rose nursery rhyme

The tree cocoon was silent for a long time.

The elves in the clearing and on the tree did not move, and the tree of life itself did not move. Everything seemed to be frozen, and no sound could be heard.

Only the exuberant vitality is still radiating outwards, they all come from Crossel's body, and they will not stop until Crossel is emptied.

Sidi: "How long will they be like this?"

Bryce: "Not necessarily."

There are many variables in this matter, and no one can tell what will happen until the last moment.

Sheedy asked again, "What if he doesn't make it?"

Brace: "Then they're all going to die."

'They' refers to all the elves in this forest.

And maybe the tree of life itself.

"It takes a long time for the shadows to digest these nutrients... and completely occupy the tree of life." Brace said, "Such opportunities are rare. If it succeeds, then maybe this piece of shadows will never leave."

Like the vine they saw before, it became a very suitable host because of the mutation caused by the shadow. That part of the shadow has been integrated with the vine since then, and never left.

And the tree of life is of course much more precious than the vines.

It will extend its roots deep into the ground, endlessly grabbing the energy from the depths of the continent.

And this time there is a shadow to help it digest, and there will never be another elf in this world.

Brice added: "The good news is that the Forest of Elves is basically completely closed, and there is no communication channel with the outside world, so even if Mr. Crossel really fails, the shadow's influence will not expand further."

So they just have to be patient and decide whether they want to leave right away...or leave later.

The results will be out soon.

This is not a protracted battle. Although Crossel has a very powerful force, it is not endless after all.When his vitality was exhausted, it was time for the dust to settle.

Sidi: "Um..."

He stopped asking questions, and stopped staring at the cocoon. Instead, he went around to the woods, and soon came out with a bouquet of flowers, climbed to a tree, sat down, and began to weave a wreath. .

——Anyway, idleness is idleness, why not find something for yourself to do.

Crossel didn't make them wait too long.

Xidi's garland had just been half-made before it took shape, when a strange sound came from under the tree of life over there.

Creaking, as if something was breaking.

The life force scattered around gradually weakened.

Bryce: "It's over."

Xi Di hung the semi-finished garland on the branch next to it and jumped down: "Who wins?"

Bryce: "Look."

What made the sound just now was the cocoon formed by the roots under the tree.

The tree cocoons that wrapped Crossel began to wither and break one by one, falling to the ground.

A figure emerged from it.

Xidi squinted her eyes to confirm that the figure was standing and seemed to be moving.

That is not dead.

As long as he can still stand, this silent battle is Crossel's victory.

Sheedy: "I even made him a wreath."

Since he is not dead, the wreath cannot be sent out.

Brace: "You can also take it as a victory laurel."

Sidi glanced up, and quickly gave up on the idea of ​​picking the wreath off the branch.

Well, he didn't finish the wreath anyway.

The two walked a few steps forward and met the figure who had come out of the tree cocoon.

Crossel...the changes are quite big.

His own life should have been exhausted, and his current body was newly created by the shadows.

Shadow probably realized that he could only live with him from now on, no matter how unhappy he was, he still didn't hold back and generously gave him a new body.

The general facial features have not changed, and the hair and eyes have become thick black.The pointed ears are still there, and the skin used to be healthy and white, and it is still white now...

But it became bloodless and pale like paper.

There are still some gray patterns on half of his side face, which are entangled like vines. After staring at them for a long time, the patterns seem to be alive, and they will slowly change their shape.

The elf priest doesn't look like an elf at all now, but rather a race that lives in the dark.

Demons or vampires or something.

Crossel's expression was a bit dazed, as if she still didn't know what happened, and she didn't quite adapt to her new body, and she walked unsteadily and moved slowly.

After finally walking in front of the two of them, he blinked slowly, then looked down at his hands again.

Brace: "How are you feeling?"

Crossel: "...Am I dead?"

The voice was very low, with an imperceptible hesitation.

But he does feel that he is no different from dead now.

Brace: "To be precise, you did die once just now."

Crossel: "Mother tree—where's the mother tree?!"

He seemed to come back to his senses at this time, and turned around quickly, wanting to see the situation of the tree of life, but he was still not used to his new body, and before he could see clearly, he stumbled with his left foot and staggered two steps.

Brace: "Don't worry, the tree of life is fine."

The shadow has now shifted to Crossel's body, the tree of life is no longer affected by it, and he can regain power from the root system, so he no longer entangles those elves, and the roots are taken back.

And those semi-finished fetal fruits also began to melt, like water, slowly dripping to the ground.

It's just that the elves controlled by it haven't woken up immediately, but it's only a matter of time.

Crossel heaved a sigh of relief: "That's good."

He went there with the determination to die, but he didn't expect to die, which was an unexpected surprise.

Xidi watched from the side, and suddenly said: "You look much better than before."

The original elf looks good, but the color of the whole person is light, and the contrast is not obvious. In Xidi's view, it is not interesting.

He doesn't care what the elf's hair color represents, so he prefers Crossel's current rich and colorful look.

"I made a garland." The child said regretfully, "It's a pity that you are not dead, so I can't give it to you."

Crossel: "..."

That's such a shame.

Xi Di didn't care, and said, "It's okay, you see."

He spread out his palm to Crossel, and in the palm was a small blue-purple flower: "I left one for you."

Crossel's appearance has changed, but his soul has not changed. He has never known how to get along with Xidi. At this time, he can only give up the conversation and reach for the little flower that Xidi gave him.

It's just that as soon as his fingers touched the petals, the flower quickly withered and faded, and finally dried in Xidi's palm. As soon as Xidi slightly touched the palm, it shattered into a puddle of powder.

Xi Di was slightly surprised: "Oh."

Crossel didn't realize what happened, her hands were still in the position of touching the petals, and she was stunned.

Xi Di withdrew her hand with a normal expression, patted the dust sticking to her palm, and blew again: "Forget it."

Crossel: "...What's going on?"

Brace reminded him gently: "You are the shadow now."

No matter what Crossel was before, from the moment he stepped out of the tree cocoon—or earlier, from the moment he decided to carve a rune on himself, he was destined to be entangled with this shadow for a lifetime, until he died.

His current body was given to him by the shadow, and of course he would inherit some of the shadow's characteristics.

For example, from now on, the vegetation touched by him will wither like this.

Behind Crossel, a decaying path leading to the tree of life has now been formed.

The blades of grass on the road had turned into crumbled ashes.

Crossel looked back, grabbed a handful of her black hair again, and looked down.

Elves were once a species favored by nature. They could cast powerful natural magic, and even make plants twig and flowers bloom.

Now he can't even touch it.

It's not sad, it's just... a little pity.

He sighed silently, and said, "Is there anything else I can do for them?"

'They' refers to the tree of life and the elves.

Bryce: "It's unnecessary. As long as the tree of life can get power from the depths of the continent, she will be able to continuously repair itself. This time, the shadow did not hurt her foundation. As long as it takes a while, she will be able to recover." back to normal."

It's just that the fallen leaves don't grow back as quickly, but it's not a big deal.

Anyway, the elves did not perish, and after another generation or two, everything will be restored to its original state.

Sheedy answered, "We're leaving. What about you?"

They were originally entrusted by Crossel to solve the problem of the tree of life. Now that the problem is solved, they have to continue their journey.

Crossel hesitated for a moment: "...I'll take you out."

Only the elves know how to open the teleportation array of the elves.

Sidi: "I mean, are you going to stay in the Forest of Life?"

After all, he is no longer an elf.

Crossel himself didn't think about it.

He knew that he was no longer fit to stay in the Forest of Life, but after all, this was the place where he had lived for thousands of years, and it was his hometown, so it was hard for him to accept that he was about to leave suddenly.

But he didn't want his clansmen to see his appearance either.

"...I don't know." He finally said, "I'll send you out first."

"Oh." Xidi nodded and stopped asking.

The portal in the Forest of Life can actually be opened at will, but Crossel is in a complicated mood now and doesn't want to stay by the Tree of Life for a long time.

With black hair on his head, he led the two of them in a random direction and walked for a while, then stopped.

There is also a mushroom ring here.

The elves living in the mushroom circle are everywhere. They do not belong to the same race as the elves, but they are the only intelligent species that can live together with the elves in the forest of life.

The bow on Crossel's back is still there, but he can't mobilize the elemental power now, and the plants will wither if he raises his hand casually, so he can only take out an emerald green spar and throw it to Bryce, directing him to fly in the air. Draw the activation rune in it.

Bryce didn't know whether it was due to his talent or something, but he succeeded the first time, summoned the portal, bid farewell to Crossel politely, and walked out with Xidi.

The head of an elf protruded from the mushroom circle, and looked curiously at the place where the sound came from.

Crossel watched the two leave, bent down, and tried to say hello to it: "Do you still recognize me?"

The little elf was very keen, felt the dark aura of ominousness and death on him, and turned pale with fright, plunged back into the mushroom circle and disappeared, leaving only a glistening powder on the ground.

Crossel: "..."

Well, from now on, he has to get used to this as soon as possible.

The portal was about to close, Crossel stared at it with a frown, and stepped out at the last moment.

——Only the elves can open the portal of the elf forest from the outside, because only they can feel the location of the portal.

Maybe he... never comes back.

The author says:

Children who like to pick flowers and give them away (.

Never gave a serious gift hhhhh