Chapter 943 — Precious Knowledge
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The treant leader's furious cursing changed nothing in reality. The vines that had rashly crossed the boundary and attempted to invade the crater had already been dealt a devastating blow by the garrison forces of the Deep Blue Well. As the last speck of ash from the beam's sweep scattered on the wind, this small probing attempt ended in failure, just like the dozens of tries before it.
Another treant stepped forward from beside the leader. His branches were shriveled and twisted, yet powerful magic coursed through his withered crown, and the tangled boughs growing atop his head had knotted themselves into something resembling a swollen brain—a bizarre and unsettling sight.
This twisted creature with the "brain crown" lowered his head and gazed down at the hill of crystal pillars within the crater, watching the magical glow between the pillars slowly fade. He shook his crown, and the faint light drifting among its branches flickered uncertainly. "We have already successfully taken control of several golem echelons, but through these steel soldiers we can only penetrate the outermost defensive line... The wraith in the deepest part of the Deep Blue Well is far too vigilant. She has been constantly reconstructing the security patterns within the ruins—even though this place has not suffered an intrusion for seven hundred years..."
The Arch Hierarch snorted, his voice low and sinister: "Paranoid, obstinate, persecution complex... That wraith has squatted in this graveyard for seven hundred years. She has probably gone mad long ago."
"A thought matrix does not go mad... The stability of steel and crystal is far greater than that of your mental state, Arch Hierarch," two female voices sounded in unison from nearby, their tone faintly teasing as they cut off the Arch Hierarch's muttering. "We heard you cursing endlessly over here just now—that hardly seems in keeping with your usual dignity."
The Arch Hierarch turned around, and the reflections of two elves approaching from nearby appeared in his tawny eyes.
"Lerna, Filna..." he said heavily. "Have you come solely to watch the excitement?"
"Please calm yourself, Arch Hierarch," the elf twins said, arriving before the treant leader. The two sisters, identical in appearance, wore gentle, sweet smiles and bowed slightly. "As a plant, you ought to possess a more placid and steady temperament—excessive agitation can damage your roots and crown."
The Arch Hierarch snorted in displeasure, his dry branches clattering: "There is no need to show off your clever remarks here—you would do better to pay attention to the facts before us. Look at these ruins. The energy of the Deep Blue Well is right before our eyes, yet after all this time we can still only prowl about the periphery of the defensive perimeter. You once promised you had a way to penetrate the ancient defense systems here, but from where I stand... your promises have not been fully honored."
"What we promised at the beginning was merely to penetrate the minds of a portion of the golems—that did not include the entire defense system," the elf twins said in unison, their expressions utterly composed. "We trust your memory is not quite so poor as that."
The Arch Hierarch fixed his tawny eyes on the elf twins, but after a few seconds of staring he withdrew his gaze. "You are not wrong, but you also said it was feasible to bypass the matrix through the mental network of the golem legion—and clearly, you have failed. The fact is that even after seizing several golem echelons, we still cannot enter the depths of the ruins."
"No, the approach truly is feasible—it merely requires some luck and the right timing, which is precisely why we told you to be patient," Lerna said at once. "But rest assured, we have come today to bring you good news—set aside that little failure just now. The time for our next stage of penetration has arrived."
"Hm?" The Arch Hierarch's gaze turned grave. "You mean..."