Chapter 295: Falling Onto the Battlefield
"Is your head truly filled with grass?!" Rinloran gasped as he saw the small yellow flower sprout atop Stingham's head.
"Is that a real flower?" Ayrin cried out as he too stared at the yellow flower.
"How would I know?!" Stingham shouted in exasperation as he reached up with his hand and pulled at the small yellow flower.
"It is indeed real!" Ayrin exclaimed as Stingham successfully uprooted the flower, revealing its tender white roots.
"Just what is going on?!"
Tears streamed down Stingham's face as he said sobbingly, "I must be on the verge of dying for flowers and vegetation are growing out of me!"
"You won't die. These things did not grow out of your skull," Lotton abruptly interrupted.
Stingham blankly looked at Lotton, "They… they didn't grow out of my head?"
"You know what is going on?" Ayrin and Rinloran curiously looked at Lotton.
"Just like Rinloran, his bloodline has now been thoroughly awakened through the baptism of the Lunar Spring Essence," Lotton motionlessly explained. "The sudden spurt of growth atop his head results from the arcane energy released by this awakening causing all of the seeds and pollen stuck amidst his hair to sprout."
"Is this a hidden bloodline ability of Green Dragons?" Ayrin and Rinloran thought to themselves as they exchanged looks.
"With their powerful Deep Green Domain, Green Dragons actually have an even stronger affinity for the power of nature than elves do. It is so strong that some extremely powerful Green Dragons are able to incite the growth of nature around them merely with the arcane energy which naturally disperses from their bodies," Lotton continued.
"But how did he end up with so many seeds in his hair?" Ayrin asked with some doubt.
"There are plenty of seeds which are the size of dust particles. It not impossible for many of them to have been blown into his hair by the wind," Rinloran patiently explained to Ayrin. "We too are probably covered with seeds as well, only we can't tell. It is fortunate that we are down here. If we were still in the forests above ground, Stingham would have probably turned into a pile of vegetation!"
"Woah! You're right! Look! It's starting to over his body as well!" Ayrin exclaimed as he watched green grass begin to grow atop Stingham.
"Whew! That scared me!" Stingham's face turned a little bit calmer as he said, "As long as it's not growing out of my head, I shouldn't die, right?"
"Haha!" Ayrin couldn't resist laughing boisterously as he said, "Rinloran, Lotton, if there will be even greater amounts of vegetation growing atop Stingaham when we arrive back aboveground, won't he turn into a walking forest?"
"Yep! He will just be a walking forest," Rinloran replied. He attempted to remain serious, but he couldn't help but laugh as he thought of Stingham covered in vegetation.
"How can you guys laugh at me?! Do you not have any compassion?!" Stingham cried out as he pulled a handful of grass off his body.
But right at this moment, Ayrin's body tensed as he heard another strange humming sound ringing through the wind. "What is this sound? Is the undead dragon coming back?" he cried out.
Suddenly, the ground below them began to tremble. Ayrin shouted once more, "The sound is coming from beneath us. An earthquake?"
By this point, Stingham had already stopped pulling grass off of his body. "What is that?!" he shouted as countless thin beams of light erupted from the ground not too far behind them.
Chaotic currents of particles and flames followed, violently shooting into the air in all directions.
"This level of the plains has been pierced," Lotton said as he abruptly raised his head, causing his neck to grate.
"This plain has been pierced? What does that mean?" Stingham screamed as he subconsciously sensed a danger appearing.
"The undead dragon has come back!" Ayrin cried out as the unique whistling sound of the undead dragon approached once more.
Crack crack crack…
Cracks began to emerge atop the massive black stone pillars and walls around them as they began to collapse.
"The Abyss of Evil consists of a total of three layers. We are currently atop the second layer. It seems like the battles atop the third layer are causing this layer to collapse."
As he observed the snaking cracks continuing to appear around him, Lotton turned to Ayrin and said, "We are about to fall. Prepare to use arcane skills to slow ourselves so we can survive."
"On the verge of collapse?" Stingham screamed in disbelief, "If this place can be destroyed, why didn't you, and the other people trapped here, ever try destroying this place to escape?"
"We weren't strong enough to cause it to collapse," Lotton replied as he watched more chaotic streams of particles and flames spurt out from the ground.
"Wait! Doesn't this mean that there is currently a giant battle going on beneath us? One where countless arcane masters and teams are fighting against each other?" Stingham's face turned green as he had a sudden realization. "How far above the plain below us are we?"
"At least several hundred meters," Lotton replied.
"Several hundred meters?" Stingham's eyes rolled back in their sockets.
This was practically the same distance down from Eichemalar.
Crack crack crack…
As the four conversed, cracks continued to emerge in the ground under their feet. Light shot out from the cracks, seemingly distorting the space around them.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!"
Before Stingham could finish preparing himself, he felt his body suddenly become weightless as the ground under him gave way and he plummeted.
Ayrin had originally prepared to jump between all of the falling rocks and boulders to slow his fall, but as his body fell, he felt countless chaotic currents of arcane energy slam into his body from all sides and angles, preventing him from jumping around.
"That is…"
As Ayrin fell, he squinted and forcefully looked down. What he saw caused his eyes to widen in shock.
The ground below them was basked in a golden glow, as if it was bathing in the rays of a setting sun. The surface constantly rose and fell like waves.
There were at least several hundred arcane teams densely clustered atop this area fighting against each other.
Various strange monsters, toxic insects, zombies, orcs, and even flaming skeletons filled his vision.
As for in the sky, outside of the black stones which were falling like mini mountains, there were also meteor-like falling clusters of light. Each one was a beast or arcane master wreathed in flames and arcane energy.
Further in the distance, at the very limit of what Ayrin could see, was an area covered with blackish red volcanos. Crimson red lava could be seen roiling within their mouths as they spewed intense black smog.
What seemed to be a human construct stood in the center of these volcanos and constantly released billowed clouds of dark purple arcane particles.
"There are so many arcane teams fighting… to think that the war has intensified to such a stage…"
Ayrin fell into such deep shock that he momentarily forgot to invoke his skills.
"Ayrin, hurry and use your arcane skills!" Rinloran shouted anxiously as he watched Ayrin remain in a daze.
Seeing how the arcane masters on the ground looked like ants to them, it was likely that the distance between levels was even greater than Lotton had expected.
Rinloran was certain that death would be inevitable if Ayrin remained in his dazed state and just fell without using any arcane skills.
"Puff!"
Rinloran had only just started yelling at Ayrin when something flew up from below them and collided with the two of them.
Upon realizing what it was, Ayrin and Rinloran were speechless.
It was Stingham.
The chaotically blowing winds around them must have contained many dandelion seeds as at this moment, Stingham was currently covered with massive, wildly sprouting dandelions. As a result, Stingham's body had begun floating through the wind instead of falling.
"He's truly become a walking forest," Ayrin thought to himself. Currently, he couldn't even see Stingham's face. He only recognized that it was Stingham because of the screams coming out from within.
"If we float down like this, we will definitely survive," Rinloran thought as he observed the vegetation growing around Stingham become even more prolific. Furthermore, of the massive dandelions and other plants, many had already grown to a size far beyond their normal size. As a result, they didn't plummet, even with their added weights, and instead slowed down.
Puff! Puff!
Two more objects collided into the cotton fluff ball moving forest which Stingham had practically become. They were none other than Lotton and the Dark Queen Mermaid, who had utilized the forces released by their arcane skills to glide over.
Boom!
After a while, their moving forest crashed into the ground alongside numerous boulders.
The battlefield, which had seemed extremely chaotic to begin with, became even more chaotic.
The originally open plain was now covered with countless rock fragments.
"Indeed useful. We are fortunate Stingham swallowed the entire remaining Lunar Spring Essence and fully awakened his bloodline. Otherwise, we would definitely have all turned into meat patties," Ayrin said as he clawed his way out from under the mass of weeds and dandelions. As he patted around him, he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so soft."
"Ayrin, you bastard, that is my belly!" Stingham's annoyed voice rang out from below Ayrin.
"To think that we would fall into the midst of a battlefield, and that it would be the main one of the war."
As Rinloran stood up from the mess of weeds and vegetation, he immediately felt the countless terrifying arcane energy fluctuations rippling all around him.
"Is there no way for me to prevent these plants from going nuts?! If it remains like this, then how will anyone be able to see my handsome self ever again?!" Stingham screamed as tears fell from his eyes.
"This reaction is caused by your arcane energy fluctuations. It should stop as long as you compose yourself and control your arcane particles," Lotton replied.
"Really?" Stingham immediately controlled the arcane particles in his body. Indeed, the moment he regained control, the plants around him immediately stopped growing.
Zap!
At this same moment, a loud crack sounded as an arcane master tore through the sky above them.
