Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Chapter 816 Destroying the Sacred Tree
Isaac was filled with astonishment when he heard what King Nathan said.

Although he had no intentions on anything on Nason Island.

But when he came, he still had various expectations about the sacred tree.

He thought that the sacred tree was a powerful alchemical artifact, just like the Deathly Hallows. King Nathan controlled this artifact, so he was the king of the entire island and everyone obeyed him.

He also thought that the sacred tree was actually an alchemical object with its own soul. It was extremely wise, just like a wise man, guiding the direction of Wang Hewei and the islanders.

……

He had thought of many options, but he had never thought of the one that King Nathan said. Although King Nathan said it calmly, Isaac felt a chill in his heart.

"I was chosen to live this way. It's clearly a life of being dominated, but I don't feel dominated at all? I'm dominated but I don't know it."

"You look so calm and even enjoyable. It reminds me of the Imperius Curse, one of the three unforgivable curses."

"A person under the Imperius Curse will not only not feel that he is being manipulated, but on the contrary, he will feel extremely happy and joyful, and all thoughts and sense of responsibility will disappear into thin air."

"But even if it is the Imperius Curse, if it lasts too long and has too deep an impact, the person being cast will still develop resistance, thus weakening the power of the spell."

"But I can't tell from your face, which means that what you have suffered is much more terrible than the Imperius Curse!"

Isaac looked at King Nathan with a horrified expression on his face. From time to time, he glanced at the sacred tree next to him. His eyes were full of fear. He was worried that this evil creature would suddenly attack him.

King Nathan saw his concerns and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the sacred tree will not force you to do anything unless you are willing."

"Really?" Isaac looked at the sacred tree and then at King Nathan. Although King Nathan spoke sincerely, it was hard for him to believe what a puppet said.

King Nathan continued, "You think I'm no different than a puppet under the killing curse?"

"Don't you think so?" Isaac asked.

King Nathan shook his head: "Of course not. It seems that you really have a deep misunderstanding of this matter. However, this is not your fault, because you have not experienced it personally."

King Nasen said, reaching out to touch the sacred tree: "Since the establishment of the Nasen Divine Kingdom, any Nasen Guard who has even the slightest hesitation about his mission can choose to give up and be replaced by others without any punishment."

"In fact, the same goes for the king. As long as I retreat even a little, I can end the kingdom of God. I don't even have to accept the life and death test of the so-called throne succession ceremony."

"It's just like a king in a secular country. If he is tired of being a king, he can abdicate or even use the power in his hands to end the entire kingdom."

"The will of the sacred tree has indeed affected us. I don't deny that, but we are not without a choice. If we are unhappy, we can choose to give up."

"But no, we didn't have any misfortune or unhappiness."

Isaac said, "Because you are controlled, just like people controlled by the Imperius Curse, they will only feel happiness and satisfaction, how can they feel unhappy?"

King Nathan shook his head and said, "No, that's not the case. You just don't understand. When a person's life has an extremely clear path, when a person knows what he wants most, when a person knows why he lives..."

King Nathan said with an intoxicated look on his face: "What a blessing that is!"

"Happiness, a goal arranged by others, a life arranged by others, can it be called happiness? Can the path arranged by others also be called the path? You have been brainwashed, and you have been severely brainwashed since you were born." Isaac said.

"Seriously brainwashed? No, not really. This is just my destiny. You have your own destiny, too. The difference between us is that I know my destiny, but you don't." King Nathan said, "From your accent, you must be from Great Britain, right? But do you have the right to choose not to speak English as your mother tongue?"

Isaac was startled: "..."

After a moment, he said, "I understand. Whether it's heaven or hell, you have no right to choose. I'm sorry, but I'm just being rude."

"So, what about you? Will you break the golden bough?" asked King Nathan.

"No, I won't. I'm not here for this, and similarly, I won't let him break the Golden Bough!" Isaac pointed at the Dark Lord.

During the battle with Nathanwei, the Dark Lord also approached the sacred tree and noticed his best friend next to the sacred tree.

How did he appear there? Why didn't the Nasen Guards stop him? Did he come here to be a Nasen Guard, or to stop me?
The Dark Lord Gellert had many thoughts in his mind, and he would be happy to see Isaac in another place.

But on this occasion, he could not be happy.

This close friend is not the same kind of person as him, he will only stop himself.

"Give up, Gellert. The so-called throne is just a scam of the sacred tree. Once you become King Nathan, you will be brainwashed by the sacred tree and become its slave, just like those of your men who were under the Imperius Curse." Isaac shouted.

King Nathan glanced at Isaac and had no intention of stopping him. The desires, greed, and suspicions of the human heart could not be dispelled by such a simple sentence.

Gellert's eyes flickered, and he cast magic again, repelling the harassing guards, and shouted:
"No, I don't believe it, Isaac, you are lying to me, how can this be a scam?"

"The Nathan Sacred Tree is the greatest masterpiece of alchemy. I can feel the tremendous power within it. If I can use it, I will be able to do anything."

"As for the brainwashing you mentioned, like the Imperius Curse, that's just an excuse for the weak. They just can't master that kind of power, and thus become slaves to it."

"But I am different. I am a strong man and the king of black magic. I will control the power, not the power controlling me."

"Besides, I am extremely skilled in Occlumency, and with the help of the Elder Wand, no one can perform Imperius on me!"

Gellert looked at the Nathan tree with burning eyes and continued, "Isaac, have you forgotten our common goal?"

"We can build a world ruled by wizards. Now is the opportunity. With the power of the sacred tree and the aliens of Nathan Island, we can definitely do it."

"I know you have no intention of hurting me. The fact that the blood alliance on my neck has no reaction is proof of that. Come on, help me!"

Gellert played the emotional card, and as for the blood alliance he mentioned, it was a pendant inlaid with a blood-red ruby.

This is a kind of covenant, just like the oath taken when swearing brotherhood in Shenzhou, except that the oath taken when swearing brotherhood is mostly just empty talk.

But the blood alliance is different. It is more like a ban. Once formed, the parties will never infringe on each other.

Gellert and Isaac were like-minded when they were young. They both wanted to do something great and they appreciated each other, so they merged their blood together and sealed it in a necklace.

Once either party has the intention of harming the other, the blood alliance will take effect and the chains will tighten and strangle themselves.

Now, the blood alliances on both of them are safe and sound, which means that neither side has any ill intentions. Of course, not hurting each other does not mean that bad things will not happen. Gellert is still very worried that Isaac will help the people of Nathan Island to stop him.

"You have been blinded by the power. The power in the sacred tree is too strong. It is not something that ordinary people like you and me can resist!" Isaac advised.

"How do you know if you don't try?" Gellert waved his wand again. Lightning burst out from one end of the wand, forming a lightning barrier that blocked the attacking Nathan guards.

"Enough, this distance is enough!"

He said to himself, and immediately cast the space magic "Phantom". The whole person turned into a ball of black mist and floated rapidly towards the sacred tree.

In this state, his body is in another space, and the black fog outside is just a medium for conversion. Therefore, no matter how you attack, as long as it cannot penetrate the space, it will not harm his body.

The Nasen guards who didn't know space magic could only watch him fly to the front of the Nasen sacred tree. Of course, this was what the Nasen guards did on purpose.

King Nathan watched this scene with a smile on his face. Everything was as he expected. Seeing the Dark Lord Gellert getting closer and closer, he nodded to Isaac beside him and said with a smile:

"It seems that you can't persuade your best friend. Next, how are you going to stop him from getting the Golden Bough?"

Isaac didn't know King Nathan's plan, and looked at King Nathan with a puzzled look on his face: "He took the golden branch and wanted to kill you, why didn't you stop him, do you want to die?"

King Nathan did not answer, but smiled at Isaac and said softly: "How are you going to stop it?"

After that, without waiting for Isaac to speak, the space around him twisted and teleported him away.

"This……"

Isaac was filled with surprise. He glanced at Gellert who was almost there, then at the towering sacred tree of Nathan. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind.

Since there is no way to stop his best friend from snatching him away, and since this Nathan sacred tree is an evil thing that can brainwash people, then... why not just destroy it and be done with it once and for all?
Once this thought came to mind, it lingered in Isaac's mind. Although he didn't want to do so, he didn't have time to think too much about it.

Although he and his best friend had parted ways due to some differences and conflicts, their past friendship still existed and he could not just watch his best friend fall into an irretrievable situation.

"In that case..." He waved his wand and chanted the spell loudly: "Avada Eats the Big Melon!"

Green lightning filled with an ominous aura shot out from the end of his magic wand and slammed into the trunk of the sacred tree next to him.

"No, Isaac, you can't do this!"

Gellert's panicked voice came from the black fog, his face full of disbelief. The Killing Curse was considered extremely vicious even among the dark magic. It was unbelievable that Isaac would use it against the sacred tree.

Outside, the sacred tree swayed. As one of the three unforgivable curses, the Killing Curse was naturally extremely powerful. Wherever the Killing Curse attacked, green cracks spread rapidly like a spider web, and soon covered the entire trunk.

Then, the cracks became bigger and bigger, and the huge sacred tree actually broke into pieces. With a rustling sound, it turned into powder and floated in the air.

Not far away, King Nathan appeared among a group of Nathan guards. They watched the scene quietly, with no expression on their faces.

On the contrary, the Dark Lord Gellert removed the phantom, emerged from the black fog, stumbled over, and looked at the place where the towering tree had stood, where only a big hole remained. He immediately looked depressed.

"Isaac, do you know what you did? That is the highest masterpiece of ancient alchemy. How could you, how could you..."

He noticed that Isaac was a little strange, and asked anxiously: "You...what's wrong with you?"

Isaac, who destroyed the sacred tree, stood there in a daze, his azure pupils dilated, a look of disbelief.

"What's going on? What's with the chanting in my head? Is it the sacred tree? Why is this happening? I used the Killing Curse, it should have destroyed even the roots!"

Isaac held his head in agony and curled up. There was severe pain deep in his brain. Waves of grand chanting kept echoing in his mind. Countless black and white lines, like countless snakes twisting, constructed the world in all its forms.

Among the black and white lines, some red-gold lines were particularly conspicuous. They were constantly winding, forking, and forking again, constantly forking and intersecting...

Finally, a giant tree with luxuriant branches and leaves was formed, and endless symbols appeared among the branches and leaves of the giant tree.

In a dark world, the giant tree bloomed with infinite light.

His body was outlined by black and white lines. He was a part of this black and white world, clearly separated from the sacred tree.

He just stood there stupidly under the sacred tree, as insignificant as an ant trying to shake the tree.

This... this... is like this, so that's how it is. At this moment, Isaac understood everything. He didn't actually destroy the sacred tree just now. The sacred tree, the supreme masterpiece of ancient alchemy, could not be destroyed so easily.

He has... he has broken the golden branch and become a challenger for the throne. The first step to challenging the throne is to convert to the sacred tree.

Now, the scriptures in his mind are the conversion ceremony. Once he accepts them, he will become like those Nasenwei and become a loyal and selfless citizen of the sacred tree.

This is the so-called Kingdom of Nathan, where everyone seems to have been cast under the Soul-stealing Curse by the sacred tree. It seems that a thousand people have a thousand consciousnesses, but in fact, there is only one deepest consciousness, which is the will of the sacred tree.

All people are just puppets of the sacred tree. All their thoughts and actions, whether good or bad, whether subjective or objective, are actually just the result of the guidance of the sacred tree.

Just like you think your dream is to become a Nathanwei, his dream is to become a Nathanwei, and others want to become fishermen, merchants, farmers...

But in fact, these are not your dreams, not what you want, it’s just that the sacred tree makes you think that these are what you want.

All the people of Nasen do not have their own subjectivity. Their subjectivity is actually a continuation of the subjectivity of the sacred tree.

“No wonder everything on Nasen Island cannot be accepted by the outside world, because they are just a group of walking corpses who think they have flesh and blood but actually have no self.”

"So, whether it's Nathanwei or the challenger who broke the golden branch, no matter what their original intention was, they risked their lives to challenge the king... In the end, all they got in return was selling their souls!"

"The sacred tree, what a terrifying sacred tree, Occlumency, I have clearly sealed off my entire brain and locked my spirit, but why is there still that sound, and it's getting louder and louder."

Isaac held his head and tried desperately to resist, but he couldn't. Even though he was the best practitioner of Occlumency, he couldn't resist the chanting in his head.

Those sounds were like the devil's whispers, luring him into the depths of hell little by little.

Slowly, his resistance became weaker and weaker, and he faced the sacred tree, his knees bending little by little.

But at this moment, a thunderous rumble sounded behind him, and a tall golden figure slowly emerged.

(End of this chapter)