Chapter 813: How did I miss this?
To everyone's surprise, Jian just tilted his head with a calm expression.
"That's it?"
He murmured, causing Roanna to laugh.
"No, no! This is not something trivial! You don't understand! I am now a puppet of the dark
side! They can manipulate my mind at any moment! At any moment! They can force me to do anything they desire!"
Jian glanced back at Kyle.
"I'm going to try that thing you were teaching us. If I make a mistake, intervene and save him, okay?"
Kyle gave him an okay sign and extended his spiritual energy to keep watch. Taking a deep breath, the red-haired man turned to Ronan once more with an evil smirk.
"Well, you were going to kill yourself anyway. I believe it wouldn't be a problem if I use you as my first test subject? Consider this your punishment for your wrongdoings under the influence of the dark contract."
He closed his eyes and poured his spiritual energy into Ronan's body. His senses were stretched taut as he searched for the man's soul, and when he found it and got closer, Ronan let out a loud, agonizing scream.
Jian immediately used one of his skills to restrain the convulsing elven man.
With sweat dripping down his forehead, he concentrated on destroying the dark chains that were tightly wrapped around the bright soul he could sense with his closed eyes, employing the same method that Kyle had instructed and demonstrated earlier.
Wesley and the elves grew restless. Instantly, faint murmurs about what Jian was doing and why Ronan was screaming in agony echoed through the air.
Unlike the tense crowd, Alec and Asher were gawking at the red-haired man. Beside the duo, James murmured with a solemn expression to mask his astonishment.
"He learned it?"
The human and half-dragon with him, who were feeling sour about this development, glared at him, and he shut his mouth. After all, he was feeling sour as well.
Kyle watched Jian throughout every step and guided him with his spiritual energy. The process of destroying the dark chains, which should have taken only seconds, stretched into many long minutes.
During that time, Ronan experienced the worst pain of his life. He was breathing heavily, with blood oozing from his skin when Jian finally finished with him.
Ronan glared at him, tightly clutching his heart, which had nearly stopped.
"Why not just kill me outright-"
He halted abruptly mid-sentence when he noticed that the chains binding his soul had vanished. His eyes widened, and he gasped as he fixed his gaze on the red-haired man, who wore a smug smile even though both of his hands trembled slightly.
"How?"
Jian chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. To be truthful, he nearly destroyed Ronan's soul several times in the process, but Kyle's timely help saved it every time. He was never going to share this secret.
"Just a little trick I learned. You can thank me as much as you want."
He patted his shoulder, causing those who knew the truth to roll their eyes. But who would have thought Ronan would actually hold his hand with red-rimmed eyes?
"Thank you. Really, thank you."
Kyle chuckled when Jian panicked at the sight of such a grown man on the verge of crying while holding his hand tightly.
He waved his hand, and his spiritual energy entered Ronan's body, healing his injuries at a speed that was truly astonishing.
Queen Ariana couldn't thanks them enough, she took out multiple powerful treasures to gift them to Kyle and the rest.
James, knowing that this group of friends already had many treasures collecting dust in their mind space, wanted to refuse. But he never thought that both Kyle and Jian would step forward to accept the gifts.
Jian glanced at the dark-haired man and whispered with narrowed eyes.
"Why are you taking treasures? I thought you were rich? Give me yours as well."
Kyle quickly stored the storage rings the Queen had given him in his mind space.
"When did I say I was rich? I always use them to operate arrays. Currently, I am very poor. You should be the one to share."
He was right. He had used most of the powerful treasures he had collected. It seemed it was time to go hunt for more. Hearing his words, Jian vanished, causing him to purse his lips into thin lines.
"It's not like I was snatching."
Queen Ariana left his side and floated before the Tree of Fate. With a loud voice, she addressed the gathered elves.
"This is a good day for us. Finally, a good day after so much suffering. I know many of us have lost loved ones, but let's start anew and rebuild our destroyed homes to make this place suitable for the younger generation. We need to prepare and grow stronger. The dark side will attack again, but this time we need to be ready!"
The elves responded with enthusiastic agreement, their eyes ablaze with a fierce desire for vengeance. Yet, to accomplish this, they knew they needed to become stronger. Soon enough, they dispersed to begin the arduous task of rebuilding their planet and their homes.
At that moment, Ronan, who had been recovering silently in the distance, finally gathered the courage to face the Queen.
"I..."
Ariana shook her head.
"Don't apologize. Maybe if someone else were in your place, they would have done the same. You are the strongest in our race. Just give it your all now that you are free from the dark
contract."
She reached out to pat his shoulder.
"I am relieved... that you are alive."
Kyle observed everything. He was seated cross-legged on the highest branche of the Tree of Fate, replenishing the spiritual and divine energy he had lost. James and the rest were assisting the elves and waiting for him so they could leave together.
It was a peaceful moment.
But when had peace lasted for so long in his life? Trouble was bound to arise.
The elves, who were building their homes with faint smiles, all froze when a powerful
spiritual aura suddenly surged from deep within the planet. Immediately, the entire planet
trembled, causing them all to panic.
Kyle's eyes widened as he stood up.
"How the hell did I miss this? There's a celestial spirit hiding within the roots of the Tree of Fate! It's coming out!"