"What's going on?!"
Spur panicked as he tried to tear the petals off his body.
He had long known how troublesome these petals were, and he had taken special precautions against them. Any petal that came near him was cut into pieces by his holy sword before it could even reach him.
Yet what he never imagined was that, even after being this careful, he still fell victim to them.
This shouldn't be possible. With my speed, I should've been able to dodge the instant they touched me. How could I have let them take root in my body?!
Spur screamed inwardly. No matter how unwilling he was to accept it, no matter what methods he used to struggle, it was all futile.
He could only watch helplessly as blood-colored roots spread deeper into his body, greedily devouring everything inside him.
Vitality. Mana. Even his will and spirit were swallowed whole.
In the blink of an eye, Spur had turned into a dried corpse.
What was terrifying, however, was that even in this state, he still retained consciousness.
Only now, he looked more like an undead than the undead themselves.
"I…"
Spur opened his mouth, as if trying to say something.
But when his eyes caught sight of the petals coiling around Hel's finger, they suddenly widened. Whatever he was about to say was completely choked back.
At last, he understood why those petals were under her control.
He also understood where that eerily familiar magic power came from.
This was the authority of the Flower Witch.
But how was that even possible?
Only at the very brink of death did Spur realize a horrifying truth: after the death of the Flower Witch, someone had actually taken control of her authority in such a short amount of time.
From ancient times to the present, nothing like this had ever happened. Anyone capable of such a feat—if not eliminated while she was still young—would become the Church's greatest enemy in the future, perhaps even more terrifying than the former Witch of Reality.
But he would never be able to deliver this information back to the Church.
Nor could he personally eradicate this threat.
His worry for the Church's future, combined with the resentment of being schemed to death by a wretch not even at the Saint tier using such despicable means, made Spur unwilling to close his eyes even in death.
He stared at Hel with a fixed glare and swallowed his final breath.
The next moment, Hel's figure abruptly appeared beside him. Before his body could fall, she collected the corpse.
A high-level Saint. Even if losing the authority of flowers causes a significant drop in strength, this still brings me one step closer to the "no-beef" stage.
Thinking this, Hel glanced around.
The moment Spur died, his mind-image world collapsed as well.
Fortunately, their battle had taken place inside that mind-image world. Otherwise, given the structural integrity of the Witch's underground palace, they would probably have been buried alive.
At the same time the mind-image world dissipated, the illusory little tree floating in midair vanished as well, reverting into a vine-woven board that fell downward.
Hel quickly flew over and caught it just before it hit the ground.
[Name]: Elf Mother Tree Summoning Tome (Flower Spirit)[Rank]: Red · Sacred Artifact[Description]: One of the nine anchors of the Flower Spirit Mother Tree in the material world. It can be used to summon the Flower Spirit Mother Tree, which drifts within spatial turbulence, allowing it to briefly manifest in the world. However, the Flower Spirit Mother Tree has already been assimilated by the spatial turbulence and can no longer truly return to the material realm.
"So this is the item Spur used to summon those petals earlier. I didn't expect it to be related to the Flower Spirit."
Holding the board, Hel felt the urge to summon the Flower Spirit Mother Tree once more.
But the moment her mana flowed into it, a feedback of intent returned.
The magic power within the summoning tome has been exhausted. Recharging is required before it can be used again.
"Recharging, huh?"
Hel pondered for a moment. Recharging a sacred artifact was obviously no easy task.
The element crystals she currently possessed were far from abundant, and many of her projects demanded massive amounts of them.
Souls were in the same situation.
On the other hand, the desire energy she had harvested earlier had been sitting idle in storage, gathering dust.
If this thing could be recharged using desire energy, she might be able to summon the Flower Spirit Mother Tree again just to see what would happen.
Otherwise, she would have no choice but to slowly recharge it over time.
In any case, these matters would have to wait until she returned to a safe place.
With that thought, Hel casually tossed it into her storage ring.
At that moment, the spatial vortex above the distant altar flickered once more.
Three figures emerged in succession. Leading them was Niv, who was carrying two others in her hands—Rowan III and a high-ranking bishop.
Both of them had already fallen into deep unconsciousness.
"Master, what should we do with these two?"Niv dropped them onto the ground and looked at Hel, who was slowly descending.
Hel frowned and thought for a moment before finally shaking her head.
"Kill them. They know too many of our secrets, and my authority can't control them perfectly.Even the method we used back at the Aira Royal Court won't work here. In their value system, humans and beastfolk are fundamentally opposed.So I can't rely on Niki as a mediator to forcibly make them loyal to me."
"But based on our previous observations, Rowan III was being controlled by Imshi, and the eldest princess was even Imshi's avatar. Once Rowan III dies, the Garden Nation will fall completely under Imshi's control."
Niv clearly held a different opinion.
From her analysis of Imshi's various avatars and their actions, she believed Imshi was undoubtedly orchestrating a grand plan. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to deploy so many avatars across the vassal states of the Ymir Empire.
Niv was deeply concerned about Imshi's plans. She felt that if Imshi truly pulled off some major move, it would definitely interfere with Hel's plan to collect authorities.
Hel, however, seemed rather unconcerned.
"If she wants to take control, let her. The Garden Nation is already a mess.In the shadows alone, there's the royal family controlled by Imshi, and the emerging noble faction backed by the Book Witch, led by the Gordon Trading Company.
Once Rowan III dies, these two factions are bound to fight over the throne. No matter who wins, both sides will be severely weakened.
On the contrary, if we control Rowan III and send him back, there's a high chance Imshi will simply seize control of him again.With the king's support, Imshi would be almost unbeatable.
However…"