When Beth prepared to sacrifice everyone in Caugust City, she had already made the decision to flee the western region with her trusted followers.
Since she wouldn't be staying here anymore, she naturally didn't care what impact this sacrifice would have on the entire western region of the continent.
However, after she lured more and more people over, a small accident—a tiny oversight—caused the entire sacrifice to co to a halt.
This small accident was naturally the wizard Shaya, who had long been captured by Beth and whose spirit body was manipulated by the Inverted Tree.
After listening to Shaya's account, Saul looked up and down at the spirit body before him. "You... how did you manage to do that?"
"That's my secret weapon. I can't tell you."
Saul didn't press him. "Fine, you're not my main objective anyway. But there's one thing you must tell —what caused your current state?"
Shaya beca agitated, as if introducing his own affliction to others made him very uncomfortable.
However, considering his situation, he quickly provided an answer.
"After my soul was absorbed into the Inverted Tree, although I barely managed to maintain independent consciousness, many of my actions had to follow Beth's commands. I've always been careful not to expose myself, only occasionally doing my own things to maintain my sense of self."
"Later, when I realized that the entire Inverted Tree was actually absorbing the souls of the city's residents, I knew I had to find a way to leave this place. As long as I remained trapped here, I would eventually beco nourishnt for Beth and the Inverted Tree, just like those absorbed souls."
"So I prepared for several months. When Beth once again ran to the very center of the Inverted Tree, I deliberately took away a key node from her formation. Taking advantage of her being trapped due to the formation's backlash, I imdiately escaped."
"You're really bold!" Kate extended her cat claws toward Shaya. "Even though Beth is now just a spirit body, she was once a powerful third-rank wizard. You casually disrupted the formation and actually managed to trap her!"
Saul watched as Shaya pursed his lips without responding, knowing there were still secrets involved.
"And then?" Saul asked.
Only then did Shaya skip over the most crucial part. "Afterward, to prevent from escaping, Beth actually activated her sacrifice early, directly pulling everyone in the inner city in to help stabilize her spiritual body."
"So now the entire inner city has turned to ash?" Saul crossed his arms. "Souls extracted, bodies turned to ash."
"Pretty much," Shaya said. "Because she wasn't ready yet but absorbed a large number of spirit bodies, she's now trapped and can't co out to catch . But once she can control herself, she'll definitely co looking for and tear to shreds."
Shaya's expression was grave, clearly fearful of Beth's threat.
"Then why can't you leave the Inverted Tree now? Since you made so many preparations, you must know how to leave, right?"
"Of course I know, but I won't tell you until you help remove my restraints."
"Didn't I already say? I'll help you with treatnt, and you'll help find the seed. The restraints on you are also a kind of illness for you, so naturally I'll help treat that too."
Seeing Shaya's expression of temptation mixed with wariness, Saul added fuel to the fire. "However, since you're going to help get the Inverted Tree's seed anyway, why don't we set our sights a little bigger during the operation?"
Shaya imdiately beca suspicious of Saul's intentions. "What are you trying to do? Don't think about deceiving —I can kick you all out of here at any ti!"
Saul chuckled lightly, completely unconcerned by Shaya's threat, and continued his temptation. "Anyway, you only have your spirit body left now, which is equivalent to being dead. Even if you escape the Inverted Tree, you'll just be barely surviving. Why not go find Beth and, while she's trapped, directly steal her Inverted Tree... how about it?"
"Crack!" Kate once again heard the sound of his cat jaw dropping to the floor.
Kate turned his head and stared at Saul in a daze.
Just monts ago, he had thought Shaya was a fool for daring to sche against a third-rank wizard. Now Saul seed like a madman in his eyes.
"You're insane!" Shaya directly voiced Kate's thoughts. "You want to get the thod to escape, then trick into going to my death!"
"I can wait until you retrieve the Inverted Tree's seed before leaving."
Shaya still didn't believe him. "Then you just want to do sothing bad while I'm stealing the Inverted Tree's seed."
Saul's heart jumped, thinking, "This guy's guess is pretty accurate."
However, his expression remained unchanged. "Then let ask you—will you take to the core of the Inverted Tree?"
Shaya was stunned and imdiately shook his head. "Impossible!"
Saul spread his hands. "Then how do you think I could do anything bad?"
Without waiting for Shaya to think, Saul continued raising the stakes. "I can help you with treatnt right now. Can't you kick us out at any ti? After I finish the treatnt, you can go help get the seed. How about it?"
Shaya still hesitated. "You'd be so kind as to help with treatnt first?"
"The spirit body is your own. Can't you tell whether it's good or bad?"
Shaya was still hesitating.
Saul frowned. Was this indecisive, danger-fearing Shaya really the right choice?
Suddenly, the entire house shook violently, and the decorations on the table and hanging from the ceiling shattered all over the floor.
Several thick tree branches broke through the walls, winding upward, quickly wrapping around the walls of the entire room.
"ow! What is this? How did tree roots get here?" Kate imdiately ran to the center of the room.
A flash of panic crossed Shaya's face, but he didn't surrender or resist. Instead, he once again transford into a ball of light, and white radiance once more engulfed Saul and Kate.
When the light faded, Saul found they had arrived at another place.
He hadn't been here before—it must be another of Shaya's secret bases.
"You really don't have much ti left." Saul was actually sowhat grateful for the tree roots that had just appeared. "Are you willing to make this deal or not? Don't waste other people's ti."
Shaya knew Saul was right.
After all, he was Beth's puppet. Even if he had temporarily broken free from her control, he would inevitably be controlled by her again once Beth's condition recovered.
Under the mixture of tension and fear, Saul's proposal, which he had just regarded as a terrible threat, gradually beca a deadly temptation.
"If, if we could steal the Inverted Tree..." Shaya seed to be trembling all over, whether from fear or excitent.
"If I could beco the master of the Inverted Tree, I wouldn't need to run away."
Saul nodded with satisfaction. "Not only would you not need to run away, but you'd also have hope of resurrection."
Shaya suddenly looked up at Saul.
"You're a very talented wizard. If Beth can do it, can't you do it too?"
Shaya's breathing imdiately beca heavy, even though he no longer needed to breathe.
"Fine!"
Finally, Shaya agreed to Saul's devil-like proposal.
"Help with treatnt right now. I'm afraid those tree roots will find us before long. This is a sign that Beth is gradually recovering—we don't have much ti."
(End of Chapter)
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