World Keeper

Chapter 553: Sylphid Launch Detected

Tsubaki watched in a mix of rapt attention and horror as the entire base gradually began to be exposed to her and Aurivy’s vision. The moment that Aurivy mentioned the word ‘mimic’, Tsubaki thought of a terrifying possibility. There was once a great Disaster born from the most innocent creature. The people of Hanbei referred to it as the Slithering Slope.

This creature was in fact a mountain, or at least it appeared to be when resting. Its realism was to such a degree that people had been able to dig a tunnel into its depths. However, when the beast awoke, this tunnel instantly closed, the ‘wound’ healing over as if it had never existed. After noticing that it had been ‘attacked’, it began moving for the first time.

The entire mountain slid across the ground, moving dozens of meters every second as it approached the nearby village. The next day… people noticed that the mountain that they had been accustomed to seeing was no longer there. Shamans and scholars alike visited the scene, trying to uncover the secret behind the vanishing mountain.

It was only natural that they soon followed its trail to the village, now devoid of life. The village had not been flattened, but rather looked as if the people had simply vanished. And on the other side of that village was a familiar mountain…

Some of the people who investigated this village were reported to be missing, not even a body left to discover. Once the village had been labeled as ‘cursed’ by a traveling priest, they decided to burn it to the ground. The reports from that event were… horrific.

The houses of the village came alive, wooden planks creaking and warping to form hands and jaws in an effort to devour their attackers. All the while, as people were preoccupied with the monsters in the village, the mountain in the distance seemed to grow closer and closer.

After each building had been destroyed, it dissolved into a puddle of harmless slime. But by the time anyone noticed the mountain, it was already too close to evade. They had barely managed to pray to Tsubaki for aid before most of them were killed by rock spikes launched from the mountain.

Naturally, Tsubaki had been able to defeat the mountain, which itself was a massive slime, or she wouldn’t still be alive to tell the tale. However, thanks to that event, the concept of a mimic was one which even she dreaded to imagine. Especially a mimic capable of emulating natural landscapes.

Such a thing seemed to be exactly what Aurivy had created with her slime race. A slime that was able to expand by devouring the world around it, simultaneously taking on the appearance of what it consumed. Or perhaps, it was a swarm of slimes. The difference was negligible at this point.

Within the base, a kitsune general came to inspect the mining site, only to notice that the precious resource node had disappeared entirely. Such a thing naturally caused the general great alarm, but not near as much as when the door of the facility slammed shut. As did the doors to every building in the base.

These buildings then began to slowly sink into the ground, just as the resource node had previously. Those kitsune who were fortunate enough to be outside when that happened had horrified expressions, rushing to either flee or save their comrades. Those who chose the latter route soon found their hands glued to the very buildings they were trying to break open.

As for those who fled, the ground opened up to reveal rows of mouths like hungry pits. Tongues lashed out from the gaping maws to wrap around those fleeing few, dragging them to their doom.

Tsubaki wasn’t foolish enough to think that this event had escaped Udona’s notice. However, by the time that reinforcements arrived with their tanks and planes, all that was left was empty land. Still, they bombed the site for good measure, creating numerous craters within the ground.

Tsubaki was surprised to see the craters appearing, and more so at the fact that they weren’t swiftly recovering. When she looked at Aurivy, she was met with a mischievous smile. “All part of the plan. As long as the area doesn’t heal, they can’t be positive that the creature is still there. It could be a type of monster that possesses the land, and then moves on after having its meal.”

The kitsune wanted to ask if such a thing really existed, before she remembered the nature of this game. If it didn’t exist, it could be created. Nothing was impossible, just like how she had taken the sylvan race to new heights with their advanced mutations.

Speaking of which… Tsubaki glanced back towards her own base. There was a particular research option which became available after the joint attack of over three hundred sylvans. Since it had not existed before, she assumed that it required a large-scale undertaking before it could be unlocked.

Tsubaki selected the research, and even paid resources to immediately complete it. That was the first time she hadn’t allowed her numerous researchers to gradually unlock the options for her, and all because of the very nature of the option in question. ‘Sylphid Cannon’, as it was called, was listed as a high-end battle mutation.

The moment that the research was finished, Tsubaki saw two hundred green sylvans coming together with ten blue ones. With a wave of his hand, the golden sylvan created a red lake, which each of the gathered members drank from. After doing so, their bodies began to warp horrifically. These two hundred and ten individuals brought their bodies together, merging into a single, giant column.

Please designate the target coordinates for the Sylphid Cannon.

When that message appeared before Tsubaki, she did not have the slightest idea where she should be firing. The only base that was visible was already destroyed. However, as that thought crossed her mind, she realized that there were clues to discern a possible location for another base.

The travel time, direction, and speed of the reinforcements that came in to aid that village could help Tsubaki narrow down at least a general area. Thankfully, performing quick calculations wasn’t anything new to the kitsune. After a few moments of thought, she targeted a section of the map hidden by the fog of war.

Warning: Sylphid Cannon is firing.

“The what now?” Aurivy blinked, glancing over to see the monumental artillery within Tsubaki’s base. As a green glow began to build within the barrel, its body tilted, aiming in the direction of Tsubaki’s target coordinates. The canopy of the forest parted before a sphere of green energy was fired out.

Tsubaki was able to watch this sphere travel through the air, even clearing the fog of war for her before it landed at the target location. Unfortunately, she had failed to hit any bases, though the development of a road was enough for her to know she wasn’t far off from one.

When the ball of light crashed down, it suddenly broke apart dozens of meters above the surface. What followed was a rain of green sparks that fell into the ground. Tsubaki’s lips twitched, refusing to believe that such a large weapon had only created a resplendent lightshow.

Soon, she realized that her vision of the area had not been cancelled even after the attack was over. Instead, she seemed to have a new unit at the scene, one that she could not immediately see due to its location beneath the ground. When she selected it, the name that was presented to her was simply ‘sylphid’.

Back at her base, the sylphid cannon had entered into a cooldown period, so she was unsure what exactly this creature was. However, there was soon a chance for her to find out, as a team of scouts emerged from the fog of war to investigate the location that the cannon fired. When that team arrived, Tsubaki immediately selected for the sylphid to attack.

What followed was a roar that shook the ground, the road splitting open as thick roots formed two giant hands that dug themselves out of the ground. The monster, a walking mass of roots and vines, seemed to contain all of the mutations that she had previously purchased for her sylvans. Some of the roots came together to form swords or spears, others sprayed juices that ignited on contact with the air.

It took only seconds for the sylphid to devastate the scouting team. Once it was done, it began walking in the direction that the team came from. Once directed to attack, Tsubaki no longer had control of its actions. Even the area that it wandered off to remained within the fog of war, the initial blast sight turning dim to represent her inability to watch that location.

“Huh… neat!” Aurivy laughed heartily when she saw the destruction. “I didn’t know that sylvans could create something like that. Wonder what else they would be able to make.”

Tsubaki didn’t know, either. Her eyes scanned across the research options curiously. There were several that she hadn’t considered taking yet, even within the mutation tree. No doubt the sylphid was a ‘reward’ for pursuing the tree this far, but what else could there be? There was an option called ‘spreading spores’ that she was tempted to take, but felt that it would be too overt.

As the situation stood now, the enemy had witnessed three cases of the land itself turning into their enemy. It was about time for them to find methods to counter attacks from below. Thinking back to Deckan, Tsubaki couldn’t help but imagine a situation with flying cities suspended on magnartum islands.

If Udona really did take to the skies like that, neither Aurivy’s slime nor her own sylvans would have much hope of countering them. Sorting through the list to narrow down the options to aerial abilities, she found one known as ‘leaf wings’. Tsubaki couldn’t help but shudder as she imagined her next sylphid, one which would be enhanced with the ability to fly.

In the meantime, Tsubaki could only hope that her first sylphid was strong enough to offer a distraction until they were ready again. Something she didn’t expect would be the case once she saw a new group of lizard-people entering the forest. This time, there was nothing to interfere with their search, as the massive group that had launched the original attack already transformed into the sylphid cannon.

Tsubaki furrowed her brow, realizing the weakness behind her race. Although they had many convenient options to automatically produce units and perform research, the production rate was fairly slow, and manual production was expensive. This didn’t seem to quite balance itself out in Tsubaki’s mind, so she began looking through the research options again for the solution.

Ultimately, Tsubaki’s eyes landed on what she wanted, but there was a problem. There was an ability known as ‘one with the forest’, and the name alone provided a great deal of hope to the kitsune. Unfortunately, it required her to delve into magic research alongside her mutation research.

Since Tsubaki had been focusing purely on mutation for the entire game, this option felt out of reach. She was left questioning if she had built the race poorly, now unable to live up to the full potential it had to offer.

Tsubaki shook her head firmly, dismissing the magic research options. It would take too long at this point to research to a level where the magic was useful against the enemy. Since she had committed herself to mutations, that would be the path she walked. She already knew that the sylphid inherited every mutation she purchased, so all she had to do was maximize that effect.

When she thought about that, her eyes focused on the ‘spreading spores’ which she had initially overlooked. Such a thing would perhaps not be too useful for the sylvans themselves… but what if it added a reproductive ability to the sylphid? Combined with the wings, and the ability to breathe flaming liquid… “Lady Aurivy… have you ever heard of a plant dragon?”

Aurivy’s head slowly turned to face Tsubaki, a wide grin growing on her face. “I’d really like to.”

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