Pillars of Ita

"The situation in Silverwind Harbor is still under the control of the Council. Those newly sprouted ash branches are not scary. They will soon become a part of us."

"The Hill of Giant Trees has been under the protection of the Holy Tree for more than a thousand years. It is like a kind elder to us. Now these spreading ash branches are also a part of its symbiosis. We cannot accept only one side of it and ignore its other side."

"Whether it is the White Tree or the Gray Branch, we can control it and coexist with it. We have gained an opportunity to overcome the disaster in Ninimere, but now the Elven Court and the Sacred Forest are just unwilling to acknowledge this opportunity—"

"But Mr. Speaker, regarding the rumors that controlling the disaster branches requires the use of human souls, is this method of control safe and reliable? Does Ms. Aimeya agree?"

The circular podium made of silver pine wood in the Fengou Hall was slightly sunken, and the surrounding stepped seats surrounded it layer by layer. The Speaker of Silver Wind Harbor was standing on the podium with a focused expression, holding a scepter carved with a silver gull pattern in one hand and knocking on the wooden board with a small hammer in the other hand.

"Silence - the situation is not as terrible as you think. This is not a human sacrifice, but a decision made by the Holy Forest to make up for the mistakes it has made. The Unicorn Girls of the Holy Maiden Society believe that they have an obligation to do something for this land..."

The sunlight cast mottled shadows through the stained glass windows, projecting the legend of the sea and wind onto the Speaker's face, like a sea monster with eyes flashing with a dark and deep light:

"Senator Darien, in the face of a disaster that affects the entire Giant Tree Hill and concerns everyone, necessary sacrifices can be allowed."

"This is not just a matter for the unicorn girls. If it chooses you or me, we should both do it without hesitation. This is the responsibility given to us by the Linoril Council."

"Please stand up, let us observe a moment of silence for this land and for the heroes—"

There was thunderous applause in the hall, and the congressmen seemed moved by the heartfelt speech.

People stood up one by one, but only a few stood out among them, sitting in their seats indifferently.

Edmund Dirift's ice-blue eyes were watching everything here. The deep lines on his weather-beaten face remained unchanged. His hands were crossed on his knees, with no expression on his face.

A man took the opportunity to pass through the crowd, came up to him, and whispered in his ear:

"Mr. Edmund, public opinion is almost out of control. The community is still calm, but we can only control the communities related to super sports. The news has already spread outside these communities."

“Call old Victor and ask him to strengthen the censorship of news and temporarily prevent the news from circulating in traditional media.”

The middle-aged man replied without changing his expression.

"Then what should we do? We can't block the news. There must be someone from the other side behind this. The third division has been taken over by their people, unless we cut off the communication between the two worlds."

"That just proves that we are guilty. We can shut down the communication on this side of the stargate, but we can't control the other side of the stargate. Besides, we can't attract the attention of the Council."

"Let's hold a press conference," Edmund said calmly. "In the name of the alliance, we must publicly respond to all rumors and severely punish those who are trying to muddy the waters. We must not let the situation get out of control and resolve all issues within the scope of the rules."

"Okay, I understand...but how should I do it?"

"Repair the previously interrupted line and broadcast this 'event' live to the world. Instead of letting them 'guess', let's have an open 'debate'. 'Debate' can't solve the problem, but at least it can attract attention. Most people won't think too much. They are just fish that go with the flow and pursue entertainment to death. By the time they react, everything should have been settled."

"We need time, and this should buy us enough time. Let me face the Council's inquiries and tell K to carry out the final plan."

Edmund Dirift loosened his grip and rose from his seat, just as the speech reached its climax, and a shower of applause drowned out his last words.

He stood in the crowd and said something to the person next to him. The other person nodded quickly and turned away.

The icy blue gaze fell on the other side of the hall. More than a dozen noble councillors jointly signed the document and the warrant. The bell keeper rang the bell. The port bell with a long history, which had guarded Silver Wind Harbor for more than 120 years, was vibrating and giving off a deep echo.

One of the councillors handed the warrant to the messenger, who would leave the solemn hall through the archway, make a copy of the warrant and seal it in the office, and then take a copy to each mountain lord.

One of the letters will be sent to each front in Ninimere, Ravenril and Guth through the Craftsmen's Guild.

Just like birds flying across mountains and oceans, bringing the message of the coming of winter, after which the earth freezes and passes through that node year after year.

History will change at some point. The muscles on the middle-aged man's face twitched slightly. He believed that he had seen that historical node. Before and after that, the fate of mankind inside and outside the star gate would take on completely different appearances.

He bent down, pressed an emblem on the table, then turned and left silently.

The emblem was like a flower bud blooming in the mist, surrounded by thorns and poisonous snakes. A butterfly was about to fly away, but a silver dagger had already pierced it, nailing it to the cross of fate.

……

Ming was following the crowd as they filed out of the hall, his eyes fixed on the square in the distance. A long white corridor led to that place.

There is the Temple of the Former King. The architectural style of the elves is very different from that of humans. The pointed arches are hollowed out with patterns that are somewhat too exquisite. Rows of columns stand opposite each other, with shades of trees hanging down from above.

The vines and leaves hanging from the racks have not yet been tainted by the gray air; the leaves still appear emerald green, contrasting with the exquisite carvings.

But there were several glaring columns of smoke hanging in the sky.

The elves burned the withered corpse of the tree man and set fire to a forest. Thick black smoke rose into the sky, looking a little ugly above the quiet woodland, like a few graffiti by children's prank.

The Gray Region has temporarily stopped expanding, but its border has reached the edge of the Autumn Glade. The Sons of Light are rushing to help several nearby areas, but with little success.

"What's going on?" Ming found Halsey.

She turned around and saw several familiar faces in the crowd. They were the core members of the Twelve Irises and even some officials from the Nottingham Ship.

When did these people appear?

She also noticed that there were two more dragon knights, one from FNC and the other from Golden Night Blade. They nodded to her, but Ming felt a little uneasy.

The number of dragon knights gathered in the Elf Court has reached double digits. If the only purpose is to put pressure on the Sea Witch, this number is far exceeded.

The current atmosphere was very similar to the Battle of Covenant Mountain that she had witnessed before. On the day of the decisive battle, more than fifteen dragon knights gathered here.

But the outcome of that war was not good.

"The elves agreed to give in?"

Halsey shook her head and looked at her. "The Dragon Riders from the Ship of Nottingham, SK, and the White Tree Society are on their way. The Council has also sent a quasi-dragon rider. Lord of the Mountain Elvis is also on his way. You should have heard of him, the master of Nightingale Glade, the Oath Keeper."

The Construct Queen's expression changed.

"What are you going to do?" Ming stared at the other party and asked, "Start another supreme war? This number has exceeded the battle of Holy Covenant Mountain. This is the first world..."

She suddenly noticed the staff outside. Being very familiar with the alliance's every move, she quickly realized what was happening.

Ming was a little horrified: "You are broadcasting live? Are you planning to broadcast everything that happens here to the outside world?"

"The parliament has made up its mind," Halsey replied, "This is to put pressure on the Elf Court. Whether the Elf King agrees or not, they are going to take action."

"Just to deal with a sea witch?"

"You know the value of that secret," Halsey shook her head, "Ms. Ming."

"Isn't it the location of the Holy Grail of the Elves?" Ming showed an angry and disdainful expression, and said sarcastically: "For that damn prophecy, you are going to repeat the scene of the Holy Covenant Mountain again--"

"The club sent you here, Ms. Ming—"

Halsey looked at the gray and withered forest and replied calmly, "Me too."

The Construct Queen was suddenly speechless. She looked at the other party and asked, "Did you spread that news?"

"Don't tell me it's not true. From what I know about you, you would never be interested in these rumors, let alone cross-region news."

"The news outside is spreading like wildfire. Do you really think that other departments of the Twelve Color Iris will not cause trouble for you?" Ming suddenly looked around, "Where is Zukul?"

"He's not here," Halsey said, "Are you worried that he'll report us?"

"I don't care about him," Ming said disdainfully, and stretched out his hand to the other party, "Give me my communication crystal, I want to contact Ed and the others."

"I don't have your communication crystal," Halsey replied.

Ming looked at this expressionless guy and felt a little itchy. She was worried about the situation of Fang He and his group, but judging from the way the news was spread before, she always felt that someone in the third competition area had taken action.

Otherwise, even with Halsey's help, the news would not have been able to reach the first, second, and fourth divisions so smoothly.

Who did it?

Elite, or the military?

Who is contacting them?

But Halsey did not intend to answer these questions. When the two walked into the square, Ming discovered that the officials of the alliance had been waiting there for a long time.

She also saw the dragon knights of FNC and Golden Night Blade mentioned by Halsey. It seemed that they were the ones who escorted these officials here.

It doesn't take long for a dragon rider to fly hundreds of thousands of miles, but it is difficult for ordinary people to withstand the impact. As a craftsman, she immediately thought of something.

The Crystal Tower of the White Tree Society——

My heart sank.

The Linoril Council and the Sanshak Artisans' Association have opened an ultra-long-distance teleportation array. The teleportation from the ultra-long-distance crystal tower not only consumes a huge amount of energy, but also has a certain disturbing effect on the etheric pulse flow. Each use requires a rest period of several months.

Right now, the Dust Plague is rampant in Giant Tree Hill. If it is not an extremely critical moment, the craftsmen will never open the portal easily.

It seems that the Silverwind Harbor Council has really made up its mind.

She saw that the peripheral staff had already set up cameras and were broadcasting the meeting to the other side of the star gate, but although it was called a meeting, it was actually just an effort to put pressure on the Elf Court.

Half an hour ago, the Alliance held a small press conference and finalized the wanted order for the Sea Witch.

Right now, the entire Super Athletic League Committee has activated the highest emergency plan and raised the wanted order for the Seven Seas Brigade to the highest level.

Even when the Godslayers and the Mourning Guild besieged Loofah, they only used a gray wanted order. Later, when Loofah became famous, the wanted order became a joke. But no one would think that the joint wanted order of the Silverwind Harbor Council, the Imperials and the Alliance was a joke.

This made the entire Corin-Ishurian Alliance and the Kingdom seem to be afraid to express their opinions easily.

Of course, the young king might be happy with this, and the Third Division is currently under the management of Stargate Port, which has only protested a few times in official occasions.

Fourteen dragon knights and quasi-dragon knights gathered here, and the alliance's fleet blocked out the sun and the sky outside the Elf Court and Gus Grey Region. People could almost feel the suffocating atmosphere from outside the screen -

"It was probably like this during the Battle of Covenant Mountain..."

"Come on, Lao Deng upstairs, the Battle of Covenant Mountain was not broadcast live at that time. How do you know what happened?"

"Look, that's Bai Yu, the chief dragon knight of FNC. Oh my god, he is my idol, and Servis of the Ship of Nottingham."

"Halsey is there, why are you yelling? The two dragon riders of the Twelve Iris have arrived. This is going to be a big deal."

For Spaceport No. 14 in low-Earth orbit, the planet's terminator just swept over a corner of the space elevator's suspension structure.

Just after midnight, the wandering horse received an urgent message from his friend - communication between the two worlds had been restored.

He had been paying attention to information in the community, and naturally became aware of this public live broadcast. He connected to the official external channel and opened his own live broadcast room.

Familiar names and comments immediately flooded in:

"Good morning, old horse."

"So early in the morning, what happened?"

"Haven't you seen the news outside? It's all over the place. Our Dragon Alchemist is in trouble again."

"Ah? Didn't the communication between the two worlds just get restored?"

"What is that? A wanted warrant from the Silverwind Harbor Council? A joint wanted warrant from the Oshu Empire and the Super Athletic League? Wait, isn't this the most wanted warrant?"

"What do you mean, our people have become villains? Have they joined the Cult of the Dragon or thrown themselves into the arms of the Dark Saints?"

"What bullshit, do you believe what those bastards in Division One and Division Two say? Super Competitive League? What the hell is this league? They haven't even cleaned up their own shit yet."

Netizens all spoke highly of her.

But some people also noticed that the situation was unusual. This was a wanted warrant issued by the indigenous people. The one from the Super Athletic League was okay, but most people in the third division at the moment just treated it as a piece of paper to wipe their butts.

However, the wanted warrants issued by the Linoril Council and the Oshur Empire cannot be underestimated. If the other party has definite evidence, even their Stargate Port will not be able to intervene in the matter.

The question now is, does the other party have evidence?

The wandering horse said nothing, and naturally he didn't know the cause and effect of the matter. The communication between the two worlds had been cut off for more than half a year, and he had no specific news from the other side of the star gate.

He just watched silently as the other party turned the screen to the square, aiming at the representative of the Elf Court who finally appeared there.

The first person he saw was the eldest princess, Melfina Quayya Miaoxing, and the tall elf beside her. By comparing the details, the wandering horse discovered that the other person was actually the long-secluded elven swordsman.

One of the legends of the Binary Era, Soria Deepshadow. Time hardly leaves any marks on a long-lived species like the elves, and this swordmaster has only become more weathered since his last appearance in public.

He placed one hand on his sword and followed the eldest princess, while the Elf King and the leader of the Holy Maidens, the little princess Lian Kuiya Arsana, did not show up.

In the picture, officials from the alliance chose to take the initiative:

"Please give our regards to the respected Elf King, Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess," the official took the initiative to step forward and said, "As for our purpose, you should already know that the situation is urgent and we need a reply from the Elf Court."

"This is not an attitude of seeking answers. I only see arrogance and coercion from you all," Melfina said calmly, "Father doesn't want to see you, and the descendants of the Holy White will never accept any form of threats."

"Your Highness," the official's attitude also turned cold, "This is a joint decision from the Linoril Council, the Osu people, and the Stargate Port, rather than humbly seeking the approval of the Elven Court. Do you want to withdraw from the rules of the Stargate and protect a group of unforgivable criminals?"

"Whether he is an unforgivable criminal or not, the Elven Court will make the final decision," Melfina said. "But there is no option of coercion in the Star Gate's declaration. What evidence do you have for those guests who are questioning the Elven Court?"

The official choked.

He could find many excuses, such as the disappearance of the Mountain Lord and the disappearance of the Star Ring Investigation Society's investigation team.

There was also the Silver Wind Harbor Gray Disaster and the accomplice of the Unicorn Girl. But these things were fine for deceiving ordinary people, but if Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess asked him to produce a complete chain of evidence, he would not be able to do it.

The Alliance could neither prove any connection between the disappearance of the investigation team and the Seven Seas Tours, which had just arrived at Giant Tree Hill, nor could it confirm that the Unicorn Girl was indeed the first suspect in the Silver Wind Port Gray Disaster.

As for the missing mountain lord, not to mention that there were no witnesses, they had already found out that Aina Xiaoyu was active in the Rosaire area. If there was still a connection between the two parties, and they suddenly jumped out to slap their faces at this time, then they would be really embarrassed.

But they did not come unprepared. The fourteen dragon knights gathered here not to reason.

The official stretched out a hand behind him and said loudly, "Your Highness Melfina, do you mean that fourteen dragon knights gathered here, the entire Linoril Council, the Oshur Empire and Stargate Port mobilized so many troops just to wrongly accuse a small free adventure group?"

His voice even became a little shrill. "Do you think this is funny? Do you think this makes sense? What's the point?"

What is the meaning?

The purpose was of course for the Sea Witch, Melfina knew it very well, but she couldn't take the initiative to point it out. Otherwise, the Dragon Alchemist certainly didn't do anything, but the Sea Witch really destroyed the Holy Covenant Mountain.

If the other party didn't mention it, the Elf Court could still insist that they had never seen the Sea Witch. Anyway, they were receiving the Seven Seas Brigade, which had nothing to do with the Sea Witch.

But she found it difficult to answer this question for a moment.

The Elf Princess's gaze rested on the staff members outside. She certainly understood that this "debate" was not intended to convince her side from the beginning.

But it is to calm down the outside world's public opinion.

She personally participated in the delivery of the news and spread the first-hand information she got from Lilithel. She certainly understood the troubles the other party was facing.

This is indeed a problem.

At least in the eyes of ordinary people, the narrative that three entities, namely the Osho Empire, the Silverwind Harbor Council and the Super Athletic Alliance, framed an ordinary free adventure group is obviously not convincing.

In particular, there are two political entities from indigenous peoples, and their credibility is obviously greater than that of the Seven Seas Brigade in the eyes of ordinary people.

Even greater than the endorsement of the Elf Court.

She hesitated for a moment, but a sarcastic voice suddenly rang out among the crowd:

"Everyone, does this scene seem familiar?"

The voice was not loud, but it drowned out every other sound in the square, even the official's voice that had been amplified through magic:

"Let me think, didn't the same thing happen at Covenant Mountain? The Alliance officials, the Osho people, and the Kaolin-Ishurian royal family claimed that contraband was found among the contestants' belongings."

"Then I would like to ask, what are the results of the subsequent investigation of that incident? Have those so-called Abyssal Sea Slabs been found?"

"Who!?" The official never expected that someone would bring up this matter at such a time. It took him a moment to recall what the other person had said.

But as soon as he recalled this incident, his face immediately turned from red to white, and then from white to blue.

Yes, they almost forgot what happened at Covenant Hill five years ago, but they must not let others connect the two events together.

He immediately shouted in a stern voice: "Who is talking nonsense and disrupting the order down there?!"

But it was no use, because the voice sounded again, and it seemed to come from all directions:

"Let me count. The Super Athletic League, the Imperials, and the Corin-Ishurian Royal Family. Isn't that exactly three? Hey, why are you always the ones?"

"Haha, it seems that what has happened will happen again, and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun, everyone."

There was an uproar inside and outside the live broadcast room.

The stray horse froze in front of the screen as if struck by lightning. Of course he had heard of that incident, even though he was just a travel blogger.

Because that incident is so famous:

the Covenant Hill suspension incident;

The spark for the Second Battle of Covenant Hill.

In front of him, the barrage of comments in the live broadcast room was going crazy. Countless barrages covered each other, as if completely blocking the screen.

Every comment was madly discussing every name of that year:

The lonely white wilderness.

Faith.

Shana.

R.

On the other side of the live broadcast room, on the square of the Ancient Saint King, Ming looked in that direction in disbelief the moment he heard the voice.

But she saw nothing. She only saw Avani, just like herself, looking over there with a look of horror and dismay.

"How can it be……"

"How can it be!"

The Oshuite dragon rider was muttering to himself as if he was crazy.

...(End of chapter)