Chapter 168 – Ep.11 – Darkness in the Elven Forest
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There is a good reason why the women cannot come to rescue Delrin. In addition to their quarrels and the nature of the elven forest, they encountered another obstacle.
“… What?”
No matter how skilled an adventurer is, no matter how well a wizard or witch handles mana, they can easily get lost in the forest of elves.
They feel a strange sense of incongruity. Helen was the first to feel the discomfort, followed by Chichi, Rico, Neva, and Eva. (Kaede didn’t pay much attention, so I didn’t know.)
“Doesn’t it feel quite different here?”
Said Helen, stroking a large tree growing nearby. It has grown thick and long, and is breathing quietly, with moss and mushrooms on the outside.
Looking at the tree that is not shaken by the wind, the women are puzzled. It seems to be resisting the wind.
“It just doesn’t feel good. We have to save Delrin quickly…!”
Cried Neva, leaning furiously against the thick tree. Neva’s head is full of all kinds of humiliation that Delrin must be suffering.
The women are all familiar with the habits of the elves. I know all about their culture, even their bad rumors.
“Whoa, elves…”
There is no danger that Delrin will be captured and killed. Thanks to his ability, even if she dies, he will come back to them.
Nonetheless, the reason why all the women frantically search for him is that Delrin continues to endure all the shame she suffered from being dragged away by the elves.
Who can stand still and watch someone they love suffer?
“Neva, don’t worry too much. Kaede is also concerned about the safety of the West, but in this situation…”
“I know. In a situation like this, you need to find a solution, not worry. Whoa… I’m sorry.”
Neva endures Kaede’s awakening, holding on to her spirit again. Of course, Kaede intended to offer some of the raspberries she had hidden secretly and ask them to eat something delicious, but since it seemed to go well, she threw all the raspberries in her mouth and pretended not to know.
“Chichi-san, are you still overworked?”
Neva, longing for a solution, yearns for Chichi’s phenomenal ability to understand the mana of the elven forest. Chichi said that she would analyze the flow of the elven forest, and then meditated for two full hours.
“Joe, wait a moment. This is not an easy task…!”
Chichi is the most knowledgeable about mana out of all of the group, so her help is indispensable if you want to get through the elven forest. The blue mana that was spread all around her and the green mana that was drawn out by the blue mana gradually blended together to create a certain flow, so perhaps if it continues a little longer, you will be able to understand the elven forest.
“Pilmarck, what about the search?”
“There’s nothing, so shut up and wait.
“Yes. I understand. Eva, you hold on to her sister’s hand and walk.”
“That’s right!”
Until then, everyone walks the path, relying on Riko’s detection. Rather than wandering through the elven forest, it is better to follow the faint traces left by Delrin and the elves. Of course, even those traces are faded by the mana of the elven forest, so it’s not easy to feel it, but Rico somehow relies on his far-reaching senses to walk down the street.
“Ha, fuck… I can’t do it. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but there’s nothing here.”
“Nothing, what do you mean?”
“There’s no sign of elves, and there’s not even a trace of a rat crawling. It’s really fucking…”
Rico gets irritated, scratching the floor nervously. Unlike forests that grow green, all those forests just swallow everything as if to hide themselves. The road the squirrel passed by and the weeds dug up by the wild boar all quickly disappear. While the forest cares for everything, it struggles to grasp them.
“How on earth do you live in a place like this? Anyway, elves bastards…”
Numerous creatures that have adapted to the elves’ forest will live by exerting their own special abilities,
Those who come from outside will have trouble, no matter how strong they are.
Elves do not welcome outsiders.
Likewise, their forests do not welcome strangers either…
“Aagh!”
Just then, Chichi’s scream rang out. Everyone stares at her at her shrill voice.
“Hmm… Ah, nothing! Never mind!”
Her face, contorted in pain, begins to tremble with difficulty. And, in response to Chichi’s blue mana, the green mana that followed it begins to fade little by little…
“What…?”
“Chichi, are you okay!?”
Instead, unseen mana gathers around her. It is gray and sways like smoke. Helen looks at it and murmurs.
“Grey…”
Chichi, who had her eyes tightly closed, shouted as if trying to calm everyone down.
“I told you it’s okay! Because it’s okay…!”
But the sweat beaded on her brow, and the blood trickled out over her mouth,
Her head, which begins to sway dizzy to and fro, informs everyone.
Something is going wrong.
We must hurry to save Delrin,
Something is blocking their way.
“Chichi-san, can I help you a little?”
Helen whispers on Cheech’s broom at one point, sitting on the back of her Cheech.
Her hands, still smelling of cigars, rested on the back of Chi-Chi’s trembling hands.
As a result, a kind and gentle light surrounds their hands.
“I never asked for help…!”
“You don’t need to say thank you. Colleagues have to be willing to take on these things.”
All the gray mana that had been swirling like cigarette smoke started to fade little by little.
Like a string of lingering feelings that inevitably drift away, they are washed away from Chichi’s mana and gradually drift away…
“Haha…”
“Chi-Chi is an important member of our party, so he shouldn’t be hurt.
Chi-Chi, who has finally regained his composure, glances at Helen sitting behind him with one eye open. I wonder about the gray mana she just saw, but I also wonder about Helen’s help in blocking it.
“If you handle mana so well, why don’t you do it instead…!?”
“Manae is an outsider. She’s lived her whole life against everything, so she’s only interested in crooked sins like me.”
Helen continues to help Chi-Chi with a gentle smile. Her exhausted mind and body regains strength little by little with Helen’s divine power.
The relationship between mana and her divine power has not yet been properly identified, but Chichi thinks that her divine power is not too bad, so he snorts at her once and tries to focus on her mana again.
“It’s done. It’s done, so go down…”
“It’s already down. Don’t worry.”
“…Cha, I’m… Absurd…”
…Because of the cheeky bitch who doesn’t listen to everything and behaves as she pleases, Chichi’s divine power is a little disliked again.
Anyway, Chi-Chi again handles mana carefully and makes it her own.
Amazing skills like a great witch.
To think that a woman who was not born and raised in the elven forest could understand and adapt to the elven forest.
You could say it’s truly a miracle.
“It’s almost done. Can I go find it now…?”
However, before telling everyone about the miracle,
Everyone’s eyes are focused on one place at once.
It is the land It’s an ordinary land with nothing much to see, but for some reason, a small bracken-like thing blooms there.
It suddenly came to life, but for unknown reasons, it gradually began to grow. It grew to the knees of women, then to Eva’s eye level, then to beyond Kaede’s prickly ears, and finally to the top of Chichi’s head as she flies on her broomstick…
“…”
It makes an existence appear out of nowhere beyond the thick stem. When it appeared, it dried up like a bracken, losing all moisture and vitality, and soon disappeared as dust in the blowing wind.
“Eva, behind me.”
Each of the women gulps down their spittle, then lays her hand on each weapon as she gazes intently at one of the robed beings.
It must have a human form, but no one sees its face.
The darkness within the robe absorbs all the light, so they can’t see anything. All I could see was a robe, a long, bony staff it was holding, and a deep pit of darkness.
“…”
It doesn’t say anything. However, the robe moves little by little, as if scanning all the women.
Then, the face part of the robe paused for a moment on Helen, then moved on and on, then stopped once on Chichi…
“…”
Disappear like that It leaves no ashes, and quietly disappears like a clearing fog at dawn.
“Ears, ears, ears, ears… Ears, ghosts…”
Unlike Kaede, who makes a fuss and wags his tail, Chi-Chi’s eyes quietly gaze at the surroundings, engrave the afterglow of the disappeared existence.
With the gray mana, seeing something purple that remains very faintly, very faintly, so that no one will recognize it,
Chichi says:
“It’s not a ghost, but you got caught up in something more troublesome than a ghost. And if you make a fuss about being a ghost again, I know you’ll get really scolded!”
The remaining mana speaks for itself.
We all have to die here.
“Everyone stays alert.”
Everyone’s vision darkens.
Darkness falls over the green and dense forest.
“I have to fight… Because…?”
Stars rise one by one in the dark.
The stars are beautiful and beady and catch Chi-Chi’s eyes.
Makes all the other women stare at them too.
“If you die here, it’s only after Delrin dies… That you can come back… Everyone…”
In a space that is extremely dark but filled with sadness because of the stars and the Milky Way,
An expressionless woman walks out. Her face is beautiful but empty, and ironically, loneliness and sadness are felt in her emptiness.
“I’m sorry, but everyone die. We can’t let them face the world tree.”
Her words were not long.
After spouting all her business in two sentences, she rose cautiously into the air, her bony hand clutching her staff.
