episode_0064

It was a story from so long ago that it could now be measured in millennia.

In a time when the world was still full of chaos and even a country called a kingdom seemed like a distant future,

The Demons gathered their own forces and put into action their plan to make the continent their own world.

Namely ‘The Demon King’s Plan’

A powerful demon named ‘Demon King’ was formed by gathering the magical power of numerous demons.

Even if they were scattered once, they would eventually be resurrected as long as the demons are alive, forming a kind of circulatory system.

It was a grand plan to make the continent, which would eventually be resurrected infinitely, the domain of the Demon Tribe.

The scattered humans lacked the strength to stand against the demons’ plans,

With the appearance of the first Demon King, humanity immediately faced the crisis of destruction.

A time when we have not yet stepped foot out of the age of myth,

In those days when countless people cried out to God for help,

A woman who would later be called the first saint,

A man who would later be called the ‘Red-Eyed Warrior’,

He was the only one to issue a challenge to the Demon Clan.

– From “Continental Chronicles 1”. Author: Southern Kingdom History Writing Committee –

The Elf Forest.

It was a huge forest that covered the largest area in the eastern part of the continent, and was the home and residence of numerous elves, forming a kind of ‘kingdom’.

At one time, this region served as a cradle of civilization.

A new civilization developed with numerous inventions created by high-ranking elves using magic to forge steel, and the continent prospered greatly under the leadership of the great elven kingdom.

However, a huge horde of evil invaded from across the continent, and the Elven Kingdom stood at the forefront, repelling the monsters coming from across the sea and protecting all the people of the continent.

However, no matter how great the kingdom, how powerful the race, or how great the warrior, it was impossible to withstand thousands of years of war. The kingdom was weakened, and if things continued as they were, the civilization of the continent would be completely destroyed by the attacks of monsters from across the sea.

In the end, the last king of the elven kingdom sacrificed his life to successfully perform a great magic that completely blocked the interference of monsters from across the continent and the sea. The monsters no longer appeared from across the sea. The king declared that no more kings should appear after him, and quietly returned to his ancestors.

After that, the Elven Kingdom was virtually destroyed. The name remained and the royal family survived, but the kingdom’s function became meaningless. The descendants of the kingdom lived in the forest and continued their life as a new group.

Learning from the lessons of previous wars, they decided to live more on nature and forests than on iron and brick. Instead, they built a temple to commemorate the great wars that had brought them chaos and suffering, and they have remembered and commemorated these wars through ceremonies and rituals for tens of thousands of years.

Time passed slowly. In the meantime, countless hardships continued to be a series of twists and turns that determined the survival of the elven race.

Demon King’s invasion. Peace negotiations. Conflict with humans…

While being tossed and turned by countless incidents, a vast amount of time had passed, and the great war of ancient times had become nothing more than a tale of long ago. Even for the elves, who had a lifespan of thousands of years, the epic had become a tale close to legend.

However, it was not completely forgotten. Thanks to the altar built deep in the forest of the elves and the old royal family that presided over the elven traditional rituals and continued the tradition, it was still alive as knowledge. Of course, the altar was only a lonely form deep in the grass, and the royal family was busy performing their role as chieftains rather than kings.

And at this very moment, three weeks after the miracle of the Airgrants Bridge occurred in the southern part of that continent, an unprecedented change was occurring in the Elf Forest.

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“Saika, just go back? If you do that, you’ll get worse.”

“No matter what, how can an adventurer just sit still…ugh…”

“Oh my, that’s right…”

“What are you talking about when you’re sensitive to magic…Come on, Meni. Take him inside and let him rest.”

“Okay, Mr. Grimes.”

At the entrance to the deepest part of the Elven Forest, at a place where an impressively shaped totem had been erected, four adventurers were meowing. They were unwelcome guests who did not fit in with the forest where the Elves resided. They were human adventurers belonging to the Kingdom of Alcraia, a kingdom formed by humans living together in the distance. They were the group dispatched in advance by the Guildmaster, including Tiller, Meni, and Saika, along with Grimes.

The Elf Forest looked peaceful on the outside. However, Tiller, Meni, and Grimes, who had been trained as combatants, had a constant sense of foreboding. It was as if they had an ominous feeling that if they didn’t look away right away, something would happen to them behind their backs.

The three of them were relatively good. Saika, who was sensitive to the concentration of magical power around him because he was handling magic, was in a very bad condition. The atmosphere of the forest, which was invisible and permeated with magical power, really upset Saika’s mood.

Thanks to that, from the moment she set foot on the border at this place, Saika had a look on her face that turned her insides out. In the end, Meni, who couldn’t stand to watch anymore, ended up supporting her with a worried expression and moving her to the back.

Soon, passing by Saika and Meni who were returning to the rear, there were people approaching the two adventurers standing guard. Three people with pointed ears, and one girl who was short and wearing glasses. There were four of them in total. They were familiar faces to the adventurers, and Grimes in particular did not hide his delight.

“Are you alright, adventurers?”

“Oh, oh! Sieta! Good morning!”

Grimes, who had been grumbling about Saika’s condition, brightened up and raised his voice as soon as he saw the visitor. When he had originally received the request to be dispatched to the Elf Forest, he felt like he was flying into the sky.

However, as soon as he arrived, he was placed at the edge of the forest without even having time to admire the elven village. As he was tasked with guarding a corner of the spooky forest and keeping an eye on it, he was extremely disappointed. Still, he was a professional and was doing his job properly… but from Grimes’ perspective, he was like a cat that couldn’t move even though there was a fish right in front of him.

‘Oh my, are you the adventurers who will help us? Wow, you are so fit!’

There was someone who consoled him, and she was quite a beauty (which was odd, considering she was an elf), so much so that Grimes felt like jumping into the air. It was none other than the elven chieftain and king, Leones Dreamside, the eldest daughter of the elven race’s chieftain and king, the High Priestess Sieta Dreamside.

And now, Sieta Dreamside, with her long green hair and shining blue eyes, was looking at Grimes and the group of adventurers with a smile on her face. And Grimes wasn’t the only one paying attention to Sieta.

“Oh, hello. Sieta, sir…”

“Oh my, Mr. Tiller. It’s been a while. How are you? Any big changes?”

“Oh, no! I, there was nothing at all! Yes, I, our group took turns watching, but there was no change at all right now. It was peace itself! ”

Tiller answered, quite flustered by the sudden remark. Now that he looked, his face was also red. Among the tall and slender elves with beauty that surpassed that of humans, Sieta Dreamside was quite a beauty. She was definitely a beauty that would captivate people, to the point that she was nicknamed the two jewels of the royal family along with her younger brother, and it was impossible for Tiller, who was an innocent boy, not to care about this. Grimes couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Ugh… It would be fun if Saika witnessed this sight… It’d be a shame if so much blood was shed, really.’

“Take it easy, Tiller. If you keep doing that, I’ll tell Saika everything, okay? ”

As Grimes was admiring Tiller’s hesitant attitude while giggling, a soft voice came into his ear. The voice was familiar, so Grimes turned his head to the source of the sound.

“Ah, ahh… Mr. Estil! This is absolutely not that…”

“No… My mouth is watering, what the… Anyway… This place is like X. Really.”

The girl who frowned and used vulgar expressions was Estill Sabre, an alchemist and one of the seven high-level adventurers of the Kingdom of Alcrea.

The sight of him stepping out on his own, unlike usual, would certainly be a sight that would make his friends’ eyes widen.

“Hmm… this is… not good. The forest where the altar is is the source…”

Next to Estil, who had a sour expression, a considerably wrinkled, white-haired elf grandfather muttered quietly. He was one of the elders of the elven race who had lived since the aftermath of the Great War.

Next to him was another old elf who had lived in a similar generation, but of a different gender.

“Eng, tsk tsk… That’s why I’ve been saying since long ago that we should do a purification operation once every 10 years… But the young people won’t listen…”

It was Grimes who had the urge to seriously think about what the youth of the elves was.

“What are you talking about, grandma? Wasn’t it once every 50 years?”

“Was it? Didn’t it change when we met 400 years ago?”

“Didn’t they say at that time that they would do a purification operation once every 100 years?”

“Is that so?”

Soon, the conversation devolved into meaningless banter. Estil sighed and looked away.

“Putting aside the banter… Sieta, how’s the inside? How do you want to get in?”

The destination of Estil’s question was her close friend and the elven High Priest. Sieta was carefully taking a prayerful pose with her eyes closed and her hands clasped together.

After a brief silence, she finally opened her eyes and was covered in cold sweat. Her expression was also quite anxious. It was an unusual expression for Sieta, who was always relaxed and bright.

“I checked from the closest place…it’s very serious. It’s absolutely impossible to enter normally. Even the strongest elf warrior…isn’t there…anyway, if you go in without any preparation…you’ll be poisoned by this poison and die in an instant.”

“What if you are protected by divine power?”

“If I have protection, it’s not impossible to enter…but it’s hard for me alone. I need someone with high divine or magical power. If Vidia was okay, it wouldn’t be a problem, but…”

Estil nodded heavily at Sieta’s gloomy expression, her voice trailing off.

Yes. Vidia Dreamside, Sieta’s younger sister and the princess of the Elf Kingdom (old), was still locked in her room and had no intention of moving.

Not long ago, Sieta and her parents, the leaders of the elven race, burst into her room, feeling they could not stand the ominous atmosphere of the forest, but they were unable to overcome her almost mortal expression and ominous atmosphere and had no choice but to retreat.

In Sieta’s words, emotions were dyed with magic and almost revealed the will to live, or something like that.

“Haa… In this situation, the person who can be trusted the most is in this state… Isn’t this moment the greatest crisis for the elf race since the Demon War?”

“Your Majesty, please be careful with your words…”

“People around you will be shaken if they hear this, hmm…”

“There are no elves here, except for the elders and me. ”

And while conveying such heavy content, Sieta did not lose her composure. It was true that she was anxious and worried.

However, her innate personality kept her from completely losing her composure even in this situation.

It seems like he is of royal blood for a reason. How shameless. Estil grumbled inwardly for a moment.

“In the end, we’ll have no choice but to set up a totem or something to prevent this… ‘contamination’ from progressing until the saint’s party arrives, right? Right, Estil?”

“Why are you asking when you already know?”

Even as he answered calmly, Estil couldn’t help but sigh. The conversation was relaxed, but it was clear that the current situation was bleak.

Because right now, no one here can accurately gauge what’s happening in that forest, and they can’t stop the aftermath.

‘There comes a time in life when you desperately wish for someone to come… Please come quickly, Saintess. And…’

Estill, who thought there was no need to remind them of the name, shook his head and approached his adventurer companions to convey his decision to move the border further back.

While the two remaining adventurers moved with their totems on their backs, Estil clung to the elder couple’s side and moved, glancing at the dark forest from time to time.

‘What on earth is the cause of this strange phenomenon…’

It felt like opening a box that shouldn’t be opened, but at the same time, it was Estill who wanted to satisfy his nature and curiosity as a scholar.

and…

Until the saints’ party reached the forest,

Next 7 days.