86
086 ― It's Me, That Guy
Unlike ordinary Elves who settle in forests, Dark Elves were a nomadic people.
Being a relatively small minority, they did not settle in specific forests for hundreds of years, but instead lived a wandering life, moving their dwellings at regular intervals.
Even so, they, too, were Elves who craved the forest's blessing. Therefore, they had long been at the center of disputes and conflicts.
High Elves who guarded a single forest for hundreds or thousands of years, protecting that place, and Dark Elves who entered forests as nomads and freely took away the blessings as they pleased.
Their positions were bound to clash.
From the perspective of High Elves who proclaimed themselves guardians of the forest, they were no different from a band of thieves.
Conversely, from the perspective of the freely wandering Dark Elves, High Elves were nothing more than occupiers who had arbitrarily taken over forests that belonged to everyone.
Their ways of life, the cultures they had cultivated, their ways of loving the forest. Even their skin colors were different—these two clans continued their conflict to this day without being able to harmonize.
"Did I come somewhere I shouldn't have, Sir Garcia? Aren't we allied for the healing of Mother World Tree?"
"Keuk......"
Rona was rendered speechless by the words of the man called the Black King.
Rona knew well about the alliance. She had even personally carried out the mission of entering the Gate with the Dark Elves.
The two kings had joined hands to find a way to heal Mother World Tree, which was gradually withering, and the alliance had not been broken to this day.
But that was precisely why Rona couldn't help but be even more infuriated.
"You speak well of alliance. Have you forgotten about raiding Belen Village?"
"Belen Village—you mean the village at the edge of this forest? Did it suffer some kind of beast attack?"
"Don't pretend you don't know! There's no way you, as king, wouldn't know about the Dark Elves who plunder the forest!"
The man shrugged his shoulders. Judging by his expression, he really seemed not to know. His acting skills were remarkable.
Though Rona knew it was an act, she couldn't press him further. Even knowing it was a lie, there was no evidence. She couldn't interrogate the king of a clan without evidence.
But there was one more thing left to confront.
"Those Ogres, they're the ones you brought, aren't they? Withdraw them immediately."
Rona pointed her sword straight at the man as she spoke. Uwoong. A low sound resonated from the sword as beautiful, shimmering Magi coiled around it.
What looked like pretty stardust at first glance was sword energy, each particle containing sharp killing intent.
"My, why are you being so scary? A 5th Tier knight pointing a sword at a weak pilgrim like me."
The man raised both hands with theatrical gestures. Though it looked like a surrendering posture, he was smirking. It definitely wasn't the attitude of someone surrendering.
At the same time, it wasn't the evasive attitude from before either. He was essentially confessing to the Ogre matter.
Though a few words wouldn't serve as evidence, they made Rona grip her sword even tighter.
"If you don't withdraw them immediately, I'll cut you down. You were the first to break the alliance, so you'll have nothing to say."
Unlike the man who showed no fighting spirit, Rona didn't let her guard down.
Even though her enemy appeared defenseless, she didn't relax her vigilance for a single moment and didn't lower her sword tip.
That will naturally imbue itself, and centered around the sword energy she deployed, the air gradually became sharper.
A situation like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
Unexpectedly, it was the quietly standing man who moved first.
"Mother. Your son is being threatened by a ruffian."
Though he said he moved, he didn't actually move his body. His mouth stirred as he quietly offered a prayer, and in response to that prayer, black roots began to move.
Hidden black roots were released and took control of the surroundings. Rona, who had reflexively tried to cut them down, couldn't help but freeze.
"This is......"
Her body stiffened. From shock, or perhaps fear.
Though it was her first time seeing these roots, she wasn't one who couldn't recognize their existence. It was Mother World Tree, whom she and all Elves revered.
Except it was stained black with the energy of Erosion.
"You...... No, you bastard! What is this! What did you do to Mother World Tree!"
"It's nothing a mere knight like you needs to know."
Rona seemed both angry and bewildered. It was surely both. She couldn't have imagined something like World Tree being eroded.
She couldn't swing her sword at World Tree. Even if it carried the black energy of Erosion, it was the same. Nevertheless, it was her god.
Not only that, but she actually couldn't stand properly anymore.
The roots of the black World Tree gently shook her soul. Since the soul is connected to both mind and body, that small trembling caused great waves in her mind and body.
"Sir Garcia. Even if you are a 5th Tier knight who can duel with dragons, it's futile. Before Mother, all children must bow their heads."
As he said, Rona could no longer even stand.
She barely managed to support herself by stabbing her sword into the ground, but that was about all she could do to avoid collapsing.
Seeing Rona like this, the man drew a dagger from his chest.
Ornately decorated, it seemed to function more as a ritual implement or ornament than as a weapon.
Nevertheless, the blade was properly sharpened, so it could easily pierce one or two hearts.
"This bastard......!"
Rona was indignant. How many Elves unable to resist like this had he killed?
Before forming the alliance, the Black King was the most wanted fugitive with the highest bounty in the kingdom. So many knights and soldiers had been sent to discover and subjugate him.
But none of them had returned.
How they died, why they couldn't kill a single Dark Elf and were killed instead—Rona could finally understand now.
"Don't worry. Mother will gather your soul."
The man took a step closer. One step forward with the gleaming sword reflecting light.
Then the man's eyes turned toward Rona.
"Who are you?"
He had known of the presence for some time. But with a 5th Tier knight in front of him, he couldn't afford to look away, and the presence was faint, so he was only now facing him.
The man's eyes, which had only been smiling, narrowed slightly. Mother's influence had already spread throughout this area. Rona's kneeling was proof of that.
Yet he was still standing upright without collapsing or falling.
It was one of two things. Either he wasn't an Elf, or he had fainted while standing.
"I am... Well, let's just say I'm Rona's disciple."
"Disciple?"
"I learned some swordsmanship from her."
Jin-woo drew the white gem sword he had received from Rona. Seeing it, the Black King's eyes narrowed.
Since he hadn't fainted, the opponent wasn't an elf. But that sword closely resembled the style passed down by High Elf families.
'I've never heard that Rona Garcia was raising a human disciple......'
Rona's name was fairly well known. A 5th Tier knight was a rare existence even to them.
If such a knight had separately raised a disciple, and especially if that disciple was human rather than an Elf, it couldn't have gone unknown.
"......You're human, not an Elf, I see. Well, it doesn't matter."
The man who had been speaking politely to fellow Elves didn't do so with Jin-woo.
Not only no respect, but his eyes made it questionable whether he even saw him as the same kind of creature. He saw Jin-woo as nothing more than a soul to be collected.
"Mother. There exists one who has escaped your shadow in this place."
Several strands of black roots slithered closer. They looked like snakes, or perhaps like tentacles of something.
Even seeing a scene resembling something from a horror movie, Jin-woo didn't move.
Rather, he knelt on one knee and extended his hand.
'Unable to recognize a great existence—being human, he has no eye for such things.'
The Dark Elf king snorted and mocked Jin-woo's actions.
No matter how lacking in discernment, could he feel nothing even after seeing his supposed master fall helplessly?
Expecting to leisurely watch the scene of him being easily captured and having his soul drained, he couldn't help but stiffen in the next moment.
The black roots that seemed about to strangle that human any moment moved completely differently.
They coiled around the human's extended arm, and far from strangling, they were rubbing against his fingertips and acting cute.
***
'I thought they might attack.'
Jin-woo gently stroked the black roots coiled around his arm.
He had anticipated being attacked in the worst case, but such a thing didn't happen. Rather, the black roots were expressing their emotions with their whole being as if they couldn't be happier.
The glass orb of Moonlit Forest nestled in Jin-woo's chest faintly glowed, revealing its presence. It resonated with the black roots, proving that they were truly the roots of the World Tree.
'Can you hear me?'
He tried speaking to the God. But no answer came back.
Still, it wasn't completely disconnected like it had been on Earth. The fact that the glass orb was actually glowing was proof of that.
'If you can hear me, please release Rona back to normal first.'
Then the roots coiled around his arm, nodding as if nodding their head. At the same time, the invisible energy that had been shaking Rona's soul disappeared without a trace.
"Jin-woo?"
Coming to her senses, Rona couldn't close her mouth seeing him with World Tree's roots coiled around him.
Jin-woo, Mother World Tree, and the thick Erosion energy surrounding them didn't look unnatural at all.
She wasn't the only one surprised. The Dark Elf king was ten, twenty times more shocked than Rona.
"Mother! How is this......!"
What on earth was happening? Why was she clinging to such a human who wasn't even an Elf, rather than to him, her own child?
Having wielded the power of black roots all this time, he felt it all the more keenly. The void of power. That Mother World Tree had already separated from him.
The experience of power he had shared for hundreds of years disappearing in an instant was beyond description. Could there be anything emptier in the world? Moreover, that power belonged to his god, his mother, and the progenitor of the Elf race.
"How...... How could this......"
The man reached out his hand. That slightly trembling hand grasped nothing.
Though nothing had changed, Jin-woo strangely felt as if his hand had lost vitality and become withered.
He hadn't suddenly aged. Rather, his mind had suffered severe damage, and that damage had traced back to his body and soul.
The black roots looked at him once, then turned their head to look at Jin-woo once as if asking a question. Jin-woo spoke as if driving in the final nail.
"It's me, that guy."
"Mother......!"
His cry with a cracked voice was extremely pitiful, but the answer was already decided.
The soul trembling that had incapacitated Rona now occurred in the Dark Elf king.