Chapter 1141: Chapter 1076: So This Damn Thing Is Called Divine Art (Double-Length Chapter)

They raised their hands, either angrily cursing, kneeling in prayer, or covering their faces in tears, but what Horn saw was eerily reversed.

Thus, there were often moments when someone would suddenly calm down while crying, with an air of "I cried, but it was all an act."

The closer Horn got to the tree crown, the more time flowed backward to its starting point, and the elves’ faces appeared more serene and joyful.

Looking at them in a celebratory manner, it didn’t seem like a helpless retreat but rather a joy of surviving a calamity.

Horn continued traversing through the trunk and reached the tree crown, where the vibrant green leaves clung tightly to the branches, even producing a few scattered immature fruits.

These fruits looked obviously malnourished, no matter how they were perceived.

Horn’s viewpoint continued through the inside of the fruit, revealing a seed or kernel hidden within.

How did this seed feel so much like the one that had knocked him out earlier?

Horn’s vision blurred, and the kernel suddenly vanished.

He had no time to discern if it was an illusion or truly disappeared, as his view had already passed through the fruit.

Finally, as the last leaf exited Horn’s view, the giant tree or "Holy Tree" ultimately left Horn’s sight, plummeting towards the ground.

It passed through the clouds, heading towards the earth, getting closer to a crater spewing lava.

Or rather, this was the crater created when the Holy Tree ascended.

As the Holy Tree descended, earth and stones flew upwards, connecting with the roots and trunk, eventually causing the Holy Tree to stand firmly on the ground.

At that moment, it felt as though the rewind had finished, freezing everything in place, even the clouds halted in their movement, solidified high above.

Then time began to flow rapidly, so fast that Horn’s vision was overwhelmed, unable to discern anything.

His view uncontrollably plummeted like a meteor towards the ground.

The Holy Tree ascended once more, the ground ignited with battle fires, vampires and ogres laughing wildly...

An enormous fleet crossing the ocean, the Pope holding a scroll being crowned in Luogong City, cavalry with red flags charging at the fur-clad barbarians...

The First Blood War, the Second Blood War, the Hundred-Year C War, the Battle of Windmill Land...

The faster time spun, the closer Horn got to the ground until he saw a familiar place and discovered a familiar timeline.

The Upper Nao’an River rerouted, Ruo’an Dam collapsed, continuous rain in Thousand River Valley, flash floods submerged the villages in the valley—Red Mill Village.

A black-haired girl stood up with a pitchfork, while a gaunt boy had his head brutally chopped off by a knight wielding a longsword.

At this moment, Horn’s view finally entered the dazed boy’s head, gazing into the black pine forest in the rain.

But around his ears came the hysterical roar of a woman that did not exist in his memory.

"Miseria, you rotten emblem!"

Horn abruptly opened his eyes.

The fluorite lamp cast a halo-like orange light, and the air still carried a faint musty scent of water vapor.

Around him were familiar faces: Hilov, Kerben, Duvalon...

They looked at Horn with concern: "Your Grace, are you okay?"

Rubbing his temples, Horn stabilized himself and sat up: "How long was I unconscious?"

"About ten seconds or so, are you alright?" Duvalon eagerly inspected Horn’s face from all sides, "What happened just now? Are you okay?"

Horn shook his head but said nothing, instead loosening his collar and looked down at his chest.

Beneath the chain-like Holy Mark, between the two collarbones appeared a gemstone the size of a pinky fingernail.

What’s this?

The people gathered closer instantly, with Hilov even reaching out to touch it; the gemstone still carried the warmth of the human body.

Horn extended his hand, hovering in mid-air, and the guard assumed Horn wanted him to help, quickly moving closer.

But as he just stepped forward, everyone saw a flash of light appear at Horn’s fingertip.

Without the use of Holy Water or Holy Oil, a Divine Art light ball condensed at Horn’s fingertip, shot out instantly, striking a passing rat.

The soaked and sickly rat suddenly stood up, appearing more spirited than before.

"What’s that? What, what is that?" Xie Li stammered as he looked between the rat and Horn.

Bracing against the ground, Horn slowly stood up, not knowing whether he was answering Xie Li or speaking to himself: "So, this is what’s called Divine Art."