Chapter 200: Elf
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: Elf
“H-Hai!”
‘What was that?’
The sudden Japanese caught me completely off guard. Humans cannot transform into other species. This was an undeniable truth on this continent. It was a situation that could only make me wonder if it was a case like Jung Hayeon's.
Perhaps seeing my dumbfounded expression, the elf spoke again. She seemed surprised herself.
“................!”
An incomprehensible language. Only then did I realize exactly what was happening. It would be more accurate to say that the elf had learned Japanese. I suddenly remembered that I was wearing the Translation Bracelet, so I immediately channeled magic into it.
“I am not your enemy… Please… please believe me.”
Her voice finally became clear. Now that I noticed, her appearance was quite shabby compared to the others. The clothes clinging to her body seemed to be made of luxurious material, but she looked quite dirty, as if she hadn't washed in a long time or had been rolling on the ground. Overall lacerations on her body also came into view. They looked more like scratches from branches as she ran frantically than direct hits from an attack. However, it was only natural that I couldn't take her words at face value. It seemed better to hear her story slowly.
I decided to temporarily ignore the elf, who let out a sigh of relief, apparently thinking her words had gotten through.
Turning slightly, I saw Mev still hugging Laveua and crying. Laveua, too, was sobbing, clinging to her mother as if something terrible had happened.
“Laveua…”
“Mommyyy… Huuuuh-huh-huh-huh”
Aside from an arrow lodged in her wing and bruises all over her body, there seemed to be no other issues. It was a wound that Baek Ahyeon could surely heal. I spoke to Mev, who was behind me.
“Take Laveua and go back.”
“U-Uh-huh…”
At my words, Mev took Laveua and started heading in the opposite direction. She would probably meet up with the other clan members along the way.
Thanks to the elf, I had a brief moment to collect myself and clear my head. But as soon as I thought of Laveua, I felt a fire ignite in my mind. It was proof of how incredibly angry I was. The number of Japanese caught in the giant flame hand was exactly eight. All of them struggled to escape, but there was no way out.
One of them, who had quite high resistance, was trying to push my hand away, but even that proved futile. Soon, a scream erupted along with the sound of flesh cooking.
“Aaaargh!”
“Damn it… Aaaargh, what the hell is happening…!”
“Uwaaaahhh!”
“To think such a monster exists…”
I slowly tapped Levatain and began to approach them. Including the two who died first, there were apparently ten of them in the Eastern Forest. I swung Levatain at one of their arms, and a fountain of blood immediately burst from his hand, followed by a scream.
“Uwaaaahhh! Save me! P-Please! Stop! Stop!!”
I knew countless ways to inflict maximum pain. I vowed to cut off all their limbs, leaving them unable to walk, and in a pure fit of rage, I tore their bodies apart.
“Aaaargh!”
“Ugh-waaaah-eeek!”
The sight of human flesh burning also entered my vision. Some individuals began to vomit everything they had eaten, perhaps unable to endure the grotesque scene or nauseated by the smell of completely cooked flesh.
I shoved my hand into the mouth of the noisy, wailing woman and tore out her tongue.
“Ugh-waaaah-eeek”
Watching her continuously spew blood, I felt my head slowly begin to cool.
“I-I didn’t know it was… your daughter. P-Please… spare me.”
A trembling man came into my sight. Seeing Mev and me come to rescue her, he seemed to have roughly assumed we were her mother and father. I scoffed, but then a strange sensation suddenly flashed through my mind.
I couldn't tell exactly what he had done, but I knew the man in front of me had done something.
“P-Please… spare me. I-I truly… Ugh-waaaah-aaak!”
Whatever pathetic trick he tried, it seemed he couldn't break through my resistance.
“Ha…”
I grinned, and his face filled with despair. Before he could even react, I raised my hand and slammed his head into the ground.
Crunch!
With a sound like a watermelon bursting, his head was completely crushed, but he wasn't dead yet. Of course, I knew that much. I continued to stomp on his entire body.
A chilling sound filled my ears, and his twitching body was visible. I slowly turned my head, and everyone, despite their agony, was watching me nervously. Next, my eyes fell on the archers. Most of them were already tattered, but I planned to give special attention to the one who shot the arrow.
The problem was that there were three archers. A fairly decent composition, one might say.
I slowly opened my mouth towards them.
– Who’s the bastard who shot the arrow?
Instantly, the faces of the archers turned to despair. They must have been anticipating what would happen next. Judging by their expressions, they clearly had no time to think about the fact that I was speaking.
The first to speak was a woman.
“H-He… that man right there.”
I turned my head to the side and saw a man with one arm and one leg severed, looking at me. Then, a loud shout burst from his mouth.
“N-Nonsense! Th-That woman shot the arrow! I saw it with my own eyes! R-Really!”
It was infuriating to see them bickering and tearing each other down. Soon, another archer also pointed to the man as the culprit.
“Th-That man. He said he’d capture and sell us…”
Seeing her speak, her lips chattering, with one leg torn off, it seemed at least not a lie. Since they were all going to die anyway, the order didn't really matter, but venting my anger came first.
“Y-You ungrateful bitches! How dare you!”
“Sh-Shut up! You perverted bastard!”
“Y-You trashy whores!!”
His face was engulfed in despair. After feeling a slight accumulation of magic within my body, I plunged a dagger directly into his mouth.
– Shut up.
“Ugh-guh-oh-aaargh!”
A beastly sound, not human, erupted, but of course, I paid it no mind. Ever since I acquired the Seat of Sorrow and Despair, I occasionally felt new magic flowing in during such incidents, but perhaps because I was too busy satisfying my own desires, the results hadn't been great.
I grabbed his rather long, unmanly hair and pulled it out, tearing off his scalp. A scream was a given. I grabbed his ear with my hand and ripped it off, then stabbed a dagger into his eye.
“Ugh-weh-aaargh!”
I pulled out Levatain and plunged it into his abdomen. The sound of flesh cooking was followed by another scream. Perhaps they took my command to shut up as applying to all of them, because for a long time, not a single one of them opened their mouths. Seeing them not even scream, their willpower seemed extraordinary.
The fear in their eyes was unmistakable. I smiled as I looked at them. A few flinched when they saw me smile, but that was all; they still kept their mouths tightly shut. Only the one in front of me continued to scream. I worried that a monster might be drawn by the noise, but after extending my magic, I dismissed the concern.
I sensed that several members of the Blood Dagger Clan and the Goff Clan were heading this way.
“Ugh-woo-uh-oh-wah…”
It was then, as I watched the man, now barely able to speak and utterly tattered.
“Kwoooohhh!”
Perhaps drawn by the human screams, a monster began to charge this way. It was a bit larger than an average medium-sized monster, but it didn't seem to be on the level of the Eastern monsters. As I subtly prepared my sword to meet it, an Ogre's figure suddenly appeared and slammed its fist into the monster's face.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
CRUNCH!
The monster, struck by the punch, flew through the air for dozens of meters before crashing into a large tree and falling silent. Occasional twitches indicated it was still alive.
“My apologies, Blood Dagger.”
It was Goff who spoke, genuinely apologizing to me. Of course, it wasn't solely the Goff Clan's fault, so I, too, spoke to Goff.
“I apologize as well.”
Goff scratched his head awkwardly. I imagined he felt a little embarrassed. It was tantamount to directly saying that the gate managed by the Goff Clan was lax, so naturally, he would be embarrassed.
“It seems your daughter is unharmed. The clan's shamans and that human priestess, Baek Ahyeon, are treating her wing. We almost lost the entire clan's treasure. What a relief, Blood Dagger.”
Black Spear, who had arrived late after hearing the news, also spoke to me. Though not intended, the brother clans had gathered in one place. I had thought she would be fine, but hearing that she was indeed unharmed felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my heart.
“By the way, who are these humans?”
“I’m checking that now.”
I coldly stared at the utterly ruined humans. As expected, those who met my gaze flinched. Confirming how these Japanese had managed to get here would have to wait a moment.
Then I remembered the elf, whom I had completely forgotten. The elf was staring around, her mouth wide open. Her expression was one of extreme bewilderment, no, rather, terror.
It must have felt like escaping a fox only to encounter a tiger. I roughly guessed she had been chased by these Japanese, and if my prediction was correct, she would certainly feel that way.
“Who is this woman?”
That, too, I would have to find out now.
The elf woman continued to look around. She was completely surrounded by Green Skins. Gark of the Blood Dagger Clan stood with Orc swordsmen and archers, and the Goff Clan's pursuit party and Black Spear's Trolls had all completely encircled the humans and the elf woman.
A low growl emanated from the Green Skins. The frightened elf woman squeezed her eyes shut, then spoke again. Holding her trembling body as steady as possible, she lightly clutched her already tattered skirt and bowed her head.
It was a posture one might see from a medieval noble.
“I am Alisha, the third princess of the Eveluse Kingdom. I… I have come as an envoy to formally… propose an alliance.”
“Huh…”
It was something I hadn't known in the past. I opened my mouth wide and began to stare at the woman.