You Incest-Obsessed Freaks
A golden-haired male High Elf suddenly appeared beside the gate. The reason I could tell he was a High Elf was simple. He was wearing a distinctive earring only on his right ear. And that earring was identical to the one the balding loudmouth Lucianer had been wearing. A green ornament inside a dented blue circle. It was a piece of jewelry that marked him as belonging to the Pond Leaf Tribe among the High Elf clans.
"Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry, Lady Ersciana?"
"......H-how..."
Elsia froze in place, her face turning deathly pale. The shock must have been too much for her; she couldn't even form proper words. Her eyes were filled with pure terror, and all she could do was point a trembling finger at the High Elf.
"It's been a while. Shall we have a little chat?"
"How on earth... are you here right now...?"
"It's simple, really."
The High Elf gave a faint smile and tapped his own head as he spoke.
"For some reason, I had a feeling that Lady Ersciana would be coming this way today."
"T-this can't be..."
"You look so startled. Did you not expect to run into me today?"
The High Elf then performed an excessively archaic bow. He stepped his left foot back, crossed it behind him, placed his left hand behind his back, and swept his right hand in a wide arc inward while lowering his head. Then he lifted only his head to look at Elsia and continued.
"Or perhaps you saw me on a different day?"
"Th-that..."
"For example, a few years from now?"
"......Don't tell me you're also..."
"Enough idle chatter. Now, will you come with me?"
Elsia stood there, unable to say a word. The shock that had filled her eyes began to give way to other emotions. Sadness. Hatred. Despair. Resentment. It was the face of someone who had completely given up. The High Elf reached out toward that resigned Elsia.
But his hand never reached her.
-CRUNCH!!
"Aaaargh!! You son of a bitch!"
"This meat's pretty tough, you expired fuck. Should've slapped a discount sticker on you."
"...Darling..."
Because I had sunk my teeth into the High Elf's hand. He yanked it back in pain, frantically pulling away from me. I stepped in front of Elsia, shielding her, and glared at the High Elf who was still rubbing his hand.
Right on cue, Hye-ji and Jung Ayeon came running over to Elsia.
"Elsia! Are you okay?"
"Lady Elsia! Are you injured anywhere?"
The moment she saw Hye-ji and Jung Ayeon, Elsia's legs gave out and she nearly collapsed. The two of them quickly caught her. Looked like the tension had finally drained all the strength from her body.
Meanwhile, the High Elf shook out his hand, looked at my face, and suddenly twisted his expression into something vicious.
"Aha! So it's you! I'm truly blessed with luck today!"
"Fuck off."
"Greetings, inferior species Kim Shinu."
"I'm not happy to see your tiny-dick ass, so hurry up and fuck off."
The High Elf regained his composure, though his eyes were still burning with rage toward me. He spoke in a low voice.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am one who has received the blessing of the World Tree—"
"Get to the point, you water hyacinth bastard."
A vein bulged on the High Elf's forehead.
"...I am Sharit of the Pond Leaf Tribe."
"Don't keep the fast-paced nation waiting."
"And."
Sharit paused to catch his breath. Then, with a sleazy smile, he continued.
"I am the father of Lucianer, whom you humiliated."
"Wanted to see what the dad's mug looked like. Like father, like son, huh."
"Keep running that mouth of yours."
With those words, Sharit raised his right hand like he was making an oath. Suddenly, over a dozen elf warriors revealed themselves from hiding all around us. They'd clearly been concealed in advance and had only shown themselves at his signal.
"Because that will be the last time you ever do."
The pressure they gave off was on a completely different level from the elf warriors we'd faced before. Their varied armaments suggested each one was equipped with personalized high-quality gear. The one common feature among them was the earring on their right ears proving they were High Elves. Of course, the designs were all different. However, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a single one with the sky-blue butterfly pattern that matched Elsia's earring. It seemed her tribe wasn't present here.
On the other hand, two elf warriors wearing the exact same earring as Sharit stood beside him like bodyguards, holding a spear and an axe.
"I will give you two choices."
Sharit held up his index and middle fingers toward me. Then he folded the middle one and spoke.
"First. Bow your head, beg for your life, and leave Lady Ersciana behind."
Suddenly Sharit grinned. As he folded down his index finger, his face looked even filthier than before.
"Second. Put up a pathetic resistance and die here. To be honest, I prefer this option."
"Dude, where the hell do you get the confidence to act like this? There's actually one seriously dangerous person here, you know."
"Grrrrrrrr."
Hearing my words, Hye-ji began to growl. Sharit burst into maniacal laughter at the sight, wiping away the tears that had formed in his eyes.
"Everyone here is the elite of the elite! They are the Great Elf Warriors! Do you really think you insects can defeat them?"
Great Elf Warriors. An organization formed by selecting only the tiniest fraction of elf warriors with exceptional martial prowess. Since elves were already a long-lived species, these Great Elf Warriors were essentially ancient relics aged to perfection over countless years.
'No wonder they felt different from the ones we fought earlier.'
[This might get a little dangerous.]
At that moment, Elsia shook off Hye-ji and Jung Ayeon's support and stepped forward. Her expression showed that she had made up her mind.
"That's enough."
"Oh! So, Lady Ersciana. Have you made your decision?"
"......If I just go with you, that'll be it, right?"
"A wise choice!"
Sharit began clapping his hands with exaggerated enthusiasm. Once the applause died down, he spoke to Elsia.
"Even though Lady Ersciana is not of pure blood, the World Tree has recognized your talent highly."
"......"
"Moreover, the Sky Butterfly Tribe has only you, Lady Elsia. If you do not breed, the tribe's continued existence will be in jeopardy."
"......"
"Although you carry the filthy blood of a short-lived species, three-quarters of you is undeniably High Elf. The Pond Leaf Tribe will treat you with the utmost respect."
"......I see."
Elsia answered in a completely hollow voice. Whether she did or not, Sharit kept running his mouth.
"Through breeding with Lady Elsia, who possesses overwhelming talent, we elves will become superior beings unlike any other!"
"......"
"Do not worry too much. The blood of short-lived species will disappear quickly after a few generations!"
Suddenly Elsia turned to look at us. She gave us a bright smile, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.
"Thank you everyone! But it looks like we won't be seeing each other at the Academy for a while!"
"...Elsia."
"But darling! We will definitely meet again! We always have before!"
"......"
"So please wait for me! It's a promise!"
Elsia spoke with even higher energy and tension than usual, her voice full of forced cheer. But no matter how you looked at it, it was nothing but a fake smile.
When we didn't respond, Elsia simply turned around and walked toward Sharit. At that moment, Sharit was kneeling and politely extending his hand toward her. The instant Elsia took her final step to take that hand—
Hye-ji and I each grabbed one of Elsia's shoulders. She looked back at us with a momentarily startled expression, then smiled bitterly.
"It's okay. I managed to escape last time too."
But we ignored her words. Hye-ji and I simply locked eyes. Nothing but a single glance passed between us. Then we hurled Elsia backward with all our strength—straight toward where Jung Ayeon was standing.
Without any signal at all, Jung Ayeon caught the flying Elsia perfectly. The moment Elsia was suddenly pulled away, Sharit's earlier composure vanished, replaced by explosive fury.
"Young master! Young lady! I caught her!"
"Do you even realize what the hell you've just done?!"
Hye-ji and I charged at Sharit at the same time. We both brought our weapons down toward his head simultaneously. Hye-ji used a polearm with an axe blade on the side. I used two maces materialized from the 3 o'clock position of my mana tattoo.
The two Great Elf Warriors who had been standing beside Sharit barely managed to block our assault.
"Ugh!!"
"What insane strength!!"
I reinforced my right foot with mana and kicked with everything I had at the leg of the elf warrior blocking my mace with his spear. The warrior's balance was thrown off for a split second. I used that opening to sweep his spear aside with one mace in my left hand while stepping forward with my left foot. Then I slammed the mace in my right hand into the inner part of the arm holding the spear.
-BAM!
"Gahk! You short-lived bastard!"
"Filthy blood? Pure blood? What the fuck does that matter!!"
Meanwhile, Hye-ji's attack was being blocked by the other warrior's axe blade. She hooked the inner part of her polearm's axe head onto his axe, then stomped down hard on her polearm's shaft with her foot. The sudden force made the elf warrior flinch for a moment. Hye-ji didn't miss the chance and materialized a shotgun, unloading a barrage of bullets into him.
-BANG!
"Aaaargh! What kind of monster—!"
"Breeding? Breeding? You fuckers treat people like baby-making machines!!!"
The Great Elf Warriors still calmly caught their breath with veteran composure and returned to Sharit's side, watching us warily. Sharit, having regained his senses, opened his mouth again.
"You short-lived species could never understand! Among all long-lived races, we elves are the most superior—!"
Hye-ji and I shouted in unison, cutting off Sharit's words as we charged at the two Great Elf Warriors. The warriors immediately launched their own attacks. One thrust his spear at my solar plexus. The other swung his massive axe down at Hye-ji's head.
I leaped diagonally and kicked the side of the axe swinging toward Hye-ji. At the same time, Hye-ji knocked away the side of the spear shaft flying at my solar plexus with her elbow.
"What?!"
"How is this possible?!"
The Great Elf Warriors didn't panic. They quickly discarded their weapons that had been thrown off course and raised the massive shield that had been behind Sharit, preparing for our next attack. It was so enormous that calling it a shield felt wrong; it was basically a wall. The two warriors were holding it up together.
In response, Hye-ji materialized a pile bunker in her right hand, and I condensed mana in my left. We didn't exchange a single word. Yet we attacked at the exact same moment without the slightest error.
-BOOM!
-KABOOOOOOM!!!
The pile bunker pierced straight through the shield, and through that gap, the mana from my Cheonma Repulsor exploded outward. The shield that the Great Elf Warriors had boasted was impregnable was instantly reduced to tattered rags. The two warriors were sent flying into the distance from the shockwave. Now, the only one left trembling before us was Sharit.
We looked around, then fixed our eyes on Sharit and spoke.
"Come at us, you incest-obsessed fuckwits."
"Time to show you the terror of outbreeding."