Chapter 120
Chapter 120
Chapter 120
Southern Great Forest (3)
"An interesting story indeed."
The elf elder looked at Rudian with deep eyes.
"You seem to see through the situation of the Great Forest very accurately."
"I haven't grasped every situation, but since I know the cause, I can sufficiently deduce the circumstances."
"You know the cause?"
Rudian roughly explained where those magical beasts destroying the Great Forest came from and approximately how many there were.
"Two million...!"
Cold sweat flowed down the elf elder's forehead.
"Until now, gathering opinions from other races, we estimated about 400,000, but five times that...!"
No matter how different the races were, they didn't grasp the entire situation of the vast Great Forest.
Rather, in terms of activity range, it was only 10% of the whole.
"Of course, that two million won't be the complete number. As they flowed into the Great Forest, there would be many who clashed with existing forces, were reverse-summoned after losing control, or were released from contracts."
No matter how the numbers were in the millions, the extremely harsh environment of this Great Forest wasn't something even magical beasts from the demon realm could easily adapt to.
Not simply because of the wild environment, but this place in was full of things classified as opportunities or traps.
Remnants of ancient ruins, temples of evil gods, spirit beasts that had aged thousands of years and evolved to ruler class, spirits and malignant zones that rejected the entry of living beings, and so on.
"Of course, that's correct. But the danger before our eyes hasn't disappeared. So how do you intend to resolve this situation?"
Moreover, the enemies of the different races weren't just one.
"Our enemies aren't just the demonic beings. This place has become a battlefield where countless outsiders flow in and fight."
"Yes, I know."
In the current situation, there were three problematic forces.
Demons and magical beasts. And the secret societies opposing them.
Lastly, those other beings who were targeting themselves.
"Still, the most troublesome would be the demons and magical beasts."
"That's right."
No matter how many remained out of the two million, the number of magical beasts itself didn't have much meaning.
"The solution is simple."
The matter could be resolved quite simply.
"We just need to kill all the commander-level demons."
"...What?"
"The magical beasts are summoned beings after all. While the summoning itself uses magic power, the contracts binding them to this land are surely shared among several."
The core of summoning magic is mental power.
But no matter how mighty a being, mental power has its limits.
Even if the Demon Kings led the summoning, they would have delegated control to their subordinates, whether many or few.
In other words, the demons holding control over the magical beasts were currently mostly hiding in the Great Forest, and if only those were all killed, the magical beasts would all be reverse-summoned.
However...
"Do you think we don't know that!"
But the elf elder's reaction was negative.
"Killing the caster who becomes the medium for summoning magic is something anyone who knows the basics of magic would naturally know! But how will you find those who are determined to hide in this Great Forest, and even if you find them, how will you overcome the wall of magical beasts formed into legions?"
"There are ways for all of that."
"There are ways?"
Rudian drew Diablo before the elf elder.
"...?"
Unless one possessed power themselves or held magical energy, Diablo appeared as nothing more than a crude iron sword with a black blade.
Even Eugene and Giovanni couldn't sense Diablo's existence, so how much more so for the elf elder.
SIZZLE!
The highest purity magical energy flowed from Diablo's blade.
Not just Diablo's existing power, but also the power of Asmodeus, Marbas, and Rigos that Diablo had devoured so far.
"...!"
"It's an enemy!"
True to elves sensitive to energy, they immediately burst through the door and rushed inside.
"Calm down."
"Elder?"
"It's not demons attacking, but power flowing from this sword."
The elf elder let out a small groan.
"Though I doubt whether a mere magic sword could produce such purity."
-Hehehe, for a pointy-ear, you have quite good insight.
"But you're not saying you'll handle all those magical beasts with just one sword."
-I take back what I just said. You're one without eyes to see.
Unable to hear Diablo's lightning-fast attitude change, the elf elder sent out the intruding elves and continued speaking calmly.
"You intend to use that sword's power to find the demons."
"Roughly similar."
Rudian's perception was quite sharp.
Well, considering the years Rudian had lived, it was natural.
"So what benefit will you gain by helping us? Honestly, just opening the Hall of Heroes doesn't make sense. Surviving there is a separate matter."
To the elf elder's words, Rudian answered honestly.
"I want to prepare for the Day of Great Liberation."
The Day of Great Liberation. Or the Day of Destruction.
The beginning of Chapter 4 'Mythic War,' and the time when the great chaos due to the war of gods that had been mentioned so far would begin.
"How... How do you know that?"
At Rudian's quiet words, the elf elder's expression crumbled for a moment.
"In, indeed... If you're someone who knows the secrets of the Seven-Colored World and the Hall of Heroes, you couldn't not know about the Day of Great Liberation either. I misspoke."
Rudian spoke with all sincerity.
"I want to gather as much power as possible in preparation for that day. The power of the different races is also needed."
But Rudian's persuasion didn't work very well on the elf elder.
"Are you planning to push us into the battlefield of gods? What could we possibly do?"
"Do you plan to just sit idle and become shrimp in a whale fight, facing destruction?"
"..."
The elf elder didn't answer.
Having lived for at least thousands of years, he knew much.
And as much as he knew, he had many fears too.
"Creations... Cannot defeat their creators. That's a truth we've confirmed many times."
His eyes looked to the past for a moment.
"Eight hundred years ago, and three thousand years ago too... It was the same."
"Let me ask one thing."
To the excessively withdrawn elder, Rudian asked.
"In the battlefields you've witnessed, what's the maximum number of Seven-Colored Worlds that gathered?"
"Three was the end. Each Seven-Colored World is a divine object representing one world. They can't gather so easily..."
About three thousand years ago, they had really come close to victory.
If only they hadn't disappeared so futilely...
Conversely, the gods who had been driven to the brink of defeat vented their anger by thoroughly erasing the traces of their adversaries.
While even the legacy of the Heaven-Demon Great War, which was a battle before the dawn of human civilization, remained here and there, the traces from that time were swept away without leaving even a hair's worth.
As an elf elder who remembered the devastation of that time, he couldn't help but fear the gods' brutality and cruelty.
"Three... Then what do you think the chances would be if all seven gathered?"
"...?"
Though the elf elder was flustered by the unexpected question, he readily stated his prediction.
"I don't know. Since the creation, the Seven-Colored Worlds have never gathered in one place even once."
He didn't answer directly but gave a roundabout response.
"I don't know what kind of synergy that would be, but one thing's certain: if someone exists who handles all the Seven-Colored Worlds, that person would become an existence that could be called a God King."
But this statement was essentially saying there were sufficient chances of victory.
"I will gather all the Seven-Colored Worlds to prevent the world's destruction. We already have the Green World, and the Blue World would be the second."
"The Green World! Is that really true?"
"Of course. Elvin senior, for a moment."
"Huh?"
Elvin, who had been quietly drinking green tea and listening to the conversation, tilted his head at Rudian's call.
Rudian asked Elvin to show his psychic powers, and Elvin demonstrated his newly awakened psychic power system to the elf elder.
"Oh! This is the ability to manipulate gravity!"
Seeing the tea leaves floating around in Elvin's grasp, the elf elder was delighted.
The elf elder was also someone who handled psychic powers.
He had the insight to immediately recognize the difference between telekinesis and gravity.
And Rudian also drove the point home by demonstrating his psychic powers along with magical energy and magic.
"While Elvin senior might not know, I gained psychic powers artificially through the Green World."
"I acknowledge it. It's certainly something that can't be explained without the power of the Green World."
"And since I also know the locations of the Red World and White World, I'll acquire as many Seven-Colored Worlds as possible before the Day of Great Liberation."
Rudian didn't intend to drag out the bet with Baal for too long.
"Hmm! If you handle psychic powers, even if you're of a different race, we can't consider you completely strangers."
After seeing the psychic powers, goodwill appeared in the expressions of not only the elf elder but also the other elves around him.
'As expected, showing psychic powers makes the conversation go well.'
Chapter 2's Superhuman War wasn't simply a confrontation between Psychic Luminous and the Morian Empire. It was a great war where all sorts of secret societies and different races burst forth to wage their respective wars. The different races of the Great Forest, including elves, responded to the persuasion of Psychic Luminous, fellow psychic power users, and became hostile to the Morian Empire. As a result, Maria fell and they surrendered to Abel's persuasion, but the performance of just 30,000 of them overwhelming the Morian Empire's army of 500,000 became a major catalyst for reevaluating the power of different races within the worldview.
"But even so, I can't rashly stake the fate of our race on a promise."
"Of course. I'm not telling you to fight gods head-on. What's important is struggling for survival."
When Rudian went this far, the elf elder had no choice but to nod.
"Good. If you can resolve the situation of this Great Forest, I'll take responsibility and persuade my clan and the chiefs of other races."
"You won't be disappointed."
"Of course, we won't just withdraw and merely observe either. If there's anything you need help with, we'll help you as much as possible."
Just when they thought the negotiations had ended warmly...
"Elder!"
"What's the matter?"
Suddenly, armed elves burst into the place with fierce expressions.
"Hu, humans! The humans have caused trouble!"
"..."
The elf elder stared directly at them. Rudian and his party shook their heads with expressions of innocence.
"It's not a diversionary tactic."
"Who said anything?"
Reading sincerity from Rudian's expression, the elf elder asked the warriors for the full story.
"The humans took our clans men hostage and demanded we cooperate with them!"
"Cooperation? Ah, those people? This has become quite troublesome."
With those words, Rudian also grasped the situation.
"Usually they say the enemy of my enemy is my ally... But it seems the situation is a bit different this time."
"Their purpose isn't different from the demons. They're truly hopeless people."
"This works out well. We can persuade them to fight together."
"How? We've tried persuading them several times too, but they were absolutely impossible to communicate with."
"Why have a conversation with words?"
"Huh...?"
Then what else would you have a conversation with if not words? The elf elder's eyes were saying just that.
"For people like that, naturally you need a conversation conducted with fists."