Read Novel Full Chapter 664: The Ritual [1]
Chapter 664: The Ritual [1]
Everyone turned toward the source of the sound.
A silver green thread had somehow wrapped itself around a branch beside one infiltrator’s foot. Another appeared a short distance away, followed by a third, and within seconds, more of those threads began spreading silently between the surrounding ancient trees.
They connected branches, trunks, and exposed roots until something resembling an enormous spiderweb had formed around the battlefield.
Gabriel glanced toward the threads, and the corner of his mouth rose.
“Looks like…” a slightly mocking voice came from above the canopy. “You really thought only two of us came here.”
The infiltrators looked up.
Edgar stood atop one of the highest branches, and there was someone in his grasp.
It was Matthew. The cardinal’s expression was extremely ugly, but Edgar appeared completely unconcerned as he looked down at the people trapped below.
“Unfortunately, this forest is my home.”
He raised one hand.
Snap.
Every natural mana node that had been prepared throughout the surrounding area lit up at the same time.
Rumble!
The forest began to move. Dozens of enormous roots tore through the ground, twisting between the ancient trees and rapidly sealing every gap that had previously offered the infiltrators an escape route. The transformation continued until even the direction leading toward the old northwestern altar had disappeared behind layers of interlocking roots.
Only then did the infiltrators’ expressions truly change.
The silver masked man violently knocked Crimson Judgement aside and used the resulting force to retreat more than ten meters. As soon as he landed, he turned toward the forest behind him.
The route they had used to enter was gone.
“Aren’t you very familiar with the ancient passages here?” Edgar asked. “Find another one.”
The silver masked man remained silent for less than a second before raising his left hand.
“Mission change.”
Every infiltrator quickly turned toward him.
“Abandon concealment. Break through the blockade. Priority is confirming the target.”
Gabriel rested Crimson Judgement across his shoulder while watching them.
“Finally done running?”
The silver masked man looked toward him, but rather than responding to the provocation, he spoke words that instantly changed Edgar’s expression.
“The Third Defensive Line was only bait. So were the Fifth Outpost Sector and the Seventh Outer Outpost.”
Edgar’s eyes narrowed.
“From the very beginning, all we truly needed was the old northwestern altar.”
The silver masked man raised his head and looked deeper into the forest.
“Because even now, none of you know that what lies beneath that altar isn’t an ordinary abandoned passage at all.”
He paused.
“It connects to the Sacred Tree’s earliest withered root.”
Boom!
Almost the instant those words left his mouth, a gray black pillar of light erupted into the sky from the direction of the old northwestern altar.
The entire Sacred Forest trembled.
At first, it felt like an explosion had occurred somewhere beneath the earth, but Gabriel quickly realized that the sensation was different.
It was the roots.
Countless enormous roots that had remained buried beneath the Sacred Forest for untold years were producing the same deep, resonating tremor at once, spreading the vibration farther and farther through the forest as though something that had remained dormant for centuries had finally been disturbed.
Meanwhile, at the forest core, Sophie stood before the Sacred Root Path when her body suddenly stiffened.
Her hand moved to her chest, and the color quickly drained from her face.
The ancient consciousness that had disappeared not long ago had returned, its voice once again emerging from the deepest part of her soul. Only this time, there was none of the gentleness Sophie had heard before.
…There was only pain.
[…Child.]
[Don’t let them… touch that place.]
Sophie abruptly raised her head.
For the first time, cold killing intent appeared within her golden green eyes.
In the direction of the old northwestern altar, the moment that gray black pillar of light shot into the sky, the Sacred Forest, already thrown into chaos by the war raging along its perimeter, fell into an eerie silence so suffocating that it was almost unbearable.
Every sound belonging to the forest itself had vanished. No insects chirped, no birds called, and no leaves rustled in the night wind. Even the fleeing magical beasts had gone silent, as though every living thing sensed the pain spreading from the injured root beneath the old altar.
The sounds of battle from the distant Fifth Outpost Sector had also faded, but for a different reason. The silver masked captain’s domain hung over the surrounding area, suppressing and muffling any noise that attempted to travel across its boundary.
All that remained was the deep tremor rising from beneath their feet, one pulse after another, as though some enormous life buried in the deepest part of the Sacred Forest were struggling in agony.
Gabriel did not turn to look at the gray black pillar of light.
He simply stared at the silver masked man.
“So that’s what you’re really after.”
The silver masked man didn’t answer.
Thirteen infiltrators had originally entered the forest. One had already been killed, while another lay unconscious and bound beside the severely injured Matthew, leaving eleven still active: the silver masked captain and ten operatives.
The instant the altar transformed, the captain took three operatives toward it while the remaining seven spread out around Gabriel and Edgar, abandoning all pretense of concealment.
Edgar noticed it as well.
“They aren’t here for Sophie?”
“Two objectives,” Gabriel answered calmly. “Sophie is one. Whatever lies beneath that altar is the other.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because if Sophie were their only objective, they wouldn’t need to activate something that would alert the entire Sacred Forest after already confirming that she was inside the core region.”
Gabriel looked at the increasingly dense gray black pillar of light, his blue eyes narrowing slightly.
“They need that place. Or rather… they need that withered root.”
The silver masked man finally spoke.
“You’re very intelligent.”
“That kind of nonsense is usually said by people who are about to die.” Gabriel slowly raised Crimson Judgement.
The silver masked man’s gaze turned cold.
“Stop him.”
The moment his voice fell, all seven operatives attacked at once.