Daniel decided not to focus on it too much for now.
"Anyway, now that you’re sure, what do you want?" he asked Ilaris again.
"If I help you get the World Tree branch, will you take with you?" Ilaris hesitated a little, then asked shyly.
"Really? You want to co with us, out of the mountains?" Daniel asked, slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected that.
"I’ve always wanted to see the outside world since I was a kid, but my father never let . He always said everyone hated us and that if I went out, they’d imprison and tear apart. But now that I know the reason, I don’t have a reason to stay anymore."
Daniel didn’t respond imdiately and thought about it. He certainly wouldn’t leave without creating new Fallen.
Whether it was this girl’s father or that Arenas, at least one of them would beco his Fallen. If she didn’t turn into an enemy by then, he wouldn’t mind taking her with them.
"Deal," he finally replied.
"Great! Let help you get out," Ilaris said excitedly and touched the bars with the torch. They began to burn.
It didn’t take long before they were completely gone, and Daniel, Andreas, Liara, and Kaisen got out of the dungeon.
"Thank you so much." Daniel imdiately felt the mana and mana essence flow back into his body after stepping out, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you so much," the others also thanked her.
Ilaris shyly nodded.
"Now that I think about it, we haven’t really introduced ourselves, have we? I’m Daniel."
"My na’s Kaisen."
"I’m Liara."
"And I’m Andreas Lionheart," Andreas introduced himself a bit more proudly than the others, causing the rest to give him odd looks.
"Nice to et you all. I’m Ilaris. We don’t have family nas, just use our first nas," Ilaris said, bowing slightly like a noble.
"Anyway, do you know where the branch is?" Daniel then asked.
"I have a guess. My mother’s tomb. My father never let go there. He said it wasn’t good for my ntal health. But now that I think about it, maybe the branch is there," Ilaris thought for a mont and then answered.
"Then we should get moving. I don’t think it’ll take long before they realize we escaped," Andreas said, and the others nodded.
Ilaris took the lead and the rest followed. It didn’t take long before they left the prison.
Just as Daniel thought, the prison was really built inside a tree. In fact, now that he could see, the entire living area of the Dark Elves was in trees — trees carved out like houses.
"This way," Ilaris pointed, and they started heading out of the Dark Elves’ living area. She took them through hidden paths so they wouldn’t be noticed.
"Are you sure we’re not lost? It feels like we’re going out of your people’s territory," Liara finally couldn’t hold back and asked suspiciously.
"We can’t go directly to my mother’s tomb. There are a lot of guards there. It’s better to take another path that leads to it," Ilaris replied.
The others nodded and followed her without further questions. After a few minutes, they reached a spring with a waterfall pouring from above.
"We have to go behind the waterfall," she said, then jumped into the water without further explanation.
Daniel and the others exchanged glances and then followed her in. Soon, they reached a cave behind the waterfall and went in.
It wasn’t very big, more like a tunnel. After that, Ilaris waved her hand, and a gust of air rushed toward them, drying their clothes.
’So she can use wind elent?’ Daniel thought to himself.
"Can I ask why you’re so interested in going outside?" He walked a few steps and reached her side.
"Life in a village is really boring. Nothing ever changes, and everything’s repetitive. I want to experience more exciting and interesting things," Ilaris replied.
"I get that. But won’t you miss your father?"
"Maybe... actually, definitely. But now that I know he lied to , I’m angry. I don’t even know if he lied about other things too, like my mother," she sighed and then gestured for them to go right.
"About your mother?"
"He said I had a beautiful and kind mother, but I don’t rember anything about her. Even Uncle Arenas and the others won’t say anything about her. It’s like no one except my father even knows she existed."
Daniel nodded. He was gradually getting more confident about his suspicion.
"So how did you find this path?"
"I was always looking for a way to enter my mother’s tomb, and I found this place. But even then, I still couldn’t get in," Ilaris said, glancing at Daniel.
"Oh? Why not?"
"Because of this," she suddenly stopped and pointed at the wall in front of them.
A wall was marked with symbols.
"Behind this wall is a temple known as my mother’s tomb. But unlike everything else, it wasn’t built inside a tree, and it’s not even within the Dark Elves’ residential area," Ilaris explained.
"So we need to destroy this stone layer to get in?" Andreas stepped forward, inspected the wall, and asked.
Ilaris nodded.
Daniel motioned for them to step back. They all took a few steps back and stood behind him.
Daniel clenched his fist and struck the wall hard. The first ti, it only left a small crack. Seeing it wasn’t enough, he reinforced his fist with mana and hit it again.
Boom!
The wall cracked deeply, and with another punch, it completely collapsed.
"That’s done," he said, then looked at the scene revealed before them.
It was a crypt, lit by nurous torches. In its center was a glass coffin embedded inside a tree trunk.
Above it, phenona of light were shining. Even though light shouldn’t exist in the Mountain of Endless Spirits, they could clearly see it shining on the grave.
They went in and approached the coffin. They looked inside.
To their surprise and shock, what they saw inside stunned them.
"This...?" Inside was a skeleton. From its shape, it wasn’t even clear if it was male or female.
"So where’s the branch?" Andreas asked in disbelief.
Daniel and Kaisen frowned. The only one who remained calm was Liara.
"This... could it be my mother?" Ilaris’s expression was mixed. Even she didn’t know how to feel right now.
Could it be that her father wasn’t lying and this really was her mother’s tomb?
"You were told never to enter this place, girl," a commanding voice suddenly echoed.
They all turned and looked to the other side of the crypt. A tall, handso, middle-aged Dark Elf in a royal robe stepped inside.
"Father," Ilaris whispered.
"So this is the leader of the Dark Elves, huh?" Daniel analyzed him. He had a B-rank aura but was extrely weak — so weak that it was strange.
Elarion said nothing more, walked to the glass coffin, and looked at the skeleton inside.
"Father, this skeleton... is it my mother?" Ilaris asked, eyes wide in shock.
"This is my wife," Elarion said with a smile on his face.
Ilaris looked confused and shocked. What did that even an? Wasn’t his wife her mother?
"Hmm? Looks like they finally sent soone," feeling sothing, Elarion turned his head and locked eyes on Liara.
Daniel, Andreas, and Kaisen turned in shock, trying to see what he ant — but suddenly, two daggers pierced through Daniel’s and Kaisen’s chests and dropped them to the ground.
"Wha... What’s going on? Liara, why did you do this?!" Andreas, horrified, fell backward.
Why did Liara kill Daniel and Kaisen?
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