Marvin was slightly stunned, but not too surprised.

It was clear that the person Ivan was talking about was the Great Elven King, who had fought to his last breath to buy time for Feinan.

This wasn't hard to guess. When the Great Elven King stepped out, everyone knew his fate.

It was just a matter of time.

"I'm very sorry."

Marvin's apology came from the bottom of his heart.

If not for his suggestion to attack the Evil Spirit Plane back then, the Great Elven King might not...

Ivan shook his head, as his eyes cleared up. "This isn't your fault."

Although he was depressed, he was a lot calmer.

The Great Elven King's death made Ivan suddenly realize how much burden his father had been carrying on his shoulders.

He had been carrying the fate of the entire Wood Elven Race alone.

In the past, no matter how much of a troublemaker Ivan was, he always had an unrivalled father to settle things for him.

But everything would be different after today.

After the 2nd layer of the Universe Magic Pool broke, even more Chaos Magic Power flooded into the plane.

The North Guardian and the Cloud Monk retreated to the 3rd layer, relying on that layer's stronger defense to fight a long battle with the Gods.

During this time, the Gods would be unable to enter Feinan, but that didn't necessarily mean that it would be peaceful.

Marvin sighed. The future would still be challenging.

Although asking this wasn't appropriate, after some hesitation, Marvin decided that he still needed to know:

"How many did he take with him?"

The Great Elven King dared to step out, which meant he must have believed that it was the best time for his last stand.

Before Eric died, he took three Low Gods with him, leaving 25 of the New Gods behind.

Marvin eagerly wanted to know the situation of the group of Gods now.

"Three," Ivan answered. "A High God and two Mid Gods."

Marvin gasped.

Nicholas really was one of the most frightening people of this world.

Those few battles in the game must not have shown his full power.

After all, this time he fought that group of Gods on his own. Despite that, he managed to exterminate a High God and two Mid Gods. This strength was something the majority of the Demon Lords and Archdevils couldn't reach.

But that terrifying Divine Fire had withered his soul and his strength, so in the end, he could only accept his death.

This really was a huge loss to Feinan.

But the death of the Great Elven King wasn't meaningless.

He had bought yet more time for Feinan.

The deaths of a few of their members sapped the morale of the New Gods. In the following fight, they were bound to be a lot more restrained.

Therefore, the progress of the Universe Magic Pool shattering would be a lot slower.

...

"In the past, I didn't understand why he always seemed unhappy." Ivan stood by the lake, looking dejected and frustrated. "Even when I was a child, he wouldn't look happy when facing me and my mother."

"But now, I vaguely understand."

"A lone man fending for himself, and a person charged with protecting their whole Race… These are two completely different things."

Marvin had the same feeling.

A loner could be completely unfettered and only needed to be responsible for their own life. And if the person was strong enough, they could just find a place to hide and wait out the disaster.

However, it was harder if they had people they wanted to protect.

Marvin's White River Valley.

Nicholas' Thousand Leaves Forest. It was now passed on to Ivan.

Hearing the sadness in Ivan's tone, Marvin muttered, "Is there anything I can help with?"

Ivan hesitated for a long time before taking a deep sigh. "The Council of Elders doesn't consent to me becoming the new Elven King."

Marvin sneered, "The reason?"

"Too many." Ivan shook his head, as he listed out, "Being heretical, getting banished once, getting expelled once, and not having enough qualifications to convince the people… Moreover, the Great Elven King never explicitly said that I should succeed the rule of Thousand Leaves Forest."

"But Marvin, you know… I saw his look before he left."

"There was no disappointment, no encouragement... only relief. That damn old man, he left everything up to me and left like that... leaving me alone."

Ivan turned his back to Marvin as his eyelids faintly fluttered open and closed, getting a bit watery.

"There is still infighting at such a time?" Marvin inquired. "What's the Council of Elders?"

Because the Great Elven King was so incredibly strong, he didn't have to deal with the Council of Elders when ruling the Wood Elves.

But from Ivan's tone, it seemed that this so-called Council of Elders was quite influential and had some power among the Elves.

"It is all a structure created by a previous Elven King to check and balance the King's power," Ivan calmly explained. "An assembly made of old men living simple lives through their years, acting like Elves of the ancient times and unaware of how much things have changed."

"They oppose any sort of dictatorship and proclaim that democracy is the only way. Something like that."

Marvin derided, "Something that only makes sense during peaceful times."

Ivan nodded in agreement. "I also think so. Now they are a hindrance."

After hearing Ivan's explanation, Marvin stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Tomorrow, this hindrance will no longer exist."

Ivan's eyes twitched, but he didn't say anything.

Perhaps, he had been waiting for Marvin and hoping that he would help him deal with this issue.

Doing it himself… He couldn't bear to do that in the end. They were fellow Elves after all.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Ivan asked.

Marvin blinked. "Two things."

"First, you have to have a date with the Sea Elven Queen. Don't look at me like that, a sincere dinner is good enough, just don't slip away."

"Second, I need a mount. I want to go to the Supreme Jungle."

Ivan smiled bitterly. "You really sold me?"

Marvin patted Ivan's shoulder and seriously said, "In fact, I am also very much looking forward to seeing how powerful the child of the Sea Elven Admiral and the Elven War Saint would be…"

...

That night.

Thousand Leaves Forest was peaceful.

The situation seemed a bit unusual. The Elven Iron Guard was dispatched to the eastern part of the forest to inspect traces of a group of Devils.

And in the depths of the forest, beside a beautiful valley, a large shadow slowly appeared.

A Hellhound.

He had already devoured the souls of countless people and Monsters while patrolling the wilderness south of White River Valley. He might break through to the Legend Realm anytime!

Marvin seemed rather insignificant while standing on him.

He gently caressed the Hellhound's fur and resolutely told him, "Go."

The large shadow suddenly pounced toward the tranquil valley.

The forest's bloodshed began.

Marvin stood expressionlessly at the exit. Any fish that escaped the net would be personally caught by him.

This was a massacre.

But for Thousand Leaves Forest to be stable in the long term, this tumor needed to be removed, even if doing so was painful.

It would get better tomorrow.