âThereâs no more time, a bunch of cut-ear bastards have charged into this placeâ carrying the medicinal water into the library, Pernod immediately declared: âTheir goal is the crucial item for the final phases of manifesting the Mana Eyeâ
This surprised Chromie who was still clutching the leaf trying his best to sense whatever was inside.
âCut-ear? The Soundless Cult?â Chromie frowned
It could be said that there was an irreconcilable grudge between him and the Soundless Cult. Ever since joining the Saint Hunters, he had been consistently acting to curb any and all of the Soundless Cultâs activities, using it as his revenge.
In truth, the Soundless Cult didnât even know when and how they had taken on the blame for such a grudge, but for an evil cult, shouldering random grudges was already a common practice.
Any murders, accidental or otherwise, conducted by those from the higher members of society were always ultimately blamed on either evil cultists or serial killers, while the true culprits basically roamed free, acting as innocent lambs of God.
âHow is your progress?â Pernod asked with a tired voice.
âIâm still a hair awayâ Chromie said with a bitter expression. After abundant mana was poured into his body, he was indeed able to sense something from the leaf, but he was still too impatient with obtaining this elven knowledge.
For this reason, there was a constant barrier between him and the knowledge, stopping Chromie from obtaining it.
âThen, we can only prematurely attempt the next phaseâ Pernodâs body was hidden under his cloak. After feeding Chromie the medicinal water, he led him onto the higher region of the tree, right in front of the new sprout.
âWhat is this?â Chromie was still blind, but with his other senses, he managed to perceive the object in front of him, as well as the calling that came from his very soul.
âThe origin of the elves, you may call it the Tree of Life, or the Moon Treeâ Pernodâs voice was becoming increasingly drained, but his tone gradually became divine and solemn: âThis is the last hope of the elven race; and now, this hope is going to be entrusted in your handsâ
âI have protected it for the past few thousand years. Now itâs your turn, son of Farnate, inheritance keeper of the elvesâ Pernod spoke in a heavy tone, which made it sound like he was entrusting a great responsibility to him, even Chromie could feel his shoulders subconsciously growing heavier.
âBut this world is already under the suppression of the seven churches, we have no chance to retaliateâ Chromie shook his head. He was now a half-elf, and his position determined his thought process.
If he was still the Saint Hunters captain, what he needed to do right now was kill off any remnant elves like Pernod, even if he had been protecting this thing for thousands of years. No matter how great someone else is or had been, thatâs still their business, and he had no responsibility to pay the debt for someone elseâs greatness.
But now that he was a half-elf, a sinner and criminal who was going to be put down and burnt at the stake for the sake of âpurificationâ as soon as others saw him, he naturally had to side with the elves. If the elven race was powerful, then even if he was a half-elf who suffered some level of discrimination, he wouldnât be unreasonably âpurifiedâ without a second thought.
As a member of the Saint Hunters, Chromie knew just how powerful the church truly was. The Hermit Order was also powerful, but they werenât the same level of powerful. The churchâs main strength came from their roots, the mere existence of Eternal Heat himself could easily suppress and remove all adversities.
âBecause of that, your mission isnât to retaliate against the church, but to escape from this worldâ Pernodâs mouth twitched a bit before he continued: âThe ancestor of the elven race, the will of the Moon Tree is currently being suppressed in the Unrepenting Abyss. There are coordinates of other worlds in that place, as long as you can rescue it, you can travel to those other worlds and begin anewâ
âThat will be a new world where the elves can once again thrive and prosperâ following Pernodâs words, Chromie started to recall the images he once saw in his previous Spirit Visions.
The graceful and perfect elves, their intricate culture, the beauty that belonged to only the elves once again appeared in Chromieâs mind. Followed by their sorrow and suffering under the invasion of the seven Gods, causing Chromie to feel sympathetic.
âLet it latch onto your body, then use the great supply of mana and master the Mana Eye, this is the only solution nowâ Pernod slowly told him: âPerhaps you might even become the new God of the elven raceâ
âIâve placed all of your belongings in a special place, as soon as you grasp the Mana Eye, you will surely be able to see them. Iâve also repaired the Farnate family ring, you can use it to once again disguise as a human and meld into their societyâ
âIâve entrusted the last hope of our hundred-thousand-year elven civilization to you, everything is in your hands nowâ Pernod lightly said, then turned to leave.
A hint of struggle flashed by his haggard ancient face, but then quickly returned to his previous passionate expression before he charged straight towards the humans.
He was already buried too deeply, the sprout could only grant him a hint of clarity, and it was that hint of clarity that brought him even more suffering.
Flames began to erupt, under which everything began to dance, almost like the scene of a dream or illusion. The extreme heat caused the old elf to once again feel his own body temperature.
A large number of Soundless Cultists were madly attacking the barricades surrounding the withered Mother Tree. Under the Moon Treeâs manipulation, Pernod desperately fought off the human invaders to buy Chromie his time.
...
At this time, Darr laid in hiding, as this group of Soundless Cultists came just in time to draw attention away from him. If there were no mistakes, the arrival of these men must surely also be a part of Lord Negaryâs plan, as his intuitive admiration was telling him.
In other words, the method to stop the Gear turning is inside, it definitely is.
Darr could sense the touch of death constantly approaching him. He now had no other choice but to place his last hope on walking the path Negary had carved.
...
âThey wonât be able to stop us for much longer, increase the rate of attack, the glory of God will soon be upon us!â
The Grand Priest wielded his scepter with an unprecedented sense of excitement. He could already feel that source of pure mana by which they could use to immediately conduct the ritual to summon God. At the same time, since this was an underground ruin without any Sun Shadow church to interfere, their ritual would definitely succeed.
âEvery possible variable factor is on our side, this is the hint of God, this is the fateful course of events, this is our rising!â
Watching the flowers that could induce unconsciousness in the vicinity of the tree being burnt away, he felt increasingly more excited. He naturally felt like he was the chosen one, and that their grand goal was about to be achieved.
These unconsciousness-inducing flowers werenât as simple as they seemed their effects were greatly magnified in the other aspect of reality. Because of this, they were using fire to get rid of it while remaining cautious not to allow the flames to spread further than necessary.
At the very next instant, a desperate cry resounded from the distance. The mud and dirt in front of the Soundless cultists began moving on their own, one of the Soundless cultists was only able to utter a curt scream before they were sucked into the ground. The true line of defense had begun displaying its powers under Pernodâs control.
...
Meanwhile, within the library inside the withered tree, Negary was silently standing there, taking out an elven book, and reading its content.
Something indescribable seemed to be writhing behind him, but he simply chuckled, ignoring the screams and shouts outside as he found a chair to sit on and silently continued to flip through his book.