When word came that they had formed an alliance with the elves, the party let out a cheer.
Now, all they had to do was reactivate the Dark Portal, and it would only be a matter of
time before the punitive army, numbering as many as 1.5 million, crossed over. The party gathered their equipment and assembled in one place.
The Sentinels who would be going with them had also finished their preparations and gathered. Captain Olivier still
wore a displeased look, but after hearing the circumstances, the party decided not to pay it any mind.
For some reason, however, High Elder Schneider’s expression was dark, so Shreckheimer approached him.
“Is something troubling you?”
“Yes. It is urgent news that came in from the Sentinels just a moment ago. They say the Patar tribe has gathered an uncountable number of
warriors on the outskirts of the village. It seems they will soon strike the Elven Forest.
It appears the orc leadership has realized that we formed an alliance with you.”
Shreckheimer was startled by those words. It seemed he had not expected the orcs to react
so quickly.
“Good heavens…… In that case, some of our party will remain behind to help.”
The High Elder smiled faintly and shook his head.
“There is no need to worry. We have held them back for a long time. We intend to make them pay the price
for daring to invade the Elven Forest.”
“B-but the sacrifices will be great……”
“For every Sentinel who returns to the embrace of the gods, more than ten orcs will become cold corpses.
At least in the forest, there is no race that can match the elves.
It is not the dry season, so they will not be able to set the forest ablaze. We can hold them off
well enough until the human army crosses over, so leave without worry.”
Shreckheimer, who had been hesitating, silently nodded.
“Understood.”
If they had the help of the forest, the Sentinels would not be easily defeated. Having seen that
many times before, he turned around without worrying.
“Let us depart.”
Olivier, who glanced at him with a cold gaze, sent the Sentinels out first.
The Sentinels, composed of archers, began advancing with swift movements.
As they approached, the dense forest shifted and opened a path for them.
Turning his head, Olivier said bluntly,
“Follow us. We will lead until the forest ends.”
Shreckheimer nodded and followed behind. The rest of the party hurried after him as well.
Mitchell’s eyes shone especially brightly when he noticed that Illumina was among the Sentinels.
The speed at which the elves moved was dazzling. Though they struggled to keep up, the distance between the two groups
gradually widened. Had the Sentinels not stopped every so often and waited for them,
the party would already have fallen behind.
“Huff, huff. They really are fast. I think I understand why elves are called the race of the forest.”
Running through the forest was on a completely different level from running across flat ground. First, fallen leaves
were piled up to their ankles, and tree roots lay hidden everywhere, so unless they ran with care,
they would frequently trip and fall in an unsightly manner. Moreover, the small branches of trees were also
formidable ambushers.
If they had not been covered in metal armor, the party’s bodies would already have been covered in blue bruises.
But the elves were different. Though they wore no armor at all, they cut through the forest like the wind.
It even looked as if the trees themselves were moving aside to avoid the elves’ bodies. While marveling at their lithe and agile
movements, the party had no choice but to keep moving their feet. The tedious and exhausting march
ended after they had been running for about two or three hours. When the Sentinels halted their advance as if to take a brief rest,
the party squeezed out their last strength with looks that said they had been saved.
“Th-that’s a relief.”
The members were utterly exhausted. Unlike the Sentinels, they were not accustomed to the forest, and since they were wearing heavy
full armor besides, it was only natural that it took twice the effort. Seeing the members
drenched in sweat and panting repeatedly, several Sentinels approached and handed them drinks that seemed to be fruit juice.
“Thank you.”
They expressed their gratitude, but perhaps because they did not understand, there was no change
in the Sentinels’ beautiful faces. Comically, Mitchell was disheartened by the fact that Illumina had handed
a drink not to him, but to Patterson. As if disappointed, he approached Illumina as she received back the drink pouch.
“Are you the only elf among the Sentinels who knows the human language?”
Illumina’s gaze turned to Mitchell. Seeing the wariness in her eyes,
it seemed she found Mitchell suspicious for continuing to approach her.
“There aren’t many, but there are a few. For one, Captain Olivier can speak the human language as well.”
Still feeling disappointed, Mitchell continued to speak to Illumina.
Olivier, who had been watching the resting members, approached with a sardonic smile.
“Can you even fight orcs with such pathetic stamina?”
“………”
“We will soon enter an extremely dangerous area. It is a place even we elves are
forbidden to enter, so you had best keep your wits about you.”
Having finished speaking, Olivier was about to turn away when a low, settled voice came from behind him.
“Can you be confident that you fight well merely because you can run well in the forest?”
When he turned his head, he saw the face of a young, handsome blond man. He was the great mage said to be
a master of the 9th Circle. When he saw Damon, Olivier’s face stiffened. Since the boast that he would
wipe out their entire race was still vivid in his ears, there was no way he could feel kindly toward him.
“What are you trying to say to me?”
Damon said nothing and walked forward with steady steps. Slowly sweeping his gaze over the thirty or so Sentinels,
including Captain Olivier, Damon opened his mouth a moment later.
“If you were to fight in the forest, how many well-trained orc warriors do you think you could handle?”
Not understanding his meaning, Olivier merely blinked.
“Could you eliminate more than a thousand orc warriors without a single casualty?”
When Damon finished speaking, Olivier looked utterly dumbfounded.
“What on earth are you talking about? Even if we fought in the forest, that would be fundamentally
impossible. From the looks of it, you have never fought an orc warrior even once.”
Damon answered without so much as twitching an eyebrow.
“Our party are the ones who accomplished that. We cleanly annihilated three orc supply units,
each numbering over a thousand. In the process, not only were there no casualties, not a single person was injured.
To put it simply, that means they are composed of elites to that degree.”
Having finished speaking, Damon shot Olivier an icy glare.
“If we have formed an alliance, then show the courtesy appropriate to it.
I will no longer tolerate rudeness like what you showed just now.”
After saying that, Damon turned away without another word. Olivier, wearing an expression of disbelief at the unbelievable feat,
looked at Shreckheimer as if seeking confirmation.
“Is that true?”
Shreckheimer nodded without hesitation.
“It is. As part of our plan to divert the orcs’ attention, we have already annihilated
a total of three orc supply units. Among them was a large unit numbering over 1,400, but
thanks to the efforts of our members, we were able to destroy them.”
Even with Shreckheimer’s confirmation, Olivier’s doubts did not disappear.
Only after Katroi stepped forward, unable to watch any longer, was he able to believe it.
“It is true. These people possess combat power several to dozens of times greater than that of ordinary humans.”
Olivier’s mouth fell open.
“Even if you deployed a Bone Dragon, to achieve such astonishing results……”
“We did not even bring out the Bone Dragon. It was merely these people, joined by one Death Knight and one Dullahan.”
“I-I simply cannot believe it.”
Katroi shot Olivier a sharp glare.
“Though you do not think highly of the race known as dragons, we do not lie.
There will be many battles to come, so you can confirm it for yourself then, can you not?”
“Understood.”
Olivier nodded with a shaken expression. To think that a handful of humans possessed such
tremendous combat power…… Since they did not know the human language, the Sentinels merely
stood there watching blankly.
After wondering what he should do, Olivier decided to quietly close his mouth.
However, it was not as if there was no one among the Sentinels who had understood.
Illumina looked at Mitchell with an expression of disbelief.
“Is what he said true?”
Mitchell nodded with a bitter smile.
“It is. But you should say the main achievements were Damon’s and the Death Knights’.
They destroyed most of the orc warriors.
In truth, the number of orcs we personally brought down was not all that large.”
“Even so, it is truly impressive.”
Receiving Illumina’s respectful gaze, Mitchell felt his shoulders rise without him even realizing it.
The march continued. After that incident, Olivier’s attitude toward the party changed quite a bit.
It was not as if he treated them noticeably well, but at the very least, he no longer mocked or sneered at them.
Guided by the Sentinels, the party continued passing through the forest.
There was one more rest, and the Elven Forest, which had seemed endless, slowly began to reveal its end.
Olivier, who had stopped there, looked at Shreckheimer.
“This is the edge of the Elven Forest. From here on is a forbidden area that even elves cannot enter.
The place to which we can safely guide you ends here.
From this point on, you must break through on your own.”
Since the forest still continued thickly, Shreckheimer looked around.
Judging from his memories of five hundred years ago, the edge of the Elven Forest had not been here.
At that time, the elves had guided him all the way to where the forest completely ended.
By contrast, this was a place where the forest still continued.
Shreckheimer looked at Olivier with a doubtful gaze.
“This seems to be a different place from five hundred years ago.”
A grave look settled on Olivier’s face.
“In truth, the trees here are not normal. Not only do they fail to convey their whispers
to us, they do not open paths either. Moreover, countless Sentinels have entered this place
only to vanish without a trace. Since then, we have not permitted entry
into this area.”
A strange light flashed through Shreckheimer’s pupils.
“How astonishing. To think such a place existed in the Elven Forest.”
“Our guess is that the trees were affected by the magical power leaking from the Dark Portal
and became altered. Since then, we have called this place the Forest of Death.”
“………”
“The Forest of Death expands its range every year. But we are utterly helpless.
Even when we send Sentinels in to investigate the reason, they disappear one after another, so
there is absolutely nothing we can do.”
Shreckheimer, who had been listening silently, nodded.
“Then we can investigate it this time. So, how wide is it?”
“I believe it amounts to roughly one percent of the entire forest.”
Since the area was quite large, surprise flashed in Shreckheimer’s eyes. But because they had to break through
no matter what happened, he moved forward without a word.
“Let us go and see.”
The members stepped in among the hesitating Sentinels. Unlike before, when they had gone in separate groups,
humans and elves became one mass and began cautiously entering the Forest of Death.