Once the clanspeople had mostly departed, Elder Yuri, now awake in the mirrored projection, turned his gaze to Senzo and said, "Senzo, the sacred tree is still not fully restored. We cannot continue to invoke its power indefinitely."
"Yeah, I understand. Fang Heng is still useful to us, I know how to handle this." Senzo spoke, his gaze gradually turning stern, "But if he's not willing to obediently comply..."
...
Outside the habitat, the Licker horde surged back relentlessly toward the barrier!
The tree spirit tribe guards had to retreat again into the habitat, relying on the outer periphery of the barrier for defense.
Serge tried various methods, even risking two squads of tree spirit tribe warriors in a dangerous attempt to divert the Licker horde away from their kin.
Unfortunately, it was all in vain.
The Licker horde had fixed their target, returning swiftly after brief pursuits to assault the barrier.
"No good."
