326 Awakening
The Oak Council’s forest druids filed in through the door and surrounded the individuals who remained in the Canopy Temple.
Garet Wolfspeak, the Holy Tree Duke’s clerk, promptly rose to his feet and warmly greeted the elderly man who was leading the group and appeared a bit unsteady on his feet.
“Lord Enso Oak, I don’t recall the Oak Council having a scheduled visit here today. What brings you and so many others here?”
Garet disregarded the other individuals who were standing guard around him and only gazed at the forest druid whose treeification symptoms were exceedingly severe. It was as if this individual was the only one worth being cautious of among everyone present.
Enso, the elder, didn’t look at the clerk in front of him. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder at Floral, who was lying on the altar.
As if confirming that his target was present, the elderly man slowly withdrew his gaze and turned to face the stern middle-aged man in front of him.
“We have important matters to discuss with the Holy Tree Duke.”
Having said that, he took a step forward and attempted to bypass Garet to reach the altar, but the latter immediately extended his hand and stopped him.
“Perhaps you believe that this level of explanation suffices…”
Garet spoke while also glancing at Floral lying on the altar. He then looked back at the elder before him.
“However, regrettably, the duke is currently resting. Additionally, she had previously instructed that she won’t meet with any outsiders until she awakens.”
Garet’s tone was very courteous but carried a tone of warning.
Enso, the elder, raised his hand to halt the individuals behind him. He then glanced at the person with the wolf tattoo on his face and spoke in a lowered voice.
“Are you kidding me? The Holy Tree Duke came to the Canopy Temple solely to rest on the altar here? And among the guards protecting her are the Eighth Order’s executioner and the next leader chosen by the Blind Sisters?”
“The reason is complicated and can’t be explained in a short time… When the duke awakens, she will explain everything to all the Forest Elves. However, before that, we were instructed that no one should disturb her. Therefore, please depart with the people from the Oak Council present here to avoid unnecessary conflict.”
Garet’s response was very composed despite the other party’s doubts.
Enso’s expression kept shifting. Finally, he wore an expression that implied he wouldn’t beat around the bush with Garet. He lowered his voice and stated, “Wait for her to wake up? Can the duke even wake up? Don’t assume I can’t tell that Floral, who’s lying on that altar, is merely a corpse. Didn’t you bring her here to perform the Holy Communion ritual?”
Upon hearing this, Garet was startled. He had actually forgotten about this in his anxiety.
He had only learned of Duke Floral being a lich during the confrontation at the Holy Tree Matriarch Temple.
However, amidst the barrage of even more astonishing information at that time—the descent of the Eighth Holy Spirit, the impending destruction of Ravenwood, and the true origins of the Holy Tree Matriarch being the Moon Realm Void Sovereign—Floral’s status as a lich didn’t appear particularly shocking. In comparison, the fact that the supreme leader of Emerald Province was a high-level undead could be considered a harmless detail. It was merely icing on the cake.
Furthermore, without the duke’s lich physique, they wouldn’t have a reliable way to travel through the timeline to the true origins of the Forest Elves to prevent the impending disaster.
However, how did the forest druids from the Oak Council perceive it?
“If it weren’t for the empire embassy’s reminder, I wouldn’t have thought that you would resort to such tactics. But to be honest, it’s a clever idea… If I can’t vanquish the other party with sheer strength, I’ll gain her trust before attacking. Is it because of your son, who was nearly sentenced to death, or is it something else? Never mind, I’m not interested in knowing the reason…”
As Enso spoke, he extended his hand and patted Garet’s shoulder as if to comfort him.
“But regardless, that’s all you can do. Don’t blame us for stealing the kill. Floral Kane is the most suitable vessel for awakening the Matriarch in the past 500 years. If it weren’t for the fact that her human adoptive parents taught her magic and that she had completely forsaken the power of the forest’s legacy, coupled with the fact that Hobien Ebony would rather die than accept his responsibility as the Father of the Wild and marry the Matriarch’s vessel…”
Enso’s tone was filled with regret.
In short, you can swagger out of the main door of this temple now. We can even give you an hour to go home and pack your things. Then, we’ll permit you to bring your son and your mistress—if you have one—out of Holy Tree City.”
The elderly man regarded the clerk with the pity and compassion of an elder toward a younger individual.
Upon seeing this, Garet had no intention of correcting the other party’s misconceptions. Instead, he inquired, “You mentioned that the empire’s embassy reminded you? What did they say?”
The elder chuckled and replied, “This is what happens when your cleverness backfires. Since she relied on the empire’s assistance and human magic to reach this point, she naturally can’t evade their surveillance. You must have heard of the Astral Council’s spell…”
“Resound,” Garet muttered dejectedly.
The Astral Lighthouse was employed to monitor the imprints of all magic chanters. The demise of any magic chanter would be recorded. Garet had known about this for a long time, but he had always believed that a spell of that caliber was insignificant for Duke Floral, who had already reached the Divine Realm.
Wait a minute…
With this thought in mind, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Ignoring the possibility that the Resound spell might not be effective on magic chanters at the duke’s level, it was still uncertain if she was even in the Astral Laws system… How could Resound determine the state of life and death?
Lady Floral wasn’t dead!
Or rather, she was already considered dead when she was transformed into a lich.
In any case, Resound shouldn’t be activating at this time.
Footsteps behind him snapped Garet out of his reverie. He spun around and saw Nizemar, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, approach.
“The Resound spell was just a decoy. It was only used to lead them here.”
As Nizemar spoke, she drew a silver-white rapier from her waist and assumed a combat stance.
This visit to the Canopy Temple had been completely clandestine. If the possibility of a traitor among them was ruled out, the only ones who could have found them so quickly were the tree spirits who could communicate internally through the World Root system.
Nizemar still remembered that the Presiding Judge had explained to her that only forest druids had a means of communicating with tree spirits.
In other words, these individuals from the Oak Council were merely being used by the individuals from the empire’s embassy.
Nizemar bellowed in the direction of the Canopy Temple’s entrance, “Stop hiding. Someone here has already spotted you. Are you foolish enough to hide from the Eyes of God?”
“I just want this issue to be resolved peacefully,” a helpless male voice suddenly spoke. At the entrance of the Canopy Temple, a middle-aged man in the bishop robe of the Holy Spirit Mother slowly materialized from spinning fallen leaves.
Nizemar gasped slightly when she saw who it was.
She recognized the person before her, one of the three cardinals of the Second Order. He was the leader of a sect linked to the Mother’s trinity—return to the Mother, devouring, and frontalness.
The sole prophet of the Return Church, a believer blessed by the Holy Spirit Mother, Sigmond Abyss.
Nizemar swallowed slightly.
Apart from Floral, who was still in a deep slumber, no one present could match the person in front of them.
However, that wasn’t a reason for her to back down—the order the Presiding Judge had given her previously was to safeguard Floral’s body before they returned.
Perhaps the other party was a believer deeply favored by the Second Holy Spirit, but she was also a favored one who had received personal guidance from the Eighth Holy Spirit. She didn’t believe she would lose to anyone in terms of faith and piety.
“I have only one objective here. If you don’t impede me, I assure you that nobody’s life will be in peril,” Sigmond said politely, as if he had known from the start that she was in charge.
“What is it?” Nizemar inquired politely.
“Bring the duke on the altar with us,” the person stated succinctly.
“You know that this is the only thing we can’t concede to,” Nizemar responded.
As she spoke, she immediately prepared for the battle.
Although there was a significant strength disparity between her and the other party, it wasn’t impossible for her to buy time with the tools and summoned creatures left behind by the Presiding Judge.
However, the person merely shrugged and said, “Then why don’t we ask for her opinion?”
“Ask whom?” Nizemar questioned in confusion.
“Ask herself,” Sigmond replied, pointing to Floral, who was motionless on the altar.
The next moment, her fingers at the edge of the altar began to tremble slightly.
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