BXBX NOVEL Chapter 158: The Dark Tree
When Jeremy arrived at the point where only a single step remained between him and the deepest part of Shadow City, he came to a halt.
"Why am I feeling so panicked now?" Jeremy muttered to himself.
At this moment, Jeremy's heart was void of any confidence, beating rapidly. This rapid heartbeat seemed to signify his profound anxiety about the forthcoming actions.
Jeremy was acutely aware of his own danger-sensing abilities.
However, these abilities had never activated before. He had no understanding of what sensations would accompany the activation of his danger sense.
Jeremy found himself pacing back and forth in front of the last dark gate.
He was hoping to regain his composure before proceeding further.
But just as he was trying to calm himself, an incredibly terrifying and incomprehensible sound emanated from within the dark gate. The sound seemed to be communicating something to Jeremy.
The instant this sound emerged, Jeremy instinctively took a step back.
Suddenly, he felt himself collide with something.
Without a moment's hesitation, Jeremy bolted towards the direction he was certain to be safe.
Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed behind Jeremy.
"The creature lurking behind me must be the one that had been hiding all along! It refrained from attacking earlier, merely to bide its time for this very moment!" Jeremy thought to himself.
Since entering Shadow City, Jeremy had indeed sensed the presence of a creature nearby.
However, up until he reached the deepest part of Shadow City, he paid little heed to the creature that lingered around him. He believed that these creatures were not particularly powerful.
Yet, after hearing the terrifying sound emanating from the heart of Shadow City, the creature that had been lurking by his side seemed to grow significantly stronger.
Jeremy sprinted several hundred meters without stopping.
Only after ensuring that the creature was at a considerable distance did Jeremy glance back over his shoulder. What he saw was a towering tree-entity with a twisted visage
[Name: Dark Treant]
[Level: 45]
[Skills: Dark Diffusion, Rapid Growth]
[Description: A creature birthed from the dark world, endowed with both dark power and the power of life. It has an inherent aversion to light and will avoid any illumination.]
The Eye of Omniscience immediately displayed the information about the Dark Treant before Jeremy.
"Its level is almost identical to mine! However, it's been empowered by that terrifying presence in the depths of Shadow City. There's no way I can easily defeat the Dark Treant right now!" Jeremy thought.
Although Jeremy often appeared overly confident, even somewhat arrogant, in front of Howard and Ella, in reality, he was an exceedingly cautious individual.
He would only take risks when necessary and would always play it safe when the situation demanded it.
Jeremy resolved to bypass the Dark Treant and head straight into the deepest part of Shadow City.
After all, Jeremy reasoned, if the terrifying presence in the depths could attack him directly, it wouldn't need to manipulate the Dark Treant to obstruct his path.
Jeremy promptly retrieved an illumination device from his backpack.
This illumination device was brought into the Shadow City instance by one of Howard's subordinates. After Jeremy found it, he utilized his [Basic Mechanical Mastery] skill to repair it.
Jeremy hurled the repaired illumination device in the direction of the Dark Treant.
The moment the device was thrown, Jeremy activated it, instantly bathing the Dark Treant in a warm yellow glow.
As described in the information provided by the Eye of Omniscience, the Dark Treant let out a wretched howl the instant it was exposed to light. It then swiftly retreated into the depths of the darkness.
Seizing this opportunity, Jeremy returned once again to the ominous gate.
This time, he wouldn't hesitate. He pushed the ominous gate open without a second thought. Immediately, a bone-chilling wind blew against his face.
"How can there be such a bone-chilling wind in the underground depths?"
As the freezing wind struck him, Jeremy's mind was flooded with questions.
However, he did not stand still to ponder over these questions. The moment he felt the cold wind, he instinctively leapt to the side.
Jeremy's swift action successfully saved his life.
The bone-chilling wind only grazed Jeremy for a moment, but even that brief exposure caused his body temperature to drop several degrees. His movement speed also became noticeably slower.
In contrast, the Dark Treant, which had been caught fully in the icy blast just behind Jeremy, was now completely frozen. It could neither move nor make a sound.
"You actually tried to ambush me!"
Jeremy was shocked to realize that the Dark Treant had been so close behind him. Had he not pushed open the ominous gate, the Dark Treant might have succeeded in its ambush.
Since the Dark Treant was now immobilized, Jeremy seized the opportunity. He effortlessly dispatched the Dark Treant.
After all, the Dark Treant's health had been critically depleted by the bone-chilling wind.
Upon receiving the prompt indicating that he had gained experience points, Jeremy finally exhaled a sigh of relief. He no longer needed to worry about the threat from the Dark Treant behind him.
However, he still had to confront an even more terrifying menace—whatever lurked beyond the ominous gate.
Jeremy hesitated for a moment. Ultimately, he decided to throw an illumination device through the gate first. The device illuminated the space within the ominous gate completely.
Jeremy discovered that beyond the gate was a vast, empty hall. In the center of the hall stood a pitch-black tree.
The moment Jeremy laid eyes on the pitch-black tree, the Eye of Omniscience provided information about it.
[Name: The Dark Tree]
[Level: Unknown]
[Rank: Unknown]
[Skills: Dark Corrosion, Shadow Growth, Mental Storm]
[Description: A sapling of the divine tree from the Land of the Gods, it is still in the process of growing and cannot yet unleash its full power. Once fully grown, the branches of The Dark Tree will reach towards the sky and pierce the Land of the Gods.]
In addition to the description of The Dark Tree, the Eye of Omniscience appended a crucial tip.
[Tip: The Dark Tree was intentionally planted here by the planners of the apocalypse game, with the purpose of facilitating the game's influence to extend into the real world.]
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Upon reading the Eye of Omniscience's tip, Jeremy resolved to destroy The Dark Tree as swiftly as possible.
Jeremy retrieved a data core from his pocket and manipulated the High-Dimensional Data within it to launch an assault towards The Dark Tree.
Although the High-Dimensional Data wouldn't pose a significant threat to The Dark Tree, it would at least serve to disrupt it. Jeremy wanted to observe the effects of The Dark Tree's skills.
At the very moment when the High-Dimensional Data made contact with The Dark Tree, the tree suddenly emanated a black radiance, consuming all the High-Dimensional Data.
Witnessing this, Jeremy swiftly put the data core away. He had no desire to see his painstakingly collected High-Dimensional Data entirely devoured by The Dark Tree.
After absorbing the High-Dimensional Data, The Dark Tree visibly grew taller by several centimeters.
Simultaneously, its branches began to thrash about incessantly. With each swing of the branches, countless dark forces coalesced into tangible forms within the vast hall.
One by one, twisted dark creatures began to manifest.
The moment these dark creatures materialized, they locked onto Jeremy as their target.
Even though Jeremy remained outside the door of the deepest hall in Shadow City, he could feel the surrounding dark energy growing increasingly potent.
His body temperature was also rapidly plummeting.
"Could this be The Dark Tree's Dark Corrosion skill?" Jeremy immediately suspected that the deteriorating conditions he was experiencing were due to The Dark Tree's Dark Corrosion skill.
After all, the other two skills of The Dark Tree, judging by their names, couldn't possibly produce such an effect.
As Jeremy hesitated slightly, uncertain of what action to take, fragments of the Dark Treant began piercing into the ground not far from him.
These fragments seemed to gain power from The Dark Tree once they entered the soil. Rapidly, they started to grow and sketch out one humanoid form after another.
"That must be the skill, Gloomy Growth! I can't stay here any longer. I must leave immediately! This place is far too perilous!"
Jeremy suddenly realized that the fragments of the Dark Treant were quickly growing into new Dark Treants.
Battling a single Dark Treant was already a headache for Jeremy, it was impossible for him to contend with so many at once. Moreover, the new Dark Treants would receive assistance from The Dark Tree inside the hall.
This battle was unwinnable under any circumstances. Jeremy had to seek help from others. Only by joining forces with other powerful individuals could he hope to quickly destroy The Dark Tree.
In the moment he made his decision, Jeremy sprinted towards the entrance of Shadow City at top speed.
Not long after he started running, he heard the roars of the Dark Treants coming from behind him, accompanied by countless heavy footsteps.
This meant that the Dark Treants hadn't let him go but had chosen to pursue him instead.