Chapter 204

A different atmosphere from before flowed across the battlefield. Hans' words were obviously ones of provocation. Although their opponent seemed overwhelmingly unaware of his actions, it didn't make them any less enraged. Furthermore, since Hans was storing the armored soldiers back into his box, it appeared that his forces were decreasing.

Numbers were strength and power, and the elves had many strong fighters on their side. No matter how strong and amazing their opponent was, they didn't think they would lose. Of course, the elves didn't hold back. The representative of this group was Kandis who was stunned by Hans' words.

Kandis yelled, "What...you are asking us if there's something to be angry about? You made a fool out of us, and you dare to say that!"

"Ah...!" Hans scratched his head like he realized something. 'Now that I think about it, everything Sir Zich says is to provoke his opponents.' Moreover, Zich's provocations weren't meant to create openings by drawing out his opponents' emotions. He purely mocked them for his own pleasure.

Although Hans greatly admired Zich, he had no desire to inherit that kind of personality. He had copied Zich's words and behavior unconsciously and had no intention of provoking his opponents.

'I have to take their lives because of the situation, but I don't wish to mix insults in too.'

Hans thought and apologized willingly, "Sorry, I misspoke." He was genuine as he continued, "If I think about it, the reason why you all are quiet is obvious. Isn't it because you became scared after seeing my attack?"

"...What?" Kandis muttered.

Hans was right. The elves were scared by his brilliant and powerful attack, but nobody could accept such words as a proper apology after Hans' provocative comments. They thought he was provoking them even more now.

"It's my fault. I didn't think the elite troops of the Iron Tribe would be so surprised by just a single blow, especially when you all found out that I'm the only significant fighter in this battle now. It's my fault for falsely judging your skills. I sincerely apologize." Hans put Estellade away and landed a deep bow. It was a courteous and polite apology. Even though they had different customs from humans, the elves knew the meaning behind these actions.

However, the elves' rage didn't subside. Instead, it intensified. Normally, an extreme display of etiquette or an action that didn't match the speaker's words was no different from sarcasm. That was how the Iron Tribe perceived Hans' behavior. However, since Hans was sincerely apologizing from his heart, he was taken aback by Kandis' roar.

"You damn bastard! Don't insult us however you like!"

"...Why are you getting angry when I apologize?" Hans' expression looked like he had been extremely wronged. This made the elves flip over in anger even more.

"I guess what they said about the Iron Tribe elves is really true. They are all hot-tempered and have a nasty disposition. I shouldn't have downplayed them just because they are my enemy." This time, Hans murmured to himself and didn't raise his voice like before.

Yet, the elves intensely focusing on Hans heard all his murmuring with their sensitive hearing.

"Ah, no. I shouldn't think like that. They are just acting like that because I'm their enemy, and they are passionate in a battle to the death. Reason and emotions are separate things, after all." Hans murmured to himself and smiled at the Iron Tribe. It was a very benevolent and wise smile, and he couldn't have imagined that this smile would enrage the Iron Tribe elves to the maximum.

"Okay, I understand. I'm sure you all can't accept my apology yet, but please remember one thing. I really apologized to you all from the bottom of my heart." As Hans now spoke with an expression of a loving mother who accepted everything her children did, Kandis' last remaining reason and thought shattered.

"Kill...!" He was about to issue his command when—

Craaaash!

They heard a huge explosion from behind.

Rummmble!

It was such a huge explosion that all of Mentis shook. A couple of soldiers lost their balance and fell, but Kandis couldn't afford to pay attention to his soldiers. It was the same for the other elves; even those who fell down turned to the noise instead of getting up again. It came from the castle where their great king, who led the Iron Tribe resided. Mentis' castle was enveloped by a fierce ball of fire.

Flames seeped out of all the windows and doors and used the darkness in the surroundings as the stage for their fiery dance.

"H-His Majesty..." Kandis barely managed to speak, but he didn't remain fixed in his spot. "Head to the castle immediately!"

Kandis hurriedly headed towards the castle, and his soldiers followed him. Nobody was concerned about Hans anymore. Renu's well-being was more important than anything else, and there was also the issue of the power underneath the castle that they had to retrieve.

Hans watched as his enemies flowed out like a tidal wave and didn't hinder them. His mission was over, and all he had to do was get out now. There was no need for him to chase after retreating enemies. He recovered the rest of the armored soldiers and knocked the ground a couple of times.

Brrr!

A mound of dirt shot up beside him, and Snoc came out.

"Wasn't our plan to wait for Ms. Lyla to come pick us up from the basement?" Snoc asked.

"I don't think that's necessary. Sir Zich said that it's better if we leave by ourselves if we can."

"Well, he did say that." Snoc stared at the burning castle from far away. The flames were so spectacular that they were the first thing he saw as soon as he got out of the basement. Of course, to its victims, it would've probably looked like a devil's tongue rising from Hell.

"Sir Zich must have done that, right senior?"

"Probably."

Snoc and Hans' concerns about the castle's flames ended there. None of them wondered if Zich was fine or not since they were sure that their master would appear in front of them again, completely fine. And their faith was soon proven once again.

"Didn't I tell you? They wouldn't have left yet."

Someone jumped down to their side. It was Zich who held Lyla and Romanne in both of his arms.

* * *

At the edge of the lake, a group was gathered together and looking at Mentis. From afar, they could clearly see the castle burning in Mentis—that was how great the fire was. From a short distance away from them, the mana flow began shaking things up, and five individuals landed on the forest ground. Lyla had teleported Zich and his companions out of Mentis.

"...My goodness. You really teleported us." Romanne stared at Lyla with a shocked face. If one only considered her ability to perform teleportation magic, it wasn't that surprising. It was surprising that a human, especially a human that looked as young as Lyla, could teleport. However, elves had long lives and had great compatibility with magic, so there were quite a few elves that could do teleportation magic too.

Even if they could do teleportation magic, they could only teleport only one or two people by themselves. Moreover, if more people were added, the distance that they could travel would be significantly shorter. On the other hand, Lyla easily teleported five individuals at once and teleported them all the way from Mentis to the edge of the lake.

'She's definitely not an ordinary magician.'

No, it was not only her that was extraordinary. The man who introduced himself as Hans possessed a sword that looked very special and amazing from a glance. Likewise, he also probably possessed a high level of skill. The man called Snoc used the powers of the magical beast of the earth.

'And that Zich human.'

He was a person that completely played around with the Iron Tribe under the castle. Moreover, judging by his actions, he seemed to be the leader of this unbelievably unique and strong party.

'What kind of person is he?'

They merely exchanged names and hadn't formally introduced themselves to each other yet. Zich had told her that they needed to escape first, and Romanne agreed to this. However, he also said he was a friend of Leona's.

'How did my immature granddaughter get friends like these..."

The fact that Zich and his companions saved her and introduced themselves as Leona's friends made Romanne have a high level of trust for them.

"They are right there." Lyla pointed at where the previous hostages were clustered together.

The kings and queens were standing together, protected by their respective tribe soldiers. Since Zich already knew where all the soldiers hidden near Mentis were, it was not difficult for Lyla to lead the hostages to their tribe's soldiers. Moreover, the kings and queens thought it was safer to stick together than to spread their soldiers out, so they clustered together while waiting for the shaman to arrive. The kings and queens also noticed Zich and his companions.

"Mother!"

"Mother!"

Retree and Sidia rushed towards the shaman immediately. They tightly hugged Romanne, but Zich dissuaded their behavior. "It's better to not squeeze her. She lost a lot of blood."

"Blood?" Retree scanned Romanne's face.

He raised his eyes and saw how pale her face was. Anyone could see that she was not in good condition. Moreover, the clothes she was wearing were covered in blood.

"A-are you all right—!"

"I'm fine." Romanne pushed away her son who was freaking out and nodded towards her daughter-in-law who looked at her with concern.

Then she moved forward. She saw the other tribe's kings and queens move towards her. All of them looked fatigued and haggard, but none of them seemed to have received any serious injuries.

"Fortunately, everyone is safe."

"Yes, esteemed shaman. All they did was imprison us and didn't really do much to us. It seems like that wasn't the case for you though." The Mountain Tribe King stared at Rommane's blood-soaked clothes and pale complexion. The other tribes also said a few words to her.

Romanne flashed a gentle smile. "You all don't have to worry about me. As everyone can tell, I was safely rescued, and I don't have any injuries left either. I'll be able to return back to normal soon after some rest."

Romanne, who was comforting and calming everyone around her, was the embodiment of a kind and gentle shaman. Lyla distinctly remembered Romanne's harsh insults at Renu, and felt that this scene looked awkward and super bizarre. However, Zich didn't think too much about it. There were many people who acted differently depending on the people they met. Moreover, the elf that she insulted and mocked was an enemy.

'Anything you do to an enemy is forgivable.'

This was perhaps the number one belief that hadn't changed since Zich regressed. After finishing her conversation with the King and Queen, Romanne stood next to her son, Retree.

"What are we going to do from now on?" The Ocean Tribe King was the first to bring up this question.

The Mountain Tribe Queen blinked her eyes. "What do you mean what we are going to do from now on? We have to go back to our tribe first and bring our military force to crush those guys."

"Do we really need to go back to our tribe? Don't we have enough soldiers right now to completely take control over Mentis? Even though they have the advantage in defense, just look at them. They probably have no choice but to only focus on their defenses." The Plain Tribe King pointed at the castle engulfed in bright flames. He probably wanted to immediately get revenge against his enemy.

However, the Mountain Tribe King expressed his opposition. "Even though our enemy is in a state of chaos, we can't ignore their advantageous location. Moreover, the military force we have right now is not enough."

Most of the soldiers were those who specialized in scouting and infiltrating, since they had been sent to scout out the enemy's location and rescue the hostages if they could find the chance. Therefore, their current military force greatly lacked direct combat skills, especially considering that they would have to cross a narrow bridge while fighting their enemy. The Plain Tribe King seemed to also agree with this point as he didn't say anything more and let out a sigh.

"...We should retreat for now. Then let's formally gather our troops and attack the Iron Tribe together." The elves agreed to Retree's words one by one, and in the end, the Plain Tribe King also agreed.

Then Zich intervened. "I apologize for my interruption, but if you want to attack, you must do so as quickly as possible."

"Hmm?"

"The power that the Iron Tribe was trying to grasp has awakened."

While escaping, Zich had the chance to look inside the door. In the midst of a blazing fire, there was something standing upright. Instead of green leaves, an enormous tree with red flaming leaves stood in the middle—that tree was definitely the power that the Iron Tribe was feverishly talking about.