Ch.217217. Reunion (1)

Even in the midst of being unconscious for several days, the forest remained unchanged. A labyrinth created by densely grown, tangled trees. We’re moving westward with a guide at the front, trying to escape this chaotic forest.

“Don’t lower your guard. We don’t know when those creatures might appear.”

“Understood.”

“How are the wounded and critically injured?”

“Not in good condition. We should take another rest soon.”

“…That’s troublesome.”

The unit was maintaining extreme vigilance.

Especially since there were more critically injured than members of House Ianet, and since they were right next to Arielt’s forest guardians who had vaguely noticed something strange about Ianet.

I could feel my mind tightening from the emotional impact of their subdued atmosphere.

From what I heard… Airine had fought fiercely enough to cut off one of the half-demon’s arms, but our casualties were too great, forcing us to retreat. As a result, the enemy’s remaining forces were now tracking us, trying to completely wipe us out.

I quietly asked Sione, who had finally stopped sulking and returned to her original form.

“Lady Sione.”

“Yes?”

Despite her filthy appearance from multiple intense battles, Sione’s bright blue eyes shone as she quickly turned her head.

“You said you participated in the battle against the half-demon earlier.”

“…That’s right.”

“If it’s not rude to ask… why is everyone so certain that the enemy forces are pursuing us so fiercely? May I ask how strong they are?”

The question I quietly posed had been on my mind since the retreat began.

From what I heard, we had inflicted significant damage on the numerous enemies, enough to enable a one-on-one battle between Airine and the half-demon. If that were the case, the enemy should have suffered heavy losses too, making it difficult for them to pursue us easily.

Why were we continuing without stopping, even when some of our people were collapsing from exhaustion, moving forward as if dragging ourselves by the hair?

Sione pressed her lips together briefly at my question, delaying her answer, but not for long.

“That’s because—”

The shaded forest made Sione’s white skin appear so pale.

The cold light settling in my master’s eyes against the dark background began to indicate her displeasure.

“…a Demon appeared at the end.”

“Ah—”

As Sione’s cold gaze turned toward Airine, her lips twisted upward.

“Just before Airine could behead the half-demon, a Demon arrived with its forces and intervened. Thanks to that, instead of being able to kill it completely, we had to be satisfied with just taking an arm.”

“So what’s chasing us now is…”

“That’s right. Not the group of the one-armed half-demon, but forces led by a Demon.”

“…That is troublesome.”

Troublesome indeed. Maddeningly so.

While the Ianet elves were already hard to trust, now we had the minions of a horned creature chasing after us, determined to strike us down.

I could finally understand why most of the elves were hurrying to leave this place despite their injuries and exhaustion.

As silence once again enveloped the unit, I began to reorganize my thoughts.

‘The top priority is to return safely.’

We needed to avoid or overcome the enemy’s pursuit and ambushes to escape the forest and join the elven army waiting nearby.

Moreover… my current physical condition wasn’t good at all.

‘It would be best to focus on ensuring Sione’s and my safe return.’

I needed to prioritize our safety, using others as shields if necessary.

And the next thing to be careful about was:

‘Ianet. Never take your eyes off those pointy-eared bastards.’

It was important not to lower my guard against House Ianet, a potential internal enemy.

What had Ianet’s forest guardians done so far? They had subtly used Arielt and Chelnis as shields to continue the battle, and when the two houses had exhausted their strength, they had swooped in to take the kill. Moreover, they had stubbornly insisted on advancing even when everyone else had suggested retreating.

‘What could be the reason—’

Even if they stayed here longer, Ianet’s forest guardians would slowly die off, and as their numbers dwindled, it would be difficult to maintain their position. Why wouldn’t they leave this hellish place?

As I pondered this, a thought crossed my mind.

‘…No way.’

No, surely they wouldn’t go that far, even those pointy-eared bastards.

Thanks to spirit arts, archery, and conquering various dungeons, I knew quite a bit about elves. The existence of excellent forest guardians and their numbers greatly enhanced a house’s prestige.

Especially the forest guardians gathered in this unit—they were the best personnel carefully selected by each house.

For example, when they lifted the restriction on making noise to avoid attracting nearby enemies, they unleashed devastating carpet bombing with just a single command to the spirits, without even needing lengthy incantations at the altar.

Losing such forest guardians or having them sustain serious injuries with lasting effects would be enough to tarnish a house’s prestige.

‘Forest guardians are extremely important figureheads.’

Elven houses are evaluated based on two main criteria:

A long history of dedication and sacrifice for the Great Forest and the World Tree that others couldn’t easily match, which forms the framework for a house’s reputation and elevated status.

And second, military might that distinguishes them from other houses—strong enough to represent the Great Forest. The powerful forest guardians affiliated with a house create the decisive reason for wielding not just appearance but actual power and political and military authority.

‘Surely they wouldn’t deliberately try to undermine the strength of other houses… would they?’

Thinking in reverse, perhaps what Ianet wanted wasn’t the death of the half-demon but greater losses for our allies.

As soon as that thought occurred to me, I shook my head slightly.

“No way.”

No matter how those pointy-eared bastards were, they wouldn’t go that far in this situation.

It must be my own exaggerated interpretation.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and circulated my mana.

A question is just a question. To understand it clearly, I needed definitive evidence.

I took action within my capabilities and summoned Tania, another spirit I could call besides Orna who was napping on my head.

Whoosh!

“Tania.”

“Now, let’s repeat… my rival is—”

“…What? My rival is?”

“Uh, Park Shinwoo?”

Tania looked around and quietly clicked her tongue once.

“Tsk… calling me at the most interesting moment. No sense of timing.”

Ignoring her incomprehensible complaints, I stated my most important business.

“Tania, did you meet Elvis?”

“Hmph, of course. As soon as I returned to the spirit realm, I went straight to see our Changsik. I’ve already finished talking with him.”

“Then Elvis—”

“He was absolutely thrilled! Today was the first time I’ve seen our Changsik’s eyes get so big.”

Floating in the air and giggling, Tania soon flew over to Sione’s side.

“Ah…!”

“Stay still.”

Startled by the spirit’s sudden appearance, Sione froze.

Tania patted Sione’s head with her small hand as if to reassure her.

“I want to ride. Piggyback.”

“You… want a piggyback ride?”

“Is that not okay?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then… I’ll do as I please.”

After naturally climbing onto Sione’s shoulders, Tania began tidying Sione’s disheveled hair.

Sione kept looking back and forth between Diolia and me with an expression mixing confusion and wonder. Diolia, meanwhile, looked at Tania with a somewhat envious expression, as if jealous of Sione.

Sitting on Sione’s shoulders, Tania placed both hands demurely on the white hair and said:

“Our Changsik has already finished preparing to cross over. He’ll only be able to manifest as an intermediate spirit, but he should be able to help adequately.”

Tania curled up the corners of her mouth into a grin.

“And even as an intermediate spirit, Changsik still has all the experience he gained following us. Don’t worry.”

“……”

“His specialty won’t lose to any superior spirit. Shinwoo, that ability of Changsik’s is what you need most, right?”

I nodded without hesitation at Tania’s words.

“That’s right.”

Elvis’s specialty was reconnaissance and all matters related to being an effective spy.

“It’s obvious that Elvis will do that job better than any spirit here.”

Uncovering Ianet’s information and detecting approaching enemies would be nothing for our Changsik.

Whether Airine is truly an ally or an enemy as Friel suggested, and information about the Demon’s minions who might be pursuing us.

With the situation constantly changing based on such information:

“I should summon him right away if possible.”

This was already the perfect battlefield for Elvis alone.