Evolution Begins With A Big Tree

[While we both are called Monstrosities of the Continent, that monstrous tree is far beyond me. No, even that Old Turtle I encountered is nothing before him. The difference between him and this monstrous tree is like an Ant and a Dragon.]

This oppression, this horror… it was nothing she had felt before. She had never, ever imagined that there would be this intimidating and this horrifying.

While everyone was pursuing ‘power,’ someone was already standing in the clouds.

However, just as Snake Queen was about to accelerate and completely escape this nightmarish place, a laughter resounded in her ears, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Just as these words rang in her ears, ripples appeared in space before her.

The next moment, right before Snake Queen’s eyes, which had already shrunk to the size of a pinhole, a green glowing thing, radiating an extremely sharp aura emerged from the rippling space.

Snake Queen had no idea how sharp the thing radiating this sharpness was, but just looking at just the mere glow had caused her eyes to bleed.

“Petrify it.” Reacting out of instinct, a mysterious force gathered in her eyes before surging towards that surging green light.

However, in a moment…

*Schlick!*

Much to Snake Queen’s astonishment, accompanied by a sound akin to a cloth ripping, her Petrification power, which had always been unmatched and the target only managed to escape it relying on speed, was unexpectedly pierced.

“Uh…”

Stunned, utterly stunned.

However, compared to the momentary stupefaction, what Snake Queen felt more was the chilling sensation in her limbs. That chill that surged from the very tip of her tail to her head.

“Is this what Humans commonly call ‘fear?’” mocking herself, Snake Queen stopped in her tracks.

At this moment, she felt a slight pain right in between her eyebrows.

However, what surprised her was that this pain lasted only for a moment.

Slowly lifting her eyes, Snake Queen found that the green glowing thing had stopped half a meter from her eyebrows.

The pain she had just felt was caused by the extreme sharpness of the green glowing thing. Just the aura leaking from it had injured her.

“What is this?” Staring blankly for a while, Snake Queen finally began to examine the green glowing thing.

Surprisingly, it looked like a Willow Leaf.

The use of ‘looked like’ stemmed from the resemblance in shape; however, in every other aspect, it stood worlds apart from an actual Willow Leaf. It exuded an extraordinary beauty, captivating and enchanting, as though the Creator had dedicated meticulous care in its crafting.

It was entirely transparent and wrapped in elaborate and exquisite patterns, adorned with a hint of emerald green luminescence flowing through its delicate structure. Furthermore, it was not floating still in the air, but rotating at a very slow speed, as if…

However, Snake Queen knew that it was not that this willow leaf was rotating slowly, rather it was rotating at such a fast speed that the eyes were not able to process it.

And this gave the illusion of it rotating very slowly.

“You are very lucky.” A faint chuckle rang in her mind.

Yet, what Snake Queen felt was not a sense of warmth but a chill gripping her entire body. Vaguely, she recalled her encounter with a ferocious Lizard when she was still weak.

At that time, helplessness, fear and even despair had gripped her mind.

“How long has it been since I felt this way?” As she mocked herself in her mind, Snake Queen heard that voice again that left a deep mark on her Soul.

“Remember, the only reason you didn’t die is because you stopped in front of the gates of Hell. Had you taken another step, or even moved a few millimeters further, this Flying Willow Leaf Blade of mine would have pierced through your brow completely, obliterating your Soul along with it.”