Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Arborness, the Elf Nation (3)
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Arborness was still shrouded in thick, hazy mist. I'd left the Light Saber back there, so visibility was poor, but I still had the Eye that Pierces Truth.
Activating it let me see exactly where the elves here had gone—how many, where the dead ones lay scattered, and the paths the living were taking, like footprints trailing behind them.
There were countless dead elves, but the survivors had all converged on one spot.
Even through tree trunks, stems, and walls, those traces stood out clearly. A short distance away, I spotted thousands of elves huddled together at a single point.
In a lush, overgrown grassy area within the city, they clustered tightly, groaning in agony as they slowly died.
I bolted straight there. Through the dense fog, someone shouted loudly, urging everyone on.
"Don't give up! We survived that last attack too! The herbs are still sprouting everywhere! We can make it! Grandpa, you're still hanging in there, right?!"
"Cough... cough... Give it up. You'll collapse from exhaustion yourself. Abandon us and save yourself. At least you can look after yourself alone..."
"No way! How can you tell me to leave our kin behind and save just myself?! We'll find a way if we hold out! There has to be something to clear this mist..."
"Guh... Hah... Ah, the mist... it's moving again!"
As one elf warned, the fog blooming from the countless corpses around us twisted and warped grotesquely. It soon took on the form of pitch-black spirits—or beasts.
The embodied mist monsters surged en masse toward the survivors' spot, amid the trees and undergrowth.
"Damn it... Shit...!!!"
An elf girl spat curses like she wanted to devour them whole.
I thrust one hand high and triggered my second skill: Judgment.
Judgment
Massive light spears rain down in a wide-area crossfire.
Kwaaaaaaang!!!
Mana ripped straight out of my body in a massive surge. The sky lit up, and spears of light poured down like an artillery barrage.
I dialed back the power for maximum range—a colossal crossfire blanketing at least a hundred-meter radius.
Without the Light Saber in hand, the output was pitiful compared to vaporizing that fusion beast back in Aldebaran. But the mist monsters had an extreme weakness to light; they fizzled out pathetically.
'As expected. No different from those dark spirits that popped like bubbles at the goblin camp.'
In Judgment's zone, the mists vanished completely, baring the sacred tree's original landscape in pristine clarity.
The fog outside halted dead, walled off like an invisible barrier. The curse-lifted elves gradually regained their normal skin tone and steady breaths.
This... we can work with.
Realizing Judgment packed the same punch as the Light Saber, I hurried to the elves and checked them over.
"Everyone alright? You holding up, Elfin?"
Elfin had tapped the boots I'd given her, endlessly spawning thick greenery to fend off the mist's creep with plant power.
With the sacred tree Wigdrasil neutralized and no countermeasures left, those boots were the elves' sole thread of hope.
Herbs from them let her treat folks somehow, stretch out lives, endure—and save at least this many.
Elfin teetered on collapse, heaving ragged breaths. She stared at me like she couldn't believe it.
"Al...vis...? Hah... How... hah..."
"Need a hand? Wait, meaningless—I already lent one."
"Hah... You drag Ravi and Lenis along too?"
"Yeah."
"Idiot! Why come here?! I said I wasn't coming back—you should've kept going without me!"
"You're the idiot, idiot."
Too drained to rise properly, Elfin peered up at me.
"I know your type. Always jumping to help when others struggle. But your own mess? 'We're different—we handle this solo, no sweat.' That letter? Situation's dire, but pride won't let you vent, so 'No more travels.' Elf pride worth more than your whole nation's lives?"
"N-no... I really can... handle this..."
"Sure? Then I'll ditch you for real this time and head back. Outermost field—a brown-haired border guard elf dude begged for inside help 'til he dropped dead. His dying plea? You never needed it."
The survivors let out heavy sighs.
"Je-Jeremy...?"
"Ugh... So young..."
"......"
A clansman pleading to the end before dying cast a deep shadow over Elfin's face.
"Library's got a few hundred alive still. No help needed? We'll bounce. We pull out, mist floods back—wipes 'em all. Your call, Elfin."
"W-wait!"
Elfin finally shed her pride, dropping to her knees before me.
Head bowed low, her voice quavered as she forced out the words.
"Sorry... It was a lie... Just didn't wanna worry Ravi and Lenis—sent it the second I clocked the crisis. Can't solve this... at all... So... h-help us..."
"Finally ditched the ego, huh."
A tad irked I wasn't on her 'don't worry' list, but I'd drill that later. Priority: fix this mess.
And truth was, I couldn't bail anyway.
Dunno the threshold, but letting these elves croak triggers level 5 backlash. Level 2 alone shreds sanity with pain; 5's a death sentence.
Judgment's broad sweep cleared a wide swath. Elves helped me chug mana potions as I hammered more misty zones.
"Mist monsters pop up often?"
"No set schedule—irregular bursts. They solidified, so I smashed 'em with boot-spawned plants... but it was my limit."
"No clue on next spawn, then. Save the living first. Gonna burn mana like crazy now. Any potions left?"
Elves traded awkward glances, faces apologetic.
"All gone propping up Lady Elfin. Just two remain..."
"One to the human woman Lenis at the library. She'll be tapped out healing their elves. The other..."
I raised my hand again, slamming Judgment down the library path.
Mana scraped bottom as light spears rained, scouring the fog clean.
"Hah... hah... Gimme that last one."
"Impossible...! That stubborn mist, gone in a flash...!"
"Th-that light! Lady Lunia's divine might, no doubt!"
"Ignored our prayers for ages, yet now she hears our cries!"
Vector last time, these elves now—same spiel. My power did have something special.
Brayden's the Holy Warrior; goddess shouldn't split blessings. Did she anyway?
I downed their mana potion and shooed them library-ward. Elfin stayed planted by me, though.
"Spit it out."
"Uh..."
Elfin started, then shook her head.
"N-nothing! After this blows over."
"Fine."
Free mana potions—Wigdrasil-exclusive, impossible to buy elsewhere—restored me. Before the eye timed out, I maxed Judgment's spread for elf density, firing twice more.
Mana dipped under 20% again, but saved a solid number. Recovered elves got hustled library-bound by a frantic Elfin.
Lenis maxing the staff couldn't handle this crowd solo. She'd deserve big thanks for the grind later.
Evac done from the second zone, eye ticking under a minute.
The mist roiled with intent, vicious. Then the sacred tree grounds quaked.
"Wh-what?! Quake out of nowhere... Now the mist's freaking too?!"
"...This feels like..."
The rumble drew Ravi and Lenis bursting from the library depths.
"Earthquake from hell... Elfin!"
"Elfin, you're alive! Going radio silent scared us half to death, you know?!"
"S-sorry."
"Lecture later. Alvis, what's going down?"
The amassing mist slurped blood from the dead elves, solidifying step by step.
Clawed paws the size of carriages. Snout jutting out. Jagged fangs bared grotesquely. Three heads snarling every which way. Pitch-black hide wreathed in roaring crimson-black flames.
▶ Level 83
Blood-Eating Dantalion's Creation, the Black Dog of Legends: Curse, blood, life, soul, grief, resentment. All bound by wicked sorcery to take form and descend upon this world. This abomination halts only after torching its birthplace to ash.◀
The Eye that Pierces Truth timed out mid-message—no more details.
"Wh-what the hell..."
"...Ravi. Looks like the goblin camp nightmare's replaying here."