Chapter 341 - The Change Of Faith, The History Of The Elves
Vincent moved Ebenezer to the center of the dilapidated hall and fed him some medicine.
He sighed as he looked at the still unconscious Ebenezer. It seemed that he could only wait until he woke up before returning to the camp.
At this time, Angelina and Avril began to observe the statues in the hall up close. Soon, the two women let out a surprised exclamation, "How strange!"
Vincent walked to the two women and asked, "What"s strange?"
Angelina pointed at a statue and said, "Look at the statue here. It"s not Gajero that the Dark Elves believe in. It looks more like a statue of a Dark Elf!"
Vincent could not help but raise his head to look at the statue in front of him. He noticed that the statue in front of him did have some characteristics of the elves, but he could not see all the details of the statue with just the flames in his hand.
Vincent turned his head to look at the lamp posts in the hall and immediately crushed the flames in his hands. The scattered flames did not die out in the air. Instead, they flew straight into all the lamp posts and ignited the remaining fuel inside.
The entire hall was lit brightly in an instant, illuminating every corner of the hall. Vincent, Angelina, and Avril raised their heads to look at the statue in front of them again.
The statue had a handsome face, slender body, and strong ears. Its appearance was indeed no different from the Dark Elves. However, the statue in front of them was holding a ball of fire in its hand. It was not the demonic aura used by the Dark Elves.
"That"s not right!"
Vincent suddenly frowned and sighed as he looked at the eyes of the statue.
Avril and Angelina immediately asked, "What did you find?"
Vincent raised his hand and pointed at the eyes of the statue.
"Look at this statue. You can see that their eyes have both pupils and sclera. As for the eyes of the Dark Elves, they are only pitch-black in color. There is no way to distinguish between the pupils and the sclera!"
Angelina and Avril asked in confusion, "What does this mean?"
Vincent said in a deep voice, "This means that the statue in front of us is not a Dark Elf, but a real elf!"
Avril was stunned after hearing what Vincent had said. She then asked in puzzlement, "Elf? Isn"t this the world of the Dark Elves? Why is there a shrine dedicated to the elves?"
Vincent guessed, "It"s possible that this is actually the world of the elves, but after the Black Hole appeared, this place was invaded by Gajero. In the end, the original elves were killed, and the elves who lived in this world were replaced by the Dark Elves who believed in Gajero!"
After hearing Vincent"s guess, Angelina could not help but say, "But only the G.o.d of life can create new life. Gajero should not be that powerful, right?"
Vincent thought that Gajero was just a Black Hole bandit who had cooperated with the Ultimate Evil Lord. He a.s.sumed that his strength should be equal to that of the Ultimate Evil Lord. Even if he was stronger than the Ultimate Evil Lord, he was not at the level of a G.o.d. Therefore, the Dark Elves could not have been created by Gajero.
There was no way to explain where the Dark Elves came from, and where the original elves went.
Vincent could not help but frown even more when he thought about it.
After sizing up the statue, Avril looked down at the altar table at the foot of the statue. She suddenly realized that there was a stone carved with words on the table, but because it had not been cleaned for a long time, the writing was covered in dust.
Avril stepped forward and raised her hand to wipe off the dust on the table. She then read the words carefully, "Elfrid, King of the Fire Elves!"
When Vincent heard this, he immediately turned to look at the other statues. He noticed that there was an altar table place on the foot of every statue. He went forward to wipe off the dust on the table one by one.
There were seven Elf Kings in the temple. They corresponded to the seven elements of thunder, fire, water, wood, earth, light, and darkness, which confirmed Vincent"s previous guess.
This was once the elves" place of wors.h.i.+p however, the faith of this world had been replaced by Gajero!
Vincent sighed in realization, "Elf King! The elves originally believed in their Elf King! That was why there were fire elves, water elves, and other elves with different abilities. But later, these Elf Kings were defeated by Gajero, just like the Bear Emperor of the Beast Race!"
Avril and Angelina were stunned. A hint of fear rose from the depths of their hearts. If it was as Vincent had said, they could not imagine just how cruel the ma.s.sacre was. A world that originally believed in the seven elemental powers had completely transformed into a world that believed in Gajero.
Vincent"s gaze turned cold. Suddenly, he thought of something and said in a low voice, "If the elves were ruled the same way as the beasts, then based on Gajero"s usual routine, he will definitely leave a few demons behind to rule the Dark Elves. Dark Yuan is only a small city at the edge of the Dark Elves" world. Presumably, there is no need to send demons to guard it. This means that there must be bigger cities somewhere in the world. And in those bigger cities, there must be a confidant of Gajero. There may even be a teleportation array for Gajero to descend!"
Angelina and Avril nodded subconsciously. From the looks of it, Vincent"s a.n.a.lysis was very reasonable, but if that was really the case, then the world would be even more dangerous than they had imagined!
"Uh!"
At that moment, Ebenezer slowly woke up from his coma. He clutched his head and let out a painful cry.
Vincent heard his cries and immediately walked to his side. He helped him sit up and asked, "What happened just now? Why did you come here? Why did you faint?"
Ebenezer shook his head and said in a daze, "When I was walking on the ridge, I suddenly heard movement in the gra.s.s. I went forward to check, but something seemed to have grabbed my ankles. I then rolled all the way down to the bottom of the valley! After that, I saw a figure vaguely, and chased it all the way here… Other than that, I can"t remember anymore!"
After hearing Ebenezer"s recount, Vincent could not help but look around vigilantly. If what Ebenezer saw was not his hallucination, then there was definitely more than just the four of them in this valley!
Avril and Angelina also retreated to Vincent"s side vigilantly at this time. The three of them were back-to-back as they looked at every corner of the surroundings. However, there did not seem to be a place for creatures to hide in the temple.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
At that moment, the sound of a cane hitting the ground came from outside the temple. At the same time, there was the sound of slightly aged footsteps gradually walking into the temple.
"Creak!"
Soon, the stone door was pushed open and a hunched figure wearing a tattered robe appeared in front of everyone.
The creature walked into the temple with great difficulty whilst holding a cane. As his head was hanging very low, Vincent could not see his appearance clearly.
"It"s been 800 years! This temple hasn"t been lit for 800 years. You foreign races, are you here to pay respects to our Elf King, or are you here to laugh at the fate of our Elf Race?"
The old figure spoke in an incomparably hoa.r.s.e voice. At the same time, he slowly raised his head to look at Vincent and the others.
When Vincent saw the old man"s face, he could not help but widen his eyes. This was because the old man in front of him also had the characteristics of the Elf Race. However, his eyes were not pitch-black. Instead, he had clear white and yellowish-brown eyes!
This meant that he was not a dark elf, but an earth elf of the Orthodox Elf Race!
Vincent walked forward and said sincerely to the old elf, "We were forced into this world by mistake, but later found out that the elves here believed in the king of the Demon Race, Gajero, so we decided to investigate the reason!"
The old man raised his head to look at Vincent, and asked with some hesitation and expectation, "And after investigating the reason? Do you plan to believe in Gajero as well, or do you plan to escape from this world?"
Vincent said seriously and resolutely, "We are the guardians of our own world, and Gajero is my biggest enemy. If I don"t get rid of the traces left by Gajero in this world, I will not leave so easily!"
The old man"s eyes instantly trembled, as if he was moved by Vincent"s heroic ambition. He could not help but smile and say, "Get rid of the traces left behind by Gajero in this world? It sounds great, but do you have the strength to do so?"
Vincent said in a deep voice, "As long as I am still breathing, fighting against the invaders is my only mission!"
After hearing this, the old man raised his hand and waved it gently. The stone door of the temple closed behind him in an instant.
Vincent and the others looked at the old man in surprise. They did not know why he did that.
The old man said slowly, "Young man, don"t just say nice things. You still have to show some strength! Why don"t you spar with me? If you can get my approval, I will tell you all the information that you want to know. But if you are not strong enough, you can return from where you came from and pretend that you have never been to this world. How about it?"
Vincent nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay!"
The old man nodded with great appreciation. He pointed at Ebenezer who was sitting on the ground and said, "He was. .h.i.t by my Rock Spirit spell just now, so he fainted. I believe in the Earth Elf King, Shawn, so I have all the spells of the earth element. You have to be careful!"
Vincent nodded and raised his hand to pull out his Return Journey of the Dead. At the same time, a ball of flame ignited in his left hand. He stared at the old man in front of him with a face full of vigilance. It was as if he was ready to be blown down by the wind at any moment.
"So, it"s a child who is favored by the flame. Be careful!"
The old man praised the flame in Vincent"s hand and gave a gentle reminder to Vincent. At the same time, he slammed his walking stick heavily on the ground.
Vincent frowned and jumped up after sensing danger.
Just as his feet left the ground, two sharp earth thorns drilled out from the ground, almost nailing Vincent"s feet to the ground.
After seeing this, Vincent instantly spread his Flaming Wings so that he could avoid the ground. At the same time, the flame in his left hand turned into a long fire snake and swept towards the old man.
"Great Earth Elf King, please grant me the power to block everything!" shouted the old man softly.
An earth wall instantly rose and blocked the fire snake that Vincent had directed at him.
After seeing the fire snake smash into the earth wall and sparks flying everywhere, Vincent no longer hesitated. He brandished his weapon and rushed forward, slas.h.i.+ng at the earth wall from top to bottom.
"Boom!"
The earth wall collapsed with a loud bang under the immense power of the dead.
The old man standing behind the earth wall retreated with a shocked expression. It was as if he did not expect Vincent to have such a powerful attack. However, the old man did not stop there. Instead, he raised the walking stick in his hand and shouted in a deep voice, "Servant of the Earth!"
A yellow-brown light spread out from the walking stick in the old man"s hand and shone in all directions. Immediately after that, four rock giants suddenly drilled out from the ground beside Vincent. They waved their huge fists and attacked Vincent.
At the same time, earth thorns appeared under Vincent"s feet. Above him was the roof of the temple. There were also rock giants blocking him from all directions. Vincent had no way out.
After noticing that he had no way out, Vincent"s figure suddenly disappeared in the air!
The old man saw this and looked around in shock, but he did not find Vincent. He could not help but frown.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the lamp post behind the old man exploded. The flames in the lamp post burned vigorously. Vincent"s figure soon appeared and he emerged from within the flames.
"Modify and deprive!"
Vincent raised his hand and pointed at the old man. He shouted in a deep voice, wanting to use the power of modification authority to deprive the old man of his control over the earth.
The old man paused. He turned his head slightly to look at Vincent and shouted softly, "Great Elf King of the Earth, please let this naive child see your true power!"
In an instant, eight stone walls suddenly appeared and surrounded Vincent. They were like a prison without any doors or windows, trapping Vincent inside.
Vincent did not have the time to be surprised when he realized that he could control the old man using modification authority. He shouted in a deep voice, "Purgatory of Nature!"
A dark green light instantly appeared on his Return Journey of the Dead and shattered the stone walls that trapped him. The temple immediately became gloomy. Countless dark green gravestones drilled out from the ground, forming a meandering burning inferno river. It extended from Vincent"s feet to the old man"s front.
Since his modifying authority could not stop the old man from casting spells, Vincent decided to use the power of his domain to cut off the connection between the old man and the earth!
After seeing this, the old man did not attack again. Instead, he said repeatedly, "Stop! This is the temple that we use to wors.h.i.+p the Elf Kings. Using the power of your domain here is disrespectful to our kings. You win this compet.i.tion!"
Vincent did not expect the old man in front of him to admit defeat so easily. He immediately put away the Purgatory of Nature and restored everything in the temple to its original state.
Avril and Angelina, who had witnessed the battle from the side, could not help but look at Vincent in shock. Although they had long expected Vincent to become stronger than before, they did not expect him to become so powerful! His strength exceeded their imagination!
Whether it was using flames to perform a flame leap or being able to release a domain with a wave of his hand, everything that he did was already far beyond their understanding.
Avril and Angelina could not help but think that if they wanted to follow in Vincent"s footsteps, they would have to work harder!
After winning the compet.i.tion, Vincent walked to the old man and said with a smile, "Thank you, senior! I haven"t asked for your name and ident.i.ty?"
The old man lowered his head again and said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, "My name is Conrad, a priest of this temple and a loyal follower of the Elf King!"
Vincent asked in surprise, "Are you a priest here? Didn"t this temple fall into disuse 800 years ago? Are you over 800 years old?"
The old man shook his head slightly and said, "Although the elves have a long life, they do not live for 800 years. I only took over the position from the previous priest a hundred years ago. Since then, I have been guarding this valley and accompanying the Elf King who had been abandoned by the elves!"
Vincent asked again, "Then may I ask what happened to the elves? What is the relations.h.i.+p between the Dark Elves and the elves now?"
The old man let out a soft sigh, and then slowly said, "The Dark Elves that you see now are actually the Elf Race! It is only because they chose to believe in Gajero that they have become what they are now!"
Vincent shook his head and said, "I cannot understand!"
The old man rubbed the walking stick in his hands gently with both hands. With some regret, he said, "The Elf Race has its own unique talent, which is that they are able to obtain the ability that corresponds to their chosen G.o.d! This G.o.d cannot be a true G.o.d. As long as he really exists, he can be the faith of the elves! Originally, the elves believed in the seven G.o.ds. This belief has been pa.s.sed down for generations in the race that is the seven Elf Kings in the temple. They can also obtain the corresponding abilities of the seven Elf Kings. Any elf can decide to change their faith. When a fire elf starts to believe in the Water Elf King, his eyes would turn blue, and his ability would change from fire to water. The Dark Elves have chosen Gajero as their target of belief, so they have obtained the power of the Demon Race!"
After hearing this, Vincent suddenly came to a realization. At the same time, he could not help but sigh, "The talent of the Elf Race is indeed powerful. Does this mean that you can use different abilities by constantly switching beliefs?"
The old man shook his head and said in a heavy tone, "How is that possible? The power of the Elf Race comes from faith, so the requirements for faith are very strict. If you do not have the awareness to sacrifice your life for the G.o.d, how can you become a true believer of the G.o.d?"
Vincent could not help but fall into silence. This was because according to Conrad, the current Dark Elves were believers who would sacrifice their lives for Gajero!
So, as long as Gajero wanted to, he could turn the Dark Elves into an army that would die for him!
This was very terrifying, and it was also the tragedy of the Elf Race!
Vincent then asked, "Do all elves believed in Gajero? Are there any other believers like you who still believe in the Elf Kings?"
The old man muttered, "Look at the flowers and trees outside, the mountains and rivers, and the clouds in the sky. Have they become pure black?"
Vincent shook his head and said, "Not yet! But it is obvious that they have been contaminated!"
The old man nodded and said, "When the entire world becomes black, it means that all the elves have lost their faith and become puppets of Gajero. But as long as there is still a trace of color in this world, it means that there are still believers who believe in the seven great Elf Kings!"