Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Day the World Turned Upside Down
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An elf with translucent skin, dazzling blonde hair, long ears, and a beautiful face muttered while looking in the mirror.
“I don’t like it…….”
The elf raked her nails across her own face, leaving scratches.
But she felt nothing. Blood began to flow from her reflection in the mirror, yet the elf’s eyes remained vacant, as if gazing at another world.
“Why are you here again?”
In the midst of that, she turned her head and raised her voice.
“I’ve done everything you asked. It was certainly fast-acting. Mixing it into the drinking water had them all charging at the humans in a frenzy.”
At that moment, a bandaged man slowly rose from a corner of the wide room.
“We prepared a very meticulous poison for this side as well. You did well, my lord. But aren’t you worried about your people?”
“An elf worrying?”
The elf snorted in response.
“Worrying is for short-lived races. I’m too old to live with worries like that. Whether my people live or die—it has nothing to do with me.”
The oldest tribe among all elves scattered across the world: the Eternal Forest Elves.
Chilling words flowed from the mouth of that very Eternal Forest Elf Lord. The sponsor shrugged his shoulders in surprise.
“And you still call yourself a lord? The elves under you must have it rough. Of course, that’s exactly why I like it all the more.”
“This could be a chance for the elves to go extinct entirely. Or we could smash that human empire and seize hegemony over the continent.”
“Extremes, indeed. As expected, you and I see eye to eye, my lord.”
“What does it matter? I don’t have many years left anyway. No matter how it turns out, I need a change.”
The elf spun around, clutching her shoulders.
“Three thousand years have passed, yet my body hasn’t changed a bit. The world I live in hasn’t changed either.”
“I’ve experienced countless races across numerous dimensions, but you elves are the first I’ve seen who remain unchanged for so long.”
“Fascinating?”
“More than that, my kind has some expertise in immortality ourselves. It gives me a sense of kinship in various ways.”
“Is that so? Then you must understand this isn’t something impossible. Anyway, you’ll keep your promise, right?”
“Of course. Since it came up, would you like to take a look?”
When the sponsor snapped his fingers, the space behind him opened, revealing deep darkness.
“……Hm?”
The elf’s eyes narrowed as she peered into the darkness.
“There’s a bunch of weird stuff inside?”
“Yes? Ah, my mistake. I opened the armory by accident. That’s not what I meant to show you.”
The sponsor snapped his fingers again.
Snap!
A new space opened, revealing the dazzling scenery of a city.
“Oh…….”
Even the elf’s dead eyes sparkled with life.
Endlessly stretching buildings of dizzying height.
Mysterious metal carriages darting between them, as fast as Ancient Wolves.
And a circular arena teeming with thousands, tens of thousands of people.
Even more astonishing was the image projected from a pillar at the arena’s center.
Events unfolding right here, right now.
The war between elves and humans.
More precisely, the frenzied Eternal Forest Elves and the Payud Empire’s White Knight Order crumbling under an unexpected ambush—their brutal battle.
“The battle has already begun.”
The elf lord smiled at the sight as well.
“One person’s tragedy is another’s comedy, as they say. It seems you lot enjoy the farce from another world.”
“It’s one of the most popular pastimes. However, lately, the higher-ups have grown dissatisfied. They feel our sponsorship efforts aren’t yielding proper results.”
“The higher-ups. You mean that Committee you mentioned before?”
“The Committee is a concept even higher than that. Of course, if we keep this up, we might eventually join that concept ourselves, but we’re still a long way off.”
“There’s a sky above the sky. Well, even beneath pathetic worms, there are smaller worms.”
“As expected of my lord—you’re wise.”
The sponsor laughed, covering his mouth with his fingers.
“What I just showed you is all a secret. I’m only giving you this special privilege because you’re a special existence. We keep it all secret from the others.”
“Very impressive. I once sneaked into the empire’s capital, Emperoroad…… I thought it was quite prosperous. But it’s nothing compared to your city.”
The elf gazed at the otherworldly city with an entranced expression.
“By the way.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“That armory you showed me briefly.”
“Ah, the one I accidentally revealed?”
“You’re going to attack with those monsters inside? The invasion starting in nine years?”
“You could see those things in the darkness? You have incredible eyesight.”
The sponsor asked in astonishment. The elf wiped the dried blood from her face and frowned.
“It’s nothing special. More importantly, didn’t you say your goal is the destruction of our world?”
“That’s right, but?”
“Then why go to all this trouble laying the groundwork? If even a fraction of what I just saw crosses over…… this world would be reduced to ashes in an instant, empire or no.”
“You can see that?”
“Yes. Now this is a truly meaningful ability born from living so long.”
The elf tapped around her eyes with her finger. The sponsor clapped and nodded.
“An amazing ability. However, my lord, you’re underestimating your own world too much. Your dimension has far higher potential than you think.”
“Potential?”
“Most newly discovered dimensions fail the ‘test’ and vanish. But yours has a very high evaluation for overcoming it and joining the new world.”
“Why?”
The elf asked back with an incredulous face.
“It’s a pathetic dimension ruled by short-lived races who don’t even live a century? Are those humans stronger than I thought?”
“It’s more fundamental than that.”
“Fundamental. I don’t get what you mean.”
“There are fundamentally special existences here. It’s just that you residents aren’t utilizing them.”
“Hm. You mean spirits or something?”
The elf finally seemed to understand and nodded.
“We happen to have one ourselves. A tree spirit. But as the elves’ guardian deity, we don’t casually contract or control it.”
“That could be one example. Not all of them, though.”
“There are other factors? Like the five gods the humans worship, maybe?”
“That’s another hard-to-calculate variable. Immense potential. That’s why we’re doing our utmost within the rules’ limits—or exploiting their blind spots—until the day we invade your dimension.”
“So what do you gain from it?”
The elf pointed to the sponsor’s still-open dimension.
“If you destroy our dimension and prevent us from joining your world, what exactly do you gain?”
“The dimension itself is the reward and prize.”
The sponsor began slowly unwrapping the bandages around his fingers.
“As you can see, we’re existences composed differently from you.”
The bare skin beneath the bandages was astonishingly a formless, pitch-black shadow. The elf stared at it with wide eyes and muttered.
“Energy……. Magic? The flow of mana itself as life……. Can such a lifeform even exist?”
“Your eyesight is sharp as ever. Of course, we weren’t always like this. Our ancestors were flesh-and-blood beings like you. But in pursuing immortality, we ended up like this.”
“Immortality. So that’s why you feel kinship with elves.”
“Thanks to that, we achieve immortality if conditions are met. But conversely, we can’t sustain life through normal means. So we have to absorb a dimension’s power to gain energy.”
“And a dimension drained of energy?”
“It vanishes once fully drained.”
“Dimension predation. How in the world……. Hm. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”
The elf shrugged one shoulder with a languid expression.
“A world like this— even if it crumbles, I feel nothing. A world led by those ugly humans. Even if we elves took control instead, I doubt it’d change much.”
“My, you’re quite harsh in your evaluation of your own race.”
“I’ve watched for thousands of years. So I’ll cooperate however. Just keep your promise.”
“Of course. The moment this world is destroyed, we’ll accept you alone as a special case into our world.”
“But there’s still nine years left.”
The elf let out a long sigh.
“Never has such a short time felt so endlessly long.”
“No, it might be even less than that.”
The sponsor smiled and wiggled his empty fingers.
“We just passed a special ritual with the Committee. Thanks to that, we can send a portion of our army as a taste.”
“Didn’t you say the Committee is extremely strict? They actually approved that?”
“Fortunately, a solar eclipse is coming to this world.”
“Solar eclipse?”
“The phenomenon where the moon covers the sun.”
The sponsor looked up at the ceiling.
“A massive shadow follows, blanketing this world. That lets us open a temporary gate, if only briefly.”
“You’re sending those monsters I saw through that gate?”
“Not all of them—just a part.”
“That part alone will turn the world upside down. If we’re betting, I’d put my money on us not holding out and collapsing.”
“I hope so too. It’s not a small risk for us.”
“Risk? Why?”
“If we invade with a small force and you manage to defend, won’t it make things harder for us when the real game begins later?”
A silence followed. The elf narrowed her eyes and began to nod.
“You’re right. The moment they realize an external enemy, they’ll band together. They’ll prepare and respond desperately.”
“Exactly. Failure on our part creates real danger. I might even have to stake my life as responsibility.”
“Then let me ask the reverse. Why take such a risk? You could safely end it in nine years anyway?”
“There are several reasons…… but a variable has arisen.”
“Variable?”
“A certain variable is growing too fast. If nine years pass like this, we can’t guarantee our unconditional victory.”
“That’s interesting. But if this taste fails, won’t it be even riskier?”
“Of course we’ve prepared extensively.”
Snap!
The sponsor snapped his fingers again, and the dimension behind turned pitch-black once more.
“This taste will be beyond anything you imagine.”
“Hm, it’s still terrifying even on second look.”
“We’ve gathered bioweapons strong enough for the third— no, fourth wave. The Committee couldn’t even complain if they tried. We even secretly recruited talents from your world to exceed the regulated troop limits.”
“Talents from this world? You’ve recruited well. Were there others as hopeless as me?”
“It’s complicated to explain. Anyway, this one expedition will topple the Payud Empire. That cuts off the variable, and the rest will crumble and vanish.”
“It happens to be right when the elves are attacking the empire too. Is everything going according to your plan?”
“The more the elves rampage, the sooner the world’s end comes. No need to wait another nine years.”