Wizard: Stronger through Marriage

Chapter 1236: Chapter 573: Element Trial_2

They defended the final battleground with their lives, but were ultimately unable to resist cruel fate.

The air was thick with the scent of blood and the cold smell of rusted iron, as if something was tightly gripping his heart.

What was even more shocking was that he carefully noticed the hidden insignia on the enemy’s robes—a small badge formed of twisted black crescent shapes, with a dark red gem embedded in the center.

This insignia was unlike any known mark of the Church or the Elemental Council, and exuded a mysterious and highly threatening unfamiliarity.

This discovery felt like a heavy hammer striking his chest, making each of his nerves tremble, and rendered the chaotic and tragic scene sharper and more vivid, piercing through the barriers of space and time as if truly happening.

David’s body shook slightly, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he instinctively gripped his magic staff to stabilize his precarious mental state.

"Does this... could this mean... there is a more complex, more insidious force behind our enemy?" His voice was low and hesitant, his eyes showing a red ripple due to intense emotional turmoil.

However, this sudden mental shock also completely cut off the communication channel he was trying to establish with the Wind Elemental Spirit.

The whispers that once drifted in the space, carrying a sense of natural rhythm, disappeared suddenly, leaving only a suffocating and uneasy atmosphere shrouded all around.

The Wind Elemental Spirit swooped down evasively, hovering in an alert posture, while the other three elements also withdrew their brilliance due to abnormal fluctuations, enveloping the entire root projection area back into a heavy and solemn atmosphere.

Liliana noticed David’s sudden change in expression and quickly stepped forward to support his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, but he only shook his head slowly, not responding. She understood that this sudden vision touched the deepest unhealed scar of pain in his heart, like a brand forever etched in the depths of his soul, impossible to erase or fade no matter how hard he struggled.

"We can’t stop," she said firmly, with a complex emotion flashing in her eyes, "This is a trial, and your test."

She sighed lightly, "Perhaps that’s precisely why this ancient tree’s will is showing such a stern side."

David closed his eyes, breathing heavily to adjust his rhythm. He knew he had to forcibly seal these painful images away, or he would not only lose his sanity but potentially put the whole team in jeopardy.

He clenched his fists around the magic staff, using his indomitable will to suppress his inner turmoil, yet it was undeniable how those dark memories were crawling, like creeping vines, dragging him to the edge of the Abyss.

Gradually, he used all his strength to stabilize, and when he opened his eyes again, his gaze was firm but laden with heaviness.

"I’m ready," he said, "Next, we must uncover the truth behind these symbols and gather strength for a genuine counterattack in the future."

Liliana nodded in support, taking out some Rune Scrolls from her bosom, passed down through generations by ancient forest priests, whose symbols seemed to correspond with the information they were now encountering.

These Scrolls might be the key to unlocking communication barriers, yet they were also filled with unknown challenges, and the deeper they went, each step heralded a more severe trial waiting to unfold...

David’s heartbeat pounded like war drums, and the bloody and smoky vision of Frost Wolf Castle still lingered before him, soaking every inch of air, sparking the raging fire of revenge within him.

The flame of anger engulfed his reason, he could almost feel his mental bridge on the verge of collapse, with the platform to communicate the World Tree’s will possibly crumbling at any moment.

At this critical juncture, an extraordinary atmosphere diffused within the Path of Roots.

The intertwining aerial roots trembled slowly, forming a broad natural canopy, with azure light flickering in the verdant green, like vast stars adorning the gaps between the leaves.

The air carried the moist scent of earth and fragrant grasses, intermixed with a suffocating solemnity that was eerily ancient to the extreme.

Suddenly, an invisible stream of information quietly circulated in the depth of David’s mind, neither in language nor in sound, but as a grand and impersonal existence—

It traversed the boundaries of time and space, infusing the millennial accumulation of information from the World Tree into his consciousness core.

This was the first time this vast and mysterious stream tried to "converse," conveying the most fundamental and stringent truths about life, destiny, and the Natural Law.

"Revenge," the voice whispered like an ancient forest in the wind, yet as vast as the pulsing cosmos, "is the source of destruction of balance, a poison that infects the foundation of life.

Every time the imperishable flame burns because of hatred, it’s consuming yourself and corroding the Heart of the Earth."

David kept his eyes tightly shut as the information cleaved his Soul like a blade, allowing him to feel the World Tree’s indomitable and unquestionable power: "Natural cycle is the reincarnation of life and death, the great path of coexistence and mutual prosperity of all things.

If obsessed with destruction, like a flood unchecked, it will ultimately engulf your own self;

Only by letting go of revenge and dedicating strength to balance can you achieve true awakening."

These words carried no emotion but struck right into the deepest parts of his heart with a heavy weight.

He felt his spirit gradually being stripped away from the mist that enveloped the anger and pain, and the massive structure that tormented his Soul day and night seemed to start to crumble discreetly.

His lips trembled slightly, though he could not utter any sound, allowing thoughts to surge.

Liliana stood silently by his side, her gaze gentle yet firm, a thin green line leaping from her fingertips to wrist like breathing movements, silently supporting his struggle and not interrupting this extremely private and difficult information exchange.

The low-frequency buzzing in the air gradually became clearer, as the Elemental Spirits regrouped to release the rhythm of life, like trickling streams converging into surging rivers, containing infinite possibilities and harmonious rhythms.

This pure primal language between heaven and earth delivered a signal to both of them: At this moment, the human shrouded by the shadow of destruction needed to embrace the baptism of Natural Law and seek anew the source of strength, instead of sinking into the darkness of obsession without self-redemption.

"I..." David slowly opened his eyes, his pupils deep like a dark pool, murmuring softly, "Revenge... is not about forgetting, not about abandoning responsibility, but... learning to transcend the self that only brings darkness and destruction."

He spoke these words with cold sweat on his forehead, yet his expression gradually calming, "I think I must learn to heed this grander, more eternal message, and resonate with nature."

Liliana nodded slightly, gently reaching out and clasping his wrist, the emerald line instantly leaping more brilliantly: "You’ve already taken the first step, not merely facing the past but also choosing the future."

Her smile was faint, yet full of warm strength, "This is what we shoulder together, and it’s the test we must go through for the road ahead."

The surrounding Elemental Spirits gradually dispersed their prior cautious stance, encircling and dancing around the duo in a softer, more graceful manner, as if welcoming old friends who had returned after a long absence.

And those aerial roots emitted a brighter, softer glow, casting rippling projections through the leaves, reflecting scenes of seasonal changes, the cycle of life and death, and the births and endings of all things.

Space-time seemed to become more pliable and extended, each breath synchronized with the earth’s rhythm, making one feel an infusion of a certain purified Holy Spring within and outside the body—

This is belonging, and transformation, a cleansing from past wounds, and even more, an extraordinary ceremony of rebirth beginning.

"May you remember with this heart," that invisible presence again condensed into warm yet still elusive words, "Remember—everything has spirit, nature is the temple;

Only by respecting the cycle can one guard eternity. Killing cannot bring salvation, it would only allow tragedy to become a nightmare in the cycle of fate."

David nodded forcefully, he tightly grasped the magic staff, no longer with the restless anger of the past, but a firm conviction refined from despair.