“Your Majesty, Leah and her friends have already arrived at the royal palace.”
Inside the Elven Holy Tree, Elaril respectfully reported to Alvain after sensing that his control had been disturbed.
If one ignored the holy tree vines entwined around Alvain, this scene was no different from any other day.
“You don’t seem worried at all.”
Alvain’s tone was relaxed.
This connection with the holy tree could be said to be the easiest one in his life.
It was only drawing upon the Douqi and Mana within his body, not siphoning his life force.
Of course, it was also possible the holy tree was drawing the long-lacking life force of another creation.
Alvain looked at Vilda, who was wrapped in vines with only her delicate, gentle face exposed, and his eyelids lowered slightly.
He hadn’t expected Elaril to use his own “daughter” as a sacrifice to awaken the holy tree.
Even more, he hadn’t expected her to not prepare him as a sacrifice.
“Why should I worry? Even if the crown contains the memories of past Elven Kings, all they can know is a single truth.”
“The truth does not bring power. Her ultimate fate will be the same as Vilda’s—to become a key that unlocks Mother’s shackles.”
“Do you really not mind? Vilda is the daughter you raised for twenty-three years.”
“Allow me to correct you, Your Majesty. She is nourishment cultivated for twenty-three years.”
Elaril said heartlessly, stepping closer to Alvain, her eyes filled with obvious confusion.
“Your Majesty, I do not understand why you regard Leah as a daughter.”
“They are merely manifestations of Divine Power, sharing no blood relation with us. Why would you consider her existence?”
“The reason is simple.”
Recalling Leah’s adorable and charming appearance as a child, Alvain couldn’t help but smile.
“Because she called me father, so I regarded her as a daughter.”
“That is all.”
“Daddy?”
“…..That’s not the same thing.”
Alvain said with a cold sweat on his face.
He truly hadn’t expected Elaril to be able to say those two words with a straight face.
It scared him.
“Unfathomable.”
Elaril shook her head, but then took several steps forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, placing his face against her chest and stroking it gently.
“If you like children, we can ask Mother to give us one.”
“Or, we could try to reproduce through mating. As Mother’s chosen, we will have long lives. In such a long time, I will fulfill any request you have.”
Her words carried sweetness and anticipation for the future, but Alvain felt only a deep sorrow listening to them.
Elaril had gone mad.
Or rather, the entire Dark Elf race had gone mad.
Starting from the third generation of twins, the Dark Elves had been profoundly influenced by the holy tree.
***
The battle in the palace had been going on for five minutes, yet the situation remained deadlocked.
Even with Etheriel firmly holding the line against one Nine-Order Mage, for Leah and Winnidith to quickly defeat another Nine-Order Mage was nothing but wishful thinking.
If time were extended, they might have a chance to subdue their opponent.
But they hadn’t forgotten they only had ten minutes.
After ten minutes, Olivier would leave, and then they would have to face over a hundred guards as well.
She would definitely do something like that; they had no doubt.
“No choice, Leah. Leave these two to me. You find an opening and break through directly.”
Leah herself practiced both magic and martial arts, giving her a higher chance of breaking through.
As a mage, with the Mana supply from the Sea Blue Bracelet, she was an expert in defensive battles.
“Are you sure you can handle two?”
Leah asked with some concern.
“Don’t worry, I can hold them off for at least five minutes.”
Winnidith smiled bitterly.
After all, she was an exception herself, and with Etheriel nearby drawing the majority of the fire, cleaning up the remaining scraps wouldn’t be too difficult for her.
“Then I’ll leave it to you. I’ll create an opening for you to chant a seventh-order spell.”
Leah nodded.
Douqi surged around her body, honing it to an extreme sharpness.
Alone, she withstood the female mage’s magical bombardment, buying time for Winnidith’s incantation.
“With dawn as the sheath, with radiance as the sword.”
Light Elements eagerly surged towards Winnidith’s body, to the point where even the three Nine-Order Mages found the Light Elements they could utilize greatly diminished.
“Darkness shall shatter beneath this blade. What remains in the world thereafter shall be an eternally luminous realm!”
Under the influence of Mana, a massive sword of light took shape within the palace hall.
At this moment, even Olivier outside the hall could feel the terrifying power accumulating within the sword.
“Truly a fearsome talent. A pity you were born in the Empire.”
Olivier hesitated for a moment but maintained the existence of the bloodlines.
At least for now, Winnidith had to live.
“Break forth, Sword of Dawn!”
Winnidith’s staff slammed down heavily, and the skyborne sword of light descended with the momentum of a collapsing mountain.
The female mage dealing with Leah suddenly sensed a threat.
Her outwardly leaking Mana barrier abruptly contracted and reinforced.
The power of the Dawn Sword was insufficient to pierce the opponent’s barrier under her full defense, but it forced her to reveal an opening to advance.
“Leah! Go in now!”
She didn’t even need the reminder.
Leah charged out at the first opportunity.
Seeing this, the male mage laid a magical mine at the entrance, but didn’t expect Leah to take an entirely different path.
She directly gathered strength and smashed through the wall connecting the two sides, leaving the battlefield at the fastest speed possible.
After all, this was her home.
She could dismantle it however she wanted.
Suddenly realizing this, Leah abandoned conventional paths entirely, choosing instead to punch through every obstructive palace wall in a straight line towards the Palace of Tranquility.
Boom!
The final wall still fell beneath Leah’s fist.
She looked at the now exceptionally disordered bedchamber and rushed towards the storage cabinet.
Her heart sank halfway when she found the seal on it had already been broken.
She yanked the cabinet door open as if trying to tear it off.
Nothing!
Leah felt a surge of despair.
Clearly, the crown did hold a secret.
It’s just that Elaril knew this too and had taken it away a step ahead.
The crown’s location was the highest secret to outsiders.
The only way she could have known was because Leah herself had once told Vilda.
So… did I mess up again this time?
Leah hammered the ground in frustration, but now she didn’t even have time for regret.
She had to go back and cover Winnidith’s retreat from this place.
Wait!
Leah’s departing footsteps suddenly halted.
She realized a problem.
If Elaril had already obtained the crown, then what were the guards and the two Nine-Order Mages left in the palace for?
As bait?
But in that case, they should have been hidden, waiting to ambush them after they entered.
Not wandering openly in the palace as they were now, as if searching for something.
Unless… Elaril hadn’t found the crown yet!
Leah suddenly remembered Isabella’s instructions to her.
“Your father must have anticipated the current situation. If the crown truly holds key information to turn the tide, then it must be placed somewhere only you know.”
Somewhere only my father and I know?
If not here, then where else?
Leah had never felt her thoughts as clear as they were now.
She rapidly considered: where could be a place known only to her and her father?
The secret passage in the back garden?
The bird’s nest built for Little Fu and the others?
Or the house at the Living Root Station?
No, none of those.
She had shared all those places with Vilda.
So, was there anywhere that only she and her father knew, that she hadn’t yet told Vilda?
“And because it happened suddenly, your father couldn’t have moved the crown too far. It should still be in the bedchamber.”
Isabella’s words gave her another spark of inspiration.
Still in the bedchamber?
Leah blinked.
She actually thought of a place.