Division - Part 2: The Elf
A race whispered about in old tales for their lively exchanges with humans in ancient times. Masters of cultivating plants, they were born with superhuman talent for the bow and arrow as well as an innate command of magic that far surpassed anything humans could hope to achieve. Blessed with breathtaking beauty and the gift of longevity that let them live more than a thousand years, one of those legendary beings now stood before Malik’s eyes.
“An elf…?”
Malik caught sight of the woman’s pointed ears after she had approached without the slightest sound. The words slipped out before he could stop them, drenched in shock.
“Why is an elf…”
Elves were creatures of myth. The only chances to learn of the communities they formed around the World Tree existed in ancient texts. They were beings who had hidden themselves from the world for so long that anyone claiming to have seen one was branded a liar. No evidence had ever been produced, so they existed only in fairy tales.
Now that a figure from those wall paintings stood before him, Malik’s eyes trembled; he could not hide his bewilderment. The soldiers behind him were the same, murmuring at the sharp ears visible beneath the robe.
The moment every person present was painted with confusion, a chilling wave of mana brushed across their shoulders and began drawing out shivers.
“Hah… βρώμικοι ⲛⲁⲅⲉⲙⲛⲉ.”
While question marks floated above everyone’s heads at the unfamiliar tongue, the elf wearing the thick robe opened her lips. A voice like a pale melody flowed out.
“Σχίσε και πλήγωσέ.”
"Tear them apart."
⟨ Falling Star of the End ⟩
A colossal shadow fell over their heads. A mass brimming with unimaginable, sinister mana began to blot out the light of the setting sun, casting a gigantic darkness across the land.
The eyes of those watching the falling meteor trembled like baby birds in a nest that had met its natural predator. The only way to escape the sky covered by that enormous shadow was to run.
The rumbling grew louder. No ordinary human present could hope to deflect or slice apart that mass. The only thing they could do was flee.
Faced with a power that felt like the authority of a god, Malik spoke in a shaking voice.
“It’s an ambush…”
Turning toward the battlefield that had already dissolved into pandemonium, Malik shouted.
“Scatter!”
He raised his voice even louder.
“I said scatter, all of you!!!”
Only after Malik’s roar echoed across the ranks did the people finally break and sprint toward the blind spots. The academy students, who had never experienced real combat, ran without looking back in order to preserve their lives. Those with battlefield experience slowly widened the distance while calculating the scale of the impact. If they broke formation they would only be playing into the enemy’s hands. They knew the most terrifying thing about large-scale magic was not the destruction itself but the hunting dogs that might be hiding anywhere in the aftermath. So the soldiers struggled to keep their shaking lines intact as they rapidly put distance between themselves and the spell.
The sound of frantic footsteps reached Malik’s ears. From every direction, the noise of people who had been hiding their presence now burst into the open.
Ten…?
The footsteps multiplied too quickly to count.
No… there’s no way to count them all.
Malik, who had been tracking the rapid movement, finally came to his senses and began to run. At this moment the greatest fighting force on the field was himself, the pillar of their side.
While running and scanning the area with sharp eyes, Malik thought quickly.
The number of archbishops that guy mentioned was five in total.
Then… the strong presences. Two toward Yuria and Mikhail. One toward Luin. And two toward Hanna.
The instant Malik, having set his priorities, tried to whirl around—
“Μην κινείσαι.”
The woman’s pale voice froze his body in place.
“…Elf.”
The elf standing on the ridge was staring straight at him. Her gaze promised certain death the moment he left her line of sight. Her green eyes, burning with fury that seemed to demand he simply stand there and take the falling boulder, were fixed solely on Malik.
I have to get to Hanna…
The ground rumbled violently.
Even for Hanna, two archbishops will be too much. But…!
Malik exhaled deeply and clenched his eyes shut.
She has no intention of letting me go easily.
He spoke toward the elf.
“So I’m your opponent.”
Faced with an overwhelming difference in skill, Malik gripped his sword tightly and kicked off the ground.
“How thrilling.”
Wishing for Hanna’s safety, Malik added, “If I win, I’ll send you to a mandrake plantation. Six days a week, full shifts. You’ll be run ragged.”
Aura wrapped around Malik’s blade. The moment his sword was about to reach the elf’s throat—
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
The falling mass began to swallow the earth. Cracks raced across the ground. People lost their balance and fell from the massive shock. Casualties started rolling down the mountain one after another from the aftershock.
And the person facing the biggest problem in the middle of it all was—
“Brother…!”
Hanna Histania.
The snow of the sacred mountain began to melt from the heat radiating from the sphere of scorching mana. The ground bubbled and seethed with flames, and the steam created by the heat made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
“…Damn it.”
The formation had long since collapsed. All that could be seen through the steam were the silhouettes of fallen men and their rough groans.
It was an ambush. An ambush no one had expected. Although they had kept the possibility in mind, the attack was on a scale far beyond imagination, rendering every prepared plan meaningless.
Hanna clenched her fist as she looked at the empty space where her brother, who had gone to face the elf, should have been. The opponent had been an overwhelming powerhouse. She could tell with a single glance. It felt as if she had stared into an impossibly high wall. The woman’s spirit reminded her of the killing intent her father had shown toward the butler; its depths were unfathomable.
Hanna squeezed her eyes shut, let out a long breath, and raised her trembling sword.
“I have to go help…!”
Step.
“…!”
Hanna froze mid-stride. She had heard some of the footsteps that had filled the surroundings suddenly stop right in front of her.
They’re strong.
Powerful enemies stood before her. Two of them.
Hanna gathered aura and swung her blade in a wide horizontal arc toward the silhouettes visible through the white steam.
Slice.
She hit nothing. There had definitely been black silhouettes in front of her, yet after the sword passed there were only marks where it had cut through smoke. No blood, no trace.
“…”
Grinding her teeth, she prepared to charge into the steam when—
SHIIIIING!!!!
An alarm bell rang inside her skull as if a giant gong had been struck. Her instincts screamed that if she did not twist her body now, she would die.
Hanna spun instantly. A huge spear tip now occupied the exact spot where her heart had been.
“…!”
The moment the startled Hanna tried to create distance, a cold voice whispered beside her ear.
“Good instincts.”
“…”
“If you had been even a little slower, this would have been much easier.”
“Who… are you?”
“There’s no need for you to know. You’re going to die anyway. Why trouble your head over it?”
The instant the chilly voice finished speaking, the spear tip touching Hanna’s side began to surge with mana. At the same time, another presence tore through the steam from the opposite side, racing fiercely to seize her head.
Two of them.
“Seriously…”
Two enemies with strength similar to the Archbishop of Malice she had seen at the ball. Back then the butler had been there to overcome them, but the situation now was completely different.
I can’t handle this alone…!
Hanna clicked her tongue and pulled aura into her body.
If only I had one more person to draw their attention…!
It had been a long time since she felt this suffocating pressure in battle. Perhaps this was the first time she had faced a fight where even the smallest mistake would cost her head. Tension dried her lips and filled her entire body, as if she were standing before an elite orc from her nightmares.
SWOOOOOSH!!!
An ominous feeling swept over her.
But then—
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!!!
When she saw countless red lightning bolts of hope raining down from the sky, a faint smile rose to Hanna’s lips.
“No, I’ll win them all.”
She wanted to show him a cool sight.
And she wanted to lighten his burden.
*
Yuria and Mikhail stopped running the moment they saw the man in the white robe blocking their path. The giant greatsword he carried gave off an unforgettable thick stench of blood. He planted the weapon into the ground in front of them and spoke in a low voice.
“It’s been a while.”
“…”
“You don’t remember?”
“Who are you…?”
“Hmm… I thought my face would be hard to forget.”
Mikhail drew her sword and aimed it at the man. Yuria also clenched her fists, wrapping them in holy power as she took a stance. The man looked at the pair and let out a hearty laugh.
“There’s no need to be so tense.”
“…”
“I didn’t come here as an enemy today.”
Mikhail spoke to the nervous Yuria.
“Yuria, leave this to me and go call for help.”
“No. I’m going to fight too.”
The man shook his head.
“It’s a beautiful friendship, but heading that way will only make things worse.”
Screeech.
He pulled the greatsword from the ground and spoke in an icy tone.
“There’s an ant swarm over there.”
The moment his words ended, countless screams erupted in their ears. Soldiers’ screams. Students’ screams. All kinds of cries blended together and shook the air.
The man removed his robe as he spoke.
“You two should go help the others.”
Black hair. Fierce eyes. The monster who had smiled at them the very first time they encountered the heretics long ago was now looking at them with a peaceful expression. Unlike back then.
“I have a betrayal to carry out, after all.”
He gave them a courteous greeting.