Pillars of Ita

Fang He was silent for a while. He expected the beginning of the story, but not the ending.

His original plan was to come here, find the elf lady, understand what happened in the gray forest, and find a solution.

With the oracles of the goddesses of nature and balance, and Ms. Withering not really dead, things may be a little troublesome, but there is always a glimmer of hope, and for Miss Attila, they have to take action no matter what.

But unexpectedly, the situation was much more complicated than imagined, and in the end it was exactly as Alessa had predicted. The shadow in the forest seemed to be about to die, withering but not dead.

By the way, where is Alessa? Since arriving in this land, the Dark Dragon Queen has been silent. She is now staying with Luo Yu and keeps silent about everything that happened in this land.

Fang He vaguely sensed a subtlety. The other party was careful and cautious, perhaps it was related to the plan of the saints behind it. She had told him more than once that mortals should not easily get involved in the chess game of gods, but Fang He couldn't help but smile bitterly. Sometimes things were beyond their control:

"Just for a woman, even if she is an elf saint?"

"Ms. Alessa, there are more than just interests between people." He wanted to refute the Dark Dragon Queen, but when he thought about the fact that she and Lifgard had become enemies, it seemed that there was no family relationship between the dark dragons.

He shook his head. They were actually already deep into the chess game. The goddess of fate was willing to go against fate and play with the thread of fate, writing down the last prophecy:

At the cost of her own destruction, she wrote in her prophecy that a new god would be born from the ashes.

But the situation was not so optimistic. Fang He looked at the Hailin Crown in his hand. This holy object gave him the ability to go back between the forks of fate. This long journey also made him roughly understand the operating principle of the fate network: time is like a Möbius ring. Fate is generated simultaneously in the past, future and present. The three interfere with each other, so it never points to a predetermined result.

The only certainty in this prophecy is probably that the Goddess of Withering will be resurrected, but it is not certain in what form she will be resurrected and what she will become after her revival.

Fang He suspected that Ms. Roman had the Crown of Hailin mended just to let herself know this characteristic of fate in advance, but what was her intention?

Wait a minute, Ms. Roman.

The memories of the past suddenly became clear at that moment, and the fog covering them seemed to be dissipating.

The goddess of commerce seemed to be in front of him, saying to him:

“…Death always heralds rebirth, and the storm on the empty sea will never calm down forever.”

"Narsulli is dead, but the Mistress of the Storm will not be."

"The death of an old god often means the birth of a new god. The Nagas must retreat, because they are welcoming a new mother..."

"But this time, she may not be the mistress of the storm anymore."

"So," Fang He remembered asking, "the new Storm Goddess may not be one of the Dark Saints?"

The lady representing the scales and justice smiled at him and said noncommittally, "This is just one of the possibilities. We can only promote the process but cannot predict the outcome. Even God cannot do that. This is fate."

"But the newborn God must have a deep connection with you."

Fang He froze in place as if struck by lightning. This was the whole plan. As long as the concept remained, the throne would not be idle, and fate, apoptosis and storm would definitely be revived.

Not only do they have to preserve the divine fire of apoptosis and destiny, they also have to...

Re-divide the priesthood of the storm.

Fang He's brain was working fast, and all the coincidences in the past now seemed to be more than just coincidences.

The three goddesses who had cast their gazes on him, Roman, Aimaya and Marlan must have been involved. Maybe the goddess of life, Mirella, was also involved. After all, he had felt a strange gaze not long ago.

There is an overflowing breath of life and holiness on it.

Then there were Orli and Anjina. He had been under their attention as early as the Empire, but when did the plan begin?

'The new God must be chosen by God.' Or rather, God's choice is the necessary condition for the birth of a new God. Because 'cognition' is the foundation of God's existence -

Only if the God who conceived the triple priesthood exists in the world can He be resurrected from the divine fire.

Theoretically this is not something that can be done by one or two people, but with the last prophecy of fate confirmed and the divine fire of Lady of Withering not extinguished, everything is a reasonable possibility.

So who is the most suitable candidate?

Fang He couldn't help but think that he was the person who happened to have come into contact with the two concepts of storm and fate at the same time, and the only thing left was withering.

What should I do?

He raised his head and looked at the Saintess. He had already figured out all the details in his mind. "So what should we do? We should first find the divine fire of the Lady of Withering, but then how should we resurrect a god?"

The Saint looked at him admiringly but shook her head: "Lady Elaine has blocked fate, so neither you, nor I, nor the Dark Saints can know about His future. The only thing I can do to help you is to open the door of the Gray Forest for you again -"

The speed of time passing returned to normal at some point, the discolored areas around were gradually fading away, the falling leaves resumed their speed, and the chirping of insects could be heard once again in the forest.

The power of destiny above the forest dissipated, and the wolf-like girl was pulling the dagger out of the bishop's body, watching her body turn into a pile of ash.

Elindor was turning his head in this direction, looking at the Moon Elf Saint who suddenly appeared with some vigilance, one hand already on the sword.

Juliana's eyes fell on the crown on Fang He's head, as if she was thinking about something. Miss Tata disappeared again without knowing when, and Sylvie and Alsana were unaware of the other's momentary distraction. They both looked at the stranger beside Fang He in a daze.

Princess Alsana recognized the other person's identity at a glance.

Fang He looked at the Great Saint and asked, "I have another question. Is Atila Greenhill Stars still in the Gray Forest? How is she...doing?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you," the Great Saint said, "The situation in the Gray Forest is already precarious, but the travelers from the Kingdom of God can strengthen the power of the Holy Forest. It is because of her that the situation has not reached an irreversible point."

"But the elf saint can't hold out for too long. If you want to save her, you'd better hurry up."

Fang He closed his eyes, and opened them again after a moment: "So it was Miss Atila who stopped the 'bug'. What is its origin? Where did it go? If the Gray Forest has not fallen, then what is going on now? Why has it become like this..."

He couldn't help but think of the scene that Luo Yu had seen in the underground world. Countless swarms of insects were moving along the roots of the sacred tree towards the surface world. If the gray forest had not been lost, why would the gray disaster spread to the surface?

"The fall of the Holy Tree did not happen overnight. When it began to weaken, it gave the Dark Saints an opportunity to take advantage of it. The Insect King Karsak was a servant of the Soul Devourer Lord Atumas, created by him from the remains of the Goddess of Fate. However, he only received a wisp of divine fire and did not obtain a divine position, so he is only a secondary god."

The Saint replied, "But Karsak was originally a type of beetle that gnawed the roots of the Holy Tree under the abyss. They posed a great threat to the Holy Tree and they knew the Holy Tree best."

“What is His weakness?”

"Like all insects in this world, it is afraid of fire."

Fang He silently noted this. He looked at the great saint. She had had the opportunity to meet him a long time ago, but the reason she showed up now was probably because she was waiting for this opportunity.

"Can we enter the Gray Forest now?"

The other party shook his head and said, "That is the passage leading to the Kingdom of Lady Nature. Historically, only the Great Saint of the Holy White Tree can enter. Although I am also a Saint, that identity is just a cover."

"However, besides the Unicorn Saint, there is actually another person among the White Saints who can open the gate to the Gray Forest."

"Elf King."

Fang He has already come up with the answer. The Sacred Forest and the Elf Court are the apex of the dual power structure of the Autumn Forest. Since Aimaya has promised them, she has divided the power into two.

What's more, the current Elf King, the former master of the Great Saint, and the unknown Sword Saint are the leaders of this plan. Since they have been deep into the sacred tree, they naturally have the authority to open the door.

He also understood why the Elf King changed his attitude midway, which was probably due to the contribution of this "Great Saint".

That happened more than a century ago, and there must have been a deep past between the three. Although the failure of the plan eventually led to the death of a dragon knight, the former king also parted ways with his old friend.

But Fang He no longer intended to delve into the sudden change. Although he did not show it on his face, he was actually filled with worry.

The danger of the Giant Tree Hill seemed far away from him, but the safety of Miss Attila was like a heavy burden on his heart. He didn't even dare to think about the worst possibility. His eyes fell on the Hailin Crown in his hand again. It had lost its function from the beginning. The power on it was cooling down until the next round of Holy White Moon rose.

Fang He didn't know when the next Holy White Moon would rise, but the power of the crown did give him a small surprise. He found that the crown was not unusable during the cooling period. It could still be retraced, but the retracing time would slowly increase with the passage of cooling time.

Now we can go back about one thousandth of a second. Although this time is probably not enough for the crown to be activated, at least there is hope, and we don't have to wait for hundreds of years.

What's more, it accumulates slowly to the point where it can go back one or two seconds, and using it at a critical moment can also save lives or even turn the tide of battle.

This is the power of the holy relics. He simply couldn't imagine what kind of miracles the Holy Sword of Morning Light, the Hand of Truth and the legendary Holy Grail of the Elves could perform.

He had the Eternal Emblem in his hand, but according to Kwivenlar, it was only half, and it didn't seem to have any effect now.

Fang He raised his head, his gaze had become focused and he had completely calmed down, as if he had already thought about the path he should take.

At this moment, Elindor, Zuliana and the other two were walking towards him. Mia didn't care much about the sudden appearance of the Great Saint, and just looked at her silently.

The Lord of the Sun Shadow Land cast a questioning look. He recognized the other party, but he didn't know why he came. Fang He thought for a moment before explaining the current situation to the three people.

Mia was not surprised to hear this, as she knew very well who the Guild Allies were. In her opinion, they were just waste that should be humanely destroyed.

In fact, she did so, but most of the time her strength did not allow it.

Zuliana seemed to know some inside information, but she couldn't say much from her position. She could only say something useful: "Ed, are you accusing someone in the alliance of colluding with the Dark Saints?"

"This is obvious," Mia folded her pointed ears with her hands, "In my opinion, we should sneak back to the Elf Court and capture them all in one fell swoop."

Fang He quickly stopped her: "Ms. Miya, we still have to go to the gray forest to rescue people."

Juliana smiled bitterly and shook her head: "If Ed's accusation is serious, we need evidence."

"That's the problem," Fang He replied, "Without evidence, the Guild Allies can just say they were deceived, and I guess the Alliance won't investigate them."

"But they need evidence, and you don't, ma'am," he said. "You saw the scene with your own eyes. Will you deny that the bishop has a relationship with the alliance?"

"I won't," Juliana shook her head again, "Tell me, little one, what do you want me to do?"

"I have no request," Fang He looked at the other party and said, "I just hope that at the critical moment, you can stand by our side."

Zuliana closed her eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly nodded. She was a member of the club, but super sports was not everything to her, she had to be responsible to Stargate Port.

Among the three, only Elindor looked the most serious. It was only at this moment that the Elf Lord spoke: "Mr. Ed, if what you said is true, we must immediately stop the blind actions of the Union Alliance and the Linoril Council before entering the Gray Forest."

Fang He nodded. This was exactly what he was considering. "First, we must make public the guild alliance's plan."

“But Mr. Ed,” Lian Alsana frowned and said, “If the upper echelons of Silverwind Harbor are not acting blindly, but it is really as you said, some of them have become the minions of the Dark Saints——”

She paused for a moment: "I'm afraid they won't compromise easily."

"It doesn't matter."

Fang He’s words were concise and to the point, and he couldn’t help but feel fortunate that Tian Lan had a backup plan.

Well, their poet lady is sometimes quite reliable.

……

"You haven't heard back yet?"

The Mourning Guild cursed inwardly, returned to the crowd, and said to them: "I don't know what's wrong with those tree sticks. They still don't intend to join forces with us and open the passage to the sacred forest for us. Is their dignity so valuable?"

"Perhaps they think they can defend against this wave of gray tide. Don't they have a swordmaster among them?" Ragnarok's dragon knight said, "To be honest, it's nothing special. I can do it too."

"The new branch of disaster is indeed lacking in strength," Elder Ming teased, "but Silver Wind Watcher is not going to stop here? If the power of the branch of disaster gets out of control, I wonder how the people in the second division are going to stop?"

The dragon knight Zukul from the fourth zone stood aside without saying a word, causing the Construct Queen to look in that direction out of curiosity.

This guy has been like this ever since he returned with Halsey, and he looks at the Nightingale King suspiciously from time to time.

Others might not be able to notice it, but placing clockwork fairies around her has almost become an instinct, and no detail in the hall escapes her eyes.

However, she was too familiar with the dragon rider of the Rotao people, so she could not ask.

As for Zukul himself, he opened his system interface more than once, and then looked at Halsey not far away: Should I report the other party to the higher-ups?

But Halsey discouraged him with just one sentence.

"Zukul, the club is not everything to us," Halsey looked at him quietly, "and that contract is not an indenture. Don't forget what you need to do before entering the Star Gate."

Before entering the Star Gate, the Chosen Ones need to swear an oath before the Star Gate Declaration. That vague oath naturally cannot bind them.

But behind that oath lies the power of Stargate Port, which is a clause jointly drafted by 187 countries and regions over the past half century.

The club could make him lose everything he has now, but Stargate Port could make him lose everything in another world. He was born in a not-so-rich family in Bolivia, and both of these could doom him.

He couldn't help but run his hands through his curly hair.

If I had known this earlier, I would have stayed out of this mess. The title of Dragon Knight sounds supreme, but he is not a native.

In the last two battles of Covenant Mountain, countless lights dimmed from the starry sky, and those names that were once glorious faded from people's sight in the blink of an eye.

That man.

and also……

The once notorious Sea Witch has now become a wanted criminal like a stray dog.

The Star Gate gives the Chosen One everything, but it also takes away everything.

“Zukul, if you return to the other world, you will be nothing,” the voice was like the devil’s temptation, “but if you can stay in this world, He can even promise you eternal life—”

"Do not……"

He swallowed hard and raised his head. His eyes were dark and deep like a deep pool.

Halsey was looking away from this direction. He was searching the community aimlessly until he saw a familiar post appear in the community and then disappeared in an instant.

He waited for a few seconds and kept refreshing the page. The post with the same title appeared again, then disappeared in an instant.

He raised his head and played with the Dragon Soul Crystal that he had 'confiscated' from his sister.

Although the crystal itself was just a souvenir after he made a contract with it, it took him a long time to find out that it was stolen by someone after it disappeared a few years ago.

Now, it has finally been returned to its original owner.

...(End of chapter)