456 Third Princess Thessalia

However, a tall, beautiful yet valiant figure in golden-green armor stepped forward and blocked their path, causing the royal guards to pause their steps in response. 

"Third Princess Thessalia." The royal guards all greeted, not minding that the third princess had obstructed their path.

Thessalia Elafaran nodded.

Shortly after, she gazed at the elf general and said, "Do you know what you have done wrong?"

"I don't know whether what I did is really wrong. I only know what I needed to do for the survival of the tribe." The elf general said impassively.

Third Princess Thessalia Elafaran smiled lightly for a brief moment before reverting to indifference. 

"Well, it does not matter what opinions I have on this matter. It is up to my father, the king, to decide how to punish you. I pray that you will at least be able to keep your head. I will be taking over command of the front-line defense." She said.

"Please."

The elf general gestured. 

Someone was needed to take command after his absence.

Thessalia Elafaran nodded and said to the royal guards, "You may continue on with your task of escorting the general to see my father, the king."

"Yes, Third Princess Thessalia." The royal guards acknowledged. 

Shortly after, the group of royal guards left with the elf general, Thessalia Elafaran glanced back.

Behind her stood four dozen warriors, mainly composing of beautiful females. However, there were also a few male warriors within the mix.

They were all her personal guards.

"We shall go see the exact situation of the fire on the Great Forest outskirts. Let us move now!" Thessalia Elafaran commanded. 

"Yes, Princess Thessalia!"

…

Elvengarde, central region.

Leon, Aria, and Princess Faelyn shortly finished heading down the vine staircase and arrived in the heart of the tribe.

At the same time, they saw the group of royal guards approaching.

"Fifth Princess Faelyn." 

After the elf general and royal guards finished their greeting, they continued to brush past them and take the vine staircase up to the Elder Tree's crown after receiving Princess Faelyn's acknowledgment.

Nevertheless, Princess Faelyn frowned.

Seeing Faelyn had stopped moving to watch the group of elves leaving, Leon curiously asked, "What's the matter? Who are those people?"

"Those were the royal guards… and they were escorting the elf general." Princess Faelyn said with furrowed brows. 

"Oh?"

Leon softly exclaimed.

"The elf general should have been the one in command of the defenses, starting the great fire to ward off the rat tide, right?" He asked. 

Her brows tightly knitted before she said, "However, considering the general is being taken back to the crown, I'm afraid that he has been summoned by my father to answer for his crimes…"

"The crimes of burning the forest—burning the forest to save the tribe from being flooded by the overwhelming rat tide?" 

Leon shook his head with a satirical look before he said, "That is no crime. That is a feat. The elf general is a hero."

"I also think so." 

Faelyn nodded.

"However, not everyone thinks that way. Everyone treats the Great Forest as the holy land and the Guardian Spirit as our deity. It would be difficult for the general to escape punishment, although I do pray, nothing bad will happen to him."

Perhaps, if Faelyn had not seen the endless rat tide, she would have thought differently—but she had seen the terror of the rat tide. Thus, the burning forest felt inconsequential to the survival of the tribe. 

Still, most of the tribe was oblivious to the fact. 

The burning of the forest would incite the tribe, and the Elf King might sacrifice the general to appease the angry mob, even if it meant keeping them in the dark of the outside dangers. 

Informing the tribe would only incite panic, and nothing was more chaotic than a panicking mob.

"Marquis Haldir is with your father, King Erendriel. I highly doubt the Marquis would allow any misfortune to befall the general in his presence." Leon said. 

A war hero should not be criminalized. 

Aria tugged on Leon's hand, drawing his attention over while she gazed at the numerous elves in the tribe. 

"However, the fire is only a temporary solution. Once the fire dies out, the rat tide would be swarming this place. How are we supposed to get all these people away from here?" Aria asked.

"Right."

Faelyn nodded. 

It was also what she had been concerned about.

Leon pondered for a moment before he said, "If there's a will, there's a way."

That being said, he also did not have a good solution on hand at the moment. The rat tide was simply too large in numbers; it was fearsome. As expected from one of the fastest breeding species.

Even so, rats' natural predators would not have allowed them to breed to such an uncontrollable state. Where on earth had they been hiding—?

Leon suddenly recalled the rathole and frowned.

It was the underground again. Deep secrets were always found there. 

If there is a chance, he would like to explore the subterranean world once more. He vaguely remembers something calling for him that he had previously overlooked last time—something that felt like a fire source.

Nevertheless, it was something he could only worry about later.

While the three made their way out of the tribe, Leon spread out his divine sense and made contact with the Guardian Spirit of the Elder Tree through its roots.

The Guardian Spirit was much younger than the World Tree. Its form was no different from an infant, but it was very sentient—having heard the elves' countless prayers.

While they could not exchange words, it was still possible to communicate through their thoughts.

Aria and Faelyn noticed the Elder Tree's roots squirming from time to time. The sight only aroused Aria's curiosity, but it came as a great surprise for Faelyn. 

All year round, elves would sing their prayers to the Guardian Spirit. But rarely does it ever respond to their wishes or reveal its spiritual form and show its existence to the elves.

However, at this moment, it was moving actively—even if it was just the tree roots. 

Faelyn immediately glanced towards Leon, vaguely believing it had something to do with him.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Me?" 

Leon glanced back at Faelyn while casually taking out a supreme-grade spirit stone. The roots of the Elder Tree quickly moved and accepted the gift from him before shriveling in delight.

"I'm making some preparations." He said.

"Preparations?" 

Faelyn was immediately confused by his lack of explanation. However, she did not have time to ask as their path was shortly obstructed by the elven commoners. 

In a short instance, they were surrounded by numerous elves. Various expressions could be seen on their faces, but it was mainly anger and doubt.

"Fifth Princess Faelyn, you're back! Please tell us what is happening! Why did the general burn the forest?! What kind of madness possessed him to burn our sacred home?!"

The angry mob demanded answers.