Chapter 187 - Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance (1/2)
Looking at the dried corpse in front of him, Aurus had mixed emotions in his mind, eventually letting out a sigh that embodied all of them. Not long after, he focused his sense of vision towards Herellia and Horell, not before muttering a few words to the corpse that was behind him.
”May your soul rest in peace.”
He then went ahead and teleported closer to Herellia and Horell while commanding Fenrir and Charisa to get closer to them as well. At the instant all of them were gathered together, Aurus looked at them, noticing the various emotions they felt before radiating an aura of slight elation and happiness soon after.
”The alliance has finally won,” Aurus said in a slightly happy tone. He then added, ”We are the sole rulers of Tempest Cliff now.”
Hearing these words, Herellia could not help but radiate an aura of slight melancholy. On the other hand, Horell radiated an aura of composure, yet his sense of vision was focused on Herellia, knowing very well what was going on in her mind.
”What's wrong, Herellia? Shouldn't you be happy that we won?” Aurus asked her this question after noticing the aura radiating from her, only to remember her words from a while ago. After that moment of realization, he hastily uttered, ”No, wait. I'm sorry for being insensitive. I shouldn't have said that.”
Herellia heard Aurus's words, focusing her sense of vision towards him before letting out a short sigh. She then replied, ”No worries. As I've said before, one cannot bring back the souls of the dead. I've somewhat come to terms with the deaths of the Verdant Nut and Blossom Breeze Alliance after Chonk died.”
She then focused her sense of vision towards the empty alliance base a distance away from them, muttering to herself, ”I shouldn't dwell on the past…but why do I still have the feeling that they must've survived?”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as Herellia muttered those words to herself, a group of sticks and saplings gradually made their way towards Herellia and the group, all of them radiating auras far weaker than them.
The first one to notice this group was Horell, who had a greater view of the area due to him still hovering. At the very instant he noticed them, he hastily said to Aurus and the others, ”Guys, we have some surprise guests coming to where we are. Their power level is around…B to A-grade Inanimate.”
Hearing this, Herellia focused her sense of vision towards the direction where the group of sticks and saplings were coming from. As for Aurus, he did the same thing as well while commanding the system to keep Fenrir and Charisa, leaving only him, Herellia, and Horell near Chonk's dried-up corpse.
With the three of them being vigilant, the group had eventually arrived in front of them, with an old-looking branch rolling forwards to be in front of the group.
Just as Herellia was about to ask the group what their intentions for coming near them were, the old-looking branch radiated an aura of relief and happiness as it said, ”Ah, thank goodness! The Tempest Branch Alliance wasn't destroyed by Chonk!”
These words left the three at a loss for words, with the old-looking branch turning around to look at the sticks and saplings that came with it as it continued, ”Then again, the Tempest Branch Alliance is the strongest alliance in Tempest Cliff, right?”
”Right! The Tempest Branch Alliance is the strongest alliance!” the sticks and saplings behind the old-looking branch replied in unison, increasing the confusion Herellia and the others felt by a few degrees.
”Er…may I ask who you might be?” Seeing as the group that came seemed to be in adoration towards them, Herellia reduced her vigilance towards the group and asked this question to the old-looking branch. In response to this, the old-looking branch let out a short chuckle, replying with words that seemed to not answer Herellia's question.
”I guess the skill I've crafted is quite effective.” The old-looking branch then radiated an aura of slight happiness as it said to Herellia, ”Hello, Herellia. I wonder if you remember the super-smart me?”
Herellia listened to the old-looking branch's question, the words it said bringing out memories in her mind in an instant. Looking through the surfaced memories, the aura radiating from Herellia had changed from vigilance to shock, her voice slightly quaking as she asked, ”Harriott…is that really you?”
”Although I've sacrificed a ton of my power just to create a second body of myself, it is indeed me,” the old-looking branch replied to Herellia's words before letting out a chuckle. Not long after, the old-looking branch let out a sigh of relief, ”Fortunately, I was able to teach this skill I made to the leader of the Blossom Breeze Alliance and a few of their important members before Chonk struck.”
Hearing these words, Herellia's shock had intensified, asking, ”Cermalia…is also alive?”
Whoosh!
At the instant she finished asking those questions, a slightly crooked sapling moved beside to where the old-looking branch was, radiating an aura of happiness as it replied, ”What? Do you seriously want to see us die that badly?”
Finding out that the two of them were alive all this time, Herellia could not help but radiate an aura of intense happiness as blood-red fluid started to drip from the eyes of the Crimson Spirit. The happiness she felt was too overwhelming, prompting her to scream, ”Thank the heavens you two are alive!”
On the other hand, Aurus and Horell looked at this from a bystander's viewpoint, with Aurus utilizing the soul connection he had with Horell as he asked, ”Horell, do you know who Herellia is talking about?”
”Harriott, the leader of the Tempest Branch Alliance, and Cermalia, the leader of the Blossom Branch Alliance,” Horell replied to Aurus's question before adding, ”I don't know how they did it, but they survived Chonk's attacks at the cost of their power reverting to around B to A-grade Inanimate.”
”I see…” Aurus said after listening to Horell. Not long after, he pondered over a few things before telling Horell, ”Well, I guess I won't disturb Herellia's reunion. I'm pretty sure you know a few important people from those alliances as well so go and greet them.”
Noticing the tone of slight indifference in Aurus's words, Horell asked, ”How about you? What are you going to do?”
”Me?” Aurus radiated an aura of slight happiness before replying, ”As the vice leader of the alliance, shouldn't I go ahead and tell the alliance members that we've won the war?”
Swoosh!
And so, without letting Horell reply, Aurus disappeared in front of Horell's field of vision, with Horell letting out a short sigh before lightly chuckling. He then muttered, ”You could've just told me that you were jealous, you know.”
…
Whoosh!
It did not take long for Aurus to arrive at the back of the alliance base, appearing in front of the alliance members who were still in an arrow formation all this time. At the very instant he had appeared in front of them, the alliance members hastily moved towards him, transforming the arrow formation into a circular formation that circled Aurus.
All of them were eager to know what had happened after they shot their strongest skills at the alliance leader. Nonetheless, since Aurus was the vice leader of the alliance, many of them were quite nervous to ask him this question. Fortunately for most of the alliance members, a decently sized tree came closer to Aurus, catching Aurus's question as he asked the tree, ��What's your name?”
”Verutia, Vice Leader,” the tree responded to his question, with Aurus remembering what Verutia had done in the war. Recalling this, he said, ”Ah, you're the leader of the party we sent out.”
”Yes,” Verutia briefly answered his question as she went silent for quite some time. Eventually, she mustered up her courage as she asked him, ”Vice Leader, what happened…in the war?”
In response to this, Aurus went silent, making the alliance members feel that something bad has happened. He then teleported towards the back wall of the alliance base, hastily conjuring a decently sized portal that led to the main hall of the alliance base in about a minute or so.
Swish…swish…