"Finally!" Firefly exclaimed, her boredom instantly dispelled as a colossal black tree loomed into view.
The tree was leafless, but its branches were unnervingly dense, resembling a tangled mass of human hair with barely any gaps between them.
Zooming in, Firefly clearly observed the giant tree shedding its bark. Chunks of bark peeled off and fell to the ground, wriggling briefly before transforming into the monsters she had previously slain.
"So, this thing is the monsters' breeding ground? Or is the tree itself a boss?" she muttered to herself, guiding her mech downward. Her plan was simple: test the remaining skills she hadn't had a chance to use earlier and eliminate this suspected boss. Completing this would surely boost her progress in the Iron Cavalry objectives.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
As she landed, Firefly noticed the giant tree's branches swaying gently. An ethereal voice echoed in her ears:
"Cease your futile struggles, humans. All your efforts are utterly laughable in my eyes!"
"The Giant Tree spoke those words..." The elderly City Lord sighed, his face grim. "In other words, the source of all the monsters the Republic has faced so far—may possess intelligence!"
There was a world of difference between dealing with wild beasts driven by instinct and confronting an intelligent enemy capable of thought and strategy.
"Fortunately, the scout managed to escape," the City Lord continued. "Otherwise, the Republic might still be completely in the dark."
Hearing this, Wesley's mood grew even heavier. An intelligent enemy—the bad news just kept piling up.
"An intelligent enemy? How fortunate!" Firefly couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
The Giant Tree continued, "You sent a scout here before, and I deliberately let him escape. Now you've dispatched a fully armored knight. Do you truly believe my mercy will extend a second time?"
In the past, the Giant Tree had secretly concealed its intelligence, exploiting humanity's underestimation to survive its weakest period. Later, when the balance of power shifted, it capitalized on the information asymmetry. While humans naively assumed monsters were irrational beasts, the tree launched surprise attacks that secured numerous victories.
Even when human exploration teams sought the monsters' origins, the Giant Tree skillfully diverted them to false locations, safeguarding its true position and buying itself valuable time to develop.
Now fully matured, its forces could easily crush human armies. Thus, it deliberately lured a human scout to its location, engaged him in conversation, and then released him.
Its purpose was to reveal its intelligence to humanity, thereby intensifying the pressure on them.
No longer reliant on the cunning tricks it had depended on in its vulnerable youth, the Giant Tree now wielded its very intelligence as a weapon, forcing humanity to tread carefully and fear the consequences of their actions.
The Giant Tree was far more cunning than Firefly realized. She had no idea about its convoluted schemes.
Did it intentionally let a scout escape? Wait... what is it even saying? Firefly's delicate eyebrows twitched slightly. However, her attention quickly returned to herself. The main reason she was so thrilled about facing an intelligent enemy was that she could finally deliver those incredibly cool lines from the original game!
If her opponents were just mindless beasts, what was the point of rambling on and on? It would be like playing the lute for a cow! But now it was different—they could actually understand her!
"Ahem!" Inside the mech, Firefly cleared her throat. SAM, the silver-white automaton, slowly extended its right hand forward, its cold, metallic voice booming, "Leave now, and nobody gets hurt... Or Else! All of you will die here!"
She had always thought that line was badass. No matter their response, she would follow up with, "Once you've managed to get away, remember to tell everyone-About the Stellaron Hunter who was behind your ultimate departure!. I will set the seas ablaze!"
But the atmosphere hung heavy. The Giant Tree remained motionless, silent.
In reality, the Giant Tree's mind was now flooded with question marks. What the hell is this metal monstrosity spouting?
Firefly quickly realized her mistake. The line had sounded cool in her head, but it was completely inappropriate for the situation.
This was clearly the Giant Tree's home turf, and she had come here willingly. Now she was ordering it to leave, threatening, "If you don't go, I'll kill you!"
Worse yet, her enemy was a tree! How could a tree even run?
In that instant, hidden from view inside the mech, Firefly's cheeks flushed crimson. Realizing the full absurdity of her actions, she felt mortified. Her toes curled inward so tightly she wanted to kick a hole through the cockpit and disappear.
"You..." The Giant Tree managed to utter a single syllable before Firefly sprang into action.
What do you do when you're this embarrassed? You drown it out with sheer volume!
Secondary Combustion Mode: Activated!
Protocol Approved: Initiating Scorched Earth Operations!
DHGDR - Supernova Overload!
Instantly, searing flames erupted from SAM's frame. Firefly shot upward with unimaginable speed, soaring into the heavens with a long, fiery trail blazing behind her. In that instant, the entire sky seemed stained a fiery orange-red.
From the Giant Tree's perspective, a second sun seemed to appear in the sky. Then, this blinding star plummeted straight toward it.
"I'm screwed..." were the Giant Tree's final words before the 'sun' crashed into the ground with catastrophic force.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!
The Boss of the Dimensional Rift, the Giant Tree, didn't last even a second. It was obliterated in the blink of an eye, reduced to ashes in an instant. But the explosion didn't stop there. It continued to expand, sweeping across a hundred miles before finally subsiding. Yet even this wasn't the end. A fiery orange tornado erupted from the epicenter, erasing every trace of what had once been there.
"Phew..." Firefly heaved a sigh of relief after triple-checking that not even a speck of dust remained of the Giant Tree, confirming its absolute annihilation. With this, her embarrassing moment was completely buried, right?
As long as no one ever found out, it was as if the whole incident had never happened!
Firefly resolved that next time, she would carefully consider her lines before speaking. She couldn't afford another slip-up like this!