The Elf Territory.

In the depths of the boundless sea of trees, the Tree of Life stretched its branches wantonly under the golden sunlight filtering through its lush leaves. The stream below flowed quietly, with Elf Fruits floating on its surface. The vibrant life force made the surrounding flowers bloom even more brilliantly.

By the stream was a wooden table and a wooden chair. Slender, soft vines coiled around the table legs, from which small, pale yellow flowers quietly bloomed, emitting a faint, fresh fragrance. Olivia sat at the table, weaving a wreath from several long, thin branches, her long, light green hair cascading to the ground.

Perhaps because she was in a familiar environment, Olivia’s aura was not as cold as usual. She lowered her eyes, concentrating on the wreath in her hands, her beautiful appearance making one reluctant to disturb her.

The wooden table wasn’t very large. After the branches took up two-thirds of the space, the flower basket could only be placed on the ground. Polly, who stood guard not far from Olivia, glanced back and forth between the wreath in Olivia’s hands and the basket on the ground, her feelings somewhat complicated.

Ever since she had personally witnessed Olivia give the Twin Flower to Cynthia, Polly had slowly come to accept the fact that their Elf Race might be welcoming a Guardian from another race.

Although Cynthia was of another race, she was powerful, talented, and her seemingly casual personality was stable enough. While Polly had initially been against Her Majesty the Queen developing feelings for Cynthia due to her being an outsider, she had to admit that Cynthia was exceptional.

It would indeed be somewhat difficult to find an elf warrior within their clan as outstanding as Cynthia.

Of course, the most important thing was that Cynthia was Olivia’s own choice. As a loyal subordinate, Polly would naturally not interfere.

Time seemed to stand still in the Forbidden Land. As Polly was staring blankly at Olivia’s back, her vision suddenly darkened. The sunlight that had been shining through the dense branches vanished completely. The Tree of Life, which had just been stretching its branches freely, now let them droop, its state becoming listless.

Polly’s heart leaped in alarm, and she immediately reached for the longbow on her back. The Elf Territory was always clear for thousands of miles; such a gloomy sky would never appear during the day.

A cold, dark aura descended abruptly, and a bloody mist shrouded everything in sight. Olivia’s wreath-weaving stopped. She raised her light green eyes, her expression grave, and her beautiful brows furrowed tightly.

An unknown number of Blood Domains pressed down at once. A fierce wind swept through the Forbidden Land. Olivia put down the half-finished wreath, stood up, and looked at the thick, blood-colored fog overhead. A longbow of pale green light slowly materialized in her hand.

An arrow condensed from the power of nature shot into the dense fog with a whoosh. The dark aura stagnated for a moment, and the bloody fog began to crack. Unfortunately, the crack didn’t last long; the arrow was soon devoured by the power of darkness.

Olivia’s expression changed slightly, her hand gripping the longbow tightening involuntarily. The strong wind blew her long hair into a slight disarray.

“Her Majesty the Queen!” Polly flashed to Olivia’s side. The oppressive dark aura made it difficult for her to breathe. “This… this is the Blood Domain of a Second Generation Vampire…”

And judging by the intensity of this Blood Domain, it was clearly cast by more than one Second Generation Vampire… Polly looked up at the gloomy sky and swallowed involuntarily. Her expression was panicked, for the last time she had seen such a scene in their territory was when the previous Elf Queen was sacrificed, and the Vampires had dispatched multiple Second Generation Vampires in an attempt to annihilate the Elf Race.

At that time, it was the newly-appointed Olivia who had withstood the pressure and driven the Vampires out. But back then, Olivia had been at her peak…

Polly felt a sense of unease and couldn’t help but turn to look at Olivia’s expression. Olivia appeared perfectly calm, which slowly soothed Polly’s own anxious heart.

“Send the young elves in the clan to the God Race.” Olivia quickly drew her bowstring, and several more arrows pierced the dense fog. Her face was expressionless, and her voice betrayed no emotion as she said flatly, “Send someone to Clan Leader Helen to ask for help.”

The arrows dissolved into the power of darkness as soon as they entered the fog. Olivia watched the dissipating arrows with a deep look in her eyes. She fell silent for a moment before adding in a low voice, “…Cynthia… if Cynthia brings her people to support us, have her protect the Tree of Life.”

Securing the young elves and then entrusting Cynthia with protecting the Tree of Life… this meant Olivia had already prepared for the worst. Polly pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and said with difficulty, “Yes, I will go make the arrangements now.”

At the border of the Elf Territory, four or five lavishly dressed, pale-skinned Second Generation Vampires were mobilizing the power of darkness, unfolding their Blood Domains in an attempt to suppress the power of nature within the elven lands. The vampire in the lead was young and beautiful, her golden hair still dazzling under the dim sky. Talia did not unfold her Blood Domain like the other Second Generation Vampires. Instead, she raised her eyes to gaze at the trees that were rapidly withering under the shroud of dark energy, a slight smile playing on her red lips. “Although Olivia isn’t very likable,” she said in a pleasant mood, “the blood of elves is still quite delicious.”

Just like this vast expanse of greenery, elven blood tasted exceptionally fresh and sweet.

Having suffered a setback in Pegel, Edeli frowned upon hearing Talia’s words. “You want to take them alive?”

Talia smiled faintly. “It would be a shame to kill them all. Why not capture them and give them to Samantha and the others for a change of taste?”

Samantha had always opposed her plan to conquer the Sitatul Continent. Now that she was about to exterminate the most powerful race on the continent, she’d see what Samantha had left to say.

Talia thought of those idle elders in the Blood Domain and snorted coldly, her words cruel. “The other elves can be captured as blood slaves, but I must watch Olivia be torn to shreds.”

Olivia was too strong. If she was left with even a sliver of life, they might be the ones to suffer. Therefore, she had to kill this elf this time.

The Blood Domains of four or five Second Generation Vampires layered down, and the Elf Territory was instantly overrun by the dark aura. The patrolling elf warriors quickly found the Vampires. Elves holding longbows or staves faced them from a distance, a dense rain of arrows attempting to break through the encroaching Blood Domain.

The Third and Fourth Generation Vampires who had come with Talia were the first to charge out, clashing with the elf warriors. Talia watched the elves’ offensive for a while, then gave a meaningful look to the Second Generation Vampires beside her.

Edeli and the other few Second Generation Vampires scattered, their figures quickly passing through the elf warriors’ blockade and disappearing into the bloody fog.

Talia watched them disappear but didn’t follow. Instead, she turned and left the elf warriors’ line of sight. At the border of the Elf Territory stood dozens of mysterious figures in black robes. Though the robes were loose, their tall and slender figures were still discernible.

Sensing Talia’s presence, the black-robed figures turned around. The one in the lead removed the hood from her head, revealing snow-white hair that cascaded over her chest. She gave Talia a slight nod, her voice gentle. “Congratulations, Elder Talia. You can finally avenge the bitter defeat you suffered at Olivia’s hands all those years ago.”

Talia didn’t like others bringing up the Vampires’ defeat. She glanced at the white-haired woman, her voice soft but carrying a faint warning. “Just do your job, Joanna.”

Joanna turned to look in the direction of the Tree of Life and smiled. “I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I certainly won’t fail, rest assured.”

Relying on the Elf Fruits the Elf Race “bestowed” upon them was simply not enough to solve the Wolf Race’s reproduction problems. For the future of her clan, she was determined to obtain the Tree of Life.

“However, there is one more thing I’d like to ask for Elder Talia’s help with.”

Talia looked at her and asked, “What is it?”

“I’ve heard that the Tree of Life is very picky and won’t survive in ordinary soil.” Joanna raised a hand to brush back the hair at her temple, her tone casual. “So, I want Olivia’s corpse as fertilizer.”

To successfully transplant the Tree of Life, it would need some familiar “nutrients.”

Of course, Olivia’s body alone might not be enough. She would have to find a more suitable place for the Tree of Life to grow, but that was a matter for the future.

Talia stared at Joanna for a moment, then a slight smile touched her lips. She didn’t agree directly, instead saying nonchalantly, “We’ll see how you perform.”

This continent would belong to the Vampires in the future. She wasn’t generous enough to let the werewolves have a piece of the pie.

The Wolf Race elders behind Joanna were angered by Talia’s insincere reply, but Joanna herself showed no sign of anger, her smile remaining as gentle and amiable as ever.

A white eagle flew out from the Blood Domain, intending to head west. Joanna sensed something, looked up slightly, and spotted the eagle at once.

She raised her hand, and an invisible domain enveloped the eagle, capturing it.

Talia glanced at the unremarkable eagle and raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

“This is the messenger Helen gave Olivia for communication.” Joanna turned the eagle to ash and said with a smile, “Alright, now we can focus on dealing with the Elf Race.”

Just as Avira had said, Talia was too impatient and had struck the Elf Race ahead of schedule. The elves were already in crisis, but the news had not yet reached the God Race.

However, even though the message hadn’t arrived, Cynthia was already preparing to provide support. But before she left, she had some arrangements to make. The first was to send someone to bring Doris back.

The Elf Territory, now targeted by the Vampires, was no longer a safe place. They had to find another location to settle their people.

Darcy and Chloe, who had already become vigilant and started preparing for battle due to the failing teleportation arrays, now learned from Cynthia that the Elf Race might be under siege by the Vampires. A layer of gloom settled over their already heavy hearts.

The rise of the God Race was inseparable from the help of the elves. Although the God Race might soon face danger themselves, neither Chloe nor Darcy could bring themselves to ask Cynthia to stay behind.

Nothing could happen to the Elf Race. Otherwise, they would be the next to be devoured by the Vampires.

The Vampires were besieging the Elf Race while their teleportation arrays were failing one after another. The timing was too perfect. If either the elves or the God Race fell, all their efforts over the years would be for naught.

And the Vampires would continue to control the Sitatul Continent, their position unshakeable.