thefictionvixens Page 416
Page 416
"All right……"
Upon hearing this, Kiriko glanced at the ray again, somewhat alarmed, coughed lightly, and asked:
"By the way, have any people gone missing from your village?"
"No."
"I see..." Kiriko sighed slightly, and seeing that Snyder had no intention of speaking, she also fell silent.
Several night elves carrying the shattered wooden shield passed in front of the two people and the fish, gave a slight bow, and continued on their way.
In this timeless underground world, only a dim light casts a blurry shadow beneath their feet. The night elf tribe is surrounded by tall and short Thousand-Handed Ghost Trees, but in this bustling residential area, the lighting comes from torches on both sides of the road and lanterns with built-in candles. Therefore, perhaps for fire prevention, there are not many trees planted in the residential area.
As Kiriko looked at the dark elves' pupils, which were much larger than those of humans, a vague memory surfaced in her mind of the "dark vision" that some races were born with, something she had heard from travelers when she was a child.
As a child, he greatly admired this ability, but now he realizes that if having "dark vision" means living in darkness forever, it's better not to have it at all.
Moreover, even if the night elves have "dark vision," they probably don't like the dark that much, otherwise why would they place torches for illumination in their tribe?
Kirito withdrew his gaze, glancing at the clan crest on his arm. He had vaguely guessed something from the ritual and the night elves' behavior, but surprisingly, he felt no anger. He simply sighed softly and murmured:
"Actually, looking at it this way, the night elves' territory is just an ordinary village, and they are just a group of ordinary villagers..."
“But you have quite a few friends and family members who have died at their hands, haven’t you?” Snyder asked, frowning slightly.
"yes……"
Kiriko propped herself up on her knees, glanced at the dark elven territory in the distance, remained silent for a long time with a sense of bewilderment, and then spoke:
"I don't know why, but I feel that they are not entirely evil, and we are not entirely righteous. It's like a struggle for coexistence, and everything we do is just for the continuation of our race..."
"Perhaps I should seek out the night elves who killed my friends and family, perhaps I should uncover the truth behind it all, but with my limited abilities, how can I possibly discern who my true enemy is?"
Upon hearing this, Snyder rubbed his forehead in slight distress and muttered uncertainly:
"From their own perspectives, perhaps neither of them is wrong."
"This idea is far too lazy for someone like me who is about to become the next village chief of Shuluan Village."
Kiriko gave a wry smile, shook her head, and murmured:
"I wonder what Lord Titania would choose if it were him..."
Snyder blinked, instinctively tightening his mask. The image of Latis's heroic entrance flashed through his mind, and he thought to himself:
"If it were that old man, he would definitely find the root cause and then smash all the bad things with one punch."
Chapter 409 Traces of Supreme Radiance
According to Ms. Rosette, everything about Tree Peak Village probably dates back decades or even centuries.
At that time, she was just an ordinary night elf saintess. Every day, besides pruning the leaves of the Thousand-Handed Ghost Tree, she would take care of the night elf's palace and the torches around it. Of course, she would also occasionally help process the magical materials collected by the guards to ensure that they could provide more assistance in necessary battles.
However, for the underground world, where the level of magical research is rather crude, creating stable new spells is still too difficult. Therefore, most of the time, the night elves rely on the powerful life force in their bloodline and a very small number of racial spells to fight.
How long these days went by was unknown; the passage of time underground was almost imperceptible, so in Ms. Rosette's memory, before that momentous event, time seemed to be an extremely unfamiliar word.
The momentous event was that "Supreme Radiance" arrived underground after its battle with the goddess.
At first, this seemed to have no effect on the night elves. In fact, the occasional flashes of light across the sky, like shooting stars, even brought them sights they had never seen before. Lady Rosette then realized that the world was not just black and red. Under the light, springs were blue, bushes were green, bronzeware was yellow, and even the night elves themselves did not all have the same skin color.
Of course, at that time she didn't know what to call these colors.
The tribe experienced a rare burst of vitality. Amidst the frequent streaks of light, they began to enthusiastically venture out to collect all sorts of materials. The night elves were not weak to begin with, but their long, monotonous lives had diminished their desires. During this unprecedented period, the night elf territory also prospered rapidly.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. The night elves soon discovered that under the intense and scorching light, the underground plants began to wither. These plants, which preferred shade and coolness, had their growth rapidly suppressed by the dissipating light power, causing the entire forest to fall into a state of decay.
The clan matriarch at that time was used to a monotonous life and did not have much ability to cope with various changes. In addition, the influence of the goddess of magic led to the rapid development of human power. The monsters on the surface were forced to return to the underground, roaming around and invading the land. There were even legendary mages who went underground to explore.
Clan leader, caught off guard, was struck by a vicious mentally debilitating spell. In a frenzy, she fought alongside other demons from east to west. Although she eventually recovered, she succumbed to her injuries and died in the territory of the other demons.
At this critical juncture, Lady Roseti resolutely went to the meeting alone, retrieved the remains of the Night Elf Queen, and performed a ceremony to receive the remaining life force from the remains, becoming the new Night Elf Queen and beginning to protect the entire Night Elf tribe.
It was around that time that the Night Elf tribes made contact with the surface village of Tree Peak.
The survival of the night elves depends on the life energy provided by the forest. Although the power of light emitted by the vanished Supreme Radiance is no longer as strong as it once was, the powerful will contained in the gradually rising underground turbulence still oppresses the development of the entire night elf territory.
Lady Rosette made a deal with the then-village chief of Tree Peak Village. The deal was that a group of Tree Peak Village villagers would perform a special ritual with a group of night elves, using these foreign life forces to promote the fusion and development of life energy. In return, the night elves would use a weakened version of "Life Rhythm" to grant the villagers some bloodline power.
Unfortunately, the life energy required for the saintesses to embark on the path of spider transformation is too vast. Due to the weakening and decline caused by the suppression of the power of light, the most powerful saintesse at present will need at least several more years to reach the level of spider transformation and elevate her life level, so that, like Lady Roseti, she can bring abundant life energy to the entire tribe and promote its already weak reproductive ability.
If it were just a matter of moving forward with such difficulty, it wouldn't be so bad. After all, the night elves are elves, and they are not so anxious about the long passage of time. However, the problem is that, for some reason, the rituals performed under Lady Roseti's protection have begun to encounter frequent accidents.
At first, it was just a minor problem—the fusion of life energy became slower—which could be solved by simply extending the ritual time. However, when they tried to merge the life energy within the villagers and the night elves, they unexpectedly failed.
The night elves involved in the ritual were relatively unharmed, suffering only minor injuries. However, the ordinary villagers could not withstand such damage, suffering severe injuries and even dying on the spot.
After that, the ceremony was held several more times, but the problems became more and more serious each time. This was actually Rosette's last attempt as the protector. If it failed again, she planned to terminate her cooperation with Tree Peak Village and seek other solutions.
Unfortunately, this last attempt came as a surprise to Latis and his team, who had come to investigate.
……
"So that's it..."
Latis stroked the fine stubble on his chin, pondering for a long time, still finding it difficult to determine whether their cooperation was reasonable or just. He let out a long breath, deciding to first examine what he could judge. So he composed himself and asked:
"Ms. Rosette, you said that the subsequent ceremonies failed and the problems are getting worse. What exactly is the problem?"
"Lady Titania, please allow me to borrow a sliver of your life energy."
Lady Roseti bowed with her hand on her chest, raised one of her spider legs, and hovered it in front of Latis, who was curiously releasing a trace of life energy.
With a gentle flick of her spider legs, she drew the wisp of emerald life energy to her face. Then, she exhaled slightly, and a wisp of dark green life energy emerged from her mouth, floating in front of her as well.
Immediately, a faint aura emanated from her. Driven by the power of some kind of racial bloodline, the two life energies slowly merged. The merging process was like disassembling each other into thin threads, which then combined with the other. During the merging process, new life energy was continuously generated. After the merging was completed, the total amount of the whole was more than 50% greater.
"Huh?" Latis raised an eyebrow and asked curiously:
"Your race is very powerful. Judging from this rate of increase, shouldn't you be declining?"
Ms. Rosette sighed softly and said:
"It's because you, sir, can release your life energy at your own discretion, which saves both parties from the losses of performing the ritual. Taking into account these losses and the costs of giving back to the villagers, we have to reduce it by 30% out of thin air."
"Hiss..." Latis gasped, scratched his head, and asked, "Then the remaining 20% should be able to be retained, right?"
"It's possible, but under the suppression of the power of light, the overall effect is greatly diminished, not to mention..."
Ms. Rosette frowned slightly and waved her hand at the life energy floating in the air. A gentle breeze carrying a faint sense of power blew by, and the life energy dissipated after shaking violently for a moment.
She shook her head and said:
"Moreover, rituals are very fragile. Even if I fill the sky above the territory with nets, I cannot completely stop the underground turbulence, especially the underground turbulence carrying the will of light. It is too powerful. The few times we failed were because of it."
"So that's what the spider webs above the Night Elf territory are for."
Latis scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and said:
"When I transformed into a dragon, I think I shredded a small portion of you..."
Ms. Rosette smiled slightly, patted her chest, and said:
"It was I who offended you first, sir. It's alright. Reconstructing those spider webs won't take too much time."
"That's good……"
Latis rose thoughtfully from his high seat and, under Lady Rosette's gaze, paced around the hall a few times, stroking his chin.
Based on the simulation, the Night Elf race's crisis is simply a lack of life energy. Once they have enough life energy to spawn a few new spider-like elves, they can basically continue to live peacefully.
This is easy for him to solve. As a Titan, he is a powerful being with abundant life essence. Moreover, he has the skill "Heart of the Dragon Knight," which is a huge pitfall in the early game but becomes a godlike ability in the later game. As long as two or three of the Night Elf Saintesses are at the level of higher beings, he can become a perpetual motion machine to continuously generate life energy. It is not impossible for him to fill the entire Night Elf race with it.
After resolving the issue with the night elves, there will be no more missing persons in Tree Peak Village. After selectively filling out the investigation report, the task here will be completed.
But that... I don't know why, it seems a little unpleasant.
It feels like the village chiefs of Shuluan Village throughout the ages, just engaging in mutually beneficial exchanges. Even if they get physical pleasure, it seems like they haven't really achieved anything.
He is not the same person he used to be. Before, he was just an unknown nobody who could only focus on his current predicament. But now he is the King of Titania who has inherited the Titans' legacy. It would be too petty to only think about those things!
Moreover, although he is a super pervert in the simulation, he is very pure in love in reality. Whether it is Arte, Jennifer, Silver Hugh, or Little Bird and Yashutia, he can cross that line at any time if he wants to be perverted, but if that happens, it is not what he really wants.
The original intention was to protect them and save the world on the side, but instead they bullied them first. What kind of situation is this!
Therefore, La didn't want this kind of awkward relationship without any emotional foundation. His "brother" was very precious, both physically and mentally. It wasn't enough to share with the girls at home, let alone waste it here.
Even if we take a step back, the ten slots of the Holy Grail from the Titan bloodline are finite, and he doesn't want to fill the Holy Grail with a bunch of Night Elf duplicate abilities. In the end, it would be more comforting to leave them for the girls at home.
After figuring all this out, Latis couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Although this choice seems to bring him many difficulties, these are things he must face eventually. Solving the problems of Tree Peak Village doesn't solve the problems of the Night Elves, and solving the problems of the Night Elves doesn't solve the problems of Romnia! If these problems aren't resolved, they will inevitably affect his Jennifer sooner or later!
"So in the end, it still comes down to the question of that 'Supreme Radiance'."
Latis released his grip on Rostis's chin, walked up to her, looked up at her surprised face, and smiled:
"Madam, you should know how to seek clues about the 'Supreme Radiance,' right?"
"...My lord, I did not expect you to make this choice."
Lady Rosette, being a perceptive old spider spirit, instantly guessed Latis's thoughts. She couldn't help but slightly rise, her eyes flashing as if she wanted to say something. After taking a few deep breaths, she slowly folded her spider legs back down and knelt, bowing respectfully as she said:
"Please forgive my impertinence, but I do indeed want to ask you for help, which is why I am making this gesture. However, I only want to ask you for help regarding matters of life energy, and I do not mean to ask you to take risks to do those difficult things."
"It's alright, this is my wish."
Latis laughed heartily, patted Lady Rosette's spider body, and said:
"If you can revitalize the tribe through your own efforts, then as the tribe's matriarch, you must feel a unique sense of accomplishment, right?"
"...Yes, sir."
Ms. Rosette paused for a moment, sighed, and unconsciously raised the corners of her mouth. She then bowed again respectfully and said:
"You are the most powerful human being I have ever met, both physically and mentally."
Latis scratched his head, somewhat awkwardly saying:
"Hey, that's nothing more than a few hardships!"
"The hardships you've endured... you must have experienced many adventures to possess such a state of mind." Ms. Rosette straightened up, paused, and said with a smile:
"However... if you return successfully, I can still celebrate for you in a ceremony."
Latis was momentarily stunned, instantly recalling his experience with the vacuum negative pressure in the simulation. He couldn't help but blush, coughed lightly, and quickly changed the subject, saying: