Chapter 381: Chapter 248: Terror in the Details

For a moment, the broken world of the Golden Tree fell completely silent. That grand and magnificent Golden Tree, once vibrant with life, now hovered on the brink of death. Its golden light was no more, leaves continued to fall, and the black-red liquid from its wounds had nearly dried up. The two hidden powers both sensed this divine being’s life was waning.

Once the protection from this third-era divine being is lost, what will Moncalleta become? They dared not imagine.

“Your Majesty, is there no other way?” James couldn’t help but ask. The Celestial Principle School greatly respected the Princess, and Estella’s sensitivity in celestial principles was rare.

“Shouldn’t you personally see the Pope?” Kundra also suggested, though as he said it, both men knew there wasn’t much chance; it was just that the method was too cruel.

“For the Kingdom, anyone can be sacrificed,” Ola the Eighteenth calmly stated. “Teachers, please, the rest is family matter.”

“Your Majesty, we will hurry back to the Celestial Principle Academy. Vladimir might have a solution, so please don’t worry,” said Kundra.

Ola the Eighteenth did not speak. If there were a solution, Vladimir, being a demigod, would have come by now. Regarding the Golden Tree, the newly formed Celestial Principle School knew very little.

The ancient era adhered to the old jungle law: to gain, one must pay. Healing the Golden Tree requires the sacrifice of the bloodline that guards the Golden Tree. This originates from an ancient covenant between the Ola Clan, the Earth Mother Goddess, and the Golden Tree. Estella was chosen from the moment she was born, hence her extraordinary talent. This kind of divine favored, no matter what they learn, they do so quickly. It is both a blessing and a curse, also a means for the Golden Tree to protect itself.

Under the Golden Tree, each goiter marks a sacrifice from the past. In thousands of years of history, how could there be no upheaval? Sometimes there’s insufficient wish power, other times there are various changes. With power shifts, ambitious kings sometimes cultivate several divine favored to gain greater blessing from the Golden Tree.

Sacrifice is the only method of healing, and this derives from the direct approach of the ancient era.

For the sacrificer, both soul and spirit are annihilated, never to be reborn.

The Royal Palace was heavily guarded. Hokele, Prince Achilles, and Estella returned to the palace. The deep end-of-days red hovering above became deeper, a mourning and desolate aura shrouded the palace’s sky. Chris and Keli also came to Estella’s side.

“Prince Hokele, His Majesty wants you to take Prince Achilles to the world of the Golden Tree,” said James, who was waiting for the three princes to return. “Princess, please go to the palace to find Queen Kelly. The Queen has something very important to discuss with you.”

Estella nodded, “Alright, teacher.”

James watched Estella leave, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Hokele looked at Grandmaster James, “Teacher, what’s happened? Why…”

“The Golden Tree is in grave danger, go,” James said no more, waved his hand, and then his figure flickered, striding tens of meters towards the outside of the palace.

Why did this happen? Why would the Golden Tree have issues? Since when did Hex-Tech have such formidable power? What role does the Earth Temple play in all this?

James’s mind was full of questions. First, this is definitely related to the Song of Hell. Such an ancient-era presence as the Golden Tree, surviving till now, is certainly superior in old laws. Hidden power is ineffective, blade, fire, and poison wouldn’t even scratch it. Hex-Tech is indeed a possibility, but how could it wield such power? The Celestial Principle School has spent considerable effort on this, yet the power of the Hex-Tech Gun as a weapon is inadequate. Infiltrating the palace is one thing, but doing so silently and managing to harm the Golden Tree should be impossible; Moncalleta people, even with ill intent, would be controlled by the laws of the Golden Tree domain. Not just powerless, unable to attack, non-Moncalleta people couldn’t enter…

How could this be accomplished?

In the Inner Demon case, overlooking Prince Oliver who consumed dark cuisine could be seen as a consideration for power balance. What about the other Inner Demon?

Is it really an Artificial Human? A monster breaking the laws?

James knew the Church Court was investigating, even using Isaac’s notes as bait to lure the opposing party, but the latter escaped. At that time, it was seen as a serious failure by the Church Court. Problems arose when the Church Court realized the gravity, but even then made such a big mistake, why not remedy it? It seemed simply left unresolved, which didn’t make sense.

But the Earth Temple was involved, which doesn’t make much sense. Even if the Church Court wanted to break with the King, it wouldn’t allow an enemy to destroy the Golden Tree. This is not only Moncalleta’s foundation but also the Earth Mother Goddess Court’s foundation. Such a foolish act isn’t typically something the Church Court would do.

Countless questions arose. In the expectations within the Celestial Principle School, the worst scenario was the Church Court violating the law to assassinate the King, but no one imagined issues with the Golden Tree.

The arena remained under the strict control of the Knight Order, only a very few could leave. Clearly, Li Xin and Christie weren’t among them, and sensibly, staying put was the best option. It’s too easy to get a small fry involved and killed in these matters, though some conjecturing was still possible.

The Golden Tree?

It seemed likely that victory was achieved, a win for Song of Hell and Oliver, but at the same time, the Li Long United Kingdom and the Moon God’s Court also gained considerably. Whether the Golden Tree was severely damaged or destroyed, tensions between the King and the Earth Temple would become sharper. Meanwhile, the King would also increasingly need the Moon God’s Court. The next step wouldn’t be Hex Bird Report, it might be Moon God’s Court directly stepping into Hedan, but… too risky, too many uncertain factors.

Looking at Li Xin lost in thought beside her, Christie gently sighed. She once thought the future would be peaceful, but now, it appeared the real crisis was only beginning.

“Oliver’s plan might have succeeded,” Christie said, her voice gaining a bit of indifference at the mention of that name.

“What plan, dark cuisine?” Li Xin frowned, “Wasn’t he already discovered and driven away?”

“No, consuming dark cuisine was his attempt to gain power to become an angel. Remember the other Inner Demon?” Christie sighed again, “I actually know part of it, it was done by people from Song of Hell. There’s information that Oliver had multiple contacts with Song of Hell.”

Li Xin looked at Christie, he wasn’t a child, he wouldn’t ask why she didn’t tell him earlier or the like, “Related to the Night Patrol?”

Christie nodded silently, “Orders from above were to provide cover, not to participate. They left the day before yesterday, seems they succeeded, but it’s unclear what they targeted. Initially thought it was the Earth Mother Goddess’s authority, turned out it was the Golden Tree. Only the Golden Tree is worthy of Song of Hell’s intervention.”

Prince Oliver and Song of Hell, Song of Hell and Moon God’s Court, Moon God’s Court and King; here, Moon God’s Court should be playing both sides against the middle, while Song of Hell took Oliver’s task on one hand, while attracting attention through discarded bodies on the other, which is quite contradictory, creating trouble in prior assumptions. It might be, pondering from the method of action, that Song of Hell’s singer wanted to fulfill the task, yet wasn’t very fond of Oliver, thus creating trouble.

Li Xin didn’t say much; his position didn’t reach this level of intrigue. He just knew that Moon God’s Court, Earth Temple, King, Prince, or Song of Hell each had their own agenda. Earlier, the King pulled off a big win, but now, if the Golden Tree had issues, then things wouldn’t be so simple for the King.

“What is the Golden Tree anyway?” Li Xin asked.

“It’s said to be a creature from the third or fourth era, parasitic on the fate of the Kingdom, while also nurturing the Kingdom. Such a creature can wield law within its own space, much like a god, with those explosive tremors, resembling Hex-Tech’s fluctuations,” Christie was also thinking, “Except Hex-Tech inherently lacks such power.”

Li Xin suddenly recalled an incident in the Celestial Capital, “Not necessarily, the Hex-Tech Core stolen from the Celestial Capital Canon Law School reportedly possessed an exceedingly powerful explosive force, capable of demolishing a building. The creator of the core is dead, and rumors say its creation was somewhat accidental.”

“The Golden Tree doesn’t differ much from steel, such explosions would at most cause some superficial damage, insufficient to wield such a power. If they truly have other means…” Suddenly, Christie’s face changed, “This is bad, within Song of Hell, there’s a singer nicknamed ’the creator,’ rumored to possess the ability to create and replicate everything.”

One might be insufficient, but if there were several?

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