"It's just ahead."
Xia De and Yin Luna, who were also rushing towards the guardian, noticed from afar that the thirteenth ring warlock of the church had the first round of fighting with the guardian with the words of sublimation. Yin Luna sat on the horse holding the reins, and Xia De hugged her waist from behind.
The two came from behind the guardian, so they inevitably stepped into the black mud that spread like an ocean earlier. However, the undead skeleton horse summoned by the bone whistle with the power of the ancient god was able to run directly on the black mud, and the terrain did not hinder their movement at all.
"We will separate in a while, so don't go together. I still have three holy grails here: Goldstone, Conservation, and Blossom. I'll leave Goldstone and Conservation to you. You also know the formula for making elixirs, so just say you met someone from the Witch Council on the way. If any thirteenth-ring warlock is contaminated by black mud, use this to heal him. I have a new magic that can directly heal the witches, so don't worry."
Xia De said in Yin Luna's ear from behind. Yin Luna's ears were a little red, but her voice was calm:
"No problem, it looks like this is the last one, I wonder what will happen this time."
"I didn't detect any traces of Sister Defulin's spirit fluctuations. The nun should have arrived earlier than us..."
Xia De was a little worried, but at this moment, thousands of slim mud pillars made of filthy black mud suddenly rose into the air from the direction of the battle in the distance, and then gathered into a black sphere in the air as if woven by a clever invisible hand, trapping a figure inside. But then the black mud ball exploded from the middle, and the 12th-level great witch Miss Xiwei Aurora, who was emitting light all over her body, held the birch wood magic wand with a gem on the top that Xia De had touched, and used the silver moonlight of the gem to evaporate the thousands of black mud that tried to trap her again.
At this moment, she was like a goddess radiating light in the snowy night. The bright silver light on the top of the relic wand seemed to replace the moon behind the dark clouds, illuminating all directions. Even every strand of her long brown hair blown by the night wind seemed to be glowing.
However, after repelling the attack, the witch did not fight back, but fell to the ground cautiously. Although Yin Luna and Xia De did not know what this meant, the skeleton horse still carried them in that direction. When the distance was almost right, Xia De gently pushed Yin Luna's back, and then jumped off the skeleton horse. Without saying goodbye, they went in different directions in the snow.
At this point, the disgusting black mud had completely covered the ground, and there was no place to stand. Most of the surrounding trees had turned gray. The forest where Shade was located was not on fire, but the fire not far away could fully illuminate the horrible patterns on the stone dead trees. Faces with closed eyes seemed to be growing out of the trunks of the stone trees.
Walking forward on the black mud, I thought there would be some obstacles, but unexpectedly, I saw the witches gathered together soon, and Luvia was also here.
Seeing Shad coming with the Night Watchman, Luvia hurried over and hugged him. The other ladies had different reactions to this.
"Our doctor friend helped me and Hillis, but he didn't get too close because he was afraid that others would see him."
While hugging, the purple-eyed girl whispered in Shade's ear.
"Where's Sirius?"
Miss Carina and Miss Benannis were both there. Although he couldn't see Miss Aurora and Miss Sylvia clearly, Shade could clearly feel the unique spiritual fluctuations when they were fighting.
However, there was no young girl with blonde hair here.
Luvia pointed ahead of everyone with great concern:
"Over there, it looks like you were right to be worried all along."
"The situation is very complicated. No one can stop the crazy guardian."
Miss Carina's face turned pale, which was caused by excessive consumption of spirit. The battle lasted all night, and she and Miss Benanis both needed to rest. Only Miss Aurora of the twelfth level and Miss Sylvia who had just arrived were still in good condition.
"Are you injured?"
"I'm fine, Karina got a spot of mud on her."
Miss Benanis said, hugging Shade gently, and then pointed at the red-haired witch. The duchess of the North Country was leaning against a gray stone tree at this moment. Although she was in a mess, she still pretended to be strong in front of Shade. She was unwilling to show her weak side in front of Shade, no matter what time it was.
"Shad, the Holy Grail."
Luvia said briefly, and Shade shook his head and walked towards the witch. The warm hug made the red-haired duchess want to cry:
"I'm fine."
Even so, she still wanted to break free from Shade's embrace, but Shade would not let her go:
"Don't worry, I'm here."
Then, Xia De placed his golden finger on the grayish-white part of her neck:
“Active clay.”
The spells gained by absorbing the divinity of the earth are essentially healing abilities. For missing limbs and organs, Shade can replace them with soil, turning the soil into living flesh and blood. As for the petrification symptoms caused by the "crazy earth", he can treat them as long as the person is not dead and the soul has disappeared.
Even if ordinary spells have similar effects of removing petrification, their priority should not be higher than the "petrification" effect of the crazy earth, but Shad's spell comes from the ancient divinity of the earth.
The place where everyone is now is a petrified river valley forest. Luvia's "Power of the Earth·Field of Fertility" and the power of the Witch Council, whose source Shad cannot see clearly, have opened up a small area without black mud.
Looking ahead, the woodland extended not far and disappeared at the bank of the Ailon River in the darkness. The strange open space surrounded by the woodland and the river was where the ceremony of the chosen one would be held.
At this time, a rough stone table was lying alone in the middle of the open space. There were twelve seats next to the table. This was placed in advance after the church learned of the possible location of the ceremony for the chosen one.
The mad guardian of the earth was sitting alone at one end of a long table. On the table in front of him was wriggling black mud fluid that was more terrifying than any filth ever before. The fluid was slowly taking shape into the shape of the Black Holy Grail.
The guardian placed his hands on the table, with the palms facing the horrible fluid.
Because he had seen the real "Heart of the Earth", Xia De could tell at a glance that the essence of the black fluid was the power of the Heart of the Earth.
The snow was getting heavier, and even a first-ring warlock could sense the foul power contained in the gray snowflakes. The gray snow stained the soil, polluting the earth; it stained ordinary people, spreading various diseases; it stained the ring warlocks, and the whispers that followed increased the possibility of everyone going crazy.
The petrified forest with gray snow and the river with floating ice were clearly stained with black mud, but the content of black mud on that piece of open space was extremely low.
This was not because the land was special, but because under the feet of the guardian, the filthy mud seeped into the soil, outlining a huge ritual array on the ground. The overall ritual array was circular, with the Holy Grail in the center. On the inside of the circle, flowers, grass, seeds, fruits, and ancient runes symbolizing soil and stone were slowly taking shape from the black mud.
This is the ancient knowledge that the guardians obtained from the heart of the earth, and it is also a ritual that the crazy guardians try to use to pollute the earth. The reason why the guardians are allowed to perform the ritual is not because people do not want to stop them, but because people cannot stop them at this moment.
Surrounding the open space, there were twelve giants like hills made of mud, each with a different appearance, evenly scattered around the open space at the twelve full hours on the dial. Among those faces, Shad could recognize Mr. Granger, Lathers, and Mr. Fleming, the original founder of the Stonemason Association.
All the mud giant clones had twelve-ring life rings behind them, and facing the attack, none of the twelve left their positions. Shade vaguely understood that the power of all the clones was connected as one, and the crazy guardian standing in the black mud was equivalent to standing in his own maze, so it was not impossible to temporarily block four thirteen-ring and more than ten high-ring warlocks.
After all, even a guardian who hasn't gone crazy is no match for an ordinary thirteen-ring warlock.
Fighting in the air at this time were Miss Maria, the "Dream Witch" whom Shad had seen in the Battle of Pantanal, Ms. Triss Michelle, the "Freedom Singer" from the Church of Peace, two witches from the Witch Council, and some high-level warlocks that Shad did not know.
Everyone gathered at the edge of the petrified forest, in the southeastern part of the clearing. As the life rings glowed in the air, the steam mist almost evaporated all the snowflakes that had not yet landed.
Due to the Guardian's pollution ritual, the space here has become as hard as soil, and using the Words of Sublimation is much more difficult than before, so no one used the Words of Sublimation this time.
The "Dream Witch" Miss Maria held a slender branch in her hand. Under the resonance of the thick whispering elements, she raised the branch in her hand high and let it grow rapidly until it grew into a huge vine right arm floating in the air. The sorceress held it up from below and continued to rise.
That was definitely not an ordinary arm. Shade, who frequently came into contact with the power of the Tree Father, even sensed the power of the "World Tree" from it. The verdant light lit up the night sky, and even touching that light made all the injuries on the body feel like they were healing. The black mud on the ground retreated briefly in the green light, and under the bare snow surface, sprouts of plants actually emerged.
The vigorous vitality that is different from the earth is displayed on the giant arm in the air. The "Freedom Singer" Ms. Therese Michel also landed on that arm, then she bent down and placed her hands on it.
The metal armor with the prayer of "God of War and Peace" attached to it gradually took shape from illusion until it was completely covered on the right arm of the vine.
The two thirteenth-ring warlocks worked together and, with the help of a giant right hand that seemed to be made of an angel-level relic, they crashed diagonally from above into the open space the next moment. The guardian who was sitting at one end of the long table and was slowly shaping the black clay holy grail was in the open space.
But as the twelve huge earth clones raised their arms together, the black mud around the open space gathered together in an instant, forming a dark rock shield above the open space.
Bang~ A huge crashing sound was accompanied by the collision of spirit and energy. For a moment, Xia De even felt that his eardrums were about to be punctured.
But the physical collision was not the essence of this confrontation. The confrontation between the distorted earth and the vitality determined the outcome of this attack.
Green and black light streams, along with the huge shock wave formed by the collision, spread out in the surroundings, while the splattered black mud hit the people around like dense bullets.
The petrified giant trees fell one after another, first being stained by vitality and restored to their original state, but then being stained by black mud and petrified again, and quickly switching between the two.
Shad, who could completely ignore the black mud, immediately stepped forward to block the ladies. The Night Watchman stabbed into the ground, and the golden shield protected everyone.
Of course, the protective ability of the Heaton Seal is not actually that great. It is just that the divine light in Shad’s soul is almost about to overflow at this moment, which makes the magic so effective.
The collision of filth and life caused the four elements to briefly cause strange phenomena in this area. Shade, holding the sword in one hand, looked down at his feet with a sense of relief after Miss Carina and Miss Benanis placed their hands on his shoulders.
Green sprouts emerged from under his feet, but they petrified into stone in the blink of an eye. Then the stone was stained with black mud that gushed out from the roots, and turned into a pitch-black stone snake, but the snake was hit by the green light and turned into a real snake. However, before it could move, it was hit by the blown black mud and turned into a pile of minced meat. The minced meat turned into soil, seeped into the ground and merged into the earth again.
If this was not the suburbs, if the Orthodox Church had not made arrangements in this area in advance, and if the guardians' power was not over-concentrated to suppress the spread of the force of this collision, Shad even believed that the entire Randall Valley City would become history under this blow.
But this attack was ultimately unsuccessful. The two thirteenth-ring warlocks of the church slowly fell back to the ground with the relics that were almost out of control. Four of the twelve earth giant clones of the guardian were shattered, but new "giants" immediately walked out of the black mud to replace them.
The earth is the source of the guardian's power, and the black mud constantly restores his power. Luvia's divination is right, when the guardian stands on the ground, he is almost invincible.
When the smoke and dust cleared, Shade finally saw where Hillis had gone.
In the open space guarded by the twelve giant earth clones of the guardians, in addition to the guardians themselves, Shiris was actually also inside.
The young blonde girl seemed unable to leave. She stood at the edge of the clearing and looked at the guardian who looked like her father. The guardian, who was manipulating the black clay holy grail into shape with both hands, finally looked at her after the attack from the church.
Shade, who had pulled the Night Watchman out of the mud, tried to rush over, but was stopped by Luvia:
"Trust her."
The girl with purple eyes said.
"How did she get in?"
Shade asked, and Miss Carina answered:
"After the two of them joined us, we were together the whole time, but she disappeared in the blink of an eye. It is very likely that the guardian himself 'invited' her in."
The guardian had no intention of hurting Sirius. He stared at the young girl. After a while, the dark color on the places on her chest and back that were touched by Xia De and Yin Luna with the "Fragments of the Heart of the Earth" faded a little, and emotion appeared in those eyes that were devoid of any emotion.
The guardian's stable body began to fluctuate like an illusion. He was still sitting there, with his hands aimed at the black holy grail that was about to take shape, but his head above his shoulders was swaying from side to side. The illusion created by the swaying made him look like he had grown three heads.
And the illusion soon became reality. The upper half of Mr. Lathers' body in soul state seemed to be "shaken out" by the guardian's body. The lower half overlapped with it, while the upper half separated from that body.
Under Sirius's shocked gaze, the soul that had been separated for a short time stretched out its hand towards her with difficulty. At this moment, the pure white light on the soul had a brilliance that even saints could not possess. This was a mark that could not be forged, representing that even the world accepted their sacrifice and contribution.
"Sirius."
The young girl had never expected to see this scene at this moment, and Mr. Lathers, who held out his hand, did his best to speak a complete sentence in a brief moment of clarity:
"The memory connection just now awakened me. The trumpet of doom must not be blown here. If you are willing, join us. We need normal souls to awaken the dormant spark of consciousness."
Only the soul of the upper body was separated from Siris by half an empty space, but the holy white light on the soul had already drifted close to Siris. The light not only illuminated the way forward for her, but also allowed her to see memories, those memories belonging to the guardian.
"What's going on?"
Yin Luna, who had joined the people of the Church of the Sun, also saw the situation in the open space. However, the team of the Church of the Five Gods did not actually join together, but dispersed.
The current leader of this team is Miss Maria, the "Dream Witch" of the Church of Nature. She and Yin Luna, who came in a hurry, worked together to control the dry branches of the Angel-level Relic World Tree that was on the verge of getting out of control.
"The Witch Council has informed us of the situation. If new guardians emerge and voluntarily integrate into the old guardian group, there is a chance that the crazy guardian will be awakened."
Miss Maria said.
This lady looked to be about 35 years old, and she was wearing similar clothing suitable for action and combat as Yin Luna. The only difference was that she wore a wreath of colorful flowers on her head. Yin Luna had seen this lady in the Pantanal Swamp, and she was deeply impressed by her, especially her eyes that seemed to have their own illusions.
No matter who looks into her eyes, they will have to go through the illusion resistance test, otherwise they will automatically fall into a deep sleep.
"Can it really be awakened?"
Yin Luna asked. She had actually heard Luvia talk about this matter, but didn't know all the details.
"According to the church's calculations, the probability is very high. Even if the girl suspected to be from the Witch Council is the next candidate for the Chosen One of the Earth, I can't guarantee it 100%. After all, there is no precedent for such a thing."
The Thirteen Rings Sorceress also looked at the silent Sirius:
"Whatever she does now is her own decision. There is no shortage of people willing to sacrifice, but since she is not a member of the church, we will not encourage such sacrifice."
Yin Luna nodded and handed out the two holy grails in her hands:
"Just now, after I got separated from the team, I met someone from the Witch Council, and they gave me this. The Council shared the formula for the universal earth elixir last time, and this should be useful to us."
Miss Maria nodded, told someone to prepare the medicine now, and sighed softly:
"I am even beginning to suspect that the headquarters of the Witch Council is right here. They are being too active this time... Oh, young lady, this is for you."
She took off the wreath on her head and handed it to Yin Luna, but Yin Luna hesitated and did not dare to take it:
"Ms. Maria, this seems to be from your Natural Church...
"Yes, it is a sacred object of the Church of Nature. It is a wreath made by our Lord God himself when he descended in the year 2201 of the Fifth Era. It is a true divine artifact, inherited by successive ring sorcerers who have mastered the thirteen-ring divine art of resurrecting the spirit of nature. At the same time, this wreath itself also contains the flowers of the four seasons."
Ms. Maria put the wreath on Yin Luna's head with her own hands, and then smoothed her messy hair with a smile:
"Balanced Chosen One, this time, I'm afraid you will be needed to check and balance the Chosen One. But don't worry too much, your church is already prepared..."
She whispered softly in Yin Luna's ear, and Yin Luna's embarrassed expression, which was caused by accepting such an expensive gift, immediately became extremely serious.
At this moment, Sirius Lathers stared at his father in front of him in a daze, then looked down at his hands.
The memories in the white glow were not meant to force her to change her mind, but to tell her the stories of her past guardians. Shade once wondered what kind of situation would make a normal person willing to sacrifice his life and everything. Now Sirius finally knew the answer, because people who came into contact with the Heart of the Earth could see the Heart of the Earth's prophecy about the earth, the prophecy of destruction, disaster and doomsday.
Voluntary sacrifice is not only for the race, for the earth, for the world, but also for protecting all one's loved ones in the world.
Mr. Lathers stared at his daughter, and Hillis finally looked back at the woods, as if he could see the man in the petrified forest in the snow:
"I... ... "
She finally shook her head slightly:
"Father, I know this may sound selfish, but I want to go my own way. And I promised someone that I can't... I can't do this. He also promised me that I don't have to do anything, and he will help me solve all the problems."
Mr. Lathers in the holy white light smiled amiably. He did not ask Siris to do anything else, but finally said:
"You must live your life happily, you must be happy."
The soul was absorbed by the mad guardian again, and Hillis seemed to have entered the clearing inexplicably. She felt a flash in front of her eyes, and then she saw the witches and Shade in the forest. The mad guardian sent her out, obviously because he didn't dare to kill Hillis.
The young blonde girl reached out and hugged Shade, so Miss Carina and Miss Benanis went to look at Luvia, only to see that she was looking at them with a relieved expression.
Since walking with Sirius just now, the guilt and sadness in her heart that she didn't know why finally turned into joy at this moment. Luvia vaguely sensed the traces of fate again and saw that the arc of fate was deflected by Shade.
Behind her, the phantom of Luvia with long hair flashed by. She knew that Shade had once again changed the doomed tragedies that she had never been able to change.
The red-haired Duchess of the North and the blonde opera singer of the South looked at each other, and from Luvia's gratified expression, they each came up with a relatively bold idea.