Chapter 2210 Strange Situation <TOC> Chapter 2212 Magic Bean
Translator: SumTLMan
The Magic Vine, which had surged in size, sprouted a split into three large green tendrils at its apex as it neared the Gondola, swaying in midair.
At first glance, they resembled three ferocious pythons, writhing and struggling.
Undoubtedly, this was a mature wood elemental creature. Angel, who was on the quest for wood elemental creatures, decided not to leave upon encountering it.
Initially, Angel intended to communicate with the Magic Vine. However, when its top split into three, he sensed a subtle aura of hostility emanating from the twisted tendrils.
Could it be that the Magic Vine was preparing to battle him?
As he pondered this, the three tendrils sprouted thorns like those of a rose vine, with sharp barbs flashing a chilly, gloomy light.
Following this display, the Magic Vine did not hesitate to whip its tendrils towards the Gondola with the speed of lightning.
The direction of the three tendrils was telling: one aimed at Angel, another targeted the Gondola itself, and the last one surged towards the sand prison.
Angel noticed that the first two tendrils attacked with relentless force, while the one aimed at the sand prison carried a gentler intent.
From this, Angel deduced that the Magic Vine’s main objective was to take the sand prison. Considering the close relationship between the Green Wilderness and White Cloud Hamlet, and seeing the pitiful appearance of Arnoldo in the sand prison, it was clear to Angel that the vine had mistaken them for kidnappers of Arnoldo.
“You’ve misunderstood; we’re allies with Arnoldo!” exclaimed Dangros, who was astute enough to grasp the vine’s intentions in this crisis.
However, Dangros’s words did not cause the vine to pause.
To the vine, Arnoldo was of paramount importance. Arnoldo, startled by the sudden turn of events, began to accumulate tears, frozen with fear.
Arnoldo’s pitiable, tormented appearance made it impossible for the vine to trust Dangros, a creature of fire.
“Say something!” Dangros shouted at Arnoldo.
Completely terrified, Arnoldo’s attempt to speak failed, and a tear fell.
This scene only fueled the vine’s fervor, making its attack terrifyingly fierce.
In its view, this strike would suffice to overturn the peculiar vessel and bind the humanoid figure devoid of any elemental aura.
Yet, the outcome the vine anticipated never materialized.
As the tendrils charged towards the Gondola, a black shadow slowly rose from the vessel’s darker side, revealing a blue lantern flower at the bow, bubbling.
The flower swayed with the breeze, and the shadow transformed into an azure wildcat shadow, emanating a natural aura purer than that of the vine.
“Kin?” The vine voiced its confusion for the first time.
However, the azure wildcat shadow didn’t respond but leaped from the side of the Gondola. Its ribs sprouted a multitude of flowers and vines that rapidly intertwined, forming a pair of wings made of flora that could obscure the sky.
The wings gently closed, shielding the Gondola and repelling the attacking tendrils outside.
The impact of the tendrils on the flora wings produced a metallic clang, evidencing the high defensive quality of the wings.
“Who are you, and why have I never seen you before?” the vine inquired again.
The azure wildcat shadow did not respond but slowly spread its wings adorned with flora, revealing indifferent and unfeeling eyes.
Amidst the Magic Vine’s alarm and confusion, the azure wildcat shadow flapped its wings and dove towards it…
This azure wildcat shadow was indeed Eremy. As Eremy battled with the Magic Vine, Dangros heaved a sigh of relief, knowing Eremy’s strength, and thus understanding they were temporarily safe.
“What a complete waste! Scared by mere presence, and now you’re crying.” Dangros grumbled at Arnoldo, imprisoned in the sand cage: “Had you spoken earlier, none of this would have happened.”
After sobbing for a while, Arnoldo replied in a tiny voice, “I…I don’t understand.”
“What’s there not to understand?”
“Why, if I, I had spoken, would none of this have happened?” Arnoldo asked timidly.
“You’re not Kolokcro, stop stuttering.” Dangros scolded, and seeing Arnoldo shrink back, he explained irritably: “The Magic Vine saw you trapped in this cage and must have mistaken us for your captors. So, had you simply explained, this misunderstanding would have been cleared. But you didn’t say a word earlier, truly infuriating!”
Arnoldo’s eyes spun in confusion before he grasped Dangros’s point.
Realizing his own silence might have led to the Magic Vine’s misunderstanding, guilt appeared in Arnoldo’s eyes: “Then, what should we do now? Maybe I should explain now.”
Dangros glanced at the heated battlefield: “What’s the point of explaining now when they’re already at each other’s throats?”
Angel also said, “Dangros is right, let’s wait until Eremy has subdued the Magic Vine before explaining.”
Arnoldo nodded, not considering whether Eremy could actually defeat the Magic Vine, and began rehearsing in his mind how to explain the situation to convince the Magic Vine of his innocence.
On the other side, as the Magic Vine fought more fiercely, it became increasingly alarmed. Although they appeared to be in a deadlock, for some reason, it felt that the wildcat shadow’s aura was remarkably calm, whereas its own power was gradually being suppressed. If this weren’t the Green Wilderness, rich with nature energy, the Magic Vine believed it might have already been at a disadvantage.
Moreover, what the Magic Vine found hardest to accept was that the opponent also seemed to be a wood elemental creature.
Why would it help those who kidnapped the wind sprite?
The Magic Vine repeatedly asked during breaks in the fight, but the opponent didn’t reply, fueling both its confusion and irritation.
“Have you calmed down now?” Another voice came from the side, belonging to the humanoid creature the Magic Vine had seen earlier.
The Magic Vine did not respond.
“Seems like you haven’t.” The indifferent voice spoke again, “Eremy, let it calm down further.”
Before the Magic Vine could understand the implication, the aura of the wildcat shadow facing it surged dramatically, a terrifying presence far beyond anything before, pinning the Magic Vine’s flailing tendrils in place.
Simultaneously, the ground began to tremble, and a thin, light green tendril rose from the earth, entwining the Magic Vine’s underground roots and hoisting them into the air.
“Impossible! When did you do this?” The Magic Vine, uprooted, stared in horror at the opposing wildcat shadow, utterly unaware of how its adversary had silently extended its reach underground!
Eremy remained silent, using a more powerful force of nature to suspend the Magic Vine midair, immobilized.
The Magic Vine understood it had met a formidable opponent. However, it wasn’t disheartened; after all, this was the Green Wilderness. Even though it was currently trapped, as long as it could signal its comrades nearby, rescue would come!
With this thought, the Magic Vine ceased its struggle and began emitting a green mist from its body.
“This is the Seed of Nature; it’s using the Seed of Nature to send a message!” At that moment, a voice still tinged with sobs came from afar.
The Magic Vine cursed and turned to see who had revealed its schemes.
But it was startled at the sight.
Why was it?
The speaker was precisely the wind sprite it had longed to rescue…
……
“So, they didn’t capture you? You went to the Toothpull Desert on your own, violated a taboo, and they were just sending you back to White Cloud Hamlet?” The Magic Vine looked at Arnoldo in the sand prison and asked.
Arnoldo nodded somewhat sheepishly: “Yes, that’s right.”
“Then why were you crying just now?” The Magic Vine was still worried if Arnoldo was coerced and asked again.
After hesitating for a while, Arnoldo said, “I… I was scared by you.”
Dangros also chimed in at this moment: “This guy cried all the way here. He cries whenever something doesn’t go his way; we didn’t do anything to him.”
“I seem to have heard that there’s a wind sprite in White Cloud Hamlet that cries. Is that you?”
Although Arnoldo was reluctant to admit it, it was clear that among the wind elemental creatures, it was the only one known to cry.
Eventually, Arnoldo nodded in acknowledgment.
The Magic Vine took a deep breath and remained silent for a long time. The eyes that grew on its vines showed a moment of embarrassment, but looking at the small Arnoldo, it ended up sighing in resignation.
Not wanting to see Arnoldo for a short while, the Magic Vine shifted its gaze towards Angel, expressing regret: “Sorry, I was rash just now.”
Angel, who still needed to unite the monarchs of various domains for strategic cooperation with the Savage Grottoes, tried to avoid antagonizing the wood elemental creature of Green Wilderness. So, facing the Magic Vine’s apology, he didn’t say much: “No harm done, it was just a misunderstanding.”
After clearing up the misunderstanding, Angel had Eremy release the vines binding him.
Once the Magic Vine was freed, it felt even more ashamed towards Angel and wanted to invite him to its temporary abode as a guest.
“Let’s not bother with visiting; we have more important matters.” Angel paused before revealing their purpose: “We were planning to head to Wind Island, but along the way, we noticed some peculiar situations.”
Initially, Arnoldo was supposed to explain this, but since the Magic Vine was avoiding even glancing at Arnoldo, Angel took it upon himself to describe what they had observed and his own speculations.
“…Do you know if anything unusual has happened in White Cloud Hamlet?” Angel asked.
After listening, the Magic Vine looked puzzled: “Has something happened in White Cloud Hamlet? I didn’t notice anything.”
The Magic Vine then looked up at the flowing clouds in the sky, feeling everything seemed quite normal in its perception.
“You didn’t notice?” Angel wondered.
The Magic Vine confidently said: “I haven’t sensed anything unusual. Could you be mistaken?”
The Magic Vine’s tone was sincere, and Angel believed what it said. However, considering the signs they had observed earlier, it seemed like White Cloud Hamlet indeed experienced some anomalies.
“If there really was nothing unusual, how could Arnoldo so smoothly step into the Toothpull Desert? And this dove couldn’t have been left alone on the clouds for no reason,” Dangros interjected at that moment.
Upon deeper consideration by the Magic Vine, it seemed there might indeed be some truth to this.
“Do you know which elemental creatures of the wind reside within these clouds?” Angel pointed towards the clouds floating above their heads and inquired.
“The clouds sometimes gather and sometimes disperse; I haven’t paid much attention to them,” Magic Vine paused before continuing, “However, three days ago, a tornado passed by here, and it carried a distinct aura of wind elemental creatures.”
“Where did it go?”
“Over there.” Magic Vine manipulated a vine to point towards the direction where the clouds were growing denser.
“That direction leads to Wind Island!” Arnoldo seized this moment to make his presence known.
“Does this mean that the nearby wind elemental creatures have returned to Wind Island?” Dangros turned to Arnoldo and asked, “Could it be that you have some gathering on Wind Island, and thus Gentle Wind Uranos summoned all the outside wind elemental creatures back?”
Arnoldo shook his head in confusion, “Not that I am aware of.”
Angel commented, “Even if there was such an event, they wouldn’t neglect the elemental sprites.”
“What could be the situation then?” Dangros pondered.
While Dangros was contemplating, Magic Vine spoke up, “How about this, I’ll ask the sage of Green Wilderness for you, it might know something.”
Angel’s eyes lit up; he had been considering this but was unsure how to bring it up. Since Magic Vine offered, he naturally wouldn’t decline, “That would be great, thank you.”
Once it was decided to inquire with the sage of Green Wilderness, Magic Vine immediately released a large amount of green mist. This mist sank into the earth and, at a speed invisible to the naked eye, penetrated into the roots of various plants in the earth’s veins, passing the message from one to another, until it finally reached the core of Green Wilderness…
About an hour later, a response from the sage came back.
This speed was almost the same as the way fire elemental creatures communicate in the Fire Domain, significantly slower compared to the transmission methods of wind or earth elemental creatures.
Magic Vine sensed the reply from the sage, a hint of confusion flashed in its eyes, and it said to the waiting group on the ship, “The sage replied that it doesn’t know what has happened on Wind Island for the time being. It only received a message that almost all wind elemental creatures from various places in White Cloud Hamlet have returned to Wind Island.”
“Moreover, Highness Abundant had also sent a message to Wind Island asking if they needed help. Gentle Wind Uranos later politely declined Highness Abundant’s offer, but still did not clarify what happened on Wind Island.”
Hearing Magic Vine’s explanation, Angel understood why the wood elemental creatures of Green Wilderness seemed to be behaving normally; they too were unaware of what exactly had happened in White Cloud Hamlet.
Gentle Wind Uranos summoning nearly all wind elemental creatures back to Wind Island surely indicated that something significant had occurred.
What was peculiar, though, was the refusal of help from Abundant Graleme.
This implied that Gentle Wind Uranos might not want the incident to be widely known, not even informing their close ally, Green Wilderness.
What could it be?
Chapter 2210 Strange Situation <TOC> Chapter 2212 Magic Bean