The Martial Unity

The branches of the trees of the Serevian Dungeon had incredible penetrative power. Rui recalled when he had first entered the Serevian Dungeon, he had been penetrated by a branch that easily impaled him with no difficulty, despite the Adamant Reforging technique making him extremely tough and durable. It had also moved fast enough to bypass his reflexes when he wasn't alert and focused.

This meant that it was extremely likely to be quite lethal to most Martial Apprentices. However, this never mattered because the branches weren't a threat to Martial Apprentices they were only a threat to threats perceived to be in the Squire Realm.

This was the very core of the plan that Rui had come up with. If he used the Squire-level mask, he would be triggering the tree and the branches would be unleashed toward him.

He also knew from experience when testing them that the branches didn't give a shit what was in between them and their target, they simply moved through the shortest path between themselves and their target; a straight line.

They didn't care what blocked their path, they simply blasted past any and all obstacles between them and their target.

Rui had wondered, what if there was an army between him and them?

In this case, the branches would blast through the army in order to reach him.

What if that army was an army of the enemy?

Wouldn't that have meant that Rui could vanquish an entire enemy army in a blink of an eye as long as he and the army and the trees were positioned correctly?

It was then that Rui realized that the squire-level Mind Mask technique was extremely powerful because it had the power to manipulate the Serevian Dungeon to its favor.

In the Serevian Dungeon, Rui was the only being who commands the Serevian Dungeon, indirectly. When Rui realized the devastating potential of his plan, he immediately submitted it to Commissioner Feristen and Colonel Carnes. The two of them were initially skeptical of such a plan, but as Rui explained they grew increasingly shocked as they realized the viability of the plan wasn't low.

The other nations had initially thought that Kandrian Empire had lost its mind when they deployed a single Martial Apprentice instead of an army.

But Rui wasn't alone.

He was fighting with the entirety of the Serevian Dungeon on his side. The others had an army, he didn't need more than himself.

What followed was one of the most shocking occurrences that any of the nations had seen since they stepped foot in the Serevian Dungeon.

The entirety of the part of forest surrounding the battlefield warped as the branches shot outwards at staggering speeds and power. Branches from all directions from outside the forest shot inwards with ferocious momentum.

The tanks were hit first.

The branches blasted through the tanks, spurring countless holes in them as they shot forward. Instantly, all the personnel that was operating the siege tanks died in an instant. They were merely normal human beings who were impaled by an avalanche of branches.

A tsunami of razor-sharp branches shot through the battlefield at extraordinary speeds and power.

It was blindingly fast.

Most Martial Apprentices were impaled across multiple locations.

Most of them died.

Of course, not all of them died.

The Martial Apprentices with extraordinary passive defense managed to get away unscathed.

The best and also the most fortunate of speed-oriented Martial Apprentices were fast enough to somehow evade the branches as they were lucky enough to be in a position to react rather than too consumed with their opponent or the war to react.

All of the Martial Apprentices on the battlefield were not incompetent. They were high-grade Martial Apprentices who were qualified to be on the battlefield of the Serevian Dungeon.

Had they been alert, focused, and prepared for the branches, most would have at least managed to survive.

However, they were all extremely distracted by the war and their opponents. Their lack of awareness and the surprise and shock that followed greatly hindered their movements. The initial pain also messed with their response, causing them to make suboptimal responses. All of these factors caused them to fall prey to the flood of branches.

The branches spiked across the battlefield as they lashed out towards the center of the battlefield, towards their target.

Fifty meters.

Ten meters.

One meter.

It was only when they were ten centimeters away from him did they stop.

Rui had managed to deactivate the Mind Mask technique in time, just in time. This was the riskiest part of the operation.

If he stopped the Mind Mask technique too early, then it would not have done its job and the operation would only be a partial success, but if he stopped the technique too late, then he would simply die after the branches impaled him from all directions.

Still, he had managed to cut it close.

"Too close." He whispered as the branches retracted once the Squire-level aura had subsided. The branches quickly retracted as they returned to their original position.

They left behind carnage, unlike anything Rui had ever seen.

In just a few moments, countless people had died.

The few that survived looked around with the rawest, unadulterated bewilderment and shock that they had ever seen. They looked at the countless littered corpses, completely dumbfounded and speechless.

They didn't even know what to do.

What should they have ought to do in such a situation?

There was nothing in the protocols on what to do if you survived a freak branch catastrophe that annihilated your entire army.

However, the Kandrian Empire did not mess around. They had been waiting in anticipation and tension. They had bet everything on this plan succeeding, going so far as to allow the three countries to fight over it. The Kandrian Empire immediately opened its gates and they deployed the offensive team immediately. The team soon arrived at the scene, since it was that close.