Ember Dragon

After crossing the sea of ​​soul bell trees, they officially entered the range of the sacred tree of elves.

This giant tree, which is hundreds of meters tall, has a well-developed root system and strong branches. The tangled roots extend more than ten kilometers away, absorbing all the energy in the Elf Forest and maintaining the ecological operation of the entire forest.

After death, every Silver Moon Elf will be buried at the roots of the sacred tree, returning their body to nature and becoming part of the cycle of life in the forest.

Rhea walked in front, looked into the distance, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Holy Tree Boundary is ahead."

A translucent light film appeared in front of the coalition forces, emitting strong magical fluctuations.

The Holy Tree Barrier radiates for several miles with the Holy Tree as its center. It is a magic shield that protects against external enemies. It can distort space and block unauthorized persons.

Anyone who trespasses will be trapped in a cycle of illusion, and only those with elven blood can pass through normally.

"let's go."

Catherine nodded, stretched out the scepter in her hand, silver light spread out, and the light curtain in front of her opened instantly.

The dense roots of the sacred trees on the ground also retreated to the sides at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving a wide path, as if welcoming the queen's return.

However, at this moment, accompanied by the shaking of the ground, the tree roots broke out of the ground and lashed towards Catherine like a whip.

"Be careful, Your Majesty!"

Rhea took a step forward and stood in front of Catherine with a silver sword in hand.

I saw a few dazzling flashes of light, and the tree roots were cut off in an instant. Bright red blood flowed out from the broken ends, just like the limbs of a living thing.

The cut branches were constantly twisting and struggling, like a giant python with its body chopped off, splattering blood all over the ground.

"Is that the root system of the sacred tree?"

"Mother Goddess above."

"How is this possible? The Holy Tree is clearly the purest and kindest life in the world, how could it actively attack us!?"

The Silver Moon Elves were horrified and talked about it.

The Holy Tree of the Elves is the birthplace of Serenya and a holy place that should not be desecrated in their hearts. How could such a strange thing appear there?

Catherine looked quite calm. She ignored the guards' attempts to stop her and stepped forward to take a closer look. She murmured, "These roots have been contaminated by some chaotic, evil force. I didn't expect them to spare even the sacred tree."

Rhea also frowned slightly, with a serious expression: "Even this kind of thing has appeared on the periphery of the root zone. I'm afraid the pollution in the core of the spirit vein will be even more serious."

She looked at Catherine and said seriously, "Your Majesty, the road ahead is too dangerous. Please stay here for a while. I will lead an elite team to explore and clear the way for you. Once we are safe, please leave."

"No, Rhea."

Catherine shook her head and refused, saying firmly: "I will go with you. No matter how dangerous the future is, I will not be afraid."

"I was born in the Crown of the Sky and was baptized in the Holy Tree's Spirit Pool. The blood of the King of Serenia flows in my body. Protecting the Holy Tree is my lifelong duty, and I am willing to sacrifice my life for it."

"Her Majesty Catherine"

"I am willing to follow you to the royal court and save the sacred tree!"

Crystal tears sparkled in the eyes of the Silver Moon Elves.

The ancient golden dragon Titus stepped forward at the right time, came to the side of the Elf Queen, and said loudly: "Your Majesty Catherine, there are more than just Silver Moon Elves behind you."

“Humans, dwarves, angels, metallic dragons—all beings that pursue goodness and justice will stand behind you, forming a powerful, unrivaled force.”

The golden dragon raised its head high, the whiskers beside its mouth fluttered slowly, and the broad wings behind it suddenly spread out, shining brightly in the sunlight, emitting a metallic luster.

"Long live justice!"

In an instant, soldiers of many races present were moved, cheering and their morale was even higher.

"Thank you again, Sir Titus." Looking at the coalition forces with high morale and constant cheers, Catherine nodded slightly, and her confidence grew stronger.

Gu Jinlong raised his lips, revealing a gentle, wise smile: "General Rhea told me a long time ago that you are a monarch with great ambitions, generosity and justice. Now it seems that her description is very accurate. You did not disappoint me."

"I will spare no effort to help and support you until Serenia dispels the darkness and returns to the light."

Not far away, the half-elf paladin also bowed to the ancient golden dragon, an expression of gratitude on her beautiful face.

Even Rhea himself did not expect that this ancient golden dragon would go to such an extent and even bring a large number of reinforcements.

Golden dragons and angels were flying in the air, while a huge army composed of elves, dwarves, and humans were marching on the land, following the path that Catherine had opened up for them, and they were getting closer to the center of the sacred tree.

In the distance, the sacred tree appeared a little blurry, and its surface seemed to be shrouded in a hazy and mottled halo.

At this moment, the elf scout walking in front exclaimed: "Look, there is something hanging on the sacred tree!"

Everyone looked towards the sacred tree in the distance, and could only see blurry black shadows appearing under the tree canopy, as if they were entangled by some kind of silk thread, hanging upside down on the branches of the sacred tree.

"What exactly is that?"

Catherine frowned slightly, feeling a little uneasy.

"This feeling."

However, Rhea had some bad guesses. She smelled a faint smell of blood in the air, and the source of the smell was the sacred tree in the distance.

The wizards from the City of All Magic raised their staffs, chanted spells, and clear magical images appeared before everyone.

It's a cocoon.

Each black shadow was a giant cocoon wrapped in spider silk. There were so many of them, densely packed and hanging upside down there, there were thousands of them.

Moreover, those giant cocoons were broken and stained red with blood, and there was a corpse of an elf inside each cocoon.

Their deaths were extremely tragic. Their expressions were painful and hideous. Their mouths and noses seemed to have been torn apart. Tiny spiders covered in blood crawled out of their corpses.

Everyone gasped, even the battle-hardened Rhea's face suddenly changed and his pupils dilated.

"God!"

"Sehani is above"

"What kind of villain could do such a thing! To commit such a murder in such a sacred place!"

"I, I know him, he's my friend, and he was brutally murdered!"

Seeing such a tragic scene, the Silver Moon Elves were filled with grief and anger, and some even vomited on the spot.

In their hearts, the Holy Tree is a sacred place, a place where life is born, and the place that every Silver Moon Elf yearns for the most.

They could not in any way connect the sacred tree with the bloody and disgusting scene before them.

Even the ancient golden dragon bowed its head, mourning for the elves who died tragically, and sighed, "How heartless! Even an evil god as vicious as Tiamat would not do such a thing to the metal dragon race."

"Your Majesty Catherine, your enemies are more ruthless and have no bottom line than I expected."

Catherine was also somewhat frightened, and she covered her chest, feeling grief-stricken for the sudden death of her people. But soon, her pupils gradually focused, and her eyes became sharper: "I will make these unforgivable villains pay for their evil deeds!"

"Wait - look at the surface of the sacred tree!"

A human hunter with sharp eyes like a hawk suddenly shouted.

There seemed to be something flowing on the surface of the sacred tree, like mottled ripples. After careful observation, everyone suddenly discovered that it was densely packed spiders like a tide!
There were so many spiders that they almost covered the entire bark of the sacred tree. Their scarlet compound eyes flashed with a faint light, which made people feel chilling.

"It's a spider!"

"Oh my god. What a disgusting monster!"

Everyone cried out in surprise. Not to mention the elves, even the most generous and fearless dwarves frowned, showing disgust and even a hint of fear.

“It’s a sacrifice.”

Catherine said coldly: "The elders used our people as sacrifices and offered them to the evil god of the abyss to summon these disgusting monsters."

At this moment, with her extraordinary senses, Rhea seemed to sense something unusual: "Your Majesty, the ground is shaking."

In the distance, a black tide seemed to be gushing out from the gaps between the twisted and intertwined roots.

Then, accompanied by a slight tremor on the ground, the "tide" spread at a speed visible to the naked eye, blocking the sun in the sky and covering the exposed roots on the ground - they were not a tide, but spiders.

Amid countless shocked and terrified gazes, countless spiders formed a huge wave with tremendous momentum, covering the sky and the earth, and rushed towards the coalition forces, as if to drown and swallow them all.

Catherine raised her scepter and shouted, "Attack with all your strength! Don't be afraid, they are just a group of extremely fragile bugs!"

Countless silver rays of light burst out from the Elf Queen's scepter. Those beams of light fell into the swarm of spiders like divine punishment, instantly turning groups of spiders into black smoke.

"attack!"

The Silver Moon Elves drew their longbows and shot arrows coated with kerosene like raindrops, piercing the spiders and setting them on fire on the spot.

The wizard of the Arcane Hermitage raised his staff, and the crystal on the top of the staff burst into dazzling light, releasing a thick pillar of fire.

"Kagero Explosion!"

The pillar of fire swept across the land, and wherever it passed, all the spiders were reduced to ashes.

Another wizard summoned thick dark clouds, which attracted bolts of lightning. With thunder and lightning, only flickering arcs of electricity and charred debris were left on the ground.

"Filthy monster, witness the wrath of justice!"

The ancient golden dragon roared towards the sky, flapped his dragon wings, soared into the air with a strong hurricane, dived rapidly, and an extremely fierce flame surged from his throat.

"boom--"

Along with the sound of air exploding, a blazing sea of ​​fire appeared, burning countless spiders into ashes.

The flames shot up into the sky, and the fire was reflected in people's eyes.

They all sighed: "As expected of the Wings of Dawn! As expected of the powerful Ancient Golden Dragon! Those disgusting bugs are no match for him!"

Rhea still stood beside Catherine, without taking any further action, but just looked at the sacred tree vigilantly.

"Your Majesty, although there are a lot of these spiders, they are easy to deal with. They are probably just used to attract attention and disrupt our vision."

The next moment, countless activated tree roots broke out of the ground and rushed towards Catherine.

"quick!"

"Protect Your Majesty!"

Several Silver Moon followers stepped forward, holding shields and standing in front of Catherine like a wall.

Rhea swung the silver sword, and a light blade several dozen meters long flew out, cutting the activated tree roots in half again, with an exceptionally neat cut.

"careful!"

Melisandre warned.

With a sharp whistling sound, poisonous needles pierced through the air and shot towards the vital parts of the half-elf paladin.

Rhea's eyes were sharp. She turned around and swung her sword suddenly. The blades crossed each other, and there were ping-pang sounds. The poison needles were cut off in mid-air.

She looked towards the source of the poison needle.

I saw a half-human, half-spider monster emerging from the swarm of spiders, its long, sharp legs covered with dense bristles.

The half-spider man tilted his head, a strange smile hanging on his cracked face, and a faint light flickered in his eyes.

"That is."

Looking at that familiar face, Rhea's pupils shrank sharply, and she muttered to herself, "Ophien Hayes, the former captain of the third division of the Holy Blade?"

"He was also transformed into a monster!"

The half-spider-man leaped up and suddenly leaped towards the elf.

Its sharp feet were like spears, instantly piercing through several Silver Moon Elves from head to toe. Venom gushed out of its mouth, corroding the armor of a dwarf warrior in an instant, and even his head turned into pus.

"Damn monster!"

Rhea took a step on the ground, and her body shot out like a sharp arrow, attacking the half-spider man.

The half-spider man smiled grimly, and his tail stabbed at Rhea like a spear, but Rhea rolled in mid-air and dodged the attack nimbly.

The half-spider-man kept stabbing the half-elf with his sharp feet. His attack was as fierce as a storm. He aimed at the vital points every time, and the connection between the front and the back was smooth, giving him a sense of being a master of swordsmanship.

But Rhea remained calm, dancing with the silver sword in her hand, easily blocking the sharp foot's stab and even cutting it off.

Then, the silver sword was swung in the air, a twilight blade flew out, and the legendary paladin's majestic sacred power was released.

Holy beheading!
"Shh-"

The half-spider monster was cut in half, with its elf upper body and spider lower body separated, and the hideous smile was frozen on its face, looking particularly weird.

"Rui...Ya..."

The half-spider man opened his mouth and let out a hoarse call from deep in his throat.

Orpheum Hayes was once Rhea's instructor, and she learned a lot of sword skills from the captain of the Holy Blade.

But at this moment, this highly respected captain has degenerated into a half-human, half-spider monster, slaughtering his former compatriots with cruel methods.

Rhea seemed to see a moment of pain, struggle and anger in those dark eyes.

"Rest in peace, you shouldn't live in this state..." Rhea said softly.

The half-elf paladin swung his sword and cut off the half-spider man's neck cleanly. The head fell to the ground, his eyes wide open, and there seemed to be traces of tears in the corners of his eyes. (End of this chapter)