"I wonder what exactly happened inside the city."
Ligeia sighed helplessly, scanning the situation near the city gates.
She was an elf, and her hair was a vibrant green.
An elf with such distinctive features was incredibly conspicuous in a human city.
It would be nearly impossible to enter the city openly!
"I have to think of something."
Lowering her head in thought for a moment, Ligeia's brow furrowed slightly.
"It seems I have no choice but to use that method. Although I don't like it, there's no other way right now."
After a moment of hesitation, Ligeia's figure slowly descended into a forest just a few kilometers outside the city.
She scanned her surroundings, and a flash of joy crossed her emerald eyes when she found her target.
"You'll do!"
Ligeia gently patted a massive tree.
"Forgive me, I need to borrow your life force. But don't worry, I will leave a seedling behind to help you be reborn."
She seemed to be speaking to the giant tree, which appeared to tremble in fear.
A gust of wind blew, causing the century-old tree to shake slightly.
Raising her staff with a flourish, Ligeia whispered:
"Scan."
Ding!
As the green magic stone at the tip of her staff glowed, a 3D layout of the surrounding environment formed in her mind instantly.
Only after confirming no one was nearby did Ligeia breathe a sigh of freedom.
"Sigh... if there were any other way, I really wouldn't want to use this move. Little Luo Li... you'll have to compensate me well for this later."
As she spoke, Ligeia let go of her staff, allowing it to float in mid-air. She raised her hands and... unbuttoned the front of her robe.
With a soft click, the buttons opened, and her mage robes slid slowly off her shoulders.
A rustling sound echoed through the woods.
Within moments, Ligeia stood completely naked. With a wave of her hand, she stored her staff and clothes away.
Then, she reached out and pressed herself against the massive tree.
She slowly closed her eyes, her red lips parting as she chanted softly:
"Invocation—I, Ligeia Astaria, elf of the ancient Divine Tree, hereby request..."
"Merge with me, unite with me, join with me."
"From this day forth, we are one, living and accompanying each other."
Ligeia's pale hands began to emit a soft green light.
Following this light, a vibrant green sprout emerged from her palm, spreading onto the century-old tree before her.
The two began to fuse together. In that moment, Ligeia seemed to experience something painful.
Her green brows knit together, and she bit her lip as if enduring intense agony.
At the same time... scenes of nature flashed continuously through her mind.
She experienced the life of a branch, broken by the wind and taking root in the earth.
She felt herself growing amidst the wind and rain.
She felt the bites of insects and the pecking of birds, and experienced the changing of the four seasons.
The memories of this century-old tree, spanning hundreds of years, flooded into her mind in an instant.
"Ah..."
With a soft cry that was half-pain and half-pleasure, Ligeia's hands slowly sank into the giant tree. Her body was gradually enveloped by the trunk until she finally vanished from the spot.
Before disappearing, Ligeia seemed to hear a deep, raspy voice.
"I give everything to you... thank you."
That was a flicker of sentience produced by the tree in its final moment of life, born from the accumulation of centuries of memories.
However, this fleeting sentience vanished completely after Ligeia accepted all of its memories.
From that point on... this giant tree would never have the chance to develop sentience again.
Ligeia sighed helplessly. Although she felt a pang of regret, she had no other choice.
After all, this tree was already near death.
She would never touch those fresh, young saplings.
To her, those trees were her kin.
Ancient elves were born from ancient elven trees.
However, to return to a tree-like state, they had to borrow the body of another tree.
This was because, after birth, their original shell grew old and lost its vitality.
Therefore, she would not choose young trees, as they had the potential to become ancient elven trees in the future.
Only this tree before her had reached the end of its life.
Even if she hadn't merged with it, the tree would have completely snapped one day in a few years.
In the moment before that, the tree would have produced the same fleeting sentience.
And then quickly withered.
This word of thanks was not for Ligeia activating its sentience.
It was gratitude for not having to activate that sentience in the final, lonely moment of its death.
Furthermore, its memories... could continue to be passed on.
Gathering those memories, Ligeia remained dazed for a long time.
The memories of a giant tree spanned hundreds of years, even without sentience.
Every branch and bud of the tree recorded these memories.
"Whew... I'm ready to go."
At this moment, Ligeia was the tree, and the tree was her.
Supported by Ligeia's massive elemental energy, the tree's roots began to grow rapidly, winding and extending toward Brilliant City.
After overcoming many obstacles, the roots finally took hold in a flowerbed inside the city.
By then, it was midnight the following evening.
A distance of a few kilometers was not far for a normal person; at most, it would take an hour or two.
A leisurely stroll would get you there.
But for a tree, it was a distance comparable to the ends of the earth.
Having forced the roots into the city, more than half of the elemental energy in Ligeia's body had been consumed.
Overall, this move was quite inefficient and had little practical use.
The cost was high, and the price to pay was significant.
And the functions it provided were very few.
Inside the city, in the front hall of the Holy Cathedral, the magic lights remained lit even though it was already midnight.
Clearly, the people in the room had not yet slept. Occasionally, the sound of a pen scratching across paper or pages turning could be heard.
"The steam engine development is complete. Can it operate normally? Let's wait for Her Highness to return before discussing this."
"A brawl at the Rum Bar in the East Gate? Hmm... have Hilda send a knight to handle it."
"A child went missing in the West Gate? Have someone check the orphanage to see if anyone was brought in recently."
"Problems with the construction of Dragon City? Not enough materials? We can only urge the quarry to speed up."
"A merchant in the North Gate was robbed and the owner was stabbed to death... this is already the third robbery this month? It seems this matter should be given to Hilda... no, the nobles have been making big moves lately, and Hilda needs to suppress them. Who should I give this to..."
Looking at the reports, Lola took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Her eyes were stinging, and a hint of tears even welled up from the strain.
There were still dozens of documents left to process, which she would finish soon.
All of these documents were from today, and they only covered events within Brilliant City.
This didn't even include the request for supplies that Yuna had sent yesterday.
All of this had to be handled tonight so they could be sent to the administration for distribution tomorrow.
With Her Highness away, she didn't dare overlook even the smallest problem and had to handle everything personally.
Only by doing so could she detect the movements of the nobles through the fine details.
But because of this, her workload had suddenly exploded, leaving her with almost no rest.
Normally, these small matters wouldn't need to be reported and would be handled by subordinates.
But with the Saintess away, if she didn't give her full effort, who would notice if the nobles tried anything?
"What time is it?"
Lola rubbed her eyes, blinking her weary lids as she looked toward the door.
But... after waiting for a while, there was no response from outside, only a rustling sound, like someone putting on clothes.
Hearing this, Lola instinctively sensed something was wrong.
"Sake!"
"Here!!"
At Lola's soft call, a massive figure, two and a half meters tall, rose from the shadows.
A pair of bull eyes, glowing like light bulbs, flashed in the darkness!
Last time... Lola had been assassinated in the street, and Sake had even wanted to kill himself over it!
As a proud tauren warrior, he had failed to keep his promise!
This was an insult to him, to the God of War, and to his entire tribe!
He felt so disgraced he didn't even want to think about having calves anymore.
One could only imagine how strong a tauren warrior's sense of honor was.
This time, he had made up his mind that he would never leave Lola's side, no matter what.
He would keep his promise at all costs.
This was the oath of a tauren warrior!
It was a dignity more precious than gold!
"Go see who is outside."
"No need."
Just as Sake was about to head out with his axe to give the assassin a brutal beating, a soft voice came from outside the door.
Then, the door was pushed open, and a familiar figure appeared before the two of them.
"Ligeia, why are you back? Where is Her Highness?"
The moment she saw the figure, Lola instinctively stood up from her chair.
But the bull beside her didn't lower his guard in the slightest.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Bishop. What if this is a fake? Let me test if this is real or not first!"
"There's no need for tests. I won't approach Lola. Also, here is a letter for you."
As she spoke, Ligeia took a letter from her bosom and tossed it to Lola.
Lola froze for a moment, instinctively looking at the letter in her hand. The familiar handwriting made her realize immediately.
This was indeed Her Highness's letter.
However, the moment she saw the letter, Lola's heart sank as if into an abyss!
Without even taking the time to read the letter, Lola looked up at Ligeia.
"Where is Her Highness?"
"Still on the demon island."
"Why did you come back first? Why didn't you bring Her Highness back as well?"
Lola asked anxiously, but Ligeia could only shake her head helplessly.
"Can we really change the mind of our Saintess so easily?"
This non-answer made Lola pause.
A bitter smile touched the corners of her lips.
"True... that headstrong Highness of ours is indeed not someone we can sway with a few words."
Composing her thoughts, Lola looked down at the letter. She didn't rush to read it but asked another question first:
"What is the situation at the front right now?"
"The situation at the front is not optimistic. The demons..."
Ligeia walked to a nearby table, poured herself a glass of water, took a sip, and then recounted the events.
Lola listened intently, raising her finger to push up her glasses, only to realize she had forgotten to put them back on.
She turned back to put on her glasses, then used her finger to gently push them up again as she continued to listen.
Sake never relaxed his guard, even though the Ligeia before him was likely the real one.
Until he was one hundred percent certain, he would not slacken!
"Speaking of which, I noticed the city is under martial law. What happened?"
Ligeia finished her recount and took another sip of water before asking about the situation.
Lola's brow furrowed. She looked at Ligeia and, feeling that words wouldn't be enough, stepped out of the room.
"Come with me. You'll understand once you see it."
"Bishop!!"
Sake hurriedly reached out to stop Lola, but Lola waved him off.
"It's fine. It's definitely Ligeia, I'm certain."
"Ah... oh... then, then I'll accompany you."
Lola knew she couldn't win against this stubborn bull, so she didn't say anything else. She nodded and walked out of the room.
Seeing this, Ligeia quickly took another gulp of water before following.
Heaven knew how thirsty and tired she was from this trip.
Even the elemental energy in her body was almost completely spent.
If it weren't for Luo Li, she would have given up long ago.
"Wait, Luo Li said not to let anyone see me. Should we handle that first?"
Lola nodded and quickly had Sake the tauren disperse everyone else before leading Ligeia to the communication room.
Soon, the connection to the Pope was established.
When Diocletian saw the two of them, his brow furrowed.
"My apologies, Your Holiness... Her Highness is still at the front, but the situation there has changed, so she sent me back first to communicate with you."
Diocletian nodded.
"I see. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Clearly, the Pope was also very concerned about the front line; otherwise, he wouldn't have answered this video call personally.
Ligeia quickly reported the situation at the front.
Diocletian sat on his sofa, fiddling with the Papal Scepter while contemplating the front line.
"Very well, I understand. I now officially use the name of the Pope to grant you the right to conscript human ships. All humans must comply when the Papal Decree arrives. Any who refuse will be considered traitors to the human race. The Papal Decree will be sent immediately. Is there anything else?"
"Your Holiness, this letter is from Her Highness for you. It requires your personal reading."
Ligeia stepped forward and opened the letter, but she didn't look at it herself. Instead, she turned the letter around for the Pope to see.
Diocletian's eyes narrowed slightly. After looking it over, he nodded slightly.
"I understand. Destroy it."
In the next second, the communication cut off. Lola immediately turned to the printer.
Inside the printer, a copy of the Papal Decree, handwritten by His Holiness and stamped with the Papal Seal, began to emerge.
Lola turned and walked outside, distributing the dozens of copies of the Papal Decree.
She quickly contacted Moonrise City. When the lord of Moonrise City saw the Papal Decree...
Even if he truly had the courage to block them, he had to consider whether his family could withstand the wrath of the Pope.
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