“Elvish Kings are elected into office by their very predecessors with the blessing and acknowledgment of the Divine Tree! Enough with your lies!” Su Wei’er snapped, her face tensed with rage.
“True. How true indeed. So what?” Di Yanjing grinned wickedly that he looked like a maniac, “But I hold all the cards now. So I am the king; predecessors and Divine Trees be damned!”
“So that means that you were behind the deaths of those 10 children?” Su Wei’er growled, on the verge of losing control.
“Yes. The Divi— No. The Curse Tree answers my call now. Everything that has happened – that was me,” Di Yanjing admitted openly, no longer worrying at all about anything.
“Arcane Guards of the Elf race, heed my command!” Su Wei’er’s voice boomed like a horn.
A silver armor-clad man with a huge bow hanging on his back came forward. “Captain of the Arcane Guards of the Elf race, here at your service, Your Eminence.”
“Here are your orders, Captain: defend the people and arrest these rebels!” Su Wei’er barked sternly.
“Understood!” Yan Xin answered.
“You dare oppose me, Yan Xin?” Di Yanjing stared at the captain of the Arcane Guards coldly.
“It is our duty as Arcane Guards to keep every member of the Elf race safe,” Yan Xin uttered impassively. He spun around and barked aloud, “ARCANE GUARDS! DO YOUR DUTY! PROTECT THE PEOPLE!”
Swish! Swish!
Several hundred armor-clad Elves, each armed with their bows and arrows, pivoted forward with mechanical precision, using themselves as shields to keep all civilian Elves away from danger.
“If only I knew how loyal you are, Yan Xin. I should have dealt with you first,” Di Danqing’s eyes flashed murderously.
“Surrender, you rebels!” Yan Xin pulled the string of his bow to a full draw with three arrows nocked, aiming them straight at Di Danqing.
“You are only at the Great Completion of Grade Nine, Yan Xin. Killing you would be just as easy as squashing an ant,” Di Danqing said with undisguised scorn. “I’m giving you a chance to rethink your allegiances. You and your men will surrender to the First Presbyter, and you’ll be given your chance to prove your worth. Surely that’s a better offer than what this little girl can ever give you?”
“Rubbish. ARCANE GUARDS! Protect the Sacred Maiden and aim your steel at every rebel here!” Yan Xin hollered.
Whoosh!
A small squad of guards detached themselves from the main bulk and surrounded Su Wei’er in a ring, with their arrows nocked and aimed at Di Danqing and his fellow traitors.
“You just have to take it the hard way, eh?” Di Danqing cackled derisively.
Then, one of Yan Xin’s men behind him held up his nocked bow to the captain’s throat.
Yan Xin stiffened as rage coursed through him. It was his lieutenant – his deputy that he had trained and nurtured himself! In fact, he was going to nominate him as his successor in the future!
“What is this, Luo Lei?! Are you going to mutiny?!”
Luo Lei snickered. “I only wish for a better fate for all of us, Captain. Nothing good will come out of fighting against the First Presbyter. You might be fearless even in the face of death, but you should consider our wishes as well.”
“Put down your bow, Luo Lei!” The squad surrounding Su Wei’er aimed their arrows at Luo Lei.
“I’d advise you to aim your arrows elsewhere. Who knows? You might frighten me and oops, there goes the life of your precious captain here.”
“I trained you myself, Luo Lei. Do you think you can kill me that easily?” Yan Xin muttered with not a trace of fear.
“I know for a fact that I’m no match for you, Captain. I only wish to wound you. Before I forget, my arrow is laced with poison that the First Presbyter gave me. Not even your powers of the Great Completion of Grade Nine will save you. Or would you like to test its strength yourself?” Luo Lei grinned vilely, “I might not be your superior in a usual spar, but being so close, I’m sure I can at least wound you enough for the poison to work.”
“How dare you, Luo Lei!” Su Wei’er spat angrily.
“You might be an Immortal-class champion, Su Wei’er, but I would advise prudence, or my fingers might slip,” said Luo Lei brazenly.
“I’ll ask this one more time, Yan Xin. Surrender,” Di Danqing held his hands behind his back, confident that victory was at hand.
“I’d never bow to you treacherous rebels,” Yan Xin said without even the slightest hint of hesitation.
“Heh heh heh heh… That’s too bad…” Di Danqing shook his head with an air of dramatic histrionics, then he said to Luo Lei, “Kill him!”
“Yes,” acknowledged Luo Lei before he said to Yan Xin, “why, Captain, why? Well, I guess that’s it then. Time to send you off.”
“You filthy bastard, Luo Lei. If anything happens to the Captain, we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you ain’t walking out of this alive!” roared the other Elves of the Arcane Guard.
The sudden outburst shocked Luo Lei enough to shudder falteringly.
“Are you frightened, idiot?! Do you think any of them could hurt you in my presence!?” Di Danqing spat at Luo Lei, thinking his behavior disgraceful.
“You? The Devil would have easily blow your head apart with just one single blast,” the Flaming Qilin screamed defiantly despite his inability to channel his powers.
Di Danqing’s face was the color of coals. Wickedly, he sneered, “The Flaming Qilin… One of the fabled Sacred Beasts… Well, looks like I’ll have to have your mouth sealed to keep you from spouting nonsense.”
“ENOUGH!” Di Yanjing spoke at last, compelling Di Danqing to be silent. He surveyed around him and looked at every Elf present. Loudly, he called, “For far too long, we Elves have cowered in the shadows, unseen and forgotten, that the world outside has changed. Changed so greatly that bountiful opportunities and resources abound the world outside. We are the greatest of the Lost Races. It is only right that we emerge to reclaim our rightful place at the pinnacle of power and remind everyone out there to fear the whistle of Elvish arrows.”
“You can dispense with your pomposity, Di Yanjing. No matter how much honey you laced your words with, there’s no hiding the crimes you’ve committed,” glowered Su Wei’er.
Di Yanjing simpered smugly instead. “Perhaps I should need to do something, only then you can see the good I’m doing.”
“Don’t make me laugh. ‘The good you’re doing’, you say? Try ‘wickedness’!” hissed Su Lianyi venomously.
“Say what you want. History is written by the victors,” said Di Yanjing, ignoring her jibe. He swiveled around to peer at the Divine Tree, his lips mumbling something inaudibly.
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All of a sudden, the boughs of the Elf Divine Tree shook with countless barks, twigs, and branches trembling in a long and rustling buzzing as if the Plague of Locusts had just arrived. Dark fume-like auras seeped from every hole and cavity on its trunks, shrouding the huge tree in a cloud of thick, dark smog that stretched more than ten meters around it.
The bombinating cacophony endured for several minutes.
Gradually, the black smog began to thin as the gaseous aura of sinister and grim presence slowly faded, absorbed by the Divine Tree.
But what everyone saw made their pupils constricted with wild and violent throbs.
The smog that enveloped the Divine Tree subsided and in its place was a horde.
A horde of more than two hundred creatures, each of them a two-meter-tall hulk in jet-black armor armed with long and dangerous-looking spears and scythes. Their eyes glowed red like embers, radiating foul fume-like auras of their own.
One of these creatures stepped forward. He looked taller than the rest and he was not in armor. In fact, he was bare-chested, unabashed to let his well-chiseled muscles show. With every step, he moved with the presence of a lumbering giant surrounded by dark fumes that followed him incessantly.
“Welcome! Friends of the Subterranean Devil Clan,” Di Yanjing greeted warmly.
The giant stepped before Di Yanjing and bent down slightly, “Mo Yan, faithful servant to the Fifth Demon Lord, reporting as ordered. I have brought reinforcements.”
“Thank you, General Mo,” said Di Yanjing.
“Anything for the Fifth Fiend Lord,” Mo Yan bent into an unmistakable bow.
Di Yanjing could hardly hide his annoyance; his lips twitched uncontrollably at the realization that Mo Yan bowed because of the mention of his liege, not to Di Yanjing.
“Wait?! Are these fiends?!” the Flaming Qilin’s eyes went as wide as saucers.
Every Elf present could hardly believe their eyes. The Divine Tree had summoned an army of fiends.
It was true. The Divine Tree has been corrupted. It was now the Cursed Tree.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, DI YANJING!? ARE YOU TRYING TO RUIN US ALL?!” a badly-shaken Su Wei’er demanded with a tremoring voice as Sacred Maiden of the Elves.
Di Yanjing looked around to regard his terrified kinsmen. “Don’t worry, everyone. These fiends are our allies. Do as I say, and I guarantee that nothing will go wrong.”
“You villain, how could you collude with fiends?!” Su Lianyi could not believe it herself. “Has Di Yanjing fallen into madness?!”
Mo Yan was hardly pleased. Viciously, he called, “Heed my call, fiends! Kill anyone who babbles nonsense!”
Roar!
The horde of two hundred fiends chorused in a single, wordless snarl, their glowing eyes each abstruse balls of flame as their cries struck fear into everyone in their presence.
“Be careful, everyone!” Su Wei’er yelped.
“Good. You know what’s good for you, which is to yield,” observed Mo Yan with satisfaction before he turned his gaze to Di Yanjing, “What of the Devil?”
Di Yanjing pointed a finger at Chu Xun.
The lumbering fiend chieftain strode to Chu Xun and stripped him of his Storage Ring.
Moments later, after inspecting its contents, Mo Yan glared at Chu Xun with his eyes flaring, “Where is the Key? The Key to the Sealed Passage!?”
“What key?!” Chu Xun managed feebly. Di Yanjing’s poison was as potent as it got, even he could not channel his powers and his limbs were as numb and frail as a dying man’s.
“Enough pretending, Devil,” Mo Yan held Chu Xun with a fixing stare. “You entered the domain where our clan was sealed years ago. Did you think what you did there went unnoticed by the Fifth Fiend Lord? You can drop the act now.”
“I don’t understand a word you say,” Chu Xun uttered placidly.
“Nevermind. I have you and that’s enough. That man will open the passage for you.”
He pulled Chu Xun up and dragged him back to his horde. He handed Chu Xun to two of his fiends and ordered, “Watch him closely. There can be no errors.”
Chains pulsing with a strange black luminescence wrapped around Chu Xun, keeping him restrained. At even the slightest movements, the bonds would tighten and some of the links even began to bite into his flesh.
“You can stop resisting, Devil. These are the Chains of Ungodly Incarceration, forged by the Fifth Fiend Lord himself. Not even you in your best day could ever get free from its bonds. You can well sit tight and relax,” grinned Mo Yan coldly.
Chu Xun did as he was told; he obediently sat still and stopped struggling.
Mo Yan nodded approvingly, pleased with himself. He turned to Di Yanjing, “Di Yanjing. I’m here at the behest of the Fifth Fiend Lord to bring reinforcements. So, we are at your full disposal. Give the word and we will slay everyone.”
“Please convey my thanks to the Fifth Fiend Lord,” said Di Yanjing, who promptly turned his attention to Su Wei’er, “So, Sacred Maiden. I suggest that you yield unless you wish to see our kin senselessly slaughtered like sheep.”
An ashen pale Su Wei’er glowered with immeasurable anger, “Di Yanjing, you’ll pay for this. Her Grace the Queen will punish you for this.”
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“Her Grace the Queen?” Di Yanjing scoffed with a sardonic peal of guffaws, “Right now, I am king! What say you now? Surrender and live, or would you resist and die!?”
“We’ve lost, Sacred Maiden. For the sake of the thousands of lives of our race, I implore that you act sensibly,” said a weary Su Lianyi. The turn of events had battered her enough that right now, her only priority was the safety of her kinsmen.
“We’ll surrender, Di Yanjing. But everyone here is every bit an Elf as you and I, so I pray that you show some leniency,” Su Wei’er spoke, but once she has finished, she wobbled unsteadily, defeated and crestfallen.
“Naturally. So long as they behave themselves, no harm will come to them,” Di Yanjing laughed proudly.
Di Danqing and the rest of the traitors all shared a laugh too – a smug and triumphant laugh.