CHAPTER 95: CLASH

The tree went silent, as if it were busy with something.

Receiving no response, Harry rushed toward the side where the noise was rising.

Outside, just beyond the periphery of the tree, stood thousands of students.

"Is this the tree?" a girl with beautiful features and silver hair asked.

"Yes... it has the mental ability to control your thinking," Olivia replied.

Gracie, who had heard Olivia, looked toward the tree. She had traveled as fast as she could once the person who had informed them about the settlement woke up.

"There’s a settlement in the woods, but I felt something was off the moment I entered.

I possess a mental element myself, so I wasn’t influenced as quickly as the others by whatever was happening.

The moment I realized I was under attack by a mind hex, I ran. But along the way, I had to fight some humans who tried to kill me... and it cost me one of my limbs."

Gracie remembered the scene clearly when he explained things. Now, here she was—ready to help students that were constantly under the pressure of death in that desert settlement and to save those being killed by a mind hex user.

A bitter taste filled her mouth as she sighed.

’Have I fallen so low that I am not even true to myself?’ she sighed inwardly.

Gracie knew she may have cared a little about the students from her own settlement, but there had been no sympathy for the ones living in the jungle—at least not until she met some students who asked for help.

She met them on the way here and realized there was no difference between the students from her settlement and this one.

There was also a chance that some of her friends could be here. That perspective changed her thinking.

"Maybe I’m finally learning to do what I truly wanted," a smile bloomed on her face.

The people who had followed her until now weren’t loyal—they were just there because she served as a safety wall.

The students rushed toward the houses. There were no regulations, no tests, nothing. No walls to stop them.

They entered with a new vigor, ready to attack the tree and kill it.

This place was a new hope. Compared to the previous one, it had no beasts, no continuous battles against dune crawlers, and no fear of death from some random incident.

People who had either been on the verge of breaking down or were already broken had found new hope.

The harsh atmosphere and constant danger had made them forget they were undergoing a test from the academy. Now, it was all about survival. Few even cared about passing the test anymore.

And even those who did care didn’t know how to pass. Still, some clung to a faint hope—that the remaining ten thousand students would succeed. But for now, they were hiding, blending in with the rest.

It was a nightmare for any normal beast or cultivator, but as they entered the tree’s range, hundreds of students rushed out from inside and collided with the infiltrators.

This time, the tree wasn’t focused on pressuring someone like Harry, so it had more freedom to use its skills efficiently.

Previously, Harry had been the heavyweight the tree needed to restrain, but now that it had given up on him, it could use its full power for control.

Far in the distance, Harry stood watching the fight. He wasn’t sad or happy... he was simply enjoying the battle for now.

The students invaded, clashing against hundreds of lifeless humans.

Harry’s eyes found Gracie in the distance, still waiting outside the chaos. Then, his gaze fell on Tyler, who was hiding behind the crowd.

His lips curled upward into a smile, but he didn’t approach them.

At first, the invaders dominated the battle with sheer numbers, but as time passed, the tide turned in favor of the beast.

With every second, with every slash, their resolve weakened. The tree kept pressuring their minds, and eventually, the students began to give up—forgetting the reason they had come.

One after another, they turned on their own peers.

The number of invaders dwindled while the ranks of the lifeless, mind-controlled students swelled.

Their attacks were still messy, but against an ever-growing force, it didn’t matter.

Seeing the situation deteriorate, more students rushed in to help their friends, but things kept tilting in favor of the frenzied horde of the lifeless.

"Stop! You all can’t do anything! That beast will manipulate your psyche eventually if you keep going in like mindless sheep!" Olivia shouted at the top of her lungs.

Gracie didn’t react, but some of the students—those who had been blinded by the promise of peace and a life free from constant grief—rebelled.

"How many can it suppress? We’re in the thousands—we’ll eventually overwhelm them!" some crazed students roared and charged into the battle.

Gracie still didn’t react. She knew they wouldn’t listen now. She wasn’t in control—at least not yet. She was waiting for the moment when their excitement died down and reality hit them hard.

Not like she had any compulsion to save those who were willing to jump into a pit blindly.

But she had her own goals, and things would become difficult if the tree was a spiritual sage-level beast.

She knew she had a high level of mental resistance due to her soul cultivation. On top of that, her element was tied to emotion, which further enhanced her ability to distinguish lies from truth.

Finally, after over a thousand of their comrades had fallen to the lifeless students, some began to hesitate, no longer rushing forward blindly.

The number of students holding the line at the entrance exceeded two thousand now, increasing the difficulty of entry.

There was no clear solution. Some of their friends were now on the enemy’s side.

Seeing their excitement fade, Gracie finally spoke.

"How many of you have mental-related elements or are soul cultivators? Step forward."