Above the lush trees, a mass of dark green mist resembling storm clouds drifted over, arcs of lightning flickering within—like nature's fury made manifest.
The mist contracted sharply, condensing into a young wood elf who landed before
"Martha, repeat what you just said. They accused you of summoning demons?" Felagond didn't spare
As he spoke, the "Felipe's Right Hand" and the numerous grotesque blood vessels on Martha's face withered away, drifting to the ground like autumn leaves and rotting into mud.
Martha spoke through clenched teeth, brimming with hatred: "Simply because of the 'Dance of Vengeance' and the detailed instructions for each movement, they concluded it was a ritual to summon demons! Could any summoning ritual truly be so simple and so ridiculous?"
Felagond clearly knew about the "Dance of Vengeance." A layer of flickering lightning appeared in his eyes, and the aura of a legendary druid seemed to merge with the surrounding natural environment. As his gaze swept across them, Yurisian, Felipe, and Heidi felt the trees beneath their feet trembling, the air contracting, the dark clouds gathering—and themselves rejected by the very world!
Under this pressure, even Avaris—the thick-skinned, carefree crystal dragon—found his nerves strung tight and his voice caught in his throat. So when
At Felipe's severed wrist, flesh squirmed and a new right hand grew back—pale in color and shimmering with a watery sheen, as though freshly born from a mother's womb. His short hair swept backward as though facing a raging hurricane, his body taut and trembling slightly, yet he held his head high and refused to lower it: "There… is a book."
Airestine, who hadn't felt the pressure, quickly added: "The Parliament provided a copy of *
The Strulpu Forest lay on the western shore of the Endless Ocean. Though separated from Viken—situated in the border region between the Holm Kingdom and the Baryana Kingdom—by an entire kingdom's distance, for beings of legendary power, such a distance might well be called neighboring. Therefore, the long-lived elves were no strangers to Viken, and since learning from the Magic Parliament that he had become the Pope, they had grown only more attentive.
"*Viken's Special Summoning Ritual*?" Felagond narrowed his eyes and beckoned. An ancient, weathered book flew from an elf's hands and hovered before him.
The Nature Hatred faction's primary enemies were humans who destroyed nature, and the Church of the
Martha shrieked: "Lord Felagond, don't believe their words! Who knows if this summoning ritual was really written by Pope Viken! Who knows if the Pope is even Viken!"
Felagond leafed through the book roughly, his expression growing solemn: "Though it's absurd and laughable, this ridiculousness has an eerie, uncanny quality. I once read *Allegory of Pain*—it twisted every positive emotion, filling one with pain and hatred."
The long-lived elves had read a great many books, but *Viken's Special Summoning Ritual* was too much like a child's prank, so it had never received their serious attention.
Seeing Felagond's tone soften, Airestine flew Martha's music notes over to him as well: "Lord Felagond, you can compare the two."
"Lord Felagond, they're slandering me!" Martha's lips trembled as she repeated over and over.
"There are some similarities, but Martha's explanation is also perfectly valid. Writing the movement instructions in more detail isn't wrong." Felagond instinctively continued to defend Martha. "We can't accuse her of summoning demons and being the source of the Spirit Tree's contamination based on this alone. A more thorough investigation must be conducted."
"Exactly, Lord Felagond. We were merely expressing suspicion and hoping Lady Martha would cooperate with our follow-up investigation." Airestine silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Martha shook her head vigorously: "Lord Felagond, they'll fabricate evidence! The Nature Balance faction wants to use human hands to strike at us!"
Felagond's expression changed. After a moment's deliberation, he said: "Airestine, I don't trust humans. So I will personally interrogate Martha."
A faint smile appeared on Martha's face.
But Felipe and Yurisian both felt this was problematic—how could they know whether Felagond was in cahoots with Martha?
Airestine felt her mind was about to crack. Her side didn't trust Felagond, and Felagond's side didn't trust the humans or the Nature Balance faction. In that case, no matter what the interrogation yielded, no one would find it convincing.
"I will take Martha to the Spirit Tree for interrogation." Felagond made the decision on his own. Airestine wanted to stop him but hesitated, unsure how to word it—she could hardly say, *Lord Felagond, we're also suspicious of you.*
"Wait." At that moment, a voice drifted down from midair again as Lansir and Atalant's figures slowly materialized—they had made it back in time!
Lansir carried a "makeshift short bow" woven from tree branches in his hand and landed between Felagond and Martha: "Felagond, you're the leader of the Nature Hatred faction. If you interrogate Martha, I highly doubt anything meaningful will come of it!"
Heidi and Annick let out quiet sighs of relief upon seeing Atalant's return. They had seemed composed before, but facing a legendary powerhouse head-on was truly terrifying—one wrong move and they felt they would be swallowed by nature itself.
Avaris pulled a light green fruit from beneath his belly, flicked out his tongue, rolled it into his mouth, and used the delicious treat to comfort his wounded spirit.
Felagond glared at Lansir with undisguised fury: "You suspect I'm the mastermind?"
"This isn't about suspicion—it's about basic recusal. Felagond, surely even you understand that much?" Lansir and Felagond had never gotten along, so his tone was pointedly aggressive.
Felagond was silent for a moment, then said: "Then let Her Majesty the Empress conduct the interrogation. I don't trust you either."
Lansir didn't bring up the matter of the Nameless Town, simply nodding: "Then I'll take Martha to the Spirit Tree."
Felagond said nothing, expressing his displeasure and tacit agreement with a cold snort.
Lansir turned toward Martha: "You will receive a fair inquiry."
Hearing these words, Martha suddenly burst into frenzied laughter. The dark cyan patterns on her skin rapidly spread, instantly covering every exposed inch of her body. At the same time, her eyes turned vivid red—bizarre and hollow—and demonic scales began creeping downward from the corners of her eyes.
"Fallen into demonic corruption…" The watching elves were stunned.
"A hate demon possessing her?" Felipe murmured.
"Lord Felagond, run!" Martha wailed in a shrill, agonized scream. "They've discovered the secret of the Dance of Vengeance!"