When Beth prepared to sacrifice everyone in Caugust City, she had already made the decision to flee the western region with her trusted followers.
Since she wouldnât be staying here anymore, she naturally didnât care what impact this sacrifice would have on the entire western region of the continent.
However, after she lured more and more people over, a small accidentâa tiny oversightâcaused the entire sacrifice to come to a halt.
This small accident was naturally the wizard Shaya, who had long been captured by Beth and whose spirit body was manipulated by the Inverted Tree.
After listening to Shayaâs account, Saul looked up and down at the spirit body before him. âYou⊠how did you manage to do that?â
âThatâs my secret weapon. I canât tell you.â
Saul didnât press him. âFine, youâre not my main objective anyway. But thereâs one thing you must tell meâwhat caused your current state?â
Shaya became agitated, as if introducing his own affliction to others made him very uncomfortable.
However, considering his situation, he quickly provided an answer.
âAfter my soul was absorbed into the Inverted Tree, although I barely managed to maintain independent consciousness, many of my actions had to follow Bethâs commands. Iâve always been careful not to expose myself, only occasionally doing my own things to maintain my sense of self.â
âLater, when I realized that the entire Inverted Tree was actually absorbing the souls of the cityâs residents, I knew I had to find a way to leave this place. As long as I remained trapped here, I would eventually become nourishment for Beth and the Inverted Tree, just like those absorbed souls.â
âSo I prepared for several months. When Beth once again ran to the very center of the Inverted Tree, I deliberately took away a key node from her formation. Taking advantage of her being trapped due to the formationâs backlash, I immediately escaped.â
âYouâre really bold!â Kate extended her cat claws toward Shaya. âEven though Beth is now just a spirit body, she was once a powerful third-rank wizard. You casually disrupted the formation and actually managed to trap her!â
Saul watched as Shaya pursed his lips without responding, knowing there were still secrets involved.
âAnd then?â Saul asked.
Only then did Shaya skip over the most crucial part. âAfterward, to prevent me from escaping, Beth actually activated her sacrifice early, directly pulling everyone in the inner city in to help stabilize her spiritual body.â
âSo now the entire inner city has turned to ash?â Saul crossed his arms. âSouls extracted, bodies turned to ash.â
âPretty much,â Shaya said. âBecause she wasnât ready yet but absorbed a large number of spirit bodies, sheâs now trapped and canât come out to catch me. But once she can control herself, sheâll definitely come looking for me and tear me to shreds.â
Shayaâs expression was grave, clearly fearful of Bethâs threat.
âThen why canât you leave the Inverted Tree now? Since you made so many preparations, you must know how to leave, right?â
âOf course I know, but I wonât tell you until you help me remove my restraints.â
âDidnât I already say? Iâll help you with treatment, and youâll help me find the seed. The restraints on you are also a kind of illness for you, so naturally Iâll help treat that too.â
Seeing Shayaâs expression of temptation mixed with wariness, Saul added fuel to the fire. âHowever, since youâre going to help me get the Inverted Treeâs seed anyway, why donât we set our sights a little bigger during the operation?â
Shaya immediately became suspicious of Saulâs intentions. âWhat are you trying to do? Donât think about deceiving meâI can kick you all out of here at any time!â
Saul chuckled lightly, completely unconcerned by Shayaâs threat, and continued his temptation. âAnyway, you only have your spirit body left now, which is equivalent to being dead. Even if you escape the Inverted Tree, youâll just be barely surviving. Why not go find Beth and, while sheâs trapped, directly steal her Inverted Tree⊠how about it?â
âCrack!â Kate once again heard the sound of his cat jaw dropping to the floor.
Kate turned his head and stared at Saul in a daze.
Just moments ago, he had thought Shaya was a fool for daring to scheme against a third-rank wizard. Now Saul seemed like a madman in his eyes.
âYouâre insane!â Shaya directly voiced Kateâs thoughts. âYou want to get the method to escape, then trick me into going to my death!â
âI can wait until you retrieve the Inverted Treeâs seed before leaving.â
Shaya still didnât believe him. âThen you just want to do something bad while Iâm stealing the Inverted Treeâs seed.â
Saulâs heart jumped, thinking, âThis guyâs guess is pretty accurate.â
However, his expression remained unchanged. âThen let me ask youâwill you take me to the core of the Inverted Tree?â
Shaya was stunned and immediately shook his head. âImpossible!â
Saul spread his hands. âThen how do you think I could do anything bad?â
Without waiting for Shaya to think, Saul continued raising the stakes. âI can help you with treatment right now. Canât you kick us out at any time? After I finish the treatment, you can go help me get the seed. How about it?â
Shaya still hesitated. âYouâd be so kind as to help me with treatment first?â
âThe spirit body is your own. Canât you tell whether itâs good or bad?â
Shaya was still hesitating.
Saul frowned. Was this indecisive, danger-fearing Shaya really the right choice?
Suddenly, the entire house shook violently, and the decorations on the table and hanging from the ceiling shattered all over the floor.
Several thick tree branches broke through the walls, winding upward, quickly wrapping around the walls of the entire room.
âMeow! What is this? How did tree roots get here?â Kate immediately ran to the center of the room.
A flash of panic crossed Shayaâs face, but he didnât surrender or resist. Instead, he once again transformed into a ball of light, and white radiance once more engulfed Saul and Kate.
When the light faded, Saul found they had arrived at another place.
He hadnât been here beforeâit must be another of Shayaâs secret bases.
âYou really donât have much time left.â Saul was actually somewhat grateful for the tree roots that had just appeared. âAre you willing to make this deal or not? Donât waste other peopleâs time.â
Shaya knew Saul was right.
After all, he was Bethâs puppet. Even if he had temporarily broken free from her control, he would inevitably be controlled by her again once Bethâs condition recovered.
Under the mixture of tension and fear, Saulâs proposal, which he had just regarded as a terrible threat, gradually became a deadly temptation.
âIf, if we could steal the Inverted TreeâŠâ Shaya seemed to be trembling all over, whether from fear or excitement.
âIf I could become the master of the Inverted Tree, I wouldnât need to run away.â
Saul nodded with satisfaction. âNot only would you not need to run away, but youâd also have hope of resurrection.â
Shaya suddenly looked up at Saul.
âYouâre a very talented wizard. If Beth can do it, canât you do it too?â
Shayaâs breathing immediately became heavy, even though he no longer needed to breathe.
âFine!â
Finally, Shaya agreed to Saulâs devil-like proposal.
âHelp me with treatment right now. Iâm afraid those tree roots will find us before long. This is a sign that Beth is gradually recoveringâwe donât have much time.â
(End of Chapter)
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