Pillars of Ita

Chapter 1202 Deals and Promises

Pale tree men emerged from the woods like ghosts, a few at first but gradually forming thin streams that merged into a veritable torrent.

Alisa was leaning on the twigs of the crystal, the dagger in her hand reflecting the tide of gray-branched suckers attacking. The cold steel blade was like a pool of ice under her gaze.

They are coming.

She looked back. The elves had built simple fortifications based on the wall erected by the leader. A trench had formed under the trapezoidal earthwork. The earth and rocks were automatically climbing up the wall. Beams of silver light were emerging from under the soil, as if giving those inanimate objects spirit and wisdom.

From the perspective of earthlings, this scene is extremely magical, but in fact it is nothing. For thousands of years, the alchemists of Attalia have shaped the form of the world in their own way. They have extracted ways to explain all truths from the ether.

But it was not exactly the same, at least not at this moment. Elisa looked at the figure on the earthen rampart. The man she jokingly called the head of the group was already a teenager, but he had not yet completely lost his childishness.

The interwoven lights in his hands were like strands of silk, interweaving with each other, depicting a picture. That picture was full of imagination, as if the soil gathered into bricks and stones, and the bricks and stones built a magnificent wall, just like the ancient prophecy passed down by people in the Osa wilderness covered with white grass:

A prophet spoke the word, cut a valley out of the mountains, raised a wall out of the valley, and established the law on the wall.

That is the Mirran Order, the twelve laws of the ancient knights:
One is for protection, the other is for virtue.

One is mercy, the other is justice.

One is firmness, the other is careful consideration.

May was also leaning on her shield, watching the scene in some surprise. The lions from the White Mane Clan, the travelers, and the pilgrims from the Gray Wilds had all told them about the towering white wall, the foundation on which the Knights were built. The Grand Master was always in high spirits every time he mentioned it.

But it was actually a stone slab, and she had memorized every law engraved on it.

There was a charming gleam in Miss Knight's eyes. She had heard the legend more than once. Of course, the legend was not exactly the same as what she saw before her, but the coincidence at this moment was full of magic.

On the high wall, there was another scene. The elven female knight was looking at the human in front of her seriously. Her expression had just gone through many changes, from surprise to surprise, and then to seriousness. The elven knights beside her were looking at her and asking: What should they do?
The female knight waved her hand, signaling them to protect Fang He from both sides. Even so, she seemed still worried, and turned back to tell her chief warlock something, asking him to put up a magic shield for the young alchemist.

The Chosen One craftsmen who were watching this scene from afar had no time to envy the preferential treatment. Although the elves never treated alchemists like them specially, the miraculous high wall was being praised by people. They certainly noticed that Fang He only used his magic gloves to pull up an earthen wall with a circumference of nearly 245 meters and a width of 1.7 meters from the soil.

This scene is more like magic than alchemy. How did he do it? Everyone asks everyone else this question, but what they really want to ask is:

Can I do it?

"Ancient alchemy." After observing for a long time, the chief warlock cautiously came to the conclusion. He turned around and spoke to his commander while maintaining the protective spell.

"What do you think?" asked the elven female knight.

The warlock shook his head. The elves of the Autumn Forest still have ancient legends. They believe that the Sons of Light are a remnant of the Numelin elves. This is why the Elf King's Court firmly believes that they are orthodox. In those ancient rumors, the elves still use ancient alchemy, which is very different from today.

But what made people sad was that this outstanding ethnic group had now fallen to the same level as mortals, their frail bodies no longer able to directly withstand the wildness of magic.

“Maybe they’ll meet with him and maybe he can get a chance.”

"An opportunity? The Tower of Spring Dawn?" The female knight's eyes flashed. "Are you talking about that?"

The Chief Warlock nodded silently.

The female knight thought for a moment. This might indeed be an opportunity. She looked at Fang He with some appreciation. The elves of the sacred forest were not blindly arrogant. It was just that there were very few people and things that she valued nowadays.

The depravity of the mortal world is tiresome, but this does not apply only to humans. The elves are no exception, at least compared to the era of the Two Trees. Now it is difficult for them to deserve the title of Holy White and Sons of Light.

The choice of the Numelin elves to retreat from the world may be the right one, and now the upper echelons of Tirian have reached a general consensus, which is another name for the Holy Tree Council.

It may not be too late to make a choice now, and the appearance of this young man is more like an opportunity. She doesn't know whether the other party will refuse, but the Tower of Spring Dawn should be attractive enough.

Fang He did not hear the whispers between the female knight and the warlock, so he naturally had no idea what had happened behind him in just a few moments, or the way the elf commander looked at him.

He only saw the gray tide at the edge of the forest, spreading rapidly along the river valley, and the wall he built could only be used temporarily, because the objects created by the art of creation still had certain problems.

It is just a simple earthen rampart, naturally no better than a complex structure. It can be used after simple reinforcement. He is not the only one here. Others can expand and reinforce it with this five-sided fortress as the core, and a fortress will rise from the ground.

When the last brick was shaped, Fang He withdrew his hand. He couldn't help feeling dizzy and subconsciously took a step back.

A white hand reached out from behind him and supported him in time. It was the ship officer who rushed back. Fang He looked back and saw Sylvie looking at him with concern.

He shook his head to indicate that it was okay. Although it was just a simple wall-building job, the workload was huge. Fortunately, Miss Tata shared a lot of pressure with him at the last moment.

This was because the Seven Seas Traveler was unable to enter the Gray Zone, otherwise it would have been much easier to rely on the Fairy Heart. He felt exhausted only because the elemental ether in the magic furnace had been drained out.

He then turned back to look at the female knight, who now showed a gentle and appreciative look and smiled at him: "The views of the Korin people on alchemy are very similar to ours. They believe that outstanding people are usually not bad. You are not exaggerating. Tirian welcomes humans who keep their promises."

The elves still spoke so tactfully, and Fang He could tell that they were complimenting him in a roundabout way, which was rare for the White Elves of Autumn Forest. He noticed that they used the word Tirian instead of the Holy Forest, which meant that she represented the Elven Court instead of the Council of Elders.

"Madam Commander, now that we have fulfilled our promise."

"Yes, the Son of Light will certainly keep his promise," the female knight replied, "but you still have to wait until we defeat these twisted monsters before you can leave this place."

Although she still used a demanding tone, at least her tone was much softer.

Fang He nodded. The gray creatures surrounded them from all directions. There might be even more terrifying creatures in the crystal forest. They could not leave here unless they repelled their attacks.

He looked towards the direction of the crystal tower's foundation and couldn't help but remind him, "Among those craftsmen, there are..."

"I know," the elf lady nodded and interrupted him, "There's no need to stop them. Let them do what they want. The crystal tower is actually not that important, and no one will come to support us. It's also good to let a non-existent crystal tower distract those people."

Fang He looked at the other party with some surprise: "Madam Commander, you said there is no support?"

"You have fulfilled your promise. I don't want to hide it from you. We came here just to complete this blocking operation. As for the fortress, it is actually not important." The elf lady looked at him with gentle eyes. "It did not exist from the beginning, and there was no possibility of building it. To be honest, the others should thank you. At least now they have a chance of survival."

"So there is no point in building that crystal tower," Fang Yu understood, "because no one will support this direction?"

"That's right." The female knight nodded.

Fang He wanted to express a thousand languages ​​in his mind at once. He now finally understood why the other party looked so unhurried. It turned out that the crystal tower had never existed in the first place, and they had never thought of going back alive.

Those Night Walker craftsmen were essentially fooled by a crystal tower on paper, and he was no exception.

He wanted to curse Ailin Ironheart for using him as a filler, but he soon realized that using two groups of craftsmen as filler cannon fodder might not be the plan of the master craftsman.

An outsider like Ailin Ironheart would not have such power. This might be the work of the elven commander.

"Does it take so much trouble to deceive those people?"

"Night Walker, Twelve-Colored Iris, we don't know who they are working with," the female knight replied, "but the Sons of Light are short-handed, and we have to rely on these Chosen Ones. This is a multi-faceted plan. If we don't catch these people, it will be difficult for us to truly launch a counterattack against the Brancusi."

"who are they?"

"The Brotherhood of Shadows."

Fang He was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect to hear this name here.

It was the Shadow Brotherhood again, the Empire's plan, the burning of the Great Silver Library, and even the death of his own parents, all seemed to be related to it, and this familiar name appeared again at the Hill of the Giant Tree.

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and in just a moment, the elven female knight glanced at him and explained:
"This is a group of traitors from the Oath Keepers. These people have actually existed since the end of the Giant War. The burning of the Silver Tower Library is related to them. They serve a master hidden in the dark and are committed to reviving Verdant." And Nia had told them before that these traitors who split from the Oath Keepers are actually the Shadow People, and they are also closely related to the Empire's plan.

Since their first appearance in the northern reaches of Corrin-Ishurian, these twisted shadow creatures seem to be everywhere. In fact, traces of these monsters had already appeared as early as the Dragon Witch incident.

Fang He did not forget the set of armor they had seen in Zeng Duolifen, and the original owner of that set of armor was a servant of one of the heroes of the Battle of Bain.

He always had a hunch that what the Shadow Man was planning in this world was not just to resurrect Cang Cui, but this plan even extended to the world on the other side of the star gate.

Can a star of disaster have such influence?

"Is the 'death plague' spreading in Giant Tree Hill related to the Shadow Brotherhood?"

"No," the female knight shook her head. "The plague comes from the sacred tree, from the changes in higher dimensions, from the life and death of gods. The shadow is spreading in the forest. We have no way to stop it. We can only delay its impact on Terraca and us."

"And the Brotherhood of Shadows did something opposite to you?"

The female knight nodded. "They spread the seeds of the 'Death Plague' everywhere, brought the Blight Branches to places with protective barriers, and destroyed our barriers from the inside. You came from Silverwind Harbor and should have seen the elite Blight Branches there. That's exactly what these people did."

"But not only that, Ninimeier, one of the three disaster branches, was planted by these people."

So this is how Ninimere came about. Although Fang He had heard that Ninimere was planted artificially, he did not expect it to be related to the Shadow Brotherhood.

However, the elven female knight only mentioned Ninimere, which means that at least two of the three major disaster branches are primary, which means that the disaster itself has nothing to do with the Shadow Brotherhood.

So what was their motive for spreading the 'death plague'?

Although doomsday theories and the destruction of the world seem to be consistent with these people's behavior, Fang He understands that the people behind these people do not want a destroyed world.

The lack of starlight drives the shadow people to attack world after world, but their attacks cannot bring them a moment of peace. The void will swallow up world after world. They are like zombies that are always hungry and need to eat, until they tear the worlds apart and turn them into pieces.

Just like what the Dragon Queen Alessa and the Goddess of Fate Elaine showed him.

But destruction is a consequence, not a goal.

Only Fang Yu understood that although the actions of these people seemed crazy to ordinary people, they actually had traces to follow. They were nothing more than subversion, creating chaos, and taking advantage of the opportunity to get in, and they were often related to those dead gods.

Dead gods?
A flash of inspiration suddenly occurred to Fang He's mind. Could it be that the Shadow Brotherhood came for Lady Withering? They believed that the twin goddesses of Shadow in the Forest had already died?

He raised his head and asked, "Why would the Chosen One cooperate with these people?"

"You mean those Night Walker craftsmen?" The elven female knight looked in that direction. "Not all of them are collaborators of the cultists, but the Fallen seek nothing more than power, and what the Shadow Brotherhood gives is also very simple. They promise those people eternal life."

eternal life.

Immortality is neither difficult nor easy. Compared to Ataria, which is full of immortal species, humans are a relatively short-lived race.

Short-lived species will yearn for a longer life. Perhaps true eternity is difficult to achieve, but from a human perspective, a nearly infinite life of thousands or tens of thousands of years can be considered eternal life.

This is actually nothing for Atalia. Elves have a lifespan of thousands of years, and they are just mortals. Even mortals will gain a longer lifespan after crossing the realm of laws.

But all of this is not open to the Chosen One. Even the Dragon Riders of the Chosen One, after the starlight given by the Star Gate is exhausted, will return to the other side of the Star Gate and live out the short life of an ordinary person.

There are some things that you may be indifferent to before you have seen them, but once fiction becomes reality and becomes a possibility, few people will not be moved.

Especially those who hold money and power.

It was not news to Fang He that the Dragon Worshipers used eternal life to seduce the upper echelons of the Chosen Club. As the military further investigated the alliance, some more shocking facts were revealed.

But generally speaking, these promised eternal lives are not without a price. The first price is to give up the identity on the other side of the star gate and live forever in this starry world.

What's more, eternal time itself is a kind of torture. Perhaps Fang He is still very young and does not realize the importance of life. Eternity is a long and boring choice for him, and he cares more about the present.

The elven female knight couldn't help but feel a little surprised when she saw that the other party didn't seem to care much.

All the short-lived species she had seen, without exception, would express a certain degree of yearning for this word. Even the most determined people would be in a trance for a moment.

However, the more Fang He showed no concern about a long life, the more it met her requirements. At least it showed that he would not be bewitched by those people. Although the eternal life they promised was full of suspicious loopholes, there would always be people who would throw themselves into the arms of the abyss regardless of everything.

The elves need a reliable collaborator, just like the young man in front of them.

She waved her hand gently, interrupting Fang He's next words, "Those monsters are attacking. I know you still have some questions to ask. Let's wait until this battle is over."

"Wait," Fang He stopped her, "How much of your plan is true?"

"You mean we stop these gray creatures here, and then the commander will launch a counterattack against the disaster branch?" The female knight stopped and looked at him. "Except for the part about building a fortress, everything else is true. And this plan is not limited to this one. Night Walker, Twelve Color Iris, Nottingham Ship, and SK all have teams participating in this plan. We will separate them. As long as we win two of the six blocking locations in this plan, the commander's plan will have a great chance of success."

She told him frankly, "We will go deep into the Scar of Yasha and the depths of the Gray Realm. Master Ailin Ironheart has not completely deceived you. If we succeed, you will get the answer."

Fang He looked over her shoulder and behind her, where the elven knights were already in position, including the chief warlock who had already prepared a spell.

Earth and rocks surrounded the elven elementals, forming shields around them. Beside these spellcasters, the elven longbowmen had already stood in rows.

They drew their bows and fired the first wave of arrows into the forest.

The silver feather arrow was like a wing, and the tip of the pen drew curved lines, falling gracefully into the dotted gray evil creatures, and the opponents fell down in unison.

Then, flames burst out from the wedge-shaped earthen rampart - in this era, there was no essential difference between the longbow and the magic gun. After all, there were also many excellent hunters among the Sons of Light, and they had proven themselves in the wars of the Dark Ages.

Fang He withdrew his gaze from the hail of bullets and looked back at the female knight: "I will help you hold the position, but you also need to do me a favor."

The female knight looked at the young man with some suspicion. She did not doubt his level as an alchemist, but when it came to completing this battle, alchemy and combat craftsmanship were two different fields.

"This battle is not as easy as you think. There are more gray creatures than the ones you have seen before. The truly dangerous ones among them are difficult to deal with even for the Son of Light."

"I understand, but I just need an answer, Madam Commander."

The female knight thought for a moment and asked, "So what do you want us to help you with?"

"I want to meet Attila Greenhill Stars."

The female knight thought for a moment before she realized who this name belonged to. She couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise, "Your Majesty the Saint..."

But the female knight suddenly realized something, about the rumor about the Dragon Alchemist, and her surprised eyes suddenly understood. However, she shook her head gently, "You want to see the Saint, but you are actually wrong. It is not us who are really preventing you from seeing her, but the Holy Forest."

"Sacred Grove, Council of Elders?"

"It's a long story," the female knight replied, "but for now I can promise you that I will help you create an opportunity to meet the Saint."

"Deal." Fang He replied immediately. The other party should not lie to him. As long as he contacted the Council of Elders, he would naturally understand the other party's attitude.

If they could get help from the Elf Court, then no matter what the attitude of the Council of Elders was, their chances of meeting Miss Attila would be greatly increased.

This is certainly a sure win for him.

……