Chapter 58: A Battle of Two (Part 2)

All the followers of the God of Nature stood there, dumbfounded, watching the wooden giant emerge from the deity, the old man floating in mid-air, and the guardian statues that were slowly getting back on their feet. They were witnesses to the chaos that had just unfolded.

The concepts firmly ingrained in the minds of the followers provided no reasonable explanation for what was happening before them. Magic? A miracle from the God of Nature? Was the miracle the wooden giant, or the guardian statues? Their minds were in turmoil, unable to grasp the situation, leaving them standing there in a stupor.

"Everyone, run! Run!" Only one person was frantically shouting, but his voice was swallowed by the wide and crowded grassland, failing to awaken the thousands of dazed individuals.

"Retreat! Quickly, retreat back to Airi!" Asa shouted loudly to the remaining soldiers. The dwindling number of soldiers seized the opportunity and quickly ran out of the grassland while the followers were still in shock.

Asa turned and reached out toward a golem. In the current situation, he could only try to destroy as many as possible.

Suddenly, it felt as if a massive whip had lashed across his body, causing every muscle and nerve to sting and go numb. As darkness enveloped him and he collapsed to the ground, he heard the crackling sound above his head, faintly catching the scent of something burning on his body. The last thought that flickered in his mind was: I was too careless...

Though Asa had been paying attention to the necromancer in the air, he hadn't anticipated such a swift attack. He had forgotten that even a top-tier air magic spell like Flight could be cast instantaneously; lesser spells like Lightning Bolt could certainly be launched with far more ease.

The necromancer in the sky watched with satisfaction as the troublesome fool collapsed, smoking from his electric shock, finally laughing. His previously unremarkable, aged face now wore an eerie and terrifying smile. Ignoring the astonished gazes of those below, he turned his attention to the moving golems.

The movements of the golems remained slow but no longer appeared as laborious as before. Even the ones with cracks in their bodies approached the nearest followers, crouching down and extending their hands as if to pick up beloved toys. The followers, still in a daze, allowed the guardian statues to lift them. The golems opened their mouths, which were large enough to hold a bathtub, and swallowed the followers in one bite. The screams of those caught in the golems' sharp teeth were abruptly silenced as they fell into the golems' throats, their bodies contorting in the process.

Only then did the followers seem to wake up, emitting a simultaneous scream that echoed through the air as they fled in panic.

Not only the thousands on the grassland, but also those in the surrounding Whispering Forest. The shrill cries of tens of thousands pierced the sky over Airi.

The blood and flesh of the worshippers slid into the golems' bodies as if they were nourishing starving creatures with the finest honey. Immediately revitalized, the golems moved with newfound agility, grabbing the hapless followers around them and devouring them. The more they consumed, the more energetic they became, jumping around like giant, gluttonous raccoons, frantically gobbling up the food that was willingly offered to them.

Tens of thousands of terrified followers screamed as they desperately tried to escape, many being knocked down in the chaos. Others trampled over their fallen companions, their cries mingling with the sounds of bodies hitting the ground, hands flailing in panic. More people fell, only to be stomped on by those behind them, all seeking to flee from this horror. The once peaceful grassland now resembled a writhing mass of maggots, struggling for survival.

Each golem, after consuming about ten individuals, began to ooze blood from its mouth as its body swayed, indicating that it had no more room for food; the blood and flesh overflowed to their throats. At this point, they all seemed energized, moving with unexpected agility despite their stone bodies.

The floating necromancer descended to the ground, seemingly unsatisfied. He raised his hands toward the golems and began to chant that off-key spell again.

The golems stopped moving, their bodies trembling, then opened their mouths wide, expelling a torrent of foul-smelling black sludge—remnants of the humans they had just devoured, filtered into something akin to the muck of a drainage ditch.

With another wave of his hands, the golems that had emptied their stomachs surged into the air, their wings unfurling, appearing like enormous, famished bats as they dove toward the fleeing followers. This time, they didn't just shove their catch into their mouths; instead, they raised them above their heads, squeezing and twisting them in their enormous claws, like extracting juice from ripe fruit, letting the blood drip into their mouths. They ignored the nearly-dead individuals trampled underfoot, focusing on the fastest, most energetic ones. The fleeing worshippers became a sumptuous feast, allowing the golems to pick and choose the most delicious and nutritious morsels.

The followers on the grassland had completely succumbed to fear. Even in their frantic escape, it felt futile; the golems could easily catch one or two with a single leap or glide, their screams overshadowed by the sound of bodies breaking and blood spilling. The giant, bloodthirsty bats continued to toss aside the shriveled, mangled bodies in their grasp, pouncing on another vibrant victim. Blood and dismembered limbs were the only colors left in this scene; the cries and wails formed a grotesque melody. What was once a sacred and pious grassland had turned into an unprecedented slaughterhouse.

Not only that, but similar scenes unfolded beyond the grassland, surrounding the Whispering Forest, where over a hundred golems were involved.

Finally, the golems ceased their pursuit for food; the blood within them had begun to overflow from their mouths. The necromancer flew onto the head of one golem, and together, they released a deafening, unearthly scream that pierced the sky as they soared upwards.

The followers who could escape fled far away, leaving behind those half-dead comrades, moaning in a sea of broken limbs and entrails.

In another part of the Whispering Forest, the golems took flight as well, joining those from this area, swirling in the air above the Whispering Forest and forming a circle. The circle of golems continually ascended, rising higher and higher until they appeared from the ground as mere clusters of strange-shaped birds.

The necromancer who had flown up from the other side shook his head and sighed at his companion: "I never expected that those elves would send the wooden guardians out, nearly causing our plan to fail. But as long as we've ascended now, we should be fine." He looked at the golems around him, many of which bore cracks. "It seems your side has sustained significant damage?"

The old man snorted coldly. "A human brat caused trouble; same one that the elves have been seeking—the thief who stole the leaves from the World Tree. He should be the one that Old Ronis sent here to deal with the heretics. He was probably the one eavesdropping last night."

"What? It's him?" The other necromancer appeared a bit startled. "Have you faced him?"

"I killed him." The old man's voice was cold and curt.

The necromancer paused for a moment, contemplating, before remaining silent.

The old man lowered his gaze to the Whispering Forest below, the crimson hue framing the outline of the forest clearly. He nodded in satisfaction. "This height should be appropriate. Let's begin." He raised his hands and chanted the spell, causing the mouths of all the golems to open simultaneously, unleashing a torrent of blood extracted from thousands of bodies.

The blood didn't fall; instead, it transformed into a mist in the air. This blood mist appeared to solid, remaining suspended in the circle formed by the golems, unable to be dispersed even by the strong winds high above, effectively becoming a blood veil hovering over the Whispering Forest. The stench of blood wafted for hundreds of miles around Airi.

Yet this scent was nothing compared to the horrors of the grassland. The foul odor from the waste expelled by the golems, the sight of twisted, drained corpses and entrails, and the countless half-dead humans still groaning made the scene unbearably gruesome.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadow of an ancient tree and stepped out from the forest.

She had long silver hair, a stunningly beautiful face, and although her armor and clothing made from insect shells were crude, they could not conceal her perfect figure. Such pure natural beauty, standing amidst the bloodied hellscape of the grassland, appeared grotesquely out of place. Unfortunately, the surviving followers desperately pushed themselves away from the carnage, not daring to look back, entirely oblivious to her presence.

She looked up at the sky, noticing the blood-colored mist and the circling golems, then glanced down to see the horrific scene on the grassland, her shock deepening. Suddenly, she spotted Asa, charred and lifeless on the ground, and quickly rushed over.

Kneeling beside Asa, she murmured an incomprehensible incantation, her hands glowing with green light before she pressed them onto him. The green light enveloped Asa, and he exhaled deeply, awakening from his unconscious state.

Just as Asa woke up, he saw Ruya, and he was incredibly surprised. He asked, "Why are you here? How could you get out? What's going on with those wooden guardians?" Just a moment ago, when he was attacked, he had converted all the magical energy he was preparing for a fireball into a healing spell, which saved his life, but the massive electric shock had still left him half-dead.

"It's all your fault." Ruya's exquisitely beautiful face was filled with sorrow and sadness. "I commanded the withered wooden guardians to leave the forest, which is a serious violation of tribal rules. I have already been expelled from the Whispering Woods. I only wanted to…" Tears flowed from her eyes. For an elf living in the Whispering Woods, being banished from their sacred homeland was even more painful than death.

Asa looked up at the blood-red light curtain in the sky and comforted her by patting her shoulder. "Don't be sad. Perhaps this isn't a bad thing. We should leave quickly while we still can."

In the sky, after the necromancer directed the gargoyles to expel the blood, he turned to his companion and said, "From now on, it's up to you. Can you really remember that complex magic circle after just seeing it once in the crystal ball?"

"Don't worry. With the help of so many devout followers, there won't be any problems." His companion smiled faintly, sitting cross-legged atop one of the gargoyles' heads. "Now, let's begin our great accomplishment."

The blood mist in the circle began to slowly condense in the air, gradually outlining a magic circle within the perimeter formed by the gargoyles.

"Is that what they're going to use against our forest?" Ruya looked disdainfully at the blood-colored mist. "It's useless; no matter what magic circle it is, it absolutely cannot break through the divine power of the Sun Well."

"No. That's…" Asa looked on in astonishment, realizing that he had seen that magic circle before. In the sky, as the magic circle took shape, the circular area enclosed by the gargoyles became completely dark.

"Why has it gone dark? Did they block the sunlight?" Ruya frowned her slender eyebrows in disdain. "It's useless."

"They're not blocking it; they're…" Asa finally remembered what it was.

In the shadow, a silver-white light curtain slanted down towards the Whispering Woods in a funnel shape, the bright tip of the funnel precisely falling within the forest. There were no explosions or breaking sounds typical of magic; everything was silent, consistent with the forest's usual demeanor. A pillar of fire shot up calmly and swiftly.

"How could this happen? It's impossible, absolutely impossible." Ruya was astounded. "No magical force can penetrate the barrier of the Sun Well to reach the forest."

"That's not magic. The magical power remains within that circle; they're using air magic to distort sunlight. What falls into the Whispering Woods is merely the heat radiated by the light." Asa slowly shook his head. "The Whispering Woods is finished."

Although Asa did not understand why the necromancers had learned the magic circle from Theodorus to attack the Whispering Woods, it was indeed the only and brilliant way to attack through the barrier of the Sun Well. Moreover, the magic circle was hundreds of meters high, and no one could destroy it by any means.

A heatwave hit him; even from the distant grassland, he could feel the ferocity of the flames within the Whispering Woods. The focal point of the concentrated light moved continuously under the necromancers' control, and ancient trees and withered wooden guardians lost moisture instantly under the intense light, then caught fire, subsequently drying out the nearby trees waiting to be ignited or set ablaze again. The sea of flames in the middle of the Whispering Woods expanded rapidly as the light curtain moved, and no amount of withered wooden guardians, elves, or unicorns could stop such an attack; they could only futilely wait for the dazzling death to descend upon them from the sky.

Ruya wanted to rush into the Whispering Woods, but Asa pulled her back. "What are you doing? Are you going in to get roasted? Let's go. There's no room for us to intervene here anymore."

A completely charred animal wailed and stumbled its way to the edge of the forest. Its exterior was all turned into black carbon, with only the horn on its head identifying it as what had originally been a pure, white unicorn. This animal, which had been cooked beyond recognition, collapsed at the forest's edge, struggled and cried out once before dying completely.

Ruya suddenly pulled her hand free from Asa and ran toward the Whispering Woods. Her slender, agile figure dashed into the misty thicket of ancient trees in just a few steps. Asa was momentarily taken aback, instinctively wanting to pursue her, but he stopped himself.

In his hesitation, he suddenly recalled his first meeting with Elaine in the Lizard Marsh.

An inexplicable impulse surged in his heart, accompanied by a sadness that shouldn't be present at this moment. He looked up at the blood-red magic circle in the sky and the patch of light beneath it, which seemed to carry a hint of purity. He thought for a moment, sighed, and then plunged into the Whispering Woods.

The Whispering Woods was already filled with smoke, and Ruya's figure had vanished. But Asa knew she must have run toward the Sun Well because all the elves would certainly have gathered there. The barrier of the Sun Well was still functioning, and Asa could feel the fluctuations in his body resonating with it as he ran in the direction of that resonance.

Running through the flames, the heat made him feel as if he were about to melt; the dazzling light continued to sway around him, turning the once vibrant and majestic forest into a fiery hell in an instant. Everything either ignited immediately or shriveled to a charred state; even the ground's rocks couldn't withstand it, cracking and exploding. Large patches of charred ground had already appeared in the center of the Whispering Woods, with many charred unicorn corpses scattered about.

Suddenly, the dazzling light stopped swaying and concentrated in one place. Asa looked, and that should be in the direction of the Sun Well.

Some writhing pillars of fire swayed as if they wanted to approach Asa; these were the last remaining wooden guardians, their charred bodies unable to bear their own weight, collapsing at the slightest movement. Dodging the flying burning wood, Asa ran a few steps and finally saw the radiant spot.

What came into view was a massive ice shield. All the elves were gathered below, working together to maintain this huge protective umbrella with magic, while Ruya had already squeezed in to release her magical energy alongside them. Other elves, including Elder Cranford, were too preoccupied to care that she had violated tribal rules to return.

The elves were not completely passive. After losing many lives, they finally understood what kind of attack this was. All the elves had gathered around the Sun Well to collectively raise a huge half-circular shield made of condensed ice over their heads. Most of the light converging from the sky either reflected or bent off the ice shield. The remaining light, although still intense, could no longer kill them.

However, this defense absolutely wouldn't last long. The elves were not very skilled in various elemental magics, and this defense had already reached its limit. The ice shield continuously melted under the surrounding high temperatures, relying solely on the elves' magic to replenish it; as long as this continued, the dissolution of the ice shield was merely a matter of time.

Asa looked up; the gargoyles were still spinning, surrounded by the shadow that looked like a small black dot under the necromancer's control. The Sun Well was not far away, and he could feel the magical power in his body surging abundantly. This was the only reason he dared to charge in. Here, his magical power could almost be described as infinite.

Asa reached out toward the sky, releasing a massive fireball, and the fluctuations of the Sun Well immediately restored his magical power. Thus, another smaller but faster fireball followed the first, whistling away.

When the first fireball flew to the area beneath that circle of shadows, the second fireball perfectly followed it. The two fireballs collided, producing a massive explosion. The explosive shockwave dispersed the air that had originally condensed within the magic circle, restoring the sky to its original state, and the light curtain and shadow vanished simultaneously. The gargoyles, originally tightly grouped into a circle, were also shaken into disarray by the explosion.

Asa let out a sigh of relief. Thanks to witnessing Theodorus use this magic circle firsthand and understanding the principle of this magic, he had thought of this method to destroy it. He turned and shouted to the elves, "Now is the time; quickly take the leaves of the World Tree and escape!"

The elves had just set down the ice shield to catch their breath, but Elder Cranford immediately shouted, "Capture that human!"

"Wait." Ruya quickly stood in front of Asa. "He came yesterday to inform us of the dark servants' plot. He is our friend!"

"We have no human friends, nor do we need any. Besides, he is the criminal who stole our World Tree leaves and the power of the Sun Well." Elder Cranford coldly glared at Ruya and the long-wanted human fugitive, his eyes filled with unusual rage. "And you, Ruya. We have already expelled you from the Whispering Woods. I didn't expect you to immediately be with this human. You are a traitor to our elves."

"You fools, now is not the time to discuss this; that magic circle might…" Asa's words were cut off abruptly as a blinding light erupted in front of him. Instinctively, he grabbed Ruya and jumped back, and the two of them rolled out together.

The cries of many elves were piercingly sorrowful, but it was just a brief gasp before everything fell completely silent.