“This is me, the dryad. I’ll be using this form to communicate with you from the outside.”
“!!!” Nathan was startled and raised his head. While the island was closed, he noticed several figures on top of the dome. “Is my teacher here?”
“Yes. There are a lot of things I want to say, but for now, I want you to focus on dealing with the teacher. We’ll be summoning a tree that is capable of stopping that person. You should take control of the students and ensure their safety while we deal with the situ—”
Before the dryad finished her words, a massive amount of Ena suddenly burst in the cave’s direction.
Nathan turned his head around, looking at Dikkleus from the sky.
“If you think you can escape, then you’re completely wrong.” Dikkleus glared at Nathan.
However, the ground soon trembled.
Dikkleus had a hard time maintaining his balance as cracks began to appear at the foot of the volcano.
*Rumble!*
*Rumble!*
Dikkleus couldn’t help but look at the origin of the sound. A giant root suddenly emerged from the ground, breaking down the soil. Then, a huge trunk shot into the sky before turning into branches and leaves.
The tree was so big that it covered a fifth of the island, its height half of the volcano.
“This is…” Dikkleus gasped. “Vivian?! Vivian is here?”
The tree was brimming with energy as multiple roots swam on the ground like a bouncing snake, making their way toward Dikkleus.
As a result, Dikkleus had no choice but to avoid them by leaping into the sky. He used his own Ena to levitate as giant roots emerged from the ground, trying to restrain him.
Dikkleus formed a transparent sphere that isolated him from the rest of the world.
The giant root slapped the sphere, the contact producing a massive tremor that shook the entire island. Yet Dikkleus was safe. There wasn’t even a scratch on his barrier.
“A tree?” Nathan gasped.
“Yes. That is the manifestation of the World Tree. Unfortunately, its power relies on the life energy coming from nature. And because of you burning half of the island…”
Nathan’s expression turned pale. “That’s…”
“As her student, I don’t really mind if you don’t love nature as much as she does. However, I hope you don’t destroy nature on such a large scale.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Anyway, it appears something is weakening that teacher.”
“Yes. There is a red ball descending upon him. I don’t know much, but according to Nidhogg, it’s filled with curses.”
The dryad nodded. “At the very least, the tree should be enough to stop him. I’m afraid that’s our limit due to the barrier. The rest will depend on you.”
Nathan’s expression turned solemn. He observed the entire situation and thought, ‘From the way he worded it, there’s a chance that this guy is hiding his wife, who has been turned into an alien, somewhere on this island.
‘And according to his mutant theory, it’s clear that he might have produced a mutant that can command thousands of aliens on this island.
‘There is also that ogre. Can we actually beat that ogre? It’s extremely strong.
‘Hmm. The situation has become complicated. Even if we take him out of the equation, we have to deal with his wife, his familiar, and the aliens at the same time. The students won’t be enough to kill those aliens, considering we’re not allowed to touch nature anymore since it’ll weaken the tree.’
Nathan couldn’t help but look at the people above the barrier and ask, “Can we undo the barrier?”
“Silvania is working on it. She’s deciphering the barrier, but it will take time. At the very least, if we can create a small hole, it’ll allow my main body to enter this dome. I should be able to use the trees all around the island to suppress both the aliens and that teacher. I’ve heard you’re clever, but can you even make a plan in this situation?”
Nathan grinned. “I have one actually.”
“One what?”
“A plan.”
The dryad paused for a moment, as if she were too shocked to say anything. “Really?”
“But can I talk to Silvania? I need to know more about the barrier and see if my plan can work or not.”
The dryad thought for a moment before allowing Silvania to talk to him.
…
Meanwhile, the students were completely in a mess. Because the teachers were teleported, they ended up panicking.
“What is going on?”
“The teachers have vanished.”
“Is there something big happening on this island?”
“Are we going to die?”
“I don’t want to die.”
The students looked like they were trying to scatter. Selena and Rudeus looked at them as if they were planning to stop them.
However, the giant tree emerged from the ground, scaring them.
And Dikkleus fighting the tree made them think the tree was evil, since he was the only teacher left.
“Yes. We just have to wait for Teacher Dikkleus to kill that evil tree.”
“We’ll be saved.”
“Hooray, Teacher Dikkleus.”
The students were cheering, while Rudeus frowned, feeling suspicious that there was a teacher left behind when even the principal wasn’t visible.
Suddenly, a dragon dove from the sky and landed on the ground so hard that it produced a small shock wave, silencing the students. All the eyes shifted to the person riding that dragon, Nathan.
Nathan pointed at the tree and said, “I’m going to briefly explain what’s happening. Teacher Dikkleus is the culprit. The tree over there is our vice principal’s ability. However, because of the barrier, she can only stop him right now. She needs more time to decipher the barrier that isolates this island.
“Hence, I’ll tell you about her plan. She wants all students to work together and stop the remaining five thousand aliens from destroying us. There’s no need to sacrifice your lives. Just buy us enough time.
“Dikkleus has a familiar. Rudeus and August are to fight that familiar and, if possible, defeat it before helping the rest of the students.”
“What about you?” Rudeus asked.
“I and Selena will be searching for the one commanding these aliens.” Nathan raised two fingers. “Twenty minutes. If we can hold on for twenty minutes, we’ll win.”