451: Chapter 436 A Brilliant Drama

Anna seemed to use a bit of magic; her cold tone radiated a sense of oppression. Sinéad found it hard to resist and instinctively took a step back, but she immediately stepped forward and returned to her original position.

"Why!" she questioned loudly.

"Because Frederica offended the gods."

"Liar! The withering of the life tree has nothing to do with the gods!"

"Is that so? Where is the evidence?"

Sinéad immediately stated her findings, such as the jela flowers beginning to wither long ago, at a time before Frederica traveled to Lake.

Another example was the mysterious disappearance of magic beasts within the Forest of Spirits, which occurred several years ago, back when Frederica hadn't even met Zhang Mu.

Accusing Frederica of bringing calamity by rescuing a heretic was purely baseless slander.

Under normal circumstances, the examples Sinéad presented would be enough to prove her sister's innocence, but this was a special situation.

The elves gathered under the life tree had long since lost their reason, blaming all the suffering they had recently endured on Frederica, while simultaneously expecting that after sacrificing the "culprit," the calamity would be eliminated.

The Sky Knight and the Magister had deduced the truth, but they were already too deeply involved to turn back, so naturally, they did not speak up in support.

And Anna was the mastermind, the one who set the trap; how could she voluntarily release the prey that had stepped into it?

Sinéad's efforts were destined to be in vain.

Anna looked at her: "What you are saying are the real lies."

The elves, who had remained silent while Sinéad was explaining the clues, immediately raised their arms in support upon hearing Anna's rebuttal, too impatient to even wait for Anna to list the evidence supporting her own view.

"That's right! Elder Anna is right!"

Sinéad looked at her clansmen, her face deathly pale.

Anna took a step forward: "Your obstruction is meaningless. Move aside, or I will use force."

"Sinéad, go outside," Frederica suddenly spoke.

Sinéad slowly turned around, crouched down, and hugged Frederica, her chin resting lightly on her shoulder, her eyes overflowing with sorrow.

"Sister, I'm sorry..."

"An apology isn't necessary. Hmm, I'm just curious why you came."

"I came, of course, to... to... to..." Facing the life tree, from an angle where none of the elves could see, the grief in Sinéad's eyes suddenly turned into ferocity, "...to enjoy the scene of your tragic death!"

To prevent Anna and the other elves from hearing, she kept her voice very low and even set up a Soundproof Barrier with magic as a precaution.

Anna, the Sky Knight, and the Magister didn't sense anything amiss, thinking the two sisters were sharing some private words before parting, not wanting outsiders to know.

"Do you know how much I loathe you?" The arms Sinéad had wrapped around Frederica gradually tightened, her words almost squeezed out from between her teeth. "On what grounds?

On what grounds does a coward who fears death and escapes responsibility have the right to compete with me for the throne? What right do you have to compete with me?

Heh, hehehe—

Everything, everything was designed by me!

I deliberately revealed to my teacher that your trip to Lake was to rescue a heretic, and then I damaged the Magic Array to severely injure myself.

Knowing all this, how could Teacher Anna tolerate you?

She would definitely plan to sacrifice you, even if the price was her own life. Hehehe, Teacher Anna is just such an old-fashioned idiot.

What would she do?

Naturally, she would use the excuse of my injury to claim the contest was unfair. To dispel any objections, Father King would have to heal my injuries.

Big sister, Sinéad's magic control skills are very impressive!

I can manipulate the Magic Array so that the injuries I sustain are not fatal, but serious enough that only a Secret Art can heal them.

The preliminary preparations for performing the Secret Art take five days to complete. Teacher Anna had plenty of time to incite the clansmen and send you to the sacrificial Magic Array.

Looking at the result, Teacher Anna's execution was excellent. Big sister, what do you think?

Hehe, how does it feel to be wrongly accused by your own people?

Are you satisfied with the ending of dying while burdened with injustice, big sister?"

Sinéad felt incredibly gratified, a thrill she couldn't suppress appearing on her face. Her charming features became distorted and sinister, but then they suddenly stiffened, all because of Frederica's reaction.

Frederica didn't excitedly attack her, nor was she shocked; she simply asked in a calm tone, "Is that the only reason?

There should be others, right?"

Sinéad's upper body slowly pulled back, her hands grasping Frederica's arms, her expression confused. "Why aren't you surprised? Why aren't you angry?"

"Why should I be surprised? Why should I be angry?"

"The sister who admired you has always hated you, the clansmen you trusted betrayed you, and even your own teacher gave up on you. Why aren't you... sad at all?"

Frederica sighed. This half-sister of hers was truly... too naive.

"Sinéad, do you remember how many years I traveled in the human world?"

"Eighty-three years and seven days."

"So, on what basis did you judge that I would trust a sister I've been separated from for over eighty years?

Not to mention we are competitors. Sinéad, you've been an elf who liked to play tricks since you were a child."

The development of events had spiraled out of control, completely deviating from her expectations. Sinéad fell into a daze and simultaneously felt uneasy.

She turned her head left and right to scan the surroundings, her mind racing as she wondered what other reliance Frederica might have.

After a long while, Sinéad concluded there were absolutely no variables.

Frederica's only two loyal subordinates were Saldari and Alice, two useless people who had only recently advanced to become Elementary Professionals. Could they really turn the situation around?

Father King? Father King was currently preparing the Secret Art.

Sinéad felt relieved and began to laugh mockingly. "Stop pretending, big sister. I'm very much looking forward to your screams when you are sacrificed and..."

"Sinéad," Frederica suddenly interrupted her, asking, "Do you know what conditions are required to become a King?"

"Indomitable courage, the wisdom to see through people's hearts, and absolute strength. Hmph, I don't need a Crown Prince who escapes responsibility to teach me these things!"

"Hmm, your memory is very clear." Frederica brushed away the hands gripping her arms. "Do you think Father King possesses these conditions?"

"Father King is the most wise one in the history of the Elf Clan, a..."

As she spoke, Sinéad suddenly froze, her lips moving on their own, but she couldn't say a single word.

Frederica shrugged. "So?"

"Are you saying Father King, Father King..."

"Look, he's here."

Frederica pointed toward the horizon. The elves outside the Magic Array didn't understand and turned to look.

Their gaze crossed the grassland and landed on the edge of the woods.

An elf wearing a crown, dressed in magnificent robes, and holding a scepter came walking slowly.

He drew closer, his face clearly reflected in the pupils of every elf.

"The King."

Without exception, the elves knelt on one knee—even Anna who had planned the conspiracy, the Sky Knight and Magister who were deceived, Sinéad who was the true mastermind behind the whole incident, and Frederica who was almost sacrificed and was only one step away from death.

"Rise." The King's indifferent eyes swept over the elves kneeling on one knee.

The King didn't show any anger, nor did he shout or scold. However, the elves didn't dare to stand up, keeping their heads bowed low to avoid the King's gaze.

A King is, after all, a King. Conspiracies, schemes, thoughts—everything lost its meaning in the face of overwhelming strength. This was the King, possessing absolute dominion over his subjects.

"The King said, rise." The King exercised his authority. The elves' minds told them not to stand, but their bodies seemed to have their own consciousness and rose on their own.

The Elf King scanned the elves again. "I am clear about what has happened."

"King, we beg for your forgiveness!" Except for Sinéad and Frederica, the other elves immediately knelt again, this time on both knees.

Their recent calculations—that the unity of the clansmen could force the King to compromise, that the King couldn't kill all his subjects—all vanished into thin air, leaving only fear in their eyes.

The kneeling Anna couldn't understand at all why she was afraid. At most, she would be sentenced to death. Hadn't she already made up her mind beforehand?

The Elf King didn't force them to stand again, nor did he punish them on the spot. "Since the clansmen are present, let's take this opportunity to hold the contest.

Besides, passing through the forbidden area is too tedious. Let's change the method.

Since Frederica and Sinéad are both at the Intermediate level, the outcome will be decided by a Duel."

Sinéad hurriedly said, "But Father King, my injury..."

Without waiting for her to finish, the Elf King raised his hand. A greenish glow emerged from his palm and enveloped her. A few seconds later, her injuries were completely gone.

"Secret Art?" Sinéad looked at him blankly. "Father King, doesn't the Secret Art require..."

"Sinéad." The Elf King stepped forward, passing through the elves kneeling on the ground, and came before her. "Frederica was right. You don't understand what it means to be a King, and even less what Gods Blessing is."

That using the Secret Art required five days of preparation was information the King had told the elves.

Sinéad didn't actually have the courage to defy her Father King, but she was also absolutely unwilling to decide the outcome through a Duel with Frederica—she didn't want to die. Although it wasn't a certain death, she was equally afraid even if it was just a possibility.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally gritted her teeth, looked up, and said, "Father King, will Frederica's association with a heretic be ignored?"

Anna hurriedly stood up and echoed, "King, we indeed cannot be certain that the withering of the life tree was caused by Princess Frederica's association with a heretic, but we also cannot be certain it is unrelated to this matter."

She wasn't worried that her status as a sinner would weaken the effect of these words. At this moment, the Elf King was not acting as a father but was handling matters from the position of a King, which was a state of absolute rationality.

The Elf King frowned in deep thought.

After a long time, as if his thinking had reached a conclusion, he said, "Elder Anna's opinion is reasonable."

Having said that, the Elf King lightly waved his scepter. A greenish light lit up above Sinéad's head for a moment before quickly fading away.

Sinéad didn't recognize this magic; she only felt her Magic Core expand by twofold. The circulation of her mana suddenly accelerated, yet it didn't show the slightest sign of being out of control.

This was an amplification magic cast by Gods Blessing.

Anna sensed it; Sinéad's strength had been enhanced, raising her to the level of a High-level Magician.

It was different from her expectation of directly sentencing Frederica to be sacrificed, but fortunately, the difference wasn't far off.

A High-level Magician against an Intermediate Knight—although Sinéad wasn't familiar with the power of a high-level Professional and would certainly be clumsy in using it, the difference in mana alone was enough to easily defeat Frederica.

The Duel between the two began immediately.

As expected, in just three minutes, Frederica's defense was crushed by mana and Mental Energy far exceeding her own. A wooden spike that followed immediately hit her chest, and she spat out a mouthful of blood as she flew back and fell to the ground.

The Elf King waved his hand to stop Sinéad, who was about to deliver a finishing blow. "The winner has been decided. Begin the sacrifice!"

...

Zhang Mu arrived under the life tree before the elves.

Gezhe saw him and didn't think much of it, casually asking if he had discovered anything in the last two days. As for whether Zhang Mu had followed his reminder to stay away from the residential areas of the elders and the King, he didn't ask.

If he had ignored the warning and wandered near the positions of the elders and the King, he wouldn't even dream of coming back, because he would have already been crushed to death by the high-level elves.

Zhang Mu naturally wouldn't tell the truth. He wanted to heal the life tree, while Gezhe's goal was for the life tree to wither; their directions were completely opposite.

On the way to the life tree, Zhang Mu had made up a suitable excuse—I was worried you'd leave me here alone, so I came to check.

Afterward, he pretended to be curious and circled the life tree once.

"It's just a broken tree; what's worth looking at?"

"I was wandering around these past two days and happened to hear some elves chatting, saying this tree is their source of life. Is it true?"

"It's true."

"A race's life depending on a single tree is truly something new."

"The Punishment of the Gods."

Zhang Mu was quite concerned about the "Punishment of the Gods" and was very interested in the detailed history, but unfortunately, there was no time to listen to stories now.

He continued to circle twice, then crouched down to rummage through the ground—to be more precise, he used his fingers to dig out a large clump of mud from the soil.

Gezhe looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing digging up mud?"

"Hmm? I wanted to see if the soil that nourishes a magical ancient tree like the life tree also has anything special about it."

"Is there?"

"No."

As Zhang Mu spoke, he clenched his fist to squeeze the mud in his hand into a ball, tossed it up, caught it, and walked toward the distance. "As long as you're still here, it's fine. I'll go wander around some more."

"Be careful."

"Understood."

Walking through the grassland and into the woods, Zhang Mu circulated his mana to wrap around the mud ball, sensing the elements contained within. He couldn't do it as precisely as modern instruments, where the specific quantity of each element could be obtained; he could only detect all the types of elements within the mud ball.

It was enough.

After the sensing ended, Zhang Mu fell into thought.

If it really was as he suspected, the life tree... truly had no great mystery, and healing it wouldn't be troublesome.

But this piece of mud alone wasn't enough to prove it; he needed more evidence.

"I need to check elsewhere."

Zhang Mu was about to leave when he heard messy footsteps and curses coming from ahead. He quickly ducked behind a tree to hide.

After a while, a large group of elves surged forward together. Walking at the very front was Frederica, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

The elves were shouting about sacrificing her.

The crowd passed by the tree and headed toward the life tree.

"The elves are going to sacrifice Frederica."

The situation was urgent. Zhang Mu knew that if he wasted any more time, she would lose her life. He took one last look at the crowd and turned to rush toward the edge of the clan territory.

There lay the key to uncovering the secret of the withering.

"Hold on." Zhang Mu gritted his teeth and pushed his mana to the limit to quicken his pace.