Upon reaching the World Tree, the Harpy immediately launched her attack. A Wind Blade broke away from the ring of wind surrounding her body and shot straight toward the World Tree.
The instant the Wind Blade struck the trunk, a powerful wave of energy erupted. Five smaller Wind Blades then materialized and slammed into the trunk one after another, setting off a chain of resounding booms.
The series of energy explosions violently disturbed the surrounding air, creating a cloud of smoke at the point of impact.
When the smoke cleared, the trunk was revealed, completely unscathed. (As dictated by the 'no harm from smoke' rule.)
Hidden in the Lingxin Department, Lin Yu gave a relieved smile.
The Harpy's attack seemed powerful, but since a single hit didn't exceed 5,000 damage, the World Tree was completely unharmed thanks to its 'Spatial Protection' trait.
The Harpy, however, didn't see it that way. Seeing the massive tree simply endure her attack without any resistance, she joyfully looped through the air a few times.
'As for the tree looking completely unscathed?'
'No matter. I just have to hit it a few more times. It's only a Level 1 Territory Heart, after all. At worst, its defense is just a little high.'
And so, she began a relentless assault of Wind Blades. Her aim was excellent; every attack landed on the exact same spot. Amid an ever-growing cloud of smoke, the sound of explosions echoed far and wide.
-----------------
The light from the eastern Teleportation Array was the most dazzling and lasted the longest.
A minute or two after the heroes from the other Teleportation Arrays had appeared, a colossal Mammoth clad in Ice Armor finally emerged.
It was over fifty meters long and stood thirty-five meters tall, an awe-inspiring and terrifying ancient beast.
The surrounding beast packs, poised to attack, froze in place at the sight of the giant Mammoth. Less than ten seconds later, however, they snapped out of it and prepared to resume the assault according to Lin Yu's orders.
"BWOOOM—"
The colossal Mammoth let out a deafening roar, stomped its front leg violently on the ground, and unleashed a War Stomp.
Rings of ice spikes erupted from the ground, instantly turning the area into a frozen world.
"Sigh... Fall back!"
Seeing this, Lin Yu helplessly ordered his beast packs to withdraw.
'This hero-level Mammoth is just too savage. Clad in Ice Armor, its defense must be massively boosted. And look at that colossal frame—its already high health pool must be ten times more terrifying now.'
'And with its ice abilities, getting inside it is completely out of the question. I'd probably be frozen solid instantly even if I managed it.'
"All I can do is observe for now. If there's really no other way, I'll have to send in the sprites!"
Seeing the surrounding beast packs retreat, the colossal Mammoth turned, disappeared into the woods, and began to eat.
-----------------
After pulling back the beast packs from the east, Lin Yu redirected them all to the south. Since an unsolvable BOSS had appeared in the east, he had to eliminate the enemies in the other directions first before coming up with another plan.
Compared to the terrifying, colossal Mammoth in the east, the Beastmen who appeared in the south looked much easier to handle.
The hero-class Beastman was an elderly Beastman High Priest with a white beard, carrying a Magic Staff.
The moment he appeared, he waved his Magic Staff, casting another shield on all the Beastmen present and greatly boosting their Defense Power.
Then, his attention fell upon the relentlessly firing Pea Shooters.
Without a moment's hesitation, he raised his Magic Staff and began to chant. The hand holding the staff moved unceasingly, tracing a series of mysterious patterns in the air.
Under his direction, the surrounding earth began to tremble as he conjured an earthquake.
The surrounding Beastmen, seemingly accustomed to this, simply hopped about on the bucking ground. Lin Yu's beast packs, on the other hand, were paralyzed by the earthquake, sprawling on the ground, too scared to move.
The ground where the Pea Shooters were planted fissured and cracked.
Ordinary defensive towers would have been completely destroyed by such an earthquake.
But the Pea Shooters were different. While classified as defensive structures, they were plants at their core. As long as they weren't unlucky enough to fall into a fissure, their roots held them fast to the soil, leaving them completely unharmed and able to continue firing.
However, with the buff from the Beastman High Priest's Magic, the Beastmen's Defense Power was on another level. The Pea Shooters, which had been somewhat effective before, now dealt negligible damage. Still, it was better than nothing.
Fortunately, the buff only enhanced their Defense Power. The Beastmen's attack power was as pitiful as ever, and they couldn't inflict much damage on Lin Yu's three durable beast packs: the boars, warthogs, and bulls.
Of course, Lin Yu's forces were equally unable to make a dent in the Beastmen.
The two sides traded blows, kicking up clouds of dust, but neither sustained any injuries.
Beside this farcical battlefield, Lin Yu's elite beast pack and his other assorted beasts finally arrived. They didn't immediately join the fray; instead, following Lin Yu's command, they hid in the nearby woods to rest.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu began laying a minefield along the Beastmen's path of advance. To avoid arousing suspicion, he dismantled only some of the Pea Shooters and all of the Timid Mushrooms in the area. He also scrapped some of his northern defenses to gather enough resources, then used everything to plant Potato Mines.
Ten minutes later, the Potato Mines were fully grown. They burrowed underground, entering their armed state.
After moving his elite beast pack into an ambush position nearby, Lin Yu ordered the boars, warthogs, and bulls to begin retreating toward the minefield.
Though the boars, warthogs, and bulls looked impressive as they rampaged across the battlefield, their stamina was actually nearing its limit. A few warthogs had already collapsed from exhaustion, falling behind the charging herd only to be surrounded and beaten to death by the Beastmen.
The Beastman High Priest keenly sensed this change and joyfully began to shout, "Ulu-wala~ Ugu-lululu..." (Their stamina is failing! Push harder, my boys!)
Hearing this, the Beastmen's morale soared, and they launched an all-out assault on the beast packs.
Under the Beastmen's ferocious assault, the beast packs began to fall back, retreating toward the center of the territory.
The Beastmen cheered, hot on the heels of the retreating beasts in a relentless pursuit.
The Beastmen pursued the packs into a clearing. Compared to the rest of the forest, there were very few Pea Shooters here.
The moment they saw the Beastmen, they began firing a constant stream of Pea Bullets. To the main Beastman force, these attacks were like a light drizzle; the Beastmen who were hit didn't even bother to acknowledge them.
The Beastman High Priest arrived with the main force. Seeing the beast packs thunderously stampede across the clearing, he beamed and shouted once more, "Giri-gwala, wala-wala..." (Those annoying plants are gone! Victory lies ahead!)
"HOO~ HAH~~"
The Beastmen let out excited war cries.
Then, under the High Priest's command, the Beastmen formed neat ranks. They marched forward imposingly, preparing to cross the clearing, destroy the newcomer's Territory Core in one fell swoop, and fulfill their mission.