Equipment Printing School Mage

Although he could also send a short message to maintain contact, but if Korhal had returned, then every bit of magic power in his body would be precious, and he had to find the information that was most needed.

He was surprised, but not surprised, that Khar was defeated.

Korhal might be a powerful Archdruid... but Faerûn has never lacked for powerful individuals. Even worse, not all of these powerful individuals seek to dominate, so it's entirely possible that you might be drinking and singing on the road when you suddenly encounter a powerful individual who can kill you with a single blow.

Korhal might be powerful, but he was clearly far from invincible. Otherwise, given the common creed of Shadow Druids, he would definitely not cooperate with outside forces.

He could only assume that the fleeing shadow druid was Korha. So, what he needed now was information that would allow him to kill Korha.

The Paladin was a very difficult profession to obtain, but also incredibly powerful. However, as far as he knew, the Paladin's biggest weakness, to put it in a less respectful way, was...

Short Legs.

While priests, mages, and druids could traverse every corner of the plane, paladins could only obtain powerful mounts like Pegasus or griffins—of course, such strategic mobility was far superior to that of warriors, rogues, or barbarians. However, in dire straits, paladins still had to seek the help of ninth-level spellcasters.

The worst part was, Emiya had seen the fee list of the Garl Glittering Temple... no, the donation list, and knew what spellcasting services Aunt Mirror Shadow sold. He was sure that she wasn't a very powerful priest and didn't know how to teleport.

The Friendly Arm is at least dozens of kilometers away from Baldur's Gate.

No matter if the paladin chose to seek help at Baldur's Gate, or rode his mount directly towards the Sharptooth Forest... or simply stopped chasing, he would inevitably be one step behind the druid.

Before Emiya left the Mage Tower, his mentor once described the outcome of a battle in this way.

"Injured, dead... these states are indeed enough to end the battle. But as both sides grow stronger, they become less and less meaningful."

"Emiya, when you become strong enough, you will find that if you fail to kill your enemy on the spot and let him escape successfully..."

"If you fail to complete the pursuit within a few minutes, the damage you inflicted will be restored to its original state."

"If you don't complete the pursuit within an hour, even permanent damage may be gone."

"If you fail to complete the pursuit within a day, your enemy might even have fully recovered, and the outcome of this battle will be completely meaningless."

"If you destroy a lich, then delaying it for half a month might even be enough for it to resurrect from its phylactery."

Time, the most important thing is time.

Emiya asked in her heart: [What was the Paladin doing? How long has this battle been over?]

Soon, Aunt Jingying sent a second message: [He went in pursuit. The battle must have happened a few minutes ago.]

Then, we have to race against time.

*********************

Fenwe was strolling through the holy land, looking anxious.

There was no rhythm to her steps, just an almost aimless movement around her oak tree.

On the surface, she was just worried about the impending doomsday - but her real purpose at the moment was to prevent Moonsong from doing something shady in the future.

She couldn't figure out Yin's true nature, but she could understand Yin's extraordinary qualities.

But regardless, Yin's control over his abilities was clearly unstable. Therefore, according to Emiya's opinion, Yin shouldn't be given random tasks.

Time, this word is too dangerous. Any consequences of losing control may be unacceptable to them.

Silver's next task is to help Hollyoak win over the competition only when necessary.

Fenwei frowned and looked towards the beech tree from time to time.

This morning, the Red Moon Group from Baldur's Gate, along with their employer, left the Holy Land and hurried westward. Given their current positions, she naturally couldn't obtain any relevant information. This gave her a bad feeling.

At this moment, Emilia's subtle voice reached her ears: "Miss Fenway, I have received urgent news. I will be brief."

"First, don't show any reaction openly: a senior paladin successfully defeated Korhal, but failed to kill him. Korhal may have returned to the Sharptooth Forest by now."

Despite hearing such shocking news, Fenwei only took a deep breath and replied through the magical channel, "I guess Korhal is seriously injured right now."

"Yes. But he's a very powerful druid, so the window of time we have left might be very short—no matter how badly he's injured, he'll be back to normal in just a few minutes."

Fenwei sighed softly, "By tomorrow morning, even his magic power will be fully restored."

"So I have to ask a question that might be very taboo: In the Holy Land, any direct harm is forbidden. So, do you have a way to circumvent this restriction?"

At this sensitive moment, Emiya asked this question, and his purpose was self-evident - to try to take Khar's life directly when he was seriously injured.

The druid's pace suddenly slowed down, and she unconsciously touched her right hand.

She had always worn black silk gloves there, never taking them off. When her fingers touched the back of her hand, her cheek twitched slightly unnaturally.

She closed her eyes and exhaled softly. "Emmya? If it weren't for you, I would have been angry right now. You're asking me if I'm also a druid with ulterior motives. A true druid shouldn't delve into this."

Emiya's voice showed a rare embarrassment: "Uh, no... That's not what I meant..."

"I was just kidding." After teasing Emya a little, Fenwe denied it. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it. Only the Chief Druid can change the bans of the holy site at regular intervals. For example, changing a ban on damage to a backlash... Apart from that, to destroy the ban, you have to destroy the entire holy site in one fell swoop."

In other words, there was no solution. As long as Khar remained in the Holy Land, they could only watch helplessly as Khar recovered.

"Well, the good news is that the paladin who easily defeated Korhal is heading towards the Sharptooth Forest. If we can delay him for a few hours, Korhal won't be a problem... Wait, Fenwe, behind you."

Before Emilia could finish her words, Fenwe had already turned around alertly.

The person standing there was the one that Fenwei least wanted to see at the moment.

He has white hair and a perpetually kind and wise smile on his face. If someone doesn't know him well, they might mistake him for a scholar living in the town rather than a druid.

He is the most powerful druid in the woods.

At this moment, Keha was standing quietly behind Fenwei, but his face was slightly pale, as if he had just recovered from a serious injury.

The old druid bowed slightly toward her. "Sister Fenwe, I am deeply pleased to see that you are still devoting yourself to the growth of the Holy Land."

A smile naturally appeared on Fenwe's face. "Sir Korha, you have finally returned to the Holy Land? I believe your trip went quite smoothly."

This seemingly unintentional yet painful greeting did not cause Korhal to lose his composure. He simply sighed and said, "That is exactly what I was saying, Sister Fenwe. I bring you bad news: our woodland, though newly established, has already been targeted."

Fenwei was stunned for a moment. "...We're being targeted? The very establishment of our Circle Society is a secret. We've only been in contact with the outside world for a few days. Who could possibly be targeting us?"

Keha sighed. "That's the problem. I was attacked while I was out there. Of the four of us, I'm the only one who made it back."

"Also, I just received news. A large hobgoblin warband is heading towards the Sharptooth Forest. They are moving from the south and may enter the forest from the west."

Fenwei's pupils dilated slightly. "...In the west of the Sharptooth Forest, I remember there was only one settlement."

"Yes. It seems to be a lumberjack village called Hollow Horn." Keha walked up to her with a slightly sympathetic look, patted her shoulder, and whispered in her ear, "That seems to be the secular force you are in charge of?"

"I regret."

The struggle between forty-one shadows

a few minutes ago.

Moonsong Druid was sitting leisurely on a branch of the beech tree house.

He was indeed quite relaxed—he had originally worried that the warrior really intended to spend two days grinding iron ingots. The noisy noise would probably significantly affect his condition.

Fortunately, the terrifying noise was clearly a disaster for both sides, so much so that the entire day was completely silent—it seemed that the strong warrior was just like his colleagues, a fool who mistook his nonsense for cheerfulness and bravery.

Perhaps it was already dusk. However, in this holy place where there was no distinction between day and night, only when the wind blew would the sacred trees reluctantly let out a little light.

But today was clearly an unusual day. Just as Moonsong was waiting for night to fall, the light and shadows between the leaves of the sacred beech tree swayed gently like water waves, and a beech leaf as tall as a man fell straight down, almost hitting Moonsong on the head.

Moonsong was startled and just as he stood up, a storm of magic suddenly exploded from behind him.

"...?!"

Moonsong turned around in astonishment, and what came into his eyes was an unbelievable scene.

His superior, Archdruid K'ha, leaped out of a doorway of sulphurous flames and fell helplessly to the ground. Even this level of impact was clearly a devastating blow to K'ha at the moment—the streams of bright red blood pouring from his mouth were proof of that.

Moonsong was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted.

Druids and priests are the best doctors in the world, so he naturally knows what to do now.

He generously cast healing spells on Khar, saving his life, and quickly retrieved a water pitcher from the corner of the tree house. "Lord Khar?! What happened that forced you to use the Escape Ball? No, more importantly, you already used the Escape Ball, yet you're still so badly injured?!"

Before Keha could even answer his subordinates' questions, he struggled to grab the holly branches around his waist and began to chant quickly.

The water jars are filled with spring water gushing out from the roots of the sacred tree, which contains unimaginable life force.

Wounds that nearly split a person in two, serious illnesses that put a person on the verge of death, and deadly poisons...all of these can be cured by bathing in the spring water.

The life potions that alchemists painstakingly crafted were nothing but bitter garbage compared to this holy spring. Only extremely advanced healing potions could barely match the effectiveness of the Fountain of Life in healing wounds.

"My apologies, Lord Korha, please forgive my rudeness." Moonsong poured the Fountain of Life down his head without hesitation, straightening the old druid's body. The clear, colorless spring water trickled down the old druid's hair, instantly dyeing it the color of grass and soil.

At this time, Moonsong finally discovered where the old druid was wounded.

There was a thin sword scar at the old druid's heart.

The wound was smooth, and it was obvious that the maker had not added any barbs or blood grooves to the blade.

This seemingly insignificant sword wound was like a spring hidden beneath the surface, pumping out all the blood in the druid's body. Moonsong, standing in front of Korha, was the first to bear the brunt of the blow, and was instantly drenched in blood.

This shows that Khara's heart has been completely pierced, and the starting point of this artery has become the most ferocious fountain of blood.

However, in this world, even this level of fatal injury depends on whether it can receive timely treatment.

Under the baptism of the Fountain of Life, such horrific wounds actually began to heal slowly, and the speed of the blood fountain gushing out also slowed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Moonsong breathed a sigh of relief, and while continuing to cast his precious healing spells without hesitation, he asked, "Lord Khar, what on earth happened?!"

However, Keha did not answer his question. Instead, he looked at his chest with a worried look on his face and continued his chanting.

Only then did Moonsong discover that there was a faint golden light shining around the sword wound.

In just a few short breaths, the golden light is becoming brighter and brighter.

Moonsong was stunned for a moment, and then a terrible possibility came into his mind.

He couldn't help but cry out: "Wait, this is the Holy Warrior's Holy Slash——"

The next second, a brilliant golden light suddenly burst forth. The wounds that had just begun to heal were purified into golden light amidst the deafening roar of magical power. The wriggling flesh and blood instantly vanished into vast expanses of golden light.

This seemingly beautiful scene is actually a fatal and terrifying injury to any life, and is also the most signature attack of the Holy Knight.

When the Holy Slash erupted, the entire tree house was easily dyed golden. Even though Moonsong was not the target of the Holy Slash, his eyes were completely engulfed by the dazzling golden light in a short period of time, almost blinding him.

When the brilliant light faded, the narrow sword wound suddenly became a fist-sized hole. Moonsong could even see the wall of the tree house through the hole.

This blow almost completely destroyed Khara's chest and abdomen.

However, at this moment, Khara's spell was completed.

"——Regeneration Technique!"

The old druid finished the chant with the last breath in his lungs.

With the help of a powerful healing spell, flesh and blood began to slowly regenerate in the empty chest cavity, and the completely shattered organ fragments were gathered together again in the green light.

A few seconds later, the sound of the heart beating began again.

"Puff..." Keha spat out the blood and remaining organ fragments in his mouth, sat down on the floor of the tree house, and began to cough violently. The saliva he coughed out was full of scarlet flesh.

"..." Moonsong was silent for a moment and held Keha's shoulders with his hand.

However, intentionally or unintentionally, his right hand was a little too close to Khara's neck.

He lowered his voice and asked carefully, "Lord Korha, what happened? Did you encounter... a very powerful paladin?"

Keha took a long breath. "We're exposed. If you do anything unnecessary, you won't be able to escape."

"..." Moonsong's hand moved a little further away from the Archdruid's vitals. "You're joking. You're my superior, so of course I'll devote myself to you and let you command me."

"Look, didn't I wholeheartedly help you out of danger?"

"Hmph..." Keha sighed muffledly as a response.

Then the old druid shook his head. "What is the current state of the woodland? How is the sacred oak of Fenwë growing?"

"You're more concerned about Fenwe's achievements than your beech tree," Moonsong commented indifferently, adding, "It's very, very amazing. Fenwe has clearly taken the time to find secular allies, but her sacred tree has continued to grow at an exaggerated rate over the past few days. Especially a few days ago, she seemed to have found a very remarkable sword. The speed of the sacred oak... it's no exaggeration to say it's advancing by a thousand miles."

"Honestly speaking, if you had come back a few days later, this [competition] would have been decided."

Obviously, Korhal will not be the chief druid at that time.

While adjusting his breathing, Keha asked, "...What about your actions? Don't tell me you didn't do anything."

"Of course not... I forced her to sever the connection between the magic sword and the sacred tree." Moonsong smiled slightly. "Of course, the most important thing is that I plan to take the initiative at the circle meeting tonight and designate her as a shadow druid. By then, all her efforts will belong to us."

"Frame-up... Haha. That's not a good idea." Keha shook his head. "Leave this to me. While I was out, I stumbled upon more accurate information about her."

"Besides, we don't have time to take our time with her. The next moment the sun sets, the [competition] must be decided."

This shocking statement shocked Moonsong: "Tonight?! Are you kidding me? This competition will last at least another month!"