Chapter 124: Prove Your Words
"Why did you tell her?" After they left, Andreas turned to Daniel and asked.
"Was there another way? If I didn’t tell her, they would’ve figured it out themselves. I just sped things up," Daniel sat down and leaned against the wooden wall.
"Still..." Liara wanted to say something, but before she could finish, Daniel cut her off.
"Forget all the what-ifs and maybes. Besides, no need to worry. I’ve already taken care of our escape plan." Daniel yawned and stretched his legs.
Even though he had been unconscious for hours, he strangely still felt sleepy. He decided to get some rest before nightfall... though he didn’t even know if it was day or night right now.
The sky of the Endless Spirit Mountain looked like a night sky, so it was impossible to tell whether day even existed here or not.
"Escape plan?" Andreas looked at him in confusion.
"That girl’s gonna come visit us again." Daniel knew a lot about living beings—how they think, how they act.
After all, there was a reason why he had become a leader at such a young age in his previous life.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Dark Elf territory, inside a tree carved like a palace, Ilaris was standing before a throne.
"Father, do we have a branch from the World Tree?" She looked at the Dark Elf sitting on the throne and asked.
"What kind of question is that?" The Dark Elf sitting on the throne—a middle-aged man with black hair—was the ruler of the Dark Elves of the Endless Spirit Mountain. His name was Elarion.
"Father, that’s why you won’t let me leave the mountain, isn’t it? Because all the Elf races want to hunt us down!" Ilaris shouted in anger.
Even though she had never left the mountain in her life, she had read all the books in the tribe’s library. She knew a decent amount about the world.
Especially, she knew what the World Tree was and how much it meant to all Elf races. Even one branch of it was something you couldn’t describe with words.
"Ilaris, I don’t know who’s been filling your head with this nonsense, but we don’t have anything like that here," a powerful and deep voice echoed. The sheer weight of it made Ilaris feel a shiver for a moment.
"But Father..." Before she could finish, the patriarch of the Dark Elves spoke again.
"That’s enough. Your coming-of-age ceremony is tomorrow. Go back to your room." Elarion said in a firmer and harsher tone.
Tears welled up in Ilaris’ eyes, but she didn’t dare say anything. She turned and left.
"Ilaris..." At the same time, Ernas finally arrived. When he saw the girl who was like a daughter to him walking away with tears in her eyes, he realized he was too late.
"Ernas, you got here just in time. You better have an explanation." Elarion looked at his right-hand man and asked angrily.
Something he had planned for decades was finally about to be completed tomorrow. He couldn’t allow any problems at the last moment.
"My lord, here’s what happened..." Ernas explained everything to the patriarch.
"Execute those humans," Elarion ordered without hesitation after hearing the story.
"As you command, my lord." Ernas bowed and then left to carry out the executions.
At the same time, Ilaris had secretly returned to the dungeon. Holding a torch, she walked through the dark hallway.
"So you came after all." Daniel smiled when he saw the light approaching from the distance.
"You knew I’d come?" Ilaris frowned a little and looked at the human in front of her. How did he know she would show up?
Meanwhile, the three Lionhearts looked at each other in shock. Daniel had been exactly right.
"Forget what I said. Anyway, I guess you have some questions."
"How do I know you’re not lying about the World Tree branch?" Ilaris asked seriously.
She really wanted to believe her father. She didn’t want all the beliefs she had about him to collapse.
But deep inside, her heart told her he was lying. And the more she thought about what he had said in the past, the more certain she became.
Even so, part of her still hoped that he had told the truth.
"I don’t have any proof. Do you?" Daniel turned and looked at Andreas and the others.
They looked at each other again, a little unsure. It was clear they had something, but weren’t certain if they should show it or not.
"There are still things you haven’t told me? God..." Daniel sighed.
"Actually, the Elves gave us something to identify the branch," Andreas stood up and walked over.
He took off his shoe and peeled off the sole. Inside, there was a tiny vial containing a golden liquid.
"Huh. You hid it pretty well."
"It was just in case. Luckily, it was a good idea. When we got captured by the undead, they took our storage rings. We only got them back after you freed us."
Their storage rings had multiple kinds of magic engraved into them. Even if lost, they could still locate them.
"Anyway, the Elves said this is impure sap from the World Tree. When we get close to the branch, it glows," Andreas handed it to Daniel.
"As you can see, we do have proof that the Elves sent us." Daniel held it out toward Ilaris so she could see.
"Sigh... Looks like you were telling the truth." Ilaris sighed too. Her last bit of hope was gone. She was familiar with the World Tree’s sap.
Of course, this was impure sap, so it didn’t have much value.
"Hm?" Daniel suddenly frowned as the vial started to glow.
"This? Why is it glowing now?" Daniel looked at Ilaris, then back at the vial, still frowning.
Wasn’t it only supposed to glow when it was near a branch of the World Tree? So why was it glowing now?
Daniel gave Ilaris a thoughtful look.
"Maybe it reacts to Elves too? Since we’re blessed by the World Tree?" Ilaris said hesitantly.