Chapter 1044: Chapter 559: Tree of Life, Old God Host_3

The intense hatred that hadn’t dissipated for an entire Era made the Female Knight’s eyes flush blood‑red as well.

Her vision extended along with that vast consciousness across the entire Ark, and the little world before her eyes changed.

In a daze, she could clearly see that whether in the sky, the air, or the water, countless tiny "Life Tree Aerial Roots" were drifting about.

You could see the tips, but never their source.

Wherever these "Aerial Roots" fell, that place would be activated.

Tree branches and leaves grew luxuriant, weeds sprawled in chaotic tangles, clouds raged like thunder, the wind giggled and cackled, the waves were ice‑cold and merciless... everything in the world birthed emotions of its own, becoming more and more like living beings one by one.

Without a doubt, this was the subtle Power seeping in from [Mother of Monsters·Echidna] through Her Kin, the [Tree of Life], silently polluting this little world, turning it into the stomach of an Old Gods.

Every moment it was preying on any creature that entered this place.

Especially fond of Humans—those "variables" of the world.

The Tree of Life could devour Human flesh, blood, and life‑code, and in an extremely short time copy identical "Seeds" to slip into their ranks, tampering with cognition so they accepted it, then gradually spreading across the entire world.

Taking root, sprouting, and finally growing into new Kin Trees of Life!

Imagine this: a relative goes out once, comes home again, and lives peacefully with you just like always.

Then one day they suddenly Transform into a Tree of Life and drain their family, neighbors, even an entire village, an entire street, of every last person.

Or perhaps a stranger suddenly arrives, naturally blends into a family’s life, usurps the nest—and one day abruptly reveals its true face.

How hair‑raisingly terrifying a story is that?

Jeanne knew that from the moment she entered the rift until now, who knew how many Tree of Life "Seeds" had already left the Ark, drifting away along ocean currents.

"No! I can’t let the Material World be polluted by the Old Gods too!"

Whether righteous or villainous, as long as their minds were sound, destroying the world was an unacceptable option.

Unfortunately, although she had now, thanks to her exceptional body, become the host chosen by the Mother of Monsters, she could only watch everything unfold like a bystander, eyes wide open yet utterly unable to do anything.

Very soon, as those Fifth Order Legends who had rushed here one after another entered the little world’s Ecosystem... 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Other than Jeanne Don Quixote, not a single living person remained here; all had become "Seeds" or nourishment for Seeds.

Crunch!

A silver‑white Knight’s boot crushed a brittle bone that no one knew which Unlucky Ghost it had once belonged to.

The two Legendary Paladin Grand Masters, [Holy Lance] and [Sacred Fist], led their teams and the Kalmar Union’s Former Queen Margaret I—twenty‑three people in all—into the Ark’s interior.

Regrettably, they who had taken the initiative to walk into the belly of an Old Gods did not become the exception that could make the Old Gods pull back from the cliff either.

One, two, three... with every step forward, more and more "Aerial Roots" that mortals rarely saw drifted down onto their bodies.

"Sound off."

"1." "2." ... "28."

"Good. All units listen up: only the Church can be the Guardian of faith, the Guardian of Humanity. We absolutely must not let others snatch away the creator’s treasure. Move out!"

If the dozen or so Legendary figures who had entered together from all the major forces could have united as one, they might just have been able to contend with the Great Power of a Sixth Order Demigod, combine their strength, and force their way out of the Ark.

But as they fought separately, only one outcome remained for them—to be defeated one by one.

Explosions, clamor, roars rose and vanished in whirlwinds.

Before the War in the North Sea Region even ended, most areas in the little world’s Ecosystem had already fallen quiet again.

Only scattered pockets of resistance remained, growing weaker and weaker.

And atop the treetop, in the eyes of "Jeanne Don Quixote," the Human Nature within was growing stronger by the moment.

A great will that had been born back in the Paleozoic Era began to awaken!

...

Outside, on the North Sea Empire’s First Island Chain.

As the fog bank over a hundred kilometers in diameter and the orange‑red Soup of Life continued their incursion, a colossal dark shadow brimming with oppressive weight slammed into everyone’s field of view.

Whether or not it was because it had eaten and drunk its fill, the returning [Noah’s Ark] had already shed all of its previous disguises.

The hull, riddled with countless cracks large and small, was still as dilapidated as ever, but the innumerable crimson eyes that opened within the fissures no longer bothered to hide.

The surrounding fog was also dyed orange‑red by the Soup of Life, as if bestowed with Life.

It turned into countless little snakes, branches, or thin strips of pork tapeworm, writhing and winding through the air.

Hiss hiss hiss...

When it came into contact with the National Border Lock at the edge of the Deep Sea Defense Line, and the Mind Wish Power contained within, it let out a "zzzzla zzzzla" sound like ice and snow meeting a red‑hot iron.

Hearing this sound, the soldiers of the Fleet were suddenly jolted back to their senses.

If not for the National Border Lock, which extended twelve nautical miles outward before them, they would already have been turned into Soup of Life by the intense pollution hidden within that gaze.

By this time, the coastal lighthouses within the surrounding radius of the North Sea had long since been shut down in advance.

Still because of that sentence on the title page of the [Sailing Logbook]:

"Some say we live on a tranquil little island called ignorance, surrounded by an endless black Ocean.

Perhaps we never should have set sail in the first place."

For ordinary people who lack the Power to decide their own Fate, sometimes ignorance is not necessarily a misfortune.

Byron ordered the existing defensive line held tight and opened up a waterway from the North Sea to the outside world.