Chapter 146: The Turning Point

  "Stop." A loud shout sounded clear and resonant even in the oppressive air, full of confidence.

  Sylka halted, turning back with some surprise to look at the elven girl who had shouted.

  "Surround them." Luya waved her hand, directing the elves who had just made way to once again encircle the thieves outside the black domain.

  Sylka said nothing, only reaching out to pull an elven captive from among the thieves. His palm-like large hand grabbed the elf's head, and the elf's screams mixed with the creaking sound of his skull under unbearable pressure.

  "It's useless." Though Luya's voice and expression were agitated, they were no longer panicked and flustered as before, but filled more with anger and resolve. She stared fiercely at Sylka, who was still torturing their kin, like a slender hunter confronting a ferocious giant bear—at least in spirit and momentum, she was not the least bit inferior. She said coldly, "The sacred relic will not be given to you, and you won't leave here either."

  "Oh?" The muscles in Sylka's hand twitched, and the elf captive's head immediately exploded under the tremendous force. But this wasn't intentional—it was because unexpected anger made him lose control.

  From the female elf's eyes, he could see that bloody intimidation no longer had any effect. Every emotion has its limit; once surpassed, a person can rise above emotions rather than be controlled by them. Occasionally, when torturing and killing people, he would encounter those who were first afraid then calm, but such people were extremely rare. Most people didn't even have the courage to face fear, sorrow, or pain head-on. Many would go mad under the torment of these emotions. But this seemingly delicate elven girl possessed such perseverance and courage—that kind of gaze should originally appear in the eyes of human warriors who had experienced life and death.

  "If I let you escape from here, you'll come again next time, and more elves will die at your hands. Moreover, if you take them away, they will only become slaves and playthings of humans, living a fate worse than death, with even their dignity as elves completely gone." Watching Sylka kill that elf, Luya's face indeed no longer showed the earlier reluctance and hesitation; instead, her anger and passion intensified. As she spoke, she started walking toward the thieves, and the black domain dispersed before her like smoke. The momentum in her voice and expression influenced every elf around her, and even the spirits of those dazed elves in the thieves' hands seemed to rally. "Dying here, they sacrifice to defend their homeland. Their souls will coexist on this land. And you will pay the price for their deaths."

  Elder Lloyd watched Luya and nodded slightly, with a hint of surprise but more of approval.

  The muscles on Sylka's face twitched. His opponent was no longer under his control and had even resolved to eliminate them. In this situation, direct confrontation was the only way out. But direct combat meant he couldn't capture even a single elf. Escaping this forest would be considered a success. And this meticulously planned massive operation had now become a fruitless effort, with perhaps the entire Shamushi Thieves Guild perishing here.

  If gazes could take physical form, Sylka's eyes would have stabbed, poked, hacked, and chopped this elven girl into meat paste. Immense anger and killing intent boiled and tormented within him, his battle aura and the bloodthirstiness in his eyes growing heavier. Finally, he suddenly waved his greatsword and laughed loudly like a flesh-eating monster from hell. "Hahahaha... Interesting. Come and try how high the price will be. I guarantee I won't disappoint you." He raised his voice and roared at the thieves. "Get ready. On my command, immediately cut off these elves' heads. Then we'll all fight our way out, kill these sons of bitches."

  But to Sylka's roar, few thieves responded. Many didn't look good. They were far less arrogant and murderous than their leader, able to be so unscrupulous even when knowing they would die. Seeing the approaching Luya and her magically summoned guards around her, almost every face showed fear.

  Several strange cracking sounds came faintly from afar, and the air seemed to vibrate slightly. But most people here were too preoccupied to notice, and few paid attention.

  But Ethan's attention was focused there. This didn't seem like the shockwave from a magical explosion, nor did he sense any massive magical fluctuations approaching, but he could feel the elves' magic barrier trembling slightly. This should be the elves' barrier being forcibly breached.

  The dizziness in his head had disappeared, and his body had fully recovered. He raised all his nerves to their most sensitive and explosive state. Though no one here had realized it yet, he knew that the tense standoff here, compared to those people and attacks about to arrive, was as insignificant as a wave under a tsunami.

  There was still no movement from the elves' teleportation magic circle. Sedros and Gru, for some reason, seemed not to have arrived yet. Though he knew staying here might be more dangerous before they came, Ethan didn't leave. The Leaves of the World Tree was still here; if he left, perhaps no one would be able to protect Luya here.

  Elder Lloyd must have also noticed the turmoil in the magic barrier, but his face showed no abnormality, his eyes still fixed on the battlefield ahead. He suddenly shouted loudly, "Elder Luya is right. I swear in the name of the great Mafa, I will not let any evil person who kills elves walk out of the Tulalion Forest. They will all die miserably under the great natural magic."

  Elder Lloyd's voice was loud and resonant, possessing enough shocking power just from its sound alone, making one doubt that such a huge voice could come from his slender body. Many thieves' faces immediately turned ashen under this mighty and intimidating voice. Even oaths sworn by clergy in the name of gods were not violated, and for a stubborn race like elves to swear in the name of their revered deity meant they absolutely couldn't leave here alive. The nearly hundred elven mages around certainly had that power.

  But Elder Lloyd's words then took a turn: "But those who repent for their crimes can receive Mafa's forgiveness. I swear in Mafa's name that anyone who hands over their hostages will be guaranteed to walk out of here safely. They just need to carry the elves out of that black magic domain."

  As soon as these words were spoken, all thieves were startled. Under the premise of the previous sentence, this statement's pressure and temptation acted simultaneously. Several thieves at the outermost edge suddenly shouldered their elven captives and rushed outward, shouting at the same time, "I surrender!"

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Old fox, fuck your eighteen generations of ancestors." Sylka's blood-red eyes glared at Elder Lloyd as he roared. He hadn't noticed when this elven elder had arrived, but with just two or three sentences from the old man, the thieves collapsed without a fight. He had originally intended to rely on the strength of all the thieves here to force their way out.

  In the blink of an eye, dozens of thieves rushed out of the black domain with their captives. The elves immediately untied their companions. Then, using the ropes that had bound the elves, they tied up the thieves.

  "Don't run!" Sylka roared like a madman, hacking a thief running outward and the captive on his shoulder into a pulp with one sword strike. But it was useless now; more thieves started running outward, and some even drew knives on each other while fighting over elven captives. Even those without captives rushed out of the black domain shouting surrender.

  Though Axsis had been thrown to the ground by several thieves and was groaning in pain, he still desperately supported the scroll in his hand. He knew that as vice-captain, he would never be pardoned by the elves, especially since he had killed over a dozen elves with that Hellfire scroll at the beginning.

  Crack, rumble. The sounds were much closer now, and many elves looked toward the direction of the sound, where white light seemed to be appearing. And these sounds grew increasingly dense, sounding as if someone were continuously chopping at something.

  "Thorn Prison." Luya waved the Leaves of the World Tree at Sylka. Centered on him, countless thick-as-a-child's-arm thorned vines immediately emerged from the ground, and these vines continued to gather toward the middle, wrapping toward Sylka's body like living snakes.

  Sylka had no time to chase his fleeing subordinates, waving his greatsword to hack at these vines. But under Luya's spell, more and thicker vines emerged from the ground, several of which sprouted from beneath Sylka's feet, quickly entangling his body. His movements paused, and immediately more vines wrapped around him. In the blink of an eye, Sylka's body was covered in thick vines. These vines were covered with sharp thorns like steel nails; if it had been other thieves, they would have been stabbed to death the moment they were entangled.

  But those thorns were clearly no match for Sylka's steel-like muscles. Sylka roared and struggled, and the vines that could probably even bind a rhinoceros began to break continuously, but new vines immediately grew to wrap around him. This spell had actually been used by other elven mages earlier, but what emerged from the ground was just ordinary thorns. All natural magic, when used by Luya holding the Leaves of the World Tree, was not just about dispelling the black domain—its effects were multiplied several times over.

  But in this delay, all the elven captives were brought out of the black domain by the thieves.

  Left inside, besides Sylka and Axsis, were nearly a hundred thieves—those who had personally killed elves or failed to seize elven captives to surrender. Now their only way out seemed to be to break through the encirclement with their two leaders. They immediately charged forward with weapons, hacking wildly at the vines binding Sylka.

  "Great Mafa, please grant your servant boundless life and strength..." Luya's spells usually came out with a single call, but now she gripped the Leaves of the World Tree with both hands, closed her eyes, and chanted a long incantation, then waved at the few venomous insects before her.

  They were two scorpions and three centipedes that had already been enlarged by the elven mages' magic. After Luya's incantation, their small bodies began to tremble. Then, like inflated gummy toys, they rapidly swelled. In just a few breaths, these few venomous insects reached terrifying proportions under the thieves' screams. The two scorpions were as large as oxen, their two huge pincers looking capable of effortlessly snapping a person in two at the waist. The tails raised high behind them were over a person's length. Let alone stinging, even wielding them as weapons would be fatal. The two centipedes had grown to python size, and their appearance and volume alone were enough to make one's hair stand on end.

  After casting the spell, Luya began leading the guards, including these now-giant venomous insects, to press toward the thieves again. The thieves' voices began to resemble those of women.

  "Damn, what is this? Magic tricks? This girl is amazing." Hilton shrieked, staring dumbfounded with a few companions.

  The druid Anderson had returned to human form. He frowned, looked, and said in a low voice, "This seems like Dragon's Might... the highest level of natural magic..."

  "Damn, you know again? Boss, what is this?" Hilton didn't trust the human-formed druid, perhaps because his honest and dull appearance lacked persuasiveness. He tugged at Ethan's sleeve. Now this boss held a very high position in his heart.

  But Ethan paid no attention, fully focused on another direction. Though he knew everything happening here, all his mental energy was attuned to the approaching sounds.

  The cracking sounds grew closer and louder, even the ground began to tremble slightly. Many elves, seeing the situation here had stabilized, ran toward where the sounds were coming from.

  Ethan frowned deeply. He didn't stop those elves running toward that direction, because he too felt something was wrong. This sound couldn't be produced by magic—it was more solid, fierce, and direct, like the sound of a stalwart giant wielding a great axe, forging a path through the forest. This sound absolutely didn't match the character and style of the Necromancer Guild.

  Ethan leaped onto a tree and finally saw the dozen-plus figures rapidly approaching from that direction.

  Those coming were definitely not Necromancers. Because though there was light around them, it wasn't the surging, turbulent waves of fire magic, but the pure, dazzling white magic light of holy radiance, just like that on the female Temple Knight.

  The elves' magic barrier had been forcibly breached, and the elven elders inside were probably fully controlling the barrier's magic power to prevent their further entry. All trees, flowers, plants, and animals around these intruders were rapidly mutating under the barrier's effect. Trees struggled to transform into giant The Withered Wood Wardens, moving their huge steps and waving their arms to attack them. Vines on the ground seemed to grow endlessly and frantically, surging toward them like a tide. Countless mutated venomous insects charged forward relentlessly—poisonous spiders the size of crabs, scorpions as large as lynxes, centipedes like snakes, and originally small venomous snakes becoming as thick as water pythons. As they moved, the area within dozens of meters became an ocean surging with frantic life and killing intent. But in this strange, deadly ocean, this group was like rocks in stormy waves—square, angular, yet stable and harmonious rocks, not just weathering the stormy waves. Probably even if the sky collapsed and the earth split, they would remain so steady, upright, and imposing.

  They strode forward, but not running. The frantic attacks around them didn't hinder their steps in the slightest, nor did they change their route. Their speed, path, posture, and momentum—all articulated a few words: mighty, courteous, though thousands stand against me, I shall go. In that brief moment of watching, Ethan was actually slightly awed by this momentum.

  Leading them was a tall man. Shoulder-length brown hair, his face full of scars but still handsome and resolute—on his highly masculine face, the scars didn't appear ferocious at all but instead became synonymous with bravery and medals. The Radiant Battleplate on his body emitted a soft yet powerful light, almost tangible. All venomous insects and magically induced vines were burned and repelled under this light.

  Originally walking beside him, shoulder to shoulder, was a man in Cardinal's attire, but anyone could see at a glance that he was the leader of this group. He strode forward with the expression of someone strolling through a courtyard, but his posture and momentum possessed unparalleled majesty and pressure, like a strolling lion. More than half of the group's unstoppable momentum came from him.

  The Cardinal beside him always wore a gentle, beautiful smile, exceptionally charming on his originally dignified and soft face. With a generous and elegant posture, he casually waved his hand, and the white magic Purification swept across large areas unnoticed, and those giant venomous insects and vines instantly reverted to their original small insects and green grass.

  Behind these two were four Temple Knights, including the female knight. But the other three Temple Knights were clearly of a completely different rank from the female knight. The light shining on them was only second to that of the leading knight, and the continuous cracking sounds came from their hands.

  Whenever a The Withered Wood Warden approached, they would leap forward, their weapons—either lances or greatswords—all shining with incomparable white light. The Withered Wood Wardens, several times their size, immediately collapsed and shattered under their strikes like dry, rotten wood that had decayed for years. These The Withered Wood Wardens, no different from monsters in the thieves' eyes, were actually no sturdier than rotten wood under their hands.

  Behind them were ten swordsmen. Whenever any venomous insects or vines slipped through and lunged, they were immediately severed into several pieces under their swords. Though they had few opportunities to strike, Ethan could already see their combat power was not much different from his own.

  As if sensing Ethan's gaze, the leading knight suddenly looked up and met Ethan's eyes.

  Ethan's body froze at this gaze. The distance between them was still far, and even the details of their bodies weren't clearly visible, but this man's eyes were directly imprinted in Ethan's mind in that glance. He almost subconsciously thought of another person: Gru.

  If Gru's dark eyes were like a bottomless deep sea where everything could be annihilated, then this man's brown eyes were a towering mountain that made everyone feel their own smallness.

  "Cardinal Adela under His Majesty Gervin·Magnus, Temple Knight Commander Lancelot, leading four Temple Knights and ten Templars, has come to the Tulalion Forest to help elven friends eliminate thieves and capture criminals." The man wasn't shouting deliberately, seeming to speak casually, but his voice rolled and echoed throughout the entire forest.