The Innkeeper

Lex teleported only a few times before he cclose enough that he could estimate the location of the massive tree that he could see even from a distance. But, before teleporting over to it directly, Lex turned around and addressed the battalion.

"For most of you, this is the first tyou're heading out to fight. This is also the first tyou'll be striking any enemy in revenge, so I should make clear how exactly we will do this. The Tree of Heaven will be much more powerful than any of you, so you will not be fighting the tree. Instead, that will be my job.

"You all, instead, will be attacking the direct subordinates of the Tree and its most faithful zealous followers: the treants. But we are not here to commit genocide, so we won't be ripping every single tree from the ground. Civilians are not to be targeted. Instead, we will be targeting all the commanders, military personnel and zealots. Of course, if someone attacks you first, then feel free to retaliate. Basically, we're going after everyone responsible or complicit in the attack on the Inn."

Everyone nodded, and mentally prepared themselves for the battle ahead. All of the battalion members were naturally wearing their suits from the Tailors shop, so honestly speaking Lex did not expect them to take on any injuries at all. After all, their suits served as better armor than most actual armors!

Lex spread his spirit sense to cover everyone, fixed his gaze on the Tree of Heaven, then teleported over.

Just twenty minutes after the attack in the Inn, they were retaliating. Even if the Tree expected a response, it was unlikely that it was expecting it to be so quick. Most importantly, a part of the Trees soul was still being torture by Anita, and it was clearly still not taking it well, as was evident by the tremors rocking the entire continent.

Chances were, their attack on the Tree would affect all of Menara, but Lex would try to make this as quick as possible.

The moment they reappeared Lex directly attacked the trunk of the tree! With a sword in hand, Lex used a new move from the Inferno Blade series: Waking Dream!

Cassandra had clearly told him he needed to master this technique before he becan immortal or it would limit him.

Lex had spent a long tpondering over why his increased comprehension wasn't allowing him to learn these last three moves. The conclusion he cto was that his mind was too rigid, and his conception of what was and wasn't possible was too well defined because of his life as a mortal on earth. As a result, he would not think flexibly.

But over the past few months, as a result of being exposed to the sealed domain, the shadow plane, and so many other things that defied common sense and his basic understanding of reality, he had finally becflexible enough to accommodate sprinciples that at first eluded him.

Inferno Blade: Waking Dream was a strike that used the heat of vengeance to burn the souls of its targets. The moment he saw Anita burning the tree, Lex had an epiphany, and he could suddenly understand how something esoteric and intangible like emotions could have real and tangible temperature.

This attack was already targeting the soul to begin with, and Lex further empowered it by entering his soul state so the sword passed through the tree's physical body and cut right into its soul!

Lex had held nothing back in his attack, using all of his might and available resources, which is why he was not surprised when he could sense that the Tree's soul was nearly cut in two!

The entire body of the tree, which was billions of times greater than Lex, if not more, trembled as the Tree was struck with agony it could never have even imagined.

But while Lex was formidable, the Tree was a genuine Mythical being, and one that had absorbed countless resin pieces as well. It was not weak, and in an instant its soul was reattached.

It had not healed, and was only forcibly being held in place, but it at least reduced the pain. It also activated all of its own power, rebuffing Lex and pushing him back, even if it couldn't truly harm him.

In all his previous cultivation sessions, Lex had once again been focusing on improving his defense so he was not surprised at being unharmed.

But Lex was not here to exchange moves with the Tree in a long, drawn out fight that would test their mettle. He was here to extinguish the Tree's soul and use its body as an ingredient!

Lex took out his most formidable weapon: the Divine Butter Knife!

This was not the one the system gave him, but the one that he made himself which could grow by absorbing divinity. As it happened, the Tree contained an immense amount of divinity, rivaling that of a real Deity, which was easy to understand since the Tree had been worshiped its entire life.

Then, using the Divine Butter Knife, Lex used Waking Dream once more!

The Tree launched its own attack, new branches suddenly erupting from its body and launching towards Lex. Even though Lex was in his soul state, the Tree was in the Nascent realm as well, and so could also interact with souls, so it could still fight him off.

But when the two clashed, it was still the Tree that cout worse for wear.

"INSOLENT TRASH, I WILL-"

Lex didn't bother listening to the Tree's dying monologue. Waking Dream a powerful move, yes, but it would have been even more powerful if his sword intent was stronger. Since it was not at its peak, it could not be used to overwhelmingly cut through all of the Tree's defenses and its soul, but at least it served to gauge how strong the Tree actually was.

He had one more thing prepared to take it down quickly. Lex Blinked to the Tree's body, and used a Glyph.

A massive, deep scarlet Glyph appeared in front of Lex's face, radiating lethal danger.

The Tree of Heaven, despite the mind crippling pain it was in from having its soul constantly severed, suddenly snapped its attention to Lex as it for the second tthat day encountered a sensation it had never felt before.

It felt the threat of death closing in, on the verge of clasping its cold hands around it. WIthout thought or hesitation, the Tree unleashed all its power at once. A tsunami of divinity erupted from its body, encasing its massive trunk in a radiant beam. Its roots, which had long becone with the continent, buried deep into the very core of the realm, suddenly erupted from the ground, and then were pulled back in at supersonic sounds.

Its leaves becrazors that could cut through the fabric of reality, uncaring for what barrier stood in their way.

A billion treants across the land suddenly withered and died as all of their energy was suddenly absorbed by the Tree of Life, activating an ancient ability it had never needed to use. An illusory shield made of the densest bark formed around the tree, radiating an aura that subtly transcended the Nascent realm.

The true might of this ability could not be displayed in the fledgling Nascent realm, but even this was enough to block out any conceivable attack a Nascent level enemy could throw at it.

The size of the Tree began to shrink as it used all its abilities in a split second. Beyond just the shield of bark, it used countless abilities both to attack and defend, not to mention it even used an incredibly desperate ability that would let it retain a hint of life even against overbearing odds.

All this happened in a split second, and if it was afforded more time, no doubt the Tree would unveil the true extent of its massive repertoire it had accumulated in its long life. But more tit did not have, because Lex used the Glyph that represented a dragon's strongest attack: Dragon breath!

A jet of crimson and orange flames shot out of the Glyph in front of Lex's mouth, sparing nothing that dared obstruct its path, accompanied by an earth-shattering dragon's roar.

The Midnight Realm, which was still setting its foundation, and was still setting the laws that would govern the realm over the course of its existence, experienced a subtle change. A hint of the dragon's aura that was released alongside the flames was absorbed directly by the realm itself, and the laws it was forming underwent a minor change.

But neither Lex nor anyone else noticed, for the devastation of the flames far surpassed anything Lex could have imagined. He had remained in the soul state, since he wanted the flames to attack the Tree's soul and not its body.

But a dragon's flames could not be suppressed. They burned everything.