Chapter 330: Lifa and Rhea
"What the- Why is it being like this?" Nell covered her mouth in shock as she looked at the situation inside the mysterious domain.
A relatively thick gray fog enveloped the surroundings. The black soil and dark plants filled the area that was once a lush green full of life.
"Stay around me. Holy Light!" Nell warned urgently and put her hands together. She created a layered holy light barrier to protect her group.
"Hmm, what is this... Death aura is everywhere. Somehow, I feel like I am in the middle of a haunted graveyard." Elena drew closer to Elysia as she was alert to danger.
"It"s not at the haunted graveyard level anymore! The aura of death will be extremely dangerous, especially on Elysia and Vanessa. We can"t even see the tree of life from here because of this thick fog and black aura." Nell frowned as the worry wore on.
"Vann, come here. It"s dangerous in here. We need to be careful." Elysia crouched down and carried the obedient cat.
"What are we going to do next? Keep going inside?" Elysia turned to Nell, who was still on Vanessa"s back.
"Of course, we came here to meet and help the G.o.ddess of Life, my big sister. However, we need to be careful. Everyone, stay within my holy barrier. The aura of death cannot penetrate my holy magic." Nell floated into the air and warned the others once again.
After gaining Elena and Elysia"s approval, Nell led their group towards the tree of life slowly and extra care.
"The distance from the mysterious domain"s wall to the tree of life is about 600 meters. What caused this area to become filled with death aura? How many lives have died here in the last hundred thousand years?" Elena tried to a.n.a.lyze the black soil and a dark plant by taking several samples with her magic.
"Don"t a.n.a.lyze it. It could come from the accursed monster"s curse." Nell waved her hand, throwing away all the samples in Elena"s bubble of light.
"All right, let"s stop the conversation and be aware of the dangers around. Keep your focus on ensuring each other"s safety. Anything can come from behind this thick fog." Elena slowed her pace and walked behind Elysia.
Her suggestion was approved by Nell, and their steps towards the tree of life continued.
"Leave." A subtle voice resounded in everyone"s ears.
Nell stopped at once, and so did the others. They looked around, trying to find out the source of the mysterious voice.
When the voice stopped and could no longer be detected, Elysia and the others looked at each other with puzzled expressions. They knew they weren"t hallucinating or hearing it wrong.
Elena nodded at Elysia, then flicked her hands to the side.
*Swoosh*
A strong gust of wind blew away all the thick fog blocking their view, making a straight path towards the tree of life.
However, what appeared in front of them was what surprised them the most, especially Nell. The base of the tree of life had turned black as if it had been burnt, but it gave off the faint black vapor.
"Leave, child. Don"t get any closer than this. Or, you will die quickly." The subtle voice of the old woman sounded once again in everyone"s ears but much clearer.
Nell"s eyes widened as she realized the voice owner, but there was a hint of happiness that came afterwards. The tree of life was still safe and sound. There was still hope. "No, Lifa, the tree of life. Please listen to me. I am Nell, the G.o.ddess of Blessings. We have come to help!"
There were a few minutes of delay, but Nell waited patiently for the response. Meanwhile, Elena only kept the fog away from them while waiting for the sequel.
"You don"t understand, child. We are beyond help. Only death awaits us in the next few years."
"NO!!!" Nell shouted out loud. She didn"t want to hear another desperate sentence as she knew very well whom the word "we" was addressed to.
The little G.o.ddess then floated up to Elena and pointed with both hands. "I may not be able to help, but I did not come alone. I came with the top-tier G.o.ddess from the outside world according to the prophecy. We still have hope, you and my big sister too."
Elena glanced at Elysia, but the latter ignored her. Elysia was focused on examining the tree of life"s actual state. Unfortunately, the results were terrible despite the exceptional status screen results.
[| Lv. 255 | G.o.ddess of Life | Tree of Life | Lifa | Female (N/A) | HP: 386,900 / 386,900 | EP: 515,900 / 515,900 |]
[| STR: 100 | AGI: 100 | VIT: 3,100 | INT: 1,250 |]
[| Lv. 255 | LE: 902,800 (100%) |]
Elysia sighed and stopped using her sacred vision. The state of the tree of life reminded her of Vanessa"s situation last month or Nell"s current condition.
The tree of life was suffering from a cause and lost much of its status, especially Life Energy. The tree of life was level 255, and that was definitely not the normal status for a divine being of that level!
"Wait, the tree of life has the name Lifa and has the t.i.tle of the G.o.ddess of Life? That t.i.tle doesn"t belong to Rhea, Nell"s big sister?" Elysia muttered in her mind as she pondered for a moment, but something caught her by surprise.
Something happened to the tree of life"s status. HP, EP, and LE were reduced by one point all of a sudden.
"Huh? Did anything happen to the tree of life? Her status is less than the number I saw earlier." Elysia was stunned and worried.
"We"ll find out about that later, Ely. This Lifa was probably one of the divine existences at the pinnacle of this world power. However, it looks like this little G.o.ddess doesn"t know about it." Elena suggested softly. They just needed to behave well.
"En, we can"t draw any conclusions with this yet." Elysia understood Elena"s meaning.
After several minutes of silence, the blackish roots at the base of the tree of life"s stem moved, revealing a secret entrance.
"Come in. You will know the meaning behind my words, child. But your holy magic can"t last long inside. Let the G.o.ddess beside you be responsible for your safety."
Hearing that, Nell looked at Elena with a pleading look.
Meanwhile, Elena just swung her hand, and the multi-layered golden barrier immediately enveloped them. "Now that we"re good let"s go in there and find out what happened to Lifa and your big sister, little one."
Nell nodded repeatedly and revoked her magic. She felt weak, but that was not the time to be depressed. All the things she could think of was just saving her big sister and the tree of life. The former was her priority.
The little G.o.ddess once again led the way. The suppressing aura of death grew denser and more dangerous the closer they got to the tree of life, but all of them still entered there nonetheless.
As soon as they pa.s.sed through the entrance, the wooden staircase was formed, asking them to go upstairs.
Nell glanced around. She had a hard time recognizing anything based on her memory. "Let us go upstairs. The tree of life is asking us to go there."
Elena just nodded her head, and so did Elysia. Thus, they went up the stairs, but Elena and Elysia never let their guard down. Unlike Nell, who got a little impatient and careless.
It was like a hall with lots of empty s.p.a.ce around that formed like rooms. However, only one thing caught everyone"s attention in an instant.
There was a giant half-transparent green crystal right in the middle of the blackish hall. The thing of concern wasn"t that, but someone sealed within.
An ashen skinned girl with long mint-colored hair and azure gradient on the ends was sealed within the half-transparent green crystal as if an immortalized corpse. Six pairs of wings of the same color as the girl"s hair spread out. At first glance, it was like a masterpiece of art.
However, half of the girl"s body was wrapped in another solid green crystal as if something had happened to the girl. Then, black runes spread over various parts of the girl"s body like a beautiful and intricate tattoo.
"Hmm... Is she Rhea? She looked more like an elf with wings than a fairy. She"s about as big as me. But, why is this G.o.ddess wearing such minimal clothes?" Elena commented as if she were a.s.sessing the value of art at an exhibition. However, she focused more on measuring Rhea"s twin peaks.
"Sister Elena! Is that what you noticed? Take a look at this G.o.ddess"s status screen. She is in a worse state than the tree of life." Elysia reprimanded Elena somewhat helplessly.
Elena smiled faintly, then complied with Elysia"s request. Meanwhile, Elysia looked back at Rhea"s status screen.
[| Lv. 231 | G.o.ddess of Nature | Rhea | Female (N/A) | HP: 23,200 / 23,200 | EP: 16,100 / 16,100 |]
[| STR: 1 | AGI: 1 | VIT: 1 | INT: 1 |]
[| Lv. 231 | LE: 39,300 (100%) |]
"Isn"t this G.o.ddess on the verge of death!? The G.o.ddess of Nature, she is in a very precarious state. However, we can"t help anyone without knowing anything, Ely. Remember that." Elena was absurdly surprised, but only in thought.
She didn"t show anything on her face because she realized that Lifa, the tree of life, was still watching all their movements. After all, all of them were inside Lifa"s body.
"En, I understand, Sister Elena." Elysia heaved a sigh and glanced at Nell, who stuttered in shock.
"Nha, bi, big sister. I have come. We have come to help you. Please hold on. You will be fine." Nell was aware of her big sister"s state and understood how close her big sister was to the true death.