Chapter 77 - I dedicate my life and soul!
As soon as Blackstone raised the bone fragment, Eve understood why she had previously been so anxious.
High-level magic! Blackstone possessed a high-level divine technique! [Hunting Arrow] was an eight-grade spell unique to high priests who believed in Ullr.
The magic spell's special ability was that it would never miss. It created an energy arrow from which more energy arrows would spawn. This ranged attack was capable of striking nearby targets with 100% precision.
It was a true intermediate Gold-level attack! Even Eve's current avatar, if caught off guard, would not have been able to deal with an attack of this level.
In the worst case, it would have destroyed the soul storage orb, which had not been fully repaired yet, causing the destruction of her avatar.
And it had hit the oak guard Berserker, who merely possessed intermediate Silver strength.
As the arrows exploded, the dazzling light and ear-shattering noise drowned out everything.
A powerful storm of energy raged, blowing away the surrounding trees and wreaking havoc.
All the players were blinded and deafened. When the light faded and calm returned, the battlefield had completely changed.
The place where Berserker had been standing had been turned into a huge crater with a radius of over ten meters. The soil had been overturned and white smoke was still rising from the area.
Berserker had half of his body directly destroyed. He had fallen to the ground and was dying.
Oak guards truly had great tenacity and vitality. Even an eight-grade divine spell had not killed him, but he had still been rendered completely incapacitated.
Another reason was that Blackstone only had lower Silver strength. Furthermore, he was not a spellcaster and only had a vague grasp of divine magic.
If Hunting Arrow had been cast by a lower Silver priest, the resulting blow would have wiped out everyone including the players.
But even so, the battle state of the elves was beyond miserable.
Alice had also fallen to the ground, her abdomen having been pierced by an energy arrow. Blood was continuously flowing out of the hole.
Meanwhile, half of the players had simply been vaporized under the energy arrows, and not even a trace of their bodies remained.
The remaining half, although they were lucky to not have died, were lying on the ground. They were badly wounded and out of action ...
The only unscathed elves were Al and his two elf sisters, who had been protected by the berserking Demacia and had as a result managed to escape death.
A single blow, just a single blow! Although it did not cause a total wipeout, it had basically produced the same result.
Less than 30 players were alive, and all of them had lost their combat effectiveness.
The only two remaining Silver combatants were also dying … only Blackstone and a dozen half-orcs still capable of fighting were left on the battlefield.
The area was far away from the players' safety zone, some fifty kilometers.
Even if the players were resurrected, they could not possibly come over in time.
Even if they could, the players had lost their high-end battle power and were left without any cards to play against the Silver-rank Blackstone.
The surviving elves struggled and looked at the half-orcs with pale faces.
They looked bewildered, as if they hadn't recovered yet from the explosion.
How could the battlefield situation have been reversed in an instant? How did everything flip completely when they were about to win?
"What a dogsh$t plot development, f$ck!"
Looking at the miserable scene in front of him, Demacia cursed as he spat out blood.
"Big brother Demacia!"
With a worried expression, Al helped the pale-faced Demacia get on his feet. Al looked at the horrific and hideous wounds on his body with a helpless expression.
There was nothing more painful than for one's hopes to reach a climax, only to then have them crushed beyond repair.
Al had recognized the legendary figure of the oak guard at first sight.
And he also had gotten excited by the tenacious and fanatical elves around him, as well as by the exalted and great Silver priest saint.
Could it be that the Mother Goddess, as Grandfather had referred to Her, had truly returned? Al had been ecstatic and felt something resembling hope brewing in his chest.
But then, events had taken a sharp turn for the worse and his hope plummeted
... The half-orcs were so evil and powerful.
Attacked by divine magic, the followers of nature could be overwhelmed like that
... Al felt despair.
"Grandpa ... is there really hope at all for us?"
Supporting Demacia who kept coughing up blood, Al's eyes were bewildered as he clenched his fist and bit his lips until they bled.
Blackstone was stunned as well by the sheer power of the divine bone fragment in his hand.
"Eight-grade ... It actually was an eight-grade technique ..." He muttered a few words with an ecstatic expression.
His original plan was actually to sneak away after using the bone fragment, but he hadn't expected such a result! Looking around at the miserable state of the elves, the dying oak guard and the unconscious priest, the corners of Blackstone's mouth rose slightly.
"Heh ... heh heh heh ... hahahaha!"
He couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"It seems that the followers of nature aren't as strong as the legends say!"
His heart gradually settled.
And ... even if the World Tree had recovered, it probably only happened recently.
The World Tree that had just been revived must be extremely weak, otherwise… why would it have the elves perform ruses and acts of deception? If the World Tree was weak, the strength of their followers were of course also limited.
Oh ho ... It looked as if he was going to be rewarded big time now!
"The World Tree has revived … the protective magic that was applied to the body when she fell a thousand years ago must finally have been broken. For Father God, this is a great opportunity!"
Blackstone's eyes flashed and his expression gradually became frenzied.
Hehe, this time, I am destined to receive the divine favour of Father God!"
He took a deep breath, and gave a command to his men who were also in shock:
"Take those three little elves and go!"
Now that he had figured out their secret, there naturally was no need to take prisoners.
What's more, Blackstone suspected that the elves had some way of locating their companions ... otherwise how could their locations have been exposed over and over again? But he certainly was not going to let go of three young elves.
They were the best merchandise!
Hearing Blackstone's command, the half-orcs looked at each other and nodded with a look of excitement.
They walked over to where Al was, roughly grabbed his two sisters and him, and carried them on their shoulders.
"Let me go! You evil bastards! Let me go!"
Al yelled as he struggled.
But he could not break free.
He raised his head and looked in the direction of the World Tree with a sad look.
"Mother Goddess…do you really exist?"
"If you really exist, then why do you just watch on as your followers are dying in battle ...
If you really exist, then why can't you protect your believers…
This … is your territory!"
He shouted, cried and screamed at the same time.
Watching the plight of the elves, the unconscious priest of nature and the dying oak guard, his expression gradually became sad again.
"Mother Goddess ... If you can hear me, please save your servants!"
Al raised his head with a determined expression.
"I ... Al Moonlight, am willing to swear by my soul to dedicate my entire life and soul to You and become Your most faithful servant. If ... if You can protect us ... if You can save us!"
Saying that, he stretched out his hand while struggling and, recalling his grandfather's movements from memory, slowly drew a tree-shaped symbol on his chest.
"Mother Goddess ... Please… perform a miracle!"
His childish voice, which rang out loud in the silent forest, carried far and wide ... Looking at Al, who kept struggling, Blackstone revealed a cold smile.
Before the half-orc could say anything, however, an ethereal, quiet sigh suddenly could be heard in the hearts of everyone.
*Sigh*
A radiant holy light suddenly burst forth from Al's body!
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