Although War Treants were present here as well, the platforms the invaders had built created inconvenient obstructions that hindered the treants' attacks.
This provided the invaders with a relatively safe breakthrough point.
After eliminating the treants in the south, rather than just attacking the habitat, these people began felling branches.
They didn't use Harvesting; they simply used saws to cut down branches from over a dozen layers of the Perching Giant Tree, carrying them away whole.
The witches naturally saw this, but the Transmigrators' suicidal cover fire bought the woodcutters ample time.
To protect this operation, they even destroyed numerous magic circle patterns and filled in the trenches dug for the circles' creation.
This caused a corner of the magic barrier to collapse, allowing the invaders to storm the habitat.
Fortunately, the issue was discovered in time. Since members of the Witch Group were present in the habitat, they managed to perform immediate repairs, preventing the breach from widening.
Subsequently, both sides engaged in a see-saw struggle for control over the Perching Giant Tree.
This conflict persisted for eight months, only coming to an end when the Transmigrators finally retreated.
From another perspective, this served as a testament to the Witch race's strength.
“They’ve finally retreated.”
After seeing the Transmigrators vanish overnight, Diana—who hadn't had a single day of proper rest in over half a year—was initially suspicious. She sent scouts to investigate and only confirmed their departure after a thorough search.
With the enemy's retreat verified, Diana could finally breathe a tentative sigh of relief.
“What should we do about these corpses?”
Margaret, wearing a single-eyed patch, stood beside Diana and looked down at the now unrecognizable platforms in the South District.
Diana scanned the area before uttering two words.
“Burn them.”
A significant number of people had died during the past eight months of fighting, but since the invaders usually cleared their own dead, the witches hadn't needed to worry about disposal.
This time, however, the invaders had likely left so abruptly that they left the ground littered with corpses.
Despite the apparent reason, Diana, having dealt with these disgusting invaders for so long, did not feel at ease.
Incineration was the safest choice.
When it came to the word 'burn,' the first thing that came to mind was naturally Pandora’s Fire Elemental.
That creature had played a massive role in this war.
Quite a few people had perished beneath its flames.
Naturally, the task fell to her.
“These people were like madmen,” Margaret remarked, sitting on the blackened steps of the platform as she watched Pandora and the Fire Elemental work below.
Looking back on the recent battles, she felt that those people could no longer be considered human.
They were like beasts driven by desire, utterly unafraid of death.
“I once heard the Clan Leader mention that she encountered someone who could use contracts to enslave others. I wonder if it has anything to do with these people.”
Finally able to rest, Diana followed Margaret’s lead and sat on the steps.
She even stretched out her legs in a rare moment of relaxation.
Perhaps because of the respite, she recalled a specific 'protagonist' from one of the 'interesting stories' Lan Qingyou had shared in the past.
“A talent like that exists? If so, then I think there's definitely a connection,” Margaret said, showing a brief moment of surprise before regaining her composure.
After all, talents were incredibly diverse, and she had seen enough of the world by now to not be easily shaken.
Small waves like this could no longer stir her heart.
“So, what does the Governor appointed by the Clan Leader plan to do next?” Margaret asked.
“What else? Revenge, of course. I want the whole world to know that the Witch race is not to be trifled with.”
The old Diana would never have said such a thing.
But after over half a year of war, she had changed.
She was no longer as naive or as easy-going as before.
Occasionally, she would look back and re-evaluate her former self.
In her own eyes, her past self was a fool who loved the policy of appeasement.
A witch was a witch. Even with administrative power, she remained a witch.
She wouldn't become a politician or anything else.
Just a witch.
There was no need for her to act like the people in her family.
She only needed to follow a witch's instincts.
Furthermore, the actions of these invaders and the masterminds behind them had gone too far. As the Governor of the High Tower Clan, she had to show them the consequences.
Although the invaders seemed like a disorganized mob...
Diana was certain there was someone pulling the strings. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to draw so many people into an invasion.
Some on the world channel claimed it was the work of an organization called the Pure Original Sect.
But Diana didn't believe it.
It wasn't that she didn't believe the conclusion that 'the Pure Original Sect did this'; she simply didn't trust anything said on the world channel.
As for what was 'too far,' one had to mention Margaret’s lost eye.
It had happened during an aerial battle with the Winged People.
Margaret had been momentarily distracted and surrounded by two Winged People. While dealing with the one in front, she was ambushed from behind.
Not only was she stabbed twice, but one of her eyes had been gouged out.
Had reinforcements not arrived in time, she might have lost both.
As for why the enemy prioritized gouging eyes over collecting blood, that was another matter entirely.
Initially, the witches didn't know the reason behind the evolved beings' actions.
It wasn't until they captured a few prisoners that they learned the truth.
Magic Eyes.
They wanted Magic Eyes.
From the prisoners' testimony, Diana and the others learned that while a witch's Magic Eye could not be used by those who had already evolved into new races, Transmigrators who had not yet evolved could transplant them at will.
Consequently, the price of a single Magic Eye on the black market was now astronomically high.
Those Winged People had chosen to keep fighting for the sake of the Magic Eyes, unlike other races who left after causing chaos and taking the lion's share of the initial spoils.
It was a perfect illustration of the saying 'birds die for food.'
“Organize our forces and begin the sweep. Also, have the members of the Tourism Department outside collect information on everyone who set foot in the Abandoned Land, as well as the location of every lost Magic Eye.”
Diana slapped her knees and stood up, her decision made.
Although everyone was exhausted after months of combat...
Now was not the time for rest.
The enemy had just retreated, and their vigilance would be at its lowest.
Since she had already ordered photos to be taken of the vast majority of the invaders, she wasn't afraid of being unable to find them or misidentifying them.
The key was to make them pay the price.
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