Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Night's Ender
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"Caroer!"
It was a frantic voice that cut short the conversation between Rishir and Caroer.
Both their gazes turned toward the room's entrance.
Elves rarely showed disheveled appearances, but this one was panting heavily.
Rishir and Caroer could tell at a glance that his agitation stemmed from mental shock.
Inferring an emergency, the two rose from their seats in unison.
"We're listening. Speak."
"D-Deceptive Night—...! You must come at once!"
"Did it escape its restraints?"
Rishir grimaced in dismay.
'Word was they applied the maximum restraints, preventing even the tiniest mana circulation... No way it caused trouble in that state?'
Rishir desperately hoped that wasn't the case.
If it was, he wanted no further involvement with such a monster.
"N-No, that's not it!"
"Whew, you scared me."
"Then what is it?"
"Deceptive Night has finally spoken and requests an audience with you, Caroer!"
"With an elder or guardian? Or—"
"Specifically, you, Caroer!"
"Understood. I'll go immediately. Rishir, you—"
"Just in case, may I accompany you?"
"..."
The two exchanged glances before following the elf to their destination.
The underground prison beneath the Cyan Pavilion.
Its deepest chamber.
There, under artificial light, a figure was bound head to toe in tough vines.
Those swirling violet eyes asserted their presence.
"Deceptive Night. You called for me?"
"..."
Even as Caroer spoke, those violet eyes looked elsewhere.
Toward Rishir, standing beside Caroer.
Deceptive Night gazed at Rishir, rubbing the slash on her throat—the one carved by Rishir.
As if reliving the moment.
"Yes. Guardian Caroer. I called you. Not that horrific monster."
Deceptive Night was genuinely sick of it.
Caroer found her demeanor intriguing, her eyes gleaming with interest.
"Deceptive Night. You're afraid of this man, aren't you?"
"Ha!"
Deceptive Night sneered in disdain.
But that was all.
She couldn't refute Caroer's words further.
Deceptive Night fully averted her gaze from Rishir.
As if she didn't even want to look at him. No.
As if she refused to acknowledge his existence.
"Caroer. Dismiss everyone but you."
Now Deceptive Night focused entirely on the high elf.
Even fully restrained, she showed no loss of spirit.
Did she truly have an ace up her sleeve?
After a brief deliberation, Caroer dismissed the guards and prison keepers.
"Caroer...!"
"It's fine. Withdraw."
All but one person.
Except Rishir.
Deceptive Night's face twisted in fury.
"Are those ridiculously long ears deaf?"
"Proof that your final struggle evokes no more than mild curiosity in me."
"..."
"If you aim to pique my interest, then by all means, try."
Rishir recalled a fact he'd momentarily forgotten.
Caroer.
Even among aloof elves, she was the pinnacle high elf.
And among high elves, she stood at the top.
Her supremely detached aura made her opponent feel infinitesimally small.
'She at least treated me decently as Grandmaster's acquaintance... right?'
Rishir figured that even Deceptive Night couldn't fully withstand that raw contempt.
However—
Contrary to Rishir's expectation, Night met the high elf's gaze head-on without flinching.
"..."
Instead, a faint tension appeared on the high elf's face.
Night.
The presence of that name couldn't be fully erased even by thorough restraints.
Caroer still wary of whatever trump card Deceptive Night might have hidden.
And.
Night herself was gauging the moment to play her hidden ace, even now.
In the thick, tangled tension between the two powerhouses—
"Wouldn't it be wise to recognize your position a bit more?"
"...!"
"...!"
A third voice intervened.
Rishir.
He was now regarding Night with a meaningful gaze.
Grind.
Her gritted teeth ground out a menacing sound.
For a being like Deceptive Night, this was an utterly unfamiliar situation and emotion.
Such humiliation.
She could endure no more.
Deceptive Night prepared to unleash her final hidden card.
The Deception Seeds planted in some Ilratten citizens as a contingency—
She would bloom them.
Those seeds, activating upon her death or power forfeiture, stripped the host's ego, turning them into bloodthirsty beasts.
The noble elves' city would become a beast den overnight.
Her kin turned to beasts.
Elves slaughtering them.
And Caroer.
Imagining her expression, Deceptive Night formed her signature mocking smile.
Yes.
Even if the plan failed, she herself was undefeated.
Even if thwarted, her power remained intact.
Thus.
Deceptive Night sought to reaffirm her purpose by surrendering to madness.
"Best not to try anything foolish."
"...!"
At that moment.
"Have you forgotten why you're in this state now?"
Rishir's voice rang out again.
"The moment you set foot in this city, I was already watching you."
"What...—"
"Otherwise, how could I have stayed free of all your powers? How could I have seen through and thwarted every plan of yours?"
He looked down at Deceptive Night, stroking his own throat.
"Like this scar on your neck, best to etch it into your body."
Then, unconsciously, Deceptive Night touched her own throat.
The slash he'd carved.
"That all your schemes are in the palm of my hand."
"...!?"
A massive ripple spread through those violet eyes.
People fear what they cannot comprehend.
The inscrutable power he'd shown was expanding the man's weight in her mind by the second.
Thus.
Deceptive Night had no choice but to take his words at face value.
That all her plans were in his grasp, however outlandish.
"Your tongue's too long. So, what are you getting at?"
Deceptive Night forced a mocking smile.
An obviously contrived nonchalance—bluffing, plain and simple.
"Admit this time wasn't your lucky day and surrender fully."
"Telling me to roll over like a good pig for the slaughter, eh?"
"Your treatment hasn't been decided yet."
"Guaranteeing my life? Expecting me to buy that?"
"Hardly. But I can guarantee one thing for certain."
Rishir approached Night, matching her eye level.
Then, with his characteristic affable smile, he said,
"In that case, I'll completely withdraw from your interrogation. No reason for me to be involved anymore."
Deceptive Night.
Her interrogation had hit a wall.
Clearly, such an ultimate evil wouldn't fear ordinary questioning or torture.
So this was remarkable.
"..."
Full surrender, and at least he won't participate in my interrogation.
At Rishir's proposal, Deceptive Night showed clear agitation.
Everything exposed—
All plans rendered meaningless—
Thrashing about pointlessly—
Only to face unimaginable torture from that "horrific monster."
The emotions she felt toward Rishir stimulated her imagination.
In the end.
Deceptive Night yielded to that imagination.
"You swear on your power and soul not to join my interrogation?"
"I always try to be a kind person. If something comes my way, I make sure to return the favor."
"..."
Moments later.
Deceptive Night stuck out her tongue.
A faint pattern emerged atop it over time.
A blood-completed spell.
Her final hidden card, revealed.
"You should explain to Lady Caroer what you planned to do with that."
"...Paralyze the minds of Ilratten's citizens, turning the elves' city into a beasts' den."
"...!"
Caroer had to strive to maintain composure.
Despite deploying every restraint and neutralization—
She was still Deceptive Night.
'What if that spell had activated...'
Recalling Night's mental magic that once dominated high elves, Caroer felt dizzy.
Caroer immediately stepped forward to destroy the spell.
The strange tension in the room vanished completely.
Night's expression turned hollow yet relieved.
Caroer finally felt that Night was fully neutralized.
"..."
She unconsciously looked at Rishir.
'Could... Labelle have foreseen all this and sent this human to me...?'
The high elf, feeling indescribable emotions toward the human, hurriedly composed herself.
"Is your business concluded?"
"..."
The violet eyes, instantly stripped of venom, stared at the high elf.
Soon.
An enigmatic smile formed on her lips.
"Guardian Caroer. Friend of Forest Night. I know you're still connected to Forest Night."
"...!"
"And that Forest Night, that past demon, hasn't fully died. I know that too."
"...What are you trying to say?"
"Don't worry. Or."
Deceptive Night shifted her head to look at her bound hands in turn, then said,
"In this situation, should I say don't get complacent? It's not me who's interested in you all."
Eclipse.
She murmured the name softly.
Another ultimate evil from the chaotic era, who reigned over the forest as night.
"That past demon asked me to pass along regards to another past demon."
"...What's your relation to it?"
"Not what you're thinking. More like settling a small debt. I got a needed item with its minor help—and in return, promised a small favor. Tossing a spark of unease to Forest Night through you."
Hoo.
Night's eyes closed wearily.
When they opened again, blazing flames dwelled within.
"Tell Forest Night: all preparations are complete, and I'm ready to burn you all."
"..."
Caroer immediately recognized Night's state.
At this moment.
Deceptive Night had become Eclipse's herald.
Of course, the connection was shallow.
She hadn't granted Eclipse her senses.
Only emotions and will.
Night's current emotions and will would transmit directly to Eclipse.
"Anything else to say? Eclipse awaits your reply."
"..."
Caroer hesitated to speak.
The suddenly mentioned entity was too horrific to even recall.
As Eclipse's shadow pressed Caroer—
"Kuh—"
A bursting chuckle drew their attention.
Rishir.
He wore an expression as if he couldn't help but find it amusing.
"..."
The instincts-engraved emotions toward Rishir.
Stimulated again, Deceptive Night's momentum wilted sharply.
Rishir looked at her and said,
"Too late. Isn't it far too late?"
With a profoundly meaningful smile.
"..."
In that instant.
The fiercely burning flames in Deceptive Night's eyes lost their vigor.
The herald's fear, anxiety, and vagueness transmitted fully somewhere.
"Huh?"
In that moment.
The meaningful atmosphere Rishir had created faded.
He looked at his body and murmured softly.
"My stature rose."
"..."
The high elf and Night felt it too.
The man's stature had suddenly increased.
"My stature rose...?"
Night unconsciously repeated the words.
That absurd statement, mocking reason—
Uttered in the most casual tone.
In that instant.
The flames in Deceptive Night's eyes fully subsided.
They didn't know.
At this moment.
The ancient demon stirring in the shadows had been seized by vague unease.
Its wildfire-like momentum halted.
"Huh."
Rishir fiddled with the tip of his nose.
Blood trickled from every orifice on his face.
What.
Up again?
What day is it today?
He muttered.
"..."
Deceptive Night thought.
Just moments ago.
Her decision to abandon everything to escape that monster was, without doubt, the best choice.
"Rishir."
Parting from Deceptive Night and exiting the prison, Rishir's group.
Caroer immediately addressed Rishir upon leaving.
Her aloof demeanor had vanished without a trace.
Standing there was merely a high elf writhing in confusion.
"What... what on earth happened? Knowing all of Deceptive Night's plans... and 'too late'...?"
Forest Night.
Did that one orchestrate everything from behind?
Caroer's initial suspicion, but she'd already moved past it.
No Forest Night could be this inscrutable.
Caroer gazed at the human with trembling eyes.
What.
What staggering answer would come?
Unable to even fathom, Caroer could only feel fear.
"Oh, that."
Rishir opened his mouth with his trademark affable smile.
"Truth is, it was all a bluff."
"...What?"
"She seemed extremely wary of me, so I tried some posturing. And damn, it worked."
To prove it wasn't a lie, Rishir let out a deep "Hoo—" sigh and shuddered.
"That mental magic nearly spreading across the whole city... dizzying just thinking about it, right?"
At his brazen display, the high elf couldn't hide her shock, revealing a deeply human side.
Her aloof high elf mouth and eyes gaped wide.
"What the..."
Afterward.
Rishir parted from Caroer, who fled from him as if escaping, and headed to the Green Tower with his guide.
The guide.
The watcher, Latsil.
"Rishir! Speaking of, did you know!? My little sister's the master of the Green Tower! Even if the tower lord refuses to teach you nature magic, don't worry! Just ask my sister then! If I tell her about your exploits, Latsiel will be dying to teach you nature magic herself!? Ah! Right! I still can't spill that outside!? Ah! Come to think of it, I haven't told you yet, Rishir!? Did you know!? The Green Tower has this close-yet-distant relation with the Cyan Pavilion! High elves are descendants of the World Tree, right!? So they're close yet distant from regular elves? Above all, they strictly—"
Blab blab blabber gabble chatter.
"Ughhh."
It was inevitable this time too.
Latsil's guidance, an utter mockery of boredom!
Rishir barely endured, nearly turning into a desiccated twig from soul-drain.
Before he knew it, they'd reached the Green Tower's main gate.
"You're the human from the Cyan Pavilion. Follow me."
The gatekeeper recognized Rishir's group at once and led them inside.
"...Huh?"
Crossing the Green Tower grounds, they arrived at the tower lord's office.
Rishir, who'd been anxious about facing his master's master-slayer, forgot everything in that instant.
'Grandmaster...?'
An elf identical to his grandmaster stood there.