Chapter 2610: Dialogue with an Ancient Elf, the Thirty-Year Period of Destruction

If one uses conventional sealing spells, it is difficult to exempt oneself from the passage of time; for an uncertain duration of preservation, such a method would likely cause a Spellcaster wishing to maintain their own existence to be annihilated in the river of time before they could even wait for their revival.

Watching the prismatic Gemstone in the center of the palace dissipate bit by bit, and the light-formed Elf figure in the middle becoming clearer bit by bit, at this moment, Xia Duo actually wanted to forcibly intervene and interrupt this process.

But he was unsure what consequences doing so might produce, and at the same time, he was reluctant to give up the chance to obtain the complete Dragon Madness Secret Scroll; besides, having already reached this step, he could only continue to gamble.

As the central prismatic Gemstone completely dissipated, the surging tide of Magic Net Strings that had gathered also seemed to lose all its momentum, like a wave forcibly lifted up that, under the force of gravity, crashed heavily onto the sea surface.

Only then did Xia Duo discover that this so-called Secret Land Mythallar existed to a large extent to alleviate such pressure; when the surging Magic Net tide was about to destroy everything, the Secret Land Mythallar exerted force rapidly, using its weathered, dilapidated body to bear it all.

At the same time, that light-formed Elf, suspected to have been preserved from ancient times, also awakened, although on the surface it appeared motionless, like a static painting.

But Xia Duo knew that the fellow had already awakened, and if nothing went wrong, its sanity was quite clear, because the fellow was actually attempting to obtain Mythallar Permission; if it hadn't awakened, or if its thinking were chaotic, it certainly couldn't have done such a thing.

Thus, Xia Duo decisively gave a counterattack; regardless of what the other party's purpose was in doing this, in such a situation, he certainly could not let the other party succeed.

"Who are you? From what era were you preserved until now?" Xia Duo chose the most ancient Elvish possible to question the other party.

Realizing that their efforts were in vain, the light-formed Elf stopped pretending; its body slowly descended from mid-air to the ground, its eyes opened, facing Xia Duo directly, and a complex emotion of both unwillingness and relief flowed in its gaze.

Seeing those eyes filled with emotion, Xia Duo's level of vigilance immediately rose to the peak; he prepared himself to strike at any moment, yet the Elf only sighed softly and said to Xia Duo:

"You are more powerful than I imagined. No need to be so vigilant; my time is running out. If there is anything you need to ask, ask quickly, and I will try my best to answer."

This voice had a strange, ancient tone, carrying an indescribable charm; thanks to Elvish being a mature language from a very, very long time ago, Xia Duo understood the light-formed Elf's words completely.

But after understanding them, the vigilance in his heart not only did not fade in the slightest, but instead grew even stronger; however, since the other party had not shown obvious hostility, he could not initiate it either, so he tentatively asked:

"What era do you come from? Why do you appear here?"

It was the same question as before; if the other party's words just now were not a lie, asking this might waste a little time, but answering such a question was also the easiest way to show sincerity.

The light-formed Elf did not refuse to answer because the question was repeated or simple. "In the era I lived in, the Elves successfully destroyed the Dragon Throne and became the masters of the earth and sky. As for why I appear here, that is a very long story. Are you sure you want to hear me tell it?"

"Please speak!"

"Since you insist on listening, I will summarize it, but I must remind you once again: my time is running out. You should ask some more valuable questions."

"This question is very valuable to me."

Seeing that Xia Duo's attitude was firm, the light-formed Elf did not try to persuade him otherwise, but began to tell its story—

"You were able to find this place, so I assume you already know that the reason we were able to defeat the dragons was not because our own power was so strong, but because we relied on the Dragon Madness Mythallar!"

"During the war, in order to keep the Dragon Madness Mythallar running at maximum efficiency at all times, more than twenty Saints were on standby in this palace at all times. Whenever the Mythallar was damaged or needed maintenance, a Saint would sacrifice themselves to complete the repair work."

"This state continued until the end of the war. Due to its singular function, the Dragon Madness Mythallar was gradually ignored and even forgotten; fewer and fewer Saints were willing to sacrifice themselves to maintain it."

"But as one of the Saints who participated in the creation of this Mythallar, I knew well the terrible consequences of the Dragon Madness Mythallar losing maintenance."

"So I left behind two Dragon Madness Secret Scrolls, preserved respectively in the Wing Elf Sky City of Mu'er and the Sacred City of Sakelumu on the ground."

"At the same time, I also entered the Feres Fortress to seal myself. Once the Dragon Madness Mythallar malfunctioned, the Fortress Mythallar would revive me to attempt repairs. It is just a pity that some accident seems to have occurred outside, causing me to only awaken now."

"It is too late, it is truly too late!"

Hearing this ancient Elf's lament, which did not seem feigned, Xia Duo suddenly felt a sense of horror in his heart—not because of how the Elf was, but because he felt worried about the current state of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, so he continued to ask:

"Do you know the current state of the Dragon Madness Mythallar? How is it exactly right now?"

"I know some. In the process of just awakening, I have already tried to obtain the operational status of the Dragon Madness Mythallar. The problem is very serious. I do not know how much time has passed in the outside world since I sealed myself; the Dragon Madness Mythallar has actually reached the verge of collapse. Have you not maintained it even once in the past?"

This ancient Elf was clearly very puzzled by the state of the Dragon Madness Mythallar in the current era, and at this moment, it stated the fact that the Dragon Madness Mythallar was on the verge of collapse without any concealment.

"Then how can the current Dragon Madness Mythallar be repaired?" Xia Duo asked hurriedly.

"You should have asked this question long ago! Remember, Saint of the future, you must gather at least four hundred and twelve Saints to completely repair the Dragon Madness Mythallar, which is currently on the verge of collapse. If nothing goes wrong, you have less than thirty years! Once thirty years pass, there will be no possibility of repair, and when that time comes, the King-Slaying Star will descend, and the whole world will face its end!"

"Thirty years?"

Xia Duo's expression changed. It was the first time he had heard a specific date for the collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar. Even if this time seemed quite long, it was finite after all, and even he was not sure if he could complete the repairs before the day of the end arrived.

412 Saints—according to what this ancient Elf said, that meant 412 high-level Mages. Currently, the total number of high-level Mages in the Northland Alliance did not even add up to one-third of that number!

Perhaps the Elven Nations had hidden high-level Mages, but Xia Duo believed that the number hidden could absolutely not be as many as two-thirds!

In other words, with the current situation of the Northland Alliance, at least two more Northland Alliances would be needed to meet the requirement for the number of Spellcasters to repair the Dragon Madness Mythallar!

As for other things, the Dragon Madness Secret Scrolls would certainly have to be collected, right? Otherwise, without even the engineering blueprints, how could one talk about repairs?

Thirty years—it seemed quite long, but from the perspective of the growth time of high-level Mages, it was already as urgent as it could possibly be! And yet, this ancient Elf added—

"Thirty years is already the result of me planning to try to delay the trend of the Mythallar's collapse later. If it were not for me, you would have at most less than ten years!"