Chapter 4031

Chapter 4031

Turning so many trees into quasi-plant folk did more than give them the ability to fight. The Treantlings’ conscience was now developed to the point that they felt fear, rage, and pain in the same way as any member of the five races would.

Each one of the green colossi was several decades old, yet they had never moved, never struggled, and never practiced magic or martial arts. Their combat ability was limited, and there was no guarantee they would make it back to the Trawn Woods.

Even worse, giving the trees a conscience also meant giving them the ability to think and choose for themselves. They had no obligation towards Lotho and no reason to obey his commands.

Yet they chose to, because the Upyrs had invaded their home. The corrupted Divine Beasts had set the Woods ablaze, terrified the small creatures that had nested on the trees’ trunks, and killed many Lutians they knew.

The trees didn’t understand why the humans cut them down from time to time, but they knew there was no malice in it. The Lutians did it with care, never taking more than they needed and always planting a new tree to replace the one they took away.

It was thanks to that practice that the borders of the Trawn Woods hadn’t moved since even the oldest among the trees could remember. It wasn’t much, but in the fierce battle for survival in which plants engaged every day, it was an unusual act of kindness.

Orpal had stomped over Raaz’s fields, making the crops scream their silent cries of agony. His Upyrs had filled the air with the smell of burning wood, tearing down the city that the trees had watched grow and thrive over the years like one of their own.