The ground beneath the monstrous trunk bulged, and the thousands of roots that had previously been hunting the succubi suddenly changed targets. Mina let out a throaty, wild cry, her eyes clouded with a bloody red.
"AAGGHHH! DEVOUR YOUR OWN HEART!" her scream echoed off the cavern vaults.
Under her command, the roots began to drive themselves deep into the parent tree, tearing its tissue from the inside and racing toward the hidden pulse of life. The Tree of Grudges, sensing a mortal threat, panicked. All the remaining fruits in the crown burst simultaneously, releasing hundreds of spirits that rushed straight at Mina like a black shroud.
"Pointless resistance!" Kala snarled, instantly appearing beside the small succubus.
"Cover her!" Lilith shouted, landing on the other side.
Both succubi spread their powerful, leathery wings, forming a tight cocoon around Mina. The spirits began hitting them one by one, exploding with a blinding black glare.
"Nngh!" Lilith groaned in pain as the shockwave buffeted her body.
The system relentlessly spat out notifications:
[-8 HP],
[-9 HP],
[-12 HP].
Kala endured it in silence, clenching her teeth so hard that blood seeped from her gums, but she did not move her wings a single millimeter. Mina, safe inside this dark shelter, felt their suffering. Her face hardened in hatred. She raised both hands and hurled them toward the ground with fury.
"DIE, YOU DAMNED ROTTEN WOOD!!!"
At that moment, all the faces on the tree trunk contorted in one gargantuan grimace of agony. The monster let out a deafening sonic roar that physically threw the succubi back. Lilith and Kala felt their bodies go numb and the world began to spin. Mina, whose body could not withstand such a massive expenditure of mana and mental shock, immediately lost consciousness.
Kala, despite the black spots before her eyes, instinctively caught Mina's limp body and wrapped her wings around her, protecting her during the fall. All three crashed to the ground, straight into the mass of roots that had ceased to move. The spirits in the air wailed one last time and began to explode aimlessly, creating a strange, macabre display of black fireworks above them.
Suddenly, the entire hundred-meter tree began to crack centimeter by centimeter. It exploded from the inside, disintegrating into billions of shimmering particles that vanished into the darkness.
Lilith lay among the dead coils of wood, feeling as though her body weighed a ton. A golden message flickered before her eyes:
[Mina has killed the Tree of Damned Grudges – Yggdrasil of Despair. Gold +4500!] [You have gained control of the territory: The Mines of Despair!] [You have obtained: Bronze Treasure Chest!]
Only after a minute did Lilith manage to regain control over her limbs. She pushed herself up heavily, panting.
"Dammit... that last scream... nearly erased us," she rasped.
She walked slowly over to Kala, who was still lying curled up. Lilith gently pulled back her wings and saw an unpleasantly pale Mina inside. Her heart stopped; she approached quickly to examine her, but after a moment, she let out a breath of relief.
"She's alright..." Kala rasped, moving her fingers stiffly. "She just... drained her mana reserve to zero. She fainted from exhaustion."
Lilith nodded, looking at the small sleeping figure. An authentic smile appeared on her lips.
"It's a good thing we have this little brat with us. Without her... we wouldn't have stood a chance of reaching that heart."
Kala looked at Mina with a mixture of pride and a concern unusual for her, and then began to slowly dig herself out of the remnants of the roots.
At that same moment, in the place where the tree trunk had previously stood, the air began to swirl. From the void, an elaborately crafted bronze chest, bound with dark metal, began to materialize. Lilith instinctively licked her lips. She approached it, ignoring the muscle pain. As soon as she touched the lid, the chest disintegrated into particles of light, and the system voice boomed in her head:
[You have opened the Bronze Treasure Chest!]
[You have obtained: "Low Necropolis Evolution Catalyst" x1]
[You have obtained: "Blueprint: Obelisk of Cursed Spirits" x1] [You have obtained: Gold +2000!]
Lilith stared at the new items with a glint in her eye. She immediately focused on the first item, and the system expanded the description.
[Low Necropolis Evolution Catalyst]
Description: Allows for the forced evolution of Level 1 and 2 undead-type building structures.
Activation Cost: 10 Undead Gems, 3000 Gold.
Lilith furrowed her brow, analyzing the text.
"So I can upgrade my Bone House with this scroll?" she murmured uncertainly. "The question is, what does it evolve into... some cursed residence?"
Her enthusiasm dampened slightly when she looked at the price.
"Where am I going to get that many Undead Gems?" she muttered under her breath. So far, she had barely obtained one, and the system requirements were merciless.
She quickly moved to the next scroll:
[Blueprint: Obelisk of Cursed Spirits]
Description: Allows for the construction of up to 4 units of Obelisks of Cursed Spirits on controlled territory.
Cost (per unit): 1 Undead Gem, 100 Stone, 600 Gold.
"Damn, so with blueprints I can build more than one building of the same type?" Lilith felt a sudden surge of excitement. The name of the building sounded intriguing. "Do they summon those cursed spirits we just fought? If so, my territorial defense will become impenetrable."
When she looked at the final reward - a pile of 2,000 gold coins - a predatory smile bloomed on her face. "Truly, the higher the difficulty, the greater the reward. Just like in games."
A quick mental calculation made her heart beat faster. After this one fight, her account had increased by 6,500 gold coins.
It was a fortune.
She felt such intense excitement that she mindlessly licked her lips, and her hand traveled dangerously high, nearly catching her naked breast in her demonic form. At the last moment, she came to her senses and shook her head violently, warding off those thoughts. Work, work... need to earn more, not get excited over such a small win, she scolded herself, though her cheeks still burned slightly.
Slightly embarrassed by her own reaction, she glanced at Kala and the still-unconscious Mina. "Rest for a moment," she said to Kala. "I'm going to get the skeletons."
Kala raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. "What do we need those bone-bags for now? The fight is over, the territory is ours."
Lilith didn't answer immediately; she only nodded and quickly walked away toward the tunnel they had come through. Her eyes shone with an unnatural light. Her Analysis skill, which she had promised to use more often, had just shown her something extraordinary in the spot where that damn tree had grown.
For the next forty minutes, the silence of the cave was interrupted only by the rhythmic thud of bony hands striking the hard earth. Fifty skeletons, like a ghostly construction crew, dug with relentless precision in the spot where the Grudge Tree had previously taken root. Lilith stood on the edge, observing the progress from above.
The pit grew deeper with each passing moment until it exceeded fifteen meters. Suddenly, one of the skeletons struck something that was neither stone nor bone. It made a dull, metallic sound. The mindless undead tried to dig further, but Lilith reacted immediately. Her eyes flared with unnatural brilliance.
"Stop! Everyone, move back!" she commanded, jumping down to the bottom of the excavation.
She approached the spot where a dark, pulsing object protruded from the earth. She reached out her hand and gently cleared it. It was an Undead Gem - black as night, emanating the cold energy of necromancy.
Lilith couldn't help herself. She burst into a mad, triumphant laugh that echoed through all the mine shafts.
"I love you, my Analysis!" she cried out, and then, ignoring her royal dignity, she threw herself into digging.
She began to scratch the earth away with her own claws, working frantically like a dog that had caught the scent of a buried bone. Every few moments, another gem popped out of the ground, and Lilith fell into an ever-greater euphoria.
Kala watched the scene from above with clear confusion and a hint of unease. She looked at her own wings - the skin was wounded, covered in burns from the spirit explosions. Every movement would be painful for a normal person. Then she shifted her gaze to Lilith's wings, which looked significantly worse, and yet the Monarch seemed completely oblivious to it, absorbed in her work.
She's become much more resistant to pain, Kala thought with a smile.
She turned toward the still-unconscious Mina. The little succubus looked so vulnerable and innocent now that Kala couldn't resist. She smiled gently and delicately poked her soft cheek with a finger. "Sleep, little one... you earned it," she murmured under her breath.
After digging up the fifteenth gem, Lilith dug for a few more minutes, but the earth stopped yielding treasures. She stood up, wiping her forehead with a dirty hand, and exhaled with deep satisfaction. That tree was a true gift, she thought. For years it absorbed necromantic energy from the entire mine and condensed it into these stones. Thanks to this, I now have the funds for buildings I could only dream of before.
Imagination supplied images of powerful obelisks and upgraded buildings that cost her not a single coin for raw materials. She laughed shortly again and soared into the air, landing beside her companions.
"You two can go back to the castle now," she said, looking at Kala.
Kala furrowed her brow, wanting to protest upon seeing Lilith's condition, but the Monarch silenced her with a wave of her hand. "I'm staying here with the skeletons. I need to clear the remaining tunnels and assess how much they need to be repaired so the mine can start running again. This territory needs to start paying for itself."
Kala sighed, adjusting Mina in her arms. She held her carefully, like a porcelain princess. "Take care of yourself, Lilith."
"Who do you think I am?" Lilith replied with a proud smile.
She barked a short command to the skeletons to form a column and follow her into the depths of the dark corridors. Kala, casting one last, concerned look over her shoulder, headed through the tunnel toward the exit, carrying the sleeping Mina back to the safe walls of their home.