Chapter 132: The Mother Tree’s Eyes

"Swords, bows, and spears," Maeve quickly told Elthira. "Forty-three of them. They’re still coming from the east."

Elthira immediately turned toward her people. "You heard her! Prepare the eastern side!"

The Sylvara people quickly moved. Those with plant abilities rushed ahead to prepare traps near the eastern forest, while the others picked up their weapons and took their positions.

Maeve remained beside the Mother Tree because she didn’t need to follow them.

As long as her hand remained against the trunk, information continued reaching her. [They have moved closer.]

"How close?"

The Mother Tree told her and Maeve immediately passed the information along. "They’re getting closer! Don’t go too far into the forest!"

Someone repeated her warning, and within seconds, it spread through the Sylvara people.

A few moments later, the Mother Tree spoke again. [Five have separated from the others.]

Maeve’s eyes narrowed. "Five of them separated from the group!"

"Which direction?" Elthira asked.

Maeve immediately asked the Mother Tree.

[North.]

"North!" Maeve shouted. "Five are heading north!"

Several Sylvara people immediately changed positions.

After that, everything happened quickly. Information came to the Mother Tree first, then the Mother Tree told Maeve and she passed it to the Sylvara people.

Every time the Obryx changed direction, the Sylvara changed their formation as well.

It was almost as if they could see the Obryx moving beneath their feet.

BANG!

A loud sound suddenly came from beneath the eastern forest.

Although Maeve wasn’t directly in the eastern forest, she could still feel the ground trembling beneath her feet.

Her body swayed slightly from the sudden movement, but Axan, who was standing right beside her, quickly grabbed her arm and steadied her.

"Careful," Axan said.

Meanwhile, Ikarus was already in the eastern forest with the other Sylvara people when several figures suddenly burst out of the ground.

At first, they looked like nothing more than dark shadows. Then, little by little, those shadows began to take the shape of people.

Arms, legs, heads, and bodies slowly became clear until dozens of Obryx stood before them with weapons in their hands.

It seemed the traps had worked. The underground was now filled with thick roots that kept moving and blocking their way.

Every time the Obryx tried to escape in another direction, more roots followed them, leaving them with less and less space to move.

In the end, they had no choice but to leave their hiding place and come to the surface.

The Obryx didn’t attack immediately and for a few seconds, both sides simply stared at each other.

Ikarus stood at the front of the Sylvara people, his weapon already in his hand. His eyes moved across the Obryx one by one.

One of them stepped forward. He was taller than the others, with dark markings running from his neck to the side of his face. A curved blade rested casually in his hand.

"So you knew we were coming," the man said.

Ikarus gave him a cold look. "You weren’t exactly quiet."

The Obryx man glanced down at the ground, looking at the several thick roots were still moving beneath the broken soil.

His eyes narrowed. "The plants." The man looked around at the trees surrounding them before letting out a laugh. "Interesting. The Sylvara have never been able to sense us this clearly before."

A few of the Sylvara people tightened their grips on their weapons.

Ikarus remained calm as he said, "You should worry less about how we found you and more about what happens if you take another step toward the settlement."

The Obryx man looked at him again. "Move aside."

"No," Ikarus stated firmly.

"We didn’t come for you."

"I know."

The man’s expression remained strangely calm. "Then there is no reason for the Azuryn to interfere."

Ikarus chuckled. "You can say that now, but if your goal is to wipe out everyone on this planet, then sooner or later, you’ll come after the Azuryn Tribe too."

He tightened his grip on his weapon. "So whether I like it or not, this is already our problem."

The Obryx man stared at him for a moment before a faint smile appeared on his face. "You think stopping us here will change anything?"

The man slowly spread his arms. "Look around you. Do you really think this is all of us?

"There are only forty-three of us here," the man continued. "But there are many more Obryx out there."

The Sylvara people immediately became tense, meanwhile, the man seemed pleased by their reaction.

"Even if you kill every Obryx standing here today, there will still be others. We are spread across this world, and we all believe in the same purpose."

He pointed his blade toward the direction of the settlement. "The Mother Tree has awakened. We felt it."

His smile slowly disappeared. "And as long as she remains alive, more of us will come."

Ikarus stared at him without saying anything.

The Obryx man continued, "Maybe you can stop forty-three today. What about the next hundred? Or the hundred after that?"

One of the Sylvara people beside Ikarus cursed under his breath, but Ikarus only smiled. "Then we’ll deal with them when they come."

Ikarus rested his weapon against his shoulder. "You seem to think telling me there are more of you will scare me."

He paused for a moment before saying, "It doesn’t."

Ikarus’s golden eyes looked straight at him. "If anything, you just gave me another reason not to let any of you get past us today."

After all, danger was something they had always lived with in this world.

The Pyrax Tribe could attack them again. The Obryx could keep coming after other tribes for their own twisted purpose. There would probably always be another enemy waiting somewhere, but that didn’t mean they should be afraid.

If their enemies could come back and attack them again and again, then Ikarus was sure of one thing; he and the others could fight back just as many times.

No matter how many times their enemies came, they would face them.

The Obryx man stared at Ikarus for a few seconds before his lips slowly curved into a cold smile. "Then die with them."

The moment those words left his mouth, his body suddenly turned into a dark shadow and disappeared into the ground.

"Get ready!" Ikarus shouted.

The Sylvara people immediately raised their weapons. In the next second, several shadows rushed across the ground in different directions.

They moved quickly between the trees, slipping through the shadows of trunks, rocks, and even the Sylvara people themselves.

"Don’t let them reach the settlement!" Ikarus ordered.

A shadow suddenly appeared behind him and a curved blade came straight toward his neck.

CLANG!

Ikarus turned around and blocked it just in time.

The Obryx man appeared from the shadow, his face only inches away from Ikarus. "You’re fast," the man said.

Ikarus pushed his blade away. "You’re not the first person who has tried to cut off my head."

He immediately kicked the man in the stomach. The Obryx man flew backward, but before his body could hit the ground, he turned into a shadow again and disappeared.

At the same time, the rest of the Obryx finally attacked. "Kill them!"

The forest instantly turned chaotic. Arrows flew between the trees, weapons crashed against each other, and the Sylvara people with plant abilities slammed their hands against the ground, causing thick roots to burst from the soil and chase after the moving shadows.

Every time an Obryx tried to disappear underground, roots immediately followed them.

However, they quickly changed their way of attacking.

Instead of moving beneath the ground, they began jumping from one shadow to another.

One disappeared beneath a tree. Another suddenly appeared behind a Sylvara warrior. A third came out of the shadow beneath a large rock.

They were everywhere.

Back at the settlement, Maeve could hear everything through the Mother Tree.

At first, she expected the Mother Tree to simply tell her where the Obryx were moving.

But it suddenly gave her an order. [Close your eyes.]

Maeve blinked. "What?"

[Close your eyes, Maeve.]

Although she didn’t understand, Maeve still followed her words. The moment her eyes closed, the darkness behind her eyelids disappeared.

Instead, Maeve saw the eastern forest. She wasn’t seeing it from her own eyes, but she was seeing it through the plants.

For one second, her vision came from the grass beneath an Obryx warrior’s feet. Then it suddenly shifted to a vine hanging from a tree, allowing her to see several Obryx moving between the shadows.

A moment later, her vision came from a small patch of grass near Ikarus, so she could see him clearly.

He was fighting two Obryx at once, while another shadow moved quietly behind him.

Maeve immediately shouted, "Ikarus!"

Of course, he couldn’t hear her from this far away.

Maeve gritted her teeth. ’If only I could do more than watch.’

After hearing her thoughts, the Mother Tree suddenly spoke.

[You can.]

Maeve froze. "What?"

[They are my children, but you are my Heart.]