The Tree of Evil appearance wasn't much different than a monster out of someone's worse nightmare as it has a large teeth-filled mouth in the middle of its trunk, whose lower half ends in dozens of nightmare roots caging skeletons and the upper half ends in a crown of leaves with sharp pointed ends. A crimson crystallized orb the size of a boulder was in the center of the crown. Its bark was the same color as human blood, covered in black scales with thorns growing out of them, and the group could see eight rectangular-shaped inky, black eyes rippling down the sides of its body.

Mesmerizing pinkish leaves whose beauty didn't lose in the face of cherry blossoms grew out of the branches of the Tree of Evil.

However, the blood of countless of its victims was what caused it to blossom to such a soul enchanting state.

For some reason, the tree of Evil has chosen to decorate itself beautifully as if it was a human smearing makeup on their face.

Furthermore, it was tall enough to nearly reach the cave's ceiling, which was over fifty meters in height.

"It's as I imagined. Just like the fools who came here before, you've too ignored all my warnings and came for me because of your greed. That very greed will be the end of all of you. You will not get what you desired, but you will indeed get caged in my roots of nightmare and suffer from endless torture before meeting your end! It's the price you must pay for killing my babies!" The mouth of the Tree of Evil moved oddly, and a hoarse voice sounded in their ears as its eight abyssal black eyes moved to stare at them.

Although Peter and Leila were surprised as beasts and monsters in the magical and demonic realm can not speak human language, they were not too shocked as they had learned all about its ability before they entered its lair.

How come it can speak the human language?!

The Tree of Evil learned to speak the human language from killing and assimilating with the memories of the humans and demi-humans that fell victim to an endless nightmare.

From its words, Vincent inferred that it has not only consumed the memories of its innocent victims but has also integrated with the memories of hypocrites.

"What a hypocrite! You've been killing innocent people for who knows when. You've tried to kill us all time and time again. When you sacrificed your minions and came to realize that we are too strong for you to fight fairly, you repeatedly targeted the love of my brother to enslave him. You tried to kill my sister again and again. Yet, you failed every time. You're the one who sacrificed all of your creation to stop us from coming here. It was to save yourself. You're nothing but a monster that will stoop to the lowest height and pay whatever price to keep on living. Correct me if I am wrong," Peter stood his ground although he was being stared down by four of its eyes and uttered the truth at the top of his lungs so that the demonic tree could listen to each of his words.

None of his words were false, and each of them highlights the selfish nature of the tree of evil.

"Your words sound interesting, but they lack depth. So what if I sacrifice a few filthy beings and my creation to keep on living? There's nothing wrong with that. This world is the survival of the fittest. It has been since the very start of the universe's creation. If such wasn't the case, why do the strong and the rich of your races keep on getting stronger and prosperous while the weak and the poor suffer? Among the sacrifices I made in order to live, there's not a single noble or royal. The ones who died are the lowest of the so-called peaceful society you humans created, and the greediest adventurers that tried to take my material for themselves, rather than going back and reporting my existence to their higher-ups!"

"You fools did the same thing as them!"

As soon as the words of the Tree of Evil sounded in their ears, the floor of the vast lair of evil trembled as dozens of black roots with sharp ends burst out of the soil and fired straight towards them, cutting through the air as their pointed triangular ends threatened to pierce through their body.

In that very instant, a calm and taunting voice of a youth sounded in the area.

"Your race loves to talk a lot. Let me shut you up for good!"

Varth stood straight, unconcerned by the perilous danger heading his way. His hand was raised in front of his body, aiming towards the incoming rain of roots.

At the same time, many blue dots concentrated at the center of his glove before they instantly condensed into several small blue balls, each packing a hell of a lot of power.

Before the roots could even reach halfway towards them, the small blue bombs launched forward at the speed of lightning simultaneously, and if one looked carefully enough, one would make out thin blue lines being drawn on the air as if someone decided to create a painting on air; one with only blue lines.

‹ Magic Technique: Magic Bomb ›

A moment later, several magic bombs crashed on different parts of dozens of roots in mid-air.

BOOM

In the split of a second, a terrific sound rang throughout the lair of evil as the magic bombs erupted, blasting the roots into pieces. The cave trembled violently due to the shockwaves resulting from the explosion but didn't collapse.

"Seems like you can't even back up your words," said the Tree of Evil, as it watched its roots falling to the ground with an evil smile on its hideous face.

However, before one of the four could even retort, a dozen more roots stretched out of the walls in the very next second, whipping towards them like the tentacles of the Kraken, demonstrating invincible might as it generated waves of winds.

"I got this covered!"

Leila's voice sounded in their ears, and at the same time, a sharp icy dagger made out of ice materialized all around them, spreading a chilling sensation in the dark, dismal surroundings as they cut through the air under her mental control and stormed the lair of evil, chopping a dozen roots in an instant.

"What else do you have up your sleeves! I mean, your trunk!" Peter said, pointing towards the Tree of Evil.

"Self-centered fools, look behind you. I have sealed the exit of my lair. There's no escape. You'll meet your ends in this very place!"

Peter turned to look behind him, only to see thick vines covering the passageway. 

The Tree of Evil felt smug as it believes that from the very start, they have been walking towards the center of the trap it prepared for them.

"You're the cornered rat left with nowhere to run!" Vincent took a deep breath as he amplified the strength of his arm with battle energy and launched a crimson spear towards its mouth.

‹ Blood Count: 10/50 ›

His blood count was threateningly low.