Chapter 247: Back To That Key Moment ⑨

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Chapter 247: Back To That Key Moment ⑨

Shang Ke found himself floating in midair. His body was translucent, wrapped in pale-green ripples of light scattered with beautiful, glittering motes. In the distance stretched an endless forest beneath a washed-blue sky, and between heaven and earth stood a vast, towering tree—the elves’ Mother Tree, the Sacred Tree.

【Host’s body is currently 47% condensed. When condensation reaches 100%, Host will materialize physically.】

Shang Ke asked, “How long will it take to reach 100%?”

【Estimated time: eighty-nine days,】 the System added. 【Before body condensation is complete, Host cannot leave the boundaries of Faesier Forest.】

Eighty-nine days? Fortunately, that was not too long.

Shang Ke circled the Sacred Tree and swept his gaze across the forest. He could vaguely make out groups of people moving among the trees. Along the forest’s edge stood several orderly camps occupied by Alliance troops composed of warriors from many different races. Battle standards fluttered overhead, creating a magnificent sight.

He remembered that before his disappearance, the Alliance army had been nowhere near this large. After his death, the various races must have used the revived Sacred Tree as a rallying point, gathering new strength to fight the Forge Wraiths together. He had no idea how the war was going now—or whether Ivan and the little elves were all right.

Deep in the forest, two or three kilometers from the Sacred Tree, a group of little elves seemed to sense something at the same time. They all turned in the same direction, expressions both nervous and expectant. After a brief stillness, they suddenly broke into a run toward the Sacred Tree.

Keke—it was Keke’s aura!

Of the twelve little elves, Shadi was the fastest, followed by Michael, Sara, and the others.

“Wait for me!” Shear clung to a tree trunk, forcing his weak legs to carry him forward. But after only a few steps, his companions had already vanished from sight. Left behind alone, he grew so anxious that tears welled in his eyes, and all he could do was call out helplessly.

Just then, a small figure emerged from the bushes and effortlessly hoisted Shear onto his back.

“Thank you, Aram.” Shear gently nuzzled the side of his ear.

Aram said nothing. His expression remained stiff and wooden. His young face looked as though it were covered in a layer of bark, rough and strange patterns spreading down his neck and across his entire body. He resembled a treant that had not quite finished transforming. Only his eyes remained exceptionally clear.

The little elves gathered around the Sacred Tree and looked up at their Mother Tree with eyes full of expectation.

But the person they longed to see did not appear.

Leilei lowered her head, tears dropping like beads. The other little elves also looked utterly dejected and disappointed.

Just as they began to think what they had sensed earlier was only an illusion, waves of familiar, affectionate aura gently flowed around them, enfolding them in a warm embrace and soothing them tenderly.

The little elves’ eyes shimmered. They hurried to the Sacred Tree, opened their arms, and hugged its trunk as though throwing themselves into their mother’s embrace.

Shang Ke slowly drifted down. One by one, his translucent fingers brushed over the little elves’ heads, silently telling them: I’m back.

At 47% body condensation, they still could not see him, but they could feel his presence.

Bright smiles spread across all the little elves’ faces. They clung to the tree trunk and refused to let go, practically wishing they could hang from it forever.

“What are you doing?” A cool voice suddenly came from behind them.

The little elves turned and saw a red-haired mixed-blood elf walking slowly toward them, displeasure faintly visible on her face. She was the teacher the elderly mage Gerry had assigned to them, responsible for teaching them magic and various combat techniques.

“Mattie, Keke is back!” the little elves cried excitedly.

Mattie frowned and clearly did not take their words seriously. Instead, she asked, “Have you finished the lessons I assigned you today?”

The little elves’ expressions dimmed. They had wanted to share their happiness with another elf, only to have a bucket of cold water poured over it.

“Mattie, can we stay here tonight?” Leilei asked timidly.

Mattie glanced at her and replied coldly, “You may be pure-blooded elves, but that does not mean you can ignore the rules. Other than during prayer ceremonies, no one is allowed to remain in the Sacred Grounds.”

“But…”

“Enough. Go back and finish your lessons.” Mattie’s command left no room for refusal.

The little elves hugged the tree trunk tightly and stubbornly refused to leave.

Seeing this, Mattie said no more. She whistled into the air, and several forest guards immediately emerged from among the trees.

“Take them back.” After a pause, Mattie added, “Be careful. Don’t hurt them.”

The forest guards nodded and walked toward the little elves.

The children scattered in every direction, turning the chase around the Sacred Tree into a game of hide-and-seek. But the few with limited mobility were quickly caught. The others immediately leaped onto the guards and clung to them, trying to rescue their companions.

The guards remained unmoved. Each tucked one little elf under an arm while several more hung from their bodies, and in that ridiculous state they started carrying the children back toward their residence.

Floating overhead, Shang Ke grew furious at the sight. The Sacred Tree was the elves’ Mother Tree and the home of all elves. No one had the right to prevent elves from drawing close to their own Mother Tree. Strictly speaking, the pure-blooded elves were the true masters of the Sacred Grounds; mixed-blood elves were only collateral branches who carried elven blood.

Seeing the little elves about to be taken away, Shang Ke’s spirit form suddenly rippled outward. Nature power surged, and vines shot rapidly from the ground, instantly winding around the guards’ feet and binding them in place.

More vines rose at once, gently wrapping around the little elves and carrying them one by one onto the branches of the Sacred Tree. The first vines then released the guards. Like green serpents, they coiled and intertwined across the ground before curving into a broad semicircle, like a pair of giant wings spread protectively around the children in the tree.

Mattie and the others stared at the scene in shock, unable to speak for a long moment.

In his spirit form, Shang Ke sat lightly among the little elves and waved at the people below. “The little elves are under my care now. You can go.”

Although they could neither see nor hear him, the pressure radiating from the Sacred Tree abruptly tightened Mattie and the others’ breathing, forcing them to retreat several steps.

The little elves froze for an instant, then all jumped up in excitement.

Shang Ke looked at their delighted faces and muttered unhappily, “Where the hell did Ivan run off to? Didn’t I tell him to take good care of the little elves?”

Shang Ke had no objection to Ivan bringing the little elves back to Faesier Forest. This had always been their home and was the place most suited to their growth. But judging from what he had just seen, their situation here was far from ideal.

First was their residence, which had been placed two or three kilometers away from the Sacred Tree. The buildings were square, rigid, and monotonous, completely unsuited to elves. Even the little elves’ clothes had obviously been designed according to human aesthetics. They were luxurious and finely made, but ill suited to elves. Elves were lively and active, fond of running and jumping through forests. Their clothes should have been light and easy to move in, not the sort of formal finery worn by aristocrats.

Pure-blooded elves were natural artists and botanists, yet the mixed-blood elf called Mattie clearly did not understand that. She disciplined the children harshly and handled everything according to rigid rules.

The little elves had actually grown weaker instead of stronger, and their disabilities showed no sign of improving. Did these people not know the Fountain of Life could heal illness and injury? Congenital disabilities might be difficult to cure completely, but easing their suffering should have been entirely possible.

And yet their conditions seemed even worse than before Shang Ke left.

Shang Ke did not know that ever since the Sacred Tree and Fountain of Life returned to the world, the various powers had designated this area a restricted zone. Unauthorized people were forbidden from approaching, and any use of the Fountain of Life required layers of approval. Over the past few years, forget using the spring water to treat the little elves—even letting them drink a few mouthfuls required the Great Elder’s permission.

Ivan knew the Fountain of Life could nourish the elves’ bodies, but he did not know how to use it to treat their specific conditions, so he could only secretly fetch a few jugs for them from time to time.

At the bottom of a valley, Ivan—fresh from a fierce battle—was leaning against a cliff with his eyes closed, resting. After an unknown amount of time, his eyes suddenly snapped open, two razor-sharp gleams flashing through them. He sprang to his feet and swept his gaze around the area, astonishment flickering across his face.

Strange. Wasn’t he dead?

Ivan clearly remembered that not long after the little elves sacrificed themselves, he had charged alone into a Forge Wraith camp and gone on a killing spree. Using his Spirit-Gathering Art, he crippled several hundred Forge Wraiths in succession. In the end, he exhausted himself, was captured, and was thrown into a dungeon.

Remembering those days of imprisonment, two fierce flames seemed to ignite in Ivan’s eyes. The Forge Wraiths had tortured him every day using all manner of cruel methods, leaving him in unbearable agony. But his awakened dragon bloodline gave him an extraordinarily tenacious vitality, and he survived everything they did to him until Alliance troops stormed the camp and freed him.

He had not died under enemy torture. In the end, he had been the one to give up.

The Alliance had sent troops to rescue him because of his tremendous fighting strength, only to bring back a cripple. At the time, all four of Ivan’s limbs had been broken, his bones shattered, and hardly a patch of flesh remained undamaged. He could not even stand, much less fight. Just as they had once been disappointed by the little elves’ disabilities, they became disappointed in him as well.

Ivan found it almost funny—and unbearably bleak.

These people were undeniably brave in battle, yet they always judged others by their own standards. The instant someone failed to meet their expectations, they abandoned them without hesitation. They had done it to the little elves, and they had done it to him.

What they did not know was that the Dragon race possessed terrifying regenerative abilities. As long as a dragon still drew breath, even the most grievous wounds could heal. Every severe injury would even make him stronger once he recovered. If they had only given him a little more time, he could have fought again. To protect the Sacred Tree that sustained Keke’s existence, he would have kept fighting even if it meant being shattered to pieces.

But history seemed determined to repeat itself. Another traitor appeared within the Alliance and used a new Wraith Jade to seal the Fountain of Life and destroy the Sacred Tree. This time, the destruction was absolute. Not even a single branch survived.

If the ending had already been decided, what was the point of struggling so bitterly? In the end, he had failed to protect Keke, failed to protect the little elves, and failed to drive the Forge Wraiths from the continent. Now even the final conviction that had kept him fighting had been extinguished by the Alliance’s shortsighted eagerness for quick results and another merciless betrayal.

Ivan’s heart became as still as dead water. He chose to give up.

Everything should have ended with his death. Yet he had “woken up” again, carrying the memories from before he died—woken up here and now, two years after Keke became the Mother Tree…

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