Faced with the accusations from his clansmen, King's thoughts were obviously different from Drake's.
The joy on his face from reuniting with old friends completely disappeared, replaced by loss and frustration.
Drake just watched without saying anything.
What path the Fairy Clan chose, and whether King could find his place again were their own problems, and Drake wouldn't casually interfere.
As for Ban, as a teammate, he was acting quite indifferent.
But beneath that indifferent exterior, he was actually the most excited of all of them.
After arriving at the Fairy King's Forest, Drake could sense his surging, complex emotions.
Anticipating that his beloved would soon be revived, while also fearing that he was imagining things too beautifully, and that reality might disappoint him once again.
Thinking this, Ban stepped off Chongming's back, falling straight down.
Drake shook his head speechlessly; although he knew that Ban was in a hurry, he didn't need to be in such a hurry that he would just airdrop himself down!
But he still signaled Chongming to follow and descend together.
After seeing Ban, the three Fairy Clan members enthusiastically surrounded him, chattering non-stop, and even calling him Fairy King Ban-sama.
And since Drake and Stella had been brought in by Ban, although they were somewhat repelled, they didn't show it, but they also had no intention of communicating with them.
For long-lived species, a long lifespan meant that some hatreds were difficult to dispel.
The fact that humans had despicably deceived their compatriots and stolen their wings seven hundred years ago was something that wouldn't be forgotten even after seven hundred years.
Along the way, Drake saw more Fairy Clan members, and these Fairy Clan members' attitudes were the same as the previous three.
Disgust for King, respect for Ban, and indifference towards Drake and Stella.
Ban, however, showed no pretense, coldly leading the others to the tree with pink flowers that they had seen at the beginning.
As if sensing Ban's arrival, the tree trunk, which seemed to be twisted together from several large trees, moved, revealing a straight passage.
Getting closer, Drake could more clearly sense the life energy on this tree.
Perhaps because it was a youngling, the life energy of this tree wasn't even comparable to Ban, who had drunk from the Fountain of Youth, but that energy had already exceeded most of the creatures that Drake had encountered.
Drake suddenly thought that the image of a tree had always been linked to life and nature.
And when it came to the Fairy Clan and Elves, the first thing that came to mind was the existence of the World Tree.
This wasn't difficult to understand, but another concept that trees represented was the world.
Its origin was probably the World Tree in Norse mythology, which supported the nine worlds.
In any case, related elements had appeared in myths and legends and in the various worlds that Drake had experienced.
In the Clover world, Vangeance, the captain of the Golden Dawn, had World Tree magic, and the ritual that could open the gates of the underworld was also called the Dark Tree.
Even the entire structure of the underworld was tree-shaped.
And in the Danmachi world, the Elves also possessed a Sacred Tree that represented life.
Ryuu's wooden sword was made from the branches of the Sacred Tree, and hadn't been damaged even in the battles of high-level adventurers.
Also, Drake's magic tome had a tree-shaped pattern, and that represented Drake's World Magic.
Totem emblems like this, there must be a reason for their existence. It might be a pretty interesting research topic.
While thinking this, Drake followed Ban up the stairs made of what he didn't know if it was vines or tree roots, arriving at the most core area of the Sacred Tree.
As mentioned earlier, the Sacred Tree's trunk seemed to be twisted together from several large trees, and the area they circled was here, directly creating a grassland.
And the only object on this grassland was that "flower bed" made of branches.
The branches spiraled around, forming an oval bed filled with flowers.
And lying on top of the flowers was a petite woman wearing a white dress.
That girl was Ban's long-cherished lover, the Holy Maiden of the Fairy Clan, Elaine.
And at this time, she was lying peacefully among the flowers, as if she was just sleeping.
Drake couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration; that flower bed looked simple, but it was the place where the energy of the entire Tree of Life was most concentrated.
Anyone who lay on it would be nourished by the power of life, and over the long term, just doing nothing and increasing their lifespan by a dozen or twenty years wouldn't be a problem.
But unfortunately, the one lying on it now was Elaine, who had already lost her life long ago.
The corpses of the Fairy Clan wouldn't decay, but Ban had still arranged things this way.
Drake thought about it, and realized that he would have done the same thing if it were him!
Drake thought of himself, who had also lost the person most important to him.
Ban's desire to revive Elaine and his desire to revive Igneel were actually no different.
Drake stepped forward and patted Ban on the shoulder, saying with the utmost sincerity, "Don't worry, it will definitely succeed."
This was Drake's promise to Ban, without any purpose, purely wanting to see Ban realize his long-cherished wish.
Ban also sensed Drake's emotions, revealing a smile, saying, "You're a bit different from what I thought, no wonder the Captain trusts you!"
The expression on Drake's face changed, saying, "Hey, what did you think of me before?"
Ban curled his lips, saying, "Secret!"
Drake also laughed, saying, "Then let's pretend we've just met!"
Just as Ban was about to say something, a voice interrupted.
"As expected, Ban-sama came here as soon as he returned!"
Everyone turned their heads to look, and a female Fairy Clan member floated over.
That Fairy Clan member had long brown hair, and a green headscarf wrapped around her head, with the hanging headscarf covering her right eye.
She held a staff topped with a cluster of berries in her hand, and her lower body was wrapped tightly, like the roots of a plant.
Gerheade, the younger sister of the first Fairy King Gloxinia, was responsible for assisting each generation of the Fairy King.
Ban ignored her meaning, saying to Drake, "What else do you need? I'll go prepare it right away, and then we can start directly!"
Drake said, "There's nothing that needs to be prepared; with the nourishment of the Sacred Tree, her body's activity completely meets the standards for revival. We can start directly."
Saying this, Drake directly took out a machine that wasn't small in size from his ring.
That's right, it was the Regeneration Cradle that had been used to reshape Vinnie's body. However, after several generations of upgrades, it was very different from the original.
The ultimate purpose of making this magic tool had originally been to revive Igneel, so Drake had been improving it ever since using it on Vinnie.
Theoretically speaking, this machine was enough to complete the revival ritual. And Drake had made enough adjustments for Elaine's condition, and the chances of success were over eighty percent.
Gerheade saw that no one was paying attention to her, saying, "What exactly are you trying to do? And what is that machine?"
Saying this, she was about to approach and observe, but Stella blocked her.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are, but what's about to happen is very important to Ban-san, could you please not disturb us for the time being?"
Gerheade bit her lip; she hadn't come here with good intentions.
Although the Fairy Clan now hated King and accepted Ban, who had recreated the Fairy King's Forest, Gerheade had always believed that Harlequin, who had been chosen by the Sacred Tree, was the only Fairy King.
After sensing Harlequin's return, she had been preparing to attack Ban, using his blood to completely revive the Sacred Tree.
But the scene before her was somewhat beyond her expectations.
Putting aside what Ban and that strange man were planning to do, just this woman blocking her way gave her the urge to run away.
Even compared to the Red Demon who had destroyed the Fairy King's Forest more than ten years ago, she felt that this human girl was even more terrifying.
Ban and Drake ignored Gerheade, and while Drake was debugging the magic tool, Ban had already gently picked up Elaine, and then placed her into the Regeneration Cradle.
Drake checked that everything was in order, and then took out the magic tool that contained Elaine's soul, directly inserting it into the specially made interface.
Green lights that indicated smooth operation lit up in various places on the magic tool, and then the magic tool that preserved the soul also lit up.
Spots of fluorescent light flowed into the Regeneration Cradle along the crystal conduits.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
Ban said nervously, "What's that sound? What's happening?"
Drake reassured him, saying, "Don't worry, nothing's wrong, that's the sound of the soul being injected into the body, she's about to come back to life!"
As Drake's voice fell, Ban, who had been watching the crystal barrier, saw Elaine inside... her eyelids trembled.
"Elaine!"
Ban called out affectionately, but the expression on Drake's face became a bit strange.
Wouldn't it make people think he was courting death if he said "Revive, my love" at this time!
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