Ch.146Chapter 146 – Trap? Trap!

Shreka was staring at Tellio, who stood near the roots of the World Tree.

Her gaze toward Tellio, who had transformed into a demon, was colder than ever before.

It would take something like the legendary magic ‘Absolute Zero,’ said to freeze everything, to even compare to the coldness in Shreka’s eyes.

“Tellio. Seeing your appearance, it seems you’ve fallen to evil whispers and become a demon.”

“Kyahahahaha, that’s correct, Lady Shreka~♥.”

Tellio dragged out the end of each sentence as if mocking Shreka.

Her voice, mixed with a nasal tone, resembled that of a tout soliciting customers in a brothel.

If there were an elven tout working in a brothel, the current Tellio would be the perfect candidate.

“What was lacking that even you would turn to the demons? It’s a decision I cannot understand.”

“That’s exactly it, Lady Shreka. When I was shocked after experiencing the outside world, did you ever come to see me even once?”

“What?”

Shreka was taken aback by Tellio’s question.

Had she ever visited Tellio when she was shocked after experiencing the outside world?

Tellio showed disappointment as she watched Shreka’s confused reaction to her words.

‘As I thought, Lady Shreka never cared about me at all.’

What if Shreka had shown her even a little attention?

Perhaps then Tellio wouldn’t have fallen for Eldran’s deception.

But now Tellio had already succumbed to Eldran’s temptation, abandoning her identity as an elf and completely becoming a demon.

“Tellio……”

Shreka was shocked by the fact that someone who had been by her side for so long had fallen to become a demon.

However, now was not the time to be lost in shock.

“Lady Shreka. We must hurry and stop that one.”

“Yes, yes? Ah, right.”

At Pathos’s words about stopping Tellio, Shreka finally came to her senses and began to focus on the current situation.

Tellio, standing far from the roots of the World Tree, prepared to attack.

She drew upon the demonic energy that filled her body.

“Lady Shreka, can you see? This is what demonic energy is.”

As Tellio summoned the demonic energy, Shreka, Pathos, and Eterna could see dark red energy flowing from her body.

It was clearly an energy that would cause something terrible upon contact.

“Lord Pathos. Please step back. A specialist like me is needed for a being with such wicked energy.”

Eterna, seemingly experienced with such situations, naturally stepped in front of Pathos and prepared protective spells.

“All evil shall retreat before the power of the sun, may the power of the sun protect us. [Protection of the Sun]!”

With Eterna’s shout, sunlight briefly enveloped everyone except Tellio before disappearing.

This spell was one of the holy magics used by inquisitors of the Sun Order to protect themselves when fighting against demon cult members.

“Could it be… Eterna, the Chief Inquisitor of the Sun Order?”

“How flattering that a wicked being knows my name.”

The moment Tellio confirmed Eterna’s presence behind Shreka, her pupils trembled.

Eterna.

The Chief Inquisitor of the Sun Order and also the head instructor who taught combat techniques to inquisitors from other orders.

As Shreka’s close aide who needed to know about the outside world, Tellio naturally knew about Eterna’s existence.

The number of heretics Eterna had captured since becoming an inquisitor exceeded the total number eliminated by all other inquisitors over the past 100 years.

In other words, to anyone associated with the Demon Cult, Eterna was literally a walking mark of death.

That’s why Tellio had remembered Eterna as the person to request cooperation from first if any demon-related incidents occurred.

‘This is bad. Eterna of all people. This wasn’t part of the plan at all…’

And this was something Tellio hadn’t planned for.

It was common knowledge that beings with demonic energy were naturally opposed to those with holy power.

While the pre-demon Tellio might have stood a chance, she, now fully transformed into a demon, was no match for Eterna.

‘This is a disaster. Unlike Lord Eldran, I could never face Eterna.’

Tellio quietly shifted her gaze to the man standing behind Eterna.

Count Pathos Severio.

A nobleman of the Gelebrio Empire and a man blessed with abilities from the Great Goddess.

Publicly known for his tremendous abilities like destroying cursed swords and curing incurable diseases, but in reality, his actual combat power was reportedly unremarkable.

‘I have no choice. I don’t like taking hostages, but I’ll have to use him to secure my safety.’

She planned to take Pathos, seemingly the easiest target, as a hostage to escape safely from this place.

If she could just reach the surface, she could use a magic scroll for escape.

Having firmly made her decision, Tellio carefully lowered her body.

“What’s this?”

“Why is she suddenly crouching down?”

Shreka and Eterna seemed confused by Tellio’s sudden movement.

Then, with legs wrapped in demonic energy, Tellio kicked off the ground and charged toward Pathos.

“Oh, no!”

“Lord Pathos!”

The two called out his name when they saw that Pathos, standing far away, had become the target.

“Kyahahahaha! Aren’t you fools? Did you really think I would confront you head-on?”

Tellio mocked the two as she flew toward Pathos, away from Eterna and Shreka.

The distance remaining between her and Pathos was only about 10 meters.

As she got closer to him, his face came into view.

‘W-what?’

And what Tellio saw was Pathos’s face with an evil smile directed at her and…

“Gwaak!”

A giant hammer that suddenly appeared.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

Tellio, who had been hit on the head by Pathos’s hammer, lay unconscious with a large bump.

People gathered around her.

“Was it successful?”

“Yes, it was.”

When Shreka approached and asked Pathos about the success, what flowed from his mouth was not his own voice, but someone else’s.

“I’ll remove the disguise.”

And as the disguise was removed, Pathos instantly transformed into one of Shreka’s guards.

Then, one of Shreka’s guards changed into Pathos’s appearance.

This was thanks to Eterna’s suggestion, and she had set up this trap in advance.

Thanks to this, Shreka’s guards were able to subdue Tellio together with Eterna.

After attaching restraints to her limbs that suppressed mana and other powers, they splashed cold water on her to bring her back to consciousness.

“Blub blub blub!”

“Are you coming to your senses?”

Tellio regained consciousness after the cold water splash, and surrounding her were Shreka’s guards, Shreka, Eterna, and Pathos.

She tried to summon demonic energy to somehow escape this crisis.

“Kyaaaahng~!”

But whenever she tried to summon demonic energy, the restraints on her hands, feet, neck, and waist delivered powerful electric shocks.

“I’m not sorry, but you can’t escape anyway. Want to know why? These restraints could bind even a High Elf Grand Elder.”

“Damn you… slave of the World Tree!”

Tellio chattered noisily, irritating everyone around her.

“Ah, how annoying, really.”

And finally, her brief rebellion was neutralized by Pathos’s hammer.

Pathos had disliked this small, chattering demon from the beginning.

“Um, Lord Pathos? Is it okay to leave her like this?”

“I’m planning to try turning her back into an elf anyway.”

At Pathos’s words, Shreka and the elves following her showed signs of surprise.

“Can an elf who has become a demon be returned to their original form?”

“I’ve never tried it, but if the elf form is her true form, she should return to being an elf.”

“And what happens if the opposite is true?”

“Hmm.”

Pathos couldn’t easily answer Shreka’s question.

What if she doesn’t return to being an elf from a demon?

If Shreka hadn’t been there, Pathos would have said to send her to the ‘Inquisition Office’ for processing.

But this was the land of the elves.

The sacred ground of the World Tree that they revered and managed.

So here, at least, they should follow elven law.

“Very well. Since Tellio has become a demon, she has become someone I must deal with by my own hands.”

Shreka had fiery eyes fixed on Tellio.

“I request your help, Count Pathos Severio of the Gelebrio Empire. Here is a child who needs your assistance.”

No sooner had her request ended than Pathos took out his hammer and struck Tellio’s head three times.

And Tellio was enveloped in white light.