As soon as Lin Ya's emerald body, composed purely of life energy, manifested, the vibrant vitality it emanated—utterly incompatible with this decayed, ink-black forest—rippled out like a massive stone thrown into stagnant water!
Buzz—!
Invisible ripples instantly spread outward. The serene facade enveloping the "Dimlight Courtyard" was utterly shattered.
"Hiss—!"
"Rustle rustle—!"
Sharp insect chirps suddenly rose in pitch, laced with panic and hostility. The twisted ancient trees around them seemed to come alive, their rough bark silently cracking open fissures like countless slumbering, malice-filled eyes snapping open! On the surfaces of moss-covered boulders, those blurred etched patterns eerily began to flow with dim light, and the heavy "gaze" instantly became tangible, pressing coldly upon everyone's soul!
"Oh no!" Lirian's face changed drastically, her emerald eyes filled with horror. "Lin Ya's life fluctuations are too pure, too 'bright'! It's alerted everything in the forest!"
Before her words could finish, countless agile black figures emerged like ghosts from the thick, impenetrable shadowy woods around them! Dark elves! Their numbers far exceeded any patrol team they'd encountered before! They leaped out silently from behind trees, from vine-covered caves, even from beneath layers of decayed leaves, forming a death net that instantly tightened, surrounding the entire Dimlight Courtyard ruins!
Poisoned arrows gleamed with deadly eerie light in the dimness, cold daggers gripped in hands smeared with war paint. They didn't attack immediately, just locking onto the people in the center of the platform with beast-like, cold eyes—especially the emerald-glowing Lin Ya and Fa, whose right eye still shimmered with starlight. The air was thick with suffocating killing intent and hostility, like icy tides threatening to drown them.
Kayla let out a low growl, her thunder claws instantly coated in ice-blue arcs, her bronze muscles bulging like a leopard ready to pounce! Gorg's massive frame sank slightly, his chainsaw battle axe engine emitting a dangerous low hum. Zhamisi's venom fang curved blade was half-drawn, her ink-green vertical pupils narrowed to pinpoints. TISK slammed his lava hammer heavily into the ground, his stout body radiating furnace-like heat. Rex's electronic eyes scanned rapidly, his nano-drone swarm primed inside his armor. Arya gripped her storm bow tightly, suppressing the elemental forces roiling within her due to the hostility. Yuyuer clutched her dragonbone staff, blue light flowing within the crystal orb, maintaining the disguise while her mental energy stayed on high alert. Salsa's mechanical cat shell clung tightly to Fa's calf, her soul form highly vigilant.
Jack's forehead beaded with cold sweat, his mechanical prosthetic eye's blue light flickering intensely, muttering a curse under his breath: "Damn it! We've kicked the hornet's nest!"
In this tense, hair-trigger moment, Lirian suddenly spread her arms, blocking the group. "Don't move! Nobody move!" Lirian's urgent low shout overpowered the sounds of weapons charging, her voice slightly distorted from tension, her gaze fixed on the darkness beyond the encirclement. "They haven't attacked immediately... something's off!" Then, in Elvish, she called out loudly, her voice piercing the icy killing intent: "Wait! In the name of moonshadow and rootveins! They are not desecrators! This child of the forest has come in response to the ancient star covenant's call! We have no intention of starting a war!"
Her words carried the unique rhythm of forest elves communicating with nature, echoing in the silence. A subtle stir arose among the encircling dark elves, their cold gazes sweeping back and forth between Lirian and Lin Ya, killing intent undiminished, vigilance unyielding.
At that moment, a low, penetrating horn sound came from beyond the encirclement—Woo—Woo—! The sound was long and carried an unquestionable authority.
The encircling dark elves parted like soldiers receiving an order, opening a path on both sides. Heavy hoofbeats and claw scrapes on rock grew from distant to near.
Over a dozen knights, equipped far more elaborately than ordinary dark elf warriors, rode ferocious mounts, slowly entering the inner layer of the encirclement. Their leather armor was black as ink, inlaid with dark purple magical metal plates that seemed to writhe like living things, shoulders and helmets adorned with sharp bone spikes and twisted vine reliefs. The leader was an unusually tall dark elf male, helmetless, revealing a weathered, hard-lined face, deep purple eyes like abysses, his gaze sharp as a blade, freezing the air wherever it swept. In his hand was a strangely shaped long-hafted weapon, its tip not a blade but embedded with a massive gem emitting ominous purple-black light, surrounded by living, constantly writhing thorny vines.
The knights behind him wielded varied weapons: long blades flickering with eerie green energy and covered in serrations; short staves carved from black crystal, constantly dripping corrosive liquid; odd-shaped spears like giant insect limbs with sharp hooked claws at the ends; even one knight carrying a small rune-covered energy cannon with conduits, its muzzle faintly sparking purple-black arcs. Their mounts were even more terrifying: tiger-sized creatures with bat-like membranous wings and scorpion tails, covered in obsidian-like scales, drooling corrosive saliva, scarlet eyes filled with savagery. These mounts crouched low, emitting threatening hisses, their sharp claws restlessly pawing the ground.
"The Nightshadow Knights..." Lirian's voice carried a mix of awe and tension, explaining softly to Fa and the others, "One of the dark elves' most elite forces, directly under the royal court. The leader is the Knight Commander 'Shadowblade' Morath."
"Shadowblade" Morath's icy gaze swept across the platform, lingering on Lin Ya for a moment, a subtle flicker in his purple eyes, then landing on Lirian, his voice low and raspy like grinding rocks: "Wanderer of the forest elves, Lirian. The 'light' you've brought has disturbed the eternal night's slumber." His gaze shifted to Fa, whose right eye held star power, causing his pupils to narrow slightly, "And... the anomaly of the stars." Finally, his sight locked onto Lin Ya, emanating gentle vitality, his tone laced with scrutiny and a barely perceptible wariness: "As well as... the forest soul awakened from the ancient covenant. Your appearance has disrupted the balance of the Inkdark Forest."
He slightly raised his odd scepter, the purple-black gem at its tip flowing with light, the surrounding writhing thorny vines instantly tensing like venomous snakes ready to strike: "Explain your intentions. Any lies or hostility will invite the devouring of eternal night." With his words, the surrounding Nightshadow Knights raised their weapons in unison, their scorpion-tailed shadow tigers letting out low growls, the killing aura within the encirclement surging once more!
Fa took a deep breath, suppressing the faint stinging pain in her right eye from overusing the star eye ability, and the pressure of being locked by countless cold gazes. She stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Lirian, meeting "Shadowblade" Morath's abyss-like purple eyes directly. Her voice was clear and steady, carrying an unquestionable firmness:
"We have no intention of disturbing the peace of the Inkdark Forest, nor of offending the dark elves' territory. We are seekers, aiming to cross this forest to the far northern Frostblade Snow Mountains, in search of the 'Lightfeather Dome.'"
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the hostile faces around them, continuing: "Alerting the forest guardians and awakening this forest soul 'Lin Ya' was an accident, yet also guided by the ancient covenant." She pointed to Lin Ya, "It responded to the inscribed stone here, becoming our companion for crossing this dangerous land, not invaders."
"As for why we could 'alert' them," Fa's voice took on a cold edge, a silver flash deep in her star eye, "perhaps you should ask the group who intruded before us! They wore black robes, donned twisted vine silver masks, and brought four fearless, body-as-hard-as-alloy clone warriors! They slaughtered indiscriminately at the 'Roaring Forge' tavern in 'Windward Outpost,' then forced their way into the forest, releasing blasphemous and destructive shadow energy! It was their violent intrusion, like striking the heart of a sleeping behemoth, that fully awakened the ancient guardian wills deep in the forest!"
Fa's words rang out resoundingly, like stones cast into a deep pool. The surrounding dark elves, including the cold Nightshadow Knights, showed clear agitation. Low, angry and confirming whispers passed among the elves. "Shadowblade" Morath's brows furrowed tightly, the chill in his purple eyes intensifying.
"...Those desecrators!" Morath squeezed out a few icy words through gritted teeth, clearly well aware of the Doomsday Rebirth organization's atrocities in the forest. The purple-black gem at his scepter's tip flickered dangerously several times.
"Their fate is the best illustration of disrespect to the Inkdark Forest." Lirian added timely, her tone carrying the forest elves' condemnation of those who disrupt natural balance, "But the chaos they left behind has doubled the danger for us latecomers."
"Shadowblade" Morath was silent for a moment, his abyss-like purple eyes scrutinizing Fa, Lin Ya, and Lirian back and forth. Lin Ya stood quietly, its emerald body emanating gentle yet firm life fluctuations, countless tiny star-dotted mycelia spreading from its feet, silently soothing the surrounding plants agitated by hostility. This power from the forest's origin couldn't be fully ignored even by the most hostile dark elves.
"Your words and... the existence of this forest soul have temporarily earned you the chance to state your case." Morath finally spoke, his voice still icy, killing intent unabated, "But the final judgment belongs to our king. Sheathe your weapons and follow the Nightshadow Knights. Any resistance will be seen as a declaration of war!"
With that, he said no more, turning his scorpion-tailed shadow tiger's reins. The Nightshadow Knights also retracted their ready stances, but the encirclement didn't loosen at all, herding Fa's group like prisoners, leaving the brief bright spot of "Dimlight Courtyard" and plunging once more into the thick ink darkness.
Path to the Shadow Royal Court
Under the strict "escort" of the Nightshadow Knights, the group proceeded along a hidden and rugged path deeper into the Inkdark Forest. The surrounding environment grew even more oppressive. Massive trees twisted and entangled, forming natural archways, roots exposed like coiled dragons, covered in a thick layer of deep blue moss emitting faint phosphorescence—the only peculiar light source. The air's concentration of decay and toxic miasma was suffocating; without masks and the potent insect-repelling powder Lirian had reminded them to apply earlier, ordinary people would have collapsed long ago.
Even more chilling were the sights along the way. Bones grew denser, many skeletons entwined, pierced by thick vines, even embedded into tree trunks, as if becoming part of the forest. Shattered armor and rusted weapons littered the ground, silently recounting the tragic ends of countless intruders.
Less than half an hour into the march, Morath at the front suddenly raised his hand to signal a halt. Ahead, in a relatively open area filled with massive fungal plants, lay a horribly mangled "corpse" right in the center!
It was one of the Doomsday Rebirth organization's clone warriors!
His condition was utterly gruesome. His body had been nearly torn in two at the waist by some unimaginable immense force, the break revealing eerie gray-white "flesh" with no blood, only viscous dark green liquid seeping out, smelling of machine oil and decay. The remaining half-torso and one arm were covered in a rapidly growing network of dark red mycelia like blood vessels, greedily absorbing the remaining energy from the wreckage. Most striking were his exposed metal skeleton and joints, gleaming with cold alloy sheen, utterly out of place in the surrounding decay. His head was relatively intact, that expressionless face identical to Gintro's staring emptily at the "sky" obscured by the canopy.
"Hiss..." TISK drew in a sharp breath, "Really torn apart..."
"It's the 'Giant Rock Guardian.'" Gorg's low voice rang out, pointing with his axe at a massive, oval-shaped indentation sunk deep into the soil beside the body, the edges of the rocks showing unnatural fractures, "Only they have that kind of power."
Rex's electronic eyes locked onto the wreckage, scanning rapidly: "Target confirmed: Doomsday Rebirth biological clone. Damage level: 97%. Primary damage: ultra-high-pressure physical crushing (suspected boulder rolling), with additional biological erosion (unknown fungi). Residual energy response: faint, continuing to decay. Metal skeleton composition analysis: high-strength titanium-tantalum alloy, doped with unknown toughness elements." His cold mechanical tone was especially clear in the dead silence.
"Hmph, serves him right!" Zhamisi snorted coldly, twirling her venom fang curved blade in her hand, "Daring to run wild in this forest means being prepared to become fertilizer!"
Fa looked at the wreckage, her star eye narrowing slightly. They'd all heard of the clones' formidable defenses; to destroy one so thoroughly, the "Giant Rock Guardian's" power was truly terrifying. At the same time, this proved the Doomsday Rebirth organization had indeed suffered a devastating blow in the forest.
The group bypassed this unsettling "road marker" and continued forward. Not long after, while passing through a hot spring area thick with sulfurous fumes, they discovered the second clone wreckage.
This one's condition was even more bizarre. He was tightly bound and pierced by countless thick, arm-sized black vines extending from the ground and nearby giant trees, hanging in mid-air like a sacrificial offering. The vines plunged deep into his body, his "flesh" visibly withering and shrinking, turning a decayed gray-brown as if all vitality was being sucked away by the vines and the giant tree emanating evil aura beside him. His metal skeleton was similarly covered in a layer of ink-green moss. More horrifying was the vague, distorted, pain-filled human face outline faintly emerging on the giant tree's trunk, as if the clone's final consciousness was imprisoned within.
"The Soul-Devouring Ancient Tree..." Lirian's voice carried deep chill, "It captures intruders, turning them into nourishment for itself... imprisoning even the soul." She looked at the blurred face on the bark, a flash of pity in her eyes.
"Biological decomposition and energy absorption." Rex added, "Target damage level: 98%. Residual consciousness fluctuations: faint, exhibiting high pain and chaos spectrum."
The gruesome states of the two clone wrecks were the Inkdark Forest's most blatant warning to intruders. The Nightshadow Knights treated them as commonplace, as if long accustomed. The atmosphere in the group grew even more oppressive.
Finally, after passing through a natural archway formed by two enormous, fully petrified "Gatekeeper Ancient Trees," the view ahead suddenly opened up—though this "opening" was still shrouded in eternal darkness.