Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Henceforth, the name of Jintha'Alor would no longer exist!

  After the intense battle, the flying ship dragged its broken body and escaped toward the sea, having done some basic maintenance and repairs on its internal damage.

  The damage to the flying ship in the battle this time was undoubtedly extremely severe. The vessel was no longer able to fly high above the clouds to avoid the eyes of the elves. Moreover, with the thick black smoke trailing for several kilometers behind them, it was difficult to remain in hiding.

  Still, they were fortunate enough to have taken down Jintha'Alor and defeat the temple guards sent by the Moonlight Goddess. There was no longer a military force that could pose a threat to the flying ship within several thousand kilometers of Jintha'Alor.

  As for the elven villages and towns hidden all across Fantasy Forest? Their meager garrisons were no more than trash before the joint forces of the Dark and Fate Witches. There was no need to even speak of those who were foolish enough to attempt to intercept the ship. If the position of their villages were exposed, the witches would only need to send out a single squad that could easily exterminate them.

  That was why the flying ship was not harassed or attacked by any elven squads, even as it dragged its broken body into the distance with a long tail of smoke behind it.

  Countless resentful eyes peeked out from between the trees, silently staring at this giant metal ship arrogantly passing through their lands. The hate they had for these evil invaders undoubtedly ran deep into their very bones. Still, to avoid drawing trouble to their village and companions, they couldn't do anything but stare furiously at the enemy as they passed.

  When their side was clearly weaker than the opponent, there was nothing they could do about the situation!

  …………

  Garan Continent, Central Mountains.

  Main Temple of the Goddess of Moonlight.

  At this moment, the main temple had been thrown into complete chaos.

  News of the defeat at the frontlines had blown up amongst the followers of the Goddess the instant it got back.

  The tide of furious and angry requests for battle alerted both the priests of the temple and even the Goddess' kingdom in between the layers of the plane.

  The fury of the Goddess naturally terrified the elven priests serving her. They all gathered in the main temple and silently listened for the newest word of their Goddess.

  The Moonlight Goddess wasn't the chief deity of the elven pantheon, nor the one that held absolute authority.

  In the end, the one that held the most widespread faith in Garan and amongst the forest elves was still the chief elven god, Saoirse. If one were to be brutally honest, almost all forest elves were faithful followers of Saoirse.

  It was only the elves that wanted special holy blessings from the gods that would choose to believe in the other elven gods as well.

  For example, most elven archers would choose to follow Marco, the God of Archery, in addition to Saoirse. This way, they would be able to obtain his blessings and enhancement in the field of archery. Elves who didn't like to be bound to rules and didn't join the army–choosing instead to roam the continent–would prefer to follow the God of Rangers, Eisner. This way, they would be able to obtain improvements in agility and gain exceptionally graceful movements.

  The druids, on the other hand, all believed in Yurga, the Heart of the Forest.

  Some female elves who enjoyed beauty and desired romance might choose to believe in the God of Luck, Visenna.

  Given all this, the Moonlight Goddess could only provide her followers with some stealth ability during the night as well as some improvements in combat power at night. That was why the Moonlight Goddess was not considered a powerful deity in the elven pantheon.

  The elves who chose to follow the Moonlight Goddess were numerous, but very, very few were fanatics that would be able to select the Moonlight Goddess as their only belief.

  That was why the loss of the only God Messenger Xenia was an unbearable loss for the Moonlight Goddess' temple!

  In this way, even the Moonlight Goddess herself could not continue sitting peacefully within her god kingdom.

  Chapter 653 Moonlight Temple

  Garan Continent. Central Mountains.

  The main temple of the Goddess of Moonlight.

  As an extraordinarily massive Goddess' will descended upon the towering idol in the center of the temple, the entire place was bathed in a cluster of faint and silent moonshade.

  The Temple Officiate Aurora fearfully kneeled in front of the idol, silently enduring the chilling glare her Goddess was giving her. Even though the Goddess hadn't opened her mouth, Aurora could feel the intense dissatisfaction and wordless blame in her eyes.

  "O' Revered Goddess, has news of Lady Xenia's fall been confirmed?" Aurora mustered up her courage and asked in a soft voice.

  The authority and rank of the god messenger were far above a temple officiate like herself. That was why she needed to confirm the news about Xenia with the Goddess personally.

  After a long period of silence, the sweet and cold voice of the Moonlight Goddess finally echoed in the minds of all the temple priests.

  "Xenia is utterly dead! Her soul did not return to the god-kingdom. Instead, it has been wholly captured by the enemy."

  The Goddess' reply stunned everyone.

  They had conceived of many terrible scenarios, but they still didn't imagine the situation to be as severe as it was. This…this was the absolute worst scenario that they didn't even dare to think of!

  The Moonlight Temple was only a small faction in the entire elven pantheon. A Third Grade god messenger was already the most potent force that they could put together. If Xenia really had died at Jintha'Alor, the impact on the Moonlight Temple was undoubtedly going to be horrifying. It was so terrible that a 'mere' temple officiate like herself would not dare to imagine it happening!

  The Moonlight Temple had long figured out the details about this Calamity of Witches.

  The only Fourth Grade powerhouse that the evil witches had sent was stationed upon Shadow Island. She had not entered Garan at all. The various temples had already stationed their elite guards and powerful god messengers at the frontlines to keep a close eye on the enemy's movements and deal with this Fourth Grade Pale Witch.

  Under such circumstances, the number of witch squads that the enemy could send into Garan to wreak havoc and raid was limited in not only quantity but also quality.

  It was because of their perfect grasp of the situation that Temple Officiate Aurora hastily reported the destruction of one of their followers' settlements to the Moonlight Goddess. She had intended to use this operation of exterminating the witches to demonstrate the might of the Moonlight Goddess to all her followers across the continent, as well as the Goddess' love and concern for her followers.

  According to Aurora's original calculations, an army of a hundred combat professionals was already a powerful army. Add to that a Third Grade god messenger that possessed the divine power of the Goddess, and you had a group that was already enough to deal with any evil witches that snuck onto Garan.

  Sadly, regardless of how she calculated and estimated, she would never have guessed that a god messenger army of this level would be defeated in the Fantasy Forest. What made things even worse were the facts that they had not only lost, but they had landed themselves a near complete defeat.

  The news of the loss had been brought back by some fortunate survivors. They all claimed to have personally witnessed the fall of God Messenger Xenia.

  The only Third Grade God Messenger Xenia had died to the combined attacks of a Third Grade evil witch and a Third Grade thunder dragon. Her broken body had even become the enemy's spoils, with the elves failing to get it back.

  This terrifying news immediately threw the entire temple into a state of shock and panic!

  Even though Aurora knew that the Goddess would punish her, she still pressed on and contacted the Moonlight God
dess far away in her god-kingdom. The latter had personally chosen to descend to the temple's idol upon obtaining the news.

  The descent of the Goddess!

  Such an event had never happened in the seven thousand years since the construction of the Moonlight Temple.

  If one were to find a full account, the last time the Goddess had personally descended upon the world was during the ancient wars between the elven and human pantheons. Yet today the Moonlight Goddess, high above in her god-kingdom, had chosen to descend once again for a Third Grade god messenger. The circumstances and implications behind her actions were evident to all even without a single word of hers!

  The impact to the Moonlight Temple this time was severe and overwhelming.

  The loss of manpower and military force was secondary. More crucial was the severe shaking of the faith and trust that the elves put in the Moonlight Goddess. The latter was undoubtedly the foundation and basis for the former!

  Losing over a hundred believers with combat professions was nothing to a large organization like the temple of an elven god. However, a loss like that was akin to a broken spine for a small group like the Moonlight Temple. It was a pain that could be felt all the way in the bones. The fall of the high-grade god messenger also meant that the Moonlight Temple would henceforth lose any influence amongst the forest elves.

  Before the new god messenger was cultivated, the strongest force that the Moonlight Temple had in the outside would have to be taken on by a group of Second Grade elves! And what kind of status would a Second Grade god messenger have before Third Grade or even Fourth Grade god messengers? Who would take her words seriously!?

  Moreover, Xenia's soul had not returned. It meant that the witches might obtain inner secrets of the Moonlight Temple that she was privy to. When that happened, the evil witches would use this information to stir trouble and cause chaos. That would undoubtedly be an even more significant loss and greater concern to the Moonlight Temple and the Moonlight Goddess.

  It was because she realized the severity of the situation that the Moonlight Goddess chose to descend upon her main temple personally.

  This way, she could quickly affirm the shaken faith of her believers, while also making it convenient for her to arrange for the follow-up attack against the evil witches.

  Indeed, she wanted to arrange for another battle immediately and use a glorious victory to wash away the shadow that this defeat had cast upon them. However, before that, she needed to borrow some things from a 'friend.'

  There's no need to be surprised. Even in the realm of the gods, there were all sorts of strange relationships and different degrees of intimacy between the gods. Much like the mortals, the superior gods would have inexplicable allies and enemies depending on their profession and personality.

  Within the elven pantheon, Meve the Moonlight Goddess had an especially close relationship with Yurga, the Heart of the Forest; they were almost like siblings. Yurga was the elder brother, and Meve was the younger sister. The two gods might not have worldly blood ties, but the intimacy of their domain of authority caused the two to be drawn to each other naturally.

  Yurga, the Heart of the Forest was an elven god that all druids within the elven kingdom would worship. That was why he was a true Fifth Grade god with a stable group of believers. His domain of divine authority also included the 'forest,' apart from 'nature, druids, and flora and fauna affinity.'

  Meve, on the other hand, also had 'forest' under her own divine authority.

  If this had been the realm of the evil gods instead, a clash of domains in this manner would have triggered a terrifying and bloody battle of the gods. It would be a battle that would only end when one party had complete control over that particular domain of the world. However, within the peace-loving elven pantheon, the overlapping of divine realms not only didn't result in conflict between Yurga the Heart of the Forest and Meve the Goddess of Moonlight, but it had even caused the two gods to develop an inexplicably intimate relationship.

  According to some legends of old, Yurga, the Heart of the Forest's previous incarnation was the first Fourth Grade Great Druid born in the Faen Plane. To allow himself to continue protecting and contributing to the Fantasy Forest after death, he had his juniors bury his corpse under the largest oak of the woods.

  His deeds, while he was alive, had deeply moved many people who came after him and he became the idol of worship of the new druids to come.

  Finally, after thousands of years had passed, the immense amount of faith collected beneath that towering oak, giving birth to Yurga, the Heart of the Forest.

  Meve, the Moonlight Goddess, on the other hand, had appeared two to three thousand years later than Yurga.

  It seemed as if her appearance had been actively guided to some extent by Yurga. That was why Meve naturally treated Yurga as her brother after her will and consciousness formed. Their relationship was even closer and purer than the other elven gods.

  Their true forms necessarily rested high up in their god-kingdoms. Their normal interactions and communication were through mental connections or a visit paid by a clone. It was extremely rare for them to visit with their actual forms. No god would ever enter the god-kingdom of another true god with their true body unless they had absolute trust between them.

  That was because the god-kingdom of a true god was equivalent to an extension of the domain of their divine power. Even a true god, several grades higher than the god in question, would not be able to compromise the authority and might of that god while in their domain. That was why a Sixth Grade chief god, when entering the god-kingdom of a Fifth Grade true god, was practically handing their life and soul to the opponent.

  The massive risk involved in this was not something that any god dared to attempt!

  The Moonlight Goddess, upon descending on her Moonlight Temple, only needed to will her mind slightly and was already connected with another sacred druid land in the central mountains– the Emerald Dream.

  It was a mysterious and peaceful stretch of greenery.

  A large, tall oak stood in the middle of the field.

  The height and size of this ancient tree were beyond the imagination of mortals. Just the old and aged trunk of the tree was several dozens of meters thick. The massive umbrella-like canopy was jade and emerald-green, full and plentiful with leaves. One look and the only thing that you could feel was the overwhelming aura of life.

  As the place where Yurga, the Heart of the Forest was born, this tall oak tree naturally became the area where the druids most liked to congregate and live. Several hundred druids of various ages and grades were scattered in the forest around the oak.

  When a trace of Meve's godly will arrived here and transformed into a beautiful elven girl, the ancient tree trembled slightly. An old man draped in clothes woven from vines and grass walked out of the tree.

  "Welcome, esteemed Lady Meve!"

  The old man held an oaken cane in his hands. His face was withered, his skin was bronze in tone, and his head was full of braids. A seed or an animal tooth–even something simple like a small rock–was tied to the end of each braid.

  "Lord Yurga's most devout follower, Fandral, pays his respects!"

  Chapter 654 Looming Seafolk

  Fandral was the oldest, most senior, and most powerful high-grade druid of the Emerald Dream.

  Of course, he was also an undisputed Fourth Grade Great Druid.

  There were only two Fourth Grade Great Druids among all the druids of the elven kingdom. One was Fandral, the great elder of the elder's council. The other was Dizenn, also a Great Druid of high acclaim and with many admirers and followers.

  In comparison, the druid god messenger blessed by Yurga himself, strangely enough, only had the power of a Third Grade. The god messenger wasn't the strongest individual among the druids.

  On the one hand, this had to do with the fact that it wasn't easy to find and cultivate a god messenger that was compatible with a god's origin power. On the other, it was
also due to the loose, free, and natural way of doing things that the druids believed in.

  If it were the human pantheon, they would most definitely pave the path for their god messengers and have them complete their journey and training at the fastest speed. This way, they would reach the peak of their lives as soon as possible and become Fourth Grade powerhouses.

  That would allow them to be of much more help to the gods.

  However, the druids believed in the way of nature. They didn't like to hasten growth by pulling things by their stalks. They preferred to slowly grind and learn their own nature's way through the trivialities of everyday life and their time spent in nature. The previous druid god messenger died of natural causes four hundred years ago, and his soul had returned to the oak tree. The newly promoted druid favored by Yurga only then slowly rose to the level of a Third Grade.

  It would probably take a minimum of another two to three hundred years of experience before he could turn into a Fourth Grade Great Druid.

  "Fandral, I wish to see Lord Yurga!" Even though she was already a true god, the Moonlight Goddess was still as respectful as an ordinary elven girl looking for guidance before Yurga's servant.

  "My greatest apologies, Lady Meve!" Fandral shook his head apologetically, "Lord Yurga has fallen into a deep sleep. He is unlikely to respond to any calls from the outside world within the next three to four hundred years."

  It was a massive side-effect left behind by Yurga's path to godhood.

  In truth, Yurga, the Heart of the Forest was a divine creation formed by the life force of the boundless Fantasy Forest and the soul of that legendary Great Druid. Even though the faith of the druids sustained him, most of his faith still came from the vast Fantasy Forest.

  If Yurga behaved too actively and moved around too frequently, he would exhaust the life force and liveliness of Fantasy Forest itself. If he chose to go into a deep sleep, then he could reduce his massive god-kingdom's demand and the toll upon the great forest. It was beneficial to the development and strengthening of the Fantasy Forest.