Dark Elf (3)
"What are you talking about?"
"The imperial envoy who arrived this time is Taesa Olivia Lapa Ashtar. You wouldn't know—you've been shut away in seclusion."
I wondered what kind of face Piel would make once she learned that the woman who had made such a complete mockery of this entire affair was younger than her. She would probably drown in inferiority. After all, she had just squandered the last chance she would ever get.
"Who the hell is she supposed to be, that she can stop something prepared this thoroughly? Impossible. If she's going to put on airs like that, let her try stopping it first—then she can talk."
She spoke with absolute confidence, but anyone could see through it. Pure bluster. Which meant this was the end.
To an outsider, the story would be simple: evil appeared, evil was purged. That was all. And that story had just revealed both its beginning and its end.
So Isis decided to finish Piel here.
It was pitiful, truly—but there was still a chance. Kill her as an elf, before anyone else discovered her. That would be enough.
"The recapture of Crad Castle. The subjugation of the Fallen Saint Berna. The purge of the New World Group in the Libelt territory. The one who accomplished all of that is Olivia. As proof—look at the elves flocking to the World Tree right now."
"!!! Even so, it's already too late! Even Shariel couldn't defeat me as I am now!"
Piel unleashed a vast surge of demonic energy.
Admittedly, she had grown considerably stronger than before. But that was all it amounted to.
He was Isis, the Spirit King. If her opponent had been Shariel, perhaps. But against him? She never stood a chance.
It seemed he would have to give this childish fool a proper education.
"How pitiful."
"Don't look at me like that! It's already over!"
Over? What exactly was over? She was the one who was finished. Did she still not understand how much room he still had to spare?
Well, from the villains' perspective, it must have been utterly absurd. They had spent so long negotiating with Piel, making deals, preparing everything down to the last detail—only for a single imperial mage to ruin the entire scheme.
In the end, even the ones being crushed felt neither excitement nor real danger. The enemies were almost pitiable.
Bandits at least knew how to loot. These people had painted some grand picture and then ruined it themselves. And Piel seemed to have grown even dumber than expected.
At this rate, it was no wonder Shariel had become the priestess.
"You think I became Spirit King for nothing? I'm five hundred years old. You're not even half that."
"Now? You're going to start giving me orders like that?!"
Pshuuuuk!
Piel loosed a dark arrow—the kind only Dark Elves used.
Isis barely managed to bat it aside.
It was powerful, no question. Not merely Dark Elf strength—there was something the New World Group had given her as well.
Considerably strong. Just being touched by it would shrink the body and burn through mana.
Long ago, large numbers of elves had turned into Dark Elves and fought a civil war. They had nearly become a Dark Elf race in service to the Demon King.
At least this time they hadn't gone that far. Fortunate.
The current generation still remembered those days, so the elves were being watched with iron discipline.
Which left only this one remaining: Piel.
Isis continued knocking aside the dark arrows that came flying one after another.
"A Spirit King is a being fused with spirits."
"What are you suddenly going on about?"
"Among every Spirit King in history, I am the most exceptional. I can fuse with many spirits at once and use their techniques. For example..."
Before she could react, a jet of water erupted from Isis's hand.
It was no ordinary water—it carried five hundred years of tempered natural power, the full force of an elf who had lived and trained that long. He hurled the stream straight at Piel.
Pshuuuuuuuk!
She couldn't even respond. The blast slammed into her abdomen.
"Guh-haaaagh?!"
"No matter how high you fly, you're still in the palm of my hand."
The sight of Piel tumbling down from the World Tree was quite the spectacle.
She must have avoided a vital spot somehow—she managed to catch herself on a thin branch before plummeting all the way.
To endure that... impressive, in its way. That water had been as hot as lava. Still, she had clearly tempered her body with pure hatred.
Yes. She had trained her body. The problem was that her intelligence had dropped in exchange.
It was mortifying. Someone her age pulling a stunt like this. She should have been prepared for at least this much, yet her face still said she had no idea why she was losing.
"Th-this can't be... Why... kuh..."
What was she so shocked about?
If you wanted to face Isis—king of the elves and Spirit King—you needed to come at him a good deal harder than this.
Getting this flustered against a child... it was almost insulting.
"Turning into a Dark Elf made your intelligence drop too, did it? Dark Elves may be stronger than elves, but there's a limit. A mere Dark Elf can't possibly defeat someone who has received the World Tree's grace for five hundred years."
Pathetic.
Then it was time to administer justice. How to go about it?
What would that shady mage have done?
Isis recalled a conversation from long ago with a certain shady mage.
"That's exactly why you're stupid and frustrating."
"Hah! Then how would you punish a criminal?"
"First, you beat them. With your fists. Just pure, overwhelming force—enough fear and terror to cure their anger management issues. You thrash them senseless."
"Barbaric."
"From the side doing the thrashing, it feels fantastic."
Yes. That would work. In this moment, Isis decided it was the right approach.
He approached Piel, who still couldn't properly catch her breath. He hauled her upright, then drove his fist into her stomach with everything he had.
Baaang!
The impact felt perfectly solid.
Honestly, she always forced him to resort to this.
The blow sent her rolling backward for quite a distance.
Beating her like this really did clear the mind—and it drove home the feeling of punishing this deficient elf.
"Kyaaaah?"
Even if she screamed like a little girl a beat too late, he had no intention of going easy.
For a foolish creature who had dared become a Dark Elf, a thorough thrashing was the only answer.
"I was going to finish this cleanly with magic if I could, but right now I'm far too angry. So I'll discipline you the exact way that shady mage used to."
Exactly the way that shady mage used to.
"This is impossible. Why would I..."
"Maybe this is why you always lost to Shariel. From the beginning, you never had the qualifications to be an elf."
At first he had felt sorry for her. He had believed he had given her every advantage an elf could possibly receive.
If she had wanted more, he could have given her that too.
But to come at him like this? It was too much.
This was an act that trampled the pride of every elf. So no matter where the cause and effect truly lay, he was going to thrash this rotten Piel.
"Don't you dare lecture me! Everything that happened is something you brought on yourself!"
"Yes. I brought it on myself."
"?"
"I should have disciplined you with my fists from the start."
From the start. Forget elven dignity, forget pride—he should have simply beaten her with his fists.
Crack!
If he had done this earlier, so much would have been different. They said the rod was medicine, didn't they? That shady mage had simply said to rule with fists, no exceptions.
Fists were more effective than any other punishment. The one handing out the beating felt great, and the results were undeniable.
"Thanks to that shady mage, I've learned something. Right—what was the phrase for times like this? 'You're fucked.' Feels weird saying that to a woman without a dick, but... hmm. Yes. For her, this is better. You're tit-fucked, Piel."
"Kehek!"
Where did she get off making pained little noises? One World Tree was already enough drama for everyone.
Isis prepared another fist.
This time a little harder. Loading elemental power into the punch and swinging felt incredibly satisfying, or so he'd heard.
In that case, he might as well drive one in properly.
"I suppose the bigger fault is that I never paid you enough attention."
Baaak! Beok!
Mm. After a few more hits, this side definitely felt better.
Yes. Yes. This was it. He should have ruled her with the rod from the beginning. After thrashing her this thoroughly, her face had become truly unusable.
Had he hit her face that many times?
Anyway, the refreshing feeling outweighed the bad.
"You thought that power would let you turn the Great Forest into a mess, didn't you? But you know what, Piel?"
"Cough. Kehek. Kuh."
"What you tried has happened several times already in elven history. You fool."
Idiot. Did she really think she was the first to attempt a plan like this?
Elven history was noble, yes—but of course it also contained filth. More precisely, foreign matter lodged inside the vast framework called history.
"I won't just take this lying down!"
"Oh? Then what are you going to do?"
What else could she possibly do at this point? Nothing, surely.
"In that case—!"
"In that case, what? What else is there?"
Apparently she still had something in mind. This time she slapped herself flat against the World Tree.
He wondered what she could possibly be attempting—then the lunatic suddenly began pouring her own demonic energy into the World Tree.
The World Tree was already being eroded. And this madwoman was either trying to corrupt it faster or attempting to become the World Tree itself.
"Can you handle this?!"
"You crazy bitch."
This was a mutual suicide play. Looking at her face, though—
She really did seem completely insane.
The New World Group turned out to be more tenacious than expected.
Or maybe Piel had truly intended to betray the elves completely and overthrow everything. Either way, they had broken through the New World Group's barrier and forced their way into part of the Great Forest.
Thankfully Celia had sent her teddy bears ahead, so we drove them off. I thought the elves wouldn't fall into chaos again—
But the World Tree itself was a complete mess.
"What the hell is that? Why does the World Tree look like that?"
"You're right. Looking at it... it's turning pitch black."
The World Tree had gone completely black.
And the leaves that had once shone so brilliantly were anything but normal.
"That idiot can't even handle one job properly? Don't tell me he actually lost?"
That long-ear was strong. Among long-ears, I could confidently say he was one of the strongest. And a being like that got beaten in a place like this?
Didn't that seem a little off? There might be some other reason.
Otherwise that long-ear wouldn't have been pushed back this easily. Things had gotten bigger than I expected.
"We have to go help him."
I really shouldn't have come to the Great Forest.