Read Novel Full Chapter 684: Going Below
Chapter 684: Going Below
“Go down?” Edgar had just walked over when he heard Gabriel’s words, and his brows immediately furrowed. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to go underground right now?”
“What else?”
Gabriel took the black spear out of his system space and weighed it in his hand before turning his gaze toward the passage leading deep underground.
“The goblins have just suffered a crushing defeat. Everything down there must be in complete chaos. If we don’t go in now, are we supposed to wait until they reorganize themselves and fight us all over again?”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
Edgar glanced at the corpses scattered across the ground and ultimately chose not to argue.
After all, this battle had indeed ended in an overwhelming victory.
With their commander dead, the goblin army had completely collapsed. Large numbers of goblins had perished near the old altar, while the survivors had fled back underground. For the time being, they probably wouldn’t dare launch another attack.
However, the problem was that nobody knew how many enemies remained underground.
Moreover, Edgar had clearly heard what the Goblin Commander had said before its death.
The World Tree’s roots were actually part of some ancient seal!
This matter had clearly gone far beyond an ordinary goblin invasion.
“Oh, right.”
Gabriel suddenly remembered something.
“What happened to that Church fellow?”
Hearing this question, Edgar’s expression immediately darkened.
“He escaped.”
“Escaped?”
“While you were fighting the Goblin Commander, he took advantage of the chaos on the battlefield and broke through our outer blockade.”
Edgar’s expression grew even uglier.
“That white divine mark was already damaging his body, and his left eye was bleeding. But instead of stopping, he forced out the last of its power and used it to break through the elves surrounding him.”
As he spoke, Edgar couldn’t help clenching his fists.
“Several elves pursued him, but even in such a terrible condition, we couldn’t stop him once he decided to risk everything to escape.”
Originally, they had successfully surrounded the Church’s invaders. As long as they could delay them a little longer, they would have had an opportunity to eliminate their leader completely.
Who could have expected an entire goblin army to suddenly emerge from underground?
And now look at the result.
The Goblin Commander was dead.
Yet the Church’s captain had escaped.
“Forget it.”
Gabriel didn’t seem particularly concerned.
“He can run, but he can’t hide forever. Since we already know they belong to the Church, we’ll have another chance to meet them sooner or later.”
Compared to that, he was much more interested in discovering what exactly lay beneath the World Tree.
Of course, there was also the black spear in his hand.
“Let me have a look.” Edgar noticed the spear in Gabriel’s hand and spoke up.
Gabriel didn’t refuse and simply handed the spear over.
Edgar examined it carefully for a while, then ran his fingers across the patterns engraved along its shaft. Gradually, his brows drew together.
“These patterns… They look somewhat similar to ancient sealing formations.”
“Sealing formations?”
“Yes, but they’re not quite the same.”
Edgar turned the spear, revealing a ring of dark red engravings near its handle.
“Ordinary sealing formations are designed to restrict certain powers. However, the patterns on this weapon seem more like they’re intended to disrupt an existing mana structure.”
“So this could be a weapon specifically designed to break seals?”
“That’s possible.” Edgar nodded. “But I can’t confirm it. At least, with my knowledge, I’ve never encountered craftsmanship like this before.”
Gabriel took back the spear.
“Then I’ll keep it for now.”
With a thought, he stored it in his system space.
Since they couldn’t figure out its purpose for the time being, there was no reason to waste any more time.
He could always investigate it when a suitable opportunity arose.
Just then, Sophie walked over.
The golden green radiance surrounding the young girl had gradually faded, but her complexion remained somewhat pale. Evidently, controlling the forest’s power for such a prolonged period had taken quite a toll on her.
“Gabriel.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to go down with you.”
Gabriel glanced at her.
“Are you sure?”
Sophie nodded.
“Yes. The feelings the World Tree transmitted to me earlier, and those roots underground… I want to see them for myself.”
As she spoke, she looked toward the dark underground passage.
“Besides, if there’s really another seal down there, I might be able to help.”
Naturally, Gabriel understood that Sophie possessed some kind of special connection with the World Tree.
If the underground area involved the World Tree’s ancient secrets, bringing Sophie along would obviously be far more beneficial.
“Alright.” Gabriel nodded. “But if we encounter danger, remember to stay behind me.”
Sophie smiled softly.
“Got it.”
However, Edgar couldn’t help interrupting.
“Hold on. Have you two forgotten to ask me?”
Gabriel turned toward him.
“You’re not coming?”
“Of course I’m coming!”
Edgar replied irritably, “How could I possibly feel comfortable letting you take Sophie into a place like that alone?”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“…”
Edgar was instantly speechless.
This fellow was just as infuriating as ever.
However, he quickly regained his serious expression.
“Let’s make the necessary arrangements here first.”
The three of them didn’t set off immediately.
Although the old altar was temporarily safe, there was still plenty of work to be done.
In particular, the withered primary root remained a problem.
It was one of the World Tree’s seven primary roots, and although the Church’s larger ritual had already failed, the remaining three dark red nails embedded in it were still active.
Edgar had originally intended to pull them out directly, but Sophie stopped him.
“Don’t touch them yet.”
She carefully sensed the root’s condition for a while before explaining, “The primary root is very weak right now. Those nails have been embedded in it for a long time. If we suddenly pull them out, the already damaged sections might tear apart even further.”
Edgar frowned. “So we’re just going to leave them there?”
“For now.” Sophie nodded.
“We need to keep the area protected until we find a safer way to remove them. The ritual has already been stopped, but the nails are still hurting the root.”
As she spoke, Sophie looked toward the surrounding roots, hoping that the forest could gradually stabilize the damaged sections.
After a while, a few faint golden green shoots slowly began emerging from the healthier roots nearby.
Sophie blinked in surprise.
She hadn’t performed any healing technique. The Sacred Forest itself seemed to be responding to her intention, slowly directing what little vitality it could spare toward the damaged area.
Unfortunately, the new growth was extremely weak, and it would take a long time before it could make any meaningful difference.
Still, Sophie couldn’t help feeling relieved.
At the very least, the withered primary root hadn’t completely lost its ability to recover.
Edgar soon arranged for elven guards to remain stationed there.
The three nails still embedded in the primary root were to remain untouched until someone familiar with ancient sealing magic could examine them.
As for the fourth nail, which had been knocked loose during the earlier battle, it was still lying on the altar.
Several roots had already grown around it, isolating the active nail from everything nearby. Edgar assigned additional guards to make sure nobody approached or disturbed it.
At the same time, he dispatched someone to inform Elder Aelira and ask her to gather elves familiar with ancient magic as quickly as possible.
As for Cardinal Matthew Grant and the other captives, they remained under the supervision of several elven guards.
Although Cardinal Matthew was seriously injured, he knew quite a few secrets. They couldn’t allow him to escape or die before questioning him properly.
Once everything had been arranged, the three finally arrived before the underground entrance.
“Let’s go,” Gabriel said as he stepped into the passage.