Chapter 100: Even if We Look Different from Each Other (3)

[Nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa!]

"Wow. Roa is incredibly excited."

In a flash, the black fog covered the entire region. Roa started sucking in all the negative Mana from the region. This was the most she had eaten, since she was born. The Forest of Eternity was like a buffet to her.

The fruit always tasted sweeter when one refrained from eating it for a long time. She ate all the cursed energy that had sprouted using the Elves as nourishment. She also ate the black magic gathered by the humans. It was the tastiest meal she had eaten up until now.

She had a thought. Maybe, all the curse in this world was gathered to be hers. Roa let out a roar of delight.

[Mee-yahhhhhhhhhhhng!]

"Koohk. How can this be!?"

Roa's gluttonous activity immediately affected the king of Aedia and his high ranking nobles.

They had been unscrupulously learning black magic as black magicians. They had been about to use their black magic, but the Greed Beast had abruptly sucked away all the energy in the region. They weren't able to control their Mana properly.

"The Mana is......"

"No, the magic circle is shattered! This shouldn't be possible!"

[Nyahhhhhhhht!]

If their levels were overwhelmingly higher than Roa's level, it might have been a different story. However, Roa had travelled with Artpe, since she was born. As a Greed Beast, she had travelled the Royal Road. In terms of level, she was close in level with the black magicians!

"Huht. This is.... Koo-hahk!?"

"Ggoo-ahhhhhhh!"

Of course, they became flustered when their spells weren't manifesting properly. Regina used this opportunity to send out a single strike that caused the heads of the nobles to explode. Everyone except for the king had their head cleanly blown off.

If the king of Aedia hadn't quickly brought up his defensive magic, he would have suffered the same fate as them. When he realized this fact, his teeth clenched from fright. He looked towards Regina. However, he didn't have time to wonder why his black magic hadn't activated. He couldn't investigate where the Mana was being sucked away.

"R...Regina! You bitch! How dare you!"

"Lucky. I'm not worried. Let's focus on the business on hand."

She had a vague sense that everything would work out if Artpe was present. However, she hadn't expected him to show up with a magical beast possessing a cheat-like ability.

Anyways, she no longer had to focus on protecting the World Tree. Moreover, the black magic wouldn't be interfering with her either. Since she was freed from such restrictions, Regina could use the full extent of her power, which was about twice as strong as before.

"I am your master! I am your master! How dare a golem go against its master!"

"I am a Demite. I am my own master. I will exercise my free will."

She wasn't a golem. She could do whatever she wanted to do.

"I'm tired of leashes. Even the one around my neck....."

As she squeezed out every ounce of Mana within her, she looked at her surrounding. She saw the tormented Elves. The curse had permeated in their bones, and they had lost their sense of self. For some reason, her eyes landed on Artpe next.

'······denial. That man has always been free. He might have a bit too much freedom.'

When she had traveled with him, she had felt a sense of kinship for a short amount of time. However, she was deluding herself. Artpe liked younger women, and he had acted passionately in an attempt to seduce her. She had been taken in only a little bit.

That was it. Regina took her eyes off of Artpe as she continued to speak.

"······I'm tired of seeing leashes on others too."

"When I said the Elves will obey the humans, that's not what I meant! That's right. I meant I was going to borrow the power of Elves, so we can defend against our outside enemies!"

"Humans are foolish. They keep repeating the same mistakes."

Regina raised both her arms. Her spell was already finished, and she was just waiting for the right moment to unleash it. Regina used the strongest spell in her arsenal. It was an ice type short range ultimate spell. It was the Ice Dragon's Rage.

"However, I am a Demite."

"Regina, wait a moment.... Koohk!? Kah-hahk!"

The first stage of the spell released a cold air that nullified and restricted the enemy's Mana and physical movement.

The second stage was an ice storm that condensed into a very small region before being shot. It froze and destroyed one's enemy.

"I will not make the same mistakes."

However, there was no reply. The Ice Dragon's Rage had squarely hit the king of Aedia. There was no trace of him left in this world. He was dead.

"······hoo."

She had killed someone that she had considered to be her master. Regina floated in midair for a brief moment as she took an inventory of herself. She waited to see if anything bad would happen to her. However, nothing happened as time passed.

"Freedom. It really is freedom."

If she was going to face the consequences for breaking restrictions placed on her as a golem, she would have felt the backlash when she went against the order of waking up the Elves. She would have suffered right when she manifested her explosion spell against the nobles.

She was going through a confirmation process.

"I've always been free.. ······my ignorance led me to hardship. This feels much better than being given a leadership role."

After she reaffirmed her freedom again, she descended from the air. There was nothing around her neck, but she rubbed at her neck with a satisfied expression on her face.

Was it a coincidence?

A sickeningly good looking and merciful magician was waiting for her.

"It's been awhile. What did you say when we parted ways? A golem follows its master's order? I think you said something similar...kuh-huhk."

"Mean."

Regina was aware of the fact that she was inferior to Artpe in terms of physical capabilities. That was why she had casted a Strengthening spell on her fist as she punched Artpe in the stomach.

"Aren't you going too far with someone who helped you regain your freedom....kuh-huhk."

"Mean."

It was as if she was punching him every time he spoke, so Artpe closed his mouth. Despite this fact, Regina's assault wasn't at an end.

"You knew all of this from the start. My situation....you had a complete assessment, yet you were silent. Mean. Mean. Mean."

"You wouldn't have believed me even if I told you the truth! Help me, Sienna!"

"Aht. The Elves are suffering from the curse over there! I'll be right back, oppa!"

"Are you betraying me!?"

Regina was barely able to let go of her vexation after she punched Artpe's stomach several more times. She pouted as she took two steps backward. Then she lowered her head.

"Thank you."

"Your way of thanking me is excessive. If you thank me twice, you'll break couple of my bones."

"My anger towards you have recharged."

"No, don't do it. I'm at fault."

Regina canceled the spell she was about to use.

She carefully posed a question to Artpe.

"Are the Elves safe?"

"Mmmm. Maybe."

After speaking those words, Artpe raised his head to survey his surrounding.

The ex-king and the ruling class of Aedia had died by explosion. There was no trace of them left now. The humans in his party just blinked their eyes as they looked on. They couldn't help but feel despondent. The Elves were gathered below the World Tree as Roa forcefully sucked out all the black magic from them. The process was painful, but it seemed the Elves were more tormented by the fact that they had fallen into being Dark Elves. Roa let out a roar as if to state that she was going to absorb all the negative energy in the region

[Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

"At the very least, they won't be stained by the curse or the black magic. Since most of the energy is being forcefully drawn out of them, their Mana Circuitry will suffer some damage. Still, they'll recuperate from it."

"Even your way of saving them is evil. You are like a candidate for the next Demon King. However, we were fortunate."

"I don't like brats like you, who pick things up too fast."

Artpe gave a reply in jest as he smirked. She already knew that he had induced the change of the Elves into Dark Elves. He had no excuse he could give.

Once the Elves became Dark Elves, they couldn't recover their original skin color. At least half of their population had become Dark Elves. They had only two choices left as a race. They could either accept them or banish them. Of course, half of the Elves would be able to live a better life no matter what decision they came to. That part of Artpe's plan was already a great success.

"Anyways, I have to attempt to speak to them, so I'll have to call Mycenae here.... Ooh-ahhhh. She going to scold me. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it."

"······ shocked . You have another woman."

"She's my personal merchant."

He immediately cut off Regina's words. He refuted her words. He grinded his teeth as he turned around.

The humans, who had accompanied Artpe to this forest, continue to look on with a dumbfounded expression on their faces. Things were developing in a weird direction.

"Well, we wiped out the remnant of Aedia's ruling power. You guys can go back now."

"But....."

"Are you feeling crappy, because you did nothing?"

"Y...yes. I believe so."

It was as if Artpe had picked out the exact thought that was going through his mind. The king of Daitan frowned as he acknowledged Artpe's words.

Tens of thousands of knights and magicians had been gathered for this heroic venture. They were going to root out the evil men, who had used black magic! However, these evil men had been killed by some unknown girl. A scary magical beast was taking care of the curse and black magic, which had been tormenting the Elves.

Something was most definitely wrong here. They wanted a main role, yet they weren't even allowed to take on a minor role. They felt a sense of loss when they realized that they were mere extras in this story.

"Well, you can take several souvenirs like the Artifact used by the king of Aedia. Since you are heading back, you should also conquere Tiata. Ah. I'll be retrieving Maetel, so the conquest will have to be done through your own power. Are the magicians of Aedia going to cooperate with Daitan?"

"W....we'll cooperate.... However, this feeling......."

"What is this unbearable feeling of shame······?"

"It's because..... It's because you guys aren't heroes."

No matter how strong one's individuality was, one became a bridesmaid when a hero made his appearance. They were there, so the hero could stand out from the crowd.

Pretty women fell for the hero, and men admired the hero. Old men would marvel at the hero's wisdom, and the lords felt an unbearable urge to hand control of their lands to the hero!

"I see. I guess it can't be helped....."

"Tiata has lost its ruler. If you consolidate and show off the power of Aedia and Daitan, you will be able to resolve this with minimal violence."

"That's.... I think so too......."

The king of Daitan gave up on discussing the subject. He retreated. It was ironic that he would have to conquer Tiata with the knights and magicians gathered here. However, his business at the forest had come to an end, so he had no grounds for butting into Artpe's affairs.

"Well..... I'm withdrawing the troops, and we'll head straight towards Tiata."

"Koo-hmm. I don't think our actions will be judged kindly if we head towards Tiata like this....."

"I don't think that's true. In the end, Tiata also participated in this disaster. The ruling class of Aedia and Tiata had committed high crimes. If we are going to search for a new path forward, I believe the king of Daitan is our only option."

"Moreover, the hero is with Daitan."

That's how it was.

Arpte hadn't realized it yet, but Artpe's occupation as the hero played a big part in swaying the opinions of people! This was why they were able to accept this unreasonable situation and retreat.

Of course, Artpe didn't care about the reasoning behind them accepting his orders. He was focused on whether Roa was eating well, and he checked to see if Sienna had enough Mana to treat all the Elves. He raised the communication item, and Maetel immediately answered his call.

[Artpe!]

"The situation has been resolved. I want you to come to the Forest of Eternity right now."

[Yes!]

First, he ordered Maetel to stop acting as a gatekeeper. He told her to come to the forest, then he tried to contact his personal merchant Mycenae. It had truly been a while, since he had contacted her. It didn't take too long for her to reply after the transmission had went out..

"Hey, ajumma....."

[ You really contacted in an expedient manner ! Where are you right now? Were you able to enter Aedia without much problem? Even if you don't need to buy anything from me, you should have contacted me to let me know you are ok. You didn't contact me for so long, and I was really worried........]

It seems a lot of her feeling piled up, so she unloaded on Artpe with sharp words. She spoke in rapid succession. In an attempt to calm her down, Artpe put emphasis on his next message.

"I finished the Eternal Forest Quest."

[It would look unseemly if I contacted you first.... What? What did you say? May you repeat that again?]

"The Quest has ended, so I want you to give me my reward."

Mycenae became silent.

Her lifelong wish was granted just like that.