Chương 41: Attack By Inflammatory Birds (Part 1)
"Lord Boss, what is our next goal? We've already subdued the Dragon God, won over the heart of the Explosive Witch and even gave a head pat to the Antillion King" Said the Lord of the Rods, the descendant of a King.
"I guess world domination is our only option. Sigh, it's the fate of the strong to rule in solitude" The Boss character sighed in melancholy.
"It has finally come to this, then I'll start the preparation for our conquest" The Lord of the Rods, the descendant of a King replied in jubilation.
Suddenly, from behind the head of the boss character, a 2-dimensional sun, just like the cartoon drawn by kindergarten children manifested into existence as it enveloped the two main characters who had the ability to decide the fate of the entire world with a primal aura of creation.
"Oops, the Monkey King just called. He wants his staff back" The Boss character suddenly notified the Lord of the Rods, the descendant of a King.
"Humph, this lord encourages neither cashback policies nor returning of damaged goods. Huehue" The Lord of the Rods, the descendant of a King sneered in disdain.
"T-that's way too boring, change the story. I want a better one with more action and plot. This feels more like a morning soap opera" Akiko suddenly broke the storyline.
"See, Aurella even slept from getting too bored due to your story," Said Akiko as she showcased the sleeping face of Aurella who seemed to be comfortably resting upon Akiko's lap.
"You lack aesthetic tastes in art, poetry, and literature. This story was a masterpiece that rekindled the dormant emotions and heartstrings of even the most cold-blooded generals from the Second World War" Said Li Qiu in defense of the story that he and Prakash had just concocted on the spot.
Currently, the quartet of Li Qiu, Prakash, Akiko, and Aurella were flying atop the 'Black Dragon' as they were seated comfortably upon the sofa.
A couple of hours ago, just when they were about to depart, Aurella suddenly ran towards the 'Black Dragon' and embraced Akiko as he adamantly refused to let go of her no matter how much Myra and the others tried to separate him from Akiko.
"I hate this" Enbi Arin stated with puffed cheeks, her jealousy hitting a new zenith.
"He seems to have gotten quite attached to Akiko," Myra said without much vigour in her voice, clearly feeling saddened by the fact that Aurella gave more priority to Akiko than her own brethren.
"Well, you guys would require a healer, after all, considering the difficulty of your mission. We'll make do with Hikari's healing abilities for the time being" Said Katsurou, clearly not having any intention to persuade Aurella to stay behind.
"That's it then I guess. Shall we depart?" Said Li Qiu as everyone bade their wishes and farewells.
"Please be safe" Enbi Arin said as she gazed at Li Qiu and Prakash with tears welling up in her eyes.
Prakash walked towards Enbi Arin, "We will. Don't worry about us too much." and hugged her as he said beside her ear in a slow but steady voice, "Become strong"
"Mm, I will" Replied Enbi Arin as she started to cry within Prakash's embrace.
Li Qiu gave a head pat to Enbi Arin as he consoled her with some encouragement. After that, Li Qiu gazed at Myra who happened to stand just a couple feet behind Enbi Arin, "Take care"
Myra nodded her head in response as she clutched the bracelet on her left hand. She had silently sipped one over both the hands of Enbi Arin and Aurella when no one was paying any attention to them.
Finally, the quartet climbed atop the 'Black Dragon' as it slowly took off into the skies.
Li Qiu watched on as the tearful faces of both Enbi Arin and Myra became smaller and smaller as their altitude increased at a considerable rate.
As he saw the departing quartet, Katsurou thought to himself, "Our future plans and establishment all hinge on this operation. I hope that no unexpected situation crops up before this task is taken care of"
"Enbi Arin, Myra, we have work to do"
Enbi Arin and Myra, who were still feeling a bit sad with tears in their eyes flinched in response when they suddenly heard Katsurou's voice.
"Work?" Enbi Arin felt confused.
"Our first priority is to have the two of you and Hikari breakthrough Into the Adept Stage. Then, we'll nurture those three with talents. I remember their names being Bella, Stella, and Gabriella right?" Said Katsurou as he suddenly seemed to be in a hurry to increase their overall power after sending the now shrunk Abyss Turtle back through the silver coloured gate, as if he felt some kind of pressure upon him.
"You seem to suddenly be in a rush, can you tell me why?" Inquired Enbi Arin as she felt that Katsurou acted mysterious at times but also seemed to be preoccupied with some task in his head at most of the times.
"I had just finished compiling all the pieces of data that my cuties have sent to me. We only have one week before it happens" Said Katsurou as blobs of sweat started to form above his forehead due to the increasing levels of stress and anxiety that he was currently experiencing.
"What phenomenon is about to occur within a week that is making the ever boastful and confident Katsurou put on such a flustered face," Thought Myra as she silently awaited for Katsurou to continue.
"If I have to coin a term for it, then I would call it as…"
"The GREAT MIGRATION"
"Just the name alone radiates with a bad vibe" Said Enbi Arin.
"Yeah, it's ten times more horrible than what had occurred on November 11" Said Katsurou which felt as if a huge hammer immediately slammed upon their minds and alerted all the senses of both Enbi Arin and Myra.
"I could predict the Great Migration to occur from between Day 16 and 17 of the Aria calendar. Basically, during this time period, all the different species will relocate to different areas and thereby subsequently establish their own territories" Explained Katsurou.
"Wait a second there, how would they even achieve that? It's not like they could communicate with others of their own races that have been scattered all over the globe. And, even if one or two species may have an innate ability that is capable of such wide ranged communication, but all of them? I can't seem to comprehend how that is even possible" Said Enbi Arin, clearly confused as to how such a coordinated migration could simultaneously take place over their vast continent between the various races under such chaotic times.
"Yeah, I myself haven't received either any signals or anything that's remotely similar to that from other ants that may live in the different areas around us. Then, how is this Great Migration that you talk about will even occur?" Questioned Myra, since even her monster senses couldn't pick up anything strange or even remotely similar to an instinct on to either group up at some place or establish a territory. Heck, she didn't even know if there were any other ants living around her other than the ones from her nest.
"It seems that you have conveniently ignored a certain specific life form just like everyone else. Since even electronic chips could gain sentience and grow to be so powerful, you should have been wary against this lifeform from the start" Said Katsurou with a shake of his head.
He clearly wondered how these people could even survive till now being as ignorant as they were.
"Just say it, damnit" Enbi Arin finally lost her cool since, even though a little bit of experimentation and analysis was her forte, such complicated stuff like the ones carried out by detectives were beyond her capabilities.
"What are they?" Questioned Myra.
"Trees" Replied Katsurou in a solemn tone.
"Huh?" Enbi Arin shouted back in shock.
"Aren't trees rooted to one spot? I can't understand why you're wary against them. Even if they could gain some powerful innate abilities, if we don't approach them, then they wouldn't be able to pose any threat." Enbi Arin voiced out her views.
Katsurou gave a head pat to Enbi Arin which momentarily shocked her.
"My naïve little daughter, you're as pure and stupid as they come. Let your father enlighten you about the process known as photosynthesis."
"Hehe" Enbi Arin slapped away Katsurou's hand from atop her head as she began to radiate with killing intent.
"Eh….." Katsurou suddenly stopped his act as his face became solemn once again.
"They are moving faster than I initially predicted…Those damn bastards of the 'Machina' race"
"What happened" Hikari inquired as she saw that Katsurou suddenly became battle ready.
"David along with the rest of his 'Crystal Machina' experts are already moving towards the west while I have discovered movements of the 'Thunder Machina' to the north and the 'Titan Machina' towards the southwest. They have already begun to amass their strength for the upcoming disaster. It seems their information network is quite capable" Said Katsurou as he created multiple insects made of blood that ranged from mosquitoes to earthworms and their sizes were the same as how they were during the peaceful era.
"Still, this Great Migration, whats the cause for it?" Myra questioned again when she saw Katsurou getting distracted as he kept creating insects made of blood to act as scouts in the areas beyond his current reach.
"Ugh…. I'll explain it to you in order" Said Katsurou as he rubbed his fingers over his forehead, trying to alleviate his stress a little.
"The cause of this Great Migration is entirely due to those trees. The rest is just a domino effect resulting from their actions. A tree can mentally communicate with their nearest tree, and it can further communicate with the next, so on and so forth. All the trees, shrubs and even weeds can communicate with one other irrespective of their species since they all come under the race called 'Plantia'. They just haven't acted till now within the cities cause their numbers are too few and scattered in here, but, out in the wilderness, they are currently under a rampage against the other races. And moreover, they are capable of movement" Said Katsurou as he gazed at Enbi Arin.
"B-but how? Their body structures aren't created for movement" Said Enbi Arin, still feeling confused as to how they could achieve this feat.
"That's because of their secondary innate ability" Replied Katsurou.
"What's that?" Myra asked in astonishment.
"Hmm….they, the 'Plantia' race generally have two innate abilities: A primary innate ability and a secondary innate ability. Their primary innate ability is just like the other races, it can be anything and their commonly manifested innate ability is called as 'Absorption'." Said Katsurou.
"Do you mean like if they come in contact with any substance, they would be capable of absorbing it in its entirety?" Asked Myra.
"That's exactly right, but their limit lies in how much their own bodies could accommodate the absorbed stuff. I've seen multiple trees burst into bits and pieces after they absorbed too much in a short span of time. They can generally absorb minerals from the ground but, since these minerals are almost useless to them now, they generally absorb the blood, Aria, Aria cores and other cells rich in Aria from the creatures that they encounter" Said Katsurou as he praised Myra a little for guessing correctly.
"Then, about their secondary innate ability…" Enbi Arin was interrupted midway by Katsurou with a raise of his hands.
"Their secondary innate ability is known as 'Record Transformation'. Basically, a tree can transform into a specific form depending on which lifeform made the biggest impact on it during the course of its life. That means any tree that lived in the presence of humans could assume a humanoid form, those that lived with birds may assume a form similar to a bird, etc. But, it's not like their appearance becomes the exact replica of the imitated creature, for example, consider a tree assumed a humanoid form after me, its face and body structure will not look to be the same as me and it would look more like a wooden doll. Moreover, this secondary innate ability depends on their age. Depending on how long they have lived and how deep their impression of the other species is, their transformed forms may give them suitable perks" Said Katsurou.
But, before Enbi Arin could open her mouth to further clarify her doubts, Katsurou stopped her by saying, "That's all I know, for now, so, don't ask me anything else. Just know that the older that a tree has lived, the more dangerous it is"
Coming back to the present, as the four were still casually chatting as they flew atop the 'Black Dragon', the mini Katsurou who had happened to be seated upon the Black Dragon's head suddenly exclaimed in fear as he transmitted a message to Katsurou.
"Everyone, we are approaching the airspace of Taiwan, be prepared for battle"
"Who…." Prakash was just about to further inquire about their enemy when everyone heard the flapping sounds of feathered wings followed by strange quacking sounds.
"Whe-o" "Whe-o"
"Whe-o" "Whe-o"
"They were initially a species similar to ducks that were called as Eurasian Wigeon. They were not supposed to be in Taiwan at this time of the year" The mini Katsurou was initially shaking in its boots when suddenly its shaking stopped as its tone of voice became the same as Katsurou.
All the mini Katsurous generally had a basic amount of intelligence but in cases where it was necessary, Katsurou could assume temporary control and communicate through them.
"Li Qiu, I had encountered these troublesome birds a few days back when I flew over this area. Don't let them get near you. Their ability is somewhat similar to how my blood mist can explode the parts of the bodies of creatures when they come into contact. And, when these birds are killed, they explode and spray their blood in all directions. The range of explosion produced when their practitioner stage experts die is about 20 metres. I can't talk much through this toy, its energy reserves are too low for the entirety of our journey. Good luck against these 'Inflammatory Birds'."
Katsurou's voice immediately disappeared the moment he finished informing the quartet about these inflammatory birds.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Overlord_Venus
Overlord_Venus Chapter word count: 2439 words
I'm back from my little trip, enjoy your chappie.
I'm also rewriting volume 1 to remove some parts and make the story sound better.
Current rewrite progress: Till chapter 3 done