Chapter: Chapter 531
Boom!
Rumble!
The ground beneath their feet vibrated continuously, and the ceiling overhead made creaking sounds. Evangeline, clad in a jade-green robe, stood in the grand hall of the palace, observing the external situation through magic.
“Your Majesty, the barrier’s energy is almost depleted!” an elven mage rushed into the hall, panting as she reported to Evangeline.
Almost depleted? Evangeline sighed. She was not surprised by this outcome; after the initial sneak attack failed, she had foreseen this situation.
“Alas, you should prepare to leave. We have failed,” Evangeline waved her hand and said to the elves loyal to her. “There is a secret tunnel beneath the palace that leads directly to the outskirts of the City of Life. You should leave through there.”
A roll of yellowed map was thrown by Evangeline, landing lightly in front of the elven mage.
The elven mage looked up in surprise, her face filled with astonishment at Evangeline’s decision. “Your Majesty, and what about you?”
“Their target is me, so of course I have to stay here and hold them off. Don’t worry about my safety; I definitely won’t die.” Evangeline touched the Verdant Scepter beside her. With the support of two deities behind her, even the elders would not dare to act rashly against her.
This failure would probably result in her being deposed, disgraced, and exiled to a faraway land.
She would indeed not be in mortal danger, but her supporters were another matter. The elders would not let these political opponents go; they would be eager to eliminate them.
And these supporters, Evangeline was unwilling to let them meet such a tragic end. Each of them was an elite who hoped for the elves to improve. Although some elves still clung to the notion of elves being the best in the world, their opinions were unified: the elven race needed to change now.
If they didn’t change, the elven race might cease to exist in the future.
If these people were preserved, she would have hope for a comeback in the future.
Hmph, it’s only because I don’t have Leti’s support that you’re suppressing me. But once our relationship with the Demon Realm is restored, I’ll borrow the Demon race’s troops and crush you old geezers. Just you wait!
Clenching her scepter, Evangeline thought to herself.
“Enough nonsense, you should leave quickly. I will take responsibility for my actions; all the blame for this incident rests on me, and it has nothing to do with you.” Although she was thinking of committing evil deeds, Evangeline outwardly displayed an expression of facing death with resolve.
This made the elven mage extremely touched. She saw that the Queen was using her own life to delay time and create an opportunity for them to escape!
“Your Majesty, the barrier can no longer be repaired. It will collapse in three minutes. We will buy you time, so you should leave quickly!” At this moment, another elven ranger rushed in, delivering the dire news to Evangeline.
But Evangeline slowly descended from the high platform, leaning on her scepter. Her ethereal voice echoed in the spacious hall, “No, you leave first. I will stay here.”
“What are you saying, Your Majesty!” the ranger looked up, and the elven ranger looked up at Evangeline in disbelief.
“You are the future of the elven race, and I am merely a mediocre half-elf. For the elven race, you are far more important than I, your Queen.” Evangeline gently tapped the scepter on the ground, and green vines immediately grew wildly from beneath the feet of the two elves in the hall, wrapping them into a large ball and pulling them underground. “Take the map and leave quickly. This is my command. If you still recognize me as your Queen, then obey me.”
As she spoke, Evangeline walked towards the outside of the hall, completely ignoring the shouts of the two elves behind her.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout the palace. The elves who had been steadfastly holding their defensive positions did not anticipate vines erupting from beneath their feet. By the time the vines wrapped them up and pulled them underground, they finally realized what was happening.
When they discovered familiar colleagues in the underground cavities and heard them recount what had just happened in the hall, all these elves loyal to Evangeline could not help but shed sincere tears for their Queen.
It was clearly their own incompetence that they could not defeat the elders’ army, and in the end, it implicated their Queen to cover their retreat. As subjects, they were too much of a failure.
“No, we must go back and save Her Majesty!” some elves shouted loudly.
“Go back like this? Do you even know the way back?” The tearful elven mage tightly clutched the map Evangeline had given her. From the beginning, Evangeline had not given them the choice to return.
They had only one path forward: to follow the route Evangeline had marked and leave the City of Life.
“Her Majesty told us to go, so we should not question her decision. Let’s go!” Wiping her eyes forcefully, the elven mage took a step forward and walked ahead.
Her words gradually calmed the indignant elves. Looking at the elven mage who had already moved forward, the elves froze for a moment before ultimately choosing to leave with the mage.
They truly only had the option to leave now; Evangeline had not given them any other choice.
Oh, actually, she had. That was to stay here and be captured or starve to death, but no sane person would make such a choice.
Evangeline had gone to such lengths for them; would they let their Queen’s efforts go to waste?
No!
They must survive and carry out their Queen’s will!
As these elves began to move, Evangeline faced the elders’ army on the ground.
As the palace barrier shattered, countless green vines surged from underground, forming a second city wall that again delayed the army’s advance.
However, compared to the barrier, this wall, supported by only one person, clearly could not hold for long.
“Your Majesty, I advise you to give up this futile resistance. Surrender your weapons; it would be better for both of us.” The white-haired Great Elder walked slowly out of the army. Beside him stood an elf with a masked face, holding a magnificent scimitar in his hand.
From the terrifying aura emanating from the scimitar, it was almost certain that this was also a divine artifact.
“Heh, do you even believe that yourself?” Evangeline sneered. “If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already captured my good sister, haven’t you?”
“Her Highness the Princess is the legitimate successor to Her Majesty the Queen, isn’t she?” The Great Elder stroked his long beard with a smile, but his eyes flashed with cold light. “So, Your Majesty, it’s time for you to make your choice.”
“A choice? I don’t think those are choices… hmm?”
Halfway through her sentence, Evangeline uttered a strange sound. Her eyes were fixed on the distant sky, and shock appeared on her face.
“What is that? Is it your doing?”
Still trying to play clever? The Great Elder scoffed at Evangeline’s reaction. Did she think he would be fooled by such exaggerated acting? I am the Great Elder of the Elven race! How could I be deceived by a little one like you?
Hmph, I’m telling you, I won’t look back today no matter what. If I look back and see nothing unusual, won’t that mean I’ve fallen into your trap?
This way, my victory wouldn’t be perfect, the Great Elder thought with a chuckle.
“Your Majesty, what’s the point of these little tricks now?”
“Idiot, look behind you! The sky is on fire!” Evangeline shouted angrily. This old geezer is truly stupid. If the power in my hands were equal to his, I would have ten thousand ways to eliminate this bastard!
“The sky is on fire. Your Majesty is quite the joker.” The Great Elder shook his head, a hint of curiosity appearing on his face. “Since you are so insistent, I will humor you and take a look back.”
Saying that, the Great Elder turned around and looked at the sky behind him.
See, there’s nothing strange at all… Huh?
The sky is actually on fire?
Golden flames had filled half the sky, and the temperature began to rise slowly. In a short time, it had risen to a level that made one sweat profusely.
The towering trees in the forest began to make rustling sounds. The elves who could communicate telepathically with these plants felt the fear emanating from these lives. If this sea of fire fell from the sky, this place would probably turn into a living hell, and no one would survive such a natural disaster.
“What is this?!” the Great Elder exclaimed.
No one could answer him; all the elves were rendered speechless at that moment.
Only when the elf holding the divine artifact beside the Great Elder spoke softly did everyone understand the origin of that sea of fire: “A deity, another deity.”
Following her words, a clear phoenix cry echoed from the firmament. The ocean of fire churned, and a beautiful and majestic golden phoenix flew out from the sea of fire, circling high in the sky.
A new deity? Such a terrifying deity?
The Great Elder’s throat felt dry. He had imagined how powerful deities were, but he never expected a deity to reach such a level.
Ash had always been discreet, only telling the Great Elder that she could hold off the deities on Evangeline’s side. Other than that, she hardly communicated with the Great Elder, so the Great Elder had always assumed that even the strongest deity had limits.
But now, all his expectations were shattered by the giant bird in the sky. If all deities were this powerful, how ridiculous were his plans?
He had actually intended to use deities?
Oh heavens…
“Phew, thankfully I made it in time.”
While all the elves were immersed in shock and unable to extricate themselves, a familiar voice sounded behind Evangeline.
Is this… Leticia’s voice?
Evangeline turned around in surprise. The black-haired, black-eyed girl had indeed appeared behind her.
“Am I dreaming?”
“If you want to have a good dream, I can fulfill your wish. However, for now, let’s stay in the cruel real world for a little while longer, Your Majesty.” Leticia lightly flicked Evangeline’s forehead. “If I hadn’t come, would you have really intended to sacrifice yourself and be a great hero?”
“That won’t happen. Flora will take me away.”
“Hoo, what a dark heart.”
“By the way, Flora is still confronting other deities. Leticia, can you go help her?” Speaking of Flora, Evangeline became anxious again.
Regarding this matter, Leticia shrugged. Infirno had already gone to mediate between the two deities confronting each other in the sky. They were probably almost done talking.
Bao was establishing dominance in the sky, Infirno was handling the two deities who were truly confronting each other, and she came to protect Evangeline. It was perfect.
“Don’t worry, someone has already gone to Flora.”
In mid-air, a third party entered the confrontation between the two deities, causing the situation to tilt in a direction Ash was not willing to see.
Setting aside the phoenix deity in the sky, the deity who appeared beside Evangeline was actually chatting cheerfully with Evangeline. They seemed to know each other beforehand. What was going on?
How did Evangeline have so many helpers?
“Leticia, it’s her? How did she become…” Flora looked at Leticia, who was talking with Evangeline, and a rare look of confusion appeared on her face. The current situation was indeed beyond her expectations.
She had thought about who those three unfamiliar deities might be, but she had never expected it to be Leticia.
When she parted ways with Leticia, the Demon King was still just a Demon King, but now she had been completely reborn and become a true deity. What exactly had happened during this time?
Or was the passage of time among the elves different from that in other worlds?
“Two, I know you may still have some doubts. How about we go down and have a good chat?” Infirno stepped on the void and came between the two deities, inviting them with a smile. “If you are unwilling, I will have to resort to a more forceful approach.”
“For example?” Ash looked at Infirno. This fellow tribesman gave her a very bad feeling. If she had to fight such an opponent, she would consider drawing even to be an outstanding performance.
“I believe Flora will accept my invitation, so the four of us will fight you.” Infirno spread his hands, with a slightly innocent expression on his face, yet he uttered chilling words.
Four against one… I’m struggling against one, and now four?
Ash truly wasn’t afraid of just Flora, but with Infirno added, she’d be lucky to last a few rounds.
If the overhead bird and the deity guarding Evangeline were added, she would probably have to consider how many lives it would take to break out of such a encirclement.
“It seems you’ve made a wise choice.” Seeing Ash retract her aura, Infirno nodded with satisfaction. “Don’t worry, we’re not here to fight; peace is our goal.”
