Chapter 99: Even if We Look Different from Each Other (2)

The World Tree was a sacred tree that was called the mother of all Elves. While the World Tree remained alive, the existence of Elves couldn't be ended. Moreover, their power remained undiminished unless the World Tree wilts away.

The World Tree accompanied the race of Elves from their birth to its demise. Basically, it was a god-like existence to the Elves.

That being was in front of the party.

"This is the first time I've seen it intact."

"Intact.....?"

"I'm just saying this is the first time I've seen it."

When he saw the several hundred meter high World Tree, his heart relaxed a little bit. This was why he had let out an exclamation that contained information connected to his past life. Sienna picked up on it as she asked him a question. He quickly came up with an excuse. Of course, Sienna was also in awe of the World Tree, so she just took his excuse at face value.

Artpe wasn't the only one that felt impressed by the World Tree. Various humans were letting out words of admiration.

"I can see why the Elves are so hellbent in protecting it. I can feel incredible amounts of Mana throughout the World Tree..... I wonder how many great Artifacts one would be able to make with the World Tree as an ingredient."

"That is the problem with the mindset of humans. This is why Elves are hostile against humans, you asshole."

"Koohk!"

Artpe didn't hesitate as he smacked the back of the king's head. The king wanted to come back by accusing Artpe of destroying more than 10% of the trees within the Forest of Eternity. However, he was weak. He had no choice but to take the beating. He was upset by it, and he vowed to raise his level more in the future.

"Koohk! Other humans!? Moreover, that bastard.....!"

".........excessively fast."

Artpe's party had reached the World Tree. Of course, Regina, Aedia's king and his group had realized this fact. However, they were too busy attacking each other to divert their attention towards Artpe's party.

The king of Aedia was over level 240, and he was an Archmage. The high ranking nobles with him were of similar level. If not, they were only a bit short of the king's level and skill. They were all attacking Regina, yet the contest was even. It was a testament to Regina's skill.

"As expected of a group that had represented Aedia, their intentions are evil, but their strength is undeniable......"

"Who's the girl that is going neck and neck with them? The magical energy within her body is much deeper than the others!?"

"Huht. Reginna..... Regina rebelled against the king!?"

The knights of Daitan didn't know about the existence of Regina. A good portion of the magicians didn't know about her either. Those that knew about her were surprised by what they saw.

Regina had never acted against Aedia, yet she was attacking the king and those that held authority over her!

"Oh. She's a golem that mutinied."

"······this isn't a mutiny."

She had picked up on Artpe's not so flattering words. Regina was busy fighting, yet she pouted as she responded to Artpe.

"There are no restrictions. Humans are all swindlers."

What was the order that had made her go against the king? The trace of the battle indicated that the battle had started deep within the forest, and it had reached the World Tree. At the very least, it seemed she had found out about the curse and the black magic prepared by Aedia within the forest.

It seemed she knew what the king planned on doing the Elves. Her aversion to the plan was the impetus for her to successfully push back against her orders.

'She's able to endure the collar choking around her neck, yet she couldn't stand others being victimized. In the end, that spurred her into action...... Well, she was like that in the past life too. Still, she was way too late in realizing this fact in the past.'

In his previous life, the black magic had successfully been implemented, and it had closed in around the necks of Elves. Only then did she finally think about going against her masters. By the time she stood with the hero, too many had died to repair the situation. From that point on, Regina tried to rectify her actions by trying to fix reality. She sacrificed much in the process.

However, Artpe had encountered her at an earlier date in this life, and he was able to use various methods to marinate and season her. He had motivated her to stop everything before things could get out of hand.

Of course, even if she hadn't stopped them, he would have solved the problem somehow. Anyways, the best option to solve this situation remained viable. At this point, he patted himself on the back. He thought his ability to predict what would happen was a step superior to the Demon King.

On the other hand, the king of Aedia still believed that the situation could be reversed. He desperately tried to stall her thought process. He tried to shackle her again through the power of suggestion!

"A much bigger backlash will come to you soon! You are like this, because your thought circuitry is malfunctioning!"

"The restriction works in real time. I'm fine. I'm very angry right now!"

"Koohk······!? Block-aht!"

Of course, it would no longer work against her. When Regina spread both her hands, her magic resolved into a wind spell called the Dragon's Claw. The wind clawed at the king and his party. It was a strike that was filled with her rage and magical energy.

"Shit!"

"Koo-ahhhhhhhk!"

In a battle between magicians, great magics that required long incantations weren't ideal. If one had the magical energy, it was better to use a spell that materialized immediately. It was more effective to use one-off attack magic! The magicians, who were suffering under the attack, tried to activate their barrier magic. However, two of them were too slow in reacting. Their bodies were torn into pieces.

[Nyaa-ah. Nyaa-ahhhhhhh. Nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa-ahhhhh!]

"Wait. Endure it for a little bit longer."

"Oppa has a really bad personality. I like that about you!"

"I'm not sure who's beat you are dancing to. ······You should start getting ready, Sienna."

"If its Purification, I'm confident in my abilities. Leave it to me.."

A magic battle of the century was occurring in front of the World Tree, and the battle agitated the ambient Mana within the forest. Currently, the Elves were completely taken over by the curse, so their base instinct was overriding their rationality. Even now Artpe could feel the Elves converging on the World Tree.

Thankfully, the Elves hadn't ventured out of the forest. If they did, it would have made Maetel's task more annoying.

"What do you want us to do, magician? If you occupy the girl with the horrific amount of magical energy, we can take care of the remnants of Aedia."

"I'm sorry for dragging all of you guys here. In truth, I don't need you guys for anything. You guys can just sit back and eat some buttered corn on the cob."

"B...buttered corn on the cob?"

"Don't you know that it is a specialty of Diaz? This is why I don't work with country bumpkins."

They were mere audiences that will record the dirty history of Aedia. They were here, so they would start looking in the mirror. The main characters for this stage was Regina, Artpe, Roa and the World Tree.

"Humans are here!"

"How dare you sully the holy World Tree..... Humans!"

"The World Tree gave us an order to kill all of them!"

"Dark Elves? No, those that do not follow the World Tree's orders is supposed to become Dark Elves!"

It didn't take long for all the Elves to descend on the World Tree. The number of Elves kept increasing, and there were tens of thousands of them . Their levels were low, but they were in their forest. They were receiving the World Tree's Blessing. This was why their abilities doubled in power, and there were tens of thousand of them! Of course, the humans became nervous.

"M...magician. Is the buttered corn on the cob some kind of a secret code word? At this rate, things are going to get really dangerous Aren't you doing this, because you want to protect the Forest of Eternity!?"

"Don't be so nervous. They aren't in a situation where they'll be able to attack us. Do you really think those Elves look normal?"

"What?"

At Artpe's words, the king of Daitan obediently turned to look at the Elves, and he froze in place.

"······Dark Elves? No, they are falling at this very moment!"

The Elves were showing up from all sides. Almost half of the Elves possessed brown skin.

According to Elven tradition, the Dark Elves were fallen Elves. They became Dark Elves if they broke a rule set by the World Tree. If all of them believed this..... It meant that most of the Elves were currently going against the World Tree's will.

"No! My skin!"

"Please stop, elder! Your skin is turning brown!"

"W...why did the World Tree do this to me!"

The Elves had come to punish the humans, who had intruded into their territory. However, they were sent into a state utter confusion.

How could this be?

They had responded to the World Tree's will, and they were fighting to protect the forest from the humans! So why were the Elves degenerating into becoming Dark Elves?!

"Oppa······ I'm curious about something."

The humans were confused, and the Elves were confused.

In the midst of everything Sienna carefully asked Arpte a question.

"Did oppa intend for this to happen?"

When he heard her words, the corner of his mouth lifted. He smirked.

As expected, Sienna was smart unlike someone he knew. Instead of answering her question, he lightly threw a question towards Sienna.

"Sienna, do you know how the Dark Elves are born?"

"They are Elves being punished by the World Tree for breaking its rules....... I guess that's not true since oppa is asking me that question."

"Yes."

Artpe explained it to her in a kind voice.

"Dark Elves are a form of an occupation. The World Tree chooses Elves with a certain disposition as a defensive response. The World Tree gives these Elves a Blessing."

"Blessing······?"

Sienna asked him a question, because his words didn't match up with the current situation. Artpe snickered as he gave a further explanation.

"Dark Elves were slow at developing manufacture type skills compared to the regular Elves. Instead, they had a special characteristic. They developed faster in terms of battle magic and skill.. Elves are the custodians of the forest. Dark Elves are the guards of the forest."

"But the Elves are......"

"That's right. When they saw Dark Elves developing more inclination towards battle, they assumed that the Dark Elves had broken a rule. This was why they were ostracized and chased out of the forest. However, a large number of Dark Elves couldn't forget about the forest, so most hang around at the outskirts of the forest. They fulfill their roles as guards."

This was the reason why Mycenae was chased out of the forest. Despite this fact, she tried to protect the forest even as she worked as a merchant. She was able to sense a danger coming towards the forest. Amongst the guards, Mycenae was probably the most active in her efforts to protect the forest. She was also able to get great results.

"Just look at the current situation. The World Tree is in great danger right now. There are several magicians present that are capable of burning down the World Tree. Moreover, there are tens of thousands of knights gathered here. It is is a situation where the World Tree is frightened."

"Is that why it is giving out so many Blessings······?"

"Correct."

The World Tree was trying to increase the number of guards that would protect it. Then there were the Elves, who were tormented, because they couldn't understand the significant meaning behind the World Tree's actions. It was a truly foolish yet funny sight. Of course, in his previous life, it had been a horrible spectacle.

"So why did you insist on creating this scenario, oppa? ······ah, I see."

Sienna watched as more than 50% of the Elves were turned into Dark Elves. She was puzzled, so she started asking Artpe a question. However, she came up with the answer by herself. She nodded her head.

Until now, the Elves had always been victimized by humans. They didn't have the power to protect the forest. Elves were either kidnapped or cursed by the humans. Even if one summarized the history of the humiliation suffered at the hands of the humans, it would be enough to fill three 500 page books.

Despite this fact, the Elves didn't think about accepting and nurturing the Dark Elves, who were superior in terms of martial prowess. Instead, they were busy kicking the Dark Elves out of the forest once they were born. Of course, this was why the power of the forces within the Forest of Eternity never grew.

In the end, Aedia and Tiata moved in against the Forest of Eternity, because they were weak. What would have happened if they hadn't kicked out the high level Dark Elves like Mycenae. If those Dark Elves were put into a squad, would the curse be able to take hold inside the forest? Would the humans easily be able to kidnap Elves for their curse experiments?

"Of course, the perpetrators for creating this situation were the humans. However, the Elves contributed to exacerbate this situation. If they continue to remain in this state, it doesn't matter if I police the humans. There will come a day when they'll experience something similar or worse."

"I understand now. You want to be fair in punishing both the humans and the Elves."

"Correct.."

That's right. He hadn't let the situation devolve this far only as a cautionary tale to the humans. He also wanted to feed some bitter medicine to the Elves. He was forcefully changing their way of thinking!

"Evil! Bad!"

"You don't like it?"

"You are too cool!"

Artpe couldn't help but worry about Sienna. As time passed, Sienna's Maetel-ification was getting worse. For now, he decided to treat it as something good.

"Ah. This can't be! The Dark Elves are······!"

While the king of Aedia was fighting Regina, he realized that his plan had gone awry. He let out a shout.

Why?

According to common human social preference, they preferred white skin over brown colored skin. It was a scream that reflected and revealed the truly disgusting desire of humans.

"Your majesty, the situation is getting out of hand! Let's blow up the World Tree! We have to use that spell!"

"Let's do it immediately..... Eeeeek, Regina!"

"Agreed. My name is Regina. That is the only thing I received from Aedia."

Regina raised her head. There was a thick black Mana emanating from the king. It was lumpy, and it felt very unpleasant. The thought of his Mana affecting the Elves made it much more unpleasant. She was very annoyed, because she could easily imagine what was going through the king's head.

"Follow me, Regina! This is for the prosperity of Aedia!"

"Aedia is no more. It has fallen.."

She gave a cold reply as she spread both her her hands. The king knew he couldn't win against her, so he gave up on destroying the World Tree. He immediately activated his black magic spell.

[Nyaa-ahhhhhh. Nyaa nyaa nyaa-ahhhhh.]

Roa had reached the end of her patience. She let out an impatient cry as she begged Artpe. Her tail was thumping against his arm. Se was imploring him to put her down. He smirked when he saw this.

"Yes, you've waited for a long time. It's fine now, Roa."

He let go of her leash.

"Eat it all!"

[Nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa-ahhhhhhhh!]

Mana was emanating from the king's body, and at that moment, Sienna eyes opened into a fierce gaze.

Aedia and Tiata had casted dark clouds over the Forest of Eternity. The final main character that would pull back dark clouds let out a fierce cry as she shot into the air.