part0017

Lark started considering the Scylla’s offer of investigating the Endless Forest. After pondering over it, he said, “Alright. But don’t overdo it. Blackie, I’ll leave the investigation of the Endless Forest in your hands.”

The Scylla shuddered.

“T-To call us by name!”

“Yes! We’ll do our best! We won’t disappoint you, God Evander!”

“We’ll make sure those spirits won’t be able to snoop in this sacred place any longer!”

Lark found the Scylla’s overeager response amusing, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.

The Scylla was among the most intelligent monsters in this land. Surely, it wouldn’t do anything detrimental to its master, right? Lark shook off his uneasiness. After asking the Scylla where the statue was located, he entered the uselessly large castle.

Entering the castle, he was immediately greeted by an intricate stone statue of a young man. It was pointing a familiar sword up to the sky.

A glorified statue of Lark.

Upon seeing this, he smiled wryly. Although his current body was quite decent in appearance, Lark was sure that he wasn’t as handsome as the statue before his eyes. The way the statue’s face was grinning reminded Lark of the narcissistic nobles in the Magic Empire.

Although Lark didn’t like how the Scylla had portrayed him in this statue, he had to admit that the seven-headed creature was really dexterous in controlling magic. Everything, from the strands of his hair down to the lace of his boots were detailed.

For a moment, he wondered if he should let the Scylla build stone houses in Blackstone Town but immediately decided against it. It would render the workers useless. Such jobs were fundamental in propelling his territory forward. Lark deemed that it would be damaging to his territory in the long run if he took care of everything using magic.

As Lark continued walking through the castle, he noticed that it even had several rooms inside, their doors made of wood. Lark opened one of the rooms out of curiosity. It was empty.

“This place is surprisingly habitable,” he mumbled.

After adding some fixtures and a little bit of cleaning, people could actually live in this castle. Lark continued walking through the castle, admiring the structures made by the Scylla every now and then. Eventually, he arrived at the large stone door the Scylla had mentioned. Lark amplified his strength using magic and pushed the stone door open, revealing the foot of the golden statue.

Lark climbed the winding flight of stairs and entered the mouth of the statue. He momentarily deactivated the traps he’d placed inside and went into the treasure room. He filled his bag with gold and several adamantites, before leaving the statue and the castle.

The moment Lark left the castle, the Scylla immediately noticed that the large bag Lark brought with him was filled to the brim with gold. The Scylla dropped its head. Judging by the amount of gold Lark had taken, the Scylla thought that it would probably be some time before he visited again.

“I’ll come back a week from now,” said Lark. The Scylla should have investigated a large portion of the forest by then.

The Scylla immediately raised its heads as its eyes glimmered in excitement.

“O-One week?” exclaimed the first head.

“What, you don’t like it?” said Lark.

The fifth head vigorously shook its head. “Of course not!”

“We just thought that it would be some time before God Evander comes back! But to think that it’ll only be a week!” said the fourth head.

The seventh head excitedly added, “We can easily sleep through that time!”

“That’s right!” The sixth head nodded. “A week is nothing compared to the number of years we slept in the labyrinth!”

Lark chuckled. Its tail was wagging again. Despite its terrifying appearance, this seven-headed monster was quite amusing.

“Snap out of it,” the third head spat. “What are you saying to God Evander? Did you forget that he entrusted us with the mission of investigating this forest?”

The other heads immediately shut their mouths.

“God Evander, I apologize.” The third head lowered its head. The rest of the heads immediately followed its lead and also lowered their heads in apology.

“No, it’s fine.” Lark smiled. “Just remember. Like I said before, should anything happen, contact me with the communication crystal.”

“Yes, God Evander.”

After Lark left the forest, the Scylla immediately started preparing for the investigation of the Endless Forest. It cast several high-tier spells around the castle to prevent any intruders from stepping foot inside. It also strengthened the illusion spell shrouding the surrounding areas.

After all preparations were complete, the Scylla cast a concealment spell on its body and flew toward the sky. It carefully observed the sea of trees below. After several minutes of flying in the sky, it finally saw one of the spirits who’d been trying to break through the illusion barrier it had set up to protect the sacred ground.

[Aerith—Kingdom of Elves]

Deep inside the Endless Forest and several thousand kilometers away from Blackstone Town, was the ancient city of Aerith. Due to their low fertility rate, only a hundred thousand elves lived in this kingdom.

Unlike humans, the elves lived inside the large elven oaks in this part of the forest. Each of the trees was connected by wooden bridges, serving as roads for the citizens of the kingdom.

At the center of the kingdom was a colossal tree that easily surpassed the two hundred-meter mark. It was the largest elven oak in the entire forest, and it served as the kingdom’s royal palace.

Inside the royal palace, the King of Elves and his ministers started discussing the recent disturbance in the border of their kingdom. Several weeks ago, the scouts noticed an astronomical amount of mana being gathered at a certain part of the forest, near the border. The amount of mana was so massive that even the spirits were reluctant to approach it. Furthermore, some of the spirits claimed that the mana ‘felt’ evil. Hearing this, the scouts immediately made a report to the royal palace.

“What are the scouts doing?” said King Melandrach. “It’s been more than a week since we sent them to investigate the border.”

Although King Melandrach had turned seven hundred years old this year, his face was still that of a middle-aged man. His ears were longer and more pointed than the other elves gathered here in this room—a characteristic of those born to the royal family. With his slanted eyes, he prompted the commander sitting to his right to speak.

The commander placed his hand on his chest and made his report, “We sent several scouts contracted to sylphids to the border, Your Majesty. But unfortunately, even the sylphids weren’t able to pinpoint the exact location of the mana the scouts had detected. We believe that a spell is protecting the area.”

“A spell strong enough to restrict even sylphids.” King Melandrach furrowed his brow.

“What if… it’s a demon?” one of the ministers reluctantly voiced out.

“Nonsense,” said another minister. “The priestess would have given us a revelation had the portal opened once again.”

“You’re right, but only a High Demon or a dragon should be capable of suppressing several sylphids at once. The dragon should still be guarding that damnable Dwarven Kingdom… If it isn’t a demon…”

“We have no concrete evidence on the identity of the source of mana,” said King Melandrach. “I will visit the temple personally after this to talk to the priestess. For now, while we still do not have the confirmation of the priestess, let us assume that it’s an unknown monster.”

“Your Majesty,” one of the royal advisors said in a raspy voice. “I believe that a human town is near the border. If the owner of the mana is indeed a monster, chances are it will attack the human town first. Aerith should be safe as long as the owner of the mana doesn’t move deeper into the forest.”

The other ministers nodded in agreement. Aerith was located at the heart of the Endless Forest. On foot, it would take more than a month for the humans to arrive from the border of the kingdom to this city. The human town and cities outside the forest should be nearer to the place where the cluster of mana was detected.

“We should probably pull out the scouts from that place temporarily, Your Majesty,” said another royal advisor. “It wouldn’t be wise to earn the wrath of the owner of that mana.”

Sylphids were among the highest-ranked spirits the elves could summon in this realm. But even they couldn’t break through the spell the owner of the mana had cast in that part of the forest. The ministers thought that they should be grateful that the owner of the mana hadn’t been hostile so far, even after the aggressive movements of their scouts.

“Pull out the scouts, huh?” King Melandrach pondered. “Commander Khuumal, what are your thoughts?”

The three-hundred-year-old elf immediately responded, “I agree with the royal advisor, Your Majesty. I believe we shouldn’t aggravate the owner of the mana unnecessarily. Just like the royal advisor said, even if the owner of the mana is some ferocious monster, its first target should be the human town near our kingdom’s border. It does not have any reason to come all the way here when there’s prey nearby.”

The Kingdom of Elves had survived this long, despite the constant war between the humans and demons, by secluding themselves in this vast forest. Even when the demons started slaughtering the human race during the Descent more than a thousand years ago, the ancestors of King Melandrach did not participate in the war. The elves were simply glad that the claws of those demons weren’t pointed at them, but at the humans.

Silence fell for a moment.

King Melandrach had decided. “Commander Khuumal, order the scouts to pull back. Avoid provoking the owner of the mana at all cost.”

The commander bowed his head. “Understood.”

After the meeting, King Melandrach visited the temple and sought audience with the priestess.

“King Melandrach, son of Ylyndar, humbly greets the priestess.” King Melandrach lightly bowed his head.

Elves, who worshiped the God of Earth, were highly religious creatures. In this kingdom, the priestess was paramount. She was treated with more veneration than the king himself.

“Father.” The priestess frowned. “Please raise your head. I’ve told you before that there’s no need to greet me this respectfully whenever you visit the temple.”

“How could I be disrespectful to the incarnation of God Gaia?” King Melandrach shook his head, as he found the priestess’ words unacceptable.

The priestess, a two-hundred-year-old elf with long golden hair, sighed. This was yet another repeat of the exact same scenario when her father visited had her at the temple before.

“What brought you here, father?” The priestess’ voice was soothing to the ears.

King Melandrach finally raised his head. “I’ve come here to confirm something, Priestess.”

“To confirm something?”

“Yes. Priestess, have you received any revelations from the God of Earth lately?”

The priestess tilted her head to the side at the question.

“God Gaia has been quiet for the past several years, father,” she said. “The last time I heard from her was fifteen years ago, when the previous priestess died and I took on her position. I haven’t heard from God Gaia since then.”

“I see.” King Melandrach heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”

If the God of Earth didn’t give a revelation, it meant that the portal remained closed. They could safely assume that the owner of the mana at the border was not from the demon race.

“Did something happen, Father?” the priestess asked worriedly.

“It’s nothing to be worried about, Priestess,” said King Melandrach. “We received some reports regarding an unknown creature at the border region. Although the chances are low, I came here to confirm that the creature is not a demon.”

The priestess understood what her father meant. The Gods would give them a revelation if the demons started appearing on this land once again. That was their promise after the Magic Empire had been ravaged after the Descent, more than a thousand years ago.

“For father to come here personally … That unknown creature must be something dangerous.”

“Based on the amount of mana, the scouts are certain that the creature is incredibly strong. Even several sylphids couldn’t break through the spell protecting the unknown creature’s domain,” the king said bitterly.

The priestess was surprised to hear that even sylphids couldn’t break through the creature’s magic. She was about to ask for more details regarding the creature when she noticed the huffing messenger running toward them. The messenger immediately prostrated upon meeting the gaze of the priestess. In a loud voice, he said, “Forgive my insolence, Priestess! But I have an important report for His Majesty!”

The messenger sounded desperate. Sensing the urgency in the messenger’s voice, King Melandrach said, “Speak.”

“Your Majesty! Over one hundred spirits have perished! That creature! It’s coming toward this city as we speak!”