Chapter 229: Migration (Part 1)

  Southwest of Erathia, on the edge of the Tulalion Forest. A middle-aged man dressed as a farmer was resting in the shade of a large tree. Beside him was a basket of harvested berries. The midday sun was not harsh. Through the gaps in the leaves, it scattered upon that face which seemed to have long been worn down by a poor, monotonous, and dull life, leaving it with little vitality. His face held a unique serenity, one that was steeped in a tranquil life. Perhaps this basket of berries was enough for his family's food and clothing for a week.

  The Tulalion Forest was the domain of the elves, and few people lived nearby. This farmer seemed to be merely passing by and resting here. Around him, there were only the chirps of birds mixed with the sound of the wind rustling by. The world was a picture of natural tranquility.

  A strange sound suddenly came from the depths of the forest, breaking the surrounding tranquility. It wasn't a very loud sound, but the ground was trembling slightly. Countless birds in the forest took flight in alarm, and immediately after, animals began to run out one after another.

  The man, who looked like a farmer, abruptly stood up from the ground. Watching as many animals ran past him, a hint of surprise appeared on his dull face.

  After this strange tremor, something seemingly like the wind, yet even more formless than the wind, spread outwards from the center of the forest, sweeping over every inch of space in this entire region.

  The farmer's dull face was now completely overtaken by an expression of astonishment. His gaze towards the depths of the forest was as if he were witnessing a miracle of a creator god. Then, in the next moment, his movements completely transcended the realm of a farmer. With an agility greater than an ape's, he leaped onto the large tree and quickly climbed to the top. This was a tree much taller than the others, which was why he had chosen to rest beneath it, and now he could see some of the sights deep within the forest from its crown.

  A vast, blue light condensed deep within the forest, refusing to disperse. Even the clouds in the sky seemed to turn blue under its reflection. A continuous, strange ripple emanated from there, filling the entire space of the region.

  There was another strange sound and a tremor of the ground. It seemed not to be a tremor brought by the sound, but a sound brought by the tremor. It was as if a gigantic monster was moving deep within the forest.

  At this moment, the farmer no longer seemed like a farmer, but like a lizardman warrior who had honed his skills in the jungle for decades. He darted and leaped through the bushes with a speed and agility that could not be matched by apes, rushing towards the heart of the forest. The depths of this forest were the largest elven settlement on the continent, and the elves' nature was not fond of humans, with a strange magical barrier preventing their approach. But this farmer, who was not like a farmer, was now rushing with great urgency and haste, as if hundreds of thousands of baskets of berries were waiting for him to harvest there.

  The immense tremors and sounds occurred at a fixed frequency. But after only a dozen or so occurrences, the sound disappeared. Then the entire forest returned to silence, and this time, because almost all the birds and beasts had been scared away, this silence was a deathly quiet without the slightest sound.

  At a speed approaching that of a flying bird, it did not take long for the farmer to arrive at the periphery of the elven settlement. But here, there seemed to be no protection or obstruction. He hesitated only for a moment before charging into the elves' territory.

  The trees in the deepest part of the forest were the tallest and stoutest. Upon them, countless exquisite treehouses that were seamlessly integrated with the trees, along with other structures unique to the elves, formed a fantastic scene that could be seen nowhere else. But the strangest thing about this fantastic scene now was that it was empty. There was not a single trace of an elf, or even an animal, to be found here. It was, surprisingly, a silent landscape.

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  There was no longer the slightest dullness on the farmer's face. It was replaced by the look of a lone wolf wandering in the wilderness. He strolled leisurely through this silent, fantastic scene. His gaze wandered and scanned the ground, the surrounding trees, and even the sky. The farmer knew that the enormous blue light that had erupted here was gone. Although he couldn't see the moment the blue light in the sky dissipated while running through the forest, he could feel the dissipation of that ripple. Although he had felt such a ripple, he was not entirely confident in what he had perceived.

  When he walked to a stone platform in the center of the elven city, he finally stopped, staring blankly at it. On the platform was the trace of a huge magic array, about ten meters in diameter. He could tell that it should have once been a teleportation magic array. But now, the magical gems on the array were completely gone. In the center, where the most precious Star-Eye had originally been, there was a pile of blue dust.

  On the ground next to the stone platform, there was a sizable depression, as if something enormous had pressed down on it. And about twenty meters away, there was another similar one, and then another more than twenty meters beyond that. Such depressions continued in one direction, as if they were the footprints of some colossal creature. The tremors and sounds from earlier seemed to explain this very well.

  Following these strange footprints, the farmer arrived at an open clearing with no trees. To be precise, it was not so much an open space as a colossal pit. This pit had a diameter of about a kilometer and a depth of over a hundred meters. From the color of the soil in the pit, one could know it was newly formed.

  A footstep sounded from behind the farmer. The footsteps were light but approached quickly. The silent environment made them very clear. The farmer did not turn around. The footsteps stopped on their own behind him.

  "My lord, I did not find a single elf. Not just elves, even unicorns, griffon steeds, and other animals are gone."

  The speaker was a man in his forties, dressed as a hunter. But this hunter now stood with his hands at his sides behind the farmer, a posture not befitting a hunter. The farmer did not answer, but instead frowned at the enormous pit before him. In front of this pit, the two of them were no different from a pair of ants.

  One after another, a few more people walked from various corners of the elven city towards this spot. These people were all dressed in ordinary clothes, either as farmers or hunters. They were also not young, all around forty years of age, seemingly the kind of common folk, peddlers and porters, toiling in obscurity in their ordinary lives. But the aura revealed on each of their faces now was something that ten thousand such common folk combined could not match. They all reported similar situations to the hunter from before. They had actually arrived here simultaneously from different directions within the Tulalion Forest.

  One hunter reported, "But we have not yet found the War Ancient Tree that Your Majesty mentioned. This subordinate will go search for it now..."

  "There's no need to look. This is the location of that War Ancient Tree." The farmer pointed at the pit that was so large it could hardly be called a pit.

  Everyone's face showed varying degrees of shock and fear. They could all see that if this pit was formed by a tree being removed, the tree must have been of an unimaginable size. And how such a large tree could have been vanished from this spot in such a short time was even more unimaginable.

  "This mission is over. I will go back and report to His Majesty. You may all return."

  The farmer's eyes were still fixed on the giant pit. He took a teleportation scroll from his robes and opened it.

  Celeste, The Radiant Citadel, within the Pope's study.

  His Majesty the Pope was now sitting at his desk. The most powerful man on the continent was now playing with a pile of blue dust on his desk like a child. The person standing behind him now was not Lancelot, but a knight with a calm and peaceful expression that was almost dull. Apart from the Radiant Battleplate that signified his status as a Temple Knight, he possessed none of the dazzling spirit of other Temple Knights. Standing not far from the desk were the newly arrived Inham·Erney Marquis and Bishop Adela.

  "Marquis, can you tell what this is?" the Pope asked, twirling the dust between his fingers. Although there was a smile on his face and the study window was open, with sunlight shining directly in, there was a somewhat chilly atmosphere in the room.

  "Your Majesty, you may just call me by my name. Worldly titles are but a pile of dust before you. I am endlessly grateful for Your Majesty allowing this commoner to temporarily reside in The Radiant Citadel during this time, and I wish to offer my humble services to you." The Marquis bowed gracefully. He stepped forward, picked up some of the powder, and examined it closely, a hint of surprise appearing on his face. "This... seems... it should be Stardust... but strangely, there isn't the slightest magical fluctuation on it."

  "This was just brought back from the Tulalion Forest by Knight Tamika. Oh, by the way, the Tulalion Forest is now completely empty. It seems that in a period around noon today, all the elves who originally lived in the forest have disappeared." The Pope's words seemed calm, but an indescribable coldness seeped from the depths of his voice and expression, permeating every bit of air in the study.

  The Marquis's expression remained humble and peaceful, but Bishop Adela couldn't help but show a look of surprise. His first surprise was not the disappearance of the elves, but that His Majesty the Pope could have known so quickly. Tulalion was not right next to Celeste.

  The Knight Tamika now standing behind His Majesty the Pope, although a Temple Knight, was not under Lancelot's command and took his orders directly from the Pope. He almost never appeared in public, and even within Celeste, few people knew of him.