Chapter 521: It was a human!

Not only the elven Queen, but every high-ranking individual floating in the air, recognized the man. The azure intensity of his eyes, the regal crest atop his head, and the powerful, sculpted form he possessed were all unmistakable.

He was Damien, the water dragon — or more precisely, the dragon who defied his own kin and ascended to the esteemed title of the inaugural Shadow General.

The man's presence alone startled not only the elven Queen but every individual floating in mid-air. The elves averted their gaze as he swept his eyes over them with an inscrutable expression.

Damien crouched down in mid-air, his fingers delicately caressing the barren branch devoid of leaves. As his thumb traced the spot where the fruit of fate had been severed, the branch trembled under his touch and tried its best to evade him. But unfortunately, the tree couldn't muster much strength to move the branch because it was weakened after yielding the fruit of fate. Also, it had utilized a significant portion of its strength to grow the fruit of fate a little earlier than intended.

The elven Queen's facial expression paled as tremendous pressure descended on her shoulders, causing her to struggle to maintain her balance in mid-air. She glanced around and observed that every person, whether demon or elf, had frozen in place with pale expressions. They were also experiencing the same intense pressure as she was.

Damien glanced at the old white-haired woman beside the elven Queen because he could sense she had the most spiritual energy in her body, indicating she was the closest to the Tree of Fate.

"Who took the fruit? I'm a bit late because I went to visit master since I heard from fifth that he woke up... but unfortunately, I wasn't able to see him."

His voice softened a bit, but his next words were something that sent chills down the spine of every elf who heard him.

"Just tell me who took the fruit, and I will not touch this planet. Otherwise, I can just destroy it because, after all, the Tree of Fate is not strong enough right now to stop me."

The elven woman clenched her jaw tightly as the pressure on her shoulders doubled. Nevertheless, she remained silent as the decision lay in the hands of the Queen. She had stood by the elven queen's side since the king passed away and held a deep love for her race. But the Tree of Fate had bestowed the fruit upon that silver-haired human of its own volition. How could she question the tree's choice?

Damien's eyes narrowed.

"So, you're useless?"

A chill ran down the woman's spine, and in the next second, her eyes began to roll, and she started coughing up blood. But before she could fully succumb to the darkness, the elven Queen gritted her teeth and appeared beside her body.

"Wait! I will tell you! It was a human!"

She already knew that the first shadow general was also pursuing the Fruit of Fate because rumors had it the man had been injured in the war happening at the other end of the universe, and he desired to consume the fruit to heal his wounds.

That's why she and many others elves had been trying to summon as many powerful individuals of their race back from the war. But who could have predicted the tree would bear the fruit earlier than expected, even before the two strongest individuals of her race returned to protect it?

Damien raised his brow when he heard the elven Queen's words. A flash of annoyance coursed through his eyes at the mere mention of 'human'. He loathed humans deeply because of a human named James, who had been his archenemy for the past hundreds of years.

The human and his followers, who have been increasing with each passing day, even though he kills many of them every single day, have been hindering him and all the other shadow generals from achieving victory in the war and breaking the last two seals that block the path leading outside the universe.

He groaned and rubbed his temples the moment he thought about James. He could never fathom just where the heck that darn black-haired oddball came from out of the blue and messed up all their smoothly progressing plans.

The dark side would have won ages ago if that bastard hadn't started gathering every powerful individual in the universe regardless of race to fight back.

Not to mention, among the people following James, his closest friends were also battle-crazed fanatics just like him, especially that dwarf who slew a thousand divine beings with an artifact he invented.

The shadow generals haven't even found a single Celestial spirit in Azazeal's absence. He was certain his master would be very displeased upon discovering that the shadow generals, to whom he had granted significant power, had failed to break even a single seal from the remaining two and had not found a single Celestial spirit.

Damien let out a sigh and brushed away the negative thoughts in his mind as he was here to find something important before locking eyes with the elven Queen.

"A human, you say? It's quite unusual for the Tree of Fate to bestow its fruit upon someone outside the elven race... Are you being truthful?"

The elven Queen's coral-colored eyes began to bleed as she felt a looming darkness above her head... She knew that now if she lied, he would kill her without a second thought. But to everyone's surprise, before she could speak, Samara stepped in.

"It was a human! A silver-haired man who appeared to be in his early twenties... I saw him! The Tree of Fate aided him, and before I could attack him, he vanished!"

She clenched her teeth.

"I have no idea where the Tree of Fate sent him! He just disappeared; how could we possibly know!?"

Damien lifted his blue eyes to gaze at Samara, and she flinched not because he put pressure on her body but because she had just lied to him.

She was determined not to let the fruit of fate slip away from her grasp; she would go and track down that silver-haired man and secure the fruit for herself! She needs it to get stronger. How could she let it go after enduring so many struggles?