Chapter 189 – Enchantments

With a rare moment of excitement, Dream headed straight over to the elven Tree. He soon arrived, and when he did, he got an overview of the situation.

[It's mostly dug out, but it's still going to take quite a bit of force to pull it up. We've also already cut some of the roots down below, but that'll only do so much.]

"Right. It's a good thing I'm here then. Plus we got plenty of ships set aside for this. Are they ready?"

[Yes. We just need to wrap the anchors around the Tree.]

"I can take care of that. Just bring them over."

[Of course.]

With that, Dream saw a few thousand ships fly over. They all opened their hatches, and Dream's influence burst out the next moment. 

His influence spread out to encompass the Tree, all the soldiers, and everything else within a radius of over 5km. His mana also spread out, and once he received the data on what to do, Dream targeted the anchors within the ships and pulled them out.

Thousands of metal hooks and many kilometers worth of steel cable came out and moved toward the Tree. Under Dream's control, they wrapped around it and latched on in a very meticulous fashion. Soon, the Tree's trunk was entirely covered in enchanted wires, and not long after, all the ships that were waiting on standby moved over and latched onto those wires.

"Good. Now comes the hard part."

[The mana pathways within the Tree have been enchanted to cooperate with your mana. You'll be able to latch on magically.]

"Then let's do so. On your mark."

Saying that, Dream focused all his influence and mana on the Tree. When he did, he could detect the enchantment that resonated with him inside the Tree. He quickly and easily attached to it. This would be his handle by which he pulled up the Tree.

Seeing that, Sophia counted down.

[All bots ready. Pull in 5...4...3...2...1...]

"Heave!!!"

With a shout, Dream mustered all his power and exerted massive upward force on the entirety of the Tree. The few thousand ships also went full power, tugging on their wires like no tomorrow. 

Immediately, the Tree shook under all the force. Even the ground rumbled, and all the elves within the city around it looked up at the Tree. They obviously saw and knew what was going on.

"Home Tree!"

"It's rising..."

"No! The Tree is being destroyed!"

Many elves started panicking as the Tree actually started rising from the ground. The roots that had been swarmed by bots slipped through the ground like a knife through butter, offering very little resistance as per the enchantments that had been applied. 

With all the preparations and power behind the pull, the Tree was soon nearly 500 meters up in the sky. The ground stopped rumbling as the last of the massive roots slipped out of the ground. In fact, the ground within the vicinity of the Tree actually started caving in, creating a huge crater that was once its resting place. 

"My god..."

"Home Tree is ascending..."

"They've uprooted Home Tree..."

All the elves down below watched the unbelievable spectacle. Around 700 meters in the sky was the Tree that now rested on its side horizontally. The few thousand ships carried it with their wires in an organized formation like it was cargo, and they were turning towards a specific direction. 

"Haha! Yes! Mission complete. That was easier than I thought."

Dream smiled brightly as he watched the Tree hover in the sky. After pulling it up himself, he found that it was surprisingly light. If he really wanted to, he probably could've pulled it up himself. The ships also could've pulled it up themselves. Both of them together really were overkill. 

[Ship it off?]

"Yes. Now we need to get it integrated with the Haven. Let's go."

Remembering that time was of the essence, Dream quickly had the ships send off the Tree. Going full blast, all the ships sped off into the distance toward the Haven, the massive Tree in tow. 

Meanwhile, all the elves were in shock. Millions of them watched as the Tree, their spiritual icon, disappeared over the horizon. Even the Ljosfar, the elven leaders, felt conflicted at the sight as they hovered high in the sky. They had also seen everything. 

"...To think something like this was possible."

Vythica, one of the elven Ancients, spoke as sorrow filled her. But perhaps more than that, her awe toward the man named Dream increased. 

She knew the power it took to move the Tree like this. It wasn't just about moving a heavy object, but countering the enchantments that rooted it in place. As far as she knew, the Tree was more than just a plant. It was a spiritual being that was comprised of unbelievably complex mana pathways and enchantments. But Dream was able to not only counter the enchantments, but take control of them, making the entire Tree and its systems bow down to him. 

If it were before, she would've thought that was incomprehensible. Not even she could easily bond with the mana systems in the Tree. It took her years of resonance and deciphering to even connect with it. But then along came Dream, a man who could tap into its deepest systems and manipulate it to his will. And now, their Tree was going to be used as an ingredient in another enchantment of his. 

"At least the Tree will live on, in one form or another. It will be used to save the remnants of all the species of the world, ensuring life can go on. Unfortunately, us elves won't have a large place in the Haven. If only our peoples weren't so stubborn."

"...Ancient. What shall we do now?"

One of the other class 4's spoke up beside her. Many of their people were still down below, and the demons were only a few hours away.

"There's nothing we can do. Dream has transported a large portion of our population to the Haven. Our place is there."

"But the people! There are over 100 million of our own down there!"

"We have to leave them. There isn't enough time. At least... they won't be turned into demons."

"..."

The other elves went silent as they heard that. They knew what Dream would do when the demons seiged their Empire. It would end with the obliteration of the majority of their species, but they at least wouldn't be turned into demons that they would have to fight later. Plus, it would also kill off many demons as well. 

It was painful, but with the Haven, they could at least survive.

"Let's go. We must protect what we have left. Do not let their sacrifice go to waste."

With that, Vythica left first. The other leaders soon followed. And not long after they left, the demons advanced into the Empire, destruction following in their wake. 

...........

As the demons advanced onto the elven Empire, Dream was back at the Haven. In his vision was a live feed. It was of both the elven Empire as well as the United Empire.

[Demons have already totally swarmed the surroundings of the United Empire, but they're much more spread out and haven't made their move yet. Ships are still evacuating people. It's unknown how long it will be until the demons finally decide to invade.]

"...Just get as many out as possible as fast as possible. How may have we got out?"

[About 45 million animals are at the Haven.]

"...And the elves?"

[50 million. We somewhat prioritized them since they gave us the Tree, but the demons moved too fast to get any more than that out. As of now, the place is being swarmed. We'll need to scorch them soon.]

"Mm. Take care of it when necessary. Same with the United Empire. I'm leaving it to you."

[Of course. You just focus on the Tree.]

"Right."

Dream nodded with an uncomfortable feeling. He really didn't like killing innocents, even if it was to prevent them from turning into demons. By this point though, everything was riding on him, so he buckled down, did what was necessary, and focused on the work he needed to do. 

Right now, there was a massive hole being opened up in the ground. This hole went from the surface of the ground, into the dwarven city below it, and down the pathway to the Haven. 

Dream had a very odd but calculated plan for the Tree. He was indeed planning to use it as the foundation for his city wide enchantment, but it would be done in a specific way. 

The first thing he needed to do was actually cut the Tree. Dream wanted to plant the roots of the Tree in the bottom of the city and the branches of the Tree in the top of the city. After that, Dream would modify the growth mechanisms of the Tree to spread the roots and branches out across the bottom and top of the entire city. Effectively, it would result in a vault of intertwining branches that would encapsulate the whole city with the Tree at the center.

However, because the 3km Tree was too tall for the 800 meter tall city, he would just cut it down to size. But he wouldn't let the cut portion go to waste. He knew the entire Tree was filled with a solid mana structure and liquid mana veins. So he planned to supplement the power of the Tree with the cut portion, basically using it as fuel to power the growth.

And so, Dream got to work. After it was brought down into the Haven, he personally cut the Tree down to size. Then after modifying the metal of the roof and floor of the city where he would place it, he alongside several thousand other bots went to work on integrating its branches and roots into the dirt and stone.

The process took an entire day, but it was eventually finished. When it was, two tree segments were left hanging from the roof and rising from the floor. It looked odd, and that was still true even after Dream connected the two segments together. By the end, he was left with one disproportioned tree and one 2km long log. 

"Alright. Now we just need to mess with the enchantments. We should hurry too. Cutting the Tree didn't exactly leave it the healthiest. Don't want it to wither."

Saying that, Dream went over and tapped into the Tree's enchantments. The entire Tree had not only its natural mana systems, but also the cellular DNA. This meant Dream could modify it two different ways. He could modify the DNA to accommodate for the kind of growth he wanted, and then integrate that with the mana systems that would tie in with his city-wide enchantment. 

When it came to planning and scripting the enchantments, it was actually rather simple. However, the necessary power to drive the enchantments would be massive. After all, he wanted the Tree to not just grow, but remain just as incredibly strong as it was before. For this, lots of solid and liquid mana would need to be created. Luckily though, he at least had a very suitable source of liquid mana. Aegis.

But that would come after everything was set up. Until then, he just needed to set the foundation, of which was already mostly prepared. 

The enchantment that Dream was planning to create would encapsulate the entire city. Literally. As it was being constructed, all structures were enchanted including buildings, structural beams, facilities, and all the metal that covered the ceiling, walls, and ground. These enchantments would later all come together under one net that was the Haven enchantment.

Now, Dream had the Tree. The Tree was now going to be the central computer that Drove all the enchantments of the city. It was now the most powerful item Dream had, aside from the Aegis's heart, so it made the best power source and the best medium by which all enchantments would come together.

And so, Dream got to work. For three entire days, he focused on enchanting the Tree. He didn't even stop to watch as the United Empire was bombed to oblivion, though he did see the notifications.

After those three days, the enchantment was finally completed, though it came at a not so light price to Dream's soul. The sheer power he put out really strained him, but he didn't really mind as it would continue to help him heal. He didn't forget how he was still at A+ stats.

With that enchantment though, things would be much easier. In fact, when it was completed, the Tree immediately went to work and spread its branches and roots through the ground and ceiling, constantly expanding. This was only the beginning though, and the second thing Dream went to do was fuel the Tree with the power from its cut off body.

Dream picked up the entire 2km long log that was the body of the Tree by himself. After that, he brought it up to the Tree in the center of the Haven and proceeded to place the two together. When he did, both the log and the Tree started fusing together, a function he had enchanted for.

When they fused, the Tree immediately expanded in size. The growth rates of the roots and branches also increased greatly. The log constantly decreased in size as all its solid and liquid mana was sucked out and inserted into the main Tree, becoming whole again.

Soon, the log was totally fused, and the main Tree now looked like a proper Tree. It even glowed with a green, natural, and vitality filled aura. It contrasted greatly with the entirety of the Haven that was metal and lifeless, and because of that, everyone instantly loved the addition. This was especially true for the elves who thought they would never see the splendor of their Tree again. 

There was another consequence to the Tree strengthening so much too. All of its roots and branches glowed with a green light from the ground and sky, filling the portion of the city it was spread through with a gentle light. While Dream had inserted artificial lights everywhere, this light felt better to the people who were used to something more natural. 

However, with the appearance of this light, another reaction occurred. Everything within the city that was made of metal from the ground to the ceiling started glowing with intricate circuit-like lines. All the lines were bright blue, and they intertwined with the green light coming from the roots and branches. 

Everywhere the green light spread, the blue lights would also appear and merge with the green light until they both changed color to cyan. This was a result of the enchantments of the city merging with the enchantments of the Tree. The process occurred as the Tree spread so as to save time and hurry the process as much as possible. Plus, the enchantments all over the city could provide some power to the Tree, and vice versa. They worked together after all. 

Like this, the spread of the lights gradually expanded through the city. It wasn't fast, but wasn't slow either. However, after calculating the speed, Dream frowned.

"This won't be totally spread by the time the demons arrive."