Chapter 621 - 619: The Consequence of Provoking Hilia

"Sacrifice your own life in exchange for the withering power expelled by the Holy Tree. Haha, how amusing. Just because the Elf Race has longevity doesn’t mean they can do whatever they want?"

After quickly investigating the situation of the Withered Wood Organization, Rose couldn’t help but shake his head.

"Really a shortsighted approach."

As Hilia silently treated her injuries, suppressing the withering power emanating from within her, she curiously asked, "This withering power seems quite formidable. Why does Rose seem unimpressed?"

Rose replied indifferently, "Because this is something expelled by the Holy Tree. You get what I mean, right? If the Holy Tree were human, what would it expel?"

Hilia’s face stiffened.

"So, what’s being released into my body is..."

Rose’s analogy made Hilia feel unwell instantly.

Fortunately, under the treatment of the Magic Puppet, the withering power within her was quickly dissipating.

Hilia suddenly thought of something—

"Then the nature-based magic I learned, called ’Withered Silk’..."

"Withered Silk is just a name. Do you feel non-nature faction magic power within Withered Silk?" Rose responded irritably.

"That’s true."

Withered Silk is simply named withered; it does not derive from the withering faction originating from the Holy Tree.

Withered Silk refers to those naturally released strands, possessing an appearance like withered vines... As for why it’s called Withered Silk, that would be a question for the person who developed this magic.

However, the use of withering power from the Holy Tree is different; it’s a type of power akin to the death faction but not quite.

Death faction magic typically deals with the undead, using death magic similar to curses, applying various negative effects to people. If the power disparity is significant or resistance is weak, life can be directly taken, meaning instant kill judgment successful, instantly killed.

The withering faction, however, adds a sustained blood-drain negative effect. It also affects various aspects of the body, such as making one feel weak, gradually draining lifespan. If continuously affected, a person’s life will rapidly diminish.

Death won’t shorten lifespan; it just kills you on the spot, while withering will make your lifespan decrease like -1, -1, -1...

Hilia disliked this feeling.

Fortunately, the Heart of the Life Faction Puppet attached to the Magic Puppet happens to counteract the effects of withering and death. Otherwise, watching one’s lifespan rapidly decay would be demoralizing.

Even though it doesn’t shorten lifespan, after understanding the power of withering, Hilia deeply despised this life-shortening faction.

"More detestable than the pollution of the heretics!"

Hilia grumbled angrily.

Since she was frozen, she couldn’t move and could only chat with Rose as if thrown into a spiritual space, watching his actions.

At that moment, Rose was adjusting and modifying the array within the underground stronghold of the Withered Wood Organization.

All these modifications were things Hilia had never seen before; Rose had never taught her these things either.

"What is the purpose of these arrays?"

Hilia asked curiously.

"Reversal." Rose replied indifferently.

"Reversal?"

"Yes, reversal of the power ritual."

A question mark appeared above Hilia’s head.

"Is it dispersing all their power?"

"No, it’s about reversing the power they gain from the Holy Tree, drawing away the life force from the Holy Tree."

Hilia was shocked, "Is Rose planning to destroy the Elf Race’s Holy Tree?"

Rose smiled faintly, "No, the Holy Tree is also part of suppressing underground pollution. Its withering doesn’t benefit me. I’m merely ensuring they inadvertently absorb life force instead, triggering the Holy Tree to react to everyone possessing withering power, thereby reclaiming all the withering power from their bodies, or rather, letting all the withering power transform back into nutrients."

"If the Holy Tree’s life force is its leaves, when leaves turn yellow and fall, the power they contain is the withering power. This withering power usually transforms back into nutrients for the Holy Tree and the Earth. Under certain conditions, the Holy Tree has the authority to absorb these nutrients, because like a Golden Apple, it is considered a high-level spiritual object."

"So, what Rose intends to do is..."

"Through the array and some special operations, leave a mark on their withering power. When they return near the Holy Tree and perform prayers and sacrifices, this operation will commence."

"Is the array’s power that terrifying?" Hilia exclaimed in awe, "Being able to remotely control other things from so far away."

Rose smiled slightly.

What you think is the array’s function is actually just a bonus; whether it’s there or not, the real action is...

The Magic Staff in the Magic Puppet’s hand flickered continuously, and the Pure Magic Crystal on the staff dimmed somewhat.

Hilia noticed this and also sensed that the magic power being drawn from Rose was forming a special power.

She had encountered this power before.

Yes, it was Divine Power.

Unique to Rose, distinct from the Divine Power used by the Pantheon.

The next moment, that trace of Divine Power dissipated into the air, vanishing without a trace.

Rose looked towards the Tier Five Shadow Mage who appeared in the stronghold, and just as Hilia was about to speak, she suddenly felt her perspective shift to an omniscient view, overlooking everything centered on the Tier Five Mage.

"This is..."

"Temporary surveillance magic, driven by Divine Power. The Divine Power is sufficient to observe the person who attempted to assassinate you and their interaction with the Holy Tree, leading to the absorption of all their withering power to death by the Holy Tree." Rose said indifferently.

Hilia’s eyes lit up, she clapped in her spiritual space.

"That’s great, hmph, that’s the way to do it!"

"Of course, it doesn’t just have surveillance effects. After all, this is a trick driven by Divine Power."

Rose smiled slightly.

"It won’t be long before he returns. Then, just watch."

Hilia’s curiosity was piqued.

It’s just that dispersing the withering power takes a bit of time.

So she focused her attention on the shared surveillance trick with Rose.

Meanwhile, the Magic Puppet had long left the scene after completing everything in secret.

"Aren’t you planning to visit Elina?" Rose asked.

He had already directed the Magic Puppet to await orders near the City Lord’s Mansion.

Hilia replied casually, "What’s there to see? Let her quietly stay for a few days. If discovered, there’s nothing I can do. Right now, I’m more curious about the situation with the Withered Wood Organization."

"Fair enough; letting her hide away from detection by that Elf Elder is best." Rose nodded.

After setting the Magic Puppet to standby, he shifted his attention to Benovia’s situation, learning about Phil’s actions through Benovia.

Phil’s speed was far slower than Hilia’s, requiring at least three times the time to purify the city’s patients.

Benefiting from the life force contained in pollution, and given that Phil had previously absorbed a significant amount of pollution, developing extremely high resistance, the treatment process no longer included situations where she almost fainted from time to time.

Yet, after observing for a moment, Rose felt he should spare some time to help her.

This girl absorbs pollution like there’s no tomorrow.