When a colossal beast falls, death does not signify the end of everything.
Lingering vitality often survives within the warm confines of the corpse, living on in another form, or perhaps continuing.
Deep within the Gondor Empire, chaotic and dry winds carry dust as they whistle across the plains. In a chaotic sky, murky clouds spiral and twist like an upside-down funnel, gloomily covering the land. Pulses of energy leap between the swirling clouds, continually discharging kiloters-long arcs of electricity and rumbling thunder, and beneath this frightening atmospheric phenonon lies the molten and torn imperial capital wasteland.
The forr imperial capital, long reduced to dust in the explosion of Magic Power, now only leaves sparse and twisted remnants as proof of human civilization’s existence. At the center of a vast plain, a gigantic crater quietly nestles into the earth. The crater contains layers of crystalline walls sinking towards the center; so lted materials with unrecognizable original shapes are "embedded" in those walls, pointing straight up skyward like sinister jagged branches, looking desolate and horrifying.
Yet even within such completely destroyed ruins, there is still sothing that is "alive"—
At the bottom of the giant crater, the charred ground bulges, and the crystal-like lted substance solidifies into a cone-like structure appearing to be composed of countless prisms. At the top of this conical structure, a nearly kiloter-wide blue fla erupts, illuminating the entire deep crater. This Magic Power fla jet reaches several kiloters into the sky, echoing with the swirling charged clouds above, and around the erupting "crystal cone" are nurous wandering Mana apparitions moving about.
This terrifying eruption has continued for seven hundred years, without the slightest sign of abating.
At the base of the crystal cone, a pipeline extending from the crystalline prism gradually integrates into the crater wall’s lted and solidified crystalline substances, with streams of light abruptly appearing inside, as if transporting so material. Several dazed Mana apparitions wander around it, driven by instinct to approach the pure, clean energy yet unable to absorb it due to the pipeline’s protective barrier, appearing agitated and restless.
Suddenly, a light projectile flashed among the wandering Mana apparitions, with its powerful force directly shattering one apparition and creating a chaotic arc cloud on the distant crater wall.
The next mont, all the Mana apparitions swiftly fled the area.
At the origin of the light projectile, unknowingly, a narrow entrance opened in the crystal cone’s outer wall, where a tall, imposing female figure dressed in worn Empire Master Mage robes stood quietly. Her expressionless gaze fell on the slowly dissipating arc cloud nearby, her hand still raised in a spell-casting posture.
The chaotic wasteland winds brushed through the crater base, moving the silver-gray strands of hair on the tall woman’s forehead. Her nearly flawless appearance has no blemishes on her skin, but the similarly silver-gray eyes seem to lack necessary emotions, cold as a machine.
She stared at the direction of the Energy Conduit for several seconds before slowly lowering her hand, a flicker of light briefly flashing deep in her eyes.
"Area cleared, harmful entities have been expelled.
"Energy Conduit exterior appears normal, environntal readings normal.
"Imperial Calendar Year 2488, Fire Moon 2nd, Sentinel No. 4 begins patrol duties."
Accompanied by a sowhat chanical voice, the tall woman with silver-gray long hair raised her head to look into the distance. A pale blue light ring ford by magic symbols expanded from her waist. She then left the ground, flying toward the crater’s outer edge.
"Conditions normal within the alert zone... All Energy Conduit exteriors are normal... Observing other Sentinels, visual check normal... Passing beyond the outer periter of the ruins..."
The female Master Mage chanically reporting while swiftly skimming over the crater, finally smoothly landing on the corroded, torn wasteland outside the crater.
"Arrived at ruin outer patrol zone, calibrating monitors..." she remarked while lifting her head to scan the desolate ruins of the old imperial capital. The unchanged sorrowful landscape for hundreds of years entered her polyr eyes, presenting a clear image in the optical sensory crystals.
Her scanning abruptly halted as a large malford monster, swollen and seemingly composed of flowing red mud, suddenly entered her sight.
"Threatening entity observed, high arcane resistance unit, initiating elimination."
The chanical, icy voice had barely fallen before the female Master Mage launched a swift attack. Behind her, a complex structure of a magic symbol light ring suddenly appeared, and she forcefully pushed off the ground with her legs, her tall figure accelerated by dual powers, transforming into a phantom, charging toward the aberration at near Knight Charge speed.
The aberration also noticed the rapidly approaching attacker. The creature emitted chaotic roars, its body swirling with tainted Magic. It raised its arm high as a mass of black-red corrupt energy quickly ford. Yet before it could release this destructive power, the female Master Mage dressed in a worn uniform had already rushed forward, raising her arm, and an alloy blade directly sprang from her palm, quickly severing the aberration’s spell-casting arm, followed by another flash, with the blade whirling back and neatly cutting off the creature’s other arm—two flashes of blade light, with strength and speed comparable to an excellent swordsman!
The aberration uttered chaotic delirious howls, attempting to rotate its body to capture the Master’s movents, but its attempt was only halfway complete when an alloy blade already severed the weakness on its back.
The giant blood-red monster roared as it fell, its murky blood and mud rapidly disintegrating. The female Master Mage raised her arm, retracting the alloy blade back into her body, while a cloud of dust from the dead aberration enveloped her.
Suddenly, the dust that should naturally disperse stagnated, and another threatening energy reaction appeared in her senses. She instantly raised her arm, attempting to lock onto the threat’s position. However, the dust lingering in the air temporarily disrupted her perception—in that mont of interference, a vine resembling a withered branch suddenly pierced from the nearby ground, stabbing straight at her back!
Along with the piercing tallic sound, the dry-skinned vine punctured the alloy shell on the Master Mage’s back, causing her body to shudder violently. Then, accompanied by a series of crackling noises and a string of strange chanical sounds, the tall female Master Mage’s body finally beca motionless.
From the ground, a rustling sound erged where the vine erged, and a large plant structure squird its way out from the fragile corrupted soil, overturning a large piece of the surrounding surface entirely. These plant structures that erged squird, reford in a chilling manner, quickly condensing into a sinister, bizarre large tree shape.
One of the giant trees shook its branches, the twisted, wrinkled facial features on its bark squirming: "It feels good to move freely... We spent seven hundred years laying out our root network, and now, finally, it’s paying off."
Another giant tree slightly shook its extended vine—precisely the one that pierced the Master Mage’s back—"Astonishing, these ancient Iron n are still operational."
"Not all mind cores have failed, the most advanced Iron n can protect their core through temporary dormancy," the third giant tree spoke in a hoarse voice, "Look over there, the Well of Deep Blue... The Iron n maintain it in their own way, now transford into a fortress, with production and maintenance arrays deep underground sustaining an entire Iron Soldier Corps..."
The branches of the other two giant trees swayed simultaneously, emitting a rustling sound: "...It is indeed quite difficult for us to directly conquer the Well of Deep Blue."
"That’s why we need to spread bit by bit, root ourselves bit by bit, and... find a way to dismantle these defenses ford by the Iron Soldier Corps."
The vine piercing the "Master Mage" slowly retracted from her back. Inside her motionless form, a faint humming and chanical friction sounded; she seed to be attempting to restart, yet the damage to the Magic Power nexus made her efforts futile.
"Take ’her’ along," the leading giant tree wriggled its roots, "the ’Matrix’ will soon detect a sentinel’s disconnect. We must leave before more Iron Soldiers erge."
"Yes, Archbishop."
A giant tree respectfully replied, sending out nurous branches amidst rustling sounds to envelop the locked Iron Man Master Mage. The other giant trees connected to the underground root network, unraveling massive vines from surface crevices. Together, the trees swiftly fused with the vines, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Minutes later, several towering sentinels clad in Gondor Master Mage uniforms descended nearby, but the trees had vanished entirely, leaving only a heap of lting aberration ashes.
...
Several kiloters away from the Deep Blue Well Ruins, within a mountain valley, countless twisted yet lush trees took root at the valley’s bottom. Their branches intertwined, their crowns connected, layers of leaves rustled amidst the wasteland winds, bringing an eerie vitality to this land where all life had perished.
Large aberrations, unusually tall and covered in peculiar spikes, hovered around the valley entrance like sentinels guarding this eerie area. Deep within the valley, countless vines squird out of the ground, instantly forming the shapes of a few giant trees.
One tree trudged its roots toward a nearby platform, depositing a "female Master Mage" cocooned in plant tissue at its center, amid the rustle of branches and leaves.
"Quite unexpected..." As the "cargo" was placed on the platform, twin voices speaking in duet simultaneously emanated from the surrounding "forest." A pair of elven sisters strolled out, their expressions appreciative as they gazed at the central clearing’s treants, "Seems you had smooth sailing?"
"The lone Iron Soldiers aren’t difficult to deal with; their thinking is so rigid," the leader of the treants remarked, his shriveled, odd face fixed on the Elven Twins, "Now, it’s ti for you to demonstrate your value."
"Watch your words, ’Archbishop,’ we’re rely partners, not your subordinates," the Elven Twins replied coolly, "Without our assistance, you couldn’t breach the Iron Soldier Corps’ defenses in a century."
"Indeed, we each get what we need, but if it weren’t for a disastrous defeat in the outside world, proud twins wouldn’t burrow into this wasteland seeking allies," the new Archbishop of Oblivion, the treant leader, rasped, "Let’s discard these pointless prides — only results matter to us both."
The Elven Twins said nothing more, rely passed the Archbishop coolly, arriving at the stone platform, gazing down at the inert Iron Sentinel.
This ancient Gondor technology crystal lay silently on the platform without breath or heartbeat; only subtle clicking and buzzing ca from within, indicating its self-repair process, temporarily paused.
"It’s good you didn’t damage the mind core. The nurous structures, including the Magic Power nexus, can self-repair, but once the mind core is damaged, we’re powerless... This is Gondor’s technology, after all."
The Elven Twins remarked casually as Reyna advanced, placing a hand over the "female Master Mage’s" abdon — within the Magic glow, the ancient empire’s Master Mage uniform parted to reveal a breach in the synthetic skin, and beneath it, the gleaming protective casing.
Ferna’s fingers traced the protective casing’s edge as if slicing the tal with an invisible blade; with protective spells ineffective, the casing was easily pierced open, exposing the intricate bronze chanical core and an array of ancient magical devices shimring within.
"Such exquisite design," Reyna murmured.
"And conveniently self-repaired at a crucial mont," Ferna smiled faintly.
"At this point, just a slight interference with the exposed mind core..."
The Elven Twins simultaneously pressed their fingers onto one component of the ancient magical apparatus, amidst the spark of minor electric arcs. Within the "female Master Mage," an odd chanical friction echoed, her eyes fluttered open as if waking from slumber.
Reyna and Ferna straightened, stepping into the sentinel’s vision, bending over as they greeted: "Hello, soldier."
"Reset complete, loading recognition library..." The "female Master Mage’s" gaze focused on Reyna and Ferna, after a mont’s delay, she blinked once more, "Nice to see you, Defier."
Nearby, the Archbishop’s roots and branches shook gently in the open space.
The ravaged Druid Leader rasped: "Now, we’ve secured the first one."
Throughout the valley, innurable strange, distorted giant trees swayed their branches, rustling loudly.
When a colossal beast falls, death does not signify the end.
The remaining vitality often survives, nurtured within the corpse, enduring in a different form, or perhaps continuing onward.
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