The power of life was strong after all, and at last they quelled the chaos.
The fortress located in Driandel, the heart of the Silva Empire, and within it, the Chamber of Life that existed in its deepest reaches.
Empress Drian quietly looked down, lost in thought.
“They are asking for help, and I cannot simply ignore them. But I cannot know whether my children will truly want that. To the south, Ignis is extending a hand, and to the north, Aqua, with whom relations had grown distant for a time, has reached out. To the west, there is no telling when Metalum and Terra may threaten us again.”
Drian looked up at the trees and leaves that grew thickly inside the chamber.
“We never intended to aim for the center in the first place. We merely wished to receive the energy of water that flowed down from above, and to grow and move forward together with them. But there were far too many obstacles in this world.”
The leaves stretched toward Drian, as if focusing on her words.
Drian continued.
“Ignis and Metalum were those positioned at the complete opposite end from us. In the beginning, there was no reason for us to meet, but now that they too have grown, conflict with us has become inevitable. Even Terra is obstructing us now. In the past, I would have opposed them without hesitation, but……”
Drian placed her hand on the trunk of the tree.
She hesitated as she tried to continue speaking.
“The situation is far too complicated. I cannot be certain what is right. I will have to speak further with my retainers.”
The leaves trembled slightly.
Drian glanced at the leaves once, then turned her back and left the Chamber of Life.
“As you know, Aqua has requested our aid.”
After Drian spoke, silence settled over the Garden of Council within the fortress.
Drian quietly turned her gaze to her retainers.
Tarban was the first to speak.
“Although Montanus is attacking Aqua and not us, it is true that it is right for us to step forward. However……”
He paused for a moment.
He seemed to have something to say.
He opened his mouth again.
“It is also true that Aqua’s recent attitude has been uncomfortable. When we were invaded by Metalum, they could do nothing. I understand that much. By nature, water cannot check metal. Is that not why we asked Ignis for help, at least? In fact, Ignis recently repelled Metalum indirectly as well. And yet Aqua protested to us because Ignis is their natural opposite. Now that same Aqua has come to us when they themselves are in danger, and though I do not know if I may dare say this, it feels somewhat insolent.”
The other retainers also nodded.
Silva had maintained a cooperative relationship with Aqua for many long years, and had even helped them attempt a counterattack when Aqua was attacked by Terra.
Aqua had also aided Silva’s growth, but in regard to Metalum’s incursion, they had been unable to take any meaningful action. The one that had rescued Silva from crisis was none other than Ignis.
Bramir added a word as well.
“To be honest, was not the reason they researched slime cores also to make use of us? Since they lacked the strength to keep Terra in check, they wanted to use our energy directly……”
“Enough.”
At Drian’s word, everyone closed their mouths.
“I understand your thoughts well. I also understand that you harbor uncomfortable feelings toward Aqua. But let us not be bound by what has passed, at least not this time. This choice is for the future that lies ahead.”
Wind blew into the council chamber.
The sound of the swaying branches seemed to resemble the will concealed beneath them.
Drian rose and slowly moved her steps.
“If we let go of Aqua’s hand now, in the end, we will be the ones isolated. After all, this forest needs water. We will set aside our relationship with Ignis for now and resolve the problem before us first.”
Drian declared firmly.
“This time as well, we will step forward. But this decision is not for Aqua’s sake. It is for the sake of our Silva.”
Deep within a forest draped in blue mist, a heavy vibration resounded through Silva’s barracks.
Amid the mingling of the earth’s breath and the pulse of life, beings that rose steadfastly from within began to reveal themselves one by one.
Several new guardian tree spirits stood in a line.
As if the forest itself had lifted its roots and begun to walk, they possessed massive bodies with long, weighty limbs like trunks, and their skin was covered in carapaces coiled like growth rings.
It was thanks to the fact that as the fortress of the Silva Empire grew, their life force also grew, producing more life cores than before.
Tarban spoke in a confident tone.
“Compared to Metalum, they should be an easy opponent this time. We hold the advantage in this natural opposition.”
The tree spirits had no words.
Yet each and every one of their steps contained a clear intent.
They were the guardians of Silva, those who possessed an instinct to prepare for external invasion,
And there was also the decision that had set that instinct aflame.
Drian watched them from in front of the barracks.
She quietly murmured to herself.
“For now, the tree spirits are the only force capable of facing Montanus. We must move now.”
Drian immediately gave an order to the guardian tree spirits.
“Our enemies are to the northwest. Stop them!”
The guardian tree spirits moved toward their destination in unison.
The forest trembled beneath their footsteps.
Yet that tremor also symbolized the Silva Empire’s still-unshaken national power.
The enormous guardian tree spirits, together with Drian and her retainers, reached the northwestern border that touched the Aqua Empire.
Before their eyes, Montanus, the Yellow Dragon of the Terra Empire, was continuing to tear through Aqua’s coastline.
Indeed, Montanus’s advance was cutting off the path connected between Silva and Aqua.
Drian shouted toward the guardian tree spirits.
“Attack!!”
Her command was brief, but the power contained in those words was strong.
Following Drian’s order, the guardian tree spirits began to advance toward Montanus one by one.
Each time they moved, the branches around them swayed as well.
Their enormous footsteps shook the forest, and at the same time, shook the entire region.
Around Montanus, Terra’s soldiers were still escorting him, and the forces of the Aqua Empire had not given up, continuing their counterattack against them.
“Ah, what is that……?”
A tidal warrior spotted something from the direction of the forest.
Enormous shadows cutting through the woods.
“It’s Silva’s army!”
Not only Aqua’s army, but Empress Nereia as well sensed their presence from afar.
“Ah……!”
Nereia could not yet continue speaking.
For a moment, she stared blankly at the five or six guardian tree spirits approaching with great strides, leaving footprints made of roots.
The presence of the tree spirits held something that surpassed the level of an allied nation’s army.
And behind them, Drian also appeared.
She raised her hand and shouted.
“Bring down Montanus!!”
The tree spirits charged, their feet making the earth roar.
Terra’s soldiers had not failed to anticipate that Silva would come to Aqua’s aid before long.
However, as they had been ordered not to invade but to guard Montanus, it was not easy for them to block Silva’s forces when they suddenly appeared.
Kwaaaah!
Crack!
Two or so earth guardians were sent flying by a single swing from a guardian tree spirit, and mountain giants then stepped forward to attempt a counterattack, but they too lacked strength.
Kwaang!!
Kugung……!
The rocks that made up the mountain giant’s body collapsed and poured onto the ground.
The roots of the tree spirits easily seized Terra’s soldiers and crushed them.
“Heavens, how can that be!”
Aqua’s soldiers marveled at the might of the guardian tree spirits.
Terra’s soldiers, against whom the waves had merely bounced back no matter how much they attacked, were being almost one-sidedly overwhelmed before Silva’s army.
At last, a gap opened in Terra’s defensive wall of soldiers.
Kwaaaang!
One of the guardian tree spirits charged bravely and collided with Montanus’s enormous body.
A hard sound of impact rang out, and the massive Montanus’s head swayed as he lost his balance.
“Grrrrr! Kaaaak!!”
The Yellow Dragon Montanus roared in fury and brought his foreleg down toward that guardian tree spirit.
But the tree spirit was different from Aqua’s storm beast.
The tree spirit did not break easily, and instead began to wrap its branches around Montanus’s foreleg and apply pressure.
“Now! We attack as well!!”
Nereia’s cry rang across the battlefield.
Aqua’s soldiers, their morale restored by Silva’s support, stood against Montanus.
The waves surged toward Montanus once more.
“Kaaaa!! Grrrk!”
Now there were few Terra soldiers remaining.
Montanus was nearly alone, enduring the attacks of Silva and Aqua.
And a short while later.
“Kraaaak!!!”
Their allied forces gathered their last strength and fell upon Montanus, and at last, after letting out a great roar, Montanus toppled to the ground.
Kuuung!!
It was the moment when the being that had once shaken the world finally fell.
The soldiers who had survived quietly stared at Montanus’s corpse.
Drian, too, calmly caught her breath from a short distance away.
It was by no means an easy victory.
“We did it!!!”
The tidal warriors shouted in triumph.
The cries of Aqua’s army soon spread like waves.
Breaking the momentary silence, the resonance of victory covered the battlefield.
At the edge of the forest, the guardian tree spirits still stood steadfastly.
They slowly moved their enormous bodies aside, opening a path for Drian.
Drian approached Nereia with slow steps.
Drian and Nereia faced each other.
The border between the Silva Empire and the Aqua Empire had not been severed.
Though Aqua’s coastline had been buried in earth and thrown into disorder, as long as Terra’s army had vanished, it could be reorganized.
Drian was the first to speak.
“I am glad it seems we were not too late.”
Nereia hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“We have received your grace once again.”
Drian’s gaze turned toward Montanus’s enormous corpse.
“Montanus has finally fallen. But that thing’s existence is like a warning. We must not insist only on our own ways, but respect and complement one another as we move forward together.”
After a brief silence, Nereia answered quietly.
“We must deepen and grow together once more.”
The two left no particular promise upon those words.
But beyond the cheers of the battlefield, signs of a new balance were flowing.
Meanwhile, Metalum, located to the west, was also strengthening its foundations for a new beginning.
Among the soldiers who had retreated from the front line after the assault of the Ignis Empire, there was a heavier resolve than discontent.
“Good. We proceed as planned.”
Within Metalum, a massive vibration once again made the earth roar.
Together with the heavy sound of metal, as if something were being forged into existence.
The soldiers looked toward the direction from which the noise came and felt a sense of tension.
Metalum, which moved only by the conviction of steel.
Now they too intended to shake the battlefield at the center.