Soldier? No, Tool?
The atmosphere among the Elf Great Warriors glaring at us had turned extremely grim. If they had shown only mild caution at first, they were now openly radiating killing intent toward us. Even the two Elf Great Warriors who had been sent flying earlier reappeared completely unscathed. Despite the fact that neither Hye-ji's nor my attacks had been weak, the lack of so much as a single scratch made it clear that the title "Elf Great Warrior" was no mere empty boast.
Sharit had abandoned all traces of composure. Stammering slightly, he vented his fury.
"Y-you bastards!!! H-how dare you challenge the Elf Great Warriors!!!"
As if responding to Sharit's words, the Elf Great Warriors began slowly tightening their encirclement and advancing on us. Elsia still looked anxious, while Jung Ayeon supported her and quietly glared at the surrounding elves. Seeing our state, Sharit burst into loud laughter and regained his earlier momentum.
"Hahahahaha!!! In the end, you've chosen death!!"
"......So you really want to see blood, huh?"
"How amusing! You're all going to die here anyway!!!"
"This was your decision, wasn't it? In the end, you chose to take what you want through violence."
At that moment, Piece spoke in an unusually tense voice.
[Nothing is more dangerous than the Elf Great Warriors getting serious!]
'Getting serious?' That was fine by me. The current season in the story was winter, after all. It was time for us to get a little serious too.
I glanced at Hye-ji. She noticed my gaze and met my eyes.
"Shinwoo, what are we going to do? Are we just going to stand here?"
"Shall we start removing the restrictions?"
"How?"
"......Violation."
"!!!!"
Hye-ji's movements came to an abrupt halt. She said nothing, simply staring at me with wide, startled eyes, as if asking whether I was really going to do it.
Watching her reaction, I began reciting the next codes.
"Flame."
"Disaster."
"Explosion."
Hye-ji's aura was slowly changing. True to their veteran status, the Elf Great Warriors immediately grew extremely wary of the shift in her presence. They stopped advancing and stood frozen, cold sweat dripping down their faces. It was clearly because of Hye-ji's sudden transformation.
I continued reciting the codes without pause.
"Breast."
"Absence."
"Extinction."
"Despair."
"Wrath."
"Death."
Everyone had fallen silent, their eyes fixed solely on Hye-ji. She neither growled nor shouted like before. She simply stood there quietly, her gaze unfocused.
I spoke the final code.
"Tool."
In that instant, a chilling focus returned to Hye-ji's eyes. Although the Great Forest was always warm regardless of the season, the space we occupied now felt as though winter itself had arrived.
"I will comply with the order."
Winter Hye-ji had descended. Moments ago she had been normal Hye-ji, trying to minimize casualties. Now she was Winter Hye-ji, who cared nothing for such things—an existence immune to reason or logic.
[You crazy bastard! That's not brainwashing, that's just taking off her leash!]
'Ah, they'll figure it out on their own.'
The Elf Great Warriors instinctively sensed that death had come for them. In particular, every single female elf among them clutched her chest tightly and began inching backward. They had intuitively realized that the intense killing intent was focused on their breasts.
However, Sharit, who lacked that level of instinct, gave the order to the Elf Great Warriors.
"Kill them immediately!"
"B-but Lord Sharit! That one is..."
"Don't make me laugh! And you still call yourselves Elf Great Warriors?!"
"This is suicide!!!"
One of the Elf Great Warriors protested vehemently. Sharit grabbed him by the collar, veins bulging in his eyes as he glared.
"If you waste this golden opportunity and run away, the Pond Leaf Tribe will hold you fully responsible!"
"Kgh! Damn it."
The Elf Great Warrior let out a sigh and muttered a curse. When Sharit released his collar, the warrior looked at us with resigned eyes and prepared to charge. But the Elf Great Warriors' assault never began. The World Tree, which had revived like a cockroach, urgently stopped everyone with a resounding telepathic message.
「My children!! Please, all of you stop!!!!!」
Upon hearing the World Tree's voice, the Elf Great Warriors quietly exhaled sighs of relief. They had taken one step back from death. Sharit then began questioning the World Tree.
"World Tree! Why are you stopping us?!"
「If we simply wage war, we may die.」
"We won't know unless we try!!!"
「I'm telling you we'll definitely die, you fucking bastard!!」
The World Tree had cast aside all formality because its own survival was at stake. Sharit, who clearly hadn't expected such a reaction, stood there dumbfounded for a moment. Then he voiced his opinion again.
"Then are we supposed to just stand here and do nothing?!"
「Do not worry.」
The World Tree answered Sharit in a relatively gentle tone. Then it shifted its attention from Sharit to Elsia.
「Ersciana, shall we make a wager with this body?」
"......What kind of wager do you propose?"
The World Tree spoke calmly, with a hint of joy in its voice.
「I wager your freedom.」
The offer was too tempting for Elsia to refuse.
***
The World Tree's proposal was simple: we would duel the Elf Great Warriors, and the winning side's demands would be accepted. Each side would select three fighters to battle one-on-one, and the first side to secure two victories would win. Defeat could be determined in three ways—by declaring surrender, losing consciousness, or dying.
We had been planning to unleash Hye-ji and wipe them all out, so we naturally protested and added our own conditions. We demanded that today's events be treated as an internal matter of the Great Forest, with no involvement or responsibility attributed to the Korean government or the Academy.
[Getting the nation or the Academy involved would be a headache.]
'Hye-ji's dad could also take damage, given the nature of his job.'
The head elf had clearly ordered the elf warriors earlier to contact the Korean government and the Academy. We had no intention of getting tangled up in pointless issues.
By the time enough time had passed for Hye-ji's original self to return, the head elf came running toward us, panting, and presented a written oath. Its contents were as follows:
- The Korean government and the Academy bear no responsibility whatsoever for any events occurring in the Great Forest today.
- All events occurring in the Great Forest today are mutually inviolable, and any violation shall be considered a unilateral termination of the peace agreement.
- Regardless of any casualties, neither side shall bear any responsibility and shall bear the consequences themselves.
There were several additional clauses, but they all carried the same meaning: no one would take responsibility for or interfere in today's events. Only after confirming that we would no longer be involved did we finally accept the World Tree's proposal.
***
Currently, we were facing off in the elves' traditional dueling grounds. Though called a dueling arena, it was simply an open grassy area with the World Tree visible in the distance. That was all. In the center stood our group and the Elf Great Warriors, surrounded by countless elves.
We were waiting for the Elf Great Warriors to select their fighters. After all, our side only had three participants: me, Hye-ji, and Jung Ayeon. Meanwhile, only two fighters stepped forward from the Elf Great Warriors' side. They were the two who had been standing beside Sharit earlier, wearing the same earrings as him.
"Why are only you two coming out?"
The two Elf Great Warriors looked completely identical. Strikingly handsome features. Flowing golden hair. Tall stature and, for elves, remarkably muscular builds. The only visible difference was their primary weapons. The one holding a spear sneered and spoke.
"Since the two of us will win everything anyway, there's no need to send everyone out."
"I'm going to beat the crap out of you. Come here, you bastard."
"I'll get my revenge for earlier."
I asked Jung Ayeon to stay beside Elsia. The axe-wielding Elf Great Warrior's eyes widened slightly in alarm as he urgently spoke to the spear-wielder.
"Hey, Fabian! I don't want to die!! There's no way we can beat that red-haired woman!"
"You're the number one ranked Elf Great Warrior, so why are you whining?"
"Then you do it! You're ranked second, so there's not much difference between us!"
"......Hey! You black-haired inferior! You said you wanted to fight me, right?"
The spear-wielding Elf Great Warrior averted his gaze from the one he had called "brother" and forced himself to address me. From the way they spoke, they seemed to be brothers. At that moment, I thought of Lucian, the bald-eared elf from the same tribe.
"You two—are you that Lucian's younger brothers or something?"
"Hah! That bastard doesn't even deserve to be called our brother!"
"He's a disgrace to our tribe. Don't compare us to him."
Both Elf Great Warriors twisted their faces in genuine disgust. It seemed Lucian's reputation was poor even within his own family. Then the two suddenly struck flashy poses, crossed their weapons, and pointed them at us. The spear-wielder spoke first, followed by the axe-wielder.
"Since it's come to this, I'll introduce myself like a proper warrior! I am the second-ranked Elf Great Warrior! Fabianerda of the Pond Leaf Tribe!"
"First-ranked Elf Great Warrior. Demianerda of the Pond Leaf Tribe."
"We will definitely win! For the honor of the Pond Leaf Tribe!"
"......Save me....... No, I'll survive. Definitely..."
"Now it's your turn to introduce yourselves!"
Hye-ji and I didn't bother with any poses. We simply looked at the elf brothers and spoke.
"Elf salesman."
"Me."
Now that we had given our names, it was time for self-introductions.
"For sale: elves, never used."
"These fucking bastards."
Relatively tame, all things considered.