Chapter 738

Chapter 738

I Need to Change the Plan. (2)

What Ghislain saw of the forest was devastating.

The trees were blackened and twisted, their leaves also turned black, hanging down in a soggy, limp mess. The moss covering the ground had changed from its natural green to something pitch black and sticky, like slime. In places, mold, the color of blood squirmed and spread its territory.

The air reeked with a suffocating stench. The smell of rotting flesh mixed in, stabbing at his nostrils.

‘Hmm……’

Ghislain slowly took in the sight of the forest.

It was eerily quiet, as if the wind itself had ceased. Even the presence of spirits had vanished entirely. Not even the tiniest bugs, which should have been there in any normal forest, were to be found.

This wasn’t simple pollution.

The area was saturated with a horrific level of malevolence and resentment.

‘This is……’

Ghislain had seen a forest like this before. The Core of the Forest of Beasts had been in exactly this state.

But that had been caused by the toxic aura emitted by a monstrous being known as Morbus. A feat impossible for an orc shaman to achieve.

‘A Black Mage, huh……’

If it was black magic, then such a situation was certainly possible.

That is, if a Transcendent of at least 7th-Circle had sacrificed countless lives.

‘Even then, it couldn’t have been done alone.’

The Elven Forest was vast. Even just the area known as the Northern Forest was nearly as large as a great estate.

Though he had moved cautiously while speaking with Ereneth, just getting to this place had taken more than two days.

Being a mage himself, Ghislain knew. No matter how powerful a Black Mage might be, they couldn’t corrupt such a large area of forest in such a short time.

And there was no way the elves would have just stood by with their eyes open while black magic was being cast.

‘It’s not like a 9th-Circle Black Mage showed up.’

Had someone like that appeared, the elves’ losses wouldn’t have ended here.

That’s why the current situation puzzled him.

“What happened? Did you just sit back and watch while the Black Mage did all this?”

“Do you think that’s possible? From what I heard, they kept trying to purify it. Ordinary black magic can be purified with the power of the spirits.”

“And yet?”

“I don’t know either. I wasn’t directly part of the war. From what I heard, the Black Mages moved with the orc army. They’re the ones who tainted the forest, and the corruption is only spreading faster.”

So, multiple Black Mages had moved together. In that case, it wasn’t impossible.

Ghislain looked down at his feet. He could see the energy of decay slowly spreading. In just a few more days, it could grow large enough to swallow several villages.

Ereneth continued, her expression full of frustration.

“The orcs may have been defeated and driven back, but this time, the damage on our side might be worse. The forest isn’t recovering properly.”

“……”

“The Elders are still in constant meetings. I heard that soon, all the elves who can wield the power of spirits will gather to purify this place.”

“Hmm, then maybe the forest will be able to regain its former state quickly? Doesn’t sound like too much of a problem.”

It wasn’t just divine power that had purifying strength. Spirits also possessed the power of purification.

Nature, by its very nature, was a system of perpetual cycle and renewal. It could cleanse decay and restore disrupted balance.

While the pollution here was severe and cleansing wouldn’t be easy, if all the elves pooled their strength, it didn’t seem impossible to purify it.

To Ghislain’s question, Ereneth replied with a sigh.

“It will get purified. That’s not what we’re worried about.”

“Then what is?”

“That they’ll do this again. If this happens a few more times, the forest will end up devastated.”

Even if the corruption from black magic could be erased by the power of purification, repeated artificial disruptions would inevitably sap the forest’s life force.

Just like how farmland needed time to recover its fertility after a harvest, the forest, too, required time to restore its vitality.

Ereneth looked at Ghislain and clenched her fist tightly.

“This isn’t normal black magic. Even the Elders said something was strange. I’m sure the Black Mages working with the orcs pulled off some kind of trick.”

“I think so too.”

“I’m not going to just sit by and watch this happen.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“We’re going to fix this ourselves!”

“…Oh.”

Ereneth’s face lit up with excitement, her eyes sparkling. She was thinking something rather bold.

She intended to take the lead in resolving this situation together with Ghislain.

‘This human is pretty strong. We fought on even ground, after all(?).’

Strictly speaking, she had been slightly overwhelmed. But Ereneth believed that if the fight had continued to the end, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Her combat prowess was something acknowledged by all the elves in the forest.

She never even considered the possibility that Ghislain might not have fought with all his strength.

Ghislain scratched his cheek and asked,

“So, the two of us… what exactly are we going to do to solve this? Do you have a plan?”

He was curious about what Ereneth had in mind.

After all, he had already intended to help resolve the forest’s problem. That way, he’d have an excuse to borrow the Sacred Stone.

But with Ereneth stepping up so assertively, he found himself a bit taken aback.

Ereneth responded with a confident expression.

“Of course I have a plan. Right now, our best elven warriors are moving to uncover the identities of the Black Mages. Soon, we’ll find the location of the Red Fang Tribe and the Black Mages.”

“What?”

“They’ve formed a reconnaissance unit. If something like this happens again, the forest really will be devastated.”

“You mean…”

“Yeah. As soon as the forest purification is done, we’re planning to strike the Red Fang Tribe first. That’s why we sent out scouts.”

“Huh…”

Elves usually never start a war.

For them to be planning a preemptive strike meant they were seriously enraged.

Sure enough, Ereneth continued with a resolute expression.

“For hundreds of years, we’ve only ever defended against incoming attacks. That alone was enough to protect the forest. But now that they’ve allied with Black Mages, we’re not going to just sit back anymore.”

It was a valid point. In a situation like this, even Ghislain wouldn’t have stayed idle.

In fact, he probably would have stormed in and killed them all already.

But that was only possible if you had the power.

Elves lived long lives, but their population was small. Orcs, on the other hand, boasted immense reproductive power.

That’s why, even after suffering repeated defeats, the orcs had been able to keep invading endlessly.

Ghislain offered a slightly better idea.

“If you’re going to strike first anyway, why not talk to the humans and ask for support? If priests join in, the Black Mages could be dealt with more easily.”

“What? Bring in the human army? Are you insane? That would be the end of us.”

“……”

“We only joined forces with humans during the war against the Demonic Abyss. Otherwise, the humans would never stop meddling with us.”

“Hmm.”

“You think humans will help us and then quietly leave? Not a chance. They’ll try to use us somehow. I might long for the outside world, but even I know that much.”

“…Yeah.”

Ghislain nodded obediently. Ereneth wasn’t wrong.

Humans never move without expecting something in return. Especially the humans of this era.

If the elves showed even a hint of weakness, the humans would see it as an opportunity and bombard them with all sorts of demands to exploit them.

Ereneth returned to her usual arrogant expression and said,

“And wiping out a mere orc tribe is well within our power. If they hadn’t brought in Black Mages, we would’ve just ignored them instead of attacking first.”

“Alright, alright. I got the picture. But how exactly are the two of us supposed to solve this?”

“The reconnaissance unit’s already been sent out, right? Let’s move in secret too.”

“What?”

“If you and I join forces, taking down a Black Mage should be easy. So, let’s find the Black Mages first and kill them. That way, we’ll achieve something huge.”

“……”

“If we do this, the Great Chieftain and the Elders will look at me differently. They’ll finally acknowledge that I can go out into the world. What do you think?”

“……”

When Ghislain gave her a look that said he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, Ereneth flared up and shouted.

“Orcs are weak! I can kill hundreds of them on my own! And the reconnaissance unit’s nearby anyway, so if things get dangerous, we can just run back and regroup! We’re strong in the mountains too!”

“Ha…”

Ghislain instinctively put a hand to his forehead. This reckless elf was trusting in her own strength and trying to earn merit like a human would.

And then, she wanted to use that accomplishment to gain permission to leave the forest.

‘She’s completely out of control.’

Ghislain clicked his tongue. If the forest could be corrupted on this scale, then each Black Mage was either incredibly powerful, or there were a lot of them.

It was highly likely that Ereneth, with her current level of skill, wouldn’t be able to handle it. And yet, she was grossly overestimating her own abilities.

This kind of sloppy plan could never work. Even if it did succeed, the Great Chieftain and the Elders would only be more troubled.

What Ereneth was proposing was, in truth, a method full of ambition, like those of greedy humans.

No one would agree with such a half-baked plan.

Ghislain spoke with a serious expression.

“That’s an incredibly brilliant plan. I’m amazed. Truly perfect. Ah, a genius strategist was right here all along.”

“Right? I knew you’d think so too. You seem pretty strong, so I’m sure we’ll succeed.”

It was a ridiculous plan, but Ghislain liked it.

If they wanted to solve the problem quickly, going head-on was the best option. Smashing everything was much faster.

And if something went wrong, he could always blame Ereneth.

The two of them grinned and shook hands. Neither considered the possibility of failure.

Ghislain smiled brightly at Ereneth.

‘So, she used to be this wild in her youth. Back then, she really matched my taste. This is much more fun.’

The Ereneth of the future was always stiff and moved with caution. She constantly kept her emotions in check and never acted rashly.

To think she had been such a troublemaker in the past, it was astonishing even as he witnessed it.

Of course, some things hadn’t changed. Her aggressive nature seemed to be innate.

When the future Ereneth made up her mind to act, she never hesitated. How many Transcendents had died by her hand?

— Don’t do this… Why are both of you losing it now… Please, stop…

— Come to think of it, the past is way better, huh? Since it’s come to this, let’s just smash everything with her and take the Sacred Stone.

Unfortunately, Astion and Dark’s words didn’t reach Ereneth.

She grabbed Ghislain’s hand and tugged at him.

“Let’s move now! If we stay here any longer, we’ll get discovered too. We have to get out of the forest.”

This area was off-limits by order of the Great Chieftain. Only a few elves were stationed a bit farther away, keeping watch for any abnormal signs.

That was why Ereneth and Ghislain had been able to approach the forest without much trouble. The other elves had obediently followed the Great Chieftain’s command.

Even so, Ereneth urged Ghislain to hurry. Ghislain nodded subtly.

‘There really is something in this forest detecting my presence.’

Otherwise, Ereneth wouldn’t have been so insistent. It was clear that it wouldn’t be long before the other elves came looking here.

“Wait a moment.”

Ignoring Ereneth’s urging, Ghislain took a closer look around. There was something he needed to confirm.

He stepped into an area where the forest was completely rotted and began to observe his surroundings.

As Ghislain remained silent and only kept scanning the area, Ereneth grew slightly irritated.

“What are you doing? It’s already dead land!”

“……”

Ghislain ignored her. Instead, he knelt down on one knee and scooped up a handful of blackened, corrupted soil.

His expression hardened as he examined it.

“I said, what are you doing?”

Ghislain still didn’t answer. He simply stared off into the distance, his face now grim.

“Let’s go already!”

“Ereneth.”

“If we stay here too long, it’ll get dangerous!”

“Ereneth.”

“…What?”

Ghislain continued to gaze into the far distance. As he slowly stood up, the soil he had been holding slipped through his open hand.

Without turning his head, he spoke.

“I think we’ll need to change the plan.”

“What? Why?”

Ziiing—!

A ripple tore through the air as Ghislain opened his subspace. From it, a long staff began to emerge.

He spoke in a cold voice.

“Looks like we won’t need to go to the mountains.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The reconnaissance unit… they’re probably all dead.”

Ghislain gripped the staff that had emerged from the subspace tightly.

Far off in the northern sky—

A dense darkness was rolling in.

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