As a training camp set up by the elves near the southwest shore, Jintha'Alor also had plenty of high-quality elven weapons in its storage apart from these elves. In particular, those enchanted explosive arrows that detonated upon contact were exceedingly numerous.
The adepts would not need such an item, but they were decent lethal weapons when distributed among their followers and guards. Amongst the elven weapons, the one that most surprised Greem was a sort of elven longbow. The bow had been enchanted with two magical effects– Gale and Pierce.
The former allowed the arrows shot from the bow to fly faster and further, while the latter allowed the bolts to break through thick and heavy armor.
There were as many as twenty of these longbows!
It was clear evidence that the elves of Garan had exceptional talent and unique insight on the subject of enchanting items.
Of course, apart from the weapons, the Crimson adepts also found a unique plant seed inside the warehouses of the elves. Upon appraisal, several witches agreed that this was a legendary moonwell seed.
Moonwells were both plants and buildings!
They could gather the pure moonlight during the night of Garan and combine it with the aura of its environment to condense and produce the miraculous moonwater.
Here in Garan, a magical reservoir as wondrous as the moonwell would typically only appear in elven cities. It would serve as a companion plant to towering Trees of Life.
Jintha'Alor was only a training camp and not an elven city. Usually, a plant-type elven building like a moonwell shouldn't appear here. The appearance of this moonwell seed was most likely a strategic logistical reserve that the elves had prepared in advance.
Once the southwest shore broke out into war, Jintha'Alor, as a forward base, could immediately plant the seed and cultivate it into a true moonwell. That would provide wounded elves with a method to quickly recover from their injuries!
However, what the elves would never expect was a fearsome adept squad crossing five hundred kilometers of sprawling woods skipping seven or eight elven villages, all for the sake of assaulting Jintha'Alor. Otherwise, the forest elves would never have left such a valuable vital resource here for the adepts to get their hands on!
Obtaining so many elves and spoils in a single battle instantly caused the witches to erupt with excitement. In particular, that moonwell seed held within it mysterious and profound secrets of the forest elves that outsiders didn't know of. If they could thoroughly analyze the seed, part of the forest elves' secrets–though not all of it–would be exposed to the eyes of the witches.
Still, the Dark Witches would never dare to break off their friendly relationship with the Fate Witches for the sake of this elven treasure, regardless of how much they wanted it. After all, they still needed the help of the Fate Witches and their flying ship to transport so many elven prisoners back to their safe zone.
The Dark Witches had no problem taking out an elven village on their own with their overwhelming strength. The only problem was their inability to digest the spoils even if they could devour an entire town.
They couldn't transport several dozen or even hundreds of elves across the vast Fantasy Forest, filled with the ears and eyes of the elves. That…that was an impossible task!
That was why, for the past month or so, the Dark Witches had no choice but to take piecemeal bites at the elves and receive bits of spoils at any given time.
It was difficult enough to find the elves in this vast forest of trees. It was even more improbable to take all the elves when they discovered them. It was a problem that had plagued the dark witches for a long time. However, all those problems were no longer problems now.
Rare smiles finally appeared on the faces of the Dark Witches when they saw the rows of elves escorted onto the flying ship by the magical machines.
Apart from the prisoners and the items, the search party also brought back two pegasi and one hippogryph used for training.
These were the most commonly seen support units in the elven army; figuring out their racial traits and biological construction as soon as possible would be a great help in future battles.
It was only natural that Greem happily took all these spoils for himself.
Of course, Greem had even let out the Spirit of Pestilence and the Stitch Ghost Golem near the end of the battle earlier.
They were only at the pseudo-adept level currently and were of no help to him in battle. However, they were both magical creations with the potential to grow that Greem had painstakingly raised. As long as he was willing to put in the effort and invest resources in them, their power would eventually rise.
That was why Greem released them into the nearby woods to search for those elven survivors in hiding. They could only improve and develop further through sacrifices of blood, flesh, and slaughter.
By the time all this work concluded, the large and brilliant disc of the moon had risen into the sky, casting its crisp moonlight to every corner of the Fantasy Forest.
Alice had already retreated into the flying ship under the excuse of inviting Uzzah to tea. At this moment, only one out of the two of them who had been struck with the Moonshade Curse–Greem–stood upon Jintha'Alor. He was silently waiting for any changes to come.
The brilliant and chilly moonlight fell upon the forest. Mysterious shifts started occurring when the gentle moonlight flowed past Greem's body.
Layers of moonlight enveloped Greem. It looked like the shimmering surface of the water as the light rippled and trembled.
Greem stood proudly under the moonlight, using the Chip to monitor all changes within himself. He could very clearly sense faint surges of magical energy entering the mysterious rune upon his forehead alongside the moonlight.
With the nourishment of the moonlight's essence, the divine rune suddenly activated!
Indeed, it suddenly came alive!
The divine rune that had remained motionless for so many days without so much as a movement was now burning like a red-hot brand. It protruded from under Greem's forehead, appearing as scarlet as it was striking. Along with the divine rune came a subtle, obscure, and strange divine flux.
[Beep. Detecting strange energy flux.
[Source of energy flux is identified as the divine rune. The method of energy dissemination is unknown. The method of energy resonance is unknown. The nature of the energy is unknown.
[Further reminder: this energy flux has reached the level of laws. It belongs to the category of advanced planar knowledge. No matching data can be found in the database….]
Greem listened to the series of notifications from the Chip. He had no intention of interrupting these strange energy changes.
In truth, this was the first time he had personally experienced how divine power functioned. As such, the research value of this experience was unprecedentedly significant for Greem!
Greem knew what was happening due to his understanding of the primary functions of the divine rune obtained from Alice. He had let go of all irrelevant concerns. At this moment, he was working in full cooperation with the Chip and extending detailed monitoring of this process of the divine rune from silence to activation.
Divine power was a potent strength that could compare with the forces of law in the World of Adepts.
At its very core and essence, the traits of its power were far superior to the elementium skills that Greem currently commanded.
Even though divine power had always been at odds with magic, and Greem couldn't possibly change professions and turn into a spiritualist, divine power still had irreplaceable research and reference value as a higher form of energy.
That was why Greem remained unmoved even as he was placed in danger by the divine rune as it slowly pushed him into a death trap. He focused all of his attention to the calm feeling and monitoring of every change in the rune.
A strange energy flux stirred the planar laws and rippled outward on the level of the laws.
Law movements like these were utterly unnoticeable t
o ordinary beings. Only talented individuals and certain spiritualists could successfully decipher these movements through the planar laws by borrowing the strength of the gods.
…………
Garan Continent. Central Mountains.
The Goddess of Moonlight's main temple.
Intense golden radiance suddenly emanated from the statue of the goddess standing on the moon-white platform within the spacious hall.
Temple Officiate Aurora and the two female priests who had been kneeling before the statue raised their heads in surprise.
"There's activity from the divine rune." One of the female priests couldn't help but blurt out. Her face beamed with joy.
"Hurry up and inform God Messenger Xenia," Officiate Aurora turned her head and ordered without any hesitation, "Also, gather all the temple guards in the main temple here. Prepare for a large-scale prayer ceremony. The goddess will be personally using her divine power to open a spatial corridor to the blasphemers. It will be our time to serve the goddess then!"
With the last sentence, a trace of fervent passion attached itself to the tone of this usually cold elven officiate.
A short moment later, the surroundings of the Goddess of Moonlight's temple turned lively!
Chapter 642 Punish You in the Name of the Moon
Jintha'Alor Camp.
The large, bright moon was already hanging high in the sky. The beautiful faint silver moonlight turned the Fantasy Forest even more silent and mysterious than it already was.
The adepts scattered around the perimeter of the battlefield had returned. The work of cleaning up Jintha'Alor was also about to conclude. All the captured forest elves were escorted into the flying ship. Only thirty construction robots were left on the hill, diligently moving the large number of resources in the warehouses onto the ship.
It had been four hours since the start of the battle. Even if the surrounding villages had come to reinforce their allies after receiving news of the fight, they would be scattered and divided forces. They would have no chance of fighting back against such powerful witches.
To be brutally honest, Jintha'Alor was already the largest elven training camp within a radius of five hundred kilometers. Now that even they had been defeated, the only way to deal with these witches was to run to Astranaar City for help six hundred kilometers away from here.
The elves of Astrannar would require a minimum of fourteen hours to traverse such a tremendous distance, even if Jintha'Alor had managed to send word for help at the very first moment they were attacked. Moreover, this was a speed that was only possible if all the elven reinforcements were flying units.
If they were land units, it would be impossible for them to reach Jintha'Alor without at least two days and three nights of marching!
It was this sort of extreme control of the enemy's information that allowed the witches to so casually scour Jintha'Alor and its surroundings for resources after a significant victory like this. By the time the elven reinforcements arrived, the only thing they would see would be an empty ruin of a battlefield.
By that time, the witches would have gone to who-knows-where to celebrate their victory.
This battle of Jintha'Alor had greatly boosted everyone's morale. It was an exhilarating experience.
Apart from some metal golem casualties on the side of the Crimson Clan and the dragonborn warrior being severely wounded, the losses of the witches were practically negligible. It was a glorious victory that far surpassed everyone's expectations!
The witches could already foresee the interesting expressions on the faces of the Pale Witches if they could successfully transport these elven slaves and resources back to the Echo Isles.
Perhaps because they had obtained many spoils without losing anything, or maybe because she wanted to improve their relationship with Greem and the others, Uzzah, the leader of these Dark Witches, took the initiative to approach Alice. She wished to give away some of the elven slaves to the Crimson Clan as compensation for the losses they had suffered in this battle.
Witch Uzzah had only one request. She hoped the Fate Witches could help the Dark Witches launch an assault on the pegasus magic spring in the central mountains of Garan when the opportunity presented itself.
Of course, this operation was a personal mission of the Dark Witches. That was why Uzzah was willing to engage in full collaboration with the Fate Witches for the remaining six months in Faen as long as they were willing to help her. They would become firm and unbreakable allies.
Of course, the trustworthiness of Uzzah's words would require more time and collaboration to verify. Still, being able to make a Third Grade witch lower herself to say offer such a proposal was already proof of Alice and Greem's power. They had demonstrated sufficient competence to win the right to speak for themselves.
Just as Alice and Witch Uzzah were discussing the issue within the flying ship, a subtle abnormality appeared in the round moon above Jintha'Alor.
A Dark Witch dashed across the sky upon her flying broom. She incidentally raised her head and immediately stopped her flight in shock.
Chilling yet beautiful moonlight projected from the moon like gentle water, draping a silver cloak over the woods where the fires of war had just been extinguished. The forest, trees, rivers, the grass, and the bushes; everything within sight had been enveloped in a cluster of fantastical starry radiance.
The Dark Witch lowered her head and was shocked to find her own body dusted with plenty of this strange radiance as well. This starry light blinked soundlessly, almost breathing as if it had a life of its own.
The Dark Witch was no ignorant and ordinary mortal. She wouldn't be deceived by such pretty and dreamlike scenery.
Her powerful and sensitive senses informed her that this breathing radiance flowed.
It circulated with a strange energy that was utterly foreign to her. Moreover, the longer she spent bathing in the moonlight, the thicker and more intense the energy aura within the light.
Dammit, something's wrong. This isn't the power of adepts.
The suddenly enlightened First Grade Dark Witch immediately turned and flew toward the flying ship. As she darted back to the vessel, she used Thundersound to let out a deafening roar.
"Careful! Enemy assault!"
Unfortunately, this tiny spell that she casually cast was like a spark thrown into a sealed oil barrel. It instantly triggered a backlash from the moonlight.
Sla!
A strange explosive sound rang out. The initially calm, peaceful, and mysterious starry radiance suddenly transformed into horrifying Starfire, igniting the entirety of the witch's body from top to bottom and inside out.
The next second, all lifeforms and substances that were not of nature within the forest, the skies, and the earth started to burn furiously under the caress of the moonlight. This blazing wave of starfire seemed to have a strange life of its own. Even though it covered the entire area, it did nothing to the forest, trees, vegetation, flowers, or the streams. It only enveloped and burned the witches, the flying ship, and the magical machines.
When Uzzah and Alice rushed out of the flying ship in their shock, all they saw was a silver sea of starfire!
If you disregarded their identities, being able to silently sit down and observe this beautiful starfire sea would undoubtedly be a treat. It was a remarkable scene that one could hardly come across in a hundred years. However, Uzzah's mood was agitated when she discovered her witches trapped within the sea of starfire, howling and crying in agony.
"Something's wrong with the moonlight. Everyone, prepare your defenses." Alice was undoubtedly the most alert of them all. She was the first to discover the source of the problem.
As she shouted, all the witches that emerged from the flying ship erected their defensive spells and elementium protections.
The witches stood upon the deck of the flying ship and looked around them. They saw absolutely no signs of the enemy. They only saw the sky full of silver starfire and their comp
anions writhing within the flames.
Down in the Jintha'Alor camp, the two dozen engineering machines that had been busy transporting the resources had also started burning. They were quickly reduced to smoldering piles of metal.
Uzzah furiously stepped forward. She made a grabbing motion with her withered, talon-like hand at a struggling witch two hundred meters away from her.
The empty air sizzled, and a massive black and ghostly hand appeared. The hand reached for the dark witch.
Sadly, before the hand of darkness could shield the dark witch, she turned into a cloud of ashes, incapable of withstanding the burning of the starfire any longer.
A gale blew across the air. The hand of darkness swiped past the air, but only managed to catch flying ashes in its grasp.
Uzzah frowned and turned to glare at the Second Grade dark witch following behind her.
"How is it? Has Ganna returned?"
The Second Grade dark witch took out a strange black geomantic compass and looked at it. She then nodded happily.
"It returned…it returned. Ganna's soul has already returned to the soul energy pool. Her soul has been badly wounded. It will take approximately two months for her to revive completely."
The faces of all the dark witches present lightened up slightly upon hearing this.
The soul energy pool was a rare building unique to the Dark Witches.
The first thing that the Dark Witches had to do upon arriving in a new plane was to construct a special soul energy pool in a safe place of their choice. They would then leave the soul brands of all the Dark Witches in that pool.
This way, even if they died in battle–and as long as the opponent had no means of restricting or destroying souls–their souls would automatically return to the soul energy pool. Their souls could then use the energy in the pool to revive once again.
For the trip to Faen this time, the Dark Witches had already left the soul energy pool in the safest place, Shadow Island, on the very first week. This way they would no longer need to worry about dying on the battlefield.
The Fate Witches were truly dead if they were to die. The Dark Witches, on the other hand, had plenty of lives.
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