Toby tilted his head, looking bewildered.
Angel didn’t explain, and said softly, "Let’s go, you’ll find out soon."
Toby had just eaten the magical food made by Greya, so he was still in a state of ignoring the pressure, and thus did not turn back into a seabird. Instead, he folded his wings and followed Angel on foot.
After walking for about a minute, Angel paused.
Looking down.
He saw a Blue Lantern Flower, glowing faintly, emerging from his shadow, swaying gently. At the same time, a transparent bubble drifted out of its stamen.
The bubble slowly ascended, finally stopping in front of Angel’s eyes. At this moment, a scene suddenly appeared on the moist membrane of the bubble.
—Beneath the dark ground, thick roots were slowly twisting, silently surging toward their location.
Toby also saw the scene on the bubble’s membrane. His eyes widened like saucers, looking at Angel one moment, then at the ground the next. It seemed he was attempting to verify something with Angel through his actions.
Angel didn’t speak but gave a slight nod.
Despite the surface appearing calm, a web of tree roots had already crept beneath them. Although the roots hadn’t attacked them, there was no doubt they were from the tree Toby had seen.
Thus, when Angel said earlier that the tree had noticed them, it wasn’t without reason.
Angel’s previous perception wasn’t so clear, only a vague sense of disturbances underground. The image from Earl Mi now clearly confirmed it.
After verifying this information, a spark of flame flickered across Toby’s sharp beak, his eyes narrowing as a dangerous aura seeped out. He lifted his head, looked at Angel, and stomped his hind claws heavily on the ground, producing a dull "buzz—" sound.
Even though Toby did not speak, Angel understood his actions.
He was signaling to Angel, asking if they should take action now.
Angel shook his head: "No rush, let’s go and see first."
From a rational perspective, they were the intruders. The tree, within its own territory, had the freedom to act as it wished. Moreover, it hadn’t shown any aggression.
Therefore, Angel let Toby hold off for now.
The bubble of the Blue Lantern Flower faded, and the flower itself receded back into the shadow, after which Angel and Toby continued onward.
Along the way, they encountered no attacks.
Angel and Toby smoothly reached a spot about fifty meters from the large tree. Here, they could see the vague silhouette of the solitary tree through the mist.
Having decided to meet the tree, Angel didn’t linger and continued moving forward.
However, just as he took a step, the flat ground suddenly began to swell, with thick brown tree roots rising from the earth.
Angel and Toby immediately retreated a few steps, preparing to defend themselves. Even Earl Mi revealed half of its body from the shadows, ready to reveal its shadowy tusks at any moment.
Yet to their surprise, these roots, though emerging from the ground, did not attack them. Instead, they intertwined in pairs, constructing an archway of roots.
More roots kept breaking through the soil, creating archways that extended all the way to the distant tree.
A pathway of archways? What does this mean?
While Angel pondered this, a mouth suddenly opened at the top of the foremost archway: "Welcome to Parry Mountains’ home, hmm, let me see, who might this be?"
A voice, slightly sharp and theatrical, reached their ears.
As the voice ceased, a crack in the archway widened, forming an eye-like shape, scrutinizing Angel and Toby.
"A human, and... ah!"
"Tooh~ rewrewrew!" The mouth suddenly opened wide, its green tongue vibrating like a spring, seemingly expressing some sort of excited emotion.
"This is, this is!" it continued to inhale sharply, its gaze fixed intently on Toby.
"It is, but isn’t quite it," it finally confirmed after a while.
After the being performed its solo act, Angel spoke up: "Are you referring to Kalomchis?"
"Of course, human." The tree replied airily to Angel, then continued staring at Toby: "Can you come a bit closer? I’d like to see you up close."
Toby glanced at Angel, seemingly seeking his opinion.
Angel nodded slightly, as this tree hadn’t shown hostility so far. Moreover, if it knew Kalomchis, based on their previous encounter in the Tidal World, it wouldn’t harm Toby.
Toby was better at sensing emotions than Angel; he could feel the tree’s friendliness towards him. So after some thought, Toby took a step forward.
"Not enough, come closer," it urged.
Toby continued forward.
"Closer still." Toby now stood under the archway, but the call for him to draw nearer persisted. Looking up, he realized that it wasn’t the first archway speaking now, but one further back.
As Toby hesitated about whether to continue forward, Angel walked up: "Let’s go in together. When it says to approach, it probably means to stand in front of its true form."
Toby nodded, and with Angel’s accompaniment, they proceeded forward together.
Every time they reached an archway, the mouths on it would call out: "A little closer, a little closer."
It wasn’t until they walked through the last archway and stood before that ancient tree that the repetitive voice finally ceased.
"It’s been so many years since the Guardian Ceremony, fortunately, I’m not rusty..."
Guardian Ceremony? Is it referring to the passage formed by those archways?
Angel looked up, intending to inquire, but before he could speak, he was captivated by the near view of the great tree.