A massive explosion burned down the magic planetarium! The colours of the flora's realm were reduced to ashes, consumed by lilac sparks. This was all the work of a druid who blew himself up with Protos particles.
The carved skull of the burner was similar to a lump of charcoal, but it was still clearly visible gaping on the ground. Alicia almost cancelled her magic barrier out of stress, but the dozens of crows that suddenly hit the protective dome and exploded their guts discouraged her.
From all directions of the hallway, unfamiliar figures emerged from each of the patio doors. Figures that were alien to the forest magi, yet familiar to Alicia, not to mention to the Magisterium's magical colleagues. Who else would they be if not part of the masked mage group using Protos particle? A quaint group that both existed and did not exist at the same time!
Before time marched on, there was a piece of news that came as a relief: There were absolutely no human casualties in the incident—other than the defector, of course. All thanks to the Arcane force field from the increasingly skillful Alicia.
Back to the main story. Broin saw the blue glow and twinkling stars protecting everyone from the clutches of death. But hearing the girl's heavy breathing worried him.
"Miss Alicia! Are you alright?"
The girl's sharply drawn eyebrows and pursed lips suggested otherwise. Her cold sweat indicated she was bearing all the pain of the explosion.
"This is worrying," Haddock approached them both. "If Vanir alone can be infiltrated by this kind of radicalism, no place is ever safe anywhere in the world!"
"But we are already conducting deep, intensive sweeps to eradicate these radicals from the land of Vanir!" Broin retorted.
The Grand Magus walked over to the protective dome. "Not deep enough."
Wands of various sizes were already extended to the black magicians. Odelie, the only astrologist in the assembly, magically pulled out the Faith Catalyst—the astrologist's signature weapon, a gold-plated half sphere with cavities of various shapes, and intricate gold wires orbiting through them.
One must admit, the defecting druid's taste for the masks was more refined than that of the Wizardry practitioners. They wore wooden carved masks shaped into various faces of monsters that were already too gruesome, multiplied by their distorted appearances. But all those pawns could not compete with the outfit of a mage who came from the ceiling of the open sky, accompanied by a pair of sprinkhonds—a dog-sized grasshopper with two pairs of spring legs and a pair of raptorial ones at the front, with a sharp razor blade at each end.
The Mothman, the insect mage, returned to haunt Alicia Crimsonmane.
As the only insect mage, he exhaled as he witnessed the entire garden burnt. "Poor little fellow. This lack of artistic sense in this fool makes humans fear what Khaos could do," said the mage, holding a burnt butterfly whose wings had fallen off.
After that, he rose. Step by step, the scorched plants were crushed to pieces by his boots. The Mothman drew closer to Alicia's bridge nose behind the barrier once more—a nostalgia of past times. Buzzings aired, infiltrating the Arcane force field.
"You bring for yourself a lot of company, young lady," greeted the Mothman in his guttural voice.
"Please, don't waste any more of your time. My answer's still the same." Alicia responded firmly despite her still panting breath.
"Oh, thank you for not being pleonastic, then! Fellas! Flick her shield until she dies!" Just like that. Not grandiose. the insect mage instantly turned around, followed by a barrage of black magic projectiles!
As the black wizards cast all the spells reinforced with Protos particles, the druids who had turned to Khaos joined hands to recite prayers. The ground shook and cracked, releasing a sting of violet light that reached the boundary of the Arcane protective dome.
"Lord Bifrovs, who glances from the hollows of trees and the reflections of gemstones! Bestow new inspiration upon the Tree of the Universe. Let its branches turn to caress us and the knowledge of the universe brings down your opponents!"
The air of Khaos suffocated all chests. Too bad the Tree of Knowledge was not an Arcane abode anymore, so Khaos's energy was free to occupy it as a new palace of pride. This was blasphemy of the highest order for practitioners of Druidism! The Tree of Knowledge instantly decayed before Alicia and the magi. Its sacred leaves shed, and the squirrels that nested at its branches fell over and died. Sharp roots sprouted, stabbing several druids and flinging them away!
"Alicia, watch out!" Arcane's magic shield broke as Haddock pushed Alicia away from the tree roots that were about to sweep away the Magisterium vermin. As a result, more and more victims of Khaos magic fell from the druids and Magisterium's side. Not to mention that their formation was in disarray, surrounded by masked black magicians from all directions.
A limp gaze from Broin to the Tree of Knowledge that pulled itself up from the ground, and turned into a monstrous giant mandrake. Gone was the hope of Vanir, a heritage guarded for millennia. Ohher might not visit again as a riser of plants when the druids proved unable to guard the sacred tree.
Too tall and too narrow, the mandrake's body brought down a wall full of murals of Vanir's history. It was fortunate that the Tree of Knowledge mandrake was mute. Otherwise, Alicia and the others would have died from its screech! More than that, these masked mages were certainly not playing around. It was the umpteenth time that their "pranks" had destroyed magical landmarks from various countries, and yet, none of the law enforcers could snort at the origin of their odor!
Haddock and the wizards took the initiative to cast layered protective magic in place of Arcane protection, while the druids were still busy scattering in the garden. They tried their best to create woodbines and control the bears with their prayers. The Mothman was trying to break through the magic defenses of the wizard group with thousands of insect swarms, while his two sprinkhonds were still busy slashing bears and chopping up careless nature magi.
"Alicia, bless us all with Arcane!" Haddock ordered.
Broin's eyes opened wide when Haddock enjoined the girl to do so. There was still a glimmer of hope to be gleaned from this mess. A touch of Divine Grace, never the old man ever felt for half of a century. Alicia then turned and spread the blue ley lines to all allied parties. This was it; the coveted Arcane returned to content them all!
The spirits of the druids—including Broin's and the bears'—rapidly rose. "Thank you for the Arcane might, Alicia," said the old druid. Confidently, they all turned against the defecting druids and wizards.
"O earth, and all the roots that walk the realm, hear my call! Come forth as new creatures, subdue those who stand in your chaste path!"
Broin and his two companions uttered the prayer, and a white tree from each druid rose from the ground! The three plants circled and twisted the rotten black plants of the Khaos' druid champions. The white tree that had sealed the black magic tree then took out a few more branches to wrap around the evil mages, then threw them around before being flung away! Arcane and Khaos's trees struggled with each other in a clash of energies until both were desiccated and destroyed.
Meanwhile, the giant mandrake was still rampaging, and now they were serving its fury. Broin and the others immediately rushed there. Several wizards were already flying around with magic brooms to slash at the tree's ugly, wrinkled face, while the druids were reciting another prayer to the late Tree of Knowledge to put it to its final rest.
"Look down—look down at us, a scattering of spores dancing amidst the horizon! Behold, this is your dwelling place. He who has died will one day bring more life. Come, and cover him with your life force. You will, through him, brighten the face of the earth for another thousand years!"
It was natural that something touched by Khaos will be damaged if not die. But the Divine Grace altered everything. In the cracks of the purplish bark, mosses suddenly sprouted at Mandrake's feet, from which the Arcane destroyed the entire tissue of Khaos. The lichens multiplied so quickly that the creature could not feel its feet and collapsed!
The Arcane's might barrage had disfigured the countenance of the mandrake, and the mosses were increasingly filling its being. The mandrake appeared to have "regained consciousness", and springs were flowing from both eyes. It was in great agony and could no longer stand the struggle between Arcane's mosses and Khaos on it. Until Arcane covered almost the entire wrinkled face, its eyes concluded apologies, especially to the druids who had served it for years. Moss gnawed at its eyes. The Tree of Knowledge was once again perished.
Broin approached, palpating the mossy trunk of the sacred wood. He wanted to mourn. Oh, he would have that mourning. Soon, after the infernal black mages got their comeuppance. His hands clenched, he began to shout a war cry to the entire realm!
"This place is no longer holy, so their blood is lawful! Sacrifice them all, without a single one remained! Let their own blood nourish the soil, so that it may become pure again! Nature has been angered, so she will correct any defects in her!"
A shout that was met by other shouts of druids and bears gone wild. This was not just a battle cry. This was a prayer.
What appeared to be a giant sprout came out of the ground, then bloomed a fierce snouted flower. An adage from Ohher, the druids called the plant the hunger petal. Not just one, there were five more hunger petals sticking out from all directions, and each plant grew three jagged-snouted flowers like sea sharks!
Not only that, all sorts of wild birds came out of the ceiling hole and snatched up those with foul hearts. While a wizard was busy fending off a hræsvelgr hawk or cockatrice that was about to tear the flesh off his face, hunger petals targeted his weak legs and pulverized the human. The carnivorous birds were left with only the blood that seeps from behind the plant's serrations. Nature was fierce.
Odelie quickly pulled Alicia's hand to prevent her from seeing too much horror. Broin also agreed with the fortuneteller's actions. "Nature is in her wrath! Get Alicia out of here immediately!" he said. "I wish you a successful journey!"
"Sir Broin, what about you? You should go as well!" They had not met for half a day, but Alicia had already expressed her worries to the druids, especially the old man, Broin.
"Young lady, you've given me the Arcane might! That's more than enough to buy them time! Go, now!"
"Come on, Alicia! It's not safe here!" Odelie then dragged the girl away.
"Alicia, come with Odelie and the others!" Haddock also joined in. He and Bartholomew were busy fighting the Antrhomania activist, the Mothman himself.