The Elves had been feeling a growing sense of imminent doom for some time now, but as nothing had changed with the forces of their foe, none of them believed that the growing sensation was anything other than a foul spell. For their enemy to use magic designed to alter the feelings of others was expected, and as such they wrote off the unease that they felt increasing within themselves. After all, they were much deeper into the jungle than the damnable bats could reach, and even if they did manage to get this far they would only be a handful at best and thus be easy pickings for the Elven archers.

Still, that unsettling sensation gradually rising inside them was not pleasant, and something would have to be done about that fel magic sooner rather than later. Perhaps a lightning-quick scouting mission could find where the dark sorcerer that was unleashing these debuff was hiding, and then a focused assault could deal those evil people a blow that they would need to wait potentially decades to deal with. Yes, that was a sound and reasonable plan.

Likewise, they would need to find out why the swarms of bats had been carrying fewer bombs as of late. It was almost as if they were not attempting to grow their controlled area any longer and merely attempting to scout instead. That would be a stupid use of those bats if it were true, as the bats were almost certainly unable to see beneath the canopy. Yes, they were faster, but against the might of the Elves, they were still just targets to practice on that were slightly more mobile than before.

Suddenly, a horrifically loud rumbling came from the distance, rolling like a single crack of thunder more massive than any had ever heard. Was this some new evil spell being called forth by the dark magicians of the evil empire? Soon after the rumble came a sight that no one expected was possible; a blast unlike any that had ever been seen by any there erupted not even a few miles away, tearing up flora, fauna, and earth in a massive explosion.

Dirt and shattered foliage rained down on everything around the site of the explosion and a thick cloud of black and purple smoke flooded out from the epicenter of the detonation, blocking vision and assaulting the senses as it hung in the air for what felt like an hour. Slowly though, the smoke faded away, but the scar of the explosion remained. Just under a fourth of a kilometer of terrain had been ripped apart and where great trees once stood there was now only a scorched crater that was covered in…

Immediately after seeing what was in the bottom of the crater, every Elf began to get as far back as they could. Inside that hole was an absolutely huge amount of that black gunk that the bats had been dropping as of late, and that set of a lot of alarm bells. It wasn’t until after they had regained their bearings, though, that they noticed that there was more of that black gunk on the surroundings beyond the crater as well. The explosion had spread that gunk all throughout the area, and even as they stood there, small splotches of that nasty goo were raining down in minimal amounts.

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As soon as they realized what had been applied to themselves and to the environment, the Elves began to frantically attempt to purify themselves. Herbs and potions were being used in no small amounts as mages chanted their spells in a desperate attempt to rid themselves of that fel taint before their souls were ruined forever. Whether or not they would have been successful, though, was something that no one would ever know, as they were all slain by roots spiking up from underground and spearing them from multiple angles at the same time.

A massive magical ward came down over the affected area, cutting it off from the rest of the jungle, leaving those trapped within to fend for themselves against the malicious corruption that had been left in that sealed space. The Great Tree would allow not one single speck of the land that it had rulership over to be tainted, and any lands that were corrupted would be cut off and sealed whenever possible.

Satisfied that the job was done, The Great Tree began to turn its attention elsewhere when another massive explosion erupted just a short distance away from where the previous one had come from. Acting quickly, The Great Tree sealed this place off as well and figured that the evil empire would not be able to use whatever that was more than twice in such short order.

It watched and waited, and after it was content in the knowledge that the explosion would not happen again, it turned its gaze-.

KABOOM!

Okay… this was getting ridiculous… Another sealing ward went down after every sentient being inside the affected area was slain and this time The Great Tree went on high alert and watched and waited for another explosion.

Any moment now.

Any second now…

It’ll be here eventually, and he needed to be prepared to act quickly.

And… now?

Now?

And…. Now?

“Huh…” the tree with a massive size and even larger sense of self-importance thought as the fourth explosion never came. “Well, they must not be able to use it more than three times in a row. Maybe that is the end of that. Now, let’s see what is going on near the southern tip of the continent right no-.”

KABOOM!

“Fucking Me Damnit!” the over-important narcissist of a tree screamed as it was forced to set up another ward and kill even more people. This time, he would focus on this area for as long as he needed to in order to act as quickly as possible. He just knew that another explosion would happen any minute now, and all he needed to do was wait for it to happen.

He would not turn his gaze anywhere else anytime soon. To hell with everywhere else! He would find out what the himself-damned fuck was causing these explosions and he would have his servant deal with it, and nothing and no one could divert his attention away from this singular task!