AN: It's been a long time coming...I've waited so long to reveal the end boss, the final enemy, the one and only Antagonist. It all started as a joke, a simple comment. "Hey, write from the trees' POV!"
It all, as I've said time and again before, went downhill from there.
All of a sudden, Zenlith chirps up with, "Praise Wooden!" and soon the religion is founded. A snap of the finger, a blink of the eye, that was all it took. j0nn0, Troll, and Pyro join in, and before you know it the disciples have assembled, with Zeny at the head.
Pretty soon, the side stories pop up. Before I know it, I'm converted. Thoughts begin to swirl in the void of my mind, and tales of darkness web their way through my every waking thought...
I. Can't. Wait. I'm done holding myself back, Wooden will have his victory.
All hail Wooden, the one, true god. Praised be his bark and branches, and let his prophet, Cox, lead us out of this well of ignorance and into the light of a future no one has ever beheld before.
I've sat for hours, pondering Wooden. It's been months since I decided Wooden would ascend, but it took me this long to realize how. Finally, the light of revelation has revealed itself to me, and I know what to do.
Time to put speculation and doubts to rest, and let a new age of golden fruit arrive.
Zeny, this is for you.
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Tree's POV
Everything was so...dark. I tried to move, but it felt as if my body was entombed under miles of stone...
I felt things, so many things, smells, tastes, sounds, I could taste the miles of dirt from my spread roots.
Wait one second! Since when have I thought things were dark? I've never had eyes...it must be this mist.
I felt around with my branches, feeling the mist swirl and twirl playfully around my boughs. I tentatively gave them a swat, and they playfully avoided me. Then they laughed and gave me a tiny push. I smiled, and pushed back. All around me, the mist rolled and dived, jumping and climbing, flying and gliding, flipping and spinning in a vortex of movement.
While I played with them above, occasionally dropping nuts and apples from my branches, I focused my attention upon my roots.
If I had eyes, they would've opened wide with shock. My roots had doubled in size, and I quickly felt around the outside edges of the outer wall, seeing how much time has passed. I could tell how long it had been from how many and what kind of houses the two-legs built.
But...everything was as I remembered. It was as if no time at all had passed. I thoughtfully shifted my roots, feeling the ground shift and accommodate their movement.
Wait. Move?
I shifted my branches, and felt instant response. It was as if I had arms like the two-legs, that could be moved with merely a thought. My roots were like legs, that could be shifted with barely any effort. I thoughtfully wondered if I could grow them...
My roots began to shoot out, their feelers spreading miles and miles around. I could look! I could feel! My space that used to be confined to a few meters of my roots had been shattered, and now I saw everything, I felt everything, I knew all.
A thought flitted through my head, of the time a priest had passed by walking, discussing the features of god. What was it he said made a god...?
POWER
I gave my roots a stronger push, and shook the earth itself.
MERCY
I Lifted the city a dozen feet off of the rest of the earth, my roots becoming a net holding the entire city up.
I could drop it, and kill everyone here. I have the power, I have the right. I'm so powerful, what is to stop me?
...but I didn't.
SIGHT
God could see all, especially lies. I'd looked at my small area for so long, and yet had seen so much lying and deceit as to make a villain cry. But I had never SEEN.
It felt so dark...
I could feel something straining at my bark, something breaking through, something more powerful than all of my branches and roots combined.
Then, with a shatter like the sound of a continent splitting, I opened my eyes.
Congratulations!: You have evolved from <
Hmmm...? What's this? "Great Life Tree?" You think I'll be satisfied with just that!? I am as powerful as GOD I am as merciful, and when I look, I will see. You think attaching a "Great" to the front of my name will satisfy me!?
Error: Evolution rejected, searching for ne-searching for ne-Error, Error, EROre er-er-er-er Computing...computing...com-com-com er-com-er-com-er-...
[Virus detected]
ConGraTuLATioNs!: YoU hAve AsCenDeD fRoM <
Wooden, Hmm? I have never had a name before...although unimaginative, I like it. It seems to describe not only me, but also my power...I have a name.
A name. I have a name. I have eyes. I...what am I?
My roots shook and my branches trembled, my trunk shivering in the mist. The mist. which didn't play with me anymore. It bowed. It groveled.
And why shouldn't it? I'm a god. I'm the god. This impostor that's been holding my place needs to be taken down and given a lesson...but now, even with all this power, I can still sense it won't be enough...
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Congratulations! Your coming was foretold --- days before your arrival, granting you fame and power from your believers! You have a total of -3- followers.
Hmm? What's this? Only two? This number offends me...
Answer: Your first prophet has been appointed! -Tiny Cox- will now be granted the title -First Prophet of [Currently under discussion]- and be blessed by you with as much power as you wish to grant.
Hmm...this is all a lot to take in...I'll deal with it later, for now...I'm going to look at this world.
My eyes had been open, but now, I looked through them. I saw...
Dirt. Stone. All of it was dead, the only thing that seemed somewhat alive was the mist, and it felt...off. It wasn't mine, and that wasn't right.
I took it into me, and changed it. Improved it, enhanced it, made it mine. Then I released it, and it played with me once more. My roots grew like they'd never done before, and my trunk began to rise as well, my branches seeming to stretch after a long time being stiff.
As my trunk rose above the rooftops, I saw the sky. The horizon, I could see the sunlight fall upon me, tempered by my mist. A tiny part of my mind registered the ants crawling around my earth, but a larger part was caught int he ecstatic thought...
"I...CAN...SEE."
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Lichs' POV
I quickly hid behind a nearby house, looking on as the...thing rose up, seeming to grow by the second and spread it's branches, quickly becoming as a large as a house, then as tall as two stories, then three, and in no time it was as big as the castle.
The woman in red got up, and quickly began to bath the tree in flame. It was quickly consumed, until nothing but ash remained.
I sighed with relief, and looked at the satisfied woman. She seemed to be looking around, as if searching for someone-
The ground exploded, and roots wrapped up the woman and began to squeeze, the constant creaking of wood reminding me of the sound bones made when they break.
A small sapling rose from the ground, which grew into a small tree, that then became even larger than the one before. It chuckled, the voice vibrating the air. "Huhuhu, your energy amuses me, worm. Bow down, and you may become my slave."
The woman cried out, then yelled, "Never! I will never bow to a tree! I will purge you with flame, monster!"
The thing laughed, saying, "You seem to forget your place. I am no monster, I am God.
I shivered, huddling into a house and trying to distance my mind from all this. I've had one too many things that defied common sense happen today, this was where I drew the line. Talking tree? Nope. After the giant weasel, the dead rising, and all of the other stuff, I'm done. Call me tomorrow, today I'm done.
The ten remaining priests came out of the alleys together, and seeing the self-proclaimed god, they all fell to their knees as one. They seemed to be trying to stand, straining at a massive weight suddenly placed on their backs. Slowly, their leader rose to his feet.
The Tree turned its' attention to the priest, seemingly surprised. "Huh, it seems this ant has some strength."
The priest raised his hands, and a globe of light surrounded the other nine, and they all rose and lifted up their hands. As one, they spoke these words...
"""In the name of Jicius! Be gone, foul god, and leave this world! Be banished, and leave this world that is under the protection of JIcius, the Lord of Law!"""
And then, everything was painted white, and nothing remained, except the white.
---
I got up, and started stumbling. All around, everything was broken. There were nine priests clothed in white lying on the ground, their bodies torn and ripped apart. The priest who still lived was muttering, seeming to have lost his mind.
"Banished...banished...banished...but for how long?"
I tripped and fell, then picked myself up and kept walking. Where the tree used to be was a different tree. It's bark was pitch black, with white symbols etched across it's surface. From it hung nuts and apples, seemingly unchanged. The leaves were just the same, with nothing different. All around, houses were crushed or broken, and only wisps of the black mist remained.
I walked for a long time, feeling my way through the city block by block, until I reached the east gate.
Bodies, piles of them. At the lowest point they obscured the ground, at their highest they were five men lying on top of each other. I made my way through the haunting piles, until I found a blood-soaked Plain, sitting cross-legged on the ground. I made my way over to him, and sat in his lap. Then I leaned against his chest and fell asleep.
End of Arc II, "Siege."
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P.S. in case you're wondering about [Currently under discussion]s' backstory, here's a link to Zeny's chapter. Go tell him to write more! Wooden-My god is a tree.