Chapter 116
Skevin had witnessed hell.
"Are you insane?"
Isabela reacted exactly like that to the plan I'd proposed—no, the one Jena had devised. Since I'd anticipated her response, I casually glanced at the Light Sword. Reading my eyes, the Light Sword ignored Isabela and voiced his opinion.
"The plan's not bad. The enemy won't see it coming. Even I didn't expect you'd suggest burning the Great Forest."
"No, this makes no sense!"
"Then just die."
I shot back at the fuming Isabela. It was beyond comprehension for elves who professed to love nature and forests, but to humans, torching a single woodland in war was no big deal. There was no reason for Jena or me to tailor our strategy to elven standards, and even Isabela couldn't deny this was the most efficient approach.
"Please reconsider. The Great Forest is our home—our lifeblood."
"That's your problem. And we're not burning the whole thing, right? Just part of it. Part."
Of course, that "part" was pretty substantial, but we weren't planning total incineration anyway. Plus, the operation zone was quite a distance from the World Tree, so their precious holy site would escape unscathed.
"Haa... Just kill me instead."
"I already said it. Die. What are you, a pervert? Why make me repeat myself?"
Isabela's face twisted like she'd bitten into something rotten as she glared at me. But that was all she could do. In the end, she'd have no choice but to accept our plan.
"Urgent report! The demon army's on the move!"
Just as Isabela was mulling her response, an elf burst in and delivered the news.
Nice timing.
With word of the demon army advancing, Isabela had no option but to decide.
**
"See? Those big-eared bitches are scrambling to flee."
Gazing at the elves getting one-sidedly pushed back, Balam crowed in smug confidence. He'd set out with the intent to capture and sample some elves, but the battle unfolding far more easily than expected had him in high spirits.
"Haa, they're just running nonstop. Hard to even grab one. Still, they'll corner themselves eventually, right?"
Kauli frowned at Balam's tongue-flicking disappointment. The battle favored them, sure, but the elves' weaker-than-expected resistance left him uneasy.
Why are they only retreating like this?
"Something's off. Very off."
The dark elf chief standing beside Kauli sensed the same strangeness. Yet Balam, their leader, remained utterly nonchalant despite the two demon executives voicing their unease.
"Pathetic weaklings. Worried even when things are going this well?"
"Balam, this is definitely suspicious. We've fought elves for ages and know them well. They never retreat this easily."
The dark elf chief retorted to Balam's mocking jab, but all he got in return was a cold sneer.
"Even if they had a chance, they'd blow it like idiots, scared shitless just like now."
"That's too harsh!"
"Harsh my ass. Hey, you black-eared freak. Answer me this: what do you think the elves gain by pulling back like this? Huh?"
The dark elf chief furrowed his brow at Balam's question but offered no reply. He felt the anxiety too, but he was just as clueless about why the elves were yielding ground so readily.
"Here's my take. That hero who showed up recently probably stirred up trouble with the elves. If something went down between the elf queen and the hero, it makes sense they'd rush back to base, no?"
"What convenient reasoning."
The dark elf chief stared in disbelief at Balam's theory, which twisted everything to his advantage.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter if I'm wrong. I'll just slaughter them all myself."
Overconfident bordering on arrogant, Balam left the chief speechless. Balam was stronger, and the chief had no solid counterargument anyway.
"Could be a lure."
Kauli, who'd been silently observing, spoke up. Wolves hunted strategically, luring prey for ambushes—a tactic wolfkin often employed.
"A lure? Ha, reinforcements are just that old Light Sword fart, the hero, and a handful of humans."
"True, but... what if it's a fire attack?"
Caught off-guard by Balam's sharp insight, Kauli blurted it out.
"Elves using fire? Best joke I've heard all year."
"...Kauli, even I think that's ridiculous."
Balam and the dark elf chief spoke in unison, and Kauli felt his face burn. Elves and fire attacks? Absurd, even to him.
**
"Is it really okay to keep retreating like this?"
"Dunno. Queen's orders, so we follow."
Emiri and Skevin, posted to the front lines after their scandal at the holy site, were chatting. Isabela had ordered them to earn merits in battle to atone, and they harbored no complaints about their merciful queen's judgment. But Skevin struggled to grasp her command to lure the demon army deep into the Great Forest.
Filthy demon feet treading the elves' Great Forest.
The mere thought soured his mood, and blaming it all on the hero—or rather, their own indiscretion caught by him—only muddled his head further.
"How far do we let them in?"
"Not yet, not yet. Rangers are still signaling—pull back more."
Regardless of Skevin's grumbling, the elf rangers directing them were drawing the enemy ever deeper. At least Skevin took solace that they were veering away from the holy site.
"Krit—krit!"
Unknown beasts screeched grotesquely, ravaging the Great Forest. Seeing the elves only retreat, they rampaged like they'd claimed the world itself. Trees the elves cherished snapped under massive bodies, forest creatures becoming mere snacks.
Urgh. I can't take this!
Watching a hidden deer torn by a beast-type monster's jaws, Skevin hit his limit. He yanked an arrow from his quiver and nocked it at the fiend.
"Skevin!"
Emiri's desperate cry rang out from his side, but he couldn't stop.
No more. I won't watch the elves' forest defiled by these filthy monsters.
Defying Queen Isabela, Skevin resolved to slay the beast himself. But then—
Unbelievable sights unfolded before him.
"Fire Wall! Heh... ahhn~!"
It began with a slender girl's voice. A lewd moan laced the end, but that hardly mattered. Skevin gaped at the massive firewall erupting in the elves' Great Forest. The flames swelled to devour everything he'd nurtured his whole life.
The forest wasn't the only victim. The intruding monsters suffered worst—acrid smells of searing flesh and agonized shrieks echoed everywhere.
"H-Hell..."
Skevin's grip slackened on his bowstring as he murmured. The surrounding elves reacted similarly.
"Everyone, snap out of it!"
Then their queen's voice pierced the dazed elves' ears.