Chapter 253

The massive white wolf.

Its divine-looking body was covered in wounds.

Ghastly gashes from axes, spears, and hammers.

Blood flowed like a river, staining the forest floor crimson.

Of course, the blood wasn’t solely Hien’s.

The corpses of Gray Dwarves lay scattered around, broken, shattered, and mangled.

Their blood also contributed to the crimson tide.

But.

The Gray Dwarves were still standing.

Nearly half of them had survived and were still full of vigor.

At their forefront, of course, was Chief Kalkus.

“Hahaha, we’re almost there, boys! An eye for an eye, blood for blood! Let’s make them pay!”

Kalkus’s roar echoed through the forest, as strong as ever.

His words had the power to invigorate his allies.

“Ooh!”

“Let’s finish them off!”

“Hahaha, even if our comrades are dead, we’ll avenge them!”

The remaining Gray Dwarves roared in response.

Their shouts were deafening.

Hien’s face contorted in pain.

Even his face was a gruesome sight, with an axe embedded in one of his eyes.

Hien knew.

That this battle was lost.

His body was battered and broken.

But he couldn’t retreat.

No, he had nowhere to retreat to.

This forest was his mother’s land.

The land of life.

A precious land that he had to protect with everything he had.

“Aooooooooooo!”

Hien howled.

A desperate howl filled with unwavering determination.

He would take as many of them with him to the afterlife as he could.

Mother!

I will protect you until my very last breath!

*Rumble!*

Hien gathered his remaining strength and leaped towards the enemy.

* * *

All the high elves heard Hien’s howl.

And they understood its meaning.

Hidal’s eyes welled up with tears of blood, hearing that desperate howl.

Blood dripped from his severed arm.

It wasn’t just his arm.

His entire body was covered in cuts and stab wounds.

His intestines were spilling out in some places.

He would have been dead already if he wasn’t a high elf.

He had never considered himself weak.

But the enemy was too strong.

The worst opponent encountered in the worst possible situation.

But he couldn’t give up.

He had to protect his mother and her land.

That’s why Hidal made a decision.

*-Hiwyn.*

Hidal quickly sent a telepathic message to Hiwyn.

Hiwyn was currently fighting Natasha, struggling to make up for Hidal’s weakened state.

He was in better shape than Hidal, but it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer.

That’s why Hidal had made up his mind.

*-Speak!*

Hiwyn’s telepathic reply was also filled with urgency.

He couldn’t afford to be distracted even for a moment.

That’s why Hidal spoke quickly and firmly.

*-I’ll hold them off. You and the elder retreat to where Mother is!*

*-What? What are you talking about?*

*-There are golems there! We can hold out longer there!*

*-What’s the point of holding out…?*

*-Have you forgotten? Today is the day the princess returns!*

*-T-That’s right! Then…!*

The princess of the Forgotten Forest.

Hiresia.

The only female of their generation, the biggest oddball among them, acknowledged by all the high elves.

And there was another fact that all high elves acknowledged.

That she was the strongest among them.

Her power would surely be a great asset in protecting their mother and her land.

Hidal was saying that he would buy time until she returned.

*-But you should come too!*

*-I’m already finished. Like Hien.*

Hien had howled with his last ounce of strength.

Hidal also felt his end approaching.

But Hiwyn still had some fight left in him.

And so did the elder, as he had confirmed earlier.

*-H-Hidal…*

*-I’ll count to three. When I reach three, go! Now! One…*

Hidal started counting.

Hiwyn’s expression wavered.

*-Three!*

*Thud!*

But in the end, Hiwyn sprinted away.

At the same time, Hidal charged towards Natasha.

“So that’s how you want to play it?”

Natasha narrowed her eyes and swung her invisible sword horizontally.

A precise strike aimed at decapitating him.

*Swish!*

The blade sliced through his flesh.

Blood splattered.

His head should have been severed.

If it had followed its original trajectory.

But.

Hidal’s desperate will had moved his head slightly out of the blade’s path.

That slight twist had saved his life.

‘It didn’t finish him off?’

Natasha’s eyelashes fluttered slightly.

She hadn’t expected that.

It wasn’t that she had been careless or lost her composure.

She had simply underestimated the high elf’s last stand.

“You won’t get past me! Never!”

Hidal’s sword, imbued with all his will, came crashing down on Natasha.

It was his sharpest and fiercest attack yet.

Natasha retreated.

*Nick!*

The blade grazed her collarbone.

For the first time, a blade had touched her.

And it was also the first time she had bled.

Natasha wiped the blood off her wound with her left hand.

“…That was a good attack. But it changes nothing.”

She raised her invisible sword high.

* * *

The elder.

His battle with the Messenger was a fierce stalemate.

It was a battle between two individuals with remarkably similar power.

But it was the elder who was more anxious and frustrated.

Because he knew that the other battles were not going well.

‘Sigh… I didn’t expect the intruders to be this strong.’

This was bad.

Very bad.

He could even imagine the worst-case scenario.

He had to do something.

But he couldn’t see a way out, like a dead end.

“Ha, this is embarrassing. I can’t even handle a single old man.”

The Messenger said, his voice laced with annoyance.

A human, but with a grotesque body that defied human anatomy.

That was the elder’s assessment of the Messenger after fighting him for so long.

This guy alone was a dangerous enemy.

And there were more than one of them.

He had to kill this one, at least.

As the elder focused his energy and gripped his staff tightly,

“I guess I have no choice. I didn’t want to get serious against a geezer like you.”

The Messenger clicked his tongue and said.

At that moment,

The Messenger’s aura changed completely.

An eerie, chilling aura.

A murky, gray mist rose from his body.

His eyes turned white.

‘What is this?’

The elder’s expression hardened.

It was a completely different aura from before.

He could sense that it was something ominous.

‘He wasn’t showing his true power…?’

The elder’s heart sank.

There was another layer of worst after the worst.

At this rate…

“I won’t let you die peacefully… Ugh?!”

The Messenger, who had been about to declare their gruesome death with a dramatic flourish, suddenly dodged.

Because a spear had flown towards him from behind.

It was Hiwyn.

“Elder! Run!”

“What?”

“Run! To where Mother is! Everyone is buying time!”

Hearing his urgent shout, the elder immediately understood the situation.

“Ugh, alright!”

The elder turned and fled.

Hiwyn followed close behind.

“Ha, those cornered rats are still struggling.”

The Messenger, left alone, clicked his tongue.

He was the only one who looked bad, having failed to kill a single old man and even letting him escape.

“No, wait. It would be more painful for them to watch their mother burn right before their eyes, wouldn’t it?”

A smile returned to the Messenger’s lips.

A cruel smile.

“Then I’ll soon enjoy that spectacle…”

The Messenger’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.

* * *

We ran.

And ran.

I didn’t know how much time had passed.

I just followed Hiresia, my eyes fixed on her back.

How long had we been running?

Finally, Hiresia stopped.

This time, I immediately noticed something was wrong.

Because the smell of blood was much stronger than before.

I approached her, my expression grim.

And then.

“…”

I couldn’t speak.

Because a shocking and gruesome sight unfolded before my eyes.

‘That’s…’

A giant, blood-soaked wolf.

I realized that it had been white, because the fur on one of its uninjured paws was as white as snow.

A monster?

It didn’t feel like one at all.

It felt more like a guardian of the forest.

It must have been on the high elves’ side.

And that guardian was lying dead, its body mutilated.

And the culprit…

‘They’re here…?’

My eyes widened.

The enemy’s identity was finally revealed.

And to my surprise, they were familiar faces.

Gray Dwarves.

Not just any dwarfs.

They were the hounds of the Red Rain organization.

Ruthless killers who would slaughter anyone on command.

My comrades and I had died to them countless times.

Because they were ferocious, strong, and organized, like a pack of mad dogs.

‘Was it the Red Rain who drove her to the brink?’

And then I realized something else, my eyes widening in shock.

‘Wait. Even she wouldn’t have survived an encounter with them…’

Hiresia was strong.

I knew that.

But she was outnumbered.

The chances of her surviving an encounter with the Red Rain, who had ravaged the Forgotten Forest, seemed slim.

It meant…

‘They didn’t encounter each other? Did my arrival speed up her return?’

My mind raced.

A strong sense of foreboding and danger washed over me.

But we had no choice.

Neither Hiresia nor I.

She had to save her family, and I had to help her.

“…Dwarves.”

Hiresia muttered, her voice filled with cold fury.

It was clearly a suppressed emotion.

“And.”

Her gaze shifted to the severed head of the high elf.

“Again.”

Hiresia took a deep breath.

She was forcing herself to stay calm.

Because it was the exact same wound as the two high elves who had died earlier.

The murder weapon was a sword.

And now that we knew the enemy was the Red Rain, it wasn’t difficult to guess who the killer was.

‘She’s here too…’

Natasha, the dark elf.

The Red Rain’s best swordswoman.

The shadow of death loomed over me once again.

But I couldn’t back down.

Backing down meant choosing to save myself.

Maybe the old me could have done that.

The me who wasn’t involved with Hiresia.

But now, she was…

Someone precious to me.

Someone I had to protect, even if it meant risking my own life.

“…It’s not over yet.”

Hiresia quickly composed herself, despite the shock she must have been feeling.

No, she was still maintaining her composure.

“This path leads to Mother. The enemy is definitely targeting her. But Mother’s energy is still stable.”

Hiresia made a calm and rational judgment.

I felt a slight sense of relief.

As long as she didn’t lose her cool, I believed we could find a way to deal with this together.

“I see. Then the place where Mother is…”

“It’s not far from here.”

Her words sent a jolt of tension through me.

I quickly shared my thoughts.

“We might not have much time, but it would be best to come up with a plan before we go, senior.”

“A plan?”

“The enemy doesn’t know we’re here yet. So…”

I took out a scroll from my pocket.

It was an Invisibility Scroll.