Chapter 338: The Variable (Part 2)

  In the Whispering Woods, in the room of the elven elder Luya.

  "Brother Ethan is now waiting for the Leaves of the World Tree to save his life. I would never deceive you..."

  Luya bit her lip, was silent for a long while, then finally spoke: "Is this the matter you called me out to discuss with you alone?"

  Aimee did not speak further, but her face was slowly turning pale. She mustered her strength and said, "Do you want Brother Ethan to die?"

  "The power of the Leaves of the World Tree and the Sunwell was originally meant to destroy The Black Star. That was my mission. But he seized the power that originally belonged to me. That was fate. Therefore, he will be the one to bear this consequence. This is also his mission." Luya's eyes were filled with a strange bewilderment. It was less as if she were speaking, and more as if she were reciting a set of rules and regulations that had nothing to do with her.

  "I... I thought you would definitely go save Brother Ethan..." Aimee said, her head bowed. She had long since seen that this young elven elder held extraordinary feelings for Ethan, which was why she had come to the Whispering Woods to persuade her.

  "I want to save him, but the Leaves of the World Tree are not mine to give. They are a sacred relic of our elven race, the very embodiment of this continent's fate. Therefore, this is not a matter of what I am willing or not." Luya turned away, no longer looking at Aimee, and said coldly, "You should leave."

  "I'm sorry, but no matter what, I cannot let Brother Ethan die." Something hard suddenly pressed against Luya's waist from behind. Luya turned and saw a crossbow in Aimee's hand.

  This was a finely crafted and very small crossbow. Aimee said in a mournful voice, "Don't move, and don't shout. What I hold is something I got from a Necromancer. The deadly poison and curse on it, even a mere scratch, is something no one can withstand. I don't want to kill you."

  Unexpectedly, Luya let out a long sigh. She said nothing, nor showed any sign of resistance, and thus was escorted by Aimee at crossbow-point to the top of the War Ancient Tree.

  The two were originally in a small wooden cabin on the giant War Ancient Tree. They had encountered no elves on their way. The ample mage's robe was enough to hide the small crossbow bolts well. They looked to be merely walking close together, and who would have thought that a young female magician, seemingly without the strength to truss a chicken, would have the audacity to take an elven elder hostage in the magic-restricted Whispering Woods.

  The Leaves of the World Tree lay upon the altar at the very center of the War Ancient Tree's peak. Nourished by the Sunwell, the War Ancient Tree had already completed its growth, fully displaying the form of a war fortress that the Ancient Elven Empire used to deal with dragons and titans. Dozens of giant treants stood guard around the altar. Furthermore, on the scattered main branches of the War Ancient Tree were dozens of strange-looking branches, which were magical weapons powerful enough to deal with dragons.

  Absolutely no one would have the audacity to face these things to snatch the Leaves of the World Tree, so the elves seemed not to be particularly alert. Some who saw Elder Luya even nodded in greeting.

  Aimee's heart was pounding fast. Around her were the giant treants, and those strange branches of unknown but undoubtedly immense power. Any single one of them could turn her into pulp in the blink of an eye. She steeled herself and said in a trembling voice, "Go and get the Leaves of the World Tree for me."

  "Giving them to you is useless. Even if no one is watching now, the moment I take the Leaves of the World Tree, someone will come to inquire. Elder Lloyd has already returned. Even I have no authority to use the Leaves of the World Tree as I please. And even if I gave them to you, you wouldn't be able to escape."

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  "Just give them to me." Aimee held the crossbow in one hand, and clutched a teleportation scroll in the other, which she had prepared long ago. The Sunwell's anti-magic field could prevent all magic, with the sole exception of spatial magic.

  Luya hesitated for a moment, then finally led Aimee towards the center of the altar.

  "Stop." A white-haired old elf suddenly appeared on the shoulder of a treant and said lightly.

  Aimee rushed forward, putting the crossbow to Luya's neck, and watched the old elf with full vigilance. The other elves at the top of the ancient tree also sensed that something was amiss and all cried out in alarm.

  But the old elf on the treant seemed unhurried. He said lightly, "This outcome is, in fact, the most ideal one for us elves. We need not involve ourselves. You need not be confused for the sake of that young man. Let us consider all of this as part of Mafa's arrangement."

  "What are you saying?" Aimee did not understand.

  "I am not talking to you, little girl. Do you really think you could have gotten to this place with that little trinket in your hand?" Elder Lloyd paid Aimee no mind, looking instead at Luya, who was being held hostage by Aimee. He sighed and shook his head lightly, saying, "You intend to use this little girl's hand to take the Leaves of the World Tree? I am truly disappointed. I never thought you would fail to pass this final trial. Have you forgotten Mafa's teachings?"

  A look of panic appeared on Luya's face. She lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry, I was just careless for a moment. This little girl is a disciple of Master Adelaide. Her brother also once, because of helping us..."

  "Let's not waste words on that with me. I know what you are thinking. Don't do anything foolish." The old elf shook his head decisively, but his voice was very soft, so that none of the other elves, except for Aimee and Luya who were close, could hear.

  "I don't care what you do. Give me the Leaves of the World Tree, or I will kill her." Aimee suddenly pulled the crossbow from her sleeve and aimed it at Luya's head.

  The surrounding elves all cried out in alarm. Many also drew the weapons they carried, like bows and arrows. Only Elder Lloyd remained unhurried, saying, "Don't be a fool, little girl. For the sake of the two masters of the Tower of Fangs, I will not make things too difficult for you."

  "I don't care if you make things difficult for me or not. I just want the Leaves of the World Tree. Don't push me, or I will do anything now." Aimee's hand holding the crossbow trembled.

  "You might dare to do it, but you might not necessarily succeed. Don't forget, this is the Whispering Woods, and you are standing atop the Sunwell." Elder Lloyd smiled faintly and pointed a finger. With a shlick, the crossbow in Aimee's hand suddenly changed.

  All the wooden parts of the crossbow and the bolt instantly took root, sprouted, grew branches, leaves, and flowers at an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, what Aimee held was no longer a weapon, but a potted plant bursting with a cluster of flowers. The trigger mechanism snapped, and the taut bowstring sprang straight, sending a large mass of flowers and grass flying into the air, while the metal parts clattered to the ground.

  Aimee gritted her teeth and lunged towards the Leaves of the World Tree on the altar, but dozens of vine-like tendrils, as thick as an arm, suddenly sprang from the ground of the treetop, instantly weaving themselves into a cage that trapped her inside.

  The surrounding elves finally breathed a sigh of relief. Elder Lloyd jumped down from the treant's shoulder, walked to Luya's side, and patted her shoulder, saying softly, "Don't overthink it. Haven't you said it yourself? This is his fate. Since he possesses that power, he must bear the responsibility."

  "So you were really eavesdropping?" Luya asked, looking at Elder Lloyd with a strange expression. Their conversation had been within the range of the War Ancient Tree. Using one of its many functions, eavesdropping was indeed as easy as turning one's hand. But Luya had truly never expected Elder Lloyd to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  "I was worried about you." Elder Lloyd shrugged, his words carrying a double meaning. "When that little girl came to find you, I could see her expression was not quite normal."

  The old elf then sighed again, and like his unusual aging, his words held a weatheredness that other elves lacked: "I understand. I understand your feelings. But you must know, he is just a human. A human's life is very brief. Even if he doesn't die now, in another fifty or sixty years, he will pass. If what that little girl says is true, and he dies these fifty or sixty years early, the entire continent can have five or six hundred years of peace. Of course, that includes our elven race."

  "I understand. I have always understood..." Luya replied expressionlessly, muttering as she turned her head away. Inside the cage of vines, Aimee had collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

  "Intruder!" an elf in charge of monitoring the scrying images on a distant branch suddenly shouted.

  "What? From where? Where are they?" Elder Lloyd asked, his voice still calm. After the last war of misunderstanding with the Tower of Fangs, the War Ancient Tree's scrying range had already expanded to its limit, covering a circular area of ten li.

  "Right here, they just appeared!"

  "Right here?" Elder Lloyd, Luya, and all the other elves looked around vigilantly, but saw nothing unusual. "Appeared suddenly? How is that possible?"

  The War Ancient Tree's scrying magic was a product of the Ancient Elven Empire. It was impossible for anyone to deceive it. Elder Lloyd flew to that branch. On the magical display shown by the scrying magic, there was indeed a light point representing an intruder. And the position of this light point was actually on the War Ancient Tree itself. To be precise, it overlapped with the green light point representing the Leaves of the World Tree.

  Greatly alarmed, Elder Lloyd looked towards the altar. But the Leaves of the World Tree still lay quietly upon the altar. The dozens of treants around it remained motionless.

  Is the scrying magic malfunctioning? Elder Lloyd was stunned. He thought for a moment, then suddenly understood something and looked up.

  A black shadow fell swiftly from above. Although it was very high up, its shape could be vaguely made out as that of a person. And the position of its fall was precisely that of the altar.