.. Perhaps voice-amplification magic had been used, for the voice rang out clearly in the party’s ears.
“Stop.”
As soon as those words ended, the party halted. Shrekheimer quickly stepped forward.
“Do not attack. We have by no means come with ill intent—”
Before Shrekheimer could even finish speaking, an angry shout erupted from within the forest.
Though the distance was great, it seemed they had grasped Shrekheimer’s identity.
“To think a cursed lich would dare approach the forest. Leave at once, or we shall never
forgive you.”
At the violent reaction, Shrekheimer was at a loss.
“W-we are……”
“Drag your cursed body away from this place immediately. If you delay, we will kill every last
one of you.”
Shrekheimer, helpless, looked toward Kartroi.
Since they would not even consider listening, it seemed he would have no choice but to borrow Kartroi’s majesty.
Receiving his gaze, Kartroi nodded and stepped forward.
“Are you the leader of your clan?”
His low, resonant voice was laden with abundant mana. With that single sentence,
the murmuring forest fell silent all at once. It seemed they had realized Kartroi’s identity.
Kartroi continued speaking with a triumphant expression.
“He may be an undead, but before that, he is my companion. Even if you mean to drive him away,
would it not be better to hear his circumstances first? I do not know who you are, but come out.”
The silent forest rustled, and someone revealed himself. It was a male elf dressed in light, fluttering clothes.
With long, flowing blond hair and handsome features without a single flaw,
the elf man approached the party without hesitation.
‘It has truly been a long time since I last saw an elf.’
Kartroi stared intently at the elf with a curious expression. The elf met Kartroi’s gaze with a markedly
defiant look.
“I do not know for what reason a great one such as yourself has come to visit our humble forest, but please do not
give us orders. No matter how great your race may be, you have no authority to command elves.”
At those words, the smile at Kartroi’s lips vanished without a trace. The elf’s tone toward him
was thick with hostility. In a way, it even seemed sarcastic.
Flustered, Kartroi stammered.
“Wh-what is that supposed to mean?”
“I shall put it simply. It means do not tell us what to do.”
In the end, even Kartroi could not help but feel anger welling up.
“How can you be so rude? Is it permissible to commit such discourtesy against a dragon, a being who mediates between races?”
The elf man snorted coldly.
“If the dragons had been faithful to their true duty, we would not have acted
this way either. Think on it. Have the dragons truly been faithful in mediating between races?”
“What are you talking about?”
The elf man continued, his words sharp as a blade.
“We can understand that you joined forces with the orcs and destroyed humanity. But
we cannot endure your inciting the orcs to keep taking our homes from us.
After humans, do you intend to erase even the elves from the continent?”
“……….”
“It was not like this in the past. At the very least, you acknowledged our territory.
But now things are different. Our kin are killed by orcs every day, and every year the forests
are set aflame. If the dragons had not incited and condoned it, how could such a thing happen?”
Flames of rage blazed in the elf man’s eyes.
“Though you may be the mightiest beings, we have no intention of sitting quietly and suffering.”
Kartroi, too dumbfounded to speak, finally opened his mouth.
“If you do not intend to suffer quietly……”
“We will fight. Even if our entire race is killed.”
After speaking, the elf man raised his hand. Then countless shadows pushed through the forest and
revealed themselves. They were elf warriors in light armor, carrying longbows, and most of them were women.
They stood in orderly ranks and nocked arrows to their bowstrings.
Charrarararak.
Dozens, hundreds of arrows were aimed at the party. Watching this, the elf
man turned his head without changing his cold expression.
“Besides them, many warriors lie in ambush within the forest. Unless you kill every last member of our clan,
no one will be able to set foot in our forest.”
“Well, now.”
Kartroi was left speechless. He could not understand what on earth was going on. The idea that the elves
would join forces to attack a dragon was something he had never even dreamed of until now.
The expressions of the party members had hardened as well.
Mitchell, in particular, who had personally received an elven arrow attack, was even more appalled. If the elves all
loosed their arrows at once…… Just thinking about it was horrifying, and Mitchell shuddered. An elf’s
bow was truly powerful. If it struck squarely, even high-quality armor would inevitably be pierced.
Thus Mitchell thought that only beings on the level of Damon and Kartroi
would be able to survive a volley.
Everyone had turned pale, but someone suddenly stepped forward. It was Damon.
“So? You mean you cannot get out of our way?”
The elf man’s gaze turned toward Damon. He seemed surprised by Damon’s handsome features, which were in no way inferior to an elf’s,
but the voice that slipped from his lips was still cold.
“That is right, human. To pass through the forest, you will have to kill us all.”
“Then it cannot be helped.”
Damon suddenly formed hand seals. Centered on his hands, a dazzling radiance abruptly burst forth.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa.
The chilling light spread in all directions. It was so intense it could snatch one’s sight away entirely.
“Urgh, wh-what…….”
The man, whose vision had gone dark in an instant, let out a groan. He had never imagined that his opponent would launch
such a surprise attack. The archers who had been looking this way must all have lost their sight as well.
However, he was a mage renowned even among the elven leadership.
The man quickly gathered his mana and rearranged it.
“Dispel.”
As the man’s incantation rang out, another light enveloped the area. Feeling his sight return,
the man looked at the archers. The archers who had been floundering like blind people were slowly regaining their senses.
“You abominable……”
The man was about to give the order to attack without further thought.
But the moment he was about to issue the command, his eyes widened.
“N-no?”
In the brief time they had lost their sight, something astonishing had happened in the field.
Kwarururu.
Two enormous dragons made only of bones were blocking the way before them. Sharp fangs gleamed
in their gaping jaws, and a chilling glow poured from their eye sockets.
The elven warriors who had their bows drawn could not hide their astonishment. The bone dragons’ towering height and
massive bodies gave the elves staring at them an indescribable sense of pressure.
“Good heavens, bone dragons……”
The bone dragons had already completely surrounded the humans. In other words, they were perfectly prepared
to block the arrow attack. Before the bone dragons stood five shadows, floating lightly in place.
Seeing the black armor and the eerie light leaking from between their helmets, the elf man’s
face grew extremely grave.
“Death Knights. And tremendously high-ranking Death Knights at that. There is no way an arrow attack will work. Hm?”
All of a sudden, a tremendous storm of mana began to whirl at the center of the Death Knights. Feeling that energy,
the elf man froze in place. The storm of mana was emanating from the young man standing in the center.
The young man who had spoken with him earlier. When he discovered the blue ball of fire blazing in his hand,
his eyes flew open as if they would tear. As a high-ranking mage, he could easily tell
what spell his opponent was trying to cast.
“H-Hell Fire. Th-this is a nightmare.”
Damon was watching the frozen elven warriors with a smile of satisfaction.
“If you will not open the path, then I have no choice but to force my way through.”
He had already perceived that killing elves did not trigger the Sevenfold Severing Forbidden Art.
While Kartroi had been arguing with the elf man, he had secretly tried directing killing intent
toward the elves. The result had been positive.
Though their appearances were similar, elves and humans were fundamentally different races, and perhaps because of that,
the Sevenfold Severing Forbidden Art did not activate. In other words, Damon’s consciousness did not recognize elves as humans.
Once he confirmed that he had escaped the restriction of the Sevenfold Severing Forbidden Art, Damon’s killing intent surged
beyond control. Wanting once again to fully savor blood and slaughter, Damon could see nothing else.
With bloodshot eyes gleaming fiercely, he took a step forward.
“You declared you would dare block my path, so I suppose you will have no regrets even if you die. I have no intention of showing mercy
to anyone who stands in my way. Since we are here, I should test whether the elven forest can withstand Hell Fire.”
Though his face had turned deathly pale, the elf man refused to yield.
“If you can cast Hell Fire, then you must be a master of the Ninth Circle. But we cannot open the path.
We will not open the path until every last member of our clan is dead.”
“This is my final warning. If you do not open the path, every elf living in this forest will die.”
As the situation escalated beyond control, Shrekheimer became troubled. They had come for the purpose of forming
an alliance in the first place, but he had not known the elves’ reaction would be this cold. Moreover, even Damon was
coming out so hard.
Of course, if the power of the bone dragons, the Death Knights, and Kartroi were combined, then no matter how much they were a race of the forest,
they would not be able to block their path. But the problem began after that. If the elves scattered
through the forest and organized guerrilla warfare to drag the party down,
the problem would inevitably become serious. Moreover, they would pose an enormous threat to the punitive force troops that had crossed over
through the Dark Portal. Unable to even begin figuring out how to resolve it, Shrekheimer could only
fidget anxiously. The squad members, who had been dazed by this unexpected turn of events, began one by one
preparing for battle. Looking at the situation, it seemed they would have to fight a battle against the elves.
Patterson drew his sword, grumbling.
“We may have to fight, but…… how in the world are we supposed to kill elves?”
“That’s what I’m saying. And beautiful women, at that……”
Mitchell, too, could only feel troubled. If things continued like this, a war with the elves was unavoidable.
Then it followed that they would have to fight Illumina as well. From the moment the fighting began,
they would be enemies…… Having settled his heart, Mitchell looked at Illumina.
“You should return to your people immediately.”
Illumina looked surprised. It seemed strange to her that he would let her go so readily.
She was already no different from a hostage, and if a fight broke out, she would be the first to die.
Because of that, Illumina had already steeled herself. Toward her bewildered face,
Mitchell showed an awkward smile.
“Looking at the situation, it seems we will have to fight you.
To be honest, I am not inclined to, but if an order is given, I will have no choice.”
Mitchell looked into Illumina’s eyes with a regretful gaze.
“But my true feelings are that I do not want to kill you.
So if a battle breaks out, make sure you never come near me.”
Illumina, who had been looking at Mitchell with a stiff expression, turned and ran toward the forest.
Even after seeing this, none of the party said a word.
They, too, seemed not to want Illumina to be killed.
Meanwhile, the situation was drawing ever closer to its end.
Having settled his resolve, the elf man firmly shook his head.
“We cannot open the path, even if we die. We will fight to the last man.”
“Then negotiations are over.”
Damon’s expression had also hardened. Once the fight began, he intended to launch a magical
attack without hesitation. Of course, even if he struck first, he could not block every arrow attack
that would come pouring in.
However, Damon trusted the bone dragons absolutely. If they spread their wings wide
and blocked the first wave of incoming arrows, the Death Knights would immediately charge in
and begin slaughtering the archers. If, following that, his second attack—Energy Bolt and
Magic Missile—exploded, and the squad members also charged and poured on their attacks, then the elven warriors, composed solely of archers,
would surely be unable to endure it. Thus Damon was confident of victory.