Anbaixiu looked at the tall young druid and couldn't help asking, "Weren't you a follower of the Oak Father? How did you suddenly become Lady Leira's Chosen?"
This was no laughing matter. Even between a chief deity and a subordinate deity, one could not simply switch faiths on a whim.
Silvanus was merely easygoing. Had it been Talos, the Lord of Storms, daring to switch allegiance to one of his subordinates would likely have brought down a bolt of lightning to strike the turncoat dead on the spot.
Leira explained, "During my resurrection, my divine power surged out of control and permeated the bodies of some druids. The Oak Father permitted that portion of druids to become my followers, and Brandir is one of them."
Anbaixiu recalled the scene back then: he had knocked Brandir unconscious, dumped him beside the giant banyan tree, and started digging.
He had not expected the fellow to be so lucky. For a mortal to perceive divine power in advance was an immense boon.
The kid was already a prodigy who had become a legend at age thirty; his future seemed boundless.
Even so, Brandir still harbored a grudge over Anbaixiu knocking him out. Bowing his head before Leira did not mean he genuinely wanted to seek Anbaixiu's counsel.
Thus, when Anbaixiu asked, "How many Shadow Druids are there? Do you know where their main settlements are?"
Brandir merely replied coldly, "If Master Ultraman doesn't even know such basic intelligence, I'm afraid it will be quite difficult for you to offer me any advice."
Leira frowned. Shut-in though she was, she could clearly hear the thick resentment in Brandir's voice. Just as she was about to discipline the mortal, Anbaixiu spoke up.
"I can understand your resentment, but I hope it is directed solely at me, not at the goddess you revere. Lady Leira may have only just recovered, but disrespecting her is a direct provocation to me.
"Brandir Sanda, do you want to duel me again?"
Hearing this, Brandir couldn't help retorting, "Last time was only a moment of carelessness! This time, I—"
Before he could finish, Anbaixiu snapped his fingers.
Brandir felt a chill run down his spine. Glancing back, he saw Melina glaring fixatedly at him with her golden eyes.
An invisible barrier unfolded, engulfing Brandir within.
From that instant, the magical power inside Brandir seemed to freeze solid; he could not muster even a shred of it.
"An antimagic field? No... it's not just that... I can't even transform..."
While Brandir was still in shock, Melina was already before him, the spear in her hand pressed against his throat.
A druid stripped of magic was little different from an ordinary burly man. To Melina, he was an ant she could crush at will.
The only way to deal with Melina was either saturation strikes from outside her magic-nullifying field or purely physical classes like Champions. Otherwise, one could only be crushed unilaterally by her.
Brandir had never encountered such an absurd magic-suppressing effect. With the spearpoint at his throat, he did not dare move a finger, cold sweat beading across his forehead.
Anbaixiu waved a hand, and only then did Melina lower her spear.
Yet before Brandir could catch his breath, Anbaixiu clamped a hand around his neck. A surge of dark magic began corroding his flesh, sending waves of burning agony through him.
Melina could now roughly control her magic-nullifying effect, allowing Anbaixiu to cast spells while Brandir remained suppressed, utterly incapable of struggling.
"Young man, don't be so arrogant. You are alive only because of Lady Leira's protection. I hold the utmost respect for this goddess, so I will grant you one chance. But remember, there won't be a second, because I have no desire to see such an idiot remain Lady Leira's follower."
Anbaixiu released his grip. Brandir clutched his neck in agony. A layer of skin at his throat had been eaten away by the dark magic, oozing pus and blood and leaving him entirely unable to speak.
Normally, Anbaixiu didn't care to solve problems through such violent means. He preferred to greet people with a smile; while he might act ruthlessly, he always left some leeway in his words. But right now, he didn't have time to dig a pit and wait for Brandir to jump into it. An arrogant youth like this wouldn't submit without a harsh beatdown.
The tactic proved exceedingly effective. After being crushed once again, Brandir finally tucked away his pride. He had truly felt Anbaixiu's murderous intent—this lich was genuinely willing to kill him, rather than sparing his life like last time.
Having stared death in the face, a person matured a bit.
Brandir was no fool; he had simply been a genius for so long that arrogance had become second nature. Now, it was time to bow his head.
After barely healing his throat, Brandir rasped out the intelligence regarding the Shadow Druids to Anbaixiu. Because these Shadow Druids were unwelcome, most did not settle in the Emerald Dream Forest, residing instead in various dark and perilous woodlands across the continent.
Brandir had already located several settlements. There were roughly forty thousand of these Shadow Druids—neither a huge number nor an insignificant one.
Having gathered this information, Anbaixiu pondered for a moment before saying to Brandir, "I have two different approaches here; see which one you prefer. First, with the power of the Emerald Dream Forest, thoroughly destroying these Shadow Druid tribes wouldn't be difficult. Simply slaughter all the adult Shadow Druids and bring the children back to be raised."
Brandir hurriedly objected, "That's impossible! The Oak Father would never allow us to slaughter our own kin like that. Lady Leira, you wouldn't stand by and watch such slaughter either, would you?"
Leira nodded. "Indeed. Excessive slaughter violates the natural laws as well. The divine lord would not permit such a thing."
Anbaixiu was not surprised. He said calmly, "I knew it—the Oak Father is benevolent. Then hear the second method. What Shadow Druids despise most is alchemy. Set a trap to lure them out. Capture them alive and bring them back to re-educate them gradually. We don't have to kill them, but we can separate them and rehabilitate them one by one. As for the trap, I can help. Melina's magic suppression combined with my alchemy will be more than enough to handle it."
To his surprise, Brandir shook his head again. "I'm sorry, but we don't have enough hands to rehabilitate these kin one by one either. Master Ultraman, the Oak Father granted us special permission to change our faith this time, but the druids who worship Lady Leira are far too few to accomplish the task the Oak Father assigned to us."
"There's a quota limit?" Anbaixiu asked in surprise. "How many of you are there?"
Brandir awkwardly held up a single finger.
"Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?" Anbaixiu asked.
Brandir shook his head. "Barely a hundred."
Anbaixiu couldn't help glancing toward Leira. *Seriously? Silvanus is this stingy?* The Emerald Dream Forest had a population of nearly a million druids, yet he had only granted Leira a hundred people to reclaim all the Shadow Druids. Was this a joke?
Leira smiled faintly and replied, "If it weren't difficult, why would I have said I needed your wisdom?"
Anbaixiu said resignedly, "Then only one way remains. Brandir, do you know what acceleration is?"
Brandir looked puzzled. "You mean... the Haste spell? I know how to cast that, but what does it have to do with the Shadow Druids?"
"I don't mean casting Haste. I mean infiltrating the Shadow Druids and accelerating their extremism. Aren't they extreme environmentalists? Once you're inside, add fuel to the fire. If they want to destroy civilization and rebuild the forest, you tell them the Shadow Druids are destroying the forest too. Their weapons are made of oak, aren't they? They wear bark and animal skins, don't they? What is that if not destruction?"
Brandir quickly protested, "B-but that doesn't count! We're only making reasonable use of the forest. Our weapons are crafted from dead branches that fell naturally from trees, and our clothes come from proper hunting..."
Anbaixiu cut him off. "It's reasonable just because you say so? Then why are the Shadow Druids allowed to be so extreme? Your doctrines have always been open to countless interpretations. What even is nature? Druids of the Circle of Spores mess with corpses scarcely less than us undead do. Brandir, I'm not here to debate you; I'm pointing you in a direction.
"Any faith, once driven to absolute extremes, will not be far from collapse. What you need to do is push the Shadow Druids into total extremism. When they collapse from within, they will naturally seek help from kin of kindred faith. When that time comes, bringing them into the fold will be completely organic.
"Work out the specific details yourself. You are the youngest legendary druid, after all—I shouldn't need to teach you about nature, should I?"
Brandir was deeply shaken hearing this. *Can things really be played this way?*
It sounded absurd on the surface, yet upon closer reflection, it made a strange kind of sense.
If this lich was right that any extreme faith invited collapse... then wasn't Ryan about due for a collapse as well?
Chapter 366