Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Chapter 17: Heavy Armored Assault Squad (1)
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A short time before Raymond arrived.
The moment she emerged from the deep barrier, the sight that met Silvia's eyes was one of armed mercenaries setting the village ablaze and swinging their swords at the elves.
She snatched up a bow from an elf patrolman lying fallen right in front of her and nocked an arrow to the string.
Her gaze swept the nearby area, and she soon spotted a mercenary thrusting his spear toward one of her kin. She released the bowstring.
The arrow sliced through the air and pierced the mercenary's throat.
Fortunately, the elf who had been in danger survived and began to flee, but the other mercenaries' eyes now turned to Silvia.
"There's another one over there!"
"Grab her!"
Three mercenaries charged toward her. Fear welled up inside her, and her arm, which needed to draw the bowstring, refused to obey. In that moment of hesitation, they closed in and wrested the bow from her grasp.
"Kyaaak!"
Blood burst from her head where a club struck her, and Silvia screamed as she collapsed. The mercenaries' greedy gazes fixed on the fallen elf.
As a high elf by blood, she was more beautiful than the other elves.
"Bro, just a little..."
"Yeah, a bit should be fine."
It was at that moment, as one of them raised a sharp dagger.
"Miss!"
It was Siadin. As he rushed in swinging his sword, wind spirits laced with blade-sharp edges danced around him. The mercenaries who witnessed that silent, murderous dance had their heads fall limply to the ground and roll away.
"Miss! Are you alright?"
Having dispatched the three mercenaries in an instant, Siadin hurried over to check on Silvia. Fortunately, she didn't seem to have any serious injuries.
"The village is in this state, so what have the patrolmen been doing?"
His voice carried a cold, restrained anger. The elf patrol responsible for the village's defense had suffered a crushing defeat.
That was the answer he should have given, yet Siadin couldn't bring himself to voice that despairing news.
"We've lost."
She wasn't a fool.
"Hide for now. I'll clear the area around you."
Siadin said cautiously. With her ability to evade danger through the power of the wind spirits, if he just cleared a path nearby, she might be able to escape the village alone.
As long as the high elf bloodline survived, even if the village was annihilated, the clan could avoid extinction. Siadin was already contemplating the worst-case scenario.
"Sir Siadin..."
Silvia bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. She knew exactly what Siadin was thinking.
He hadn't said it outright, but to abandon her dying kin and flee? How could she, bearer of the proud high elf bloodline, do such a thing?
But her deliberation didn't last long.
The instinct to survive was stronger, and she hid herself in a safe spot guided by the wind spirits—a tall tree overlooking the entire village.
Silvia took in the sight of the ravaged village with her own eyes. Instead of cursing her own powerlessness, she shed tears to etch the events of this day into her memory, refusing to look away.
The elves' screams rang out, as if reproaching her for hiding. But she couldn't step forward. She was too weak, and above all, she had to prevent the clan's extinction.
It was around the time the screams began to fade.
"W-What's that?"
A change occurred. The 5th Prince's banner was raised. But Silvia's expression remained grim.
These weren't regular troops, but ragtag mercenaries. She doubted the Philius imperial name would hold sway, especially while they were in the midst of their atrocities.
Sure enough, they paused briefly at the sight of the imperial banner, but soon turned their weapons on the 5th Prince to eliminate witnesses through murder.
Killing the 5th Prince would make things blow up, but the mercenaries were simple-minded. They figured slaughtering everyone would solve it.
"N-No...!"
The wind spirits warned of other presences approaching. Beings radiating murderous intent far darker than the mercenaries.
Even if the 5th Prince's escorts were skilled, there were only two of them, while the enemies numbered many.
It was the moment she thought everything was over.
Kwaaaaaang!
"Kuaaaak!"
"Uwaaaak!"
A brilliant radiance incinerated the darkness. Silvia's eyes widened in shock. That had to be top-tier magic. Her knowledge of magic wasn't deep, but she could tell. Did that mean the 5th Prince had been hiding such tremendous power?
But that was only the beginning. The energy from the 5th Prince—Raymond's—grasp took the form of a sword. Silvia couldn't fail to recognize it. Though it omitted the medium of a physical 'sword,' this was unmistakably a mana blade.
'He's mastered the mana blade too?'
Sword and magic cannot coexist. The way they utilize the mana road is different.
Even before receiving the blessing, Raymond could wield both sword and magic simultaneously because the mana blade of the Soul Sword had a completely different linkage structure from ordinary ones.
Still, since it was undeniably a mana blade, using it alongside magic brought pain and was imperfect.
But now it was different. With the 'Blessing of Sword and Magic,' he had been reborn as a true magic swordsman.
As the final blessing, he had become the only magic swordsman on the continent capable of wielding sword and magic in tandem.
It was an opportunity that the original protagonist, Richard, was supposed to claim—but now it belonged to Raymond.
"Incinerate and withdraw!"
At the command of who appeared to be the leader, the black-clad figures moved. They doused the corpses with something and burned them traceless, then departed the village in perfect order.
The assassins had fully retreated. The remaining mercenaries were insignificant. In the first place, the heavy losses to the elf patrol came from the assassins' surprise attacks from the shadows, not the mercenaries. The enraged elves slaughtered every last one of the leftover mercenaries.
Her gaze swept the village once more before finally settling back on Raymond. The elves repelled the remnants of the mercenary band, and cheers of victory echoed out.
Raymond, who had stood steadfast watching the scene, suddenly collapsed limply.
"Ah!"
A gasp escaped her lips. When she came to her senses, she was leaping down from the tall tree and racing toward the 5th Prince. The surrounding elves gathered at the sudden turn of events.
"Lady Silvia!"
Desia's voice urgently called for her.
"I'm over here!"
Silvia shouted. The gathered elves parted to either side, opening a path. Borrowing the power of the wind spirits, Silvia dashed straight to the fallen 5th Prince's side.
Desia, who had been examining the 5th Prince—Raymond—confirmed Silvia's face and let out a sigh of relief.
"His mana road is in bad shape."
"Th-Then..."
"We need certain herbs. Can you procure them?"
At Desia's question, Silvia nodded with a hardened expression.
"He is our clan's benefactor. Every elf of Platinum Village will search with all their might."
He felt a brilliant light and opened his eyes to find himself standing in a vast plain.
His last memory was seeing the Hashashin retreat and the elves victorious against the mercenaries.
Since his memories after that were hazy, he must have lost consciousness.
Having unleashed secret magic swordsman techniques like a barrage without fully acclimating to his reconstructed body, it was a natural outcome.
"Is this a dream?"
The thought slipped from his lips unbidden. But it felt too vivid for a dream—all his senses were sharp.
Yet mana manipulation was impossible, suggesting not his body but his consciousness alone had been summoned here.
"What in the world is going on...?"
Raymond muttered with furrowed brows. If it wasn't a dream, someone had summoned him—and he didn't like that one bit.
"If you've called me, show yourself!"
He shouted in a cold voice. But the summoner didn't appear, and instead, the faint mana flow permeating the space shifted.
As if guiding him somewhere.
'They want me to come to them?'
He wasn't thrilled, but with no way to leave this space on his own, he had no choice. Besides, he was growing curious about who had invited him to this world.
'Let's go.'
Raymond unhesitatingly stepped toward where the mana led. There was no fear. If they meant harm, they wouldn't bother with this convoluted method.
How long had he walked? It didn't feel like long. This was a small mental world created by drawing in his consciousness—a space where time didn't flow, as per the setting documents. Raymond decided not to rush.
He continued at a steady pace. Soon the scenery changed—from plain to forest, and even as he entered the woods, the mana's guidance persisted.
'Have I arrived?'
As he walked briskly, the mana's pull weakened. Instead, he sensed another presence, whispering as if urging him to look. Turning his head, he saw a colossal tree standing there.
'It wasn't there a moment ago...'
He hadn't sensed a thing. But that wasn't important.
"Did you call me here?"
Raymond said calmly. He had a good idea what this massive tree was.
The only entity capable of summoning consciousness alone into a mental world with magic rituals, and one that would appear in the form of a tree at this time—there was just one.
"World Tree."
He murmured quietly but clearly, naming her essence. Perhaps hearing that whisper-like voice? The mana within the World Tree rippled lightly.
-How did you know?
Curiosity outweighed wariness. At the unmistakably feminine voice, Raymond smirked and nodded.
The setting documents hadn't been wrong, after all.
"The situation made it easy to guess."
Raymond replied. As he said, everything fit too perfectly. Above all, anyone seeing such a massive tree would think of the 'World Tree.'
"So, what business does the World Tree 'main body' have with me?"
-You know quite a lot.
"It's just knowledge anyone could uncover with a little digging. Nothing impressive."
He said it nonchalantly, but knowledge of the World Tree's main body was obscure. That only piqued the World Tree's curiosity further.
-You've sparked my interest in you.
The World Tree was frank. She openly revealed her feelings.
"I'd prefer you get to the point..."
Even in a timeless space, being suddenly summoned from rest wasn't pleasant.
At Raymond's sharp tone, the World Tree finally realized her mistake.
-Sorry for calling you so abruptly. But my desire to repay my benefactor overrode everything, leading to this summons.
"Is that so?"
-Yes. Though the connection between my main body and avatars weakened after the Great War, it's not fully severed yet.
Raymond nodded calmly at the World Tree's words. Up to this point, it matched what he'd read in the setting documents.
-Losing an avatar weakens me as well.
The loss of an avatar meant weakening for the World Tree's main body.
-Lately, I've lost many avatars. So I've grown that much weaker.
"An organized attack?"
-I can't say yet. Though connected to each clan's World Tree, the links are infinitely weaker than in ancient times—I can barely confirm 'survival' status.
Unlike the East Continent where the allied races won the Great War, the West Continent's severance was severe. It was down to the bare minimum: confirming survival and supplying minimal nutrients between main body and avatars.
-That's why I'm grateful to you.
"How did you know I saved it? You said the connection is all but gone yourself."
It was a sharp point. Raymond's eyes narrowed.
-I sensed the magic swordsman's aura. Even weakened, how could I, who has an avatar there, miss such a tremendous outburst?
"Did others notice too?"
-Since my avatar was there, I sensed it faintly. You needn't worry about other 'beings' paying attention.
The World Tree spoke with firm conviction.
"So, what's the point?"
He'd veered off-topic for a moment.
-You're in a hurry. Very well, to the main matter.
Raymond nodded at the World Tree's words.
-Raymond, as thanks for protecting my avatar, I bestow upon you a blessing.
Raymond recalled the setting documents. There was only one blessing that came to mind from the World Tree herself.
'Blessing of the Eternal Forest.'
The one who receives this blessing shall have the forest at their back until their life ends.
As he recited the passage from the settings, he felt the World Tree's mana. The 'Blessing of the Eternal Forest' was being transmitted.
-It's done. Now, all elves of the West and East Continents recognize you as their 'benefactor.'
The World Tree declared calmly. Raymond still couldn't quite believe it.
'To think I'd receive the 'Blessing of the Eternal Forest' that even the protagonist never got...'
This was unexpected.