Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 26: Shadow of Conspiracy
In the 880th year of the Platinum Calendar, two years after William left, a huge change occurred in Ravenwood.
The father of the wilderness had his throat pierced by a pale giant deer while hunting; and on the same day, the listener of the Holy Tree Mother was poisoned to death after accidentally ingesting rotten root sap during a divination.
The best hunter among the forest elves was killed by his prey, and the high priest who was familiar with all kinds of witchcraft knowledge was poisoned to death by himself. And these two things happened on the same day, it is hard not to think that someone was behind all this.
However, for the forest elves at that time, compared to tracking down the possible mastermind , the more urgent matter was how to choose their successors.
The "bride" needed by each generation of the "Father of the Wilderness" to perform the divine marriage ceremony must be confirmed by the prophecy of the Great Mother Listener. And each generation of the Great Mother Listener must pass the test of the Father of the Wilderness to get the final recognition.
This is essentially a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. If both the "Father of the Wilderness" and the "Great Mother Listener" need each other's help to pass on, then how did they appear in the first place?
In fact, the answer is very simple. Their appearance is essentially the product of the "initial contract" signed between the ancestors of the forest elves and the World Tree. In other words, they are the symbol of the maintenance of the contract.
Therefore, this is not a ceremony like the one required when the secular monarchy changes, which only has symbolic significance, but is part of the contract signed between the ancestors of the forest elves and the will of the world tree.
Without them, the way of life that the forest elves relied on in the past would completely collapse, and all the blessings they had received would become invalid.
There has never been a case in history where these two leaders died on the same day, so the entire Ravenwood fell into a state of stagnation with no leader.
Perhaps it was because the increasingly tense situation on the continent at that time put pressure on those stubborn old men. In short, some people from the Oak Council and representatives of the major tribes proposed a solution - they wanted to re-sign the contract with the World Tree.
In this way, they can re-select the original "Great Mother Listener" and "Father of the Wilderness" as witnesses of the new contract, just like their ancestors did in the past. They can also take this opportunity to modify some of the contract clauses that are outdated and no longer in line with the development form at that time.
This is actually necessary, because since William Kane left, the Endwatch has been unable to maintain peace on the entire continent, the major kingdoms have been expanding their military forces, and the Holy Spirit Church is also seeking to restore its past political status. In contrast, Ravenwood has no way to form a normal army because of its tradition of "no corruption".
In the era when the Moon Realm threat had been eliminated, many old contracts should have been revised or abolished long ago, and the death of both leaders this time was an excellent opportunity for the reformists.
In order to increase their bargaining chips, the reformists found the third seat of the Tribunal, Frost Witch Nihel, who had a very deep connection with Ravenwood, hoping that he could come forward to help implement this proposal.
Therefore, unlike the rumors that were spread outside later, Nih was not seeking to restore his status as a forest druid, but was invited to the Holy Tree City by the reformists of the forest elves at that time as a consultant. At the same time, the reformists also promised that as long as they renewed the covenant, although Nih could not restore his status as a druid, he would be rewarded with his soul and body resting in the arms of the Great Mother.
After a long period of discussion, bargaining, plotting, and exchanging interests, the Holy Tree City finally decided to renegotiate the contract under the pressure of learning that the Blackwater Kingdom had reactivated the "Corrupted Moon Undead Tide" - at that time, the entire Wick Continent had almost become a powder keg that could be ignited at any time, and the major kingdoms had done everything they could to expand their military strength. If they did not restore the contract with the World Tree, I am afraid that in the full-scale war that would inevitably break out in the future, the entire Ravenwood would be at the mercy of others.
As for the role played by Neh in the re-covenant event - it can be said that he alone filled the huge power gap between the conservatives and the reformists.
Now that even the most stubborn ones have given in, the next thing to do is to make a new contract.
However, things went wrong at this point. When the high-ranking officials of the Forest Druid went to the secret room where the core of the World Tree was kept, they found that the acorn, which was the core of the World Tree, had disappeared.
The guard was missing and there was no sign of a fight at the scene... Needless to say, it was Dru Yin, who was in charge of guarding the acorn, who stole it.
Until now, no one knows why they did this. According to Ebony's speculation, they should be extremely conservative people who are hiding very deeply, and finally chose to use this extreme method to prevent the establishment of the New Testament.
But the impact of this incident is extremely huge - taking the core of the World Tree away from the inside of the World Tree is not as simple as just moving it to another place to store it. This will cause the entire World Tree to become inactive, and the entire Ravenwood Forest will begin to wither, causing the souls and bodies of all the forest elves to wither as well.
Fortunately, they had the help of the top five magic casters in the entire continent. After a series of events, they finally got the acorn back before things got irreversible. The protective barrier redesigned by Nehe himself used the "anti-entropy" that could reverse time as an absolute defense measure, and only left a key that could directly pass through the barrier, which was handed over to someone who was absolutely trusted.
Because of this incident, the reputation of the entire conservative faction fell to the bottom, and the reformists redrafted the content of the new contract with almost no resistance. Under the new covenant, the entire forest elves will be able to put down the historical burden of the past and move forward towards a country that can better adapt to the times.
Therefore, the last thing to do is to renew the covenant. Once this is completed, Neher can finally rest in peace in his hometown of Ravenwood, as he longed for.
"Wait, what do you mean by complete rest?"
On the way out of the underground root system, William couldn't help but ask when listening to Ebony's story.
He felt a little uneasy from this statement.
