Chapter 253: Back To That Key Moment ⑨

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Chapter 253: Back To That Key Moment ⑨

Almost as though bewitched, Ivan walked over to Shang Ke and gently drew him into his arms. Dragon aura spiraled outward, forming a pair of golden dragon wings that crossed and folded around them. Beneath the glow, his powerful muscles gleamed with a metallic sheen, making him look almost like a god.

Shang Ke could not resist pinching Ivan’s arm. Sure enough, his skin was tough, his muscles solid, and the hardness beneath his fingers astonishing. Shang Ke had refused the System’s feather effects, yet this man was shamelessly showing off a pair of wings right in front of him.

Ivan’s large hand settled around Shang Ke’s slender waist, its scorching heat seeping straight through his skin. His burning gaze swept over Shang Ke’s face, while his domineering, forceful presence locked firmly onto him.

The dragon race’s boundless stamina and fierce lust seemed to have awakened together with Ivan’s power. Merely standing close to Shang Ke was enough to make his desire impossible to suppress, and even through their clothes Shang Ke could feel how hard he was. Ivan did not hesitate for long. He lifted Shang Ke up, pinned him against the tree trunk, freed himself from his clothes, and thrust forcefully inside. With practiced skill, he began fucking him hard and fast.

“Not here…” Shang Ke panted softly. “The young elves…”

Ivan’s pupils contracted. Dragon aura surged outward, instantly forming an isolated domain that blocked every young elf who had been preparing to run over and meet Shang Ke.

Shang Ke glared at him, but the springtime desire lingering in his eyes made the look utterly lacking in intimidation. If anything, it only excited Ivan further. “Right now, you belong to me alone. No one is allowed to disturb us.” He wanted to possess him, penetrate him, fill Shang Ke’s body with his scent all over again, and keep going until they were both utterly exhausted and day and night had blurred together…

News of the failed sneak attack caused an enormous shock within the Forge Wraith ranks. Although the operation had only been meant as a probe, everyone they had sent was elite. Even if the mission failed, there should never have been a complete wipeout. Yet every single participant had been captured, without exception.

This undoubtedly sounded an alarm for the Forge Wraiths. For the first time, they clearly felt the threat posed by the Elven Sacred Grounds.

Because of this development, the Forge Wraiths completely abandoned their plan to divide their forces. Instead, they concentrated their military strength, intending to destroy the elves before the elves’ power could fully take shape.

The war that, in Ivan’s previous life, had forced the young elves to sacrifice themselves arrived more than a year earlier than he had expected.

With a major battle imminent, Ivan devoted all his time to producing Oxygen Orbs and enchanting weapons. Shang Ke, meanwhile, spent every day racing around the territory covered by the magic formations with the young elves, familiarizing them with the terrain, running simulated battles, setting traps, and so on.

In barely two months, the young elves knew every inch of terrain within the core magic formation. They even knew exactly how many bird nests sat in each tree.

So Shang Ke moved their training to the outer magic formation, the area used by the mixed-blood elves. The appearance of Shang Ke and the young elves quickly attracted their attention.

In front of outsiders, Shang Ke always remained semi-materialized, moving through the forest like a phantom. The young elves followed in his footsteps, merging with nature as they ran, playing with magic as they frolicked, and learning one another’s rhythms through cooperation.

As their former teacher, Mattie paid close attention to their training. During the first few days, he thought the young elves were simply playing around and that their training followed no discernible structure. One day they would coax a flower into bloom, the next they would draw a talisman, and the day after that they might be racing animals.

Mattie did not think much of this free-form style of training, but out of respect for the Mother Tree, he did not dare voice his doubts.

Gradually, however, he began to notice some remarkable changes.

The surrounding trees grew lusher than before, and the natural energy became richer. Flowers and trees that had once been damaged and yellowed with decay burst back into life. The air seemed to have been washed clean—fresh, pure, and refreshing to the spirit. Leaves whispered in the wind, stones sighed softly in the mist, flowers swayed, rivers danced, and the entire world seemed reborn.

Countless voices lingered around their ears: the call of life, the whisper of nature. The elven blood within the mixed-blood elves seemed to awaken at that moment. Their souls rejoiced, their blood surged, and the grime that had clouded their vision was washed away layer by layer until only clarity remained.

This was the power of the elves. Every blade of grass and every tree was their companion; every flower and every leaf could become their eyes and ears.

The convictions Mattie had once held without question gradually began to waver. He watched the otherwise unremarkable Gray-Eye wield a crossbow effortlessly despite having only one functioning eye, striking his target every time. The deaf Wuyin could hear the voice of the earth. Leilei, whose body carried fire poison, could skillfully control fire magic. Aram, half of whose body had become tree-like, could revive dead wood. Kanyo, whose memory lasted only a short time, could communicate with animals… The disabled young elves he had once regarded as useless were, under the Mother Tree’s guidance, bringing their individual talents and gifts into full bloom.

The young elves had never been useless. Rather, people like him had never been qualified to teach them. Their bodies might be frail, but they still possessed the purest hearts and the purest power in the world.

The difference between pure-blood elves and mixed-blood elves did not lie in their blood. It lay in their souls. They had forgotten how to be true elves.

Mattie knelt on the ground, crossed his hands over his chest, and bowed devoutly in the direction of the Mother Tree.

Mother Tree, insignificant and ignorant as I am, I lost myself in the vast mortal world and strayed from the faith of the elves. I beg your forgiveness. Please allow me to return to your embrace and become one of your people once more.

Many mixed-blood elves were moved just as Mattie was. Seeds of awakening had already begun, silently taking root and sprouting within their souls…

Seven months later, the Forge Wraith army arrived as expected.

A group of smiths led by Ivan had produced enormous numbers of Oxygen Spirit weapons for the Alliance army. Combined with the terrain and the magic formations, those weapons sent the Forge Wraiths retreating in disarray during their very first clash.

Although they were far better prepared for this war than in Ivan’s previous life, the disparity in raw strength still existed. Shang Ke and his young elves could therefore only assist from the rear. The mixed-blood elves who had received Shang Ke’s guidance, however, separated from the forces of the other races and formed an independent unit, displaying unprecedented combat power.

Elves were the Forge Wraiths’ natural nemesis, and the natural aura they were born with was their greatest weapon. Although the natural aura within mixed-blood elves had already grown thin, with the amplification of specialized equipment and the advantage of favorable terrain, it was still enough to make the Forge Wraiths wary.

The magic formations activated at full strength, refusing to let the Forge Wraiths advance even a single step beyond the boundary. Ivan moved along the edges of the formations, deliberately picking out Forge Wraiths to strike from the shadows. As for the puppet armies under Forge Wraith control, those were left to the Alliance forces.

Protected by the formations, the young elves provided long-range support. Every animal and plant in Faesier Forest was their ally. Gray-Eye occupied the high ground, dropping an enemy with every arrow. Leilei sat on a tree branch and cheerfully hurled fireballs. Wuyin played a harp beside the stream, using music to raise morale. Michael could predict the enemy’s movements in advance. Sara possessed tremendous strength, splitting stone and reshaping the terrain. Shadi could manipulate every scent in the surrounding air, giving the enemy an intensely “refreshing” olfactory experience. Kanyo led the animals on wild charges, specializing in manufacturing chaos. Shear maneuvered his levitating wheelchair through the air to provide support. Aram accelerated plant growth to assist attacks. Miya hid in the shadows, coming and going like a ghost. Erika rooted her hardened hair deep underground to rapidly construct formations. As the eldest, Bubbles possessed no specialized skill, but he carried the strongest natural aura of them all and could mobilize the natural aura of the others.

The bewildering variety of attacks made the Forge Wraiths and their puppet soldiers suffer terribly. Never before had they fought such a maddening battle. It was as though the entire forest had turned against them, and the closer they came to the magic formations, the stranger everything became. One moment they were charging ferociously; the next, a tree branch tripped them flat on their faces. There would clearly be nothing in front of them, yet the instant they rushed forward they would smash into something hard enough to split their heads open. They would swing murderously at an enemy, only to discover that the weapon in their hand had vanished. And those were merely a few examples. The rest were too painful to recount.

Ivan crouched on a large tree and silently watched the enemy below being tormented into confusion. In his previous life, they had barely managed to drive the Forge Wraiths out of the forest only through the sacrifice of the young elves. Looking at the battle now, he finally understood just how tragic—and how unnecessary—that choice had been. The young elves possessed extraordinary strength and talent, yet none of it had ever been allowed to flourish. In the end, they had only been able to die heroic deaths by sacrificing their lives.

“How are the young elves doing?” Shang Ke’s light voice suddenly sounded behind him, interrupting Ivan’s thoughts.

A cool breeze swept past, and Shang Ke’s figure appeared beside Ivan.

“Keke.”

“Mm?”

“You’re wonderful.” Being able to return, to see you again, and to have everything we have now… it truly is wonderful.

Why had he suddenly become sentimental? Shang Ke gave him a puzzled look.

Ivan suddenly pulled him into his arms and kissed him hard on the mouth. “Darling, I’m off to kill people. Wait for me to come back with a whole pile of heads for you.” With that, he leaped away and vanished from sight in an instant.

Shang Ke was speechless. Other people gave their lovers flowers, rings, and luxury cars. This guy wanted to give him severed heads?

Sure enough, no matter how many lifetimes passed, this man’s sense of romance never improved. His romance score remained permanently below the passing line.

The battle did not end until dusk. For the first time, the Forge Wraiths suffered a defeat in the truest sense of the word, losing two-thirds of their main forces. They had been suppressed throughout the entire battle. Those Forge Wraiths who broke into the inner territory were almost all sealed and captured, and Ivan alone took down at least thirty of them.

The Alliance army, however, suffered considerable casualties. They had borne the brunt of the enemy’s fiercest opening assault, though with the mixed-blood elves assisting them, their achievements in battle were still impressive.

The magic formations remained completely intact. In the afterglow of sunset, their faint curtains of light stood between heaven and earth like guardian gods.

They had won?

The Alliance had actually won?

Even after the enemy discarded their armor and fled in panic, everyone still struggled to believe what they were seeing. Their battles against the Forge Wraiths had always been accompanied by devastating sacrifice and defeat. They had nearly forgotten what victory tasted like. It was so wonderful, so unreal, and so overwhelming that they wanted to… cry.

“We won!”

“We won!”

Cheers erupted across the mountains and forests like a tsunami sweeping through heaven and earth. The entire Faesier Forest seemed to boil with excitement.

Shang Ke listened to the cheers beyond the formation and smiled faintly. One by one, he carried the exhausted young elves, who had fallen asleep where they were, back into their treehouses.

Then he turned to the man beside him and asked softly, “What do you want to do next?”

“Obviously…” Ivan scooped him into his arms. “Fuck you.”

This war completely shattered the balance between the two sides. The Forge Wraiths had lost their final opportunity to eradicate the elves. From then on, the elven race began to develop and flourish rapidly. Mixed-blood elves scattered across the continent returned one after another, once again becoming children of the Mother Tree and guardians of the Sacred Grounds. Led by the twelve young elves, they worked together to build a home that belonged to them.

Ten years later, the Mother Tree bore an elf egg-fruit—the first new life it had conceived since its revival. The elven population was scarce and its bloodlines had grown thin; only the twelve young elves still carried the true bloodline inheritance. The appearance of this egg-fruit was therefore unquestionably the hope of the entire elven race.

This egg-fruit, however, was unusual. A faint golden radiance shimmered across its shell, containing both the purity of natural aura and a majestic pressure that inspired instinctive awe.

No one knew that the life gestating inside this egg-fruit possessed both a pure elven bloodline and a powerful dragon aura.

He would become the future Elf King.

The most powerful—and most extraordinary—Elf King in the history of the elven race.

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