There was a series of static noises coming from the communication device, but Bellna did not care. She just smiled and waited patiently for a few seconds. Then she heard a hoarse, low voice, like withered branches rubbing together, coming from the device.
"Today's wasteland is still as boring as before. Bertilla, why are you suddenly contacting me through the Dark Bridge?"
"I want to confirm the situation in the outpost," said Bertilla, who used the pseudonym Berna but was actually the middle-level leader of the cult. "You should already know that those blind monsters have attacked the border of Typhon and Ansu at the same time."
"… This side of the wall is under control. The accident outside the wall has nothing to do with us, Your Excellency."
Bertilla snorted, apparently not satisfied with the answer. "There are mutants with elementary intelligence and powerful spellcasting ability among the mutants. Why didn't you mention these changes in the previous report?"
The voice on the other side of the communication device was silent for a moment, and then the rustling sound came again. "… We have not observed the mutants that you mentioned."
Bertilla's beautiful brows slightly furrowed. Apparently, she was even more dissatisfied with the answer. "Do you think I would make up something like this? Now, even the humans outside the wall have seen the new mutant monsters. You really don't know? "
"Patriarch Bertilla, don't question the loyalty of the 'sacrificer'. We don't know what the mutants are, but we will investigate it. If everything is true, it can only mean that the monsters are undergoing new mutations that have never been observed before. In the face of such changes, the wisest choice is to wait patiently for the results of the investigation."
"I will wait." Bertilla's face was cold and stiff. "But I don't have much patience."
"Be patient, be patient. We have been patient for 700 years. There is nothing that can affect our plan …"
The noise and human voices in the communication device gradually faded. Bertilla knew that the effect of the Dark Bridge was reaching its limit. The illegal signal coverage in the channel would soon be noticed by the sorcerers of the Silver Empire. So before the communication was completely cut off, she quickly said, "The elves will soon notice the movement of the Great Wall. Our channel will be reset and modified according to the second set of plans …"
The sky was covered with filthy clouds like a swamp. The turbulent chaotic magic energy created incessant lightning in the clouds. The whistling wind carried poisonous gases and radioactive dust. Everything in this deadly environment withered, or mutated and twisted. Even the ground, which was regarded as the foundation of all things, had turned into a scorched wasteland in the corrosive magic energy. This was a land of no life.
However, there were still some 'things' that were active in this place where life was cut off.
Gondor wasteland, a 'forest' was slowly wriggling in the charred area of the magic energy.
Dark and twisted branches grew wildly in the corrosive magic energy. Sparse and messy grayish-white leaves hung on the branches. Pale and blood-red crystal vegetations pierced through the skin of these plants and grew among the creepy branches and leaves like mosaics. No polymath in the world could identify the species or names of these 'trees'. Even in the most absurd and bizarre painting of the Black Forest, no one would draw such bizarre 'trees'. Especially when these trees were still waving their branches and walking on the ground with their dense roots, it was even more beyond the poor imagination of human beings.
Countless such "trees" were wriggling on the wasteland. Their roots were like entangled snakes, constantly expanding, contracting, and wriggling. From time to time, some of the "trees" would slow down their wriggling speed and pierce a part of their roots into the decaying soil, seizing the time to absorb the remaining nutrients in the soil. Even so, their wriggling pace would never stop, as if their mission was to constantly trudge on the wasteland.
In the middle of the wriggling forest, an exceptionally huge and ancient strange tree was slowly moving forward, surrounded by its companions. Its wrinkled and pockmarked bark was crumpled together, forming a strange pattern that looked like the face of an old man. The face made of bark moved slightly, and a hoarse voice came from 'its' dry and cracked mouth. "Don't worry, Priestess Bertilla. Everything is under control …"
A moment later, the old face closed its mouth, but around the giant tree, many smaller wriggling trees began to sway at the same time. Faces emerged from the wrinkled bark, and as the branches of the trees twisted, they looked towards the direction outside the forest.
Outside the Crawling Forest, on the wasteland that was covered in filth and scorch marks, countless abominable and terrifying giants of flesh and blood were slowly moving. Low murmurs that were enough to drive ordinary people crazy came from the chest of each giant and filled the entire wilderness.
And among the blind giants of flesh and blood, there were one or two particularly huge individuals. They were two or three times the height of ordinary giants, and they were slowly moving in the group, and they were constantly approaching the direction of the wriggling forest …
Every leaf in the wriggling forest shook, and in the rustling sound, there was an ethereal voice. "Everything is under control …"
Bertilla ended the communication and stared at the darkened arcanotech device before her.
"Sacrificer …" The matriarch closed her eyes, and there was a trace of nostalgia and bitterness in her cold and indifferent expression. "Seven hundred years …"
But in just a few seconds, the matriarch withdrew all the unnecessary emotional changes. She opened her eyes, and her eyes became cold and distant again. After confirming that the 'dark bridge' had been put away, and that there was nothing unusual left on the arcanotech device, she tidied up the wrinkles on her clothes and turned to leave the place.
But her feet were rooted to the ground as if they had grown roots. Even though her upper body had turned, she could not lift her feet.
She looked down in surprise, but found that her roots did not appear. It was not the vines and roots that held her in place, but her own legs, her own feet.
Bertilla frowned and tried to lift her feet again, but this time, not only did she not succeed, but she even put her hand on the extinguished arcanotech device again!
The matriarch exclaimed in a low voice, "Berna? What are you doing?! "
Bertilla's body stiffened, and she did not move at all. But a deep battle was unfolding inside this body. Her face — the face that belonged to an elf, pure and beautiful, was constantly changing different expressions. Sometimes it was anger, sometimes it was pain, sometimes it was determination, and sometimes it was despair …
In the end, all the expressions stopped at a layer of indifference, and Bertilla regained control of the body.
But she let out a soft sigh.
"Berna … This is the last time you can be willful.
"Go, before I change my mind."
The elven girl's body staggered, and then she slowly walked to the arcanotech terminal in the room. She gently stroked the smooth alloy surface of the arcanotech terminal, and then put her hand on top of it a little awkwardly.
A moment later, the elven runes lit up again, and the projection of light and mist appeared together with a voice. A silver-silver elf with a kind smile waved in front of Berna.
"Greetings, Windtalker 1015, sister who has traveled far away."
The elven girl hesitated, but she still slowly opened her mouth to break the silence. "I am … Berna Lightwind, from … Baishi City."
"Alright, Miss Berna. How does it feel to travel outside? Do you want to contact your family in the Empire? Or do you want to report what you have seen outside? Or is there a special situation that requires you to switch to a confidential channel? "
"I … No, I don't need to contact my family. I only have a few words that I want to pass on to Master Thorny Heart of the Moon Valley."
"Alright, please speak. I will record it for you here."
"… Teacher, I am very good outside. Traveling is really interesting. This world is so big, much bigger than the forest I have seen in my hometown …
"I got to know a lot of people. There were humans, elves who also came out to travel, dwarves who are commonly seen in the north of the continent, and even a sprite. The sprite is really interesting. She's small, but she's full of confidence when she speaks …
"Teacher, I do not regret coming out to see this world, but I also want to see the forest of my hometown …
"But … I am not going back.
"I want to stay in the outside world because I have a promise that I have to fulfill.
"There's one last thing. Mentor, please stop gambling … Really, it's very embarrassing to say this to others …" "You're right.
"That is all, Miss Windtalker."
"Alright, I have recorded it." The Silver Elf on the magic screen recorded Berna's words with a smile. She then asked, "Do you have any other messages that you want to pass on to anyone else?"
The elven girl Berna was silent for a moment. She shook her head slightly and said, "No."
"Alright, my sister who has traveled far. I am very happy to have this short conversation. I hope to see you again next time. May the stars and the earth always bless you. "
"May the stars and the earth always bless you. Thank you. "
The runes on the surface of the communication device gradually dimmed. Berna repeated her words as if she was talking to herself, "Thank you."
Obviously, this was not for the Windtalker who had already gone offline.
The elven girl's body shook slightly. A cold voice came from her mouth. "You don't have to thank me. You and I know very well that this is part of the deal.
"You give me your flesh and life force, and I will make up for your regret.
"I just want to better stabilize the state of the flesh and blood after the 'fusion'. And on the other hand, I have been monitoring your movements. Your words and actions cannot escape my control. So you really have nothing to thank me for."
There was a long silence in the room. After a few minutes, Bertilla suddenly chuckled. "Hah … I can't believe I am affected by you …"
She shook her head, and all the expressions on her face quickly disappeared. Then she opened the door of the cubicle and left the place without hesitation.
She skillfully passed through the sentry post of the messenger hall, crossed the streets, and left the town built by the elves from another entrance.
Not long after, she was already in the coniferous forest outside the valley.
Bertilla, who was still in her "Bertilla" form, strolled in the forest. Even though she was surrounded by a desolate border forest, she felt like she was strolling in the garden of her home. She walked at a leisurely pace and stopped when she reached a spacious area in the forest.
She smiled and looked up at Solderlin who had already drawn his short bow not far away.
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