When Vinia heard Cocotte's words, she was completely stunned on the spot.
Her lips parted slightly, her eyes widened, and she stared at Cocotte in disbelief.
She quickly turned her head to look at Leon and asked in a trembling voice, "Your surname was actually given to you by a human?"
"Why, my kin, have you also abandoned the Divine Tree?"
Vinia said this, but Leon turned her head back, looking at her with icy eyes, and a calm, indifferent voice slowly rang out, "It was the Divine Tree and all of you who abandoned me first."
Vinia looked utterly confused, not understanding what Leon meant for the moment.
But in her daze, her eyes suddenly widened. One hand slowly lifted, pointing at Leon as if she wanted to touch Leon's cheek, "You are… that elf without a surname?"
"How could this be?"
This was probably the most surreal day of Vinia's life.
The elven queen who had disappeared for many years had actually returned to the Elven Forest, bringing along that elf without a surname.
And their return had also triggered an abnormal reaction from the Yard Divine Tree.
It was hard for Vinia not to associate the current state of the Yard Divine Tree with Cocotte.
As if she had thought of something else, she came back to her senses and looked at Cocotte, "What did you just say?"
"The head of the Clavenna family is your boss?"
Cocotte nodded, looking as if it were only natural.
Vinia's pupils trembled as she stared blankly at Cocotte's face.
"Cocotte Yard, do you even know what you're saying?"
"You are the queen. You are the most exalted existence among the elves!"
"And yet you actually… chose to follow a human."
Cocotte sighed again and said calmly, "I never said I wanted to be this queen."
"If the Yard Divine Tree is really omnipotent, then why doesn't it create elves by itself? Why does it have to rely on an elven queen?"
Cocotte's words, filled with questions, flooded into Vinia's mind.
She blinked in confusion, raised her head, and looked at the Divine Tree.
Why couldn't the Divine Tree create elves on its own? Why did it have to rely on an elven queen?
Why, after the elven queen had been gone for so long, did the Divine Tree not choose another elf and bestow a surname upon them?
These questions suddenly flashed through her mind, like heavy punches slamming into her heart.
'No, no!' Vinia clutched her head.
It was as if something had tampered with her thoughts, deliberately forcing her to think in this direction.
Vinia raised her head and looked at Cocotte, her face now filled with fear, "What did you do to me?"
"I just wanted you to quiet down a little. You talk way too much."
Cocotte spread her hands, shrugged, and continued, "Since you've already thought this far, why not keep thinking?"
"What exactly are you worshipping so blindly?"
Vinia gritted her teeth, covered one eye, and shouted back, "The Divine Tree is sacred! It is omnipotent!"
"You're wrong."
Cocotte looked at Vinia seriously and immediately rejected her calmly, "It's not omnipotent. It's because of you, because of me, because of the other elves."
"That's why it appears omnipotent."
Vinia opened her mouth, unable to accept it, "But… we were all created by the Divine Tree…"
"We are protected by the Divine Tree. We are free. We do whatever we want…"
"Are you really that free?"
Cocotte crossed her arms, her expression gradually turning serious as all her previous laziness vanished.
Vinia froze for a moment, listening as Cocotte continued, "Protect the Divine Tree, use the authority it grants you, and do this generation after generation."
"Have you never gotten tired of this day-in, day-out life?"
Vinia still stubbornly tried to justify it, "We are protected by the Divine Tree. It is only right that we serve it."
"The one protecting you is yourself, and nature itself!"
Cocotte shouted, as an incredibly dense surge of natural energy erupted from her body.
That energy left Vinia standing there in a daze. She stared blankly at Cocotte and only saw her raise one hand.
Under Vinia's stunned gaze, Cocotte said calmly, "See that? We never needed the Divine Tree's protection."
"On the contrary, the Divine Tree protected you too well."
"So well that you forgot, even without the Divine Tree, you can rely on yourselves, just like I do."
Power surged out of her hand like a fountain, transforming into small, delicate, mysterious sprites.
Seeing this scene, Vinia's staff gently fell to the ground, as if she were questioning her entire existence.
Just as Cocotte had said.
This was something other elves could not do.
Under the Divine Tree's protection, elves had long forgotten what danger was.
They did not need natural energy to protect themselves, because nature protected them.
Elves could produce this energy, but they could not control it.
Except for Cocotte.
She seemed to be a higher-tier elf than the rest, able to freely command her own power.
Because… she was the elven queen?
At that moment, Vinia's eyes widened.
As if grasping the last straw, she tried to overturn Cocotte's reasoning with a single sentence.
"Because you are the elven queen… because the Divine Tree bestowed a surname upon you… that's why you can…"
But by this point, she had lost her confidence, her words coming out haltingly.
Cocotte shook her head and delivered the final, crushing blow.
"If everything were as you say, then why does Leon not have a surname?"
Those words instantly stopped Vinia in her tracks.
The Yard Divine Tree bestowed surnames upon all elves, granting them authority and power.
So if it really could do that, why were there still elves without surnames among the elven people?
Vinia stared at Cocotte in disbelief, "How did you realize this… no, why do you think this way?"
Cocotte stroked her chin and closed her eyes, "Heh, well…"
In a daze, Viktor's words echoed in her mind, ('Raise elves like livestock, keep them happy, and the natural energy they produce can be used as a power source.')
('But you don't need that.')
('The Divine Tree is always an external thing.')
('Even without the Divine Tree, you are still the queen among elves.')
The recollection ended. Cocotte opened her eyes again, scratched the back of her head, and laughed.
"How should I put it? Even though someone gave me a little hint, I still figured it out with my own wisdom, you know."
"In any case, I didn't come back to say all this to make you understand me or anything."
As she spoke, Cocotte looked at Vinia, who was standing there completely disheveled.
"I came back this time partly for her."
As she said this, Cocotte glanced back at Leon.
"And on the other hand, I came back to resign."
As if deliberately waiting for this moment, Cocotte looked at the elven people who had all arrived and said calmly, "I'm tired of sitting on the throne of elven queen. Whoever wants it can take it."
The moment her words fell, countless elves came to a halt.
They gathered around the Divine Tree, heads packed densely together, surging like another rolling sea.
All of these elves had rushed over as soon as they heard the news of the elven queen's return.
And at this very moment, they happened to hear Cocotte's words.
They all looked up, staring blankly at the elven queen they revered so deeply, "What did Her Majesty just say?"
"She said she doesn't want to be the elven queen anymore…"
"Why? Could it be that she betrayed the Divine Tree?"
At this moment, the elves' eyes went blank, just like Vinia's earlier.
They couldn't accept it.
Vinia snapped back to her senses and, seeing the elven people, felt her heart tremble.
'This is bad! These foolish masses… when did they even get here?!'
Vinia knew very well that even she herself had difficulty accepting Cocotte's logic.
These foolish masses had nothing but the idea of surnames bestowed by the Divine Tree in their heads.
How could they possibly accept Cocotte's speculation?
Thinking of this, Vinia hurriedly shouted, trying to salvage the situation, "Cocotte Yard! Do you even know what you're saying?!"
"It was the Divine Tree that gave you life! It was the Divine Tree that gave you power! How could you abandon this surname and this identity?!"
"The Yard Divine Tree will not allow it!"
Vinia's intervention worked. The elves present regained some of their reason, their eyes shedding their murkiness and returning to clarity.
They began chattering among themselves, "That's right. Her Majesty's surname was bestowed by the Divine Tree. She has no reason to abandon it."
"Her Majesty is also an elf. She cannot reject the Divine Tree. She cannot leave the Divine Tree!"
"Everyone, don't worry! Her Majesty would never abandon us!"
With just a few words, Vinia managed to rally the elves again.
She appeared calm and composed, like a stern, unfeeling high priestess.
But inside, her heart was already in complete chaos, like a collapsed dam.
Cocotte's words had already shattered her psychological defenses.
If Cocotte were to say a few more things in front of these foolish masses… Naturally, they would not accept it.
At that point, it wouldn't just be doubt, it might even escalate into… a riot…
What would happen to the entire Elven Forest then? Vinia didn't dare imagine it.
But Cocotte seemed to be deliberately provoking them.
"The Divine Tree gave us life? Hahaha, how ridiculous."
She put her hands on her hips and looked at the crowd of elves below. Her calm gaze carried a trace of sorrow.
"The ones who gave you life, wasn't it me? Wasn't it the previous elven queens?"
As her words fell, thick natural energy spread throughout the area, completely stunning all the elves in place.
Vinia was included.
Because she herself had been created while the previous elven queen was still alive.
Cocotte let out a faint, arrogant laugh, "As for whether the Yard Divine Tree will allow it?"
"All I can say is, it definitely will."
The elves could no longer say a single word. In their minds, only one question remained, 'Why?'
Suddenly, a terrifying roar erupted from within the Yard Divine Tree, shaking the earth and resounding through the heavens, piercing everyone's ears.
The high-frequency, heavy sound made every elf's ears ache painfully.
Along with that roar, the golden sun in the sky suddenly grew brighter, scorching hot, wrapped in a layer of crimson.
Blazing heat and frenzied waves of fire spread everywhere.
Even the massive trunk of the Divine Tree seemed to be engulfed in flames.
This extremely familiar yet horrifying sensation made all the elves feel an overwhelming urge to kneel.
Vinia slowly raised her head, staring blankly at the Yard Divine Tree, as if she were witnessing something utterly unbelievable.
In a murmur, she spoke a name filled with dread, "The Calamity of Fire…"
"Gul… don…"
———
Inside the Yard Divine Tree, Viktor gazed at the status panel floating before him.
[Viktor Clavenna: LV45]
[HP: 23000/23000]
[MP: 1/9999999]
"Thank you, Vega."
"Your power was not wasted."
The crow lay limp on his shoulder, its jet-black feathers having faded to gray, as if it had been completely drained, too weak to utter a single word.
Viktor raised his head and looked forward.
A terrifying giant beast stood within this flame-devoured region.
Its entire body was crimson red, its eyes bursting with yellow light, flames and molten lava covering it from head to toe.
Under the shattered red sky, black fragments carrying sparks drifted through the air, and the searing heat and flames swallowed everything around them.
Waves of heat surged, warping the very space itself.
The smell of burning gradually entered Viktor's nose, yet it did not suffocate him.
On the contrary, he breathed it in with deep satisfaction.
The true calamity had descended.
"You can summon guardians with equivalent power?"
"Now, I'll give you time."
At this moment, the beast's health bar rose, stretching for kilometers.
[Lv60]
"Summon something even stronger than it."
Viktor put his hands in his pockets. Beneath the heat waves, his trench coat flapped violently.
He stared at the massive, restlessly beating heart ahead.
His confident words fell leisurely, "If you can't do it, you might die."