Chapter 473 - Evacuating The Elves
Under the surface of Elvengarde, there was great chaos amongst the surviving elves.
"Uwahhh, save me! I don't want to die!"
"Nooo! Don't leave me behind!"
The elves cried.
In the enormous underground expanse just below Elvengarde, numerous elves could be seen running for their lives, rushing towards the fiery ball of flames at the center.
The fiery ball of flames was naturally conjured by Leon to light up the subterranean world.
In the far edges of the illuminated area, the endless rat tide could be seen pouring out from numerous revealed passageways and chasing after the elves.
While the elves ran, only a few were able to run in optimum shape. Not surprisingly, these elves were all at the 9th Step Awakener Realm and above.
The rest of the elves with lower cultivation could be seen limping and crawling, injured by the fall from the surface.
Due to their low cultivations, they could not heal as quickly as they as hoped. Fleshly wounds healed quickly, but broken bones were slow to mend.
At the same time, many elven bodies could be seen littered on the subterranean ground. They were the ones that did not make it after the fall due to their frail bodies.
Even so, not all of the fallen elves were commoners with little-to-no cultivation.
There were also some relatively higher level Wood-type Awakeners among them. These elves were the truly unfortunate ones.
While broken limbs can be mended after a significant fall, a broken neck or blow to the head from such height would only send them straight to oblivion.
As Leon held the fiery ball of flames high and illuminated the dark subterranean expanse, he gazed at the desperate elves in the distance with a solemn expression.
'They won't make it.' Leon determined with a narrowed look.
Even the fastest runner was not necessarily quicker than rats—to say nothing in the least for those that limp and crawl their way to safety.
'Even when the situation is seemingly hopeless for them, they are still doing their best to survive. I should create a chance for them.' Leon pondered.
After a quick observation of the surroundings, he immediately clapped his hands towards the fiery ball of flames floating above him before separating his hands like he was tearing apart a long piece of cloth.
Simultaneously, the fiery ball of flames immediately exploded, scattering outwards like fireworks before they rained down like numerous fire arrows.
Shortly after, a ring of fire was formed on the periphery of the subterranean expanse.
Although it was not a completed ring of fire and had gaps in between each scattered flames, its scorching temperature was enough to ward off the approaching rat tide—but not for long.
Meanwhile, the 8 Elders could be seen helping the elves evacuate by constructing a dozen vine staircases that led to the surface.
"Quickly, everyone! Move it, but do not shove your fellow tribesmen!" A nearby Elder urged with hand gestures while keeping the order of the evacuation.
Each of the vine staircases was not big. Only enough to fit two elves running alongside each other. As such, a large crowd of elves was gathered at the bottom of each vine staircase.
For a big Mid-rank tribe like Elvengarde, although the entire tribe was not affected by the battle between the Elder Tree, King Erendriel, and the Supreme Elder, the destruction still caused tens of thousands of elves to fall into the subterranean world.
It would take time before the elves were all evacuated to the surface—but even then, they would not be safe unless the rat tide was dealt with.
Meanwhile, the other Elders went to fend off the rat tide in different directions on the edges of the fire ring Leon just created while helping the elves lagging behind enter.
Leon might have made the ring of fire as big as possible, but there were still many elves that fell outside his range.
His abilities were not omnipotent—at least not with his present cultivation.
Shortly after the incompleted fire ring was created, Leon conjured another fiery blaze and scattered them into the edges, creating more scorching hot zones that warded the rats away.
Once he was done, the Tier 4 Bone Spear retrieved by Aria flashed into his grip. With a strong stomp, Leon immediately shot himself forward towards the endless rat tide in the distance.
Boom!
Leon smashed straight into the groups of rats, immediately crushing several of them to death in an instant before he sent out a mighty sweep of his bone spear and blasted hundreds of more Wingrats away!
As Leon fought the rats tyrannically with brute strength to conserve his energy, he suddenly perked his ears to the subtle cries of a baby.
After sweeping away another wave of rats, he quickly located the source of the baby's cry some distance away from his present location.
It came from the corpse of a female elf that died after falling flat on her back, cracking her head against the edge of a rock.
Leon's expression abruptly changed as he realized a baby boy was wrapped in the female elf's arm.
The female elf was most likely the baby's mother, who died while shielding her baby from the fall with her body.
Seeing that the baby was about to drown in the sea of rats swarming over, Leon immediately lunged over to grabbed the baby before the rats could reach it.
After sweeping the rats away, he stored the mother's corpse in his interspatial storage and retreated with the baby boy in his spare arm.
At the same time, Supreme Elder Haldir shortly arrived with Aria and Princess Faelyn.
Seeing Leon flying over with a baby in his arms, Princess Faelyn quickly offered to look after the infant, "Let me take care of the baby boy."
Leon nodded and passed the baby to her.
"Unexpectedly, such a vast space exists right below Elvengarde!" Supreme Elder Haldir shortly exclaimed with surprise after assessing the situation.
Leon nodded.
The subterranean world hid many secrets pertaining to the ancient past.
Relics could be seen half-buried everywhere while old corpses were nowhere to be seen. But that was also to be expected.
Most likely, those old corpses have all become nutrients for the Elder Tree long ago.