Chapter 80: The Myth of the Eternal Night Forest Sea

Others couldn’t see the perspective of the “Yin Yang Eyes,” so naturally, they wouldn’t know the psychological state of the Priestess at this moment. Seeing Miss Vilyric so certain, Enrique, who belonged to the Tree Adventurers team, decided not to say more and nodded as he continued to clear the way ahead.

Their current team consisted of nine people, including the adventurer team led by Enrique, called “Tree,” along with Vilyric, Hong Yan, and Miss Le Qiao Qiao.

Among them, the Priestess, Tree Bow, and Tree Wall were legitimate legendary adventurers, while the other four, though not yet at that level, had their own strengths and rich experiences, which had helped them become part of a legendary adventurer team.

Even the lowest-ranked among them, Hong Yan and Le Qiao Qiao, who were merely at the Mithril level, possessed true strength above the Earth level and had their hidden trump cards. Ignoring the Priestess’s factor, this was an extremely elite team, and it was likely that few could compare across the entire Ost Empire.

Now it had been over several days since Little Dragon Daughter went missing. To ensure they wouldn’t catch up to her too soon while also preparing adequately, Miss Vilyric took her time before following.

She understood Xiao Guang’s personality; if something particularly unusual hadn’t happened, that child definitely wouldn’t be able to hold back and would have already blown up, making a scene. Since there had been no movements so far, it indicated that those guys were indeed not ordinary human traffickers but likely members of the sinister cult directly connected to the disappearance case.

While tracking the traces left by Xiao Guang and feeling somewhat bored stiff by the mechanized travel, Vilyric did not forget the place name mentioned earlier by Tree Bow.

“By the way, Mr. Enrique, what exactly is the Eternal Night Forest Sea? Have you ever been there?”

The tree sprite youth walking up front glanced back at her and simply smiled, saying, “Miss Vilyric, as a world-famous traveler and legendary adventurer, it’s surprising to hear you asking me. That place is indeed perilous and vast, serving as a natural barrier between the Ost Empire and the far southern Kingdom of Azure, but if it’s just the outskirts, it shouldn’t be a challenge for someone as powerful as you, right?”

“Ah, well… the world is so big, there are many places I haven’t had the chance to see. After all, I’m still quite young~”

“True enough, since your adventurer team is only registered in the past few years… Alright then.”

Tree Bow shook his head in resignation, seemingly not intending to delve into Vilyric’s secrets any further. After a moment of reflection, he shifted to a more nostalgic expression.

“In fact, the Eternal Night Forest Sea was long ago the homeland of the tree sprite clan, the original source and residence of our race.”

“The Earth Mother Goddess bestowed that fertile and spiritually rich land upon our people. Under Her protection, the tree sprite clan established a powerful and prosperous kingdom which was the predecessor of the Eternal Night Forest Sea.”

“However, starting from some day about a thousand years ago, we inexplicably stopped receiving grace and responses from the Earth Mother. Soon after, disasters began to emerge one after another from the tree sprite kingdom: the ground collapsed, dark chasms opened up, swallowing countless kin, and terrifying monsters surged in like a tide, slaughtering all visible life.”

“Without the protection of the deity, the tree sprites couldn’t withstand such horrific calamities. Under the guidance of the priests, we desperately fled northward to areas that had yet to be affected, but our speed was still far too slow to outpace the spreading disaster, leading to heavy losses.”

“At this critical moment of life and death, the children of the Earth Mother appeared. They used their own strength to support the fallen land, raising it into the sky to become an island, and led the God’s Guards in fierce battles for months, exterminating those terrifying monsters, finally stopping the spread of disaster and preserving the remaining kin.”

“Yet in that brutal battle, countless fighters of the God’s Guards also perished, and even the children of the Earth Mother exhausted their powers and fell into eternal slumber within that forest sea.”

“Countless deaths transformed the forest into a place of endless night filled with despair. The surviving tree sprites had to leave their homeland with the remaining divine guards, splitting into several groups to seek survival in farther places.”

“The once prosperous kingdom thus fell apart, and the parts of the tree sprite kingdom that had not yet fallen or risen into the sky formed what is now known as the Eternal Night Forest Sea—an expanse where the sun is forever unseen, leaving only the night sky and countless wandering souls.”

After telling that deeply mythological and fantastical tale, Enrique paused and smiled at the three women, who were hearing this for the first time and seemed curious.

“Ha ha, of course, all of this was passed down from my grandfather’s grandfather. As for the reality of these myths, let’s just say, it’s for reference only.”

“The tree sprite kingdom suffered a tremendous blow from that disaster, and afterward, split into several groups, scattering across various forests around the world. Many of the traditions and documents from that time have been lost in the long passage of time.”

“Nowadays, probably only our well-developed Spirit Wood clan retains a few scraps of records, such as just now, this myth called ‘The Curse of the Black Moon.'”

“Well… that’s rather an interesting secret, isn’t it?”

Vilyric was slightly taken aback.

She hadn’t anticipated that she would gather such information from the mouth of a tree sprite adventurer in this setting.

Although much of the detail was vague and sounded more like a game of telephone, having strayed from the actual facts of the myth, if she combined Enrique’s words with the intel the Priestess had acquired, she could indeed deduce some high plausibility correspondences.

On the world map that Xi Fu Lin provided, the Eternal Night Forest Sea lay directly to the south of the vast Ost Empire, covering about one-fifth of its entire area and completely separating it from the even further south Kingdom of Azure in a narrow sliver.

It was precisely because of this colossal forest area, which was difficult to cross, that the people of the Empire, if they wished to reach the far southern feather country, had to take a long detour westward through the relatively safe Wasteland. It was time-consuming and labor-intensive, which is why the ambitious Ost Empire could not harbor any thoughts toward the Kingdom of Azure.

The Eternal Night Forest Sea indeed bordered closely with the numerous floating islands in the deep abyss further south. Perhaps, just as Enrique said, these two were once parts of the same vast forest a thousand years ago.

And that goddess from the myth-laden story could almost certainly be confirmed as the former Earth Mother Goddess Xi Fu, while the warriors of the God’s Guards were most likely from the angelic race. As for the children of the Earth Mother… Though there weren’t any concrete leads yet, there had indeed been whispers of titles like “Divine Child.”

If given a chance, it might be worth asking Xi Fu Lin about it.

Just as the Priestess was quietly digesting the earlier content, Enrique continued to add while walking, “However, regardless of how the Eternal Night Forest Sea came to be, it is indeed extremely dangerous. Sophie and I have never been there for real either. It is said that even legendary strong people who recklessly step in might have a chance of going in, but not returning.”

“A group of suspected cultists approaching such a place always feels somewhat unsettling…”

   

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