Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 827: Chapter 623: Well-Informed Demon Army

The offering to Coron always begins with joyous songs and free dances; his Priests are mostly extraordinary artists and sculptors.

And those daring to sing before the statue of the Father of Elves are the most outstanding singers.

The crescent moon softly illuminates the night sky; Hill, amidst the melodious singing, suddenly understands what it means to let the soul play unfettered, the heart soaring free and carefree.

Hill suddenly forgets those uncomfortable outfits; the elves’ pursuit of self-liberation may have gone too far, but their joy is enviable—wild and free, sincere and indulgent.

He leans against the stone wall, watching the elves start dancing amidst the soaring song.

Above, on the invisible dome formed of silver-blue light, moonlight and starlight cast beams, creating a natural stage with magic.

Although the dancers appear within the cast starlight, the crescent’s rays quietly illuminate Coron’s statue and the surroundings.

Alessio is not singing; he solemnly holds an oil painting, kneeling on one knee, quietly placing the painting on the oak table surrounded by colorful roses before the statue.

Like him, many elves among the creators step forward one by one, piling their works on that large oak table.

The devoted followers of the Protectors express their gratitude through music, song, dance, and offering their most beautiful creations.

Hill disregards everything else, turning his gaze to the roses omnipresent in Coron’s Temple, suddenly realizing that when the Elven God King sent roses to the God of Time and Space back then, he might indeed have wanted to express sincere intentions.

After all, these flowers are Coron’s favorites.

Remembering Agleya’s joyous laughter when telling him this story, Hill decides to bury the matter deep in his heart, thinking it’s just another folly of the Elven God King, as that level of foolishness is nothing new among his deeds.

Besides, if not for the Undead Tribe revealing the meanings of red roses to Teraxil’s gods, they wouldn’t even understand why the God of Time and Space would react so strongly. Looking back after knowing the cause and considering the rare fluster of the God of Time and Space, Hill is not sure whom the boisterous laughter in the starry sky was aimed at.

Though they certainly maintain they were mocking the Elven God King, Hill is somewhat skeptical.

Hill feels his thoughts light and free, driven by the unfettered song to soar; he finds a good vantage seat in the stone wall, nestled within, slowly closes his eyes, and listens to the captivating music echoing.

In a sudden burst of amazement and cheers, Hill opens his eyes.

Dragos, the Captain of the Guard of Aevraestar’s Sword, is kneeling on one knee, placing a clump of moss in the center of the oak table, the reason for the elves’ celebration evident—Coron shows his attention.

The sky-blue crescent moon rises; some artworks on the table and the pile of moss vanish together and transform into many gemstones, falling onto the original places of those collected offerings. After a few glances, Hill identifies them as the gems Coron enjoys rewarding his followers with: Bejewelry Gemstone, crescent-shaped stones, diamonds, Moonstar Stone, Moonstone, Starry Ruby, Starry Sapphire.

Hill looks attentively at the spot where Alessio’s painting was placed.

There, a Starry Sapphire emits a faint bluish glow; from Alessio’s location comes Lis’s penetrating scream: For priests bestowed with the creator divinity, the chance for their offering to be taken to The Avando Dominion by Coron, allowing the elves living among Siderean gods to appreciate it, is enough for his God’s favor to leap a major tier.

The elves’ singing becomes even more cheerful, and their dance turns intensely passionate; Coron quickly shows satisfaction, some outstanding singers, musicians, and dancers exude a faint sky-blue glow, and a particular item on them visibly turns into a Magical Curio.

The elves granted blessings are jubilant, while those who weren’t do not seem particularly disappointed; every elf displays unusually enthusiastic excitement, as after hundreds of years, Coron’s gaze once again blesses the elves of the Supreme Forest during the celebration.

The reluctance of Aevraestar’s Sword to partake in any celebratory festival, and even the upper ranks nearly tormenting themselves like ascetics, is all due to Coron’s displayed coldness.

Keep in mind, the Father of Elves has always been tolerant towards the elves, completely disregarding minor offenses, and for the Toril Elves to provoke such wrath from him, they face merciless ridicule across countless worlds touched by the Elf Deity System.

Maybe Coron simply chose to forgive these elves of the Star Mountain Range, but who cares about the cowards fleeing their home in disgrace? Aevraestar’s Sword certainly doesn’t.

They sing loudly, dance exuberantly, and lose all control under the illumination of the sky-blue crescent moon.

Nestled in the corner, Hill watches the silver crescent and blue crescent intersect with the shining stars in the sky.

He joyfully revels in tranquility amidst the clamor.

However, this peace doesn’t last long before a female elf invites him to dance together.

Hill refused the repeated advances of a dozen or so voluptuous and seductive beauties with slender waists and captivating dance moves. After that, it was the turn of the strong, handsome young men.

The elf lads, firmly rejected by Hill, left with regret. The serious-faced Hill was left with a belly full of complaints; the whimsical thoughts of the elves never failed to surprise him.

Watching Lis and Alessio dancing in an embrace, Hill felt that it was time for his journey to commence once again.

With a wave of his hand and not a cloud in tow, Hill quickly departed as the persistent elves began forming pairs to seek him out, all sorts of combinations imaginable.

Though the elves were indeed both beautiful and dashing, and Hill admittedly favored the S-shaped figures of the girls, their display was too excessive. Moreover, why did they form male-female duos, and what on earth were they thinking?

Hill felt his tolerance was rather low and could only choose to flee in disarray.

When Hill returned to Purwell, he was still somewhat unsettled, and when List hurried forward, he sensed Hill’s bewilderment.

Glancing at the groups of little fairies peeking wide-eyed in the Mushroom House, List quickly spoke: ”Go take a hot bath! It’s already prepared.”

After all, he had already commanded the puppet to activate the magical device in the bathroom. In under a minute, the large bath would be filled with water that soothes the mind.

Hill, who had initially wanted to speak, promptly nodded and dashed into the Magic Tower.

Looking at those pairs of disappointed little eyes, List sighed helplessly. The fairies were particularly sensitive to emotional fluctuations. He had to be careful not to let the little ones spread gossip recklessly.

This had nothing to do with whether they loved Hill or not; they surely did, given they were willing to live inside the enclosed Purwell with him. But gossip was in their nature. It didn’t matter if it was Hill or even their dear parents or deities of their faith; as long as there was gossip, they would spread it everywhere.

Hill didn’t think he had anything to be afraid of, but if today’s incident of being frightened by the rather liberal elves was mentioned, tomorrow Lynn might ask Marsha if Hill really got... by someone at his place.

List would rather the little fairies spread rumors that Hill was the illegitimate child of Coron and Suren than that they fabricate love stories about him.

After all, Hill wouldn’t care less about who his fantasy world’s parents were arranged to be, but being called a pure-hearted young man might drive him into a rage of embarrassment.

List slowly dispersed his form, suddenly realizing that although Hill had a reclusive nature and was typically the look-but-don’t-touch type, his behavior was that of a habitual introvert, entirely overlooking that life has another choice.

His plans for life had never left room for a significant other, not even once considering why the design of the Magic Tower included a joint washroom connected to his master bedroom, delightfully turning it into a large bath instead.

But thinking of it purely sentimentally, it wasn’t wrong either. The difference between a homebody and the pure-hearted lay in understanding everything but still being unable to do anything.

Soaking in the bath, finally calm, Hill had no idea what rebellious ideas his loyal Tower Spirit was contemplating. Indeed, he had never considered whether there would be someone to share such a thing with him in the future, but he would never admit to being a homebody.

Someone who travels widely outdoors every day and has an extensive social circle surely doesn’t qualify as a homebody! Even if he ran around with a house in tow.

List appeared outside the bath: ”Sir, where are we going?”

”Let’s first check out the Hell’s Gate; by the pace of the Undead Tribe, they should arrive by tomorrow. With such great experience babies, most people would certainly choose to travel overnight.”

List acknowledged before asking, ”Are we leaving just like this? Shouldn’t we say a formal goodbye?”

”No need.” Hill replied, his voice muffled as he ducked his head underwater, ”Aren’t elves rather casual! Just consider it as me not wanting to be overly thanked by Aevraestar’s Sword.

Sigh! I thought this elf troop was the serious type, but it seems I overthought it.

Loyalty to the deities and dedication to their duties don’t mean they’re not part of the chaotic faction!”

Hill had a good memory and noticed that among those elves who invited him, there was even a deputy to the Captain of the Guard, along with some couples!

Fortunately, Lis and Alessio weren’t the type who’d profess their love but still hanker for something on the side.

Lynn is indeed fortunate to live in such a normal elven family.

”Sir, we’ve arrived at Hell’s Gate.” List suddenly raised an eyebrow, ”It seems the demons have also gotten word of the impending arrival of the Undead Tribe and started a massive assault.”