Chapter 460 - Princess Thessalia's Plan
Great Forest Outskirts, frontline defense.
The billowing fires of the forest were ever raging, producing an endless mass of black fog that filled the skies in significant volumes.
Even so, the forest fire spread was slow, entirely under the elven warrior's control. By sending a steady stream of Wood Energy into the burning trees, they could preserve the trees' life while they continue to burn.
At this moment, Third Princess Thessalia arrived at the scene with her personal guards and frowned at the madness.
The trees burned brightly while hot embers scattered everywhere, causing the temperature of the surroundings to increase significantly.
"How cruel…" A female elven guard said, looking at the sight.
"They must be suffering great agony but have no way to express it." Another elven guard said, sympathizing with the burning trees.
Although none of them could hear it, they felt like the trees were crying in pain from being burned alive consistently.
After all, trees were also living things.
"Third Princess Thessalia!"
An elven warrior quickly noticed Thessalia Elafaran's arrival and came over to greet her promptly, drawing the attention of the other nearby elven warriors.
In a short moment, they followed suit and greeted, "Third Princess Thessalia!"
"At ease!" Princess Thessalia said.
Shortly after, she gazed ahead at the smoldering flames solemnly and said, "I have come to take command of this area. You will listen to my orders!"
"Yes, Third Princess Thessalia!"
The elven warriors saluted obediently with cupped fist gestures before a higher-level elven warrior stepped forward and respectfully asked, "What orders do you have for us, Third Princess Thessalia?"
"You will put out the fire immediately!" Thessalia Elafaran said firmly.
"Yes, Third Princess Thessalia!" The elven warriors nodded and said, "Right away—"
Suddenly, the elven warriors paused and widened their eyes with startled expressions as they registered the Third Princess's order.
"D-Did you say put out the fire, Third Princess Thessalia? It will be difficult to start another fire once we put it out!" An elven warrior repeated for confirmation.
Thessalia Elarafan's eyes shined with a fierce glint before she barked, "I will not repeat myself a third time! Put out the fire, and clear the way for me!"
"I will take a look at the plague that frightens you all so!" Thessalia Elafaran added resolutely.
"It's dangerous, princess! I don't think this is a good idea! This rat tide is nothing like we have ever seen before! There's just no end to them!" A male elven warrior warned.
Smack!
Thessalia Elafaran slapped the warrior across the cheeks, causing the male elven warrior to tumble to the ground and spit out some blood along with a few of his teeth.
Shortly after, she glared at the elven warrior on the ground and said coldly, "I do not need you to tell me what and what not to do!"
"Do you think burning the forest is the solution to the problem?! This is a passive stance! While we exhaust ourselves and harm the Great Forest, the rat tide takes no damage!"
Once the elven warriors are drained of their energy and the fire is extinguished, they would be too weak to even put up a fight against the rat tide!
"Open the path!" Thessalia Elafaran roared.
The elven warriors were immediately startled into action.
"Fetch the water!" A high-level elven warrior barked towards his subordinates.
The other elven warrior quickly went and fetched the buckets of water prepared to extinguish the fire.
A section of the burning trees was extinguished quickly, creating an empty gap in the ring of fire before the previously erected vine walls were revealed.
The elven warriors used their wood manipulation to take down the vine walls that wrapped between trees like a tight net shortly after.
Once the vine walls were removed, a mountain of scorched rat carcasses came rolling down in pieces.
Thessalia Elafaran had a grim look, feeling repugnant by the sight of the charred rats.
Nevertheless, she waved her hand for the personal guards to move the carcasses out of the way, clearing the path outside the Great Forest.
"You, come with me." Said Thessalia Elafaran, pointing her finger at a high-level elven warrior.
The person shortly answered, "Yes, Your Highness!"
"Where are the rats?" Thessalia Elafaran asked shortly after they exited the Great Forest.
The distant lands of green and grey felt empty with no beasts in sight—at least, that was what Thessalia thought.
The elven warrior shortly pointed into the distant grey field and said, "Those are the rats."
The grey plains in the distance could be moving at a visible rate, drawing closer to the point that Thessalia Elafaran could discern their true appearances.
The rat tide had initially left in search of other prey to devour. However, the rat tide immediately came rushing back when they picked up the scent of elves in the open field.
Thessalia Elafaran's pupils shrank with alarm.
"This is the rat tide? It's much bigger than I have imagined." She said seriously with a stern look.
The elven warrior gazed at the incoming rat tide nervously and asked with an urgent tone, "W-What are your orders, Third Princess Thessalia?"
"We retreat!"
Shortly after the group retreated back into the forest, Princess Thessalia barked, "Stop extinguishing the fire! Quickly erect the defenses! We will make our stand here!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
A new vine wall was quickly erected, closing off the cleared path in between the burning trees.
Within moments, the rat tide returned and slammed into the vine walls, snapping a few vines in the process.
However, the elven warriors poured Wood Energy into the vines and allowed the vine walls to quickly repair themselves.
At the same time, the numerous grey Wingrats quickly piled on top, crushing each other in the process while thousands more began lunging over the vine walls from the top of their brethren!
"Kill them!"
Princess Thessalia roared.
Numerous vine whips immediately lashed out at the Wingrats in the air, dicing them into pieces and scattering their flesh and blood.
"Do we have a battle plan, Your Highness?" Asked One of Princess Thessalia's close personal guard.
Princess Thessalia observed the surrounding before she said, "We will construct three adjacent vines walls; two long and one short, forming a rectangular box and funnel these rats in for the slaughtering!"
"Relay my orders at once!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Chapter 461 - The Tactic's Flaw
Sometime later, the three new vine walls were erected: two sidewalls and one back wall.
Simultaneously, a group of elven warriors remained behind the front vine wall, killing Wingrats ceaselessly.
A single long strip of vine could be seen wrapped around each other waist. The other end of the vines was held by another group of elven warriors, stationed on top of the vine walls.
Once the preparation was completed, Princess Thessalia ordered, "Pull them out now!"
The group of defending warriors was immediately dragged out by the vines yanking them.
Their body quickly flew outside the walled-off cage as Wingrats began pouring in after the front vine wall was dispelled.
Princess Thessalia stood atop the trees and solemnly gazed down at the Wingrats quickly poured into the walled-off cage for a moment before she barked, "Kill them all!"
The rows of elven warriors lined up atop the walls immediately manipulated their vines to lacerate everything with the walled-off cage.
Some distance away from the frontlines, Leon arrived with Aria, Princess Faelyn and witnessed the sight before them.
"Oh? This is a pretty interesting tactic." Leon shortly praised Princess Thessalia's strategy while they approached the area.
As they drew closer, Princess Faelyn shortly discovered the commander of the elven warriors and pleasantly exclaimed, "It's my third eldest sister!"
Although Leon's praise had been directed at Princess Thessalia, Princess Faelyn still felt pride welling up inside her.
She was proud of her sister.
At the same time, Aria quietly studied the battle formation.
"To funnel the Wingrats into an enclosed area and slaughter the rats from three different sides… This is a good strategy for killing the rats and reducing their numbers quickly. However, I don't think this is a good method…" Aria commented softly.
Leon nodded.
"There's a fatal flaw to this strategy." He said.
High up in the trees, a person overheard Leon's comment and immediately snorted. The person leaped down with a heavy thud before gazing into Leon's eyes sternly.
"And what kind of fatal flaw is that, human? Who are you to judge my tactics?" Princess Thessalia said, glaring at Leon.
"Third Eldest Sister."
Princess Faelyn greeted from the side, causing Princess Thessalia to turn over in surprise, temporarily ignoring Leon.
They quickly held hands before Princess Thessalia asked excitedly, "Baby sister! Why didn't you tell me when you got back?"
"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that? You're embarrassing me." Princess Faelyn complained softly with a pout while sneaking a peek at Leon's expression.
"I just returned to the tribe earlier. How could I have informed you?"
"Hahaha, I see, I see. Well, no matter what, you are still the baby girl in the family." Princess Thessalia chuckled lightly, noticing Faelyn's subtle eye movement.
She shortly returned her attention to Leon and Aria at his side before she asked, "And who are these two people?"
After Princess Faelyn did a short introduction of both sides, Princess Thessalia nodded at them in acknowledgment. Leon offered a handshake in greeting but was coldly rejected with a ridiculing look.
Leon retracted his hand awkwardly, starting to wonder if the entire elven royal family despised the idea of shaking his hand—the hand of a human.
However, Princess Faelyn quickly pulled him to the side apologetically.
"My third elder sister is not targeting you intentionally… she has a superiority complex and looks down on all men, and not just humans." She quietly whispered in Leon's ears.
Her gently cool breath caused his heart to itch.
Nevertheless, Leon quietly nodded, expressing his understanding. He did not take Princess Thessalia's rejection to heart.
Princess Thessalia frowned and pull Princess Faelyn away before glaring at Leon fiercely.
"You said my strategy is flawed. Explain." She demanded.
Even after learning Leon's identity as the crown prince of the Crawford Empire from her baby sister's introduction, Princess Thessalia's attitude did not change much.
"Take a look yourself. Can you not see the problem? It should be quite evident if you observe carefully." Leon urged Princess Thessalia to look.
After Princess Thessalia turned around, but her expression remained calm.
The space within the walled-off cage was quickly being filled up with mountains of rat carcasses that steadily rose and reduced the distance to the top of the surrounding vine walls.
"It's a good strategy for killing. However, killing is useless if you cannot wipe out the rat tide. Initially, there was one side to defend. Now, you have three sides to worry about." Leon said.
The walled-off cage did not even need to be fully filled up.
Once the mountain of rat carcasses reached a certain threshold, the Wingrats would be able to lunge over the walls and directly attack the elven warriors.
At that point, the pressure on the elven warriors will increase tremendously, with the risk of being overwhelmed and cause the defensive line to collapse.
Princess Thessalia had understood all this.
After a moment, she snorted, "I just need to have the elven warriors retreat after more cages are erected to contain these rats!"
"True. However, you will need to construct a more giant cage to contain all three sides. Once that is filled up, you would need to erect an even bigger cage to contain the previous cage's openings. You can continue to repeat this method, but do you have enough warriors to cover such a large area?"
As Leon asked this, he glanced at the few warriors in the area.
Elvengarde was a Mid-rank Tribe with a population of 500-thousand elves.
Even if half of this population were warriors, the numbers would have already been stretched thin to form the defensive line covering the entire Great Forest Outskirts.
"Of course, there is enough—" Princess Thessalia shortly paused after realizing the shortage of warriors in the area.
Unwilling to admit defeat, she snorted, "I just need to summon the warriors stationed in the other areas! With the ring of fire warding off the rats, they do not need to defend their locations."
Princess Faelyn felt awkward for her sister.
She initially thought her third elder sister's strategy was good and felt proud about it. But now, she felt slightly embarrassed after hearing her third elder sister's point.
Once the elven warriors guarding the other areas are moved away, the fire would quickly spread through the Great Forest without restraint.
"What do you think we should do, Leon?" Princess Faelyn asked, seeking his advice.
Leon pondered for a moment before he said, "I believe we should—"
He suddenly paused with a frown.
"Shhh."
Leon shortly shooshed with his index finger on his lips, demanding silence before spreading his divine sense to the limit of his range.
"Ha, and here I thought you would have a better strategy than mine, considering how much you criticized mine." Princess Thessalia immediately sneered after Leon went quiet.
Aria disliked Princess Thessalia's attitude and immediately said displeasedly, "Can you shut up?"
"What did you just say? You want to fight?!"
"Sister!"
Princess Thessalia was riled, but Princess Faelyn quickly cried with a begging expression. Seeing her baby sister like this, she could only soften her stance.
"Hmph!"
Nevertheless, Princess Thessalia still snorted to express her displeasure before becoming completely silent.
"What's the problem?" Aria softly asked.
Shortly after recalling his divine sense, Leon said, "There are large movements of rats passing through in the underground passageways beneath us."
Chapter 462 - Faelyn's Blush
"Hmph! You are just spouting nonsense to dodge the question. There's no way you can know something like that unless you have some divine clairvoyance skill." Princess Thessalia snorted.
"I do have something like that." Leon shrugged.
"Sister!"
Princess Faelyn begged her third eldest sister at the same time, causing Princess Thessalia to snort in silence.
Princess Thessalia could not understand why her baby sister would have such great trust in this human prince from the Human Domain.
'Don't tell me, my baby sister like this man? Impossible! That cannot happen. I will not allow a human to taint our royal elven blood!' Princess Thessalia mentally swore.
Unaware of her third eldest sister's thoughts, Princess Faelyn shortly turned to Leon and asked, "Can you tell how big the underground passageway is and where the rats are headed?"
"My detection range is still limited. I am unable to gauge how big the underground passageway is." Leon shook his head and said, "However, I do know where the rats are heading. The underground passageway is leading them towards the center of the forest."
"Towards the center of the forest?" Princess Faelyn mulled over his words with a wrinkled expression.
The center of the forest was where their Elven Tribe, Elvengarde, was located along with the Elder Tree. If the rats were heading towards there via the underground passageway, then…
"Does Elvengarde have any entrances connected to the subterranean world?" Leon asked Princess Faelyn with a wondering look.
If there was, it would only spell disaster for the elven tribe, especially if they cannot be warned in time.
Princess Faelyn shortly shook her head, "Not that I know of."
Plop!
A fresh piece of shredded rat flesh splattered on the ground not far from the group, causing them mild surprises.
It was not long before several more pieces of fresh rat chunks landed by their feet with soft thuds, followed by the rain of rat blood.
Aria conjured a barrier of ice-lightning to shield herself and Leon from the downpour, while Third Princess Thessalia covered Faelyn with a huge green banana leaf she had quickly summoned.
At the same time, an elven warrior's cry could be heard shouting over, "Your Highness, we won't be able to contain them within the cage for much longer! There are too many of them!"
"Commence the next step of the plan immediately! Team two will fall back and erect a bigger cage while team one will continue to hold on until team two completes the construction!" Princess Thessalia quickly hollered her commands with a solemn look.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Shortly after, Princess Thessalia gazed back at Leon and stated, "If Prince Leon and Miss Aria are not here to help, then please return to the tribe with my little sister at once. Do not get in my way. I do not have the time to entertain you all any longer!"
"Sister, I can help!" Princess Faelyn shouted as Princess Thessalia prepared to return to the top of the trees to assist the elven warriors in slaughtering the rats and ease their pressure.
Princess Thessalia shot a glance back and said, "It's too dangerous here! Go back to the tribe! You won't be able to help much with your current cultivation level!"
"But I am also a 9-Star Ranked Awakener like you now, sister!" Princess Faelyn argued.
"Oh?"
Princess Thessalia was forced to do a double glance and inspect her baby sister's cultivation. She was surprised that it was true.
However, she still shook her head and said, "A 9-Star Rank Awakener is still not enough! Even a Transcendent's strength might not be enough! The rat tide is too big, while an individual's strength is limit! My word is final. Go back now!"
Princess Thessalia did not spare another second and immediately shot to the top of the trees, leaving Princess Faelyn and the others behind.
Princess Faelyn shortly sighed.
"Your sister seems rather rude and blunt, but she does mean well for you. Seems like your sisterly relationship is quite strong." Leon patted Faelyn on the shoulder and consoled her.
Princess Faelyn nodded, "I know. I hope my sister had not offended you two. She can be quite crude and pedantic, but she is a good person at heart."
Faelyn's eyes flickered with resolve, undeterred by her sister's words as she had her own ideas on helping with the problem at hand.
Although her sister's word rang true about an individual's strength being limited in the current situation, it did not apply to everyone.
Her third eldest sister's mindset was too rigid to be persuaded with a few words.
Seeing the look in Princess Faelyn's eyes, Leon smiled wryly with a shake of his head, "It seems my words were unnecessary."
"I still have to thank you for your kind intentions." Princess Faelyn said with a smile.
Very shortly, her expression turned serious as she suddenly grabbed both of Leon's hands. She looked him in the eyes and pleaded, "Can you help us?"
She believed that Leon would be able to help her people. He had too many mysterious abilities—not to mention one of them being fire, which the rats were very afraid of.
Leon was surprised by Faelyn's boldness in holding his hands. However, he recovered quickly and gave his answer, "Of course!"
Even so, he did not release Faelyn's hands immediately.
Her hands gave him a soft and cooling sensation, making them feel very pleasant to the touch. He could not help but give them a few rubs with his thumbs.
"Thank you…"
Faelyn retracted her hands immediately, feeling embarrassed and shy at the same time. She averted eyes with a deep blush, unable to look at Leon directly.
"Hmm…"
Aria hummed at the side, giving Leon an inexplicable look. Her expression was indecipherable.
Leon was shortly startled, knowing whether Aria was jealous or mad by his interaction with Princess Faelyn just now.
"Ahem." Leon coughed, pretending not to notice before he said, "Well then, I'll go help now."
Shortly after, he flew up to the top of vine walls.
Chapter 463 - Stunning The Elves
After flying straight into the air above the vine walls, Leon gazed over the edge and saw the battle situation. It had reached a dangerous turning point where the rats could leap at the elven warriors any time.
At the same time, Princess Thessalia quickly noticed him and barked, "What are you still doing here?! Did I tell you to leave with my little sister and now get in my way if you are not going to help?!"
"Well, obviously, I am here to help now. Duh." Leon rolled his eyes.
Shortly after, he quickly flew straight into the cage amidst the clash between the numerous rats and the elven warriors' frenzy vine whips.
Princess Thessalia's eyes immediately bulged in shock.
This idiot was sending himself straight into the jaws of death! Even if the vine whips do not lacerate this person into pieces, the rats will surely devour him clean!
"Are you crazy?! She angrily roared before barking her orders, "Stop the attack immediately!"
In the instantaneous moment, Princess Thessalia had actually chosen to prioritized Leon's life over the lives of her own elven warriors!
Even so, the elven warriors could not react immediately as they doubted her decision.
Stopping the attack would undoubtedly cause them to be swarmed by the rats immediately if nothing unexpected happens!
"Did you say to stop the attack, Your Highness?" A high-level elven warrior asked for confirmation, but his eyes left the front not his attacks stopped.
Meanwhile, Aria and Princess Faelyn moved to a good vantage point up in the trees to overlook the situation from above.
When Princess Faelyn saw Leon diving into the cage of rats and numerous lashing vine whips recklessly, she cried despairingly, "Nooo!"
She immediately regrets her decision to ask for Leon's help. Although she knew Leon definitely had the ability to help, she did not expect him to act recklessly like this.
Princess Faelyn averted her eyes while Princess Thessalia closed her eyes. They were both unable to look.
'Sorry, baby sister. I have already tried. You cannot blame me for this.' Princess Thessalia mentally thought in that split instant.
Only Aria continued to watch without blinking, displaying her tantamount trust for Leon. Even so, her heart was not as calm as she looked on the surface.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, even she cannot help but feel concerned for Leon.
However, what was considered dangerous in everyone's eyes was of no danger to Leon at all!
At the same time, Leon's impression of Princess Thessalia increased slightly.
Shortly after, his body was lashed by numerous vine whips.
Most vine whips landed on his lion-headed cloak, while some landed on his leather armor and various other parts of his body.
But regardless of where they landed, it caused absolutely no damage to Leon's powerful equipment and fleshly defense.
Only the ordinary clothing worn underneath was torn apart.
Just as Leon was about to clash with the numerous Wingrats that made him their new target and lunged at him, a powerful wave of flames immediately burst out from his body!
The first wave of rats was immediately incinerated into black ashes and blown away by the flames' outburst!
At the same time, all consecutive waves of rats that lunged at him after that immediately twisted their upper bodies around while their limbs paddled against the air furiously in their best effort to get away from the scorching flames.
However, the strong initial momentum propelled them forward into flames, nonetheless! Their last-ditch effort to escape was futile!
Pish! Pish! Pish!
Like moths drawn to the flame, thousands of rats quickly vaporized in the blazing flames, transforming into scattering black ashes like the brethren that went ahead in the short instance before it!
Shortly after, the outburst of flames gathered towards a single point and formed a firewall in front of Leon.
He pushed the wall of flames forward, and the rats immediately retreated as quickly as they could, withdrawing from the area and exiting the Great Forest in a great hurry like they were being chased by the grim reaper from the gates of hell!
Squeak! Squeak!
The rats' numerous cries could be heard.
The mountain of rat carcasses was incinerated into black ashes all the same when it contacted the scorching flames.
Leon cleared out the trash and cleansed the area of the rat filth that littered the place.
Shortly after, Leon hollered at the dumfounded elves, "Hurry up and erect another wall to seal off this area from the outside!"
The elven warriors immediately snapped out of their stupor and quickly rushed forward to construct another vine wall as ordered by Leon.
Up in the trees, Princess Thessalia saw her warriors taking orders from a human, but she was too stunned to admonish them on this point.
Fire was undoubtedly the most effective method in dealing with the rats. Even so, Leon had resolved their immediate problem so effortlessly—or so she thought.
Leon's energy reserve was not limitless.
Incinerating so many rats did not drain much of his power. Even so, it was not like he could use it ceaselessly to wipe out the entire rat tide.
At most, he can be used to scare the rats away or control their movements.
"So, this is the power of a Fire-type Awakener? The flames of a Fire-type Awakener are so much more destructive than ordinary flames!" Princess Thessalia commented with awe.
The person's powerful flames had left her dumbstruck.
Sometime later, Leon dispelled the flame wall and hopped back inside the Great Forest, landing on top of the new vine wall.
"I shall leave this place back into your capable hands to guard." Leon patted the shoulders of two elven warriors as he was passing.
The two elven guards were surprised for a moment before they thumped their chests with their fists proudly, "Yes, sir! Thank you for your assistance!"
Shortly after, two figures dashed over.
Aria landed on Leon's left side, while Faelyn on the right. They both checked his body for injuries before quickly becoming astounded.
"Why did you act so recklessly? Did you how scared I was—how can there be no injuries?" Princess Faelyn shortly exclaimed, seeing shredded clothes but no visible wounds on Leon's body.
Her strong concerns caused Leon and Aria to glance at her curiously. She quickly blushed with embarrassment under their gazes and immediately let go of Leon's arm.
"D-don't misunderstand! I was looking for wounds to heal. I'm a Wood-type Awakener after all!" Faelyn explained with a red face.
"Wasn't asking."
Leon grinned.
Chapter 464 - Unknown Law
Princess Faelyn blushed shyly under Leon's cheeky grin.
Her face became hot, and she found it hard to look Leon straight in the eyes, causing her to avert her gaze elsewhere.
She shortly spotted her third eldest sister approaching and found a venue to change the topic, avoiding further embarrassment.
"Sister!" Faelyn called.
Princess Thessalia nodded upon her arrival before focusing her attention on Leon. After inspecting his woundless body, she gave him a deep look and said, "I have sorely underestimated you. I apologize for that."
She had many questions regarding Leon's body but found it inappropriate to ask and pry into his secrets.
"Apology received." Leon smiled lightly.
"We might have started off on the wrong footing, but allow me to reintroduce myself again. I am the Third Princess of Elvengarde, Thessalia Elafaran." Princess Thessalia said, extending her hand to offer a handshake.
Princess Faelyn was immediately surprised by her sister's willingness to take the initiative in offering a handshake with a person of the opposite gender.
"Leon Crawford."
Leon gave a short introduction and accepted the handshake.
Princess Thessalia had recognized Leon as someone more capable than her. Although he was not a Transcendent like the Elders, his fire abilities compelled her to treat him with the same level of respect.
His abilities were absolutely necessary for overcoming the threat of the rat tide. On that note, she cannot treat him rudely.
"Now, we are back to square one. What do you think we should do from here, Prince Leon?" asked Princess Thessalia as she turned to face the plain swarming in rats outside the forest.
The berserk rats were like mindless beasts.
They did not learn their lesson after they were flushed out of the Great Forest by Leon and began charging back towards them.
In a short moment, the battle between rats and elves were thrown in full motion once more as the elven warriors actively slaughtered the rats from atop the vine walls.
Leon pondered for a moment before he said, "The best way to deal with these rats is undoubtedly to use fire. But before we find out a suitable fire method, there is something I would like to find out. The state of these frenzied rats is rather concerning."
Shortly after, a black spear was summoned into his grip before Leon hurled it out.
Squeak! Squeak!
A few Wingrats were immediately shot by the black spear like a large meat skewer before Leon used metal manipulation to pull the black spear.
"Now that you mentioned it, this does seem like something critical that requires investigation." Princess Thessalia nodded while looking at the frenzied rats stuck in Leon's black spear.
She had not thought about why the Wingrats have become like this. The urgent situation at hand previously had left her with no room to ponder this issue.
After Leon found an open space away from the vine wall, he manipulated the black spear to stab vertically into the ground firmly, causing the two live Wingrats' attempt to escape to become futile.
"Live specimens are better." Leon mused, remembering he had left two rat carcasses back on the airship.
After sweeping the Wingrats with divine sense, Leon frowned.
Noticing Leon's change of expression, Princess Thessalia asked puzzledly, "Did you discover something, Prince Leon?"
She could not tell what kind of ability Prince Leon had, but it seemed like the person had already finished his inspection.
Aria and Faelyn gazed at Leon patiently in question.
"These rats contain traces of Demonic Energy and Artificial Spirit Energy in their bloodstream," Leon said after some time.
His creased brows did not relax upon this discovery. Instead, the discovery left him even more perplexed regarding the rat's berserk state.
While Demonic Energy seemed to be the root of the problem, Leon had never seen such an overbearing form of Demonic Energy.
It seemed to contain an extremely powerful law within—a law that he could not guess. However, it was filled with malice and wrath.
"What do these two types of energy have to do with the rat's berserk state? Or rather, what kind of thing are Demonic Energy and Artificial Spirit Energy?" Princess Faelyn asked curiously.
She was unfamiliar with the two terms.
At the same time, Princess Thessalia was also puzzled by the two terms. However, she remained silent since her little sister already asked the question she wanted to ask.
"You should know what Spirit Energy is, right?" Leon asked.
Faelyn nodded.
"Artificial Spirit Energy is, as its name implied, Spirit Energy that has been artificially produced. As for Demonic Energy, it's the polar opposite of Spirit Energy. If Spirit Energy is positive, then Demonic Energy is negative. Inverting Spirit Energy will give you Demonic Energy." Leon explained.
Princess Thessalia and Faelyn both listened attentively before Faelyn asked with understanding, "So, Demonic Energy is the root cause of the rat's berserk state, right?"
"I believe so." Leon nodded.
"However, why would the rats have these energies in their body? Where do they come from?" Princess Thessalia asked with a pondering look. After a moment, she added, "From underground?"
"Most likely. If there are any ancient relics from the Nova Empire still in operation, it will produce these Artificial Spirit Energy."
"The Nova Empire?"
Princess Thessalia showed a confused look before Faelyn explained, "Sister, the Nova Empire is an ancient civilization that once existed 10-thousand-odd years ago."
Faelyn had learned a bit about this civilization during her short trip to the World Tree with Supreme Elder Haldir.
"I see." Princess Thessalia showed a surprised look before she smiled, "After we deal with this situation, you have to tell me more about your trip in the Human Domain, okay baby sister?"
"Of course, but stop calling me that!" Faelyn pouted.
Princess Thessalia chuckled lightly and said, "Alright, alright."
At the same time, the attentive Aria hugged Leon's arm and asked, "Are you concerned about the origins of the Demonic Energy?"
"Yeah…"
Leon nodded with a deep frown.
"If it was just ordinary Demonic Energy, I might have guessed that an ancient relic producing Artificial Spirit Energy had malfunctioned. However, the Demonic Energy in these rats are much more overbearing than ordinary Demonic Energy."
The unknown law made the Demonic Energy even more potent than the Demonic Energy cultivated by regular demons!
Chapter 465 - Gone Berserk
"What's different from this Demonic Energy?" Aria asked curiously.
Leon paused for a moment before he broke the necks of two Wingrats, killing them in the process.
Afterward, he took out an empty glass bottle and locked his divine sense onto the Demonic Energy in the rat carcasses before extracting them with Divine Will, filling up the bottle.
"There's some sort of powerful law behind it," Leon explained.
Shortly after he sealed the bottle, three pairs of eyes gazed at the clear glass bottle in his hand in wonder.
"This is the Demonic Energy you speak of, Prince Leon?" Princess Thessalia asked while gazing at the red mist within the sealed glass bottle.
"Yes, that is correct. This is Demonic Energy." Leon nodded before he said, "Be careful. This overbearing Demonic Energy can also cause you to lose your mind and go berserk too."
Once this was said, Princess Faelyn quickly pulled her third eldest sister back with trepidation.
"It's true. There were many berserk humans back at the Great Wall!" Princess Faelyn said to her third eldest sister.
Meanwhile, Leon had a hard time connecting the dots between the Demonic Energy sealed with the bottle and the past Cataclysms.
Most of the rats' physique changes came from the unstable Artificial Spirit Energy, including their evolution of intelligence.
This coincided with what he knew of the last Cataclysm.
"What are you thinking about?" Aria tightly hugged Leon's arm in question. "I want to hear your thoughts."
Leon smiled wryly.
He caressed her soft cheeks gently and said, "I was thinking that maybe the great solar flare that occurred during the last Cataclysm 512 years ago wasn't the root cause of the beasts' evolution."
"That's true."
Aria agreed while holding Leon's hand on her cheeks, continuing to enjoy his caress before inputting her opinion, "It doesn't make much sense for a strong burst of Solar Energy to cause drastic changes to the world. After all, we are exposed to Solar Energy every day."
"That's right. However, it's a different story if the remnant Artificial Spirit Energy-producing ancient relics in the world received that burst of Solar Energy to mass-produce more Artificial Spirit Energy."
"Hold on."
Princess Faelyn interrupted, "Doesn't that mean the Demonic Energy has nothing to do with the Cataclysm?"
"According to the tribe's history records, the beasts were very aggressive during the last Cataclysm—but not to the point of going crazy berserk like this." Third Princess Thessalia inputted in realization.
There was a huge discrepancy between the current rats' behavior and the previous cataclysmic event.
Leon nodded.
"The beasts might have been exposed to small amounts of the Demonic Energy during the last Cataclysm." He said.
Aria pulled away from Leon in a startled manner before staring into his eyes.
"Doesn't that mean the rats have been exposed to a much higher amount of Demonic Energy compared to the beasts during the last Cataclysm? What's going to happen once the Great Solar Flare occurs again?" She asked.
"Perhaps all life will be exposed to Demonic Energy and go berserk. However, if we can locate the source of the Demonic Energy and destroy it before the Great Solar Flare occurs, perhaps we can avoid the worse from happening." Leon said objectively with solemness.
Princess Thessalia and Princess Faelyn creased their brows with a heavy feeling.
It came to their attention that the upcoming Cataclysm will be far, far more fearsome than the last Cataclysm.
The Demonic Energy robs their reason and intelligence, rather than increasing it!
"Another thing to point out is the frequency of the Cataclysms. Until this point, we've only known about Cataclysm that occurred 512 years ago and the one 10-thousand years ago. Except for these two Cataclysms, there has been no mention or records of any other Cataclysms occurring during this past 10-thousand year period—"
Awooo!
A distant howl interrupted Leon's words.
Everyone shortly turned their gazes towards outside the forest before glancing at each other. After a quick nod, they headed up onto the vine wall and joined the elven warriors.
"What's the current situation?"
"Your Highness, we're about to be overwhelmed by the rat tide. Your orders, please." An elven warrior informed with a crumpled expression.
Princess Thessalia gazed down at the new mountain of rat carcasses that had quickly piled up during their short discussion away.
Beyond the forest was just a field of grey, occupied by the numerous Wingrats rushing over.
After a quick nod, she turned to Leon.
Before Princess Thessalia could make a formal request for his assistance, Leon waved his hand and sent out a surge of flames, sweeping away the rats below.
Squeak! Squeak!
The carcass mountain was reduced to black ashes as Leon watched the surviving rats desperately escape from the wave of flames chasing after them.
Shortly after, Leon and the others fixed their sights in the distance, scanning left and right for the source of the howl they heard earlier.
"Where did that mighty howl come from? I don't see anything except rats, rats, and more rats." Faelyn commented while squinting her eyes to look as far as possible.
Shortly after, everyone's pupil narrowed on a specific hill of rats that suddenly got flung into the skies, revealing a big three-tailed wolf underneath.
Awooo!
The big three-tailed silver wolf howled furiously.
It slammed the ground repeatedly with its mighty paws, quaking the earth and crushing hundreds of rats before it rolled painfully on the ground to shake off the numerous rats on its body!
Thousands of rats were quickly crushed underneath the weight of the three-tailed silver wolf's oversized body.
The arrival of the three-tailed silver wolf immediately drew a portion of the rat tide away from the vine walls as they all swarmed towards it!
"It's a Transcendent-level beast!" An elven warrior exclaimed.
"It's not just any Transcendent-level beast! It's the Skysilver Beast King from the nearby low-rank tribe!"
"What's the Skysilver Beast King doing here? What about its tribe?" An elven warrior asked.
Princess Thessalia frown.
Elvengarde rarely interacts with the surrounding beast tribes outside the Great Forest. However, she had interacted with the proud Skysilver Beast King before.
Although they did not get along, she should put aside their difference and help each other out in times of trouble.
"The Skysilver Beast King looks like it is in trouble. It might be a Transcendent-level beast, but it won't be able to handle the rat tide alone. We need to help it."
"Wait, sister. Something seems wrong with the Skysilver Beast King." Faelyn pulled on her sister's arm.
Hearing her baby sister's words, Princess Thessalia paused to study the furious Skysilver Beast King tearing the rats apart and devouring them with its fangs while its eyes glowed with redness.
"The Skysilver Beast King has gone berserk!" Princess Thessalia realized.
Chapter 466 - Helping Skysilver
Awooo!
The Skysilver Beast King continued rampaging in the endless tides of rats, crushing them with brute strength that shook the earth.
No matter how furiously it fought to shake the rats off its body nor how many it crushed and killed, numerous more rats will take their place and leap on its back.
Awooo!
The Skysilver Beast King did a big barrel roll, flattening ten thousands of rats in the process before rolling back to its feet and slamming another batch on Wingrats on the ground!
Boom!
The earth shattered, and soil rose into skies along with numerous rats swept off their feet, falling into the Skysilver Beast King's line of sight!
Grrr-rah!
The Skysilver Beast King immediately gnawed at the rats in midair with sharp fangs, devouring them into its stomach along with the soil.
Shortly after, it did a wide-body swing with all three tails and generated a powerful gust of wind that swept away the numerous rats in its immediate surrounding before leaping into another group of rats in the distance!
Swoosh!
The gust of wind reached the Great Forest, causing the rustling of tree leaves and the fluttering of people's hair.
The strong wind stung a few elven warriors' eyes and caused them to shield their faces with their hands. Those that tried to endure it received dirt and grovel flying into their faces.
Meanwhile, an invisible barrier shielded Leon and the ladies around him from the strong winds and flying soil.
Princess Thessalia was not stupid.
She immediately realized it was Leon's work. Although she did not know how he was doing it, he was the only person within their group of four with a calm expression.
While Faelyn and Aria expressed their surprises, Leon subtly frowned and said, "The Skysilver Beast King is drawing closer towards us."
"Should I kill it?" Aria suggested as ice-lightning power danced on the palms of her hand.
With the Skysilver Beast King's strength, it would definitely destroy numerous trees if it continued its rampage within the Great Forest!
"Please wait!"
Princess Thessalia cried, urging Aria to stay her hand.
At the same time, she was greatly surprised by Aria's power. Although she faintly guessed the person was a Transcendent, she did not expect the person to have such a unique element.
Aria glanced back at Princess Thessalia questioning with a look that says, 'Don't you elves love your forest? Make it quick, or your precious forest is going to suffer some serious damage.'
"Prince Leon, do you have any methods to cure the Skysilver Beast King of his berserk state? It will be quite a loss to lose such a strong ally in these troubled times." Princess Thessalia queried.
Leon rubbed his chin amusedly and asked, "What makes you think I have a way to cure him?"
"Although I am not sure exactly what kind of ability you have, you seem to be able to bend anything to your will. Can you use this ability to extract the Demonic Energy out of the Skysilver Beast King to help him recover his sanity, Prince Leon?"
"Quite perceptive. Sure, I can give it a try." Leon nodded.
At the same time, Princess Faelyn quickly tugged her third eldest sister's sleeve and complained, "Sister! How can you make such a dangerous request from our guest? To cure the Skysilver Beast King, Prince Leon would have to get close to it! This means going through the endless wave of rats! Not to mention, the berserk Skysilver Beast King will also attack if it sees Prince Leon!"
"I know. That's why I am only asking."
Princess Thessalia returned her gaze to Leon and sincerely stated, "If you feel it is too dangerous, there's no need to accept my request, Prince Leon."
"It's fine. You are still underestimating me." Leon waved his nonchalantly before turning to Aria and caressed her cheeks with a light smile, "I'll be back shortly."
"Mmm."
Aria nodded.
Leon extended his arm behind his back.
Shortly after, the black spear stabbed in the ground with the impaled rats some distance away suddenly shot out from the earth and flew into his grasp.
Leon immediately leaped off the vine wall and took flight, shooting straight towards the berserk Skysilver Beast King at breakneck speed.
The Skysilver Beast King was too busy shaking the rats off its body for it to be bothered with Leon. The numerous rats nibbling at its body was a much more pressing concern than a single human.
Numerous bite-size wounds could be seen on the Skysilver Beast King's body as Leon drew close.
At the same time, his presence also attracted some of the Wingrats' attention as they lunged at him.
However, they were quickly swept away by the powerful swing of his spear, including the rats on the back of the Skysilver Beast King.
The Beast King's attention was immediately drawn to Leon and made a swipe at him with its paws, causing him to twist his body in midair to evade its quick attack while closing the distance and landed on its head.
Awooo!
This Skysilver Beast King howled and shook fiercely, but Leon grabbed a handful of its fur to stabilized his footing before it discharged a wave of flames that scared all the rats away from them.
The rats on the Skysilver Beast King's body were immediately charred black while the three-tailed silver wolf's bleeding wounds were seared.
"Woah, there," Leon exclaimed.
He quickly kicked off the Skysilver Beast King's head as it was doing a body roll before softly landing on its head once more after it got back on its feet.
In that instance, he swept out his divine sense and scanned the Skysilver Beast King's body. It only took a moment for Leon to lock onto all the Demonic Energy within its body.
Undoubtedly, the Skysilver Beast King had tougher skin than the Transcendent-level Grizzly Bear. However, the Demonic Energy still seeped into its bloodstream and accumulated in its head.
Leon's eyes flickered with a decisive glint as he tightened his grip on the black spear and stabbed a non-lethal blow into the Skysilver Beast King's head, inflicting pain, nonetheless.
Awooo!
The Skysilver Beast King howled.
While it shook fiercely in retaliation, Leon held onto his firmly-rooted spear tightly and roared, "Come out!"
Divine Will was exerted to the brink as Leon extracted the Demonic Energy through the gap he created in the Skysilver Beast King's skull in one swift motion!
Chapter 467 - Loss Of Intelligence
A stream of red mist followed the tips of Leon's spear as he yanked the black spear out from the top of the Skysilver Beast King's head along with a spray of blood.
Awooo!
The Skysilver Beast King cried anguish as a wave of pain assaulted its head. Its clouded red eyes receded along with the last trace of Demonic Energy exiting its head as it quickly regained its clarity!
Leon quickly condensed the red mist and stored them in empty pill bottles before taking out some Tier 3 Golden Ointment and slapping them on the Skysilver Beast King's wound.
"Awo!"
The Skysilver Beast King howled.
It tried to shake Leon off its head once more, but Leon grabbed tightly onto its fur as it channeled Wood Energy into its head and sped up the recovery speed of its wound.
Shortly after, the Skysilver Beast King slowly stopped trying to shake Leon off as it felt the comfort of the recovery brought by his actions.
It was not long after that the rats resumed their relentless attack, causing the Skysilver Beast King's eyes to flicker with a cold glint.
It might not have remembered what happened in the past few hours, but the numerous stings and itches on its body told it that the rats were the culprit behind it.
"Awoo!" The Skysilver Beast King gave a mighty howl before sweeping that wave upon waves of rats with his tail swings.
Meanwhile, Princess Faelyn and Princess Thessalia heaved a soft sigh of relief. While they were observing from a distance, their hearts were lurching.
Although they guessed that Prince Leon had an incomparably tough body, they could not overcome their impression of Transcendental beasts.
The thought that a single smack from the Skysilver Beast King could shatter all the bones in the fragile bodies of humans and elves placed them on edge.
"It seems that everything worked out well." Princess Thessalia said. She could not help but become more curious about Leon.
This person wields many abilities. How did this person achieve this?
"Baby sister, tell me more about Prince Leon. What did you encounter in the Human Domain? How did the negotiations go?" She asked.
If all the human experts were as capable as Prince Leon, Princess Thessalia found it hard for their tribe to establish an alliance of equals.
Even if an alliance was established between them, it would be difficult to ask for land. Elvengarde would not offer up a portion of their forest if a large group of humans moved in either.
No matter how Princess Thessalia looked at it, she could not see any reason for the humans to accept them unless they…
Princess Faelyn pulled herself closer to her sister's ears before she whispered, "In order for elves to have a place in the Human Domain, Supreme Elder Haldir negotiated for the elves to all become subjects of the Crawford Empire."
"What?"
Princess Thessalia's eyes widened fiercely in objection at once.
However, after a moment, she sighed in defeat, "That's the only way, huh?"
"Yes."
Princess Faelyn nodded.
Shortly after, Princess Thessalia frowned, "Father would not accept this decision, and many Elders might also support his objection. Now I am afraid something will happen back in the tribe."
"Not a surprising outcome. You won't find many people in positions of power who are willing to give up their authority to live under another person's rule, let alone another race." Aria casually commented.
Princess Thessalia turned to face Aria and said, "Miss Aria was aware of this possibility but still came to our tribe with Prince Leon; are you not afraid of what would happen if the Supreme Elder fails to convince the rest of the tribe?"
"I don't care about that. I only care about one thing."
"Oh? And what is that?"
Aria gazed into the distance and smile, "Wherever he goes, I go."
Swoosh~!
Leon flew over and sent out a flame wave, clearing out the rats attacking the vine wall before landing shortly after.
Aria immediately dived into his embrace before Leon turned to the others and asked, "What are you all talking about?"
"Nothing much." Princess Thessalia shook her head before asking, "How is the Skysilver Beast King?"
Leon shortly turned around and pointed, "As you can see, it has recovered slightly and will continue to slaughter rats without affecting the forest. However…"
"However?" Princess Thessalia asked with a raised eyebrow.
Leon paused in thought for a moment before he said, "It has lost its intelligence, regardless of whether the Demonic Energy was removed or not."
After he kicked off the Skysilver Beast King and returned to the forest, the Skysilver Beast King had sensed his departure and barked with gratitude.
"Right now, it is no different to an oversized pup, behaving on instinct to survive and can no longer speak the human tongue," Leon added.
Princess Thessalia, Faelyn, and Aria all gazed into the distance with surprise.
The most distinctive trait of the three-tailed silver wolf was the three iron tails it uses in battle.
However, at this moment, the Skysilver Beast King can only be seen attacking with its paws, fangs, and body rolls.
It did not rely on its proud tails and attacked primitively.
"The last Cataclysm helped the beasts evolve their intelligence. However, it seems this next one will rob them away." Princess Thessalia said with a solemn expression.
Leon nodded.
"If we all become infected with this type of overbearing Demonic Energy, we all degenerate into animals—"
Leon shortly paused.
Rumble…
Suddenly, the earth below could be subtly felt shaking mildly before everyone glanced towards the Skysilver Beast King in the distance.
"These tremors aren't caused by the Skysilver Beast King. It feels much more distant…" Aria concluded.
"Yeah…"
Princess Thessalia and Faelyn gazed deep into the forest behind them before Princess Thessalia's eyes flickered.
"Something big is happening back in the tribe!"
Swoosh~!
Leon immediately took flight, flying into the skies above the Great Forest before he used [Spirit Eyes] to gaze into the distant Elder Tree, where Elvengarde was located.
Sometime later, he dropped back to the ground.
"Did you find out what is happening, Leon?" Faelyn asked.
Leon shook his head and said, "It's too far to tell what is going on exactly.. However, the tremors are caused by the Elder Tree."
Chapter 468 - Heart Of Spring Chamber
Elvengarde
Supreme Elder Haldir and King Erendriel continued to fight within the Elder Tree's crown, causing wanton destruction to the High Elves' surrounding homes in the area.
Buildings were smashed apart, breaking branches and scattering leaves. Even the Elder Tree itself was impacted by their battle, causing the Guardian Spirit of the Elder Tree to be enraged.
Rumble!
The region shook from the violent movements of the Elder Tree's branches, causing more High Elve's homes to collapse in the process!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Numerous branches moved like flexible vines and assaulted both Supreme Elder Haldir and King Erendriel!
However, King Erendriel shortly flashed an elven ring with flickering green light and shouted, "O great Guardian Spirit! Please help me vanquish this traitorous elf, who has forsaken the forest and its people! He is the one who wishes to cause you harm!"
Rustle!
The Elder Tree branches immediately redirected all its attack on the Supreme Elder, regardless of whether King Erendriel was speaking truthfully or nonsense!
Supreme Elder Haldir's pupils quickly shrank into slits at the incoming attack and braced himself for impact.
Bang!
Supreme Elder Haldir's Vine Armor protected his body, but he was smacked flying out of the Elder Tree's crown, drawing a large arc in the skies!
"Uwarrgh!"
King Erendriel growled loudly.
Two pairs of wings comprised of branches and leaves sprouted from his back before King Erendriel immediately shot after Supreme Elder Haldir!
Before Supreme Elder Haldir recover his bearing in the sky, King Erendriel quickly caught up and struck down on his chest squarely with two large conjoined fists like a piledriver!
Boom!
The Supreme Elder plunged straight down from the mighty blow and crash-landed into an elf's home at the bottom of the Elder Tree, smashing it apart with shattering splinters flying everywhere.
"Ah! What happened?!"
"M-My home! Nooo!"
The elven commoners living at the foot of the Elder Tree were greatly startled by the Elder Tree's movements before one of them cried at the destruction of his home.
Before the dust of Supreme Elder Haldir's fall settled, King Erendriel came crashing down and smashing into the cloud of dust, causing more significant destruction to what was left of the home!
At the same time, the tree roots at the foot of the Elder Tree began moving towards the direction of the impact, continuing to target the Supreme Elder.
Back in the Elder Tree's crown, the Elders looked at the mess with solemn looks as one of them spoke, "This is getting out of hand! Everyone's homes are being implicated in this mess!"
"Right, even the Guardian Spirit has been involved! We need to stop this madness immediately!" Another Elder said before heading down to the tribe.
It was fine when it was only between Supreme Elder Haldir and King Erendriel. But now that it involved the entire tribe, they can no longer remain idle and watch.
"I'm going too!" Another Elder said decisively, knowing he might die if he got hit by either sides' attacks.
A several more Elders followed shortly after, leaving behind four Elders on the Elder Tree's crown. Sometime later, General Paeris returned.
"Did you find the Queen Radelia?" An Elder asked.
General Paeris shook his head and said, "The Elf Queen is not here. Words from the royal guards told me the Elf Queen went to add the Crown Prince and Second Princess in their secluded cultivation in the Heart of Spring Chamber."
"The Heart of Spring Chamber?" An Elder repeated before nodding, "I see, no wonder we haven't heard from any of them. The Heart of Spring Chamber is the most highly guarded place in the tribe."
The Heart of Spring Chamber was a hidden space within the Elder Tree itself and contained the most abundant amounts of Wood Energy.
"It seems like the Crown Prince and Second Princess are preparing for their breakthrough to Transcendence… What should we do?" Another Elder sough the others for opinions.
It was taboo to interrupt another Awakener's secluded cultivation. However, time was of the essence, and only the Elf Queen could talk some sense into the crazy Elf King.
Boom!
The Elder Tree suddenly slammed the ground where the Supreme Elder was located with its powerful tree roots, forming a fracture that quickly spread along the surface and tore apart the houses and buildings within its path!
The earth shook from the impact along with the Elder Tree itself, causing the few Elders and General Paeris to nearly lose their balance and stumble.
"We're running out of time. We need to decide quickly. At this rate, the entire tribe is going to be torn apart by King Erendriel and Supreme Elder Haldir's battle!" said an Elder.
Suddenly, General Paeris' eyes flickered with doubt.
"Hold on, something does not seem right. No matter how stable the Heart of Spring Chamber is, the Elf Queen, Crown Prince, and Second Princess should have been alerted by such a huge commotion in the tribe."
Once this was said, the four Elders glanced at each other with the same doubt.
"Maybe they have reached a critical point in their cultivation?" An Elder guessed.
A hint of decisiveness flickered in General Paeris' eyes before he said, "I will go check on the situation outside the Heart of Spring Chamber."
"Hmm… in that case, we are going too." An Elder nodded, followed by the other three Elders also agreeing to tag along.
In any case, they were doing nothing, and it was better than risking their lives to stop the battle between King Erendriel and Supreme Elder Haldir directly.
They did not want to admit it, but they were cowards.
While the Heart of Spring Chamber was not located on the Elder Tree's crown, the path leading towards the secret chamber was.
The group arrived at a quiet courtyard located within the Royal Palace, just next to the Great Hall.
At the center of the courtyard, a large hollow staircase illuminated by floating particles of soft green light was revealed, while twenty royal guards surrounded the area.
The Elder Tree was, in truth, hollow on the inside.
"Stop! This place is off-limits! Without the king's permission, no one is allowed to step beyond this point!" An elven royal guard stated sternly, stopping General Paeris and the four Elders from approaching any closer with an outstretched hand.
Chapter 469 - Negotiations Failed, I Presume?
General Paeris wrinkled his brows and asked, "I would like to ask if Queen Radelia has exited from the Heart of Spring Chamber yet or not?"
"Whether Queen Radelia exited or not is none of your business, general. Please leave." The royal guard said rudely.
The Elf General might be well received among the commoners, but the same cannot be said for the royal guards. They did not need to give the Elf General any preferential treatment.
General Paeris immediately frowned.
Even if the royal guards did not respect him, they did not need to respond so rudely. Something about their behaviors felt awfully suspicious to him, like they were purposely hiding news of Queen Radelia.
However, there was no point because he already found out the Elf Queen was inside the Heart of Spring Chamber from the other royal guards.
"What if I am the one asking?" An Elder stepped forward and asked with a stern gaze while emanating the aura of his transcendental cultivation.
The expressions of all the royal guards immediately stiffened as they stood with their backs straight.
"Esteemed Elder, we are just following orders. Please don't make things difficult for us." One of the royal guards said politely, a clear contrast in attitude to the treatment the Elf General received.
"Oh?"
The Elder frowned and questioned, "And what could be so important about the Elf Queen's whereabouts that you cannot even answer such a simple question, hmm?"
"Well…"
The royal guards hesitated for a moment before one of them spoke, "The Crown Prince and Second Princess are at a critical junction in their breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm."
"Are you hinting that Queen Radelia is still inside the Heart of Spring Chamber with the Crown Prince and Second Princess?"
"…"
The royal guards did not answer further, causing the Elder's expression to turn gloomy.
Apart from the smoke billowing from the burning forest, the sky was clear. There was no indication of a Transcendent Phenomenon occurring.
Even so, the Elders did not press further.
Rumble...
The tribe continued to shake from the devastation of the battle outside.
Supreme Elder Haldir narrowly evaded the Elder Tree's roots by a hair's breadth before he glared at King Erendriel.
"Look around! You need to stop this madness at once! You're destroying the tribe!" He shouted.
At the same time, the Supreme Elder frowned at King Erendriel's means to communicate with the Guardian Spirit.
"O great Guardian Spirit, it is not I who wish to cause you harm but he who has been blinded by jealousy and madness!"
Despite Supreme Elder Haldir's words, the Guardian Spirit did not listen and continued to attack him.
King Erendriel's sneered with a mocking expression, "Give up! The Guardian Spirit will not listen to you! Not while I have this!"
The Elf King flashed his emerald ring before he added, "You don't need to worry about the tribe! Once you die, everything will be better again! So long as the tribe's foundation is still here, it can be rebuilt after you are gone!"
Boom!
Supreme Elder Haldir narrowly evaded another one of the Elder Tree's roots, causing the ground to rupture in his place.
The impact of the Elder Tree's attacks formed web-like fissures along the surface of the earth, tearing apart homes and swallowing countless elves in the process
"Calm your anger, O great Guardian Spirit—Ahh!"
"Nooo! Save me!"
The elves tried to escape, but they could not outrun the spread of the shattering earth.
Supreme Elder Haldir shot back in retreat as he gazed at the scene with an ugly expression.
So many innocent lives were being implicated in their mess!
Supreme Elder Haldir glared at King Erendriel, hovering in the sky with a cold glint as killing intent began seeping out.
He did not know what the emerald ring in the Elf King's possession was, but he knew it had to remove it from the Elf King.
The Elf King had gone too far!
At the same time, King Erendriel's form gave insights into ways the Supreme Elder had never thought of trying previously.
New vines intertwined themselves with old ones and began sprouting leaves from his back, forming his own pair of wings.
In a short instance, the Supreme Elder took flight into the skies to face King Erendriel, no longer planning to hold back.
The longer the battle was dragged out, the more suffering the innocent elves would have to experience!
Around this time, Leon exited the periphery of the inner parts of the Great Forest and arrived on the outskirts of Elvengarde with Aria and Princess Faelyn.
The state of the elven tribe left Leon and Aria astounded, while Princess Faelyn was devastated by the sight. The fearful and mournful cries of her fellow tribesmen amidst the chaos broke her heart.
"Why did the tribe become like this?" Faelyn muttered.
Boom!
The Elder Tree tried to slap the Supreme Elder out of the sky with one of its roots but missed and impacted the ground, causing more devastation within the area.
Leon quickly grabbed Aria and Princess Faelyn's hand and pulled them away before the impact reached their area.
"The Supreme Elder and my father are fighting!"
Princess Faelyn quickly discovered the two figures in the air after Leon landed them safely some distance away.
She was quickly shocked by her father's form.
At the same time, Supreme Elder Haldir overhead Faelyn's exclamation and turned his gaze over to their direction in surprise before he shouted, "Young prince, Miss Aria, Princess Faelyn! All of you should quickly leave! It's not safe here!"
However, Leon shortly flew over after leaving Aria and Princess Faelyn on the outskirts of the tribe, not taking the Supreme Elder's warning to mind.
"I take it that negotiations have failed?" He casually presumed before shortly gazing at King Erendriel's bizarre form in the distance.
Although he subtly anticipated something like this would have happened, the Elf King's drastic transformation still left him surprised.
Knowing Leon's strength, Supreme Elder Haldir no longer persuaded him to leave as he could use Leon's assistance.
The Supreme Elder shortly nodded, "I'm rather embarrassed to admit it, but yes, the Elf King cannot accept the terms we agreed upon."
Chapter 470 - Wood Essence Extract
After receiving the Supreme Elder's confirmation, Leon nodded. However, he quickly frowned at the devastation of the tribe.
Not a single piece of land was left untouched in the area.
The whole place was fragmented with deep fissures and crevices, revealing the subterranean world underneath the surface.
The situation of the elves could be described as tragic. Some elves clung to each other in silent prayers, while other elves desperately clung to edges like they were clinging onto their lives, refusing to fall into the dark crevices.
Some elves tried to pull these struggling elves up from the edges, but the unstable slopes only cause them to lose their footing and fall into the chasm.
"How terrible. With the prior agreement in place, these elves can be considered my people. For such a tragedy to befall them, the culprit needs to be held accountable for this." Leon said before glaring at the Elf King in the distance.
King Erendriel heard Leon's words, and his expression immediately frosted.
"They are my people! Not yours! Understand that I am the king of this tribe, and I did not agree with Supreme Elder Haldir's decision! Whatever was negotiated between your two sides does not apply here!"
"Is this true, Marquis Haldir?" Leon asked after pausing for a moment.
Supreme Elder Haldir shook his head at Leon's question before he explained, "Not true at all, young prince. Although I rarely involve myself with the tribe's management, I am still the tribe's Supreme Elder; a position of authority and prestige that supersedes even royal power. My word is the law here. Whether King Erendriel agrees or not is inconsequential to the agreement we made."
"I see."
Leon nodded in understanding and casually said, "So, he just being a sore loser. Understandable."
The Supreme Elder was like a boss who only hires workers for his restaurant and never does any of the actual work himself.
In other words, Supreme Elder Haldir was the true ruler of Elvengarde, who was lazy and crowned King Erendriel to take on the responsibility of managing the tribe for him.
While Leon could understand King Erendriel's anger under these circumstances, he could not understand the person's actions. The tribesmen did not have to suffer for it!
When King Erendriel's insulting remark, he became even more enraged and barked, "You're asking for death!"
However, his eyes brightened with enlightenment and immediately controlled his outburst of violent emotions, displaying a frightening calmness.
"Crown Prince of the Crawford Empire, was it? Kekeke, do you think the Crawford Empire will still care to uphold the agreement that you negotiated on behalf of the tribe if this person dies here, Supreme Elder Haldir?" King Erendriel asked, but incredibly strong killing intent was hidden within his eyes.
Supreme Elder Haldir immediately frowned and warned, "Careful, young prince. King Erendriel wants to kill you!"
"Oh, I can see that." Leon nodded calmly.
At the same time, King Erendriel raised his hand and flashed his glowing emerald ring.
"O great Guardian Spirit, please lend me your strength to end this human who also seeks to harm your!" King Erendriel prayed audibly.
The Elder Tree quickly reacted to King Erendriel's words and shot out its large tree roots toward Leon and Supreme Elder Haldir.
"It's that ring again! Dodge, young prince!"
Supreme Elder Haldir quickly frowned before he moved to evade the incoming tree roots on his own, trusting Leon would do the same.
However, his eyes quickly widened in horror when he glanced back to check on Leon, who continued to stay in his original spot without moving.
"Watch out, Prince Leon!" Supreme Elder Haldir roared.
While he knew that the young prince had an extraordinary physique, he did not believe it is strong enough to withstand the Elder Tree's might!
King Erendriel's eyes immediately gleamed.
Was the Crawford Empire's Crown Prince too scared to dodge? That was good! The quicker the person dies, the better off he'll be!
The tree roots shot over quickly!
Supreme Elder Haldir knew it was too late for him to head back in time to save the young prince!
However, just as the tree roots were about to collide with Leon, it suddenly slowed down rapidly to a complete stop.
Shortly after the tree roots resume moving again, it wrapped Leon and rubbed against him intimately like a pet snake.
"Impossible!" King Erendriel's eyes snapped wide open in disbelief. Why was the Guardian Spirit behaving like this with a human it just met?!
"O great Guardian Spirit, please kill that human!" King Erendriel urged while flashing his shining emerald ring.
However, the Guardian Spirit no longer respond to his words.
Meanwhile, Leon patted the Elder Tree's roots calmly and fished out another supreme-grade spirit stone, and waved it in front of it like he was holding a dog treat.
"You want another want of these, right?" Leon extended his divine sense and communicated with the Guardian Spirit on a deeper level.
The Guardian Spirit quickly responded by mimicking people's expressions, moving the tips of its roots up and down like it was nodding its head.
Leon smiled lightly and said, "You can have this if you help me capture that person!"
The Guardian Spirit's tree roots nodded again before shooting straight for Elf King in the distance.
"Why, why, why?! This ring is made from the purest Wood Essence Extract of the Elder Tree itself, allowing the wearer to appear no different to the Guardian Spirit's kin! Why does it listen to you over me?!" King Erendriel roared with a nasty expression as he retreated.
"Wood Essence Extract?"
Leon wore an amused expression before he ridiculed, "A bit of tree sap secreted by the Elder Tree is enough for it to treat you as its kin? Don't kid yourself, King Erendriel! Would you choose your own cum stains over treasures?!"
Dozens of tree roots shot after King Erendriel—a clear contrast to the single tree root that targeted the Supreme Elder previously, which also showcases the Guardian Spirit's determination to capture the Elf King!
Spirit Energy was an incentive that it simply cannot pass on!
Chapter 471 - Heartless Response
The numerous tree roots shot after the escaping Elf King from every direction. However, the Elf King easily evaded every single attack with his agile maneuvers in the air, weaving through the gaps in between the tree roots.
The tree roots collided with each other, but they did not shatter into fragments like brittle wood. Rather, they branched off, splitting apart to form dozens of smaller sub-roots before shooting after the Elf King.
In a matter of moments, the few dozen roots were transformed into thousands of sub-roots after several collisions and formed countless large nets after tangling themselves.
However, these large nets connected and formed an enormous cage that trapped the Elf King inside.
"Dammit!"
King Erendriel shot straight into the cage's wall, intending to break through the enclosure with brute force!
Bam!
He struck the wall of roots with all his strength, shaking the root cage mildly before being repelled by the counterforce of the rebound!
The enormous Elder Tree's tree roots have been reduced to the thickness of a human finger and might seem easy to break due to its lowered defense.
However, the weaving and intertwining of countless sub-roots actually raised its defensive strength to a higher level than its former shape and created an unbreakable cage!
Shortly after the Elf King was bounced back the counterforce, the Guardian Spirit began to tighten its countless sub-roots, shrinking the unbreakable cage in size.
With nowhere to go, the Elf King's movements were quickly restricted and bound by the sub-roots like some object wrapped in many layers of rubber bands that formed a ball.
"Uwarghhh!" King Erendriel roared.
He tried to resist and break free but to no avail. His efforts were futile.
"Good girl."
Leon nodded with a smile and tossed the supreme-grade spirit stone over to one of the Guardian Spirit's spare tree roots.
The Elder Tree caught the supreme-grade spirit stone with joy and quickly absorbed all the Spirit Energy in an instance before writhing in pleasant delight.
Meanwhile, Supreme Elder Haldir was dumbfounded by the change of events.
He made his way over to Leon with a puzzled look and asked, "Young prince, what exactly is going on here? Why does it seem like the Guardian Spirit adores you? Just what did you give it?"
"I gave it a supreme-grade spirit stone, formed from the purest of Spirit Energy that the World Tree produces." Leon casually explained.
Supreme Elder Haldir was startled.
He had been to the World Tree and sensed the overflowing richness of life that the World Tree gives off.
However, he did not expect that the vast amount of Spirit Energy could become so concentrated, it would crystalize into a solid form.
"Don't tell me, this 'supreme-grade spirit stone' was made by you, young prince?"
"That's right, I was the one who created it. Otherwise, it would take tens of thousand years before a supreme-grade spirit stone is formed naturally."
Leon admitted.
Once again, Supreme Elder Haldir was astounded by Leon's means.
Shortly after, Supreme Elder Haldir glanced at the tightly bounded Elf King before he asked, "What do you plan to do with Elf King, young prince?"
"What do I plan to do with the Elf King, you ask? Nothing." Leon shrugged and said, "Since this your tribe's problem, I should leave it to you on how you want to handle it, Marquis Haldir."
"Understood, young prince."
Supreme Elder Haldir nodded.
If Leon killed the Elf King, it would cause a rift in the relationship between humans and elves. This runs counterplan to what they were trying to achieve after integrating the elves into human society.
"Stop the fight!"
"Supreme Elder, we have come to assist you!"
A group of 8 Elders suddenly rushed over before they paused and looked around. After a moment, they looked back at Supreme Elder Haldir in the skies with confusion and asked, "Where's King Erendriel?"
"Aren't you guys a bit late in coming forward to help?"
Supreme Elder Haldir wrinkled his brows with displeasure before he said, "King Erendriel is right over there!"
The Elders gazed at the round top of the pillar made from tree roots in the distance. Shortly after, they discovered a person hidden inside with only his face revealed on the surface.
Their exaggerated expressions of being dumbfounded made Leon rolled his eyes. These cowardly old fogies were obviously pretending not to know anything when they already do.
"If you're done being stupid, then hurry up and go help the tribesmen!" Supreme Elder Haldir growled.
"Y-Yes, Supreme Elder!"
The Elders were immediately startled into action and quickly left.
Leon shook his head and commented, "The higher-ups in your tribe seems rather hopeless, Marquis Haldir."
"Haiz…" Supreme Elder Haldir sighed and said, "Years of peace and lavish lifestyles dwindled the spirit of their past selves. The older one ages, the more they cling to life..."
Leon nodded in agreement before he suddenly recalled something and said, "Do what you must do and let us talk later, Marquis Haldir. There's something I need to check on."
"Alright."
Shortly after Leon excused himself and descended towards one of the big crevices on the surface, Supreme Elder Haldir glanced back at King Erendriel with a cold glint.
"Now, what should I do with you?"
At the same time, Aria flew over with Faelyn on the back of her ice-lightning sword before Faelyn quickly asked with an anxious look, "Supreme Elder, may I asked you plan to do with my father?"
"I will kill him. But before that, there are some things that I need to find out from King Erendriel." Supreme Elder Haldir frowned for a moment.
The colors in Princess Faelyn's eyes quickly dulled with a look of sorrow.
Although she had expected such an answer from the Supreme Elder, she was still sad to hear the Supreme Elder's death sentence.
"May I have a few moments with my father first, Supreme Elder?"
Supreme Elder Haldir paused for a moment before he nodded, "Alright, but make it quick."
"Thank you, Supreme Elder." Faelyn curtsied gratefully.
Shortly after, she turned towards her father and asked, "Why have you become like this, father? Why did you go against the Supreme Elder and cause such a huge mess in the tribe? Do you have any idea how many tribesmen have died because of this?"
"Why does that matter? They are just bottom feeders anyway. Their lives are inconsequential to ours." King Erendriel gave a heartless response.
Although a smile was hung on King Erendriel's face, he was emotionless, causing Princess Faelyn to only feel coldness in her heart.
Was this still the father she knew? Why does it feel like her father's mentality has been twisted into someone different entirely?
Chapter 472 - Outburst Of Cries
Great Forest Outskirts
At a particular location along the fiery line of burning trees surrounding the Great Forest, large groups of elven warriors showed significant signs of exhaustion.
Shortly after, a few elven warriors exhausted themselves and collapsed on the ground before a few other elven warriors quickly pulled them away from the fiery trees.
"We got another few collapsed over here, sir!" They reported.
"Understood." The elven captain in charge of the area nodded and said, "Quickly take them back to rest!"
"Yes, sir!"
After the group left with collapsed elven warriors, another elf approached the elven captain and stated, "Sir, the rest of the warriors will not be able to control the fire for much longer. We should pull back."
The elven captain observed the tired-worn expressions on the elven warriors' faces and nodded.
"Alright. Go inform the Third Princess and the other captains in the surrounding areas that we are pulling out warriors back."
"Yes, sir!"
The elven warrior quickly left.
…
Meanwhile, back at the vine wall where Princess Thessalia and her personal guards were located…
Boom!
An object was hurled into the rat tide before it exploded brilliantly, bursting into great flames that swallowed hundreds of Wingrats in an instance!
The fortunate Wingrats quickly squeaked away from the flames in horror while their unfortunate brethren burned to death.
"These exploding pills are amazing!" an elven warrior exclaimed with awe as it gazed at the red pill in his hand.
Another elven warrior nodded and said, "Tell me about it. Who would have expected such a small pill to contain so much power?!"
"Oi, oi. You all better careful with those exploding pills now. One careless mistake, and we will all burst into flames!" A higher-level elven warrior warned.
"Yes, captain! We understand!"
The elven warriors on the vine wall all nodded.
Princess Thessalia looked at the burning flames in the distance with fascination as the rats retreated in fear.
She never knew flames could be so beautiful.
However, shortly after, she shook her head, thinking that it was dangerous for an elf to be fascinated by fire.
Half an hour earlier, she had stopped the human prince from leaving before a solution to the rat tide problem was provided.
In the end, the answer given by the person were these exploding pills.
She could still remember the person shaking his head after pulling high-quality spirit herbs out of thin air and mixing them with rat blood to concoct hundreds of exploding pills on the spot.
"Haiz, Grandpa Don will probably like what I am doing around here if he knew…" The person had said shortly after completing his pill refinement and leaving.
Although Princess Thessalia did not know who Grandpa Don was, she assumed it was some respectable figure related to Prince Leon with great interest in explosions.
Seeing the elven warriors having fun hurling the explosive red pills, she barked, "We might have a few hundred of them, but they will be expended quickly if we don't use them sparingly when needed!"
"Ahem—Y-Yes, Your Highness!" The elven warriors answered seriously after being scolded by the Third Princess.
…
Elvengarde Outskirts
Princess Faelyn gazed at King Erendriel with disbelief and said, "How could you say something like that, father? You weren't like this in the past. You used to say that the people's interest always comes first before you own."
"My daughter, you are so naïve." King Erendriel smiled mockingly.
"That was just a gimmick I often used to align the people's hearts with my own interest. Who really cares about their interest if they don't benefit me in any way? Not that none that matters anymore. I'm tired of playing the good king."
Princess Faelyn felt weak and faint at heart. It was like the image of her father she built up her whole life had been nothing but a big lie.
"Where is mother? Why haven't I seen her?" She suddenly recalled.
Such a huge commotion should have been noticed by her mother long ago. However, her mother was nowhere in sight.
"Your mother? You can find her in the Heart of Spring Chamber, along with your eldest brother and second eldest sister—or at least is left of them anyway." King Erendriel grinned.
Princess Faelyn quickly paled.
"What did you do them?!"
"It's not what I did to them, but what they did to themselves." King Erendriel said with ridicule, but a rare trace of emotion was shown in his eyes.
It was sorrow.
Supreme Elder Haldir frowned and asked, "Does it have something to do with your ability to convert Wood Energy into physical strength?"
"I have nothing to say to you." King Erendriel responded to the Supreme Elder with a fierce glint.
However, seeing his daughter's questioning look, King Erendriel softened and said to Faelyn, "Go to the Heart of Sprint Chamber. Once you find the hidden room there, you will understand everything."
"Why can't you just tell me?"
Tears started welling up in Faelyn's eyes.
She was afraid—afraid of what she might see inside that place. She preferred her father to break the truth to her directly instead of keeping her suspense.
King Erendriel did not answer her question.
"In this dog eat dog world, the winner takes it all while the loser takes the fall. If you cannot become the strongest, you will die trying. The long reining peace will end, and chaos will engulf the world." King Erendriel rambled with a lost look.
Princess Faelyn and Supreme Elder Haldir were unable to follow the Elf King's words. However, before they could ask, there was a sudden outburst of heart-wrenching cries below.
Glancing down, the elves on the surface could also be seen with startled expressions before they tried peeking into the dark crevices below for answers.
The cries came from the underground.
The ground began to rumble with large movements as rocks and pebbles could be seen shaking, shortly followed by the endless squeaking of rats.
"Rats! The Wingrats have found passage to the tribe through the subterranean world!" Supreme Elder Haldir stated conclusively with a grave expression.
Recalling Leon had left to enter one of the dark crevices, Supreme Elder Haldir quickly realized that the young prince must have been aware of this potential problem and went to check earlier!
Chapter 473 - Evacuating The Elves
Under the surface of Elvengarde, there was great chaos amongst the surviving elves.
"Uwahhh, save me! I don't want to die!"
"Nooo! Don't leave me behind!"
The elves cried.
In the enormous underground expanse just below Elvengarde, numerous elves could be seen running for their lives, rushing towards the fiery ball of flames at the center.
The fiery ball of flames was naturally conjured by Leon to light up the subterranean world.
In the far edges of the illuminated area, the endless rat tide could be seen pouring out from numerous revealed passageways and chasing after the elves.
While the elves ran, only a few were able to run in optimum shape. Not surprisingly, these elves were all at the 9th Step Awakener Realm and above.
The rest of the elves with lower cultivation could be seen limping and crawling, injured by the fall from the surface.
Due to their low cultivations, they could not heal as quickly as they as hoped. Fleshly wounds healed quickly, but broken bones were slow to mend.
At the same time, many elven bodies could be seen littered on the subterranean ground. They were the ones that did not make it after the fall due to their frail bodies.
Even so, not all of the fallen elves were commoners with little-to-no cultivation.
There were also some relatively higher level Wood-type Awakeners among them. These elves were the truly unfortunate ones.
While broken limbs can be mended after a significant fall, a broken neck or blow to the head from such height would only send them straight to oblivion.
As Leon held the fiery ball of flames high and illuminated the dark subterranean expanse, he gazed at the desperate elves in the distance with a solemn expression.
'They won't make it.' Leon determined with a narrowed look.
Even the fastest runner was not necessarily quicker than rats—to say nothing in the least for those that limp and crawl their way to safety.
'Even when the situation is seemingly hopeless for them, they are still doing their best to survive. I should create a chance for them.' Leon pondered.
After a quick observation of the surroundings, he immediately clapped his hands towards the fiery ball of flames floating above him before separating his hands like he was tearing apart a long piece of cloth.
Simultaneously, the fiery ball of flames immediately exploded, scattering outwards like fireworks before they rained down like numerous fire arrows.
Shortly after, a ring of fire was formed on the periphery of the subterranean expanse.
Although it was not a completed ring of fire and had gaps in between each scattered flames, its scorching temperature was enough to ward off the approaching rat tide—but not for long.
Meanwhile, the 8 Elders could be seen helping the elves evacuate by constructing a dozen vine staircases that led to the surface.
"Quickly, everyone! Move it, but do not shove your fellow tribesmen!" A nearby Elder urged with hand gestures while keeping the order of the evacuation.
Each of the vine staircases was not big. Only enough to fit two elves running alongside each other. As such, a large crowd of elves was gathered at the bottom of each vine staircase.
For a big Mid-rank tribe like Elvengarde, although the entire tribe was not affected by the battle between the Elder Tree, King Erendriel, and the Supreme Elder, the destruction still caused tens of thousands of elves to fall into the subterranean world.
It would take time before the elves were all evacuated to the surface—but even then, they would not be safe unless the rat tide was dealt with.
Meanwhile, the other Elders went to fend off the rat tide in different directions on the edges of the fire ring Leon just created while helping the elves lagging behind enter.
Leon might have made the ring of fire as big as possible, but there were still many elves that fell outside his range.
His abilities were not omnipotent—at least not with his present cultivation.
Shortly after the incompleted fire ring was created, Leon conjured another fiery blaze and scattered them into the edges, creating more scorching hot zones that warded the rats away.
Once he was done, the Tier 4 Bone Spear retrieved by Aria flashed into his grip. With a strong stomp, Leon immediately shot himself forward towards the endless rat tide in the distance.
Boom!
Leon smashed straight into the groups of rats, immediately crushing several of them to death in an instant before he sent out a mighty sweep of his bone spear and blasted hundreds of more Wingrats away!
As Leon fought the rats tyrannically with brute strength to conserve his energy, he suddenly perked his ears to the subtle cries of a baby.
After sweeping away another wave of rats, he quickly located the source of the baby's cry some distance away from his present location.
It came from the corpse of a female elf that died after falling flat on her back, cracking her head against the edge of a rock.
Leon's expression abruptly changed as he realized a baby boy was wrapped in the female elf's arm.
The female elf was most likely the baby's mother, who died while shielding her baby from the fall with her body.
Seeing that the baby was about to drown in the sea of rats swarming over, Leon immediately lunged over to grabbed the baby before the rats could reach it.
After sweeping the rats away, he stored the mother's corpse in his interspatial storage and retreated with the baby boy in his spare arm.
At the same time, Supreme Elder Haldir shortly arrived with Aria and Princess Faelyn.
Seeing Leon flying over with a baby in his arms, Princess Faelyn quickly offered to look after the infant, "Let me take care of the baby boy."
Leon nodded and passed the baby to her.
"Unexpectedly, such a vast space exists right below Elvengarde!" Supreme Elder Haldir shortly exclaimed with surprise after assessing the situation.
Leon nodded.
The subterranean world hid many secrets pertaining to the ancient past.
Relics could be seen half-buried everywhere while old corpses were nowhere to be seen. But that was also to be expected.
Most likely, those old corpses have all become nutrients for the Elder Tree long ago.
Chapter 474 - The Savior
"Have you settled business with King Erendriel?" Leon asked while subtly studying Princess Faelyn's expression.
Supreme Elder Haldir shook his head and said, "No, not yet. We came as soon as we heard the outburst of cries."
"I see. Let us worry about that later then. We have a bigger problem to deal with now." Leon said as he gazed at the rat tide increasing in numbers by the moment.
"Agreed."
Supreme Elder Haldir nodded with a solemn look before he glancing at the crowd gathering by the vine staircases.
"The tribesmen are evacuating too slowly." Supreme Elder Haldir stated with a frown before preparing to lend his assistance there.
However, Leon stopped him and said, "Forget about the elves here and save the stragglers outside the fire ring. I'll handle this problem quickly."
"Alright. I'll leave it to you then, young prince." Supreme Elder Haldir nodded and flapped his green wings of leaves, shooting into the distance.
Leon shortly used his divine sense to communicate with the Guardian Spirit.
"Everyone, make room!" Leon shouted at a crowd of elves some distance away from the vine staircase that most elves were gathered towards.
"Quick, do as our savior says!"
Very shortly, the elves began shuffling away to create a large space between under Leon's orders despite it bringing them further away from the vine staircases that had already been built and closer to the rats.
Although they wanted to leave quickly due to the rat's threat, they have come to respect Leon greatly and trusted that he would do something to help them.
If the person wanted to harm them, why bother saving them in the first place—was what the elves thought.
Sometime later, the surface soil from a distant region shook fiercely as the Guardian Spirit moved its spare roots over and planted itself in the ground before the crowd of elves, creating a colossal bridge that could fit dozens of elves running side by side at once.
"Go!"
The elves immediately cheered before rushing onto the colossal bridge that would lead them back to the surface.
At the same time, the commotion immediately drew the attention of the crowd gathered in waiting near the vine staircases.
"Hey, look! The Guardian Spirit created a huge bridge to the surface for us!"
"Taking the bridge is definitely faster than the vine staircase the Elders constructed! I'm not waiting here!"
The large crowd of elves immediately begun rushing over to the colossal bridge made from the Elder Tree's roots.
"Thank you, Guardian Spirit!"
"All those prayers finally paid off!"
The elves cheered.
At this point, they had already forgotten they had fallen into their current situation due to the Elder Tree's rampage.
Life worked in strange ways.
When bad things happen, people forget all the good and only remember all the bad. Similarly, when good things happen, they remember the good and forget the bad.
Nevertheless, some elves in front quickly pointed out, "Hey, you! You're mistaken! The Guardian Spirit didn't help us of its own volition! It is the savior that got it to help us!"
"Yeah! If you want to thank someone, thank our savior! He is the only one who can communicate with the Guardian Spirit and tell it what to do!" Another elf quickly chimed in.
The elves in the back of the group were immediately stunned.
"Huh? He can command the Guardian Spirit? Doesn't that make him sound like THE savior from the prophecy?" An elf mentioned.
"That's why we are calling him our savior! He IS the savior mentioned in the prophecy! The one can command the Guardian Spirit and bring us salvation in times of great chaos! Everything fits as recorded!"
The elves began to speak excitedly with reverence, almost to the point of worshipping and forgetting the dangers behind them.
In the air some distance away with Aria and Faelyn hovering on the ice-lightning sword, Leon overheard everything with his sharp hearing.
His expression quickly changed to confusion.
"What prophecy are the elves talking about?" Leon questioned the most knowledgeable person present before him for answers.
"What prophecy are you talking about? There is no such t—" Princess Faelyn frowned for a moment before quickly widening her eyes in exclamation, "No wait, there is one! There's a prophecy, but it comes from a widely popular and well-circulated story within Elvengarde!"
Her loud voice immediately caused the baby in her arms to cry.
Shortly after Faelyn soothed the baby, she continued, "The story speaks of a time in which the Cataclysm would come again and cause great chaos throughout the lands. However, the elves shall not fear, for the one who can commute with the Guardian Spirit will rise and lead them to salvation."
"So, you're saying the elves are taking the prophecy inside of a story seriously?" Leon felt rather speechless by the coincidences.
Aria giggled.
"What's funny?" Princess Faelyn furrowed her brows in question.
Aria quickly shook her head and said, "Nothing much. Just that they probably never thought that the savior in their stories turned out to be a human instead of an elf."
"Ah, you're right. I would never have anticipated this day." Princess Faelyn said.
Leon shook his head wryly.
"Alright, enough of that. We have elves to save and a rat infestation to deal with. Take the baby to safety. I'm going." Leon stated before heading back to deal with the rat tide.
After watching Leon leave, Aria asked Faelyn, "Can you head back on your own?"
"Alright… Thank you for letting me ride with you, Miss Aria. Just let me off down there." Princess Faelyn said with embarrassment. She felt ashamed at her inability to fly and for holding Aria back.
"It's fine, Princess Faelyn."
Shortly after letting Princess Faelyn off, Aria quickly shot after Leon on her ice-lightning sword.
At the same time, Leon quickly arrived at the Supreme Elder's location and inquired, "What's the situation?"
"All the elves have been evacuated towards the center. Just these pesty rats left to deal with." Supreme Elder Haldir replied while dicing the rats into pieces with numerous vines that grew out from the ground.
"Does the young prince have any good solution?"
Leon gazed into the distance for a moment before he said, "We can collapse all the passageways and end the influx of rats entering before cleaning up the rest of them in this space."