Ch.945Blame and Eavesdropping

======[ Alvheim ]======

The surprise invasion of Alvheim pushed back the Holy State’s border significantly.

A crushing defeat where they couldn’t even hold out for a single night and gave up all the border areas. For the Holy Corps, it was a humiliation beyond measure.

However, they couldn’t be blamed for the defeat.

The Holy Corps at the border fortress had been thoroughly vigilant about the elves’ movements and devoted themselves to combat training even before the surprise war broke out.

If Alvheim’s forces had marched forward, they would have been able to mobilize all their troops and stand firm before the enemy reached the border fortress.

But who in the Holy State could have predicted it? Who could have anticipated and prepared for it?

“The forest…! The forest is charging!”

Not the elven army, but thousands of towering trees themselves becoming a massive green wave, surging forward like a tsunami.

Counterattacks were meaningless.

Even breaking them with force or setting them on fire could only destroy a portion.

The endless tsunami of forest that kept coming no matter how many they destroyed was a natural disaster itself that couldn’t be stopped by human power.

Moreover, the enemy attack that struck them wasn’t just trees sweeping in from all directions like an avalanche.

“GROOOOAR!”

Between the trees extending like thousands of tentacles, massive monsters rose up with roars as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Monsters with bodies of earth, rock, and ice let out thunderous roars as they approached the border fortress.

“Those are… high-ranking elementals…!”

“Elven guardians! There are elven guardians mixed in the forest!”

High-ranking elementals and elven guardians. Powerful beings that couldn’t be confronted without reaching the realm of heroes.

It was the moment when some of the guardians created by transplanting branches of the World Tree were finally deployed to the field.

—-

A miracle performed by the World Tree, god of forests and trees, in exchange for massive sacrifices, and Alvheim’s ultimate tactical attack.

The wave of vegetation that surged like a tsunami struck the border fortress walls and swept over them, collapsing the entire wall with surprising ease.

The elven guardians and high-ranking elementals that followed into the battlefield one-sidedly ravaged the interior of the fortress where the walls had collapsed.

A battle where defeat was determined from the start. The Holy Corps defending the border fortress had no choice but to retreat while swallowing their helplessness.

Fortunately, they had already concluded there was no chance of victory and begun retreating before the walls collapsed; had their retreat been delayed even slightly, they would have faced terrible casualties.

In any case, the elves who occupied the Holy State’s border area celebrated their greatest victory in eight hundred years and destroyed all religious symbols that had existed there.

Humans who couldn’t escape in time were sent to Alvheim’s capital to replenish the number of sacrifices consumed in this attack.

From the elves’ perspective, it was a perfectly smooth and successful first battle.

“Good, good. A great victory as expected! Now we just need to wait for that woman to arrive.”

The Elven Council, which had started this war, discussed future plans with satisfied smiles after receiving reports of their great victory.

“Have we properly prepared countermeasures? That woman will surely come looking for us like a mad dog with her eyes rolled back.”

“What are you worried about? The World Tree protects us.”

“We should be more concerned about the special forces. If they fail, there would be no meaning in attacking Elphirem.”

“That’s true…. That woman will undoubtedly head straight to the battlefield, but we can’t know how much force she’ll leave behind in her lair.”

“She’ll certainly leave the owner of Caliburn behind. If two of a country’s greatest powers are absent simultaneously and they’re attacked during that time, the country they’ve built could collapse overnight.”

The Sword of Elpinel, the owner of Caliburn.

Just like the four dragons who united to attack Demian to kill him, the elves’ purpose in starting this war was to eliminate the owner of Caliburn.

The elves were also one of the races that knew the danger of that sword better than anyone.

However, as long as Haschal, who could be considered the reincarnation of one of the Great’s Twelve Knights, was protecting the owner of Caliburn, it would be terribly difficult to get past her interference and kill Demian.

To defeat those two monsters head-on would require Alvheim to exert all its power, but the Holy State and the Empire wouldn’t just sit by and watch such a force heading east.

That’s why the Elven Council started a war against the Holy State.

Even sacrificing all the humans they had bred and raised over long years to use as materials for elementals.

To separate Haschal and Demian from each other.

Yes, the purpose of the elves attacking the Holy State wasn’t to destroy the Holy State itself, but to draw Haschal to the front lines through this.

Because a human who was the Saint of the Church of Astraea wouldn’t just stand by and watch the Holy State in crisis.

After drawing Haschal to the battlefield, they would attack and kill Demian, who would be left alone, with a separately dispatched special force.

That was the conclusion reached by Alvheim’s elders after their meeting.

If they could kill Haschal too, that would be even better, but the elders didn’t expect that much.

The purpose of this war was solely to eliminate the owner of Caliburn. Haschal was a problem for later.

Since the World Tree had commanded through divine revelation, they would eventually have to kill Haschal too, but compared to the owner of Caliburn, her priority was one step lower.

They didn’t even have the power to defeat Haschal in the first place.

Most of the guardians had been selected for the special forces and were heading to Hestella, and even the few remaining guardians had all been deployed to the Holy State front.

With the World Tree’s protection with them, they might somehow be able to block Haschal’s attacks, but they could only block her, not defeat her.

“I wonder if the special forces will be alright. Does anyone know where they are now?”

“No need to worry. Judging by the fact that the summoned ‘elemental’ has only one wind attribute, we can assume they’re moving safely according to plan.”

“Hmm…. Assuming they’re flying without any problems, they should be passing through Panam’s waters by now. I think it will take about six more days for them to pass through Dane’s waters and head north.”

Six days.

Although it was only an estimated time, if things proceeded according to plan, Alvheim’s special forces would reach Hestella’s territory in six days.

Without being detected by anyone until then.

“They’re really going through a lot. It’s all for Alvheim and the World Tree, but having to fly continuously over the vast sea for more than two weeks without rest.”

“That’s what they were made for. They probably don’t even know they’re suffering, so there’s no need to sympathize with them.”

Another council member shrugged with a laugh.

Flying over the vast sea. That was the order given by Alvheim’s council to deploy the special forces to the east.

A ground march would inevitably be detected, and even if they flew through the air, they would eventually be discovered in this era.

Therefore, the council ordered the special forces to fly toward the east by widely circumventing the continent’s waters.

They might be detected if they flew near the coastline, but once they reached the open sea, there would be no surveillance at all.

Of course, if they encountered flying monsters or dragons, there could be problems, but the possibility wasn’t very high.

Flying monsters could simply be shot down with elemental magic, and dragons that made the sea their home were mostly sea dragons that didn’t surface.

So, unless they were caught in a natural disaster like a typhoon, the probability of the special forces being annihilated before reaching their destination was extremely low.

“Now, what remains…”

“We need to deploy our defense line and fight the Holy State while waiting. For the moment when that madwoman arrives at the front.”

======[ Feirius ]======

‘So that’s how it is.’

In one of Alfodhr’s underground temples.

Feirius, sitting in a corner of the prayer room where the altar of runes was set up, nodded and withdrew his mana.

As he removed his left hand that had been covering the head of the elven woman kneeling at his feet.

“Ah, ugh, aaaah…. Heeeeee….”

At the sudden sensation of the mana flow that had been invading her brain being cut off, the elven woman rolled back her one remaining eye and convulsed while moaning.

“Hueeeeee……”

Drool mixed with foam dripped from under her outstretched tongue.

A face like a drug addict who had lost her mind. It was hard to believe she was once one of Alvheim’s oldest guardians.

“Good job, Eirnesia.”

Feirius praised her without sincerity, not hiding the mockery in his voice.

Eirnesia.

An elven guardian who had been captured by Haschal and tortured by Faelrun’s inquisitors until her self was completely destroyed, then fell into Feirius’s hands.

Feirius had completely dominated her mind and turned her into his slave, using her as a tool to eavesdrop on Alvheim’s situation, as he was doing now.

By tracing the connection that had existed between her and the World Tree, he had planted a fragment of her already shattered soul near the World Tree as a relay.

A soul fragment too small to attempt any action other than eavesdropping.

However, if he increased the size of the soul fragment any further, he would be detected by the World Tree, so for now, the limit was eavesdropping on the elves’ conversations through the World Tree.

In fact, that alone was an enormous benefit.

‘Separating the variable and ambushing the owner of Caliburn… Yes, not a bad judgment.’

Thanks to planting Eirnesia’s soul fragment as a listening device, Feirius was able to steal the elves’ purpose in starting the war.

‘I can use this.’

Looking down at Eirnesia, who was lying flat on her back and still convulsing, Feirius smiled with satisfaction.