Chapter 60: Everyone Gets Busy

Asa woke up, feeling as if he was floating in water. A strange, gentle sensation brushed against his body, and his muscles and skin were regenerating at an astonishingly fast pace, reminiscent of mushrooms in the sun after a rain. This soft and vibrant feeling settled on his face. Slowly, Asa felt the light again and saw an expanse of vibrant green. As the green retreated, he saw the sun hanging in the sky, casting warm and harmless rays.

Sitting up in the water, Asa realized he was still in the Sun Well, and Ruya was taking the leaf from the World Tree from her own body. A layer of green light enveloped him, and harmonious, vibrant energy resonated around him, syncing with the ripples of the Sun Well. His skin and muscles, which should have been burned to a crisp, were now intact, as if nothing had ever happened.

He looked around and found that, just like after Vadenina used the Dark Dragon spell, the area around the Sun Well was now scorched earth with nothing left. The difference was that last time, dense ancient trees could still be seen beyond the clearing, while now the Whispering Forest seemed to have transformed into a ragged cloth, with only a few remaining sturdy ancient trees scattered haphazardly.

"Where are the others?" Asa asked Ruya.

"They're dead," Ruya replied, her face covered in ash, looking utterly disheveled.

"All of them?"

"All of them. Not a single one left; even the bodies were turned to ash by the explosion and blown away. The Whispering Forest… is gone." Ruya surveyed the empty, charred ground, her eyes filled with hollow sorrow, as if she no longer had the strength to feel sadness.

"As things have come to this, there's no need for you to feel sad," Asa sighed. He personally felt that those foolish elves had brought this upon themselves.

"There's nothing to be sad about. I had a feeling this would be the outcome when they rejected my proposal. If faith becomes a shackle, then destruction is only a matter of time." Ruya's eyes remained sorrowful, but there was no sign of grief. After sorrow had driven away other feelings, a hidden strength emerged from deep within her. She quietly asked Asa, "Can you help me with something?"

"What is it?"

"I need to take the leaf from the World Tree to the Turaleone Forest. Before the Wood Guardians grow back, I must find a place to protect them, and I also need to report what happened here. But I don't know the way; last time I used a teleportation scroll. Can you take me?"

"Well…" Asa hesitated. While going to Rodhart was also important, it was undoubtedly more dangerous to have a completely naïve elf woman wandering around with a coveted World Tree leaf. "Alright. I don't know where it is either, but someone does. I'll first take you to Orford, and let Lord Theodorus take you there." If there were still teleportation scrolls at Theodorus's place, they would be able to return to the royal capital in time after rushing over.

Ruya nodded, then waved her hand at him. "You go outside; I need to water the surrounding ground with the well water so that the trees can gradually regrow."

As soon as Asa stepped out of the Sun Well, he immediately realized a serious problem and instinctively jumped behind the rocky edge of the well. "Do you know where I can find clothes?"

Ruya, holding the World Tree leaf and pouring out well water, replied nonchalantly, "There might still be some on those corpses outside."

In Airi City, local officials had gathered almost all the literate people in town to compose a eulogy and tribute for the envoy.

The envoy hadn't returned yet. According to the soldiers and followers of the God of Nature who had escaped, the area surrounding the forest had become a hell filled with monsters. Following the bizarre celestial phenomena, the towering inferno, and then the explosion that nearly shattered all of Airi… these apocalyptic scenes suggested that the envoy was in grave danger. The local officials were sure to bear the blame for inadequate protection; losing their positions would be minor, but they could even face execution. Thus, they aimed to craft a report with all the effort of the town, emphasizing how dangerous the situation was, how helpless ordinary people felt, and how the envoy had bravely commanded thousands of rioters while courageously confronting the monsters emerging from hell, sacrificing himself for the innocent in a hopeless situation. The report was expected to be quite effective; during the public reading, many people were moved to tears.

However, at that moment, the envoy—who should have already heroically perished—suddenly reappeared, disheveled and accompanied by a beautiful woman.

The brief awkwardness was immediately swept away by joy; as long as the envoy was safe, no one cared what he had been doing.

The envoy quickly delegated the aftermath tasks, tossing the command of the troops to the local officials like garbage. He only requested two swift horses and some travel supplies before departing with the strange woman. He didn't disclose where he was going or what he intended to do, instructing local officials not to reveal anything about him. Nevertheless, people continued to inquire about this matter, and the officials, feeling akin to old friends, expressed understanding of the envoy's peculiar behavior. "After experiencing such significant events, of course, he needs to relax and relieve some pressure. Naturally, that relaxation is not something he would want anyone to disturb." The listeners recalled the beauty of the strange woman and licked their lips in envy, expressing their agreement.

On the night they left, a group of people arrived at the now-charred Whispering Forest. They carried torches and spent half the night meticulously searching the still-warm wasteland. It was only when dawn began to break that they emerged from the scorched earth.

Outside the forest lay a sea of human corpses and remains. These would likely keep Airi's local officials occupied for quite a while.

This group appeared to be mercenaries. The unrest in Airi had increased the number of people making a living this way. Yet, even those accustomed to the brutality of the battlefield felt unnerved amidst this sea of corpses.

However, two figures stood silently atop the bodies. One bore the stoop and desolation characteristic of old age, while the other was a handsome middle-aged man, standing confidently atop a corpse that was missing its lower half, as if he were in a place filled with accolades.

Yet, both of their faces were tense, not due to the endless corpses beneath them, but because of the approaching group. They had been waiting for these searchers all night.

As the group approached, one of the apparent leaders, holding a sizable bundle, stepped forward to hand it to the two men. "Gentlemen, this is everything we found inside that seemed peculiar."

The middle-aged man accepted the package and opened it, revealing it was filled with all sorts of bizarre small items, most of which were beast horns. He rummaged through them and asked, "Did you search the well in the middle?"

The leader replied, "As you instructed, we searched thoroughly. But there were no bodies, nothing at all."

The middle-aged man furrowed his brow and asked again, "Did you see a green leaf?"

"Of course not," the leader replied, cursing inwardly. In a place so burnt that nothing remained, it was impossible to find a leaf, let alone a root.

"Hm?" The middle-aged man frowned and extracted a handle-like object from the assortment.

The leader explained, "According to the wizard in our team, this should be left by a high-level magic scroll."

"I know." The middle-aged man sighed. The object bore two small skulls at both ends, emitting a faint glow.

The old man leaned in to take a look, revealing a cold smile. "This unexpected find confirms our theory. The evidence is solid. Let's return."

"Gentlemen, there's still half of your payment," the leader said coldly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "Also, leave all the items inside. As a reward for leading us to this cursed place to find these things, I won't kill you."

Unicorn horns were exceedingly rare magical items; a large pile could be traded for ten times their weight in gold. The mercenaries risked their lives for these treasures.

"True enough. Let's give them what they deserve," the old man said to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man coldly regarded the bloodthirsty group of men before him and began muttering some incomprehensible incantation.

"Wizard, still trying to resist? Kill them!" The mercenary leader shouted, raising his longsword and stepping forward. All the mercenaries drew their weapons and charged. Given their proximity, it was a prime opportunity to attack a wizard who remained leisurely casting spells.

The old man exchanged a surprised glance with his companion but completely ignored the pack of ferocious mercenaries. Without looking at them, he simply raised his hand and called out.

Suddenly, the mercenaries halted in their tracks. Each of them struggled to move their legs but found themselves floating in the air. They flailed helplessly a short distance off the ground, waiting for the middle-aged wizard's spell to finish.

A strange sound echoed as more than a dozen individuals lost their human shape in mid-air. Blood, muscle, and organs surged forth from their mouths, eyes, and under their clothing and armor, gushing outward. In the blink of an eye, only a dozen bloodied skeletons, covered in flesh, remained suspended in the air.

The gushing blood and flesh were drawn toward the middle-aged man by a powerful force, coalescing into a massive sphere that spun rapidly while shrinking, ultimately forming a small blood-red crystal that flew into the middle-aged man's hand.

"Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. But to be able to cast this spell at your age is quite impressive," the old man nodded in approval, though his expression still held a hint of cold amusement. "I know you're angry, but there's no need to waste your wrath on these useless creatures. You'll have your hands full when we get back." He sighed nostalgically. "It's been a long time since we last held a meeting…"

The middle-aged man said nothing, his face expressionless as he pulled out a teleportation scroll from his robe. The old man did the same, and after a flash of blue light, the two vanished.

The skeletal remains finally fell to the ground with a ghastly clatter, and the area returned to a lifeless wasteland once more.