Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Forest Queen's Arrows
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Piiing!
A tiny sound echoed across the vast battlefield.
Blood sprayed, flesh burst open, and the earth cracked apart. In the midst of such a battlefield, it was miraculous that anyone could hear such a faint noise at all.
Probably not a single elf or orc on this battlefield had heard it.
But.
"……!!"
"……!!"
Without either of us knowing who reacted first, Hatan and I released the energy we had gathered and leaped apart.
And almost simultaneously.
Booom!
The spot where we had stood exploded into a crater.
Plop, plop!
Chunks of earth that had shot into the sky rained back down onto the ground.
In the center of the battlefield where Hatan and I had clashed, a single silver arrow now asserted its presence unmistakably.
Even though it was already embedded in the ground after being fired, the lingering aura clinging to the arrow proved that its shooter was no ordinary person.
The only one capable of firing such an arrow—search Elunheim or the entire continent, and there was just one.
"…So she finally shows herself."
One might think it was Lena, having succeeded in persuading Minerva, firing in support of me as I fought on the elves' side.
Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
The killing intent carried in that arrow had been unmistakably aimed at me, plain as day for anyone to see.
"…Tch."
From the hill that overlooked the entire battlefield at a glance.
A distance so far that even keen-eyed elves would see it only as a dot—but to Minerva's eyes, it was as clear as if it were right in front of her.
Her vision captured the rookies dodging her arrow, and she clicked her tongue briefly.
"…Both of them decent for bugs."
There was no particular surprise at their evasion.
The arrow she had loosed was no different from a casual swat to squash a mosquito.
It was merely that the mosquito had slipped away from that swat—nothing more, nothing less.
Minerva's gaze fixed especially not on Hatan, but on the human, Jerome.
"That one's thrown my plans badly off course."
By rights, her tribe should have been culled long ago by now.
It was the time when only the strongest elves would survive the extreme conditions, laying the foundation to ascend to an even higher realm.
Minerva had never once doubted her elves' victory.
As long as she remained unscathed, defeat for the elves on this land was simply impossible.
But that human.
The one who had come to Alpheheim a few days ago, incessantly irking her, had ultimately ruined even the grand event.
She had acknowledged his merit in saving her daughter and spared his life.
"…The culling's already gone down the river, so no helping it."
Because Jerome and Hatan had dragged out the Makgora far longer than expected, Minerva had no choice but to move.
If she still held back amid all this chaos, doubts would creep into the trust of the elves who followed her.
Kiriririring.
"…Even if you did save my daughter, the crime of ruining the grand event is grave."
A ferocious energy incomparable to Lena's arrow began gathering at Minerva's arrowhead.
"Pay for that sin with your life."
Since she was handling it anyway, it would be even better to take out the orc lord who had dared to set filthy foot in her territory as well.
Shuuuaaa!
A second and third arrow rose from Minerva's fingertips.
"Chwiiiik! Dare… dare! To interrupt this sacred Makgora! Chwiik! You damned pointy-eared bitch!!"
Hatan, who had leaped back from the sudden silver arrow, finally grasped the situation and could no longer contain his fury.
To orcs, Makgora was a sacred battle to depart for Valhalla. Being interrupted at its climax was enough to make anyone's blood boil.
I too was deeply displeased by Minerva's arrow, which had poured cold water on the duel just as a new insight had fired me up.
But unlike Hatan, I couldn't afford to rage blindly.
The energy of the next arrows she fired was far too palpably clear.
And this time, the target was unmistakable.
It was me, not Hatan.
"…Tch, this queen's got a real foul temper."
I had a hunch why the Forest Queen was targeting me.
Minerva was currently half-mad, obsessed with breaking through to the next realm.
What they called a heart demon.
In a state where her eyes were rolled back solely in pursuit of ascension, for me to smash that plan head-on—how could I not be an eyesore?
Regardless of whether the plan was feasible or even reasonable.
Thus, the meaning of those arrows was clear.
Punishment.
Pewwww!
'One to the heart, one to the head.'
The follow-up arrows came flying in a staggered timing, preempting every spot I might dodge to.
'Indeed the Queen of the Forest. Well deserving of the title continent's greatest divine archer.'
Public opinion rated the Forest Queen Paulo Minerva—if crossing swords up close—below even Duke Padelon, the Five Nations Alliance's hope and lower-ranked on the Throne.
But the reason she ranked in the Throne's upper echelons was something else entirely.
This bow.
Her unrivaled archery.
Accounting for the fact that it came right after dodging the first arrow, this was practically a simultaneous barrage aimed to kill me.
'…This isn't something I can block.'
If it were back when I'd nearly completed the third stage, maybe.
Even with this tiny new insight, at my current level—still far from fully mastering the third—I had no chance of withstanding an attack from an absolute powerhouse who had ascended the Throne.
Regrettably, the Makgora with Hatan ended here.
The explanation may have been long, but the time from Minerva's arrows reaching me was but an instant.
'Gotta protect the vitals at least…!'
As I tried to veer toward the arrow that would hurt least, while maximally dodging the ones aimed at my heart and head.
Bwoooom!
Hatan's axe, infused with vibrational power, hurtled toward the arrows.
"?!"
A strike from Hatan utterly unexpected.
But its target was not me—it was the silver arrows gunning for me.
For such a monstrous axe swing, it only altered the paths of a couple arrows, but that aid let me relocate without a scratch.
"…Should I say thanks or what?"
Not knowing how to take Hatan's action, I muttered.
Hatan merely snorted.
"Chwiik! Don't spout nonsense, Jerome. Your neck is mine to claim. Chwiik! I won't let some old pointy-eared elf steal the sacred end of Makgora!"
Hatan shouted as he snatched his axe, which had curved back around.
"This is a problem."
The original plan was to coordinate with the elves and drive out the orcs.
Yet this brutish, crude orc gunning for my neck was starting to grow on me, bit by bit.
Twitch.
The brow of Paulo Minerva, who had loosed the arrows, furrowed.
Lately, headaches had been plaguing her more and more.
"A mere orc… blocks my arrow?"
It wasn't an arrow laden with vast aura.
Just the force of crushing a bug.
He was the orc king, a rising star of the mountains—plenty capable of blocking that much.
But from Minerva's standpoint, it was unacceptable.
An orc, ultimately.
A lowly, inferior race of talking pigs.
And one had blocked her arrow.
Throb!
At that displeasing reality, Minerva's headache intensified a bit more.
"…Really don't like it."
The insolent human who wrecked her grand plan.
The orc prancing about after blocking her arrow.
None of it pleased her.
Throb!
The headache worsened steadily.
Minerva rubbed her brow with her index finger for a moment, then slowly drew a new arrow from her quiver.
Minerva knew well how to soothe her headaches at times like this.
"…It's fine. All of them."
Once she killed every last annoying bug in her sight, this headache would vanish clean away.
Unlike the barrage she'd just fired, Minerva now nocked only two arrows.
The arrowheads of the two shots, angled ever so slightly differently, were aimed squarely at their targets.
Jerome and Hatan.
Spirits had been summoned around the utterly still Minerva.
An overwhelming presence that brooked no comparison to Lena's Ifrit or Shrill.
The Wind Spirit King, Ariel.
The being said to be summonable only by Paulo Minerva, the Forest Queen herself, across the entire continent.
One might expect joy at an old friend's call, but Ariel's expression upon descending to the mortal realm was far from bright.
-…Minerva. Are you truly alright?
"I'm fine, Ariel. Just borrowing a friend's power to execute the intruders who invaded the forest."
-You… Hm, never mind.
Ariel seemed about to say something more but, upon seeing Minerva's icy expression, slowly shook its head.
And then.
Shrrrrr!
The air enveloped the Forest Queen's arrows, expanding their range like siege boulders.
Who in this mortal realm could wield the air more masterfully than Ariel?
-…I've answered the call of our ancient pact, my comrade. But I hope you won't summon me for a while.
Ariel vanished before Paulo Minerva could even reply, as if displeased.
Even as she noted the shift in her old friend's demeanor, Paulo Minerva clicked her tongue as if feeling nothing.
"Tch… This one or those ones."
Not a single one pleased her.
Throb!
Her growing headache began to stoke her irritation.
Once she dealt with those rookies—the root of this damned pain—it would all fade.
There was no way for those rookies to block arrows infused with Ariel's power.
Not unless someone her equal crushed them with sheer force.
Rookies barely transitioning from peak expert to master entry level? Impossible.
Their deaths were all but fait accompli.
"Farewell."
Piiing!
With Minerva's curt pronouncement, the two arrows left her hand and streaked toward their marks.
"…Hmph, hmm."
The immense energy wafting from the hilltop.
If the fight with Hatan had been a clash of raw power against power, this sensation was like being crushed beneath an irresistible great force.
"Half… gone mad, but still. Throne… ascendant, huh."
Hatan too resisted Minerva's aura.
"Chwiiik! Bow… using. Cowardly… coward. Chwiik! Power's… quite something! Chwiik!"
Me, Hatan—we'd all been mistaken.
In an orc-elf war, the elves would never have lost.
Perhaps it would have ended anticlimactically, with far less damage than expected.
If Paulo Minerva, the Forest Queen, had gone all out from the start.
That was how overwhelming the power in her arrows now was.
Before the arrows slithering toward our necks like snakes.
'Damn it. Gotta dodge.'
Even at extreme range, my body froze stiff, like prey facing a predator up close.
From the sheer pressure of the one who loosed those arrows.
'Some… way…'
Too little time to think of blocking those monstrosities.
The instant I pondered, Paulo Minerva's arrows closed in at terrifying speed, gunning for our lives.
The talk was long, but it was merely the span for a sip of water after Hatan hurled his axe.
'Can't dodge this.'
Mighty arrows approaching while intimidation shackled my movements.
'No choice. Best defense I got.'
Not content with drawing every ounce of Steel power I wielded, I even materialized the unidentified aura within me to wrap my body.
This was the utmost defense available now.
Hatan seemed to deem evasion impossible too, infusing his axe with vibrational energy as before to scatter the attack as best he could.
Where had it gone wrong?
From the moment I'd tried and failed to persuade Paulo Minerva?
Or from when I'd compromised with Hatan in the past and sent him back?
"No, maybe the buttons were wrong from the moment I even tried to change things."
If I'd known Paulo Minerva was such a deranged elf, I never would have attempted trade with them.
They say even swift regret comes too late.
Even reflection had to wait until after blocking these mad arrows.
The instant we faced the blades hurtling toward us in a flash.
"No, it wasn't wrong."
A voice firmly denied my self-mocking mutter.
While blocking head-on the arrow brimming with world-shattering might.
Kuaaaang!
"Of course, your choice didn't yield the best outcome. From the perspective of cherishing the family, it was sorely lacking. However."
The one who deflected the arrow stated firmly. But soon.
"The fact that you gave your all doesn't change. As family, I'd like to commend you for that."
The tone warmed.
I knew this voice.
A voice that nothing in the world could shatter.
Firmer than anything else.
The sturdiest voice in existence.
This world called a man with such traits the Peerless Prodigy.
And I called the man with this voice.
"…Father."