Chapter 341: The Tree of Life Fell Apart
"Elysia, Elena, please honor our agreement. Take care of my daughter." Lifa smiled at the newcomers. It was her avatar's last moment before her artificial body fell apart and turned into wood particles.
"It's you who don't honor our deal!" Elysia exclaimed, feeling a little irritated. Even though it was the tree of life's last and only choice, but she had no idea about Rhea's response.
Several things worried Elysia and Elena. The Goddess of Nature might commit suicide, refuse to contract to stay alive, or hate Elysia with every ounce of her being.
"Elysia, hurry and save my big sister. We have to get out of here. Lifa often does whatever she pleases!" Nell exclaimed frantically. She urged Elysia to act quickly for fear the tree of life might collapse at any time.
Elysia just heaved a sigh and flew closer to Rhea. She revoked her barrier in the hall and brought Rhea into her bubble-like barrier.
At that moment, Rhea's fingers twitched, and her lashes fluttered. She tried hard to get back to her body to beg this high-level Goddess. She wished for help to save her mother before it was too late. There was definitely a way if she pleaded with something of equal value.
'Help... Ple-' Rhea begged for help via telepathy, but it went awry. Her spirit power was unstable because her contract with her mother had just broken.
She only had a chance, and that was a decisive point before she lost her mother forever. Therefore, she forced her spirit to return to her body regardless of the curse, backlash, or anything else.
A strong will and desperate effort managed to get her back into her body. She opened her mint eyes to look at the Goddess's astonished purplish-blue eyes.
"Please, please don't go yet. My mother, save... Ack!" Rhea extended her hand and grabbed Elysia's hand. Still, the evil curses sealed by the crystals in half of her body began to recur and spread.
"Please don't talk yet, or your curse will get worse because of your current situation. We'll get out of here." Elysia held Rhea's hand. She burned the newly spread curse on Rhea's body.
"No, no, please hear me... Before it's too late. Please save my mother. Me, I'll do anything. I'll serve you wholeheartedly. But, please, save..." Rhea shook her head, and the blood flowed out from her mouth. Even so, her eyes were full of determination to beg the almighty.
Elysia brought everyone to the first floor, but she couldn't bear to see Rhea still begging desperately. She stopped there even though the earthquake hit and the tree of life was about to collapse.
"What should I do to save your mother? Madam Lifa insisted that there was no other solution for her." Elysia relented and chose to listen. Perhaps, there was a solution that no one had thought of.
"If there is no other way, please try to take my mother's main seed. It's deep underground... One of the root pillars. You are proficient in the Divine Law of Life. Please save my mother's life!" Rhea used all her strength to speak. As a result, she spat out a mouthful of black blood.
She knew her mother's Energy Core must have appeared because the tree of life would collapse.
"Okay, please don't talk anymore, or our efforts and your mother's sacrifice will be in vain." Elysia put her hand on Rhea's upper chest to heal the internal wounds.
After that, she used her sacred vision to look below the ground. She could see a lot of roots underground.
For some reason, she could see a glistening golden light deep under the ground. She had not seen that before during an inspection and investigation of the surrounding area two days ago.
Elysia used her magic to make a hole like an ant path and guided the golden light source to the surface with no delay.
It was like a golden oval ball with the tree of life symbol inside... The larger version of Nature Realm's Core with the golden color instead of green. However, it was already cracked and was about to crumble.
Elysia touched it and checked its status screen. Sure enough, it was still Lifa, so close to destruction.
It seemed like a bet, but she did her best to live up to the desperate Goddess's expectations. She channeled a large amount of life energy, hoping it was compatible and no defects like her worries.
[| -15,000 LE |]
[| -57,000 LE |]
[| -300,000 LE |]
[| -550,000 LE |]
Elena became more and more anxious to see Elysia's life energy reduction every second that appeared. Even so, she just kept quiet and supported Elysia at heart. They only needed to hunt a large amount of life energy later to recover the lost energy.
'Ely, get out first from the tree of life. It will collapse and bury us!' Elena cried out in emergency as debris began to fall like a collapsing building.
Elysia didn't respond to that, but she flew out to go as far as she could and brought everyone with her magic.
The tree of life which towered high to the sky fell apart slowly as if age had kicked in for destruction.
All of them watched it with sorrow, loss, and sorrow. Rhea shed tears of loss, but she remained silent.
Then, Nell came to her big sister's side with almost the same sorrow. She chose not to say anything because it was unnecessary.
Meanwhile, Elysia finally touched a seven-digit reduction in life energy. It continued until the golden oval ball recuperated. The cracks repaired themselves due to Elysia's efforts until it became a perfect golden oval ball.
'Ugh, I feel dizzy...' Elysia muttered in her mind. She was no longer channeling her life energy to the Energy Core.
'Elysia girl, you are too much. Why can't you let this old tree disappear in peace?' Lifa complained via telepathy. She was nothing but tiny fragments of herself that failed to disappear because of Elysia. Her spirit was still intact, but her soul had only a tiny glimmer left, almost extinguished.
'You are selfish and stupid, Madam Lifa. You also like to act whimsically. Why are you so stubborn to decide that there are no other solutions? You are throwing all responsibility on me. Your daughter will hate me all her life.
See it for yourself. Your daughter is so desperate and doesn't care about her suffering. I don't know how long it will take me to work hard just to heal your daughter.
If you want to be free from anything and everything, why don't you reincarnate yourself or reset your memory? I don't know anything about you, but I have read a book about an existence that lives too long and chooses that path.'
Elysia reprimanded the ancient existence that had outlived her by an enormous margin. It was like a young seed trying to lecture an ancient tree.
Nevertheless, Lifa didn't say anything else after that. She considered a few things once again after hearing Elysia's lecture.
'Nice one, Ely.' Elena gave two thumbs up from within the Soul Realm.
*Boom!* *Bang!*
The tree of life was crushed entirely into rubble. It was too fragile to fall as a whole tree.
At the same time, the tree of life's domain also collapses with its effects and illusions. The entire Elven Race and Fairy Race could see the tree of life, which was soaring into the sky falling apart.
They just looked at it with terror. The immortal ancient tree that had existed since the ancient era before their predecessor was now dead. Even so, the higher-ups from the two continents immediately got ready to act because of it.
"The Goddess of Nature, Rhea. What do you think about this?" Elysia presented the whole golden ball with a weak smile. She was too tired and wished to rest.
Hearing that, Rhea turned her head towards Elysia. She saw her mother's core was intact without the slightest scratches.
'Mother, mother, can you hear me? Please do not leave me...' Rhea tried to send telepathy to the Energy Core.
'Please forgive me, my daughter. I'm dead.' Lifa responded with apologies.
'Please don't joke with me when it's serious. Yes, the tree of life is dead. But, you are still here. Take it easy, mother. I will replant you in fertile soil until you become the great tree of life again.' Rhea closed her eyes, and tears rolled down to her cheeks for a different reason than before. This time, it was because full of gratitude to the almighty.
"Thank you, o Almighty Goddess." Rhea wanted to say many things, but she was already at her limit. That was her last word before she fell into the realm of unconsciousness.
Elysia and Elena only smiled faintly to see the fainted Goddess. Fortunately, Elysia's magic was still there to support Rhea in the air.
'Elysia girl, please collect all the remains from my body and put them all in the Nature Realm. Think of it as a gift from me because of my previous request. Every part of my body is a priceless treasure.' Lifa told it as if her body remains were objects that had nothing to do with her anymore.
'...' Elysia and Elena were at a loss for words. It sounded strange to their ears, but Lifa was correct because the body in question was a tree.
"Nell, please take care of your big sister and Vann within this barrier. Please be careful. Your big sister is unconscious. I need to do something at Madam Lifa's request." Elysia poked the dumbfounded little Goddess.
Nell immediately came out of her sadness thought because of that. She did not immediately understand Lifa's situation. Still, she supported her big sister and the white cat with her magic, so they remained in the air.