Chapter 364: Decisions (Part 2)

  For the two who had never experienced the aura of The Black Star, the world-destroying Lich King was ultimately just a legend. Even though they knew that since it was regarded by the Necromancers as a divine oracle determining fate, the weight of this legend was naturally not light, but it was simply too unbelievable. The two great magic masters, who held significant power, could barely accept it intellectually, but emotionally they still could not accept that this wonderful world would be destroyed by a monster in such a short time.

  Tower Master Graden considered for a moment and said: "If necessary, we can provide all the magic scrolls from our Tower of Fangs, among which there are several great magics close to a Forbidden Spell. If we add all our elemental mages, it's no exaggeration to say that flattening a small country would not be difficult..."

  "The range of this aura of necromancy seems to be only a dozen or so miles in radius," Master Adelaide interjected. "Even if it's filled with undead monsters like skeletal dragons, gathering all of us here would be enough to completely destroy them."

  "The problem isn't the undead, it's the Lich King. Within the range of his aura, the undead monsters cannot be completely destroyed. Even if blown to pieces, they will slowly re-form because of the dark energy. Moreover, the Lich King's current power is no longer comparable to when he first condensed his form. He will not ignore his enemies. Before using the Final Judgment, instinct will drive him to destroy all obstacles on his path," Elder Lloyd spoke. Although not much time had passed, he looked even older. Wrinkles had covered every inch of his skin, making him look like a several-hundred-year-old man. Even his voice and movements carried the slowness of old age.

  "Are you saying even a Forbidden Spell won't work?" Adelaide smiled, finally pulling his gaze from the map to look at Elder Lloyd. "Under these circumstances, as long as you, Elder Lloyd, can reveal a little of the Ancient Elven Empire's magical techniques to us, and we gather our strength here, I believe it wouldn't be difficult to create top-tier scrolls like Meteor Shower or Phoenix Summoning. If we just keep using Forbidden Spells..."

  "Hehe, what time is it for this? Master Adelaide, you should stop focusing on these ideas..." Elder Lloyd glanced at Adelaide. His eyes looked so cloudy that the black and white were almost indistinguishable, and a suffocating aura of old age permeated his gaze. "During the time of the Ancient Elven Empire, even with the full strength of all the elves, and even the Titans and dragons, they could not stop the Elven King, who had become a Lich King, from initiating the Final Judgment... Believe me, even the magic of you two Tower Masters is nothing compared to the magical technology of the ancient elves."

  The two Tower Masters froze with ugly expressions on their faces, but in the end, they said nothing, just looking at the magic map on the table and letting out a long sigh.

  "Haven't you seen what I look like? Measured by your human standards, I'm actually still just a teenager, but I have at most two or three years left to live. This is Mafa's punishment for all elves who pry into power, and this is just because I showed you this map... Even if Mafa blesses us and this matter succeeds by a fluke, this map will be completely destroyed. Along with me..."

  Adelaide seemed unconvinced. He said: "I wonder if this Mafa you speak of can help us? Since he has such ability, to be able to create the Leaves of the World Tree and the Sunwell..."

  "Mafa is the Mother Earth, the Mother of All Things. The Black Star is the convergence of the darkness of all living beings on the entire continent. From a certain perspective, it is actually the weapon Mafa uses to cleanse this continent, to wash away a world that is on the verge of collapse due to being too overrun with life..."

  "What? Isn't Mafa the patron god of you elves? And the Leaves of the World Tree and the Sunwell that can counter The Black Star, aren't they also..."

  "How could the great Mother of All Things protect just one race? So-called greatness is selflessness. Selflessness, do you know the meaning of this word? In her eyes, there is no essential difference between an ant and a dragon; they are both living beings. It's just that before the fall of the Ancient Elven Empire, a very small number of elves happened to sense her will and pulse, and then survived by attaching themselves to it and worshiping her one-sidedly... Haven't you seen that even our vitality can only continue by following Mafa's will? As for the Leaves of the World Tree and the Sunwell, the mages of the elven empire finally managed to create these artifacts according to Mafa's pulse, but I think... they are actually the same in essence as The Black Star... One is the convergence of vitality and the source of life, the other is the convergence of death and darkness..."

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  "Why?" Lord Bolgan's eyes seemed as if they could fall out at any moment. His mouth was wide open. "To be able to create two completely opposite artifacts? This is completely illogical..."

  "They are not completely opposite. Life and death are not actually in opposition, but are one. Without the Leaves of the World Tree and the Sunwell, there would be no The Black Star, just as a person who is not born will naturally not die, but once born, death is inevitable. Although the Sunwell and the Leaves of the World Tree cannot match the power of The Black Star, they give us a glimmer of hope for life. This is actually a sliver of vitality contained within The Black Star itself. There is no absolute darkness and death; in the greatest darkness and death, there is also the tiniest bit of life, but we must fight for it ourselves."

  "You're saying those two things are actually the same?" Lord Bolgan's expression twisted as he struggled to think, his originally pancake-like face now looking like a pancake that had been kneaded for a while and then punched. "This... still seems illogical..."

  "That is just your logic, or rather, human logic. Don't try to force yourself to understand things you cannot comprehend, just as moss and fungi that only live in the morning would not understand day and night. If I must use an analogy you can understand, we are but specks of dust in this vast, boundless world. Mafa has never watched or cared about us, nor will she watch or care about anything; she just lets this world evolve according to her own rules... The catastrophe we face now is just one of the countless processes of this evolution, equally insignificant..."

  Lord Bolgan still tried to think for a moment, but finally sighed, his twisted face returning to its original shape. "Sorry, I still don't understand what you, this old charlatan, are talking about..."

  "If you don't understand, then forget it." Elder Lloyd chuckled, the wrinkles on his face overlapping. His cloudy gaze swept over the faces of the people around him, each with a different expression. "These are just the guesses of a fallen elf who has defied Mafa's teachings and recklessly sought the truth. These truths were originally things I should not have known..."

  The faces of Graden and Adelaide were still full of thought, as if they had suddenly realized something, yet were even more confused. Unlike the acting leader of Oufu, who was meticulous, energetic, and accustomed to explaining everything with logic, they were the top mages with the highest comprehension, able to grasp some of the things within.

  "Knowing these things is useless. We still have to do what we must do. Elder Lloyd, you didn't bring this magic map here just to discuss these things, did you?" The Pope's expression showed no fluctuation; it was unclear whether he completely understood or didn't understand at all.

  With a light cough, the female Chancellor cleared her throat, interrupting an atmosphere somewhat unsuitable for the meeting. "Alright, the profound philosophical and theological topics can stop here. Let's talk about more practical matters."

  Commander Roland's words, just like his gaze, were always tough and resilient, going straight to the point without hesitation. "Just tell us directly, how can we destroy that Lich King? And what can we do?"

  Elder Lloyd nodded and spoke, his voice sounding as if it were drying up and decaying: "Our only hope is that this Lich King is not complete. Therefore, even though our ritual to gather power is incomplete, we still have a chance... As long as we gather all our combat strength to carve a path through the countless undead monsters, and strike The Black Star with the power gathered by our ritual, perhaps we can destroy the hilt of The Black Star..."

  "Excuse me, what ritual are you talking about? I don't understand at all. Are you elves conducting some kind of ritual now?" the Chancellor asked with a frown.

  It wasn't just her face that was full of confusion. Commander Roland, Lord Bolgan, and the two Tower Masters of the Tower of Fangs also looked puzzled. Only the Pope and Lancelot remained as calm as usual. The Pope just sighed softly and said: "It's not happening now, but a ritual that has been continuously repeated in the Whispering Woods for over ten thousand years, infusing the power of the Sunwell and the Leaves of the World Tree into the body of every elf with the bloodline of the Elven King, waiting for when The Black Star breaks through the earth again to deliver that elf's chest to the blade of The Black Star..."

  "Correct." Elder Lloyd glanced at the Pope. "This ritual, which has been performed countless times, was originally to prepare for the appearance of The Black Star. It finally had a use this time, but unfortunately, this ritual was destroyed by a human who broke into the Whispering Woods and stole the Leaves of the World Tree. All the power that should have been infused into the elf's body was absorbed by him. It's just a pity that those powers are incompatible with a human body, so this ritual is incomplete..."

  "Fortunately, The Black Star is also incomplete; it's just a hilt. So there is still a chance, isn't there?" the Pope also looked at Elder Lloyd. "Actually, it was just a little short, and I would have helped you complete this ritual... But now, to complete it, it's not such an easy matter. At the very least, we still need that person's own consent, or in other words, for him to be willing to die in exchange for the possibility of destroying The Black Star. Of course, there is another way, but it's much more troublesome..."

  The Pope's voice paused. He and Elder Lloyd's eyes met, and they seemed to speak in unison with a tacit understanding: "Capture him and bring him before the Lich King, let the Lich King pierce his body with the hilt of The Black Star."

  "That's impossible. Judging from the actual situation, there is no such possibility. No one has that kind of strength. Even if we could capture him, there would be no way to safely deliver him before the Lich King," Lancelot interjected. "So now, everything actually depends on his own decision."

  "To make such a decision..." Lord Bolgan grinned and slowly shook his head. "It seems too difficult..."

  No one spoke up. Everyone knew this, so everyone's expression was not good. The worst was the young female Chancellor, whose face was pale and greenish, her originally firm and steady gaze now dazed and spiritless.