No Tears for the Guilty
"Huff... huff!"
Mariel and the Thorn Tree Assault team gasped for breath.
The assault team, which had numbered well over a hundred, had dwindled to just twenty.
That was the toll for passing through the indigo and violet spectrum spaces.
The indigo spectrum space had dredged up the deep-buried longings in the elves' hearts.
Longing stems from an intense desire for what one lacks.
Elves living among humans yearned for their own utopia, and the indigo spectrum space had shown them visions of it.
In that moment, desire bloomed in their hearts like poisonous mushrooms.
The desire to slaughter every human in Neo Seoul and take their place.
That desire drove the elves into a frenzy of hyper-excitement.
They somehow escaped the indigo spectrum space, only to be greeted by the chaotic violet one.
Chaos robbed them of clear judgment, turning them against each other as enemies.
They killed and killed one another.
By the time they escaped the violet spectrum space after the slaughter, only twenty elves remained.
Mariel and the elves trembled at the unbelievable reality.
Only now did the vivid memory of massacring their comrades return.
"This... can't be!"
"I killed my friend..."
"Aaaah!"
The elves wailed in agony.
Above all, elves cherished their kin above everything.
The inferiority complex of living as guests in the human world, coupled with delusions of persecution, made them cling even tighter to their own kind.
It was unimaginable that they, who loved their kin so fiercely, had lost their reason and butchered them.
"This is a dream. It has to be."
"How could my hands have done that to them...?"
Some elves even denied reality. But Mariel knew better.
It was neither a dream nor an illusion.
No matter how they dressed it up with fine words or claimed it was unavoidable, they were sinners who had killed their own kin.
"Stop crying. We don't even deserve tears. The only way to wash away our sins is to offer a soul-soothing rite with his blood and secure the Spirit King's Crown."
Mariel rebuked the elves and pressed forward.
Nothing stood between them and Demian now.
"I'll kill you and offer you to my comrades, Demian!"
"Waaah!"
Mariel and the elves charged at Demian.
Demian looked down at them and said,
"Do you have any idea how many humans died because of you? And you're playing the victim over this? If you barge into someone else's world and wreck it, you pay the price."
"Shut your mouth, Demian!"
Mariel denied his words and swung her sword.
Clunk!
Her sword halted just before Demian's throat.
Something invisible had bound her body.
Mariel wasn't the only one. Every elf charging after her was stuck fast, like flies in a web.
"What?"
"It's glass spider silk. As you can see, the threads are transparent, invisible to the naked eye. Once caught, you can't break free on your own."
"No such thing exists..."
"Huhu! Don't judge everything by your own common sense. Dungeons teem with monsters beyond your wildest imagination. One with this trait? Not strange at all."
"Liar."
"How many dungeons do you think I've cleared?"
"Spouting such bullshit..."
"Seventy-two. In eight years, seventy-two. Once a month on average. Insane, right? No one raids like that. It's all because of you. I risked my life for revenge on your kind."
"Crazy! We don't even know you."
"Maybe you don't. But the elves, dwarves, and beastkin in Elharon?"
"What nonsense? Elharon?"
"Guess the Elf Queen didn't tell you. Hiding it even from kin. Elves really can't be trusted."
Demian's mockery flushed Mariel and the elves' faces red.
"Don't stir them up with lies, human!"
"Elf! You'll know soon if my words are lies. Your queen's charging in."
Demian spotted Serion Olia and the North District elites approaching the fortress.
Snap!
Demian snapped his fingers, and the Spectrum Prison ahead of Serion vanished.
He had opened a path for them.
Serion paused at the passage entrance and looked at Demian.
She saw him smiling at her.
Chill, contempt, hatred—a storm of negative emotions filled his smile.
Why is he looking at me like that?
The question arose.
She entered the passage.
This wasn't the time for questions—it was time for action.
Even now, Mariel and the elves dangled precariously in invisible webs.
She knew over a hundred had come, yet only twenty were visible.
The fate of the rest was obvious.
What grudge does he have against elves?
No grudge, and he wouldn't be this vicious.
The Spirit King's Crown was bait to lure us out.
At this point, she wondered why Demian hated elves so much.
But first, rescue Mariel and the Thorn Tree Assault team.
Serion and the North District elites reached the fortress summit in one leap. Demian exaggeratedly swept his arm in mock courtesy.
"Welcome, Queen of the heteromorphs leeching off the human world."
"So you do hate us."
"Anyone who knows the truth would. Not just me."
"That happened over a century ago. The heteromorphs in Neo Seoul had nothing to do with it."
"So no responsibility?"
"That's..."
Serion's words caught in her throat.
Ilai shouted from beside her.
"What bullshit? Earth would've ended up like this without us. Your kind was already doomed."
"I hate your type most. Knowing it's your fault but shoving blame elsewhere. That's why I can't forgive you."
"And if you can't?"
"You pay."
"Insolent human, daring to demand accountability..."
As Ilai raged, Serion reined her in.
"Quiet."
"No more talk. We can't forgive this human."
"Ilai!"
"I'll kill him. We just need the Spirit King's Crown, right?"
Ilai lunged before Serion could stop her.
She reached Demian in an instant and swung her hand. White light burst from it.
The light, evoking spider silk, spread like a web and enveloped Demian.
Webbing Cutter.
As the name implied, a spell turning light threads into blades to shred targets.
Ilai's unique ability, earning her the moniker Spider Queen.
The spreading light formed a tetrahedron, squeezing Demian.
"Demian!"
Aleksandr blocked Demian, swinging his fist.
Boom!
The explosion shattered the Webbing Cutter.
"How dare you!"
Ilai fumed at Aleksandr barring her path.
She unleashed spells in succession, but all were crushed by Aleksandr.
"Without my say, no one touches Demian."
Aleksandr growled like a beast.
Wounds from fighting Brikston, now layered with those from smashing Ilai's magic.
Blood soaked him red, but his eyes held no tremor.
Ilai yelled at the North District Awakeners.
"What are you doing? Kill them and save our comrades!"
"..."
But they didn't move. Serion hadn't ordered yet.
Serion sighed softly.
"Haa. Ilai, you never grasp priorities. You'll answer for this when we return to Neo Seoul."
"Your Majesty!"
Ilai tried to plead desperately, but no chance came.
Aleksandr attacked.
"Your opponent is me."
Like a raging bear, he pressed Ilai.
Aleksandr had embraced death.
No fear, no hesitation.
He burned everything in his assault on Ilai.
Even she struggled.
Serion sighed and approached Demian.
"I see you harbor deep hatred for us. But no need to escalate like this. Do you know how many have suffered and died because of you?"
"That's your kind's trait."
"Pardon?"
"Shifting blame, dodging, preaching piously..."
"Your hatred pierces the heavens. Fine, no more evasion. Give me the Spirit King's Crown. It's too dangerous for humans."
"I know. That's why I brought it."
"To lure me out, as expected."
"I figured you'd notice... the true entity sealed in the Spirit King's Crown."
As ominous energy poured from Demian, Serion's expression darkened further.
"Your plan worked. You've drawn me here. But dismantle the Spectrum Prison now. It's meant to seal the Spirit King's Crown. This destruction will weaken the seal."
Rumble!
The entire Spectrum Prison shook.
Brikston and the Thorn Tree Assault team raging inside, Zeon breaking it from outside.
It wouldn't hold much longer.
Then the sealed entity in the Spirit King's Crown would break free.
She had to stop that. Serion's eyes pleaded desperately, but Demian ignored them coldly.
"Then tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"Elharon's location."
"Is that why you did this?"
"Yes!"
"You're insane."
"Right. Insane. So tell me. Where's Elharon?"
Demian's eyes were ice-cold.
But Serion sensed the vicious madness beneath.
Serion gazed at the yellowish sky briefly.
A century ago, it had been blue.
Her kind's arrival had turned Earth's sky yellow.
Our fate should have ended in Kurayan. Then Earth's life wouldn't suffer.
If she'd had the say, she never would've come to Earth. But she was just a young elf then.
She'd had no choice but to follow the elders.
In a way, she was a victim too, but no one would believe it.
She had no excuses, and no intention of revealing Elharon's location.
Original sin or not, Elharon was the heteromorphs' last bastion.
"I'm sorry."
"You're not."
"Please understand my circumstances."
"Knew it. You pretend benevolence, but you're the most selfish race."
"Demian!"
"If you feel even a shred of remorse, tell me. The way to Elharon. You bitch!"
Demian's pent-up rage exploded.
At that moment, Serion issued the order.
"Subdue him. All of you."