85
085 ― Black Roots
Green-skinned giants advanced, destroying the forest as they marched.
Their innate bulk and the bones and muscles that supported it. The turbid yet all the more destructive Magi they had accumulated.
With the strength of their grip alone, they uprooted centuries-old trees, then wielded those uprooted trees like clubs to pulverize the forest.
Though not as orderly as human soldiers, they lined up and pressed forward, taking the breath away from those who beheld them.
"Stop them! Stop them!"
"Shoot their legs! Make them unable to move!"
The Elves were not idle either.
The soldiers of the Ellea family, guardians of this Oak Leaf Forest, immediately deployed to shoot arrows at the ogres.
The arrows shot by Elves were nothing more than thin acupuncture needles in size to the green giants, but even so, they were not without damage.
The arrows they shot concentrated on hitting joints in the legs—knees and ankles—and thanks to this, the ogres had to slow their advance and move to deal with the Elves.
"Damn it! To suddenly attack like this...!"
One Elf spat curses while drawing his bowstring.
Occasionally, one or two would attack. Such wandering ogres could be dealt with by firing warning shots to drive them away, or if threats didn't work, they could be killed or simply handled.
But this was the first time so many had attacked at once. At least dozens of giants who could uproot trees with their bare hands. Before such numbers, even veteran rangers who had guarded the forest for hundreds of years could only break out in cold sweat.
"Euaaak!"
An old tree swung by one ogre made a terrifying sound as it passed overhead.
He had avoided a direct hit but was knocked down by the wind. Hastily steadying himself and looking ahead, a shadow began to fall over his head.
Looking up, he saw the old tree falling rapidly, rushing to crush him.
'This is...'
Sensing death, his pupils dilated. This wasn't an attack that would end with just a few broken bones. It was already too close to avoid.
May this soul safely return to Mother World Tree. As he thought his final prayer while watching the falling tree.
Kwaang! Ujijik!
A gust of wind shot from the side, twisting and breaking the old tree. The wind that shattered the thick tree without stopping shot toward the ogre holding the tree as well. The ogre's body swayed greatly, then fell backward with a thud.
"Are you alright?"
"My lord!"
The man who had barely survived looked at his savior with a voice full of emotion. The guardian of Oak Leaf Forest, the head of the Ellea family. It was Lord Ionia who ruled this domain.
Following her gestures, wind gathered and swirled. Unlike the earlier gust, this time it was sharply honed, and the completed wind blade shot toward the ogre.
The ogre that was clumsily trying to get up had its neck severed and collapsed to the ground again. With a simple gesture, the monstrous ogre that had been uprooting and swinging trees was instantly killed.
"The lord has come!"
With her appearance, the morale of the Elves who had been pushed back dramatically rose.
Guardian of the forest. A high Elf born already blessed by the World Tree from birth. Her strength was at a level that ordinary Elves like them could hardly approach, even with a lifetime of training.
Even ogres that were difficult for them to handle could surely be easily dealt with if it were their lord.
Indeed, with Ionia's participation, the battle situation changed dramatically.
Compared to before, when the best they could do was somehow shoot ogre joints to topple them, Ionia's wind instantly severed ogre necks, limbs, or even their thickest waists.
The Elves regained their momentum, and Ionia continued processing the ogres indifferently while anticipating victory.
'What on earth is happening?'
Even while defending the forest, her mind was spinning rapidly.
'For so many ogres to unite and attack like this is no ordinary matter.'
Ogres were not creatures that acted in groups. Rather, they were a belligerent race that would fight even more savagely when meeting their own kind.
Even if there were powerful enemies, it was the ogre way to charge in alone and die gloriously rather than form groups.
Yet such an assault. With the intuition that something ominous was happening somewhere she didn't know, Ionia couldn't let her guard down.
"Foolish creatures. Mother World Tree will not forgive your insolence."
Even as she spoke with anger and wielded the wind, she couldn't stop her ominous premonition.
***
Jin-woo was observing the battle situation while hiding.
At first, the Elves seemed to be having a hard time, but at some point, it reversed. It was after a woman in fluttering clothes flew in and joined the battle.
'If there are no major variables, they'll win comfortably.'
Seeing the wind the woman wielded, he could feel that the ogres couldn't handle her. No matter how mighty the ogres' strength, they seemed unable to withstand that wind.
Then, a strange sight caught Jin-woo's eye.
Around the ogres, something faint like a mirage was shimmering.
"Jin-woo!"
"Rona?"
Jin-woo looked at Rona as if seeing an unexpected person. With such events happening, he naturally thought she would be helping them fight the ogres.
"Jin-woo, are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
"As you can see, I'm fine. But shouldn't you be fighting alongside them?"
"I tried talking to Lord Ellea, but she refused, saying they could protect it with their own strength. That protecting the forest is the guardian's role and pride."
What kind of talk is that?
When Jin-woo made an expression of not understanding, Rona smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"High Elves have many promises they call pride. They might be promises made with others or promises made with themselves. One of them is that the forest they rule must be protected by their own hands."
Just from the words, it seemed like a good saying symbolizing responsibility, but the emotion reflected in Rona's eyes was not so.
It looked pathetic... That might be an exaggerated expression, but at least the pessimistic feeling was certain.
"Did you want to help?"
"Me?"
"You're making a face like you don't like it."
Only then realizing her own expression, Rona rubbed both cheeks and straightened her face. She, who was trying to return to her original expression, soon gave up and sighed.
"Rather than wanting to help, I felt sorry seeing them stubbornly refuse help. I've seen a family that was ruined because of that before."
Her family was like that, too. It was clearly a crisis situation by anyone's view, but they stubbornly refused to ask for outside help. Outsiders also knew High Elf pride, so they didn't extend their hands first.
The result was the destruction of the family.
Though she remained as the last bloodline, she, too, was ultimately saved by someone unknown. Without the help of others, not a single bloodline would have remained, and the lineage would have been cut off.
Therefore, she also felt sorry for Lord Ellea's attitude. When there was strength, that pride would establish the family's authority and raise the people's trust, but the moment strength disappeared, it would break.
"......"
When Rona closed her mouth, Jin-woo also found it hard to ask.
Thinking about it, Rona was also a High Elf with the name Garcia. But in the many days he had spent with her, he had never heard stories about her family.
It was certain this was a topic she didn't want to talk about much. Though he wasn't without curiosity, someday she would tell him herself.
"Jin-woo, I have a request."
Then Rona cautiously brought up a topic.
"What is it?"
"I know your situation is urgent, but could we stay and watch a little before leaving? Just half a day, no, just half of that."
If he hadn't seen anything, he might have pondered it a bit, but now Jin-woo also had a reason to stay for a while.
He turned his head to look again at the mirage covering the ogre group he had seen earlier.
What appeared faintly was simply appearing faintly because its power was weak. Unlike what met the eye, Jin-woo had grasped its essence.
'...It's similar to Grisella's case.'
Grisella, who had been connected to a corruption core and controlled. It was very similar to her case.
Of course, the power was much weaker than then, appearing only faintly. It wasn't like feeling the intense presence of when a heavenly god had partially descended.
But it was certainly the energy of corruption. Perhaps there was a lord's minion nearby who had orchestrated this situation.
There might be a minion—when he said this, Rona's eyes immediately sparkled.
"Let's find them!"
If they caught that bastard, they could drive away all those ogre groups destroying the forest.
It was the best means available to her right now.
***
Though they said they would search, it wasn't difficult.
They just had to grasp the energy covering the ogre group, find where it flowed from, and trace it to its origin.
They only had to be careful not to encounter Ionia or other Elves, since that wouldn't be good. With everyone fighting, it wasn't difficult either.
However.
"It seems to have been hiding within the domain."
"To think it was this close..."
The problem was that the end of that flow led toward the Ellea domain.
Rona didn't matter, but Jin-woo had nothing good to gain from being discovered. If a human appeared in a domain where Elves lived, it would surely cause a commotion.
"Pull your hood down tight when you enter. Be careful not to let the wind blow it off."
Rona checked Jin-woo's appearance as he put on his hood. He was tightly wrapped in a large robe, and he especially made sure his hood was pressed down so his ears wouldn't show.
With the battle outside, the domain entrance was quite chaotic, but thanks to Rona, they could enter easily. The guards already knew her face and were well aware that she was a guest of the lord and a High Elf.
Not daring to object to her words and lowering their posture extremely, seeing the guards made him realize anew how rigid a class system Elven society was.
Still, it was fortunate now. Otherwise, he would have been questioned, and his short ears would have been immediately discovered.
"Where is it?"
"This way."
Having safely entered the domain, the next guidance was Jin-woo's turn. Though he didn't know the domain's geography, only he could sense the corruption energy now visible.
The place they arrived at was the most secluded place in the domain. Should it be called a slum or a ghetto?
The only place in the domain of green and brown forest that had a grayish, gloomy atmosphere.
There was a man wearing a hood similar to Jin-woo's.
The difference was that while Jin-woo wore a plain brown robe without patterns, the other wore black robes embroidered with silver thread. At a glance, it looked like priest robes.
Robes that didn't suit the slum. And a face hidden by a hood.
"Well, well, who is this. Isn't this Sir Garcia?"
The man looked at Rona, smiled, and removed his hood. The face hidden beneath was an Elf with dark skin. A Dark Elf.
Jin-woo, who already knew from seeing the flames, wasn't surprised, but Rona was not the same. Her eyes widened greatly, and she instantly drew her sword.
It was an appearance without the slightest hesitation, as if it wasn't simply because he was a Dark Elf.
"Black King!"
Rona was actually shocked to encounter a person she never thought she would meet in such a place.
King of the Dark Elves, Guardian of the Deepest Roots, the Wandering Pilgrim.
Just as her queen, the White Queen, was a priestess who served the World Tree, he too, as king of the Dark Elves, was a priest who served the World Tree.
The only difference was that while the queen could not leave the White Tower, the king could not be bound to one place. He was one who was always compelled to wander without a fixed abode.
Therefore, it wouldn't be strange to encounter him anywhere, but even so, meeting him in the middle of a domain ruled by High Elves was unexpected.
Meanwhile, Jin-woo was surprised for a different reason than Rona.
'That man...'
In a place not easily visible to the naked eye, inside the robes. Black roots were wrapped around the man's feet.
'I don't even need to go to the royal palace, do I?'
He had found the roots of the World Tree.