Chapter 556: The Defection Incident

After a grand wedding, Donald and his wife, along with Uther, Kelthas, and other powerful subordinates, all disappeared from the main world. Ordinary mortals could only occasionally hear legends about Dalaran through adventurers or bards.
Three years had passed in the blink of an eye, and Donald had been in this world for nearly ten years.
To celebrate, during these three years, Donald’s two wives, Catherine and Cornelia, had each given birth to descendants of the Merlin family. Catherine’s belly was now as swollen as that of a human woman five months pregnant, but due to the long gestation period of those with divine bloodlines, it would take at least another two to three years before there were visible results.
As for Cornelia, she had just shown initial signs, and it would take more time before her condition became apparent.
The events of that grand celebration and the emergence of so many legends were truly astonishing. Especially the various forces in the main world saw their power structures reshuffled as a result. Only the five major kingdoms and large factions like Thelset managed to maintain stability to some extent, though they were still affected internally!
Several major events occurred during this time, which even Donald, who was preparing for the ascension of his divine kingdom, paid attention to.
The first major event was that Messel, the top mage of the North County, a renowned alchemy master, and Donald’s teacher during his mortal life as a Nature Guardian, successfully broke through the Golden Barrier two years ago, becoming the sixth legendary spellcaster in Dalaran’s history.
The first three were Donald himself, Chikofield, and Kelthas. The remaining two were Elyia, the high elder of the Druid tribe, and the elf servant who received the Fruit of Laws from the Elven Lord at the wedding banquet.
The former, after obtaining the powerful heroic talent of Jungle Guardian through a sacred transformation, became a Golden Druid within a year. Shortly after Donald’s wedding, he broke through that barrier thanks to his understanding of natural forces and his long exposure to the World Tree, becoming a legendary Great Druid. With his Jungle Guardian talent, his strength far surpassed that of ordinary legendary warriors, and his lifespan even exceeded that of direct descendants of high elves by twice. Now, this once-abandoned elder of the ancient elf tribe has been invited to return to the Elven Council.

As for that lucky elven servant, Donald named him Tiresfa due to this opportunity, meaning “the mighty protector of nature” — one who prevents the natural world from being corrupted by evil and chaotic forces such as demons. Tiresfa was of pure Sun Elf descent and also served as an elf priest among humans, thus gaining powers from the legendary realm. The realm he mastered was one of nature and holy light. Though not adept at attacking, his abilities in support and healing made him the strongest among Donald’s warriors, second only to the already powerful semi-god, the Angel of Holy Light, Uther. With his legendary powers and devout faith in Donald, Tiresfa, who held both priest and druid roles, quickly earned the recognition of many members of the Nature Guardians Council and became its first president. His status was comparable to that of the popes of other true god churches, so Donald bestowed upon Tiresfa a projection of the Fury of Nature, allowing him to pursue the cause of maintaining natural balance without being hindered by powerful enemies. After several battles to mediate conflicts among other forces that could disrupt natural balance, the reputation of the Nature Guardians Council spread throughout the main world, rivaling that of the established true god churches. To Donald’s surprise, the Nature Guardians Council, founded by his followers, received support from Mekelie, the Forest Goddess, who rarely manifested miracles in the main world and was known to few mortals. This goddess was among the most reclusive among the true gods; aside from a few neutral and kind goddesses and the Elven Gods, she had little contact with any other true gods. Even at her own wedding, she was merely introduced by the Goddess of Agriculture, with them exchanging a nod — a true acquaintance at best. She was so reclusive that her followers were limited to elves and forest creatures, with no organized church at all, yet she was content with this. This was her first time getting involved in matters of the main world. However, the Forest Goddess’s favor toward the Nature Guardians Council was only beneficial to Donald, and since she did not openly take away his followers, he was pleased about it. To celebrate his teacher’s progress, Donald personally attended to offer his congratulations and gifted him one of the seven sacred artifacts of the Banai Empire, the Banai Mage Scrolls, as a reward for his advancement.

The old mage still waited until he had accumulated enough before advancing, even though his disciples had far surpassed him. He remained steadfast on his path, without any signs of wavering. Thus, upon succeeding in his advancement, he mastered two legendary spells. His combat strength was on par with that of other legendary mages who had been advanced for some time. After obtaining the Mage’s Scroll of Banai, a sub-legendary artifact whose power rivaled that of ordinary true divine weapons, the old mage, with his legitimate lineage, saw his combat strength approach that of established legendary archmages like Colin, the royal advisor.

Beyond these matters, another thing worthy of Donald’s attention was the rebellion that took place in Fallen Talin. Interestingly, it was related to him as well. The senior figure who defected from one of the factions in Fallen Talin—the Thieves’ Guild—did so because of unfair distribution of the Fruit of Laws at a wedding celebration.

As one of the few who did not consume the Fruit of Laws on the spot but instead took it back to their faction, the representative of the Thieves’ Guild was Elder Yin, their leader. Donald had also met this semi-divine powerhouse before, and they shared a history of fighting together.

As the most favored companion of Prince Told, the King of Shadows, Elder Yin also headed the Thieves’ Guild, one of the three powerful forces in Fallen Talin. His authority was significant not only within his organization but throughout Fallen Talin as a whole.

Originally, Elder Yin planned to leave this divine fruit to his son and had already prepared certain rewards for the other elders as compensation. As the descendant of a faction leader and a son of a semi-divine being, the son of the Thieves’ Guild leader was rather disappointing. He was a complete playboy and lacked ambition. Approaching thirty, he was still only at the silver level, a status he had achieved solely through his father’s authority.

Yet, despite his hatred for his son’s laziness, Elder Yin still hoped his child would become a legendary powerhouse. The Fruit of Laws, free from any risks, was undoubtedly the best choice for him—almost as if it were meant just for him!

In this way, even if Elder Yin couldn’t be there personally, as long as his son avoided confronting semi-divine beings in the main world, his safety could be ensured. If anything went wrong, his authority would still allow him to resolve it.

But clearly, one of the elders was not satisfied with the conditions proposed by Elder Yin. Due to his limited abilities, he had been a Golden Rank warrior for over a hundred years yet still hadn’t found a way to break through the final barrier. With his life nearing its end, anything else that couldn’t enhance his strength or lifespan naturally lost its importance to him.

Thus, this veteran member of the Thieves’ Guild resolutely abandoned his family, gave up everything he had, and infiltrated the guild’s secret stronghold to steal the Law Fruit before he could consume it, thereby becoming a traitor to the Thieves’ Guild.

Faced with the pursuit of numerous powerful members of the Thieves’ Guild, this elder followed his prearranged plan and used various clever counter-tracing methods to escape into the territories under the rule of the Land of Dawn before being cornered with no way out. That area was under the jurisdiction of the Church of the Three Radiant Gods—places where shadowy figures like them would never set foot unless it was for extremely important reasons.

The Church of the Three Radiant Gods held a far from friendly attitude toward any non-allied entities, especially those from the Church of the Dawn Lord. Should they encounter beings from the evil realm, they would act immediately, capturing or executing them without further inquiry! It was precisely this ruthless attitude that made the Church of the Dawn Lord infamous among the various factions on the main continent.

Although the King of Shadows had shifted his allegiance to Order Neutrality under the influence of human gods, he still had many followers from the Neutral Evil and Lawful Evil factions. Entering the domain of the Three Radiant Gods recklessly could lead to conflict with them, resulting in death at the hands of the Church of the Dawn Lord’s warriors—whose true god, Lord Thord, would not even stand up for them!

It was because of these circumstances that the pursuers from the Thieves’ Guild hesitated. By the time they made a decision, the traitor had already taken the chance to consume the Law Fruit and entered a state of comprehending the laws.

“What should we do?”

The powerful members of the Thieves’ Guild looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Should they interrupt the traitor’s process of comprehension? The Law Fruit had already been wasted, and it couldn’t be given to another person. Moreover, the traitor was in a peripheral city of a principality ruled by the Land of Dawn. Engaging with him would surely attract the attention of its powerful warriors—though even the strongest among them were only at the Golden Rank. Yet, with the backing of the Church of the Dawn Lord, such a force was overwhelming, so any confrontation would be inevitable!

“Since acting now is of no use, it’s better to send a message back to Elder Yin for guidance!” one of the strongmen suggested. Since the others had no better idea, they took out a magical communication device to contact Elder Yin of the Thieves’ Guild, who was thousands of miles away.