They were clearly only facing a single person, but his threat struck everyone with a sense of asphyxiation as if the entire sky had fallen on them.
This was a man who was once known as the most powerful being on the entire continent. He’d been declared dead three years ago, but following his return, he was just as terrifying as ever.
He didn’t even need to dirty his own hands, as just a single attack from his griffin steed had been enough to severely injure Borg, who had apparently once fought Alex to a draw.
Everything that had happened thus far had been completely unexpected to all of the elves present.
Princess Irina’s abolition, her subsequent battle against Borg, Alex’s grand entrance to save Irina before severely wounding Borg…
Everything had developed in such an abrupt fashion that no one could’ve predicted what was going to happen next.
At this moment, the opening of the cave had been obscured by a vast expanse of murky green light, thereby making it impossible to see what was happening inside. The life energy that normally poured forth relentlessly from within the cave had also been cut off as if an invisible wall had been erected.
The Tree of Life had virtually cut off all of its ties with the outside world, and even the gentle green light that it was perpetually emanating had disappeared without a trace.
Right at this moment, an elf exclaimed in a panicked manner, “The Spring of Life has run dry!”
All of the elves’ hearts jolted upon hearing this, and they hurriedly turned their attention to the Spring of Life, only to find that it had indeed completely dried out.
Only the slightly damp ground where the Spring of Life had once been indicated that it had ever existed in the first place, and the constant flow of the Spring of Life had completely ceased.
“Wh… what do we do?” The great elder of the elven race was in a blind panic.
“The Spring of Life has run dry! This is a sign that extreme ill-fortune will soon befall our entire race!” an elderly elf within the crowd croaked in a horrified voice.
All of the other elves also wore expressions of fear and unease on their faces. Their queen had gone into seclusion, their princess had been deposed, the Tree of Life had cut off its connection with the outside world, and now, the Spring of Life had run dry. All of these events had taken place in such a short span of time, and one simply couldn’t help but fear for the worst.
“I heard that the Spring of Life has run dry on three occasions in the history of the elven race. Each time this has occurred, the entire elven race has been afflicted by a disastrous ordeal… The last time the Spring of Life ran dry was over 1,000 years ago, and immediately after that, the 1,000-year-long war among species ensued,” a certain elf said in a feeble voice.
Panic and unease soon began to spread through the entire crowd.
Everyone turned their attention toward Borg and Helena, the latter of which was standing on the platform with a grim expression on her face. The queen had gone into seclusion and the princess had been deposed. As such, these two were the only ones in the race that could make some decisions.
As for the panel of elders, all of the elves knew that half of them pledged their allegiance to Borg while the other half were under Helena’s control, so these two were still the ones who were going to make the final decision.
The gruesome wound on Borg’s shoulder had already stopped bleeding, but his tattered and bloodstained clothes still presented quite a sorry sight. He shrugged off the elf who was holding onto his arm to support him, and a sinister expression on his face as he strode forward before pointing a finger at the nearby cave. “That demonic witch, Irina, must be responsible for making the Spring of Life run dry! We have to kill her, and only then will we be able to avert the ordeal that is to come!”
The leaders of the major families were all rather hesitant initially, but after the leader of the Berman Family stepped forward to voice his support for Borg, all of the other family leaders chimed in. “That’s right! We have to kill Irina!”
However, all of the ordinary elves were still feeling quite panicked, and they didn’t dare to say anything.
All of the events that recently unfolded struck them with a strong sense of foreboding, and if they were to kill Irina now, who’d be able to stop Alex from exacting his revenge on the entire elven race?
Borg?
No, he clearly wasn’t powerful enough.
But who could stop Borg, who had become rather deranged at this point? Everyone looked on as a group of powerful beings followed Borg toward the cave, and no one dared to say anything.
“Kill Irina to avert this crisis!” all of Borg’s supporters chanted in unison as they strode toward the cave with furious expressions.
Among them, there were Borg’s followers as well as elves who had been driven to the point of irrationality by fear, and simply wanted the Spring of Life to begin flowing again.
Compared to the terrifying unknown future that awaited the elven race, Alex suddenly didn’t seem to be all that fearsome.
Meanwhile, all of the other elves looked on with blank expressions, clearly at a loss for what to do.
“Break this seal and kill her!” Borg pointed a finger at the green light barrier in the cave with a deranged look on his face.
“Kill her!”
All of the other elves behind him seemed to have also gone insane as they pointed their wands toward the cave.
Lights of different colors began to appear on the tips of their wounds, and there was no lack of 10th-tier magic casters among them. With so many powerful magic casters combining their powers at once, there was no way that this seal would be able to withstand their collective assault.
Some of the elves had even closed their eyes, unable to bear watching these tragic scenes any further. Regardless of whether it was Princess Irina or the Tree of Life, no one wanted to see them perish.
Right at this moment, someone suddenly appeared in front of the cave and positioned herself before everyone.
It was none other than Helena, who had barely even spoken at all this entire time.
She stood in front of the opening of the cave and appraised the elves before her in a calm manner.
All of the elves who were just about to unleash their magic hurriedly stopped what they were doing before looking at Helena with bewilderment and confusion on their faces.
Borg’s expression also stiffened slightly, and his brows furrowed as he asked, “What are you doing, High Priestess Helena?”
“Borg, do you want to become an enemy of our entire race?” Helena looked at Borg with a grave expression as she said, “According to the rules stipulated by our elven ancestors, all those who inflict damage upon the Tree of Life of the Spring of Life will be regarded as public enemies by the entire elven race. Your battle with Irina has already harmed the Tree of Life, yet you’re going to forcibly break through the barrier set up by the Tree of Life now. Are you trying to kill the Tree of Life once and for all?”
Helena then turned to the elves behind Borg, and continued, “The Tree of Life is extremely weak both in its offensive and defensive abilities. This barrier has been materialized by the very essence of the Tree of Life. If you break it, the Tree of Life will die. Do you all want that to happen?”
All of the elves’ expressions changed drastically as they hurriedly put down their wands. Killing Irina and killing the Tree of Life were two entirely different concepts. The latter would bring about consequences that no one could shoulder, not even Borg.
The Tree of Life gave rise to the entire elven race, and it was the spokesperson of the Goddess of Life in this world. If they were to kill it, the elven race could be abandoned by the Goddess of Life, and the killers of the tree would become the biggest sinners in the entire elven race.
Borg’s expression changed several times as he looked at Helena, but in the end, his clenched fists relaxed as he relaxed. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Tree of Life, and I am only doing this so I can hold Irina accountable for her crimes. However, seeing as you’re saying my actions could harm the Tree of Life, then I will naturally refrain from continuing in this endeavor. I still have some injuries that I must attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”
After casting a final glance at the cave, Borg turned to leave.
“The welfare of the elven race is paramount. No one can be allowed to cross that line,” Irina said in a calm voice as she looked on at Borg’s departing figure.
Borg’s footsteps faltered slightly upon hearing this before he continued to depart.
