Chapter 222: ·The Besieged City

Vivi and Rehanna did not hesitate for even a second. After following Nolan for this long, the first lesson they had learned was simple: always strike first. The two moved immediately, subduing the abnormal Wood Elf guards and tying them up tightly.

“Muscle priest!” Vivi called out. “Do you sense anything?”

“A tremendous malice…” Kayan replied grimly. “A blasphemous evil is drawing near.”

“We secure the entrance first.” Rehanna’s mercenary instincts made her decisive in small-scale combat situations. “It’s easy to defend and difficult to breach.”

***

Inside the hall, Ailindel’s attacks did not cease. Wave after wave of razor-sharp wind blades tore toward the ceiling, shredding apart the branches that had transformed into fleshy tendrils. But Rosm, having stolen the power of the Foundation of Life, had become even stronger. Endless masses of blood-red branches continued sprouting from the dome, throwing themselves forward to block every attack in a frenzy.

“Since things have come this far,” Rosm roared triumphantly, “I might as well tell you the truth!”

His voice echoed through the hall, thick with the ecstasy of a long-awaited victory.

“For more than ten years, I have secretly altered and laid down a colossal ritual array right beneath the noses of these self-satisfied Wood Elves in their so-called safe city!”

More than a decade of planning had finally reached its harvest.

“Though the corruption of the Mark of Silent Extinction is not yet complete, it is more than enough to deal with all of you.”

He crossed both hands against the ceiling.

A cruel, feverish grin spread across his rotting face.

“Blood Refinement Altar! With my blood, I offer tribute to my god!”

Bzzzzz! The entire platform-city trembled violently.

Centered on the Hall of Tree Shepherds, sixteen enormous pillars of crimson light suddenly erupted throughout Forest Home. The towering beams shot into the heavens, staining the colossal canopy overhead blood red. Some originated from ancestral statues revered by the Wood Elves. Others emerged from ordinary signposts by the roadside. A few even burst forth from humble civilian treehouses.

Wood Elf warriors and civilians alike ran out in terror. For thousands of years, Forest Home had known only peace and tranquility. Now catastrophe had descended without warning. Having isolated themselves from the outside world for too long, the Wood Elves neither understood what was happening nor knew where to point their weapons.

A scarlet net that had been woven over the course of more than a decade finally closed over the heart of Forest Home. Streams of bloody light burst from one crimson pillar to another, linking together in midair. They rapidly intertwined, forming two gigantic and grotesque eight-pointed star arrays that overlapped one another in a twisted pattern.

“Aaaagh!”

The screams that followed did not come from a single person. They erupted from every corner of Forest Home. Warriors gripping weapons, frightened civilians hiding inside their homes, men, women, elders, and children alike all cried out in agony at the exact same moment.

Their eyes rolled upward until only bloodshot whites remained. Then, as one, they turned toward the Hall of Tree Shepherds and surged forward like a tidal wave.

“At this damn gate doesn’t even have a keyhole!” Vivi cursed at the entrance hall. “The whole thing’s been sealed completely with magic!”

“Forget the door for now,” Rehanna said while staring toward the streets beyond. More and more Wood Elves were leaping down from higher platforms to join the advancing flood of bodies. “I trust Lord Nolan. He’ll be fine. Our job is here.”

“Mother Goddess of Mercy, shelter our bodies. Her words are perfection. Her deeds are truth!”

Under Kayan’s leadership, fifty warriors of the Holy Hammer Division chanted sacred scripture together.

The fifth-circle hymn, Protection of Sethis, manifested as a massive golden semicircular barrier that enveloped everyone inside.

“Miss Rehanna is right.” Kayan stepped to the very front, Cross Staff in hand, utterly fearless after completing the chant. “Come. We shall become Lord Nolan’s strongest shield.”

The response came as a unified battle cry from the warriors of the Inquisition of the Cross and the Black Armored Legion’s Holy Hammer Division.

“Purge evil and destroy heresy! We fight until death!”

***

Inside the hall, Ailindel moved closer to Nolan. Silver-white soul essence flowed around her body, resisting the encroaching crimson mist. There was an unusual heaviness in her voice.

“Gondos… is crying out. These Wood Elves are being deceived by the twisted will of the forest.”

Before she could finish speaking, the Stag Guards and elders who had stood frozen suddenly trembled in unison.

Then they slowly turned their heads toward Nolan and Ailindel. No reason remained in their eyes. Only pure hatred toward outsiders.

“It’s a spiritualist’s mind spike! Wake up, all of you!” Nolan shouted.

Spiritualists possessed almost no direct combat ability, but they excelled in manipulating the mind. On their own, the class was nearly useless in battle.

But Rosm was not merely a spiritualist. After obtaining the power of decay, his original abilities had transformed him into something far more dangerous and unpredictable.

Nolan reached behind his waist and pulled out a small blue vial before tossing it into the air.

It was a Focus Elixir prepared in advance, a specially modified version developed by Leus specifically for illusions, forced hypnosis, and mental manipulation. The ingredients were incredibly rare. There had only been three bottles in existence, all of Coldsteel City’s remaining stock. Nolan had brought them solely as a precaution.

Ailindel understood immediately.

With a light flick of Breeze’s spear shaft, wind elements surged outward.

Pop! The vial shattered instantly. The icy-blue potion scattered into countless droplets, raining down across the hall onto the Wood Elves below.

Yet when the potion touched them, nothing happened.

“Tch. The Focus Elixir’s useless. Was the dosage too small?”

Nolan and Ailindel stood back to back as the Wood Elves closed in around them.

“Looks like we’ll have to fight.”

“Mhm.” Ailindel’s reply was simple and unwavering.

High above them, Rosm burst into shrill laughter as he watched Nolan’s futile attempt. “Hahahaha! It’s useless! This is far more than a simple mind spike! The Foundation of Life’s influence over the very roots of the Wood Elves runs deeper than you can imagine! In their eyes now, you are the blasphemous monsters corrupting nature itself. You are the filth that must be eradicated!”

His voice carried a strange and sinister resonance. Having stolen the Foundation of Life’s power, Rosm had effectively become the mouthpiece of this twisted forest will.

“Go, my loyal servants! Tear them apart!”

From the perspective of the Wood Elves, the world had transformed completely. The black-armored human and the Moon Elf clad in white armor suddenly began twisting and collapsing as the red mist spread. The black armor became writhing masses of flesh, while the white armor turned into pale skeletal bone. Two foul-smelling abominations now stood where Nolan and Ailindel once had, roaring blasphemies against the forest.

As for everything that had happened before, the Wood Elves had forgotten it all. Only the instinct to protect their homeland remained.

“Protect Forest Home!”

The guards roared as they charged forward.

Neither Nolan nor Ailindel were indecisive people, but faced with allies whose minds had been corrupted, they could not bring themselves to kill.

Nolan slid his sword back into its sheath and gripped Mountain’s Resonance together with the scabbard as he stepped toward the rushing crowd. The hilt became a hammer. The sheathed blade became a staff.

He glanced up toward Rosm on the ceiling.

There was a rule every beginner in the game knew well.

If you cannot break the mental control, then eliminate the one casting it.