The captain of one Company was stunned. "Why did these lands grow vegetation before our capital? Did an unknown group of druids appeared on these lands?"
"It's quite possible, but we've had some information from the druids we've hired. They've spotted villages in these lands that don't indicate any friendliness towards us", he read from a report.
In fact, the druids hadn't really said that. The kingdom's ministers had heard about the situation and preferred to opt for the option of betrayal. So, the reports had been falsified from the start.
The old elf scratched his chin. He knew that the king was fearful and could not begin to fight a revolution in his territory. The damage was too great to worry about other matters.
He could have openly oppressed the villagers into submission, but now the situation had changed. He had to fabricate a reason to justify their extermination, then return to the capital.
"What do we do if the villagers don't cooperate with the Kingdom?" asked a sergeant. The soldiers under him were innocent and knew nothing of hidden plots.
"We kill. We can't risk a revolution, or it will result in even more casualties," said the captain, who was already thinking of a reason to annihilate them.
Finally, the company of six hundred elves armed with spear and bow advanced on the two villages below the mountain.
***
"Army!" shouted a human on the walls. Immediately, a signal was sent to TreeCity which was quickly received. A defence troop was formed and sent out, but it was far too slow.
Noah, who had been quickly alerted before the others, had already positioned himself above the elves who were firing arrows at the human houses.
The battle had already begun, and many people had died under the arrows of the elves. The elves were masters of ranged attacks, and the humans could not defend themselves because they did not attack hand-to-hand.
After monitoring the actions of the invaders, he intervened. "Why are you invading us?"
The elves, who heard a voice coming from nowhere, stopped. "Who is it? Come out or take our fury!" he shouted with burning eyes.
Finally, Noah appeared with an inferior avatar. A wooden doll appeared from nowhere and faced the angry captain. "I am the lord of these lands. Why are you getting angry and killing my people?" he said with a hint of anger in his tone.
The captain sniffed loudly. "Your inhabitants? Humans who have invaded and acquired property on elven lands?! Shameful! Shameful! We had to eliminate them for the good of our people!" he shouted before throwing a spear into his chest.
Unfortunately, he had already lost all rationality, and would have known that it was irrational to openly attack something inanimate that had appeared out of nowhere. But it was too late.
After stabbing the doll, the captain shouted. "For the Kingdom of Wood! Waaaaa… !!"
The momentum was massive. The elves rushed forward with spears, and the captain stayed behind, with the doll pinned under his spear.
The captain thought he would be promoted quickly after this easy campaign. He was already imagining a radiant future. Wife, wealth, position! Even becoming a major general would not be impossible!
He had a bright future, but unfortunately destiny didn't want it.
"Ha... Boring. Boring. I wanted to cooperate, but you leave me no choice. I wanted to live in peace, but there are always people who want to oppose me..."
The captain felt an inexplicable shudder come out of the impaled doll. He stabbed it a second time, but it was useless. Suddenly, the empty eyes filled with a green glow, and a sudden vine came out of nowhere, impaling him in the chest. "W-What?!!"
"It's called a counterattack," he heard before losing consciousness.
Finally, he fell to the ground, before he knew how he had died. The subordinates were too busy rushing into the human village and hadn't seen that their captain was dead.
Behind the enraged elves, a half-humanoid doll stood on the plain. A dangerous glow that proliferated everything around it. Motionless. It silently watched the scene, like a spectator watching a film.
Shortly afterwards, some TreeCity elves mobilised by Mary appeared. She quickly spotted Noah's avatar. "My lord! We've come to lend a helping hand! Command us, and we will!"
With a cold sigh, he said. "Kill. Kill all enemy elves!"
The avatar exploded, and in its place appeared a vine-coiled entity. Then, a hundred vines began to surge towards the backs of the elves, catching them unawares and killing them.
Mary's group heard the order, and began charging towards the Wood Kingdom elves, following their lord. " On the attack !!!"
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The enemy elves weren't many, and couldn't face a thirty-metre, vine-wrapped monster, and fight off the cooperating humans and elves. They tried to escape, but all perished.
No survivors.
After a short while, Christine and Maestros appeared and approached her avatar, who had returned to her original appearance. A wooden doll. Beneath her feet were hundreds of elven corpses wearing horrified, painful expressions.
Christine was used to this kind of scene, but Maestros found it hard to approach.
"My lord. All the enemies have been eliminated", they informed him.
"Who are they?"
Christine was reluctant to talk. Noah asked her not to mention any details. Finally, she made up her mind. "They're Wood Kingdom elves."
"Wood Kingdom?"
She nodded. "The shining armour, with a wooden emblem proves their affiliations. Perhaps humans don't know this, but our kingdom is very hostile towards humans," she sighed.
She was quick to explain. "The history of our ancient kingdom goes back 200 years. At first, we were a simple elven city-state, but one day the humans invaded our territories and began to subjugate the elves, using them as commodities."
"After countless resistance, we freed ourselves, and an influential resistance family took over. The Wood family who would become royalty. Maybe the hu-mains forgot about it after two generations, but the elves always held on to it."
Noah nodded. Maestros sighed too. "Our races are very hostile. We have differences over every decision, and humiliating histories. If you weren't the matchmaker between our two races, then we'd already be facing untold problems..."
Noah didn't know that this world had a concept of racial discrimination ingrained in their genes. He was too used to life on earth, where there was only a minority of racism and discrimination.
He should have known better, but he made a mistake. He looked at the lifeless human corpses. If he had known, he would have acted. He thought he could resolve this peacefully, for all parties involved, but was unable to find a compromise.
Only his people suffered.
He was no longer Noah, a university student, but a person who had under him, different people under his responsibility... He had acquired for the first time, the concept of responsibility.
Maestros and Christine were still there, but couldn't hear any response from their Lord. An order to withdraw was quickly given, but Maestros was worried. "Can the enemy elves come back to fight us?"
Noah said. "Not yet. By the time they realise the defeat of their informer, should give us enough margin to equip militarily. For now, remove the equipment from the dead, and send the corpses to the mass grave."
They nodded and then withdrew, at the same time Noah had withdrawn.
Back inside the forest, several pop-up windows appeared.
[Ding! 634 elves have been killed. The levels gained are being calculated... Ding! You've gone up three level! [Level 64]
[Ding! You've earned the title: The Massacist!]
[Ding! A new skill has been acquired! [War Treant]]
[Ding! ... ]
Killing living creatures to gain levels? He learned something new. He didn't need to kill magical beasts, or to train, but to kill living beings like elves or humans.
He had also acquired a new title that gave him an advantage, including notable boosts in defence and damage against living creatures.
He had also acquired a new skill that interested him. War Treant. It reminded him of an interesting story in a novel he had once read. Huge trees specialising in war.
If it was the Treant of War he was thinking of, then he would be a significant asset in the defense of his territory.
He gestured to various trees surrounding his main body and designated some as War Treats. Quickly, the roots of the trees began to turn red, and a strange aura came out of them.
The pressure was suffocating for the animals, and they began to flee. Noah was untouched and had immunity as the creator of these Treant of War. Given the current progress, it would take countless years before he could shift his focus to other matters, setting aside the War Treats.
[Year 56 Month 0]
Rain. There has been heavy rain in recent months, and a flood broke out at the bottom of the mountain, increasing the flow of the river that passed between the two villages. In the end, the bridge couldn't hold, and collapsed under the incessant waves.
The two villages were disconnected and could no longer communicate with each other. They had to wait patiently and gather resources in their own forests.
Fortunately, they had emergency resources, as Noah had mentioned earlier, because of the concept of prevention, but they didn't last long.
They asked Noah how long it would last, but he couldn't answer. He may have been powerful, but he was no longer omnipotent. So they continued to stay at home and watch time go by.
At the same time, the War Treant had grown, but not enough to be noticed by the villagers of TreeCity. Strangely, he could feel a link forming with his main body.
They had interesting features like [Vine Strike] but couldn't launch several attacks at once. Noah was disappointed, but thought it was good enough against normal individuals.
[Year 56 Month 3]
After several years of prayer, Noah received a skill from the system. [Prayer Tree]. So, he placed a seed in the centre of the two villages, and the tree immediately grew, taking on a virtue, and a calming aura.
The elves accepted this as gratitude for their efforts, and some even knelt before the tree, while the humans were curious about the tree that would lighten their bodies. When a man who was about to die of old age prayed for two and a night under the Tree, his body began to rejuvenate, and to elicit reactions. Before long, the humans began to feel the effects of the tree, and began to move the sick, and stay under the tree to acquire the effects, while praying.
Noah was amazed at the healing effects.
This was much appreciated by the villagers, and Noah was happy. So he put down other Prayer Trees in different parts of the village, and fruit trees in different places so that the villagers could eat from them.
Strangely enough, the villagers prayed to the fruit trees, and didn't want to eat despite his insistence. In the end, he decided to let them do as they pleased.
A little hobby was created during the peace. He would watch the locals live their lives, pray under his tree, and tell touching stories.
He didn't know what the reason was, or the point of having acquired such a skill, but he couldn't help feeling proud when the inhabitants prayed to him like a pseudo-god.
[Year 57 Month 0]
Residents noticed strange red trees rising into the sky, inside the forest. A strange pressure that made them submit. A dangerous forest for anyone entering.
The hunters and gatherers were worried, and they had asked Christine for more caution, but she reassured them that it was the protectors of the forest who were showing themselves openly. So, they calmed down.
Christine had already been informed by Noah and could see a dozen Red Trees rising into the air. Obviously, Noah's body was hidden from the outside world, and the Treant of War emerging from the forest aroused curiosity.
He had hidden his body and put the War Treant out in the open on purpose, there, to dissuade anyone from threatening those around him. He thought it would be useful as he increased the number of Treant.