The appearance of Master Elaine was like a massive stone dropped into a turbulent lake, forcibly suppressing the boiling waves.
The atmosphere remained frozen like ice.
The soldiers of the Thorn Guard gripped their weapons tightly, their eyes filled with wariness.
They couldn’t comprehend why the Kingdom’s Chief Alchemist, Master Elaine, would be so polite, even almost apprehensive, toward a stranger.
Fiona steadied herself with the support of two guards.
The powerful binding of the [Wind of Stagnation] left her face as pale as paper.
She no longer shouted.
Instead, her eyes—filled with defeat, confusion, and strong unwillingness—were locked tightly on Lin En.
Since childhood, she had stood above her peers, a favored daughter of the heavens.
In terms of battle aura, martial skill, and combat ability, she had always been outstanding among those her age.
Why had she been defeated so easily by a few basic spells, and by someone who seemed utterly ordinary, dressed in a gray mage apprentice robe, and looked even younger than herself?
Master Elaine ignored the tense atmosphere around him.
On his aged face, he forced a gentle smile and lowered his posture.
“A misunderstanding. Fiona has been too well protected by us. She’s… well, direct in her actions. I hope you can understand.”
He skillfully offered an explanation for Fiona’s behavior, then turned to Lin En, making a ‘please’ gesture.
“Esteemed Magi, your mental strength… is the greatest I have ever seen in my life. I mean no offense. I only wish to know what has brought a strong one like yourself into the depths of this Cursed Forest. Perhaps, our goals do not conflict.”
Lin En calmly withdrew his dispersed mental power and nodded.
He gestured for Ella and Barret to follow, a small action that clearly declared they were a team.
Entering Elaine’s Main Tent was like stepping into another world.
This was a well-ordered mobile Alchemical Laboratory, filled with the peculiar scent of magical herbs and molten metals.
Elaine signaled for everyone to gather around the central workbench, then finally introduced himself with the rigor and solemnity befitting a great scholar.
“I am Elaine, the Kingdom’s Chief Alchemist.”
At this name, Ella, standing behind Lin En, instantly drew in a cold breath.
A scholar’s light shone in her intelligent eyes, as if meeting her idol.
She unconsciously stepped forward, her voice trembling.
“Master Elaine? Could it be… the legendary master who wrote the Scripture of Alchemy: The Seven Great Laws of Material Alchemy?”
Faced with Ella’s sparkling gaze, Elaine was surprised, but still nodded kindly in acknowledgement.
This small episode eased much of the tension in the tent.
He then pointed to Fiona, whose face was still pale beside him.
“This is the commander of the Thorn Guard, Fiona. We are here under the command of His Highness the Crown Prince to investigate the source of the Forest’s Wrath.”
His gaze grew grave as he continued.
“Our investigation has pointed to something far more terrifying than we imagined.”
As he spoke, he indicated a soil sample sealed within a Runic Crystal at the center of the workbench, his expression solemn.
“We are tracking an unknown Withering Plague. It can drain all life from plants and animals, even kill the land itself, rendering it barren. We suspect that this outbreak of Forest’s Wrath is merely a manifestation caused by the uncontrolled energy wave from the plague’s source.”
Lin En’s eyes fell on the lifeless soil, deep in thought.
Then, his powerful mental force became countless fine threads, probing into the soil sample.
After a long moment, he calmly drew a charred Golden Armored Devouring Locust specimen from his pocket.
“Golden Armored Devouring Locust?!”
Fiona gasped in shock.
“You encountered the Swarm?!”
Lin En gave her a calm look.
“Not just encountered. They formed a disaster covering the sky, numbering in the billions. But that isn’t the main point.”
Everyone’s attention focused on the charred specimen.
“The key is, within this locust’s tissue, I discovered a unique Dormant Spore. Its behavior is nearly identical to a parasitic entity I encountered in Fallen Leaf Village not long ago, which I named Mimic Blight Fungus. Both devour life force.”
He paused, gaze sweeping over the lifeless soil sample, finally settling on Elaine’s face. His words struck like a heavy hammer.
“And the Withering Plague you speak of—I believe it’s also a manifestation of the same thing.”
Lin En’s words carried so much information that everyone present was thrown into deep shock.
Master Elaine, the Kingdom’s Chief Alchemist, almost instinctively lunged to the table.
With a delicate mithril probe, he carefully scraped a barely visible speck from the locust specimen, placing it into a complex Crystal Analyzer.
Magic light flashed, readings on the instrument flickering rapidly before settling.
Elaine stared at the energy fluctuation data, then compared it to that from his own Withering Plague soil sample.
The color drained from his face, replaced by a horror that came from discovering an even more terrifying truth.
He jerked his head up, meeting Lin En’s gaze, and both saw an unspoken heaviness in each other’s eyes.
“This time, the Forest’s Wrath is different,” Elaine’s voice was hoarse as he muttered.
“This is no natural disaster… This is more like a premeditated, carefully orchestrated… biological contamination!”
The conclusion seemed to lower the temperature in the tent by several degrees.
At this point, cooperation was no longer a choice, but a necessity.
Elaine’s team had a Royal Decree to combat the Withering Plague, but knew almost nothing about the plague’s origin strain.
Lin En’s ultimate goal was to find the Hall of Life and completely cure his mother.
He needed the professional equipment and detailed maps from Elaine’s team to test his hypotheses and uncover the truth.
“This is just the surface,” Lin En said, his voice not loud but clearly reaching everyone’s ears.
“Words are pale. It’s better to let you see for yourselves what we’re really facing.”
As he spoke, it was as if a river of silver starlight flowed in the depths of Lin En’s eyes.
Invisible mental power spread outward from him, thickening the air within the tent.
Before the stunned gazes of everyone, threads of silver light seeped from Lin En, intertwining in midair and forming three projections:
The first projection was the grotesque three-dimensional structure of the Mimic Blight Fungus.
The second was the densely structured Dormant Spore within the Golden Armored Devouring Locust.
The third was the broken, phantom energy residue extracted from the Withering Plague soil.
Three entirely different entities floated silently.
Master Elaine circled them, brows furrowed.
As the Kingdom’s top scholar, his professionalism allowed him to immediately pinpoint the core contradiction.
“No… Their natures are completely different.”
Elaine asserted, his eyes full of thought and confusion.
“The Mimic Blight Fungus is a highly invasive biological parasite. The spore within the locust is a dormant type; the locust itself is just a vector for its spread. And the Withering Plague is more like a high-concentration Negative Energy contamination, a kind of curse… They aren’t the same thing at all.”
He looked at Lin En, thinking he’d found a flaw in the other’s theory.
However, there was not a trace of surprise on Lin En’s face.
He met Elaine’s gaze calmly and countered.
“Master Elaine, may I ask you a question? The Thorn Guard of the Kingdom, the Gryphon Knights in the sky, and the Royal Mage Corps guarding the capital… are they the same thing?”
The question stunned both Elaine and Fiona beside him.
“Of course not!”
Fiona blurted, this being her field of expertise.
“The Thorn Guard are the Kingdom’s heavy infantry and vanguard, skilled in frontal assaults. The Gryphon Knights are for air superiority and rapid response. The Royal Mage Corps is for strategic long-range firepower. Their organization, tactics, and equipment are worlds apart!”
“Very well said.”
Lin En nodded approvingly, then shifted his tone, eyes sharp as blades as he drove to the heart of the matter.
“However, despite their differences, do they not all belong to the larger military system called the Kingdom Army? Do they not cooperate for the same ultimate purpose—to defend the Kingdom or conquer its enemies?”
Fiona’s breath caught.
Master Elaine recoiled as if struck by lightning, his whole body trembling.
He looked up at the three floating projections, and a terrifying, unprecedented hypothesis exploded in his mind.
Lin En gave him no time to recover.
He raised his hand, pointing to each of the projections in turn, his voice steady yet carrying a chilling clarity.
“These swarming Golden Armored Devouring Locusts are the vanguard and cavalry of this army.
They are responsible for destroying all organized resistance by the most direct and brutal means, spreading terror, and launching indiscriminate frontal assaults.”
His finger moved to the Mimic Blight Fungus.
“This fungus is the assassin and infiltration unit of the system. It slips in silently, highly infectious, corrupting and breaking down the enemy from within.”
Finally, his finger rested on the dead energy residue.
“As for the Withering Plague you discovered—this is their most terrifying weapon. It’s the logistics and scorched-earth division of the army.”
“It doesn’t kill directly, but destroys the entire ecosystem, devouring the land’s vitality and cutting off all hope of recovery or resurgence. Its purpose is to clear the battlefield, or rather… to digest the spoils.”
The tent was deathly silent, save for the ragged breathing of those present.
Lin En dispelled the projections, leaving only his final, paradigm-shifting strategic judgment.
“So, Master Elaine, what we face are not three separate disasters. It’s a destruction system—a coordinated, specialized force with the ultimate goal of devouring all life. We are not engaged in disaster relief, but fighting against a disciplined, invisible enemy army.”
As he finished, a more private thought flashed through Lin En’s mind.
He remembered his mother Susan’s affliction with Wither Fever.
A disease not directly fatal, yet like maggots on the bone, relentlessly draining life force.
No potion or divine art could cure it—only delay its effects.
Its stealthy, stubborn, and singular focus on long-term consumption of an individual’s life…
If the locusts were the main army, the fungus the special forces, and the Withering Plague the scorched-earth tactic—then could things like Wither Fever, which slowly and incurably tormented individuals, be a specialized method within this terrifying destruction system for targeting powerful individuals?
The idea made Lin En’s heart sink.
If so, then he was facing not just monsters in the forest, but an even greater, more intelligent shadow.
“Pa!”
A crystal test tube slipped from Elaine’s hand, shattering on the ground.
The blood drained from his face, replaced by horror and dread at comprehending a vaster, more terrifying truth.
“Destruction system… Army…”
He murmured in a daze.
“No wonder, no wonder the energy waves of Forest’s Wrath are so chaotic yet layered… So… so it was the coordinated actions of different army branches! My God…”
He looked at Lin En now, not with scrutiny, but reverence.
This wasn’t a gap in knowledge, but a gap in dimensions of understanding!
He was still studying a weapon, while Lin En had already mapped the entire strategic battlefield.
Fiona’s reaction was even more direct.
As a commander, Lin En’s military systems theory sent chills down her spine.
For the first time, she realized how naive and laughable her previous experiences in leading armies were.
She wasn’t suppressing a rebellion.
She had unknowingly charged straight into the encirclement of an unknown army.
Elaine took a deep breath and strode to Lin En, bowing deeply in a near-pleading posture.
“Master Lin En! I request you to become our Chief Strategic Advisor for this operation! We need your wisdom and perspective to fight this completely unknown enemy!”
Lin En accepted the title calmly.
This time, Fiona didn’t wait for anyone’s signal.
She stepped forward with heavy steps, performing the most solemn military salute she could before Lin En.
“Lin En… Advisor.”
Her voice was hoarse, yet unwavering.
“I apologize for my previous ignorance and arrogance. From this moment, the Thorn Guard will recognize you as the highest technical advisor for this operation.”
“When facing threats we cannot understand or making decisions related to the plague, we will follow your judgment and provide all necessary military support.”
Lin En looked at her.
In the eyes of this proud female knight, the previous fire had been replaced by a deeper sense of responsibility and resolve.
At last, a genuine recognition showed in his deep gaze.
“Alright.”
With that single word, a command core composed of a “Superbrain,” a “Kingdom’s Top Alchemist,” and the “Shield of the Crown Prince” was formally established in the depths of the forbidden land—enough to change the tide of battle.
Ella silently watched all this from the side.
She keenly sensed that a tremendous secret, one capable of altering the history of the Kingdom and overturning the world’s understanding of magic itself, was about to be revealed within this extraordinary team.