Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Alright, everybody is here.” Jurisian, black-haired and brown-eyed, checked the names on the roster.
Hearing his words, Arcelion put on a smile and turned around towards Lucien. “Mr. Evans, Mr. Forman, are we ready to go?”
He was too anxious when he thought of the contaminated elvish tree and his corrupted compatriots to control his feelings and manners.
Lucien meant to look at Atlant and see his attitude, but he only saw a pair of closed eyes after he turned his head. He immediately shook his head in amusement. Natasha’s chuckle also entered his eyes. She had obviously noticed his awkwardness. Habits and experiences tended to lead people to mistakes.
“Mr. Atlant, is there anything else you need to do?” asked Lucien.
Atlant smiled amiably. “No, there isn’t. I’m supposed to be your assistant in the investigation.”
Relieved, Iristine was about to speak, when her head became dizzy, and all the colors around her faded away, leaving only the densest darkness behind. Then, she saw a boundless cosmos where stars did not shine but emanated various colors like elements. Some of them were silver, some gold; some were green, and some were vermilion…
“Atomic Universe…” The name somehow popped up in her heart. The middle-rank and senior-rank sorcerers except for Heidi and Lucien’s students all said it out in a low voice.
Felipe was as pale as before. His eyebrows were furrowed, as if he was holding back the dizziness caused by the space jump. He stood straight with his hands in the pockets of his coat, raising his head high to observe the elemental planets around him thoughtfully. There was no telling what was on his mind.
Iristine’s sickness hadn’t been relieved yet, when she saw that the planets were suddenly accelerating and connecting into weird symbols, leaving arcane trajectories behind them.
When she saw the symbols, her eyes were blurry again, making it impossible for her to perceive the sight around. She had the strange illusion that she was traveling inside a long, dark tunnel.
In her ignorance, Iristine did not know how long it passed, but light suddenly glowed before her eyes, so dazzlingly that she squinted. Her head was extremely heavy, and she felt like throwing up.
“We’re in the Stroop forest now. Please lead us to Nature’s Residence.” Lucien’s pleasant voice seemed to have passed countless worlds before it finally reached Iristine’s voice obscurely.
‘Nature’s Residence’ was a powerful defense of the elves. It was also a reference to the habitat of the elves within the Stroop forest.
Iristine shook her head, trying to get rid of the dizziness, but she suddenly saw a beautiful and energetic face whose silver eyes contained a vague smile. There was a finger-sized fruit on the lady’s opened hand. She said with a delighted voice, “Chirga, a special fruit of Holm, grows only next to the Chirga River and can remove the dizziness caused by space transfer quickly.”
Iristine took the fruit and put it into her mouth. Feeling the sweet sourness, she was immediately refreshed. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
As a diplomat, she certainly knew the queen of Holm, Mr. Evans’s wife.
Natasha smiled. “In fact, you will be better after you are used to it. Space jump isn’t that terrible.”
She turned back and walked to Lucien, chuckling in the telepathic bond that had been preset. “Even princesses of elves are so weak, too? I am truly one of a kind among princesses.”
“Do you not know what level she is at?” Lucien was rather satisfied that his wife did not keep talking with Iristine.
Natasha said gloatingly, “I came to Holm through ‘Element Paradise’ when I was little. I didn’t find it as unbearable as she did.”
“Of course, you are unique.” Lucien sensibly ended the conversation with a compliment.
Taking a few deep breaths, Iristine was completely recovered and found that the sorcerers of the Congress of Magic had all been woken up one way or another. Therefore, she said with a graceful and polite smile, “Everybody, please follow me to ‘Nature’s Residence’.”
They left the place earlier through Malfurion’s natural power, and the dizziness was less severe. Not all legends had a demiplane. The saint cardinals did not, most legendary knights did not, and nor did the druids. Only the legendary sorcerers and the experts who occupied a certain demiplane or alternate dimension of special qualities had such a thing, like Apsis with his ‘Skeleton Land’ and Tiphotidis with his ‘Silent Hell’.
Of course, it was generally accepted that their demiplanes were granted by the Lord of Hell or the Will of Abyss. Their strength would be improved by half a level if they fought in those areas.
“Is this a space jump based on demiplanes?” Arcelion was behind his sister. He felt that he had only been giddy for a while before the familiar Stroop forest appeared again before his eyes.
The heat of June couldn’t be felt at all inside the Stroop forest. The breeze passed the leaves with the unique fragrance of coolness of the woods, bringing the pleasant bird songs to them.
Alferris, whose body size had been reduced, walked at the front of the team like a dog. He observed the environment so attentively that even Jurisian, a battle sorcerer, felt ashamed of himself. The dragon was simply too meticulous!
“Alferris, what are you looking for?” Heidi was particularly close to the lovely pet.
Alferris coveted the forest like a detective, terrifying all the creatures within thousands of meters with his dragon air, but he said childishly and carefully, “I remember that a sorcerer found a gem mine in this forest!”
“But it’s obviously not here…” Katrina couldn’t help but remind him of the natural geography.
Alferris was not frustrated at all. “There are many gifts of nature in places where elves live!”
That was the biggest reason why he begged Lucien to go with him. Considering that elves did not hate dragons although some of them might be biased against humans, he accepted the dragon’s plea in the end.
Iristine looked at the little guy with translucent crystal scales on his body, not surprised at his dragon nature, but she couldn’t help but shake her head at the dragon’s tycoon garments.
The foreclaws of the dragon were adorned with glittering rings, and quite a few medals, including the Silver Moon Medal that represented the highest honor, were hanging on his chest. There were also the items that he borrowed from Lucien. Since he had to return them to somebody, he wore them all the time and seized every second to ‘bond’ with them, acting as if they could not be separated. Naturally, the gesture was all for Lucien to watch.
Lucien’s destination in the space jump was not far away from Nature’s Residence. Led by the two elves, the ‘Delegation of the Congress of Magic and the Kingdom of Holm’ soon saw a place that was enshrouded in a mist. In a haze, all the trees rose high exuberantly. Under the direction of the magic power, their branches constituted cottages in midair. The lake at the center was as smooth as a gem. The flowers and fruits around were peculiar and colorful. It was both a residence and nature!
“How beautiful…” Heidi, Katrina and the other girls complimented the beautiful environment. Even the gloomy sorcerers such as Felipe felt that their mind had been pacified and cleansed after witnessing Nature’s Residence that seemed to be in a fairy tale.
At this moment, Malfurion, an old elf with dark green skin, walked out from the mist with an undecorated wood staff in his hands, followed by many elves whose skin and hair colors varied.
“Welcome, honorable guests.” Malfurion spoke on behalf of the Elvish Court. “Forgive me for my lack of manners, but all the elves are in pain because of the damage that the Elvish Tree suffered. Evans, Forman and Natasha, please come to the center of the lake with me.”
“That’s our purpose.” Lucien appreciated the importance of the elvish tree for elves, and he was thinking whether or not he could take a valuable fruit back with him. That way, he would be able to hold the best life-extending legendary ritual for himself and Natasha together with the Fountain of Youth.
In the meantime, Lucien asked Jurisian, Sprint, Heidi and the other sorcerers. “Walk around and talk to the elves. Figure out the details of the incident, particularly the signs of the dozens of corrupted elves before their corruption.”
“As your wish, Your Excellency.” Jurisian had always been serious on missions. His usual humor was nowhere to be found.
Therefore, the three legends flew towards the Elf’s Royal Palace at the center of the lake under the lead of Malfurion who was a Dark Elf. The elvish tree was at the pivot of the palace.
Halfway through their flight, Lucien and Natasha had already seen a gigantic tree whose diameter was the distance between one end of the Nekso Palace and the other. The crown of the tree was so high into the clouds that they could barely see it. The rind was a weird color of brown and green, fluctuating as if it were vigorously alive.
The elvish tree emitted a feeling of transcendence. It was clearly located in this place, but it seemed to be in a different world. Lucien was no stranger to such feelings, because the Furnace of Souls was even more intangible than it.
“It has indeed been polluted…” Natasha’s eyes were keener when Lucien hadn’t performed his magic. She saw quite a few dense black spots on the trunk, which corrupted the rind around and were spreading slowly.
At this moment, a shadow flew out of a naturally-formed house on the elvish tree. It was a black-haired, silver-skinned and tall elf with pointy ears, who had a vintage bow on his back.
“This is Lankshear, ‘Vengeful Hunter’, our chief of guards.” Malfurion introduced him to Lucien, Natasha and Atlant.
The other level-three elf… Lucien nodded. The male elf who had a lot of mysterious tattoos on his neck was a legend who grew with his own elvish talents, not a druid.
“This is Lucien ‘Atom Controller’ Evans, this is his wife, Natasha ‘Sword of Adjudication’ Orvarit, and this is Atlant ‘Eye of Curse’ Forman. I believe you are familiar with him.’ Malfurion talked to Lankshear. Then he frowned, “Where is Ferragond?”
Lankshear easily struck everybody as a melee warrior, but his body figure was smooth and there were barely any bulging muscles. He snorted, “Ferragond does not want to welcome guests. You know that he is the leader of Nature’s Abhorrence.”
He did not seem to be Ferragond’s best friend, and he intentionally pointed it out.
