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Chapter 475 - Divine Retribution

While the elves were evacuating from the subterranean space, the other elves on the surface watched them returned safely with curious looks.

"Hey, what's going on down there?" Asked an elf, shortly after pulling over a female elf from the group of elves arriving.

"Rats! There are a lot of frenzied Wingrats down there! Like… a lot!" The female elf responded, but none of her previous fears could be seen on her face—only a rare hint of excitement that cannot be explained.

The elf was taken aback before he said doubtfully, "That sounds pretty damn serious. Why aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid? Of course, I am afraid! But more than that, I am excited!" The female elf said.

"Huh?"

The elf furrowed his brows.

Was this person damaged in the head? How could she be afraid and excited at the same time? Was the situation down below very severe?

"Are you in heat or something?" The elf thought the female elf was not bad looking and said, "If you want, we can go back to—" The elf suddenly paused, recalling that his home had been destroyed.

At the same time, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind before he heard the female calling out, "Hubby!"

The elf turned around, only to see a more burly and head-taller elf standing before him intimidatingly.

"I heard you have something to say to my wife?" The burly tall elf said.

The elf immediately flinched.

"Err, no…" The male elf shriveled his neck cowardly.

His eyes darted around at the group of elves arriving from below before he asked, "I am just confused why everyone seems so excited. Should you all be sad and afraid?"

"We should, but we try not to think about it for the time being—especially since we have found the Savior. We like to hope that everything will turn for the better from here."

"The Savior?"

The elf was even more confused.

Meanwhile, a crowd of elves gathered below the Elder Tree's roots where King Erendriel has been bounded some distance away.

"Everyone, everything that has happened to us is because of our king! He caused all this!" An elf angrily accused while pointing his finger up at the Elf King.

"That's right! If King Erendriel didn't start a fight with the Supreme Elder and involved the Guardian Spirit, none of this would have happened!" Another one spoke.

"My home, my family, I lost everything! The king is to blame!"

"My home is gone, and my wife and son are still missing! Who knows if they are even still alive?!"

"Everyone has lost something here! The king should be held accountable for his crimes! Death to the king!" An extremist said.

Once the words were spoken, it struck a chord with the angry crowd and caused them to furiously chant, "Death to the king!"

"Death to the king!"

"Death to the king!"

As if chanting was not enough, the angry elves began picking up stones and pebbles from the ground and hurled them up at the Elf King's face.

With his body bound by the Elder Tree's roots, King Erendriel had no other choice but to take the hits directly.

However, the only thing these stones and pebble hurt was his pride rather than his face. It was more humiliating than it was painful.

Even so, King Erendriel did nothing except smiled coldly.

Do them right, and they will only be grateful for a moment. However, do them wrong, and they will hate you for a lifetime.

King Erendriel gazed at the elves like he was looking at fleas, immediately making several elves lose their courage and cower in retreat.

Shortly after, Princess Faelyn arrived with the baby in her arms before making her way through the crowd.

"Everyone, please stop!"

Although Princess Faelyn urged the angry crowd, there was no strength in her voice. She was in no position to stop them for what her father had done.

Even so, she felt that her father should not be humiliated.

"Fifth Princess Faelyn, please don't stop us. We know you have nothing to do with King Erendriel's actions, so please don't make us hate you too!"

"Yeah! King Erendriel's might be your father, but he is a heartless king! Please step aside!"

The elves began speaking.

At the same time, an ignorant elf could not help but asks, "Why did King Erendriel start a fight with the Supreme Elder?"

"It was because the Supreme Elder had decided to migrate the tribe to the Human Domain and submit ourselves to one of the human kingdoms there to tide over the dangers of the forthcoming Cataclysm." A well-informed elf spoke.

When this was mentioned, the elves immediately frowned.

They could understand the Supreme Elder's choice, but must they lower themselves to humans? Would they still have any rights once they moved to the Human Domain?

"I heard the agreement was already made. That is why Prince Leon from the Crawford Empire has come to visit our tribe."

"Prince Leon? Is that the name of our Savior?" An elf asked with surprise.

The elf nodded, "That's right!"

The crowd's frown was quickly replaced with surprises once the truth came to light. They immediately became more accepting of the Supreme Elder's decision and more dissatisfied with King Erendriel.

"The king is selfish." One of them said.

King Erendriel gave them a ridiculing gaze, thinking they were just hypocrites. Selfishness exists in everyone's heart.

"Why don't you maggots spout your rubbish elsewhere? You're clogging my ears—Uwarghhh!"

Ba-dump!

King Erendriel suddenly screamed as he was suddenly assaulted by nerve-wracking pain that came from his heart.

Princess Faelyn quickly turned around in shock and asked, "Father, what is wrong with you?"

However, King Erendriel did not answer.

Ba-dump!

"Arghhhh!" King Erendriel roared horribly again from the second wave of pain from his heart like it was being squeezed by someone.

His heart-wrenching cries immediately sent chills through the heart of the surrounding elves as they shortly retreated in fear.

No one knew what was going on, but they were too afraid to stay close.

The Elf King continued to cry painfully until his voice became hoarse, losing all his strength. His face quickly shriveled, and his eyes lost their color.

It was not long before the Elf King went utterly motionless and silent with an appearance no different to a withered plant that simply looked remotely elvish.

"This… This must be divine retribution!" An elf assumed.

Chapter 476 - Ever Seen A Migrating Tree?

"The king's heartlessness have angered the heavens into action! This must definitely be divine punishment from the heavens!" The elf continued to speak self-convincingly.

However, the rest of the crowd thought differently.

"You're speaking nonsense. Divine punishments should be accompanied by worldly phenomenons like thunderous clouds and smiting lightning. This should be the Guardian Spirit's doing." Another elf believed.

As if the elf's words had angered the Guardian Spirit, the ground quickly shook from its root's movement before the broccoli—er, no. Before the Elf King's corpse was tossed to the ground.

"Ahh, forgive me, O great Guardian Spirit!" The elf was quickly frightened into pleading for forgiveness.

Shortly after, the crowd soon laid their eyes upon the Elf King's corpse before becoming greatly shocked.

At the same time, Faelyn did not know whether to be heartbroken or similarly shocked.

The Elf King's form was too startling.

With an ashen-yellowy green complexion and top that sprouted numerous green curd-like substance amongst the branches and leaves sticking out of the Elf King's head, the body greatly resembled broccolis.

In other words, the Elf King's had transformed into a plant.

Princess Faelyn and the crowd had never seen such a bizarre and startling transformation.

They immediately ruled out the possibility of the Guardian Spirit absorbing all of the Elf King's body nutrients with its tree roots and killing the Elf King in the process.

Except for the face, the rest of the body was far from looking like a shriveled husk.

"This should be my father's backlash after using his secret ability to greatly boost his combat prowess to the Seeking Insight level." Princess Faelyn guessed.

Sorrow filled her heart, but no tears would flow for her to mourn her father's death.

It was not long before her father's last words suddenly rang in her head. The tragedy of her family and her father's change; she had to get to the bottom of it.

Princess Faelyn's eyes became resolute.

After finding a female elf with a motherly figure to take care of the baby in her arms, she departed for the Elder Tree's crown to seek out the secrets that lie within the Heart of Spring Chamber.

…

Meanwhile, the elven commoners were mostly evacuated from the subterranean space below the southern parts of the tribe.

The last batch of couple hundred elves had at least made it onto the bridge. They were the slowest batch due to their movement impairments.

"The tribesmen have all made it onto the bridge. We should also pull back before the rats surround us, Third Elder." The Sixth Elder said while manipulating the vines to slay the rats.

The Third Elder observed the surroundings and nodded, "Alright."

The two Elders shortly made their retreat back towards the bridge and recovered the vines from the erected staircases.

The other six Elders in the subterranean space also began making their retreat towards the bridge.

The flames from the fire ring were gradually dying out, allowing the rat tide began pouring inside the warded zone.

"What did the Supreme Elder say?" The Sixth Elder asked after regrouping with the other six Elders as they defended the foot of the bridge.

"Defend the bridge until the tribesmen are all safely evacuated. The Guardian Spirit will know when to pull back its roots."

"Understood."

The Sixth Elder and Third Elder nodded.

Together, the 8 Elders formed a defensive formation surrounding the foot of the bridge and defended the point from the incoming rats.

Leon could be seen squatting by the ground at another location while fanning the flames heating his pill cauldron within a cage of vines that prevented the rats from interrupting him.

The Supreme Elder dropped by and tossed a few rat carcasses inside from the top before the vine cage was sealed again.

"Say, why do you need the rat's blood again, young prince? I thought our plan was to collapse the passageways?" Supreme Elder Haldir asked.

Leon drained the blood from the rat carcasses and fed it to the pill cauldron while using his Divine Will intricately to keep the rat blood and reactive herbal essence from contacting.

"It still is. You will see." Leon responded vaguely.

At the same time, Aria could be seen flying on her ice-lightning sword in the distance.

Suddenly, she leaped high into the air while manipulating her flying ice-lightning sword to shoot into the sea of rats, penetrating them one after the other.

Arcs of ice-lightning surged from each contact and bounced to nearby rats, causing a chain reaction that scalded every rat with biting coldness.

A short moment later, she landed back on her ice-lightning sword and flew towards one of the passageways to destroy it.

However, she was unable to reach it.

The endless rats poured out from the passageways like water from the floodgates. It was impossible to get through without removing the rats from the equation.

Aria was forced to go back to just killing the rats.

"I'm not sure what you are planning to refine, but wouldn't it be easier to ask the Guardian Spirit to use its roots to help us collapse the passageways?" Supreme Elder Haldir asked doubtfully while killing the rats outside the vine cage.

"No, the surface ground has already become too unstable due to its previous movements. If it draws more roots over, the surface might just collapse on us. Besides, we cannot tie the Guardian Spirit down here." Leon explained.

"Why not?"

Supreme Elder Haldir expressed his confusion.

Leon paused his pill refinement for a moment before glancing at the Supreme Elder in question.

"Aren't we migrating the entire tribe to the Human Domain? Don't tell me you were planning to leave your revered Guardian Spirit behind?"

"Huh? Wait a minute… Oh, my god." Supreme Elder Haldir widened his eyes in shock and asked, "Young prince wants to bring the Guardian Spirit with us? Is that even possible?"

"Why not? Haven't you seen how it moves its tree roots? It definitely can. I guess it'll be the first time to see a migrating tree for you, Marquis Haldir. Better make sure to enjoy the breathtaking sight when the times come."

"Moving its roots is different to moving its entire body… can the Guardian Spirit really support its own weight?" Supreme Elder Haldir was slackjawed.

The Elder Tree's main body was so huge, while its tree roots were so small in comparison. Was it really possible?

The Supreme Elder was in doubt.

However, Leon did not answer the Supreme Elder's following question and focused on completing the last step of his pill refinement.

The exploding pill works by mixing the Demonic Energy contained within the rat blood with the Spirit Energy in spirit herbs, causing a reaction akin to water and fire.

With a few supplementary herbs added, the destructiveness of the reaction would be magnified many folds in an instant.

Of course, the actual mixture within the exploding pills does not take place until the capsule-like pill is pinched.

"The first batch is done. Try pinching one of these before throwing it at the rats." Leon shortly tossed over an exploding pill.

The Supreme Elder Haldir caught the pill before opening his palm and stared at it while asking dazedly, "What if I accidentally crushed it already?"

"Huh? Then throw it quickly—!" Leon barked.

Supreme Elder Haldir reacted instinctively before Leon could even finish warning.

Boom!

The slight delay caused the pill to explode into brilliant flames in midair as waves of hot air quickly swept across the Supreme Elder's face.

However, the Supreme Elder's eyes remained wide open in aghast at the sight before cussing, "What the f*ck!"

Chapter 477 - Alchemists Must Be Gifted Arsonists

"Oh, my lord, f*cking goodness sakes." Supreme Elder Haldir continued to cuss with shock and incredulity before he said helplessly, "A bit of warning next time, please, young prince."

"I did tell you to throw it as soon as you pinch it." Leon shrugged in response.

Shortly after, he chilled the exploding pills to harden the outer coating layer, preventing accidents from happening before storing them in a larger pill bottle.

"Here, take these exploding pills and go nuts." Leon shortly tossed the pill bottle over to Supreme Elder Haldir, giving the person a huge fright.

"Don't worry. These ones won't be as easy to crush as the previous one." Leon chuckled slightly before working on the next batch of pills.

Supreme Elder Haldir was a little dismayed before he recovered and nodded.

The half-blue half-red color gave the exploding pills an appearance similar to candies, but one would be in for one hell of a surprise if they were to consume them—a surprise trip to the netherworld, that is.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions were shortly heard after the Supreme Elder left.

The brilliant burst of flames sent numerous rats squeaking in retreat while their unlucky brethren burned in agony.

The rats were like oil; once set aflame, they would keep burning, even in death, until their bodies that fuel the flames run dry.

As a dweller of the forest, Supreme Elder Haldir was naturally not a fan of the flames.

However, at this moment, he could not help but admire the brilliant flames that burn these wretched vermin in all its beauty.

"The young prince sure is full of surprises. To think small pills like these can produce such large devastation." Supreme Elder Haldir sighed emotionally before glancing at the pill bottle containing roughly three dozen exploding pills.

Boom! Boom!

Most exploding pills were tossed out, burning rats in its wake and quickly clearing a path towards the distant passageways for the Supreme Elder.

Once an area was set aflame, the rats could only avoid it—lest they burn along with their unfortunate brethren!

The flames made their way to one of the passageways, and the rats' advancement was halted by fire, immediately cutting the influx of rats from the said passageway.

Supreme Elder Haldir formed a long blade made from vine armor and immediately slashed the passageway's entrance into pieces, causing it to collapse.

After forcefully closing off the passageway, he made his over to the next closest passageway while clearing the path with the exploding pills in his hands.

Meanwhile, Aria continued to slay rats with uncanny skills and graceful movements that Leon had never seen Aria displayed before.

The longer Leon watched her fight, the more he found her movements familiar as if he had seen them before—in his past life.

Leon's eyes gradually widened.

'No, they're not just familiar. Those are the exact same set of movements Aria uses!" Leon confirmed.

Of course, the Aria he was thinking of was not the one before his eyes but the one engraved in his memories!

'How can Aria know the same set of movements?' Leon pondered.

Although Aria was not performing to the set of intended movements to the same acme of perfection, he could see that she was quickly improving.

His heart was shaken by what he had discovered.

Perhaps, the people of Gaia with spitting images of people from the Divine Realm were more than just people who looked the same?

There seems to be a profound yet deeply hidden and intricately linked relationship between the two.

'I must confront Aria and get to the bottom of this at once after the situation here is dealt with.' Leon decided with a resolute look.

Perhaps, it was time to share secrets of his origins with his loved ones.

Shortly after, he began speeding up his pill refinement process, not intending to stop until he completed a few hundred exploding pills.

Over at the foot of the bridge, rats were being diced to pieces left and right by the 8 Elders.

It was not long before the last batch of evacuating elves made it to the surface before the ground rumbled from the large movements of the tree roots pulling back.

"The elves have evacuated, and the Guardian Spirit have pulled back its roots. Let us regroup with the Supreme Elder and—"

Boom! Boom!

The Elder suddenly paused to look at the sudden explosions rumbling in the distance.

"What on earth is the Supreme Elder tossing at the rats?"

"I don't know, but it's very effective!"

The Elders quickly nodded in agreement, "That's for sure!"

Their eyes flickered with awe.

There were a particular pleasure and enjoyment in watching these wretched rats squirm and burn in agony.

…

Great Forest Outskirts.

A group of informants quickly arrived and greeted, "Third Princess Thessalia!"

"Report!" Princess Thessalia barked after acknowledging the elves' greetings.

"Yes! The surrounding elven warriors have exhausted their powers and began to retreat under their assigned captains' orders. We can no longer control the spread of the forest fire, Your Highness!"

"Understood."

Princess Thessalia nodded.

Shortly after, the group of elves was suddenly startled by the nearby explosions. They quickly realized the source came from the reddish-blue pills the elven warriors were throwing.

"May I ask what those things are, Your Highness?" One of the elves asked while they all gulped in amazement.

Mountains of scorched-black rat carcasses could be seen ahead.

"Those? Those are exploding pills."

"Pills can also be used like this?" The group of elves was both shocked and surprised.

Princess Thessalia nodded and said, "Well, what can I say? Alchemists must be gifted arsonists."

Shortly after, she refocused her eyes sternly. She called over an elven warrior and asked, "What's the inventory on our exploding pills?"

"Report to your highness, we are down to three dozen pills left." The elven warrior answered.

Princess Thessalia nodded.

"I see. Go inform all our warriors that we will be retreating."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Shortly after, a personal guard beside Princess Thessalia asks, "Are we going to leave the Skysilver Beast King to fend for himself?"

Princess Thessalia shortly gazed back into the distance, where the Skysilver Beast King could be seen standing atop the black mountain of rat carcasses without much trouble.

The surrounding sea of rats was unable to come close due to the fires burning in the area.

"The Skysilver Beast King will be fine on its own.." Princess Thessalia said.

Chapter 478 - Faelyn's Resolution

On the Great Forest's southern outskirts, millions of rats were laid to rest as their charred-black carcasses filled up the burning fields like mountains.

Even so, the rat tide was endless. The deaths of their brethren hardly made a dent in their numbers.

The rats circled around outside the periphery of the burning fields while the Skysilver Beast King gazed at them coldly.

"Awooo!"

The three-tailed silver wolf howled and suddenly swept a pile of fresh burning carcasses into the sea of rats before resuming its never-ending battle with the rat tide.

Whether the elves departed and withdraw themselves from the battle or not didn't bother it in the least.

It would still continue to hunt down the rats.

Meanwhile, the 8 Elders regrouped with Supreme Elder Haldir back in the subterranean space below the tribe.

After Leon completed refining several more batches of exploding pills, the 8 Elders were also given the opportunity to play around with the incendiary capsules.

Sometime later, all passageways connected to the subterranean space were eventually sealed by the group.

Patches of burning rat carcasses were laid waste to the area, lighting up the entire subterranean space and exposing the remaining rats moving in the periphery.

"Let us clean up these remaining rats and return to the surface." Supreme Elder Haldir state.

"Yes, Supreme Elder!"

The 8 Elders complied.

Leon joined the cleanup operation with his bone spear, hacking, slashing, and sweeping the rats with one hand.

After killing the rats, he would stab into their carcasses like skewers and throw them over to the nearest burning point to be set aflame and reduce to black ashes.

Rats were known as the carrier of diseases.

Leaving their carcasses lying around would only breed unnecessary problems.

Just as Leon tossed another group of dead rats into the flames, the group in the area suddenly collapsed.

A new passageway leading deeper into the subterranean world was revealed while strands of red mist could be seen escaping the entrance.

Leon's eyes quickly flickered.

He reacted quickly, sealing the passageway with earth manipulation before collecting all the escaped red mist into empty pill bottles with his Divine Will.

As he pondered about whether to explore the passageway and investigate the source of the red mist, Supreme Elder Haldir informed, "Young prince, the rats have all been exterminated."

"Seems like we are done here." Leon casually said.

Supreme Elder Haldir nodded.

Shortly after, Aria's figure was seen landing nearby.

"I'd like to press forward with the migration plan, but the situation outside the Great Forest doesn't look favorably upon us. I wonder if the young prince has a solution to this?" Supreme Elder Haldir asked.

If the tribe were to take everything valuable with them on the journey towards the Human Domain, the load would slow them down.

With the rat tide swarming outside, the tribesmen would only be overwhelmed unless something is done.

Leon pondered for a moment.

His eyes quickly flickered with an idea when he recalled their trip to the Great Forest.

"We will lure the rat tide away to create a safe passage for the tribe to leave the Great Forest. However, this plan will require ample preparations and brave warriors." Leon said.

"Oh? What how are you planning to lure the rat tide away, young prince?"

"We will use… this… and this…" Leon began filling the Supreme Elder Haldir on the details of his idea.

Shortly after, the Supreme Elder furrowed his brows with worry and said, "This plan seems feasible. However, the risks are extremely high."

"With such a large rat tide just outside the Great Forest, there cannot be plans without risks. However, you are right, Marquis Haldir. That's why we will need backup plans. As for these backup plans, it'll involve…"

Leon slowly turned towards the nearby flames.

Supreme Elder Haldir immediately understood the young prince's meaning before he said, "I will go inform the tribe to make their preparations for the departure at once."

With the forest on fire, their time was limited to begin with. It was better to make the preparations early, rather than later.

"Alright."

Leon nodded.

Shortly after Supreme Elder Haldir left with the 8 Elders, Leon turned to Aria and said, "Let us head back to the airship. There's something I want to talk about."

Aria was quickly taken aback.

The words 'something I want to talk about' immediately made her feel apprehensive and worried, like she was in trouble.

Typically, this would only happen girls say it to guys.

Nevertheless, Aria nodded with a serious look, "Alright."

…

Elder Tree's crown, Royal Palace

"Princess Faelyn, you're here." General Paeris greeted after Faelyn arrived at the palace courtyard leading to the Heart of Spring Chamber.

"General Paeris."

Princess Faelyn returned the Elf General's greeting with surprise before she said, "Elders, you're here too."

The four Elders nodded.

"What are you all doing here?" asked Princess Faelyn.

"We noticed something was strange regarding Queen Radelia. However, we were unable to proceed forward to meet her Her Majesty due to the royal guards barring our way." The Elf General explained while gazing at the royal guards.

Princess Faelyn's heart shook subtly.

A feeling of fear compelled her to run and not find out what happened inside the Heart of Spring Chamber.

However, Princess Faelyn steeled her heart and stepped forward, approaching the entrance guarded by the royal guards.

"Your Highness, please turn back. Without His Majesty's permission, no one is allowed to proceed beyond this point." The royal guard immediately said.

Princess Faelyn's expression dropped before she barked, "My father just passed away! On who's authority are you barring my path now?"

"His Majesty did?"

The royal guards questioned with doubt, greatly startled by the Fifth Princess's words. Still, they made way for the Fifth Princess, nonetheless.

"If you head down to the tribe's southern region, you'll quickly find out it's true!" Princess Faelyn stated before making her way down the vine staircase.

At the same time, the Elf General and Elders tried to follow her.

However, Princess Faelyn spat, "No one shall accompany me, nor anyone else is allowed to enter except me!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The royal guards quickly blocked the entrance once more, obstructing the Elf General and Elders from following.

They wrinkled their brows slightly but chose to comply with Princess Faelyn's orders.

Sometime later, Princess Faelyn arrived at the bottom of the vine staircase within the Elder Tree's hollow center, where a huge ashen-old gate stood before her.

After taking a deep breath, Princess Faelyn pushed on the big white doors with her hands.

Chapter 479 - Royal Tragedy

The huge white doors slowly crept open without much resistance from Princess Faelyn's push before another flight of vine stairs were revealed, leading deeper below the surface level.

Princess Faelyn's eyes quickly narrowed with creased brows in repulsion from the subtle foul stench that escaped from the Heart of Spring Chamber's entrance.,

'Something is wrong with the Heart of Spring Chamber! How could the place containing the densest and purest wood elements in the entire Great Forest possess a foul stench? Was the spring contaminated?'

Princess Faelyn quickly discovered.

Her heart quickened with unease, and the dreadful feeling inside her intensified. Princess Faelyn was forced to take in another deep breath and calm herself.

'Whatever lies beyond here, I must find out what it is!'

Faelyn gritted her teeth before taking her first step beyond the entrance, proceeding to enter the Heart of Spring Chamber.

The space beyond the entrance was brightly lit with an overflowing warm green light while numerous small softer glowing green particles of light floated in the air.

However, the source of the brilliant green light came from the glowing green spring at the bottom of the Heart of Spring Chamber.

As Princess Faelyn made her way down, droplets of green liquid could be seen dripping down from the chamber's ceiling and falling into the spring, filling it up.

The green liquid was the concentration of the Wood Energy that exists within the green light particles mixed with the Elder Tree's Wood Essence Extract.

Undoubtedly, the Heart of Spring Chamber was the ideal location, whether it is to push for a breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm or cultivating in general.

Wood-type Awakeners would experience a significant boost to their cultivation speed by submerging themselves inside the pure wood essence spring.

Princess Faelyn suddenly halted her steps upon arriving at the bottom of the Heart of Spring Chamber, stunned from the sight before her.

Shortly after, tears welled up in her eyes before overflowing, dripping down her soft cheeks ceaselessly.

The Heart of Spring Chamber's walls and ground have been ravaged by numerous claw marks, indicating a big battle had occurred here.

However, the claw marks did not belong to any beast nor insect that might have unwittingly stumbled inside the Heart of Spring Chamber through some secret passage.

Instead, the claw marks belonged to unclipped elven nails like they had been grown for years.

In other words, it was the work of elves—and those elves were none other than her eldest brother and second eldest sister.

They have died inside the arms of her mother, the Elf Queen, with both their hearts crushed. At the same time, their teeth sunk into her mother's shoulders.

Various parts of her mother's body were also missing, like they had been gnawed off by her eldest brother and second eldest sister.

Evidently, something had possessed the minds of her eldest brother and second eldest sister to try eating their mother.

Despite that, her mother passed away with a peaceful expression while she was holding her dear children.

This broke Faelyn's heart further like someone was trying trying to wrench out her heart. She collapsed to the ground in tears and cried her lungs out.

"Uwahhhh! Mother! Brother! Sister!"

Numerous vines wrapped around the three bodies and bound them firmly together. Evidently, this was the Elf Queen's doing.

The Elf Queen was a Transcendent while the Crown Prince and Second Princess were only 9-Star Awakeners.

If they fought all out, the Crown Prince and Second Princess would still not be the Elf Queen's match even if they joined forces.

Evidently, the Elf Queen had held back against her children, which landed the three in their present state.

However, the one who dealt the final blow, crushing the hearts of the Crown Prince and Second Princess, was not the Elf Queen but someone else.

Princess Faelyn sobbed on the ground for a long time until tears dried up. She understood that her father was likely forced to kill her eldest brother and second eldest sister.

The frenzied expression on her eldest brother and second eldest sister could still be seen—it was the same expression as people who have gone berserk under the influence of Demonic Energy.

She had seen the same expressions of the faces of the berserk humans back at the Great Wall.

After some time, Faelyn got on her feet and wiped her swollen eyes.

She wanted to close her eldest brother and second eldest sister's eyes to give them rest peacefully. However, even such a simple wish could not be achieved.

The body of the three people had all been transmogrified into plants. Leaves with branches and curds sprouting from their heads while their flesh has wood-like textures.

'Father also became like this after he passed away...'

Faelyn wrinkled her brows.

She had never heard of elves becoming like this after they die. Thus, something had changed in recent days that caused this change.

After offering some prayers to her mother and elder siblings while performing a few kowtows as a sign of filial piety, Faelyn got back to her feet and gazed around the Heart of Spring Chamber.

Shortly after, she locked her gaze on what she guessed she was looking for.

Behind the big spring hid a small passageway.

Without carefully looking, the small passageway would be easily missed due to the fountain of wood essence springwater flowing down like a small waterfall from the higher spring pool.

The foul stench became noticeably more pungent as she drew closer to the small passageway behind the spring.

On the other end of the small passageway lies the hidden chamber her father had mentioned to her before passing away in a gruesome manner.

Inside the hidden chamber, she found it to be a private cultivation chamber. A few books and a desk could be seen on the side.

The Heart of Spring Chamber was formed naturally.

However, Faelyn could immediately tell the hidden chamber was constructed by someone, just like the vine staircases.

Faelyn did not immediately enter the hidden chamber.

Strands of red mist could be seen floating in the air before here. It was not long before Faelyn located the source of where it came from.

It was seeping out from gaps in the vine wall on the other end of the hidden chamber, exposing traces of a deeper passageway.

However, it had been evidently sealed up by the vine wall.

Chapter 480 - The Elf King's Body

"Supreme Elder! What are your plans for the tribe? Please do not keep us in the dark. We heard that we will be moving to the homeland of our Savior!"

An elf shouted from amongst the crowd after quickly discovering the Supreme Elder flying to the surface from the subterranean space.

"Yes, Supreme Elder! Please tell us your plans! What will we do from here?"

"What is happening outside the Great Forest, Supreme Elder? Please tell us!"

The crowd quickly joined in voicing their doubts and worries.

At the same time, Princess Thessalia led her personal guards and elven warriors from the Great Forest Outskirts and returned to the southern edge of the tribe.

Furthermore, tribesmen from the other parts of Elvengarde had gathered towards the southern area to investigate the commotion.

At that moment, at least 200-thousand pair of elven eyes stared at the Supreme Elder hovering in the skies with question looks while the Supreme Elder gazed back at them.

"The Savior?"

Supreme Elder Haldir was quickly confused by some of their words.

After a short moment, he understood their meaning and chuckled, "Hahaha! That's right, the entire tribe will be moving into the homeland of the Savior!"

The Supreme Elder's loud words spread far and wide. All the distant elves in the region heard him audibly.

At the same time, Leon was stunned after hearing the Supreme Elder's words on his way up with Aria in his arms.

"The Savior is here!"

"Thank you for saving my life, Savior!"

Upon Leon's appearance, the elves erupted into booming cheers while the others took the chance to express their gratitude.

"The coming days of the Cataclysm is upon us! The Great Forest has kept us safe for hundreds of years, but for longer, it shall not! The coming Cataclysm is like nothing like the past! There will be great chaos! There will be great danger! Naturally, there will be death! Only the Savior's homeland can keep us safe!"

Leon smiled wryly, thinking the Supreme Elder Haldir was turning him into some mascot for the tribe or something.

Even so, Leon did not interrupt the Supreme Elder and continued to listen quietly.

"That is why we must move there! The lands beyond the forest have already become infested by a rat tide, turning it into a place of death! Once the forest fire dies out, the vermin will swarm our tribe! Time is of the essence! We must be quick to move out!"

Once the Supreme Elder said this, the unrest within the tribe was to be expected. Many elves panicked and tried to move but failed to do so due to the densely packed crowd, causing great disturbance.

Many wonder how they could leave if the outside has become a land of death due to the swarming rat tide.

"But fret not! There is a way for us to make it past the rat tide! More importantly, we have the Savior with us! Even so, it would not be easy—not unless we stay united and work together orderly!"

"Ou!"

The crowd roared with raised fists in response, understanding the importance of the Supreme Elder's message.

At the same time, Leon's cheeks twitched profusely from the cringes, causing Aria to giggle quietly in his arms.

Her mischievous giggles caused Leon to squeeze her supple rear.

"Ah!"

Aria exclaimed with surprise before throwing Leon a dirty look—only to see him respond back with a smirk. She smacked him lightly on the chest with a pout.

Unaware of their actions, Supreme Elder Haldir continued to speak to the crowd, "Go now! Pack your valuables! Take only what you can bring! But do it orderly! Do not push your fellow tribes, or there will be severe consequences! We gather in the west of Elvengarde!"

Shortly after receiving the Supreme Elder's warning, the crowd began to disperse obediently. Only the ones met with misfortunes in the southern area remained behind with concerns.

Many of them had lost their homes to the crevices and fractures that appeared. Anything of value that they owned would have already fallen down to the subterranean space.

"You all do not need to worry. Your living expenses will be covered by me until you are all able to settle down in the Crawford Kingdom." Leon said to the crowd.

"Thank you, Savior!"

The remaining crowd quickly cheered.

Shortly after, Princess Thessalia approached with her people from below and asked, "What orders do you have for my warriors and I, Supreme Elder?"

Supreme Elder Haldir did not answer but looked towards Leon.

Leon shortly nodded and said, "Princess Thessalia, please round up all the able warriors in the tribe and gather at the foot of the Elder Tree. In the short time that we have, they must all learn how to fly."

"I will supervise their training, of course." Supreme Elder Haldir added.

Although Princess Thessalia was rather disgruntled that Leon was giving her orders, she still nodded, "Understood."

However, she only gave the orders to her personal guards and did not leave personally.

She had yet to understand the events that transpired in the area. After a brief inquiry, she quickly understood everything from the Supreme Elder's words.

"I see... So, it turned out like that." Princess Thessalia said with a hint of sorrow, anticipating as much.

Seeing as the Supreme Elder had yet to execute her father, she requested, "Where is my father? I would like to see him one last time."

"He is right over—" The Supreme Elder's hand suddenly froze.

The direction he pointed was empty. Only now did he realized the Elf King was not bound where he should be.

Did King Erendriel escape?

However, Leon communicated with the Guardian Spirit and the broccoli—Ahem, the Elf King's body was brought over via the Elder Tree's roots.

Everyone was quickly appalled.

"What happened?" Princess Thessalia inquired, hiding the grief and anger in her heart. She did not believe that the Supreme Elder would just lie to her.

Supreme Elder Haldir frowned and said, "Did the Guardian Spirit do this?"

The Guardian Spirit immediately rumbled in discontent,

After Leon communicated with the Guardian Spirit with his divine sense, he nodded understandingly and stated, "The Guardian Spirit has nothing to do with the Elf King's condition."

"Then… it must be the backlash from that secret ability to transform Wood Energy into physical strength." Supreme Elder Haldir shortly guessed.

"It seems the ability to forcefully push one's combat prowess to the next stage of cultivation is not without its side effects. However, this sort of price is too great…" Leon commented with a frown.

He sent out his divine sense to study the Elf King's transmogrified body before he was quickly startled by his discovery.

'There's actually so much Demonic Energy inside the Elf King's body? How did this person not become berserk?' Leon's eyes flickered.

No other expression was shown on the surface as he pondered deeply.

At the same time, Princess Thessalia was confused. She never heard of her father having such a secret ability.

"Secret ability? My father did?" She asked.

Supreme Elder Haldir nodded.

Princess Thessalia furrowed her brows deeply in response before she suddenly thought of someone and began looking around.

After failing to locate the person, Princess Thessalia quickly asked, "Where is my little sister?"

Chapter 481 - Aria's Misunderstanding

"Where is my little sister?" Princess Thessalia asked.

Leon glanced at Aria.

Although he knew Aria had been hunting down rats with him in the subterranean space, she was, after all, the last person he saw with Princess Faelyn.

Perhaps, she had some idea where the princess might have gone.

Aria frowned for a moment before she shook her head, "I last saw Princess Faelyn leaving for the surface with the evacuating elves. I don't know where she is now, but maybe one of the elves would know?"

Shortly after, Princess Thessalia lowered her head to gaze at the crowd around her.

"Does anyone know where the Fifth Princess is?" She asked.

The crowd quickly broke into a heated discussion amongst themselves about the Fifth Princess's whereabouts.

Sometime later, the crowd cleared a path for a female elf carrying a baby.

The person made her way over to Princess Thessalia before she answered, "The Fifth Princess left me this baby to look after before heading to the crown, Your Highness."

"I understand. Thank you for the information." Princess Thessalia nodded before saying, "I will go look for her now."

Shortly after Princess Thessalia departed, The female elf cradled the baby gently in her arms and prepared to disappear back into the crowd.

However, Leon suddenly called out, "Hold on."

"Can I do something for you, Savior?" The female elf asked eagerly with anticipation.

Leon landed on the ground near the female elf before Aria parted away from him considerately, giving him room to talk with the person carrying the baby.

At the same time, Leon bit speechless at the adoration and reverence he received from the female elf and surrounding elves' gazes.

How was this a simple prophecy from a famous story? It was crazy enough to become a goddamn religion!

Leon shook his head wryly.

"Have you checked if this baby still has any family left?" He inquired.

The female elf was surprised by Leon's question, but she quickly recovered.

"I have, Savior! However, it's rather tricky to determine the baby's family from just the baby's appearance alone. After all, a few families with infants had gone missing when the ground collapsed. Several people have stepped forward, claiming to be the baby's parent."

"I see…"

Leon rubbed his forehead.

He did not expect the elves to have trouble over this matter. It was good that he had brought the body of the baby's mother with him.

Leon flicked his wrist before the mother's body appeared from his storage space.

"This is the baby's mother. See if you can find the baby's father."

"So it's Viessa and Haemir's child." The female elf muttered with surprise, recognizing the person the Savior laid gently onto the ground.

"Yes, Savior! I will definitely—"

However, the female elf did not finish her words before a young male elf cried out from the crowd, "Viessa!"

"Everyone, please make way! That's my wife and child!"

Shortly after, Haemir made his way through the crowd and dropped to his knees on the ground, hugging the Viessa's cold body while breaking out into tears.

"Viessa!"

The male elf cried.

"Your child, Haemir." The female elf offered the baby to the male elf.

Haemir took hold of his child from the female elf's hands before he expressed his gratitude while sobbing, "Thank you, Daethie! Thank you, Savior! Thank you for bringing my wife and child back to me!"

"Know that your wife died protecting your child to the best of her ability. Even in death, she did not let her child come in harm's way."

Haemir held his child and wife more dearly to his chest with both hands and sobbed loudly.

As the crowd saw this scene, they silently mourned for Haemir's loss. At the same time, they came to have greater respect for the Savior—almost to the point of idolizing and worship.

Shortly after, Leon gestured to Aria before they took off to the skies together.

"Continue with the plan, Marquis Haldir." Leon said.

Supreme Elder Haldir nodded.

The crowd watched their Savior fly towards the airship in the sky with heartfelt emotion. It was not bad to follow this person.

…

"Your Highness, You're back!" The captain and crew greeted after Leon landed on the airship with Aria in his arms.

Leon nodded.

After taking out the modified pendant device and activating its anti-suppression function on the airship, he ordered, "Take us southward out of the forest, captain."

"Are we leaving by ourselves, Your Highness?" The captain quickly asked with surprise and doubt.

The Great Forest was burning, and the rat tide flooded the plains outside. Were they really leaving all these elves behind?

Leon shook his head.

"No, we are going rat fishing."

"Rat fishing?"

The crew was quickly taken aback, obviously never hearing such a term before. Of course, they would have never heard of the term before—Leon had made it up on the spot.

Leon nodded.

"I-I understand, Your Highness!" The captain said before barking out orders to the crew to quickly get to work.

They will find out eventually.

Initially, Leon brought the two rat carcasses on deck to study, but that was already completed when they visited the forest outskirts.

Nevertheless, the two rat carcasses were still useful for making more exploding pills.

Even so, two carcasses worth of exploding pills would be enough to support the elven tribe's journey to the Great Wall, should things go south.

If he had thought a few steps ahead and saved a few more carcasses instead of burning them all in subterranean space, then they would not have to make this trip.

However…

'This is fine. We can go scout the situation outside the forest ahead of time.' Leon silently mused.

Everything is working out fine.

Shortly after, the airship propellers began rotating, turning the ship around to face southward before heading off.

Aria tugged on Leon's arm and whispered nervously, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Let's talk privately in the cabin," Leon stated, thinking such an important discussion should not be overheard by others.

However, Aria misunderstood his intention and blushed with her head lowered, "Okay…"

Chapter 482 - Quickie

Inside the airship cabin

Shortly after Leon locked the cabin doors, Aria quickly 'understood' his action and began undressing Leon, starting with his lion-headed cloak.

Leon turned around in surprise and asked, "What are you doing, Aria??"

"Eh?"

Aria was startled and asked confusedly with a slightly bashful expression, "Did you want to do… that?"

"Huh? Did I say that?" Leon responded, taken aback.

"You said you wanted to… uh…"

Aria's face quickly flushed with embarrassment and shame as she lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.

At the same time, Leon quickly realized that he should not make his women feel like this. It takes courage for them to be open about these matters with him.

He should not make them feel ashamed.

"Uh, yeah… I wanted to talk with you… Ahem, in bed." Leon coughed and quickly said before wrapping his arms around the surprised Aria, pulling her into his embrace.

After breathing in the fragrant scent from her hair, tainted with the pungent smell of rat blood, Leon swept Aria off her feet and carried her in his arms.

"It's been a while since we were last intimate. Let's take a bath together." Leon said, bringing her over to an empty space beside the cabin bed.

"Mmm."

Aria nodded docilely in his arms.

Her shame and embarrassment transformed into shyness and bashfulness.

A wooden bathtub was summoned from his Worldspace before it was filled with ice and melted into warm water.

Once the temperature was set and herbal essence with cleansing properties was added, the clothes shortly slid off their bodies before they entered the bath together.

Aria regained her confidence and initiated a passionate kiss; their soft lips touched, and their tongue intertwined.

After Leon sat her on his lap in the water, his hands roamed her body playfully before settling on her supple white rabbits.

He drew circles before lowering his head to give light nibbles on the tips, sending a wave of pleasure rushing through Aria's body as she moaned while biting her lips, "Mmm~!"

Without needing to scrub each other's body, the herbal essence with cleansing properties mixed in the bathwater worked their magic and removed the filth from their body for them.

After playing around for some time, enjoying his light snacks in the water, Leon moved onto the main dish.

Aria wrapped her arms around his neck and shivered with delight as they connected. The pure euphoria made her gasp and moan with unrestraint.

She was unable to suppress them.

"Ahhh~!"

It was hardly the time for such passionate acts of lovemaking.

Still, Leon deemed it will be alright if they do not lose themselves to carnal pleasure and overindulgence, just make it quick with a single round or two.

A quickie, in other words.

Sometime later, Leon carried Aria out of the bathtub after climaxing twice before storing the bathtub away in his Worldspace.

"Are you planning to keep that bathwater?" Aria asked curiously while drying her hair. A crimson glow could still be seen on her face, making her looked refreshed like the blooming flowers.

"Huh?"

Leon was taken aback for a moment before shaking his head and said, "No, I will dispose of it later. I do not have any strange fetish in our dirty water."

He gave Aria a quick smack on her supple rear, causing her hips to jiggle while she exclaimed with a light giggle, "Ahn~! Hehe!"

Seeing Aria brimming with energy, Leon smiled wryly.

Women and men were not created to be equals.

When Leon thought about it, women bloomed brightly like flowers the more they climax. On the other hand, men become shriveled like wilted flowers.

They adorned fresh sets of clothing taken from their Interspatial Storages after they finished drying before Leon pulled Aria with surprise, falling onto the cabin bed together.

Side by side, Aria gazed into Leon's eyes with a sweet smile before she made a sneak attack on his right cheeks with a light peck.

She became abashed shortly after.

Leon could not help but pulled her into his embrace and cuddled her in bed, simply enjoying each other's warmth without any other intentions.

Aria rubbed her cheeks against his chest before positioning herself comfortably.

Sometime later, Leon suddenly said, "Let's talk."

Aria was startled for a moment, but she quickly recovered and solemnly nodded, "Alright."

She was unsure what Leon wanted to talk about, but she could at least confirm there was no problem in their relationship with their intimate lovemaking session earlier.

This gave her the confidence and courage to face whatever serious topic that Leon wanted to talk about with her.

Leon pondered for a moment, trying to figure out the right words to tackle the topic. However, he felt it was better to just be straightforward.

"Do you believe in past lives?" Leon asked.

Aria quickly wrinkled her brows.

She recalled her experience and encounter with Aria White in the mirror world during her breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm.

Although they shared the exact spitting image of each other in their youth, they seemed to be two fundamentally different people.

It was hard to say that she was the reincarnation of Aria White of the Divine Realm. After all, how could the two of them exist simultaneously if they were one person?

Even so, there was undeniable proof of the intricate link between them—like the memories she absorbed from Aria White.

If she had to explain this connection, it was like the connection that is shared between the clones and the host.

In conclusion, she was not Aria White's reincarnation.

However, perhaps it was different for Leon?

Aria's heart suddenly shook when she recalled Aria White's parting words. Aria White seemed so sure that Leon was one and the same person as the Leon Escladus of the Divine Realm, rather than a clone who inherited Leon Escladus's memories.

"I do. I firmly believe it." Aria said.

It was Leon's turn for his heart to become agitated as he asks, "Then you are…"

"No, I am not Aria White's reincarnation."

Aria's firm denial made Leon's face lose its color in an instance.

He missed the person dearly, but it was impossible to return to the Divine Realm to see the person again with his current strength, nor did he know the way.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped back at Aria and asked, "But how do you know that name?"

Chapter 483 - The Host And Clone?

How does Aria know about Aria White if she was not the person's reincarnation? Where else could she have learned this name?

Leon was confused.

"I am not Aria White's reincarnation, but I have inherited her memories…" Aria explained.

"Inherited her memories…? But that is—"

"It's not the same as reincarnation." Aria quickly shook her head and said, "During my breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm, my consciousness was brought into this strange world. It was there that I met Aria White."

Aria felt some sorrow when she recalled her experience with Aria White before she continued explaining, "The world seems to be a construct of Aria White's memories. I was about to learn about the events of the Divine Realm there…"

She felt uneasy recounting the next bit of information, but she quickly steeled her resolve. Leon would not want her to hide anything from him.

"I also found out that Aria White took her life after returning to the Divine Pill Kingdom and learning of your death… However, her soul was preserved in that strange memory world for many years…"

"But in order to let me leave, she willingly allowed herself to be absorbed into me when our bodies made contact… Now only her memories exist inside me…"

Hearing news of Aria White's death, Leon felt pained in his heart. Tears quickly filled his eyes but refused to overflow.

Even so, his face paled, and his body felt lethargic.

"Why must you be so stupid? Why did you take your own life…?" Leon spoke to himself with sorrow, seemingly lost in his own world.

'So Aria White was no longer in the world as well…'

Seeing Leon like this, Aria also felt like someone was gripping onto her own heart. She had never seen him so weak and lost before.

At the same time, she began to wonder if Leon only loves her because she resembled the Aria White that he loved.

The confidence she had suddenly disappeared and only insecurity remained behind, gripping her heart. Was Leon's feelings for her fake all along?

She shivered at the thought and buried her face deeply into Leon's chest with her arms wrapped around him, feeling she would lose him if she did not hold onto him tightly.

Leon was pulled out of his melancholy.

He quickly realized the emotions and insecurities that might be plaguing Aria's heart and mind.

After a long mental sigh, he closed his eyes sorrowfully before embracing Aria more tightly in his arms.

Aria White was gone, but Aria Rivera was still here, in his arms, where she was close and not going anywhere.

It seemed like everything tying him back to the Divine Realm was gone. There was no one left in the Divine Realm that was close to him.

The only ones left behind were his enemies—enemies that must be killed at all cost! If they did not lust after his father's treasure, the tragedy could have been avoided!

Everything stemmed from their greed!

His path was clear.

After the flicker of killing intent disappeared from Leon's eyes, he glanced down at Aria and rubbed her head.

He moved her bangs and planted a warm kiss on her forehead before aligning his eyes to meet with her.

"I had my doubts, but I never once tried to push my feelings for Aria White onto you. I know that would have been unfair for you. Just know that whether it is you or Aria White, I love you both. My feelings for you have been and will always be real, okay?" Leon said.

Although he felt hypocritical saying this considering his love was divided, it is what it is.

Aria held his hand on her cheeks and nodded with happy tears flowing down her cheeks, "Mm!"

They were not the best nor the most romantic words to hear, but they were the words she wanted to her most.

The insecurity in her was dispelled in an instance.

They resumed enjoying each other's warm embrace for some time before he said, "Tell me more about your encounter with Aria White in that memory world. Why are you so sure you weren't Aria White's reincarnation? I want to hear your thoughts on this matter."

Aria playfully drew circles on Leon's chest before her expression suddenly became serious after hearing his question.

"Reincarnation is the process of the soul ferrying into a new body to be reborn anew. In this regard, I can't be Aria White's reincarnation if we are two people existing in the same timeline. Instead, it feels like our connection was that between the host and clone. Except, who is the host and who is the clone is undetermined."

"Hmm…"

Leon hummed a low tune in deep thought. Aria's point of view really made him think about why the world might be like this?

"If we follow this line of thought, then there is a possibility of everyone having a copy in this vast expanse of a world." Leon inserted his opinion, building on Aria's idea.

He had thought of this possibility before but no way to confirm with just himself.

Now that there was also Aria, who also possessed knowledge of the Divine Realm, maybe they will be able to figure out some things.

"Speaking of this…" Aria suddenly recalled her fight with one of the foreign Transcendent and said, "I met the copy of Judas Gahfrit in this world…"

Leon's eyes immediately snapped wide open after hearing her words and gazed at her solemnly in question with both his hands gripped on her shoulders, "Where and when did you meet him?"

"Ahh…" Aria's softly exclaimed in pain.

Aria's expression crumpled from the strength of Leon's grip, causing him to be startled and release his grip in apology, "Sorry."

"Ptui!"

Aria pouted before sticking her tongue out at him. Shortly after, she said, "He was the younger Transcendent that assaulted father back in the kingdom. I killed him on the way."

"So it was that person… It's good that he is dead." Leon nodded with a light smile before reaching out to caress Aria's head.

"This is all thanks to you."

"Hehe!"

Aria enjoyed Leon's doting.

But then she suddenly frowned and asked, "However, I realized too late and didn't destroy his parting soul in time. Would this cause us trouble in the future?"

Chapter 484 - We Are One

Looking at Aria's cute little frown, Leon moved his hands over and eased it with his thumb massage playfully.

Despite his actions and expressions, he had not gotten over the news of Aria White's death. In fact, he probably will not be able to.

Even so, he could only bury the sorrow deep inside him. There were so many things that must be done, and no time to wallow in his sadness.

After pondering Aria's question, Leon said, "If Judas' soul crossover to the Divine Realm and merge with Judas Gahfrit's soul, allowing him to learn about this world, it could indeed be a source of future trouble…"

"However, the Divine Realm has no knowledge of this world despite people dying every day… this includes powerful figures. So, the chances of that happening is unlikely… Even in the unlikelihood that it does happen, there is not much we can do about it for now."

Aria nodded.

Suddenly, she thought of something.

If the Leon was the same Leon Escladus of the Divine Realm, what about the original Leon Bradford she remembered in their middle school years?

Furthermore, which of the two was she in love with? She became confused with her own feelings and could not help but frown.

His situation seems to be different from hers and Aria White.

"H-hubby…"

"Hm? What is it?"

Leon studied Aria's change in expression.

"Which Leon are you? Are you Leon Escladus of the Divine Pill Kingdom, or are you Leon Crawford of the Crawford Empire…?" Aria asked with doubt, not sure what kind of answer she was hoping for.

"Would your feelings change if I was one or the other?" Leon smiled.

Aria furrowed her brows deeply.

She liked the boy from middle school, Leon Crawford, but the one she had been with was possibly Leon Escladus, the reincarnated. But if it is also true, then what happened to the original Leon Crawford?

Did he die?

Aria felt lost when she thought of that.

Seeing her like this, Leon smiled and no longer kept her in the dark as he says, "Whether it is Leon Crawford or Leon Escladus, they are both me—or I am both of them. We are one."

"Huh?"

Aria widened her eyes in surprise.

The confusion in her heart became stronger, rather than less.

How can two people become one person? If Leon Escladus reincarnated into Leon Crawford's body and inherited the person's memories, this does not make him Leon Crawford.

"How can you be both Leons at the same time if you are two different people?" Aria asked.

"My situation is a little special compared to yours and Aria White, Aria." Leon smiled and explained, "I could say that we were originally two different people. However, our souls have merged to become one. Neither of us has died and become inherited memories of the other…"

"…So, this is why I am both Leon Escladus and Leon Crawford. They are both me, and I am both them. We are one. There is nothing wrong with this saying."

Leon smiled.

While he was explaining to Aria, he also answered some of his own doubts regarding himself.

Right, the original soul of Leon Crawford never died. He was on the brink of death but lived due to the arrival of Leon Escladus' soul and the Divine Book of Life.

He was confused for a long time regarding this matter, but the veiled fog was finally cleared.

One cannot see the whole picture if they are inside of it.

However, it is a different story if they are outside of the picture or have someone else outside to look at the picture for them.

"I see… you are both of them…" Aria said.

She felt Leon's explanation was the most ideal answer to her dilemma. She could not choose between one and the other, but everything fits perfectly if they were one and the same.

As the two cuddled in bed together, they took turns inquiring and listening to each other's experiences during the time they were not together.

Sometime later, Leon separated from Aria and said, "I'm glad we had this talk."

"I'm glad too," Aria said.

Not only did they feel like their bonds have become stronger after learning more about each other, but they also found a common goal to strive for.

The mystery of the world and the truth behind it—their strong curiosity compel them to understand its secrets.

Why was the world built the way it is?

"Let's head out. There's much work to be done." Leon stated objectively with a smile.

Aria smiled back sweetly, "Alright."

Shortly after, the two returned to the deck.

"Your Highness, we will be exiting the Great Forest shortly." The captain informed before giving out his warning, "Everyone, brace yourselves."

"Aye, aye, captain."

The crew answered.

Right up ahead, the thick clouds of smothering black smoke produced by the burning forest could be seen filling up the airspace before them.

As the airship flew straight for the billowing clouds of black smoke, Leon casually waved his hand and parted the black clouds with his Divine Will, creating a clear path ahead.

Swoosh~!

The crew gazed at the walls of black smoke on either side of the airship as they flew past. The captain and crew sighed emotionally.

They were impressed by the prince's ability.

After passing the black smoke cloud, the airship shortly exited the Great Forest, and the situation outside was laid bare to their sights.

The endless rat tide filled the vast plains, painting the greenery in grey.

Leon gazed down at the black batch on the surface below where the rats had been burned to death by numerous rounds of exploding pills.

The Skysilver Beast King could still be seen battling the rats intensely within the burned area after the flames died out.

As if sensing Leon's gaze, the Skysilver Beast King glanced up at him before it howled excitedly.

Its momentary distraction allowed dozens of rats to leap onto its body and bite into its flesh, causing it to growl angrily with a body roll before sweeping them away with tails.

Leon was taken aback back on the airship, but he did not think too deeply into the Skysilver Beast King's excitement.

"Time to go rat fishing."

Chapter 485 - Ice Lotus Sword Formation

"Lower our altitude, captain."

"Y-yes, Your Highness?"

The captain responded confusedly before asking, "how low do you want the airship to fly, Your Highness?"

"Not that low, don't worry. Just low enough to attract the rats, but still out of their reach." Leon stated.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The captain complied.

Although the captain did not know what the royal prince was planning, he just needed to follow the prince's orders.

It was not like the prince will get them killed… probably.

"That giant silver wolf wouldn't attack us, would it?" A crewmate gulped while looking at the massive body of the Skysilver Beast King below.

Another crewmate followed the person's gaze and quickly shivered, "I hope not. It looks very powerful!"

"Of course, it is powerful! That's a Transcendent-level beast, the Skysilver Beast King!" Another crewmate informed.

The two crewmates quickly jumped in fright.

Shortly after, the airship propeller's booming noise quickly attracted the rat tide's attention as they gazed up at the airship, slowly descending towards them.

Squeak! Squeak!

A small portion of the rat tide was quickly drawn over as they began leaping towards the descending airship while the majority continued to rush after the Skysilver Beast King.

Evidently, the Skysilver Beast King's massive fleshly body was more attractive to the hunger-crazed berserk rats than the body of steel flying overhead with few people onboard.

Waves after waves leaped at the airship but failed to come close to the airship as it continued to descend.

After reaching a certain distance from the ground, the captain quickly ordered the crew to stop the descent and hold their altitude.

"How is the altitude, Your Highness?" The captain asked before nervously adding, "Do we need to go lower?"

"No need."

Leon shook his head and said, "It's perfect."

The airship hovered just out of the numerous leaping rats' reach and looked like the airship was sailing atop the sea of rats.

Squeak! Squeak!"

The endless squeaking made the crew covered their ears as if it was the thunderous weather of the raging sea shouting at them.

Leon leaped onto the airship's side railing, and the Tier 4 Bone Bear quickly flashed into his firm grip before he shot the bone spear at the sea of leaping rats.

Swish—!

The bone spear pierced several rats before he recalled the bone spear with his Divine Will like he was harpooning flying fishes in the sea.

As the bone spear flew back with the caught rats, the black spear flickered into his other hand before he also sent it flying out.

"So, this is rat fishing…" The captain muttered.

He did not know whether to be speechless or amazed by the prince's creativity. Seeing what the royal prince was doing, rat fishing seemed to be quite the apt term for it.

Leon stopped at four rounds of rat fishing and piled the dozen rat carcasses in the corner with the other two carcasses on the deck after killing them.

The pill cauldron and spirit herbs were shortly pulled out from his Worldspace before Leon proceeded to begin his pill refinement of exploding pills.

"I will fetch the rats for you," Aria stated.

"Thank you, Aria."

Leon nodded.

However, Aria suddenly paused her step. She shook her head before asking, "Is there any need for that between us?"

"I suppose not," Leon responded with a smile after a moment.

Aria smiled back.

Shortly after, she conjured her ice-lightning sword and took off from the deck on her sword, flying over the sea of mindless leaping rats.

She did not want to stand around idly while Leon is doing all the work. Rather than watching and doing nothing, it was better to kill the rats and toss some over from time to time when Leon needs more carcasses for their blood.

The Tier 3 Steel Sword refined by Leon shortly flashed into Aria's hand before she raised the steel sword towards the heavens and conjured additional ice-lightning swords into her surroundings.

One by one, the ice-lightning swords began to appear.

It was not long before 36 ice-lightning swords appeared around Aria. Unlike the Tier 3 Steel Sword that cannot be controlled via her thoughts, the set of 36 ice-lightning swords could.

After all, they were made from her ice-lightning powers.

Shortly after, the set of 36 ice-lightning swords separated into layers, forming three rings of swords that began revolving quickly around Aria.

While the crew observed Aria's action from the airship curiously, they noticed the revolving sword rings took on a shape similar to the lotus.

At the same time, Leon paused his work of draining the rat blood from the carcasses to glanced over at this sight.

His eyes quickly flickered with surprise.

"This is… the Ice Lotus Sword Formation from the Ice Phoenix Divine Sect?" Leon muttered.

The Ice Lotus Sword Formation of the Ice Phoenix Divine Sect was a technique that required 36 ordinary disciples working in tandem with their flying swords to pull off.

A hint of sorrow flickered across Leon's eyes at the reminder of Aria White, but it quickly disappeared as it came.

Divine Kings like Aria White could definitely pull off this difficult technique by themselves with their strong souls, but can Aria Rivera do the same?

Although Awakeners had lower requirements to pull off this technique due to their affinity with the World Laws, Leon could not understand why Aria was attempting this difficult technique.

Condensing ice-lightning power into 36 solid ice-lightning swords would have drained a lot of her energy.

'She's trying to improve by pushing herself.' Leon figured after pondering for some time.

Shortly after understanding her intention, Leon stopped paying attention to Aria and resumed his delayed work of refining exploding pills.

Aria took some time to adapt to controlling the 36 ice-lightning swords before she made them descend towards the numerous rats below.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

The rats leaped into the three descending sword rings and killed themselves, diced into numerous pieces like a meat grinder as the Ice Lotus Sword Formation continued to make its descent.

Thousands of Wingrats were annihilated in an instance!

Chapter 486 - Skysilver's Behavior

After the crew overcame their initial fear of the rat tide, they watched Aria Rivera slaughter numerous rats with ease like she was cutting down weeds.

The lives of rats were too cheap.

"Haiz, you don't get to see Transcendents fight often." A crewmate sighed with amazement at the breathtaking sight.

The crewmate beside him nodded, "Right, better keep our eyes peeled and enjoy the sight while we can."

"Of course!"

As Aria controlled the Ice Lotus Sword Formation to slaughter thousands of rats, she would descend and stab a few rats with her Tier 3 Steel Sword and send them Leon's way from time to time.

After draining the blood from the rat carcasses, Leon tossed them off the airship and resumed his pill refinement.

Within minutes, a batch of few dozen exploding pills was completed before Leon cooled them down and stored them into empty pill bottles.

As the idle crew watched Aria kill rats from the airship's side railing, they suddenly noticed the prince making his way over.

"Is there something you need, Your Highness?" One of them asked respectfully.

"Not really." Leon shook his head and said, "But you all look bored, so I will give you some work. Here, take this and go play with them."

The bottle of exploding pills was shortly passed over to them.

As the crew had yet to witness the magic of the exploding pills, they gazed at the pill bottle curiously before asking, "What do you want just to do with this, Your Highness? Do we eat them?"

"If you eat them, you will die and blow up the entire airship along with you," Leon said with a teasing smile while picturing the powerful blast caused by the chain reaction of all the exploding pills going off.

"What?"

The crew was immediately shocked and stepped away from the person holding onto the exploding pill bottle like he was holding a hot potato.

At the same time, the person's hands could be seen shaking nervously before he asked with dry lips, "Y-You're joking, right? Your Highness?"

"Nope! These are called exploding pills. You pinch them until you feel the crack before quickly throwing them away." Leon explained after recalling the incident with Supreme Elder Haldir.

He took out an exploding pill and demonstrated it for the crew to see by doing exactly as he had explained before tossing it into the rat tide below.

Boom!

The loud explosion quickly startled the crew, causing them to jump in fright at the sight of the quick burst of flames swallowing hundreds of rats in an instance.

"Holy sh*t!"

"F*ck!"

The crew quickly exclaimed with curses.

Leon nodded approvingly, expecting such reactions from the crew. After refining several batches of exploding pills, he had come up with a new formula and improved the exploding pills' destructiveness by 30%.

Shortly after Leon went back to pill refining, a crewmate patted his chest and said, "Good lord, that gave me a scare!"

"Why do these pills remind me of a particular elderly person back in the capital?" said another one while his lips twitched.

Nevertheless, the crew shortly began fighting over the exploding pills as they were eager to test its destructiveness with their own hands.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions went off from time to time as Leon refined more batches of exploding pills while Aria continued to supply him with the rat carcasses during the period.

Sometime later, Leon glanced at the dozens of bottles containing several hundreds of exploding pills in his Worldspace and wondered if he might have overdone it a little.

If an accident caused them all to explode at once, it would be a grand spectacle to behold. There was so much firepower it could probably obliterate the capital in an instance.

Leon's lips twitched at the thought.

Nevertheless, he quickly shook his head and called out, "Aria, we're leaving!"

"We are done here?" Aria asked shortly after returning to the airship. Beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead from the extensive battle with rats.

It was unknown how many rats she had slaughtered during this period, but several hundreds of thousands was definitely a safe estimate.

"Un."

Leon nodded.

A clean cloth appeared in his hand as he wiped the sweat off her face while saying with a smile, "You worked hard."

"Hehe!"

Aria enjoyed Leon's tender care.

"Your bottle, Your Highness." A crewmate shortly returned the pill bottle back to Leon.

Leon glanced at the empty bottle before gazing over the burning fields below and casually said, "Well, you all certainly had your fun playing with the exploding pills."

"That's for sure!" A crewmate responded excitedly.

After getting elbow-nudged in the hip by one of the other crewmates besides him, the person stepped back apologetically, "Excuse my manners, Your Highness. I was too excited."

Leon waved his hand nonchalantly, expressing that he did not care about such manners of formality and did not mind.

He turned to the captain and said, "Take us back to Elvengarde, captain."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The captain nodded.

Shortly after the captain barked out his orders, the airship began rising in altitude and rotated towards the Elder Tree's direction.

The nearby Skysilver Beast King shortly noticed their intention to leave and suddenly gave a mighty howl, "Awooo!"

Not surprisingly, the crew was given a scare.

"Oh no, is the Transcendent-level wolf going to attack us?!" One of the crew asked nervously.

Leon frowned before gazing back at the Skysilver Beast King in the distance. Noticing the new wounds all over its body, he said to the captain, "Give me a moment."

Shortly after, he flew over to the Skysilver Beast King within the field of charred-black rat carcasses, devoid of any live rats due to the surrounding flames that had yet to be snuffed out.

The Skysilver Beast King simply sat on its back legs and watched Leon approach without any intention to attack. It remembered this human.

After Leon landed nearby, he cleaned its wounds and made it swallow several large dosages of tier 3 healing pills due to its big build.

The Skysilver Beast King wagged its three tails happily as its wounds quickly healed before catching Leon off-guard with a sudden lick, slobbering his entire body in its rat blood-mixed saliva.

"F*ck!" Leon cursed.

His angry cursing immediately made the Skysilver Beast King whimpered with its head down like it had done something wrong.

As Leon wiped away the blood-mixed saliva from his face, he noticed its behavior and could not help but think the Skysilver Beast King was behaving like a pet dog.

Chapter 487 - Tamed Beast, Silver

After giving the oversized silver wolf a head rub to prove his doubts, the Skysilver Beast King began wagging its three tails again.

Leon was surprised.

When stopped rubbing the Skysilver Beast King's head, its three tails also slowly stopped wagging. After he resumed rubbing its head again, its tails also began wagging again.

'To think the Skysilver Beast King has been regressed to this state.' Leon pondered. He found the discovery quite concerning.

If humans were infected by the overbearing Demonic Energy, would they also regress to such infantile intellect even if he cured them?

On one hand, this was a serious problem, while on the other hand, he seemed to have gotten himself a pet wolf, albeit a very large one.

"What should I do with you?" Leon mused while moving back to look at the big three-tailed silver wolf as it also looked back at him patiently with curiosity.

If he kept it and brought it back with him to the Human Domain, feeding it would be quite a huge problem.

Shortly after, he frowned from the pungent stench of the saliva mixed with rat blood on his body before he sternly said, "No more licking! Licking, bad! Understanding?"

"Arf, arf!" The Skysilver Beast King barked and wagged its tails in response.

Leon was uncertain if it actually understood his words, but he continued to speak to it, "Hmm… I can't leave you here, can I?"

"Ar-roof?" The silver wolf titled its head.

The Skysilver Beast King was a very proud Transcendent-level Beast King. To see whether it can become Leon's tamed beast, he flew up and sat on its head to gauge its reaction.

No signs of rejection were detected.

The Skysilver Beast King simply moved its head up slightly, trying to look at Leon while continuing to wag its tails.

"I guess you'll be my tamed beast from now on. Since you are no longer the same as the former Skysilver Beast King, I will just call you Silver." Leon stated while patting the silver wolf's head.

"Arf, arf!" Silver barked excitedly, seemingly accepting of its new name as its three tails wagged energetically in response.

Shortly after removing the new accumulation of Demonic Energy inside Silver's body, Leon observed the rat tide outside the region of charred-black burning carcasses in the distance.

At that moment, the numerous rats continued to leap at the airship as it was slowly gaining altitude in the sky.

"Huh?"

Leon's eyes suddenly flickered in discovery.

After leaping into the sky, the rats would eventually have to fall back to the ground. In a normal situation, they would have landed safely on the surface.

However, that was not the current case from what he was witnessing. The number of rats getting crushed to death by the overwhelming weight of their own fellow brethren was actually staggering.

The situation could not have been seen from the sky above due to the rat's overwhelming numbers obscuring the sight, but the scene was observable from the bottom.

As such, it had not been discovered until now.

"There are actually so many rats that they are crushing their brethren at the bottom to death! It seems that the plan will need some adjustment." Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Shortly after, Leon suddenly called out, "Silver!"

"Arroof!" The giant silver wolf answered with a bark and stood up on all four legs like it was heeding his summoning call.

"Good. It seems you recognize your new name pretty well." Leon nodded with praise and rubbed its head.

"Arf, arf!"

Silver responded with its tails wagging.

"Wait here for a moment. I will be right back."

"Arf!"

Silver sat back down on its hind legs.

Seeing this, Leon nodded.

It seems the Transcendent-level three-tailed silver wolf could still understand the human tongue despite losing its maturity and ability to speak itself.

Shortly after, Leon stood up and took off from Silver's head, flying back to the airship rising in the skies. After he landed, Aria passed the modified pendant device to him.

However, he shortly passed it over to the captain.

"Your Highness?" The captain asked, confused by the prince's intention to pass such a valuable tool into his hands.

"Take it and head back first," Leon said before adding, "There are still some things I need to do here. I will return on my own, so there is no need to wait for me here and go back to Elvengarde first."

"What will you be doing, Your Highness?"

"I need to take care of that big wolf."

Seeing the prince was firm in his decision, the captain did not try to persuade Leon and complied, "Alright, we will head back first. Take care, Your Highness."

"Naturally."

Leon nodded.

Shortly after, Leon turned to Aria and said, "I need you to head back with them and deliver these to Marquis Haldir. Do you still have the Interspatial Ring I made?"

"I keep it on me at all time," Aria said while showing Leon the black ring.

When he noticed the Tier 3 Interspatial Ring was worn on Aria's ring finger, he gave her a look that immediately made her blush shyly, "There's no special meaning on which finger I wear this…"

Although she said that, Leon felt like that was not the case.

He figured that while they were happy the way they are, Aria might still want something to authenticate their relationship—an official status of sorts.

After thinking about this, he shortly said, "When we return to the capital, let's get married."

"Er… no, there's no need to do that. I'm fine with the way things—"

"Let us get married," Leon said firmly.

Seeing his determined eyes, Aria no longer tried to object. Warm tears quickly filled her eyes as she nodded, "Mm!"

"Wait, I am dirtied with wolf saliva and rat blood," Leon said as he retreated a few steps backward.

However, Aria simply lunged into his arms while saying, "I don't care! I am happy!"

"Haiz, silly girl." Leon sighed helplessly.

Sometime later, Leon emptied the exploding pill bottles into Aria's interspatial ring and bid his goodbye before returning to Silver on the surface below.

After he watched the airship leave, he turned his gaze back on Silver's big build and helplessly asked, "Why do you have to be so big?"

"Arrff…"

Silver issued a weak complaint while bobbing its head down in a downcast manner like it was saying it cannot be blamed for this.

Chapter 488 - Faelyn's Voice

Shortly after Leon flew onto Silver's head and gave it some soothing pats to placate it, he began to ponder what to do with the Transcendent-level silver wolf.

Silver tilted its head and wagged its tails in response, "Awrff?"

Sometime later, Leon's eyes quickly flickered enlightenment before patting his forehead in exclamation, "The Hundred Beast Transformation Art! How can I forget I had such a technique?"

If the Hundred Beast Transformation Art can transform beasts into human forms, it naturally had the ability to shrink and enlarge beast bodies at will.

He was not expecting Silver to undergo a full human transformation, so there was no need to worry about the stringent demand for the Hundred Beast Transformation Art's mastery.

It was not possible without having high Divine Beast Cultivation and abundant Spirit Energy.

Silver was only required to shrink until it could pass through the gaps found in between the trees from the Great Forest.

Leon took out a half-depleted supreme-grade spirit stone and absorbed some of its Spirit Energy.

After channeling the power to the tips of his fingers, he pointed it at the three-tailed silver wolf's forehead and transmitted the Hundred Beast Transformation Art to it.

Silver remained still and accepted the information flowing into its mind willingly with simple curiosity.

Once the transmission was completed, Leon ordered, "Silver, quickly practice this technique and shrink yourself a bit."

"Awrff?"

Silver tilted its head further in response, not quite understanding what Leon was trying to get it to do. At the same time, its action nearly caused Leon to roll off its head.

However, he quickly grabbed a handful of its fur and stabilized his position on its head.

"It seems it would not be easy to get Silver to learn this technique right off the bat…" Leon smiled wryly, thinking he will need to put in some effort to teach it.

…

Elvengarde.

At the foot of the Elder Tree's vine staircase, Supreme Elder Haldir gazed down at the tens of thousands of elven warriors gathered before him.

The road before the only vine staircase leading up to the Elder Tree's crown was naturally the broadest within the tribe. As such, it was used to gather the elven warriors.

More and more elven warriors began to arrive at the main road before the vine staircase before they gazed back at the Supreme Elder, uncertain for the reason of their gathering.

"Hey, do you have any idea why we are gathered here?" An elven warrior asked after nudging another elven warrior beside him.

"Hm? No, I am just as clueless as you are. We were only told to come here and await the Supreme Elder's orders," The other elven warrior responded.

"I see… sorry to bother you."

"It's fine. Don't mind it."

Shortly after, the elven warriors returned their attention to the front.

As the sun began to set as nightfall crept closer, the wind's direction changed and started blowing northwards towards the Supreme Elder's face.

At the same time, the Supreme Elder saw the distant black smoke from the forest fire slowly inching ever closer.

Seeing as it would take a while before all the elven warriors are gathered in the tribe, Supreme Elder Haldir decided not to wait any longer.

"All of you might be wondering why you are all gathered here. The answer is simple. You must all learn how to fly by the end of today," Supreme Elder Haldir stated.

His powerful voice reached far and wide, entering the ears of all his listeners loudly and clearly before the large group of elven warriors quickly broke into a commotion.

The Supreme Elder wanted them to learn how to fly by the end of the day? Was that even possible? Or rather, could Wood-type Awakeners like them even fly?

Confusion and doubts were written over the faces of many. Only a few of the early returners in the tribe had witnessed the Supreme Elder flying previously.

At that moment, Supreme Elder Haldir had already retracted his vine armor and wings, reverted back into seeds, and stored away in his leather pouch.

"How do we fly, Supreme Elder? Please instruct us," an elven warrior said with the intent and willingness to learn.

Undoubtedly, All the elven warriors had seen the rat tide outside while fighting on the frontlines at the Great Forest's outskirts.

Regardless of whether Wood-type Awakeners can fly or not, the elven warrior was aware of what the possibility entailed—a greater chance of survival.

"You don't need to worry. That is what I am planning to do!" Supreme Elder Haldir assured before adding, "Now, take a look clearly! This is how Wood-type Awakeners will fly."

Shortly after, Supreme Elder Haldir demonstrated by instilling his Wood Energy into his magical vine seeds and proliferated them into a pair of vine wings attached to his back.

After leaves sprouted like feathers, the Supreme Elder was shortly lifted into the air with the first flap of his wings.

"Simple enough? Now all of you shall do the same." Supreme Elder Haldir ended his lesson after a single demonstration.

The elven warriors were quickly taken aback—not by how quick the lesson ended, but by how the Supreme Elder made it look so easy.

That being said, no one had any complaints about the lesson being too short.

For Awakeners like them, all it took was a single demonstration to insert the idea into their minds. What follows after is there ceaseless practice to master the skill.

"Understood, Supreme Elder!"

The elven warriors saluted in unison before they found their own space and began the practice of growing their own pair of wings.

"Feel free to ask me questions if there is something you don't understand." Supreme Elder stated as he watched them practice.

He could not be too irresponsible with his teachings. He needed them to know how to fly proficiently for the plan.

"Yes, Supreme Elder!"

The elven warriors responded.

…

Meanwhile, Princess Thessalia stepped foot into the guarded courtyard within the Royal Palace atop the Elder Tree's crown.

"Princess Thessalia!" General Paeris and the Elders shortly greeted the Third Princess upon her arrival.

"Un. I see you are all here." Princess Thessalia acknowledged their greetings before asking, "Did my sister went down to the Heart of Spring Chamber?"

"Yes, Your Highness," General Paeris answered respectfully.

"Thanks, I will go look for her now," Princess Thessalia stated, not thinking too deeply into why they were waiting at this location.

However, Princess Faelyn's impassive voice was shortly heard, "No need to look for me.. I am right here, sister."