Read Novel Full Chapter 657: Full Blown War
Chapter 657: Full Blown War
Sophie’s eyes widened slightly, but the next second, Aelira looked around.
“But not here. Come back with me.”
Sophie frowned. “I have to wait again?”
“I’m not asking you to wait long.” Aelira shook her head. “It’s just that there are some things you might not believe if you only hear them from me.”
She looked once more at the path leading deeper into the forest. “And since the Sacred Tree has already responded to you on its own, there’s someone who should meet you as well.”
Sophie immediately thought of what Edgar had said before. Someone who had known she would exist even before she was born.
“Is it the person Edgar mentioned?”
Aelira glanced at her. “Yes.”
Sophie’s breathing paused slightly. “Who is she?”
“When you meet her,” Aelira said, “ask her yourself.”
…
At the same time, elsewhere, Gabriel had already reentered the territory controlled by the elves.
There had been no further attacks along the way, but the closer he came to the settlement, the more clearly he could sense that the Sacred Forest tonight was different from before. The most obvious change was mana. The concentration of natural mana within the forest had clearly increased. Moreover, this increase was not uniform. All the mana seemed to be flowing in a particular direction.
Matthew had clearly noticed this as well. He had remained quiet for a long time while being carried over Gabriel’s shoulder until finally, he could no longer resist speaking.
“Put me down.”
Gabriel ignored him.
“I can walk by myself.”
“Your legs are broken.”
“…”
Matthew’s expression darkened. And whose fault was that?
He took a deep breath. “Don’t you think something feels wrong around here?”
“I do.”
“Then how can you still be so calm?”
“Why can’t I be calm?”
“A natural mana fluctuation of this scale covers at least half of the Sacred Forest,” Matthew said, his voice growing increasingly grave. “If that girl really caused this…”
Gabriel suddenly stopped walking, and Matthew immediately shut his mouth.
Ahead, a patrol of elves emerged from between the trees. There were around a dozen of them, and after seeing Gabriel, the weapons they had already raised were quickly lowered. But when their gazes landed on Matthew over his shoulder, almost everyone’s expression changed.
White robes and the holy emblem.
A Cardinal of the Holy Church!
One of the elves clearly recognized the symbol of Matthew’s status.
“The Holy Church?”
“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “Picked him up along the way.”
Matthew: “…”
The dozen or so elves also looked somewhat strange. Just where exactly did you have to go to casually pick up a Cardinal with two broken legs?
However, they quickly noticed Matthew’s injuries, and when they looked toward Gabriel again, their gazes had clearly changed.
News of what had happened at the Third Defensive Line had already been transmitted back to the settlement through the elves’ communication network. The fact that Gabriel had singlehandedly charged into the goblin army and directly crushed their frontline offensive was no longer a secret. And now, he had gone out once, rescued the eleven missing children, and even casually brought back a Cardinal of the Holy Church.
That efficiency. For a moment, no one knew what to say.
“Has Edgar returned?” Gabriel asked.
The leading elf immediately nodded. “He’s already back.”
“What about Sophie?”
“Elder Aelira just went to find her.”
“What happened?”
The elves exchanged glances. Finally, the leader answered, “The Sacred Tree…”
He seemed unsure how to describe it.
“The Sacred Tree responded to Her Highness Sophie just now.”
Gabriel’s eyes shifted slightly, while Matthew’s body instantly stiffened on his shoulder.
“What did you say?”
The elf frowned, looking at Matthew with clear dissatisfaction.
Matthew no longer cared about his current situation. “The World Tree responded to her?”
No one answered, but the expressions on the elves’ faces were enough.
Matthew’s face visibly changed. “Impossible… If it was only her bloodline awakening, it shouldn’t have happened this quickly. Unless…”
Gabriel directly threw him off his shoulder.
Bang!
Matthew crashed onto the ground.
“Ah!”
The intense pain from his broken legs instantly drained the color from his face, but Gabriel was already crouching in front of him.
“Unless what?”
Matthew gritted his teeth. He did not answer.
“Just now, you said you didn’t know anything.”
“I said I don’t know the complete records!” Matthew panted. “But I know the Saintess has been searching for someone.”
“Since nineteen years ago?”
Matthew abruptly raised his head.
Gabriel looked directly into his eyes. “Looks like that’s a yes.”
“…”
Matthew finally realized that he had been tricked into revealing information again.
Gabriel, however, had already grasped the key point. Sophie was nineteen this year. The timing matched too perfectly. In other words, the target the Holy Church had been searching for had most likely existed from the moment Sophie was born.
Perhaps even earlier.
Gabriel suddenly remembered something Edgar had said. Someone had known Sophie would exist before she was even born.
If the Holy Church had obtained similar information, then things became much more interesting.
Were they searching for Sophie?
Or were they waiting for a certain bloodline to reappear?
Just then, a low tremor suddenly came from the distance.
Rumble!
Gabriel looked up. The dozen elves simultaneously turned their heads as well, looking toward the southwest, where the sound had come from.
Boom!
Boom!
Countless birds burst into the sky from the distant forest.
One elf’s expression changed dramatically. “The Third Defensive Line?”
“No.”
Another elf quickly closed his eyes. Several seconds later, his eyes snapped open.
“It’s not the Third Defensive Line! The Fifth Outpost Sector is under attack!”
The moment he finished speaking, another urgent elven transmission came from the distance.
“Large numbers of goblins spotted at the Seventh Outer Outpost! More than eight hundred!”
“There’s another force in the southeast!”
“Goblin troops have appeared in the southeast as well!”
One message after another began arriving. The forest that had been relatively peaceful had completely changed in only a few dozen seconds.
Gabriel said nothing. Matthew, however, slowly began to laugh.
“It’s started.”
Gabriel looked down. “You knew?”
“I told you.” Matthew leaned against a tree trunk. “Now that the Church has confirmed she’s inside the Sacred Forest, they won’t continue searching slowly like before. The goblins will attack from multiple directions simultaneously. Your warriors will be forced to split up.”
“And then?” Gabriel asked.
The smile on Matthew’s face became even more obvious. “Then? Naturally, the ones actually responsible for finding her will go in.”
The expressions of the surrounding elves changed simultaneously.
Gabriel, however, suddenly smiled.
Matthew frowned. “What are you smiling about?”
“Nothing.”
Gabriel reached out and lifted him again. “I just suddenly realized. You came at exactly the right time.”
Matthew froze, his eyes filled with confusion as he wondered what this red haired man was talking about.
Gabriel ignored him and was already looking toward the southwest. The goblins were attacking simultaneously from all sides. If the Holy Church truly intended to create enough chaos, then the number of goblins appearing tonight definitely would not be limited to a few hundred.
In other words, what he had originally planned to do tomorrow could perhaps begin ahead of schedule. Besides, since the goblins had voluntarily crawled out from underground, they had even saved him the trouble of going inside to find them.
“Take me to Edgar,” Gabriel said to the leading elf.
“But the outskirts…”
“I will deal with that.” He hoisted Matthew onto his shoulder, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose. “Since they want us to send our people out, then let’s give them exactly what they want.”
…
Deep underground, inside a cavern far larger than anything the elves’ intelligence had uncovered, torches densely covered both sides of the rocky walls.
Looking across the cavern, countless goblins were moving. Weapons, armor, magic crystals, and vast quantities of supplies from the human world were continuously being distributed.
And in the deepest part of the cavern, a figure far larger than an ordinary goblin slowly opened its eyes. It sat upon a massive seat constructed from countless magical beast bones. Its body was nearly three meters tall, and unlike the dark green skin of an ordinary goblin, its exposed flesh was almost black. Its chest and arms were covered in crimson patterns that looked as though they had been burned into its flesh by flames.
Before it, a member of the Veylor Chain knelt on one knee.
“The transaction failed. The eleven elven children have already been taken back.”
The enormous goblin said nothing.
“The Fourth Transport Point was also destroyed.”
Still silence.
“The frontline commander has been confirmed dead.”
Finally…
Crack.
A corner of the bone seat was crushed directly beneath an enormous hand. Cold sweat appeared on the Veylor member’s forehead.
“However, the Church has already changed the plan. They want a full scale assault tonight. As long as we can keep the elves from paying attention to the interior of the Sacred Forest, everything they promised will still be delivered.”
The enormous goblin slowly lowered its head, and a pair of dark red eyes settled upon him.
“What I want…” A deep, hoarse voice echoed throughout the cavern. “Isn’t that pile of worthless scrap.”
The Veylor member’s body stiffened slightly. “Then what do you mean…”
The enormous goblin slowly rose from its seat. Its nearly three meter body unfolded completely, and an aura far surpassing that of the previous goblin commander instantly engulfed the entire cavern.
The surrounding goblins that had still been moving all stopped. Then, one after another, they knelt.
The enormous goblin looked toward the end of the cavern. There, a black spear stood embedded in the ground, clearly not something goblins could have forged. Across the shaft, dark crimson patterns slowly pulsed like a heartbeat.
“Tell those humans. I want what’s beneath the elves’ Sacred Tree. They promised me. Once the war begins, that place belongs to me.”
The Veylor member immediately lowered his head. “Understood.”
The enormous goblin extended one hand and grasped the black spear.
Boom!
The entire underground cavern suddenly shook. Countless goblins raised their heads simultaneously.
The next moment, a deep roar resounded throughout the entire nest from the depths underground.
“War.”
BOOM!
Thousands upon thousands of goblins raised their weapons at the same time. And within the deeper darkness, pair after pair of eyes slowly opened.