The crisp gunshot snapped the elves back to their senses, and their gazes slowly shifted forward.
Leon was standing not far away, cold and indifferent, the muzzle of her gun steadily aimed at them.
This time, the elves were completely awake.
They hunched their shoulders, their eyes fixed on the strange black weapon in Leon's hand, clearly afraid.
Facing her fellow elves, there was not the slightest trace of mercy in Leon's eyes.
Though they were all elves, in her view, these elves were no different from complete strangers with no blood ties to her.
If she wanted to, even shooting an elf dead on the spot would not make her blink.
Cocotte looked at the scene before her and shook her head.
"Sigh. If it doesn't hurt you personally, you really won't wake up."
The elves would indeed obey the highly bewitching commands of the Yard Divine Tree, but at the same time…
They were also afraid of death.
As long as one is a living being, they will fear death.
The Yard Divine Tree summoning them was, in essence, to send these elves to their deaths.
Even if Vinia tried to stop them and directly told them the Yard Divine Tree's true intentions, these elves would probably never believe it.
After all, how could their great divine tree ever harm them?
By the time they faced real death, it would already be impossible for them to escape.
Although Vinia was also drawn to the black weapon in Leon's hand, she was still clear-headed at this moment.
Right now, she had countless questions and wanted to try to get answers from Cocotte.
"Clearly… we were all created by the divine tree."
"But… why is this happening?"
She watched as the natural energy within her body continued to drain away, her body gradually becoming more and more illusory, yet she herself was powerless to turn things around.
If she were to truly go deeper into the Yard Divine Tree, she probably would not even be able to stand steadily now.
Cocotte understood Vinia's confusion and patiently explained without the slightest hint of irritation.
"It is precisely because we were created by the Yard Divine Tree that it can use us without any burden at all."
"Vinia, you all see the Yard Divine Tree as a great mother, but it has never once seen you as its children."
Hearing Cocotte's words, Vinia's features twisted together as she struggled to accept them.
"How can you expect me to believe you?"
Cocotte tilted her head toward Leon and said calmly, "Isn't her existence proof enough?"
Following Cocotte's gesture, Vinia's gaze fell upon Leon.
At that moment, she was completely stunned.
Because on Leon's body, she saw no flow of natural energy at all.
Clearly, the Yard Divine Tree was absorbing the energy of every elf. Even Cocotte Yard could not avoid it and could only resist the divine tree by relying on her own control over natural energy.
But Leon was different.
It was as if she completely rejected natural energy.
If she herself could not produce natural energy, then naturally, the Yard Divine Tree could not absorb anything from her.
So… Leon, who could not invoke natural energy, "To the divine tree, she… is a defective product?"
At this moment, Vinia finally understood.
Why was there an elf without a surname?
Because this elf could not invoke natural energy and could not provide the Yard Divine Tree with any natural energy.
So, to the divine tree, Leon was a completely worthless elf.
No value meant that the Yard Divine Tree had no need to bestow a surname upon her.
She understood. Vinia understood everything.
Unable to accept this reality, she clutched her head and felt indescribable pain.
This was pain that came from the soul.
It was a reality that no elf could easily accept.
From beginning to end, the elves had always believed that the Yard Divine Tree protected them at all times, like a kind and nurturing mother.
But when the mother they revered the most swung the sickle called ruthlessness and cruelty at them, beginning to harvest their lives, they could not even rise up and resist like Cocotte did.
That's right. Because of the divine tree's protection, the elves had forgotten any sense of crisis.
The divine tree would never harm them, so the elves did not need to be strong, nor did they even need to possess independent thought.
The Yard Divine Tree bestowed surnames upon every elf, planning out their entire lives with absolute clarity.
An elf's entire life was meant to be exploited by the Yard Divine Tree…
At this very moment, Vinia wished more than anything that she were not so clear-headed, not so intelligent.
She even wished she could become one of those ignorant masses.
That way, she would not have to accept reality so quickly.
Perhaps the pain would lessen as well.
Vinia slowly raised her head. In her eyes burned an intense desire for answers.
There was only one final question left in her heart that needed to be resolved.
"Then… we were all created by the divine tree."
"If there were no divine tree, what would we…"
How would the elves continue to exist?
Even now that she understood the danger of the divine tree.
But without the divine tree, if the elves no longer relied on it, then how would elves continue to be created?
Cocotte put her hands on her hips and let out a helpless sigh.
"Sigh, Vinia, I was going to say you were very smart."
"But whether it's you or the other elves, you've all been mistaken about one thing."
She looked up at Vinia, then at the equally confused elves, her gaze exceptionally clear.
"The divine tree is the divine tree. Nature is nature."
"Nature includes the divine tree, but how dare the divine tree call itself nature?"
At that moment, it was as if a thunderclap exploded in her mind. Vinia suddenly gained a measure of enlightenment.
Elves are born of nature.
The Yard Divine Tree was never nature itself.
In the outside world, elves had always been reputed as nature's favored children.
Where did that reputation come from?
Certainly not because humans entered the elven forest, saw elves being raised like livestock, and then gave them that title.
Whenever an elf was harmed, nature itself would bring down punishment upon the one who did so.
The Yard Divine Tree resided within the elven forest. It could not possibly punish those who harmed elves.
The one who had always protected the elves was not the Yard Divine Tree.
It was, the spirit of nature.
Suddenly, the ground sank into even more terrifying tremors, and dark clouds gradually swelled across the sky.
But the next second, they were torn apart by the sun covered in a red halo, scorching sunlight pouring down upon everyone.
Vinia suddenly reacted, raising her head to look at the divine tree, and saw that the dense natural energy was now flowing toward it.
She lowered her head and felt her body becoming illusory once again, the energy within her gradually draining away.
She found it hard to believe, but following the flow of that dense energy, she saw that her fellow elves were the same, bodies becoming faint, faces growing even paler.
Unlike herself, their eyes were hollow and lifeless.
Before long, those weak and ignorant masses would probably become nourishment for the Yard Divine Tree before she did.
"No…"
'Don't…'
Vinia looked at her fellow elves, her eyes brimming with tears, her expression filled with unbearable sorrow.
'My people, don't fade away…'
"Don't!"
"I already said, don't worry."
In an instant, Cocotte's natural energy surged explosively.
Thick tree branches beneath the ground, entwined with vines, burst upward.
Carrying dense natural energy, they surrounded the elves, continuously supplying them with natural energy.
Under this rich flow of natural energy, their bodies were maintained.
Vinia snapped out of her daze and stared at Cocotte in disbelief.
She could feel that Cocotte was consuming her own natural energy to sustain the lives of her people.
"Cocotte, you…"
"It's just a bit of energy, nothing worth mentioning~"
Cocotte raised her hand, pinching her thumb and index finger together to show a tiny gap.
"For me, it only uses up this little bit."
Having left the Yard Divine Tree for so many years, Cocotte no longer needed to offer it even a shred of natural energy.
As a result, the natural energy she had accumulated had long since reached an astonishing amount.
Even if the Yard Divine Tree absorbed energy from her for an entire day, she would not be in any danger.
What's more…
Cocotte crossed her arms and said with a confident smile, "Until I officially resign, I'm still your queen."
"A queen protecting her people, isn't that only natural?"
The moment those words fell, Vinia's heart jolted violently.
'Huh? This… this feels strange…'
Her heart began pounding uncontrollably.
Holding her breath, she could even feel her entire body trembling slightly with each heartbeat.
It was as if a very special emotion was sprouting and growing within her heart.
Making her instinctively want to worship the elf before her.
At this moment, in Vinia's eyes, Cocotte's figure became incomparably tall and majestic.
Dazzling, radiant like a star.
Vinia looked at her, her lips trembling as she spoke.
"But… the Yard Divine Tree won't stop for even a moment. Even your energy…"
Before she could finish, a fierce pillar of fire spread outward from the center of the divine tree.
The surface of the entire divine tree was no longer covered in magma patterns, it was truly burning.
The solid bark began to collapse and crack, shrinking into chunks of charcoal that drew inward toward the center.
Flames suddenly erupted from the heart of the massive tree, racing straight up toward the canopy.
Like a fully awakened fire serpent, opening its massive jaws and swallowing the entire giant tree whole.
The fire serpent broke through the clouds, coiling for hundreds of miles, completely devouring the lush canopy that towered into the sky.
The entire sky seemed to be set ablaze, trying to burn away the black heavens completely.
Charred branches fell toward the ground one after another, scoured by heat waves midair, igniting once more.
Until they turned to ash and completely dissipated in the air.
Within the raging flames, there was even the furious roar of a colossal beast, making the world itself seem incredibly fragile beneath that terrifying sound.
[Flame-Severed Wrath]
Cocotte raised her head, feeling this familiar power, filled with emotion.
"Mmm, now you really don't need to worry anymore."
Vinia froze.
She stared at the massive divine tree completely engulfed in violent flames, firelight flickering in her eyes.
It was as if a strange connection had formed. As the divine tree collapsed and shattered, becoming fragmented,
The elves felt the same way.
Now, their bodies were no longer illusory. Looking down at their solid forms again, they appeared dazed.
From start to finish, they still had not realized what had happened.
But in the next second...
Amid the wildly dancing storm of flames, the magma-flowing colossal beast burst through the divine tree's fragile shell, swallowing the outer flames as it slowly stepped out.
The instant they saw the beast, countless elves felt an overwhelming shock surge through their hearts, giving them the urge to kneel.
Even Vinia was the same. Her body, together with her fellow elves, instinctively began to kneel.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept in from all directions, supporting the knees of the elves who were about to kneel.
They froze completely, unable to help but lift their heads to look toward the source in the sky.
Vinia did the same.
She saw it clearly.
Standing atop the colossal beast wrapped in magma was a man wearing a black trench coat.
His coat was covered in red patterns that surged in the raging wind.
His cold gaze swept over all the elves present.
"The Yard Divine Tree used the name and authority of nature to force you to kneel."
In the quiet world, only the crackling of flames remained.
Along with the man's irresistible voice, sounding indifferent and calm.
"Now, Clavenna orders you to stand."