What Exactly Is a High Elf Anomaly?
The sky split open with a deafening roar. A colossal sphere of searing heat hung suspended above the Forest of Nightmares, devouring everything in its path. Yet the moment Talian whispered a single word, the impossible began.
"—Devour."
⟨ Gluttony ⟩
The massive orb of flame started to vanish. Not explode. Not dissipate. It was literally being eaten. Layer by layer, the overwhelming energy was erased as if swallowed by an invisible maw. What should have been impossible became reality the instant the power of one of the Seven Sin Lords—Gluttony—was invoked.
Talian, still in her small white fox form, narrowed her eyes. Of course, she wasn’t using the full authority. That would have been suicide. Only the tiniest fragment of the ancient demon’s power had been borrowed, a mere leftover from the curse she had once taken from the Beast of Calamity. Even so, it was more than enough to calm the catastrophe unfolding overhead.
Soon the sky was clear again, as if nothing had ever happened. A truly terrifying display of might.
But nothing came without a price.
Crackle—!
Inside her domain, blue lightning suddenly erupted in violent rejection. The forced cancellation slammed Talian back into reality. She stared down at her slightly charred front paw and frowned.
The power of Gluttony wasn’t hers by nature. It was merely a temporary imitation of the curse once held by the Beast of Calamity. She clicked her tongue.
She let out a small, mocking laugh.
Her own unique authority, Featherfire Dreamrealm, allowed her to imitate nearly every power she had ever experienced. By using dreams as a medium and applying her own laws of existence, she could replicate most abilities at a degraded level. In theory, it was a secret technique capable of answering any attack or authority.
Thanks to this absurdly overpowered ability—and the sheer amount of experience she had gained through regression—Talian had every right to call herself the strongest being inside the Forest of Nightmares.
At least until she met that irregular named Ian.
Because of the regression, her accumulated experience far surpassed her previous life. If she continued to build her strength, very few on this earth would be able to stop her.
Of course, who knew what new monsters might appear because of the regression variable…
Talian glared at the unconscious Ian for a moment, then turned and disappeared into the shadowy depths of the Forest of Nightmares.
A clear voice echoed in my ears.
But the voice gradually grew distorted, cracking like static-filled noise.
Dream Abyss. The deepest, darkest, most secret place at the bottom of all dreams.
The coquettish, nasal tone was something I had never heard before, yet it felt strangely familiar.
Who…?
Before I could even form the question, a sharp pain stabbed through my ear.
Crunch. Munch. Lick.
Something was chewing on my ear. Tasting it. Licking it slowly, as if savoring the finest delicacy. My ear was being toyed with for what felt like an eternity.
I wanted to resist, but an unknown restraint wrapped around my entire body, holding me in place.
This feeling… it’s a little strange.
Unlike when Bianca had bound me with magic, this restraint felt oddly soft. Almost like something incredibly gentle and fluffy was hugging me tightly.
Suddenly, I felt a heavy weight settle on top of me.
“I-Ian…? A-are you okay?”
“……Bianca?”
When I came to my senses and sat up, a girl with blue hair was hugging my upper body between her legs. The position was strangely suggestive. I cleared my throat and gently pushed her away.
“Ahem. Bianca. Could you get off me first?”
“N-no!”
“The posture is a bit…”
Before I could finish, Bianca threw her arms around me and burst into tears.
“Y-you’re really okay, right…? Ian… I-I’m so sooorryyy…”
Hmm.
Looking at her appearance alone, she seemed cute and huggable… but after that rampage earlier, if I was being honest, fear still outweighed any affection. Still, it looked like the previous outburst had been successfully resolved.
Guess that self-harm performance worked pretty well…
I moved my bitten tongue around experimentally. It didn’t hurt at all.
My tongue’s fine too. Did Bianca heal me?
My ear felt a little stingy for some reason, but I figured it must have just gotten scraped somewhere.
More importantly, I feel like I had a really uncomfortable dream…
Well, it was just a dream. What could possibly happen? It had felt disturbingly real, but since we had overcome the immediate crisis, I decided not to dwell on it.
By the way, where the hell are we…?
While comforting the still-sobbing Bianca, I slowly stood up and looked around. This was no longer the Forest of Nightmares.
The place looked like an old cabin. It was quite cramped, but it had everything necessary for basic living. A modest little villa designed for minimal survival.
Don’t tell me this is the hideout Bianca mentioned?
It seemed everything I had assumed before had been a misunderstanding. Bianca hadn’t come here to die with me. Rather…
When I absentmindedly glanced out the window, a vast landscape filled my vision.
Is this even physically possible…?
I had assumed we were inside that enormous hole from earlier, but the scenery was completely different from what I had imagined. I had expected darkness and gloom, yet this place was filled with the vibrant energy of nature.
“…There’s even a meadow.”
Far off in the lush field, a small rabbit was hopping around adorably.
This feels more like a vacation spot?
Of course, in a world where gods and magic existed, such a place wasn’t impossible. But in the original story, there had never been any peaceful location like this.
This is actually pretty nice…?
It was peaceful enough that I unconsciously thought it might not be so bad to live here together with Bianca. Blue sky above, meadows and cute rabbits below… Wait, huh?
“Um… Bianca?”
I tapped the still-crying girl to get her attention.
“Huuuueeeeng… Y-yes?”
“Exactly where are we?”
“Umm… This is the Rift of the Continent.”
“I see.”
I had never heard of any place called the Rift of the Continent in my life. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the original novel either. I rubbed my eyes and looked out the window again.
Outside, the ‘rabbit’ that had been frolicking suddenly began to split apart. Its body swelled at an incredible speed before dividing cleanly in two.
Crack.
Just like that, an identical rabbit appeared. The original rabbit shook off some blood and residue as if nothing had happened, then hopped away.
Having watched the entire bizarre scene from the beginning, I turned to Bianca with an incredulous expression.
“U-um…? Why?”
Seeing her perfectly calm face, as if nothing was wrong, I felt a strong urge to smack her upside the head.
What the hell is this place?
Deep within a lush forest. Unlike the desolate lands surrounding it, this verdant woodland remained strangely untouched even as the world teetered on the brink of destruction. This was the home of the elves and the location of the tree that supported the entire continent—the World Tree.
There, a man stood facing a woman.
The man, who rarely showed tension, had his eyes closed and was sweating coldly, clearly concentrating on something. The woman opposing him was the incarnation of the World Tree and the direct bloodline heir. A High Elf.
Aela.
She sneered at the man and raised her bow.
Aela was the only High Elf in history capable of communicating directly with the World Tree. Because of that, she could draw upon nearly infinite mana. No matter how skilled the man was, opposing such limitless power was impossible.