breathtaking form.

Those wings, thin as cicada wings.

Those magnificent blue-green scales.

It was the guardian of the forests and nature, the existence the elves called the Dragon of the Elves.

A being comparable to a god.

The Dragon of Nature!

“The Dragon of Nature…? But why does it look like this?”

Feeling the pressure radiating from the dragon’s body, the three of them retreated again and again.

If this really was the Dragon of Nature, the three of them might not be enough.

That race had received divine grace at close range. It stood at the highest level beneath the gods.

Yet those tumor-like growths had parasitized the Dragon of Nature.

Did that mean their master possessed a higher status than the Dragon of Nature?

But apart from the gods, who could possibly rank above it?

Lurie recalled the past recorded in the Elven Codex.

The gods had created the Seven Great Dragons first. But in terms of status, the children of the gods seemed far superior to the Seven Great Dragons.

The gods loved this world. They couldn’t possibly destroy a world they had created with their own hands.

There was only one possibility.

The master of these tumor-like growths was a child of the gods.

Amid its roar, the dragon widened its seemingly empty eyes. Yet those eyes contained endless power, intimidating every living creature present.

As its roar rang out, the silent earth instantly boiled.

Countless vines seemed to gain life. They surged from every direction, winding and intertwining.

The vines were not only thick and powerful. They were incredibly fast.

They danced through the air like enormous green dragons, running rampant between heaven and earth.

Under the Dragon of Nature’s influence, the trees around them began to change as well.

They were no longer motionless objects. They twisted and warped, drawing closer to one another.

In the end, they intertwined and transformed into a wooden fortress that towered into the sky.

The fortress was extraordinarily sturdy.

But it wasn’t meant to repel foreign enemies.

It intended to trap everyone inside and bury them alive.

“The only way out is to tear open the rift. Otherwise, everyone here will die!”

The Dual Blade Sorceress and the Greatsword Woman called upon their sealed power and did everything they could to stop the Dragon of Nature.

Having seen the ending, Lurie gritted her teeth. Together with the Elderly Elf, she began widening the rift before them.

The Dual Blade Sorceress swung both Blades in her hands.

Her movements were elegant yet vicious, as if they echoed the full moon high above. Her twin Blades flashed with cold light beneath the moon, like meteors streaking across the night and leaving dazzling trails behind.

Her figure was agile, her steps light.

She seemed to merge with the battlefield itself.

Dodging the vines summoned by the Dragon of Nature, she thrust her sharp twin Blades toward its eyes.

Against an enemy of this level, the eyes were always the weakest point.

The Dragon of Nature would be no exception.

But the Dragon of Nature closed its eyes.

The Blades sliced across the thin membranes covering its eyelids, throwing off sparks.

The Dragon of Nature wasn’t even known for combat or defense.

So why couldn’t her attack break through its defenses?

While the Dual Blade Sorceress stood stunned, thick vines blotted out the once-clear night sky.

They plunged from the depths of the heavens like giant serpents, sweeping madly toward the ground.

Under the vines’ crushing force, the earth collapsed as easily as fragile paper.

Cracks spread rapidly in every direction, like wounds across the land. They were bottomless, as if leading straight into the depths below and devouring all life and light.

The Greatsword Woman appeared like a bolt of lightning and shoved the Dual Blade Sorceress away.

She stared at the vines surging toward them. Both hands tightened around her greatsword’s hilt.

She didn’t dare show the slightest carelessness.

After taking a deep breath, she gathered all her strength into her arms. Then she swung the greatsword with all her might.

The blade cut through the air with a sharp whoosh.

A dazzling sword-light cleaved toward the vines. Wherever it passed, the vines withered as if scorched by raging flames.

“I guess you’re not all that impressive!”

With that, a massive sword descended from the sky and slammed the Dragon of Nature back into the ground.

The Dual Blade Sorceress followed up with a cross-shaped Blade arc, striking the Nature Spirit buried beneath the earth.

“Is it over?”

The Dual Blade Sorceress narrowed her eyes. Her senses weren’t especially sharp.

The Greatsword Woman immediately shot back, “In your dreams. That’s the Dragon of Nature. Sure, it’s acting strange, but if you treat it like an ordinary monster, it should get angry any second now, right?”

The moment she finished speaking, the enormous wooden fortress in the sky suddenly began pressing downward.

It was like a colossal mountain about to collapse.

Under that crushing weight, the cracked earth could no longer hold. The center rapidly caved in, forming a gigantic Abyss.

At the same time, an invisible pulse spread from the fortress and filled the entire space.

The pulse was strange and powerful. It seemed capable of influencing everything around it.

The earth began to churn.

Countless twisted plants burst from the ground. They grew wildly, rapidly covering the soil below and all around them.

These twisted plants took many forms.

Some were thin like tentacles. Others were sharp like thorns.

They spread at astonishing speed, tightly binding the civilians who fled without direction.

The people screamed in terror and struggled to break free from the bizarre plants.

But they didn’t know that anyone caught by those plants was already doomed to die.

The Dual Blade Sorceress swept through the darkness, quickly rescuing the bound civilians.

Those who she failed to reach in time became nutrients for the vines.

The Dragon of Nature poked its head out.

After looking around, it charged toward the Greatsword Woman first.

Its speed was impossible to withstand.

The Greatsword Woman had only just raised her sword when a tremendous force struck her from the front. She was sent flying, sword and all.

The Dual Blade Sorceress was about to rush to her aid when someone above suddenly shouted at the top of their lungs:

“The rift’s open! Get over here—now!”