CHAPTER 381: CHAPTER 381: SACRIFICE

City of Hope, Core walls, Hidden Underground Facility.

Deep below the blood red magic tower belonging to the Guardian of Humanity was an underground facility where the dark side of the city happens.

When there is light, there is darkness. There is no person in this world who is pure light, not Rezen, nor the Guardian of Humanity.

In this underground facility, the dark side of the city was ever-present. Horrible things that would make one question their morality happen here.

Inhumans experiments, human sacrifice, torture, anything one would expect can happen here. As cruel as this place was, it was a crucial part of the city.

Theories were tested here, making the people more knowledgeable about magic. The magic cannons used to protect the city walls are charged here sometimes using human batteries, constantly draining the martyrs’ mana. Humans were experimented on and turned into non-humans, to be used only when the city is fully on the brink of collapse.

However, the most special and restricted place in this underground facility was a single room that had only one thing... a tree.

This tree looks completely different from your normal tree. Its bark was completely black, as if it was rotting on the inside, but make no mistake, this tree was exuding a strong vitality.

The tree’s vitality was even stronger compared to the Guardian’s vitality.

As for the leaves of this tree, they were all blood red in color as if they absorbed and drank a full sea of blood.

At the top of the tree, a single light red fruit was being nourished. Judging by its color and size, it seems to be unripe and would take a long time to fully ripen.

Sitting on a random branch of the tree was precisely the Guardian of humanity. He still has the kind and Saintly appearance that he usually has, yet the thing he was doing was bone-chilling.

He had people bring corpses. Thousands and even tens of thousands of corpses, both from humans and the magic beasts, and fed them to the tree. With the ongoing war, corpses become more readily available, and the Guardian had to stop using live humans due toa lack of mages.

The blood of the dead nourished the tree, making the unripe tree one step closer to ripening.

He was not only cruel to the dead and disrespected their bodies, but he was also equally cruel to himself.

As if the dead were not enough, the Guardian even slit his wrist and let his blood flow out so that the tree could absorb it.

He was literally using himself to nourish the tree and expedite the fruit’s ripening. For the past months, the Guardian was only doing one thing.

He stayed with the tree while feeding it with his blood. It was fortunate that despite the fact that he was close to death, he was still a powerful Great Mage.

His vitality might have been weaker compared to when he was at his peak, but it was still stronger compared to Junior or even Senior Mages.

It was still his blood that gave the most nutrients to the Tree of Hope.

"Master, please stop for now. Do not overdraw your vitality, you might shorten your lifespan if you continue. Please rest and wait for your vitality to recover before letting the Tree of Hope drink your blood again" a voice from an unknown source speaks with a tone of concern, and with a sigh, the Guardian agreed.

The Tree of Hope’s fruit is the key for humanity to have another Great Mage that would replace the Guardian that was already nearing the end of his lifespan.

However, that is only a ’hope’. It was not clear whether the fruit would ripen before the Guardian died, and even if it ripens, who can guarantee that the lucky person to receive the fruit will become a Great Mage in time before the Guardian dies

As such, the Guardian, as the only Great Mage in the realm that can contend against the Sage of the magic beasts, was of the highest importance. He cannot harm his health and cause his already short lifespan to be further shortened.

Only when he is alive and well can the worst-case scenario be prevented from happening.

As such, as much as the Guardian wanted to expedite the fruit’s ripening using his own blood, he could not do it excessively.

"Fine" the Guardian replied as he drank a healing potion, and the wound on his wrist immediately started to close. He really can’t afford to have something bad happen to him.

He was not afraid of dying, he was afraid that once he died, humanity itself would be destroyed.

"Master... actually, I think that you do not need to sacrifice yourself anymore..." the voice said.

As for the sacrifice he meant, it seems to have a double meaning. He sacrificed his own blood to the Tree of Hope, and at the same time, he sacrificed his own humanity and did a number of unspoken things all for the sake of the greater good.

In this regard, he seems to be similar to Claude Preston. Both of them are people who would sacrifice the minority for the sake of the majority.

One is a heaven’s blessed that grew strong thanks to the fortune aura, while the other was a realm’s chosen, born to save the realm.

Is this the fate and personality of people born for greatness?

"Hmm, what do you mean by that?" The Guardian inquired in curiosity.

He was in seclusion for the past few months, and aside from emergencies, he doesn’t know much about what was happening outside, focusing on nourishing the fruit of humanity’s hope.

"There is a mage who appeared who awakened a special Innate Magic. He was one of the mages the City of Hope absorbed from the scattered tribes" the voice answered, and the Guardian looked at a certain place as if he could see through where the voice’s owner was.

"Special Innate Magic from a tribal mage?" The Guardian muttered as he remembered the conversation he had with his subordinate back when the tribal people started to be absorbed by the city.

At that time, he mentioned his theory that there are certain people born to rise above the masses. He was one such person, and the Sage of the magic beasts was another.

Back then, the Guardian invited the tribal people in hopes that another human born for greatness would be among them. And back then, the Sage of the magic beasts also ordered its subordinates to wipe out the scattered tribes, as he too had the same theory.

One side wanted to find and safely nourish the human born for greatness, while the other wanted to kill them before they could grow.

And now, there was actually a mage from a tribe that awakened a special Innate Magic? Was he actually the one destined to lead humanity once the Guardian died?

"Yes, Master. In exchange for magic stones, he can create a small skull object. It has similar effects to Ghost Berries. In fact, its components were similar to Ghost Berries. But the efficacy was far superior"

"Any magic beast at the Junior Rank will immediately be corrupted once it makes physical contact with the skull. And he seems to be able to create an infinite number of these skulls as long as he has enough mana stones"

"The corrupted magic beasts also didn’t dissipate in a short period of time like those corrupted by the Ghost Berries. These corrupted beasts can live for months and if they are fed by the special grass that the mage can also create, these magic beasts can continue to live indefinitely"

Even someone like the Guardian was surprised after hearing such a thing. There was actually such a great ability?

If he had appeared before the current calamity, he might have been able to ensure that no Junior Rank beasts would survive. And without these Junior Rank beasts, how could a Senior beast suddenly appeared?

Even for magic beasts, they need to grow from the Junior to Senior Rank! They cannot reach the Senior Rank in one go!

However, in the end, the mage’s ability is just effective for Junior Beasts. As such, the Guardian shook his head.

"No, the mage might be able to alleviate some of the pressure we faced but it was not enough for us to ensure our survival" the Guardian said, but the subordinate was not finished yet.

"Master, this mage was vouched for by Elder Priss. It was said that if this Junior Mage reached the Senior Mage rank, he could further develop his Innate Magic to the point that even Senior Rank magic beasts could be corrupted by him"

"If even the Senior Rank magic beasts can be corrupted, then with their help and your power, it might be possible to kill the Sage of the magic beasts"

"Once the Sage is slain, this realm will definitely belong to us, humans. In the worst-case scenario, we can only occupy a large part of the realm, but that is still better than our current situation"

"At the very least, we wouldn’t be constantly afraid of being wiped out!"