Verdant vines intertwined, layer upon layer, forming a thick wall.
This vine wall circled the edge of the island, completely encircling it.
It firmly protected the island.
From the top of the wall, countless figures could be seen. They frantically rained down spears made of various woods on the wall.
These spears looked simple, but each one, when hurled, was like a sharp sword.
They pierced and impaled the monsters below who attempted to attack the city.
Some monsters that had managed to survive were unable to move, and instead, they blocked the advance of those behind them and trampled them to death.
Atop the wall, several gigantic tentacles formed from vines, each reaching over ten meters in length, swept fiercely from the wall towards the base.
With its enormous size and immense power, each sweep could mow down a vast swath of enemies.
"Summon the fireworks!"
An elderly woman in an emerald green embroidered robe raised a flower staff woven from plant matter and shouted.
Following her command,
A fragrant scent wafted from every corner of the city wall, the diffused pollen visible to the naked eye, and a pale green glow.
Giant flowers sprouted one after another from the vine-wrapped city wall, their petals forming a core large enough to swallow a person whole.
These flowers curved, their stamens facing the wall below.
Aside from their more beautiful appearance, they looked no different from the fireworks Alka and the others had seen at the border of life and death.
Only, they seemed even more disgusting and sinister.
One could sense the magical energy in the air gathering within the stamens, swaying with the blossoms.
Energy bomb after energy bomb, a barrage of various attacks, flew down.
A barrage of energy bombs cleared the area below.
The explosions from these energy bombs seemed to activate the plant layer of these undead monsters.
They caused strange flowers and plants to grow from their outer skins. Some even advanced inwards, impeding their movement and pinning them to their spot.
But this cleansing was short-lived.
Countless humanoid undead soldiers quickly filled the gaps and attacked the city walls.
The undead army, composed of dark green, gray-green, and various shades of dull green, resembling decaying plants, advanced from the swamp toward the island ahead.
The island walls were composed of vibrant, emerald vines, bathing the entire area in a vibrant, vibrant green.
The collision of these two distinct greens produced a fierce battle.
The two sides engaged in a brutal fight, centered around the battle for the city wall.
But it was clear that the undead monsters from the borderland of life and death far outnumbered this side.
Furthermore, even if these monsters weren't killed instantly, their wounds would slowly heal over time thanks to the plant vines adorning their bodies.
They would soon regain their fighting capacity.
Under these circumstances, defending the city wall became increasingly difficult.
Some sections of the wall looked on the verge of collapse.
"Fortunately, none of these undead monsters from the borderland of life and death resemble the monsters we encountered before. Otherwise, this wall would be..."
Before Jason could finish, Pororo's hand, larger than his own, completely covered his face, stopping him from saying anything more.
"At a time like this, I suggest you really seal your mouth," Alka said helplessly, observing Jason's expression.
Jason slapped Pororo's hand hard, signaling him to let go.
After being released, he rubbed his face, too lazy to argue.
He simply muttered, "I only stated the most likely possibility. It's just a reasonable speculation, which only proves my hypothesis is reasonable."
But no one paid attention to his quibbles, and no one wanted to hear them.
He had no choice but to keep silent.
Alka looked at the crowd and asked, "What do we do now? Should we go up and help?"
"They should have dealt with this situation ten times before. Why do they look like they're about to fall?" Sofia asked, gazing at the situation in the distance.
At this moment, they and the team transporting supplies were hiding on the far side of the battlefield, relying on the invisibility brought on by Alka's dream.
Through various means, they observed the situation on the battlefield.
The situation on the battlefield was grim. It seemed the island was on the verge of losing its walls.
Already outnumbered, if their walls were breached, winning the battle would be difficult.
This question prompted Alka to turn and look at Madru and the others who had been hiding with them.
"Is this a common occurrence?"
Madru shook his head gravely. "Except for the initial attack, we suffered heavy losses due to the enemy's sudden attack.
Later, after we were prepared, there were fewer large-scale casualties... However, with every enemy attack, there are always some areas in danger due to the enemy's focused attention.
There will be many casualties, but support should have arrived. They just need to hold on a little longer."
Madru spoke, looking at the crowd. After all, his age had allowed him to fully experience the period of life-or-death struggles and the onset of external attacks.
He still had a say.
He then took a deep breath, stood up, and looked at his companions behind him.
He spoke with a serious expression.
"We must go over and provide support. Thank you all for your help."
With that, he led the militiamen behind him, as well as the teams responsible for transporting supplies, and sprinted towards the island.
He paid no mind to the dire situation on the island.
They seemed to have a special location that allowed them to enter the island directly.
As he watched them leave, Alka stood there, thinking.
The others also looked at Alka, awaiting his decision.
In the current situation, helping or not helping was perfectly acceptable.
It simply depended on whether the cost of helping was worth the reward.
If Alka was not mistaken, the old woman in the green embroidered robe on the city wall might be at the peak of the fourth stage, or even the fifth.
But aside from casting spells and issuing commands from atop her, she didn't seem to be carrying out any large-scale attacks.
She stared intently at a monster in the enemy ranks.
Clearly, the enemy camp contained monsters capable of matching her strength, which meant that the stronger forces on both sides would be wary of making any rash moves.
They could only compete on their overall strength.
Alka observed from a distance for a long moment.
His decision was finalized.
"Let's go help. Remember, we must ensure our own safety first."
Watching Alka make her decision, everyone nodded.
They immediately headed for the island.
The moment they made their decision, Alka donned the deer-head mask.
Everyone hid their forms and swiftly charged towards the enemy.
Their first task was to scale the city wall.
Under Alka's cover, they easily leaped over the vine-covered wall.
"Who are you!?"
Seeing them emerge, the nearby soldiers reacted with astonishment, their weapons about to swing.
Pororo immediately blocked their attack.
Alka said, "Don't attack recklessly. We're here to help you."
The soldier observed Alka and the others; at least they didn't look as bizarre as the undead.
In this situation, being a normal person was enough to earn some trust.
Observing the battle unfolding around them,
Julia extended her right thumb and flicked it, sending the coin flying into the air.
The red reverse and the green obverse spun endlessly.
Then, pausing in mid-air, it shifted to the green girl's side.
Julia instantly emanated a powerful vitality.
She sang softly. Unlike before, her voice seemed to lack a certain ethereal quality.
But her singing was still beautiful, though it lacked the soul-stirring power it once possessed.
Julia was hiding, and it was clear that this soul-stirring power might be related to her race.
And the people in this area had already shown clear hostility towards mermaids.
As this ethereal singing continued, the obverse of the green coin began to emanate magical energy, blending with the sound.
All the soldiers currently fighting immediately felt their minor wounds healing, their strength returning, and their power increasing.
Even the vine-wrapped walls seemed to grow more resilient, and the various plants used for attack seemed to grow stronger.
As Julia's voice rang out, the soldiers on the surrounding walls seemed to be energized.
They quickly recovered from their slightly disadvantaged position and pushed the enemy back out of the walls, greatly boosting their morale.
Seeing this, everyone immediately dispersed.
A buzzing sound erupted from the hiding place of the Flying Swallow.
A sudden flash of light emanated from the ship's cargo hold as a series of metal patrol planes, forming a formation, flew over.
Under Simon's control, they formed a formation, frantically strafing the undead monsters below the city wall.
The sky suddenly darkened.
It seemed as if dark clouds had drifted over them, obscuring some of the sunlight.
In such a situation, anyone looking up would have discovered that nothing of the sort was happening.
The sky's light was extinguished, strands of it transforming into beams of light, converging towards Sofia's hand.
The arm guard on Sofia's other hand was channeling a milky white light into the palm of her left hand.
Clearly, she was planning something big.
This arm guard stored a sufficient amount of holy light, which was also a form of light.
However, compared to a natural beam of light, Sofia could only barely control it, relying on her connection with the Holy Mother Church.
But this barely-there control was sufficient.
When the ball of light gathered in Sofia's right hand grew large enough, she immediately brought her hands together.
The milky-white light, only the size of her palm, merged into the brilliant ball of light in her right hand, instantly tinting it milky white.
The light couldn't help but spread out.
Sofia leaped into the air.
She pressed her hands together, compressing the ball of light in her hands, then thrust it out violently.
The ball of light in her hand trailed a brilliant trail, drawing nearly all attention on the battlefield.
As the ball of light descended upon the enemy's center,
The dazzling light, mixed with holy light, began to spread outward, nearly enveloping the entire battlefield.
These life-rich undead creatures at the junction of life and death erupted in smoke under the holy light. They screamed and roared as they collapsed to the ground.
Especially the skeletons, who were the most numerous, were generally only at the second stage. Many were even at the first stage.
It was precisely because of their sheer numbers that they could cause so much trouble.
This large-scale attack wiped out nearly half of the skeletons.
At this moment, among the undead, a seemingly ordinary undead attacked.
Gray-black smoke, mingled with dark green vines, swept forward, as if poised to shatter the source of the light ball.
But the moment he struck,
The old woman, who had been waiting on the city wall for a long time, immediately aimed her flower scepter at him.
Countless petals suddenly converged, spiraling towards the enemy.
They severed the attacking gray-black vines in half and then began to attack him.
The enemy was forced to halt their attacks and deal with this sudden onslaught.
Meanwhile, Alka and his companions were not idle.
They frantically used their own methods to clear out the undead below, especially Alka. The red smoke he emitted stunned almost all the undead.
They practically stood there to be harvested, even engaging in attacks on each other.
Observing their actions, the soldiers on the wall also reacted.
Following them, they launched a frantic attack.
In just a brief moment, the disadvantage was reversed.
The battle formation of the puppet girls was remarkably clever.
They often hid behind the soldiers, attacking the enemy from all sorts of unexpected angles.
Already formidable, they frequently launched surprise attacks from all corners, practically unstoppable on the battlefield.
The team led by Yi and his men were particularly adept at this.
With Alka and his men joining them, the monsters were quickly eliminated, and morale on the city wall side soared.
As the city wall's attacks faltered, the monsters finally began to retreat, retreating towards the border area.
Watching the monsters depart, the soldiers on the city wall roared and vented their anger.
After the enemy retreated, Alka and his men quickly gathered.
Thankfully, they had consistently ensured their own safety. Although they offered assistance, they primarily focused on ranged attacks, with no intention of engaging in close combat.
This prevented them from suffering any harm.
Mathelisha controlled the floating needles to heal the severely wounded soldiers on the city wall.
Although Alka and his men were few in number, their strength and methods were among the best of their level.
On both sides of the battlefield, the undead had the advantage due to their vast numbers of lower-level undead.
The arrival of Alka and his men immediately shifted the balance, allowing them to quickly eliminate this vast number of lower-level undead.
Although they joined midway and were unknown, their actions, along with Matlisa's rescue efforts after the battle, earned them considerable respect.
An old woman, holding a scepter of flowers and vines, approached them.
She looked at Alka and Sofia.
She bent over in a strange prayer gesture.
"Thank you all for your help. You are now our benefactors. The people of Flowers will remember your kindness."
"As friends, helping you is what we should do. May the Virgin Mary bless you."
The old woman nodded at Alka's words.
"Come, let's talk somewhere else. This is clearly not the place for communication."
With that, the old woman led Alka and the others toward the flower-covered city wall.
When they reached the island, they realized its surroundings were...
The scenery was truly beautiful.
The ground was covered in greenery, interspersed with flowers.
A variety of exotic flowers dotted the island.
Even the dwellings of the island's inhabitants were interwoven with trees and vines.
It was clear that the houses were formed naturally from trees and vines, and the trees themselves were still alive.
It was obvious that they had been constructed through the use of some magical technique, but this harmonious blend with nature also filled everyone with curiosity and amazement.
They kept looking around, admiring every detail.
Julia, in particular, was incredibly pleased with the place.
She led Alka and the others to a massive house built from a giant tree.
Alka's men found nearby stools to sit on, and even these stools were made of living plants.
"Thank you again for your assistance. If you need any help exploring this island or the surrounding area, please let us know.
Of course, I have to make some arrangements with you beforehand. You must not cause serious damage to the environment.
You are not allowed to explore some hidden locations. Of course, if our friends from the Church of Our Lady wish to enter, they will need to consult with us, and we will personally lead them there."
Clearly, the old woman had mistaken Alka and his team's configuration for another expedition to Tuan Island.
In fact, there seemed to be nothing wrong with that.
Because they were indeed.
Before Alka and his team could respond, a young woman in leather armor walked in and whispered something in the old woman's ear.
The old woman stood up and looked at Alka and the others apologetically. "The recent battle has caused us great losses. Forgive me, I have so much to attend to.
I will arrange for someone to take good care of you. I hope you have a good experience here."
Alka nodded repeatedly. "You can do your work. We will abide by the rules here."
"That would be great."
With that, she left. A young woman, also wearing a green robe, approached and led them out of the building.