Chapter 346. Complete Reversal. Lyara's Despair.

[ has been damaged!]

Lyara quickly turned around, her gaze locking onto the glowing black orb. The orb that had been peacefully resting was now trembling, cracks appearing on its surface. Lyara quickly approached. 'I need to stop it!'

When she was about to reach for it, she felt a terrifying presence descending on the location. "Filthy creature. Today is the day you will be buried!"

Liu Shu's energy surged from the middle of the sacrificial formation, creating a powerful shockwave just as Lyara was extending her hand to grab the orb.

BOOM!

The army watching from the outside saw how everyone standing in the middle was blasted flying. Then, the earth trembled.

Flor's face changed, and she quickly shouted. "Retreat! Back away! Quickly!"

Her voice reached all the allies clearly, and everyone complied. Even the angered Sylvans listened and quickly backed off.

Meanwhile, Lyara quickly sat up, her hand grabbing her forehead as her dizziness dispersed. "What happened?" Her mind quickly cleared, remembering what had just happened. "The orb!" 

Looking over, her face gained a touch of incredulity. The black pool from which the were appearing was slowly changing colors to a gentle but deep blue. The color was spreading from the edges, encroaching toward the middle as it seemingly washed away the corruption around it.

Lyara wanted to stand up quickly, but when she tried to, several roots appeared from the ground and coiled around her body. "Where do you think you are going?"

The usually gentle and soothing voice was cold and tyrannical, marred with deep anger that made the heart tremble. "Did you think that you could do whatever you wanted in my domain, filth? Using my energy to summon these aberrations… Death is too cheap for you!"

Lyara's face gained a touch of fear as she quickly looked around. 'She broke from the curse!? No, that's impossible! Even Level 60 World trees have trouble escaping the Three Splitting Curse Orb!'

CRACK!

"ARGH!"

The bones in Lyara's right arm shattered as Liu Shu rotated her arm with her roots, spilling blood and making the bones pierce the skin. Looking at her arm, Lyara's face was filled with pain and terror. "Y-You! Let me go! If you kill me, you'll make enemies of my entire sect! They won't rest until you are dead!"

Liu Shu's voice spread around her with such coldness that it made one's heart palpitate. "Your sect? They can come and become my fertilizer as they please. Even if your entire continent comes, I will swallow everything. Your people, your curses, your evilness, and your ambitions. I will spread like a plague throughout your territories, reaching every single corner until even the deepest reaches of the earth or the sky is safe."

Liu Shu twisted her other arm, making Lyara scream once again in pain. "H-How are you so strong!? I am Level 53! Your strength shouldn't be this exaggerated!" 

Liu Shu sneered. "A little human wants to resist the strength of a World Tree? Taste it with your flesh how, in our territory, you are all less than grass!"

"AHHH!"

"HELP!"

"IT HURTS!"

The screams of all the people that came with Lyara started echoing around, making the woman look over. Her heart trembled at the imagery in front of her. Liu Shu had coiled around all the beings inside the town and was slowly wringing them like trying to dry a wet cloth. Strangely, not one person seemed to be dying, as if the World Tree had other plans for everyone in the town. 

Scared, Lyara quickly shouted. "! Attack the roots!"

If she managed to get free and was able to use her energy, escaping would not be out of question. Hence, she wouldn't give up! 

The few spawns that appeared from the black pool rushed out with the intention of attacking the roots. However, as the black-colored spawns appeared, a scene that made Lyara forget about the pain due to shock occurred. Together with the , a few blue and gold colored ones surfaced as well. 

Their appearance was much less messy than the corrupted ones, with four strong limbs and bulky bodies with long, thick tails. Their stature reached around four meters, and their bodies were extremely muscular and agile. The four limbs ended with sickle-like claws that could rip everything to shreds, while their heads looked similar to a mix of a lion and a dragon. Their bodies were mainly blue-colored, with golden patterns on them. Additionally, they were clad in a majestic golden armor, covering most of their bodies, including their tails and heads. 

One look at them could make a normal person shudder in fear at their imposing demeanor. 

As soon as the creatures surfaced, Lyara heard the cold voice of the World Tree. "Destroy them, ."

One Cerulean Spawn quickly pounced and used its size advantage to stomp on the Corrupted Spawn.

BOOM!

The four-meter-tall beast slammed the creature half its size into the ground with a giant explosive sound.

[-540,400]!

The terrifying damage number made the corrupted spawn screech in pain. However, the Cerulean Spawn was far from done. The Cerulean Spawn grabbed it and swept sideways, slamming the Corrupted Spawn against the corrupted ones and sending them flying. 

This scene appeared all around the town, and Lyara looked on in disbelief. The were like lion cubs fighting mature ones. "Y-You… What did you do? What are those beasts!?"

Liu Shu chuckled, but the laughter was cold and mirthless. "You dared to entangle this curse deeply with me? How could I just destroy it? Since you were so eager, I decided to swallow everything. Your efforts creating this orb will not only go to waste, but they will strengthen me. How does that feel?"

"No…" Lyara's face paled, and she shook her head. "That's impossible! It is impossible for you to regain control of the curse!"

Liu Shu disregarded her words and spoke. "You see, a few years ago, a woman named Jolie tried to take me over with a strange doll. Of course, knowing that such means existed, I vowed never to be affected by them. Hence, a good friend of mine investigated, decoded, and found a way for me to fight back."

When she heard about the doll, Lyara knew what item the World Tree referred to. The cursed doll was an item that could easily entrap the mind of low-level World Trees. Moreover, the mechanisms it used were remarkably similar to the Cursed Orb. Of course, the level of influence was several times slower. The Cursed Doll was an E Ranked item, while the Cursed Orb was a C Ranked Item. There were two whole major tiers in between. 

Liu Shu saw the face of realization and despair flashing in Lyara's eyes and she smiled. "You are going to die, so I will be merciful and let you see what's happening~.

Before Lyara understood what was happening, several messages appeared in Lyara's eyesight like a barrage of words.

[Congratulations! You've managed to create a new ! Would you like to name it?]

[Name granted! ]

: Using large amounts of , you can purify any curse that's lower or equal tier than . (Currently: B- Tier). Additionally, the Level of the Curse must not be too far apart from the caster. There is a small chance to reverse the and transform it into a skill. 

[You've used in !]

[You've used as an additional medium to cast the skill!]

[ influences the skill. Chances of success go from 70% to 99%.]

[Success!]

[ is being transformed into ]

[Altering effects…]

[ has noticed the myriad souls trapped within, including the soul of a few World Trees and Life Trees.]

[Do you want the to influence the ?]

[ is influencing the orb… Chances of success 10%. Chances of destruction 90%.]

[ influences the chances! Chances of success 90%. Chances of destruction 10%]

[Succes!]

[ is transforming into .]

[Time until completion… Unknown.]

[Creating creatures…]

[Completed!]

[Summoning as guardians until the is completed! The of guardians will be equal to the . The of Guardians will be the same as . Guardians will be affected by and from .]

[Congratulations! You've spotted your first ! The Dungeon System will be activated when the is about to be completed.]

[Congratulations! You've created your first ! You will receive bonuses when the opens.]

[Enemies noticed within the range of the Dungeon. Proceeding to exterminate them.]

Lyara read every single message, and her heart thumped with fear and shock. 'She absorbed the orb and transformed it into a Dungeon Core?! W-What is this!? What is this monster!?'

"Filth. At least I should say thank you once for this gift. Without this orb that has been nourished with several hundreds of thousands of lives, this kind of thing would have probably been impossible. Say, how many more orbs like this are in your power?" Liu Shu's evil chuckle reached her. "Using the creatures that will spawn in the Dungeon from your evil acts to flatten your powers should feel… cathartic."

Lyara's face had long been smeared with despair, but even then, she could force out a simple question. "W-What are you?"

The question came out as a choked-out sob. Still, the World Tree felt no sympathy for her. After giving one last glance at the despairing woman, she used her roots to throw her toward the vortex in the middle of the town. "I am your future master. Now, become my for all eternity."

Those words made her heart explode with fear as she tried to resist the pull of gravity to no avail. "NOOO!"

Inevitably, Lyara fell into the blue pond and was absorbed by it, her scream echoing as a last proof of her existence as a free being. 

The Dungeon System prompted a notification.

[Compatible Soul as detected. Do you wish to enslave this soul (Lyara Cursevine) and make it your ?]

Liu Shu spat indifferently. "Yes. Absorb the rest of her members as well. They should come in handy."

[Understood. New creatures will be added to the !]

As soon as Liu Shu ordered the , several blue and golden tendrils of pure energy sprouted outward at a terrifying speed, coiling around every single living creature in the town. Then, the tendrils violently pulled everything into the vortex, leaving behind nothing but the . 

Sadly, because they were all absorbed by the System, Liu Shu did not receive any Experience Points. The also didn't give any points. Still, the profits were incredibly bountiful.

As soon as the and stopped receiving energy, they collapsed, and everything returned to calm. With them gone, Liu Shu's anger also calmed down, and the surrounding energy stopped feeling as oppressive. 

A gentle breeze started blowing again, and the energy in the surroundings slowly lost the scent of blood. The large amounts of Cerulean Bloodsap Liu Shu spilled in the land seeped into it and cured everything, revitalizing the dead patch of land and making life bloom again. 

By the time Flor and the others arrived at the destroyed town, the soil had lost its black color and returned to a much better-looking earthly color, full of vitality and a few patches of green. 

If anything confused the people arriving in the town, it was the few dozen large creatures patrolling the place and the giant blue and golden vortex in the middle of the destroyed village.

"Don't worry. They are not enemies."

Liu Shu's calming and gentle voice blew through the army, relaxing everyone's nerves.