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