What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 220. Saving the Elf Airi

Thanks to the friendship pact established with the Oak of Orpheus, Kroya was able to clearly observe everything that the Oak could see, and of course, he was also able to hear the Cardinal's commands.

Although he was confident that his eternal magic would never be lost no matter where he went, the slightly blurred scene after entering the Yavana Holy Mine still made him feel that something was wrong.

So without hesitation, he went to the sea area of ​​the Void Moon Divine Tree and used magic as a connector to wrap the other part of the Friend Contract around the branches of the divine tree.

In this way, the source of magic power shifted from him to this magical tree. This tree contained all the magic power he had accumulated, so even if something unexpected happened, he could easily intervene.

After all this was done, the trembling scene finally returned to normal. He sat in the Moon Sea, surrounded by a group of small creatures like dolphins, jellyfish, and sharks, all watching the magical scene before him.

Mycelia and spores cover the entire world.

Both rocks and soil were completely covered with spores and mycelium, trembling slightly in the air, a hazy gray that made it hard to breathe.

Fortunately, this Elf Ship is quite powerful, and even the harsh environment cannot stop it from continuing its journey.

Various colors of magical light formed all kinds of magic, carving out a path that remained spotless even when besieged by spores, mycelium, and insectoids.

Logically speaking, this should be considered the highlight of the Orpheus Oak. It was rampaging and had been silent for six hundred years. To be able to appear in this way was a source of pride for it.

But as Chloe watched, she grew increasingly uneasy, because of what the cardinal had said on the deck of the Shenzhou—

"Shenzhou is approaching the bottom of the Yavana Holy Mine."

"...That's right, I have complete control over it. Its magical flow and soul are under my control."

"Once we reach the bottom, I will order it to disintegrate, and its contents will fall into the depths of the abyss."

"I understand, it's all for the sake of the light!"

Judging from his words and plans, it seems... he intends to sacrifice this Shenzhou spacecraft.

Although it was just a few words, and he kept lowering his voice, the intention in his words to send the Shenzhou to the deepest part of the Yavana Holy Mine and fill the earth's fissures with the Shenzhou's body and soul was very clear.

The cardinal never considered the Oak Ark as an intelligent being, but merely as a tool, watching it bombard and clear a path as it advanced deeper into the Yavana Sacred Mine.

"How stupid of you! They're already in this state, and you still want to go in!"

Kroa's brow twitched; she wanted to pull the oak tree back as soon as possible, but the latter refused to agree, firmly believing that it was its master's order.

It has poured all its energy and magic into how to pave the way.

It longs to meet its master deep within the earth, to announce its arrival with the demons and cultists of the Yavana Sacred Mine.

Kroa was completely at a loss and could only try to think of what to do.

The only thing that gave him a slight sense of relief was that the Yavana Holy Mine was indeed quite deep. If you were to calculate the deepest point from the surface to the deepest part of the underground mineral layer, the distance would probably be three or four hundred kilometers.

Even with its relentless bombardment, reaching the deepest point will be no easy feat, and the journey will be fraught with hardship.

Therefore, Kroya still has plenty of time to come up with a solution.

After much thought, he suddenly realized something—once his Astral Body Imprinting Technique takes effect, he can ignore distance and observe the imprinted magical beasts or magical plants.

So, is the missing elf Ellie carrying a ground thief? If she really is, I should be able to find out her location and notify Mifein to rescue her.

According to the information I just received, the root of all this actually started when Ellie followed the bishop of the Holy See of Light into the Yavana Holy Mine and then disappeared.

If we can find her, we should be able to solve some problems, at least prevent the Orpheus Oak from going to its death.

"Let me see where it is..."

Kroayan immediately began to activate the advanced version of the Celestial Imprint Technique—streams of magical light intertwined before him, gradually forming a circular light screen that shimmered with countless points of light.

The lights inside were as numerous as the stars on a summer night, some of them shining exceptionally brightly, truly dazzling.

Kroya knew that this was the location of all the magical plants and beasts she had imprinted.

"If it were the Yavana Sacred Mine, it should be in this direction, getting closer..."

After studying it carefully, he indeed found the only small, glittering spot at the bottom of the Yavana Sacred Mine.

Those are the markings representing the ground thief.

This guy has actually imprinted quite a few spells, not only various recipes, but also magic control, diving, and earth and stone shaping...

As a qualified "cook", it's normal to know more than one thing, right?

This resulted in its astral structure being unusually bright, almost like having a powerful flashlight on at night.

"Can you hear me?" Kroa tried to communicate with it, using the Void Moon Divine Tree as a signal amplifier.

Surprisingly, they actually got an answer.

"Chirp chirp chirp!"

The groundhog emitted an extremely anxious mental fluctuation and struggled to peek out from among the vines, seemingly searching for Kroya's figure.

It was in a deep cave, covered by countless decaying vines, like a forgotten forest graveyard.

However, these vines not only concealed the presence of the few living people present, but also blocked the all-pervasive expansion of spores and mycelia—after all, spores and mycelia are not undead, so of course they wouldn't like such a lifeless place.

"What's wrong?"

Elf Ellie noticed her pet's unusual behavior, hugged the groundhog, gently stroked its head, and said softly, "Don't move around. I'll feed you after we get out."

"Chirp chirp."

The groundhog she named Little Yellow nudged Ellie's hand with its head, its tiny eyes sparkling as it tried to heed the call from the depths of its soul.

It fell silent for a while.

After comforting the earth thief, Ellie glanced around and saw the injured paladins and her elven friends huddled together.

These people all showed signs of fungal invasion to varying degrees, developed high fevers, and were curled up in bed, delirious.

A shadow crossed her eyes.

Even she had no good way to get rid of these abyssal magical creations from the lower plane, let alone the fact that this incident seemed suspicious.

A bishop of the Holy See who possessed sacred relics, leading an entire Silverwing Knights order, was so easily scattered by the swarm of insects and the fungus-men...

If this got out, those abyssal demons and cultists who had been severely beaten by the Vatican would practically jump out of hell.

As a member of the Orpheus family, she actually possessed alchemical artifacts that could save her life, but she had already tried them, and neither the Feather of Isis, which could open spatial portals, nor the Horn of Semenus, which could connect her to the family, could be used properly.

Some things are better left unthought of. If she did, she might even start to suspect that the injured Silverwing Paladins might also have something wrong with them.

"The magical environment here is too complex. I can't figure out the directions, and there are no animals or magical plants to ask... If I rashly go out like this, I'll definitely be discovered."

"But their injuries won't last much longer... What should I do?"

Just as she was thinking about how to escape, the groundhog in her arms suddenly chirped twice and then anxiously picked up her spatial ring to search for something.

"You said you were looking for that sword?"

Thanks to the elves' innate ability to communicate with magical beasts and plants, she immediately understood what Xiao Huang meant, but she was puzzled as to why he wanted the sword.

"Chirp chirp!"

Little Yellow had received Kroya's order and now had a plan. It urged everyone to quickly draw their swords.

Helpless, Ellie could only take out the living weapon, which had turned into a small silver sword, and hand it to Little Yellow.

To be honest, she was also a little excited and curious about what this groundhog was up to.

The thieving rat, now holding the small sword, rode on its hilt and went to the unconscious Silverwing Knights, slashing their arms with the blade until it was covered in blood.

They then arrived at an open space and began to control the small sword to draw intricate magical runes and patterns on the ground.

Airi: "!?"

She covered her mouth, looking at her chubby yellow mouse in surprise.

Based on her knowledge, this should be a summoning circle, and it seems to be a summoning circle related to the Holy See.

However, the structure of these runes and spells is somewhat ancient, unlike the light spells currently used by the Holy See, but rather those used by paladins during the pioneering period of the Old World.

As the structure of the spell gradually took shape, it formed a very special petal pattern, like a six-pointed star, on which the power of light began to flow.

It shines brightly in the blood of the Silverwing Paladin.

"What is this?" Ellie was increasingly surprised. She couldn't understand why a mouse could draw such a strange light magic circle.

Yellow the groundhog didn't have time to explain to her; it was trying its best to receive the complex information from the magic circle from Kroya, and just receiving this information was already making its small brain almost boil over.

Not to mention that it also needs to be fully depicted. This is only because it has been modified by Kroya several times and is the smartest rat in this batch of ground thieves, so it can barely keep up.

It struggled to control the silver sword, drawing for about half an hour before the magic circle finally took shape. Exhausted, it collapsed to the ground and was picked up by Ellie, who looked at it with heartache.

"Are you alright?" Ellie's fair fingers sprinkled fine, raindrop-like green light on Little Yellow's head.

Little Huang whimpered and snuggled into her arms, finally finding a comfortable spot and closing its eyes peacefully.

"...You lecherous rat." Ellie gently patted Little Yellow and focused her attention on the activated magic circle.

The light within the magic circle intertwined, forming the shape of a portal, from which countless golden feathers first drifted out.

These feathers created a storm all around, waking all the sleeping people and beginning to heal and remove the mycelium from their bodies.

Soon, a figure emerged from the doorway.

His body was surrounded by a battle robe made of endless white-gold light, embroidered with iris patterns, and three pairs of six wings gently spread out on his back, trembling with the wind.

The platinum-gold light destroyed the magic circle patterns on the ground.

Well, apart from being less than half a meter tall, she looks like an angel full of divine aura no matter how you look at it.

Upon seeing this scene, the Silverwing Knights who gradually awoke immediately knelt down, their eyes gleaming with fanaticism.

Angel!

This must be their Father of Light sending angels to save them!

Disguised as an angel, Kroya maintained her noble and aloof demeanor, observing those around her, and said, "Follow in my footsteps, find the right path amidst evil. This path is narrow, difficult, but it leads to the light."

After saying that, he walked directly towards the stone wall to the side, and the stone wall blocking his way was completely melted by the blazing white-gold holy light.

He just kept walking forward, seemingly not caring at all whether the people behind him were keeping up or not.

In fact, there was no need to worry—the Silverwing Paladins had already followed immediately, taking the awakened elf Mayne with them.

They ignored their still-healing injuries, their eyes filled with a fervent devotion to their faith that transcended pain and illness.

After a brief hesitation, Ellie decided to follow. Although she found it a bit strange, it was her own Little Yellow that had been summoned, so there shouldn't be any problems.

The angel Chloe walked ahead, though in reality this was just a spiritual entity of his, using the power given to him by the real Mushroom Angel to barely maintain a high-class appearance.

He had to lead these people to the Pit Lord and Archmage Celeste, who were deep underground, before the magic disappeared—he already knew the latter's coordinates through the Holy Spring Merchant Guild.

All you need to do now is move forward while hiding from the spores, mycelium, and patrolling insectoid monsters inside the rock wall.

It's simple in some ways, and difficult in others.

These people were enveloped by irises and the magic they emitted, which allowed them to become invisible.

Furthermore, the Orpheus Oak Ship, which was charging forward at breakneck speed, had attracted the attention of most of the monsters in the Yavana Holy Mine. Otherwise, even with the power of the angels he had borrowed, it would not have been easy for him to lead these people.

As he found his way forward, he tentatively wrapped his spiritual power around the elf Ellie and whispered, "The Orpheus Oak Tree, it must be sacrificed to fill the cracks in the earth and soothe its wounds."

"..."

Ellie was silent for a moment, then replied, "You are not an angel. The current Lord of Light has abandoned his original power, and that summoning circle is definitely not facing the angel!"

Her keen insight didn't surprise Kroya at all; in this world, the true nobles and powerful families, as long as their children weren't completely brain-dead, were all very intelligent.

Moreover, this is a member of the Orpheus family.

So he readily admitted: "I am the mage who breeds the earth-stealing rats, and the Orpheus Oak is my friend. I do not want to see it sacrificed like this."

The situation outside is like this...

He quickly described the external situation to Ellie, whose mental state suddenly became violently turbulent after listening, and it took her a while to recover.

Kroya knew she was hesitating, so she didn't urge her and waited quietly.

A moment later, Ellie spoke up, "Based on your description, I suspect this is an attempt by Senator Beorelle."

"He has always advocated for harnessing the power of nature to achieve one's goals."

"The body of the Orpheus Oak should contain a rejected natural consciousness from Atlantis."

If it reaches the deepest part of the Yavana Sacred Mine, the natural consciousness it absorbs can soothe the earth's wounds and forcibly close the passage to the lower plane.

"Of course, its magic, body, and soul will become the necessary sacrificial nourishment for the emergence of natural consciousness, guiding Mother Earth to reward it."

She shared her deductions, and while she had a vague idea about the deeper aspects, she couldn't definitively prove it.

So she didn't say anything.

After hearing what she said, Kroya's doubts not only did not disappear, but became even more serious.

"Even if the power of the Orpheus Oak is legendary, can it really reach the lowest level?"

If a legendary figure could so easily infiltrate the lower levels of the Yavana Sacred Mine, why would the Holy See of Light cooperate with Mr. Beoril instead of sending their own people?

Ellie sighed deeply: "Light is the offspring of the Earth Mother Goddess. If there truly is a reward, the reward offered by the gods is entirely different from the reward desired by mortals!"

Kroya felt a chill run down his spine and exclaimed in surprise, "The God of Light will personally descend? How is that possible!"

After blurting out these words of surprise, he suddenly remembered something he had heard from the angels—that if the prime plane is damaged, it is possible that it is connected to the heavens of the gods, or to the demons and devils of the abyss or hell.

From a spatial perspective, both Heaven and Hell are considered to be in higher outer planes, and are actually the same distance apart.

However, the problem is that, just as demons or devils from the abyss need to offer sacrifices to come into the world, gods also need to offer sacrifices to descend.

Strength never comes from nowhere.

He recalled the scene he had witnessed when the Orpheus Oak Ark entered—the frontline bases of various factions under attack by the Zerg and the Fungus.

If blood sacrifice is truly necessary...

Without a doubt, those are the only places.

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and recommendations. I'm a bit busy today and have to work overtime, so the second update won't be until tomorrow... Sorry.

(End of this chapter)