Chapter 219 - Reunion (2)

A place that ordinary elves would find difficult to even approach.

The elders of the elves were gathered deep in the roots of the World Tree, where only those permitted could enter.

"We must succeed this time."

"Of course, Great Elder."

An undeniable tension lingered on the faces of the elders as they looked ahead.

This would probably be the last time.

Because there were neither materials left nor time to hold out anymore.

Knowing that the single sword before them was their last chance to erect the barrier, a resolute expression settled on the faces of the elders looking at it.

"Everyone, prepare."

It was the spot where the silver knight given by the Swordmaster had once been planted.

But now, a sword of a completely different color was situated there, and above that sword, complex formulas painstakingly drawn by the elders floated up like a picture and shone.

"... Begin."

Magic circles floated in the air, following a single ray of light shining from far above.

Great Elder Geronimo, who had been watching them, raised his finger with a firm voice, as if he had made up his mind.

RUMBLE.

Along with the incantations chanted by the elders, the floating formulas slowly began to draw a circle.

With completely mismatched sizes, taking on their own respective colors.

As the incantation grew longer, uncontrollable beads of sweat began to pour from the foreheads of the elders in charge of their respective circles.

"Slowly!"

The large circles went down, the small circles went up.

Following Geronimo's old fingers, the circles that started on a plane found their places and gradually formed a giant cone.

"Now!"

Under Geronimo's direction, the world drawn by the elders slowly began to sink downward.

Toward the spot where the Swordmaster's sword used to be planted.

But now, toward the spot where a completely unfamiliar sword lay.

GRRRMBLE!

As the cone descended toward the sword, a massive vibration, unnoticeable from the outside, began to surge within the World Tree.

The most important and final step to activate the barrier formula.

Finally, the world drawn by the elders rode the planted sword and began to be engraved as a single crest.

"It's do...!"

Someone who saw that began to let out a shout of joy.

Even though there had been numerous failures until now, they held onto the hope that it would work this time.

Indeed, unlike the previous swords, the light visible from the currently planted sword and the resonance spreading from it were ringing completely differently.

CRACK! CRAAACK!

If not for the ominous sounds echoing right now.

"Oh no."

Something had gone wrong, as the brilliantly shining world of the cone slowly began to tilt.

Along with the scream let out by the single sword supporting that world from beneath.

"Everyone, get down!"

"Protect the Great Elder!"

At the shout of an elder who sensed the failure, all the elders began to lower their bodies.

The sight of the elders hugging the Great Elder to prepare for any unforeseen situations looked incredibly familiar.

CRAAACK!

Along with the screams let out by the elders, the brightly shining sword flickered frantically and began to burn white.

Burning even its own body, as if it could no longer shine like this.

At that sight racing toward destruction, old Geronimo could do nothing but watch without even blinking.

BOOOM!

The single sword, unable to bear the world of the elves, finally exploded with a loud noise.

At the sight of it shooting off like a shooting star, Geronimo dropped his head with a sorrowful sigh.

Because the sword exploding right before him was not just a sword, but a piece of the hope that the elves needed to possess.

"... As expected, we should have had the Swordmaster's sword."

The barrier of the forest, permitted by the World Tree and created by ancient elves pouring their essence into it.

That barrier, tasked with bearing the responsibility for the survival of an entire race, must have been an incredibly heavy and arduous duty.

That must be why it couldn't hold out and shattered.

"........."

Geronimo looked at the fragments of the sword growing cold before him and, without a word, carefully began to stroke them.

Beneath the roots of the now darkened World Tree, Geronimo could not leave his spot for a long time, looking completely shrunken down.

* * *

There was a girl walking along a wide hill path holding a long branch.

And following behind her were refugees looking quite shabby.

The few guards escorting the Divine Maiden were tense, seemingly displeased with the current situation, but from a distance, they looked quite imposing for some reason.

"I've been waiting for you. Lately, my brother... no, Lord Varadis has been struggling a lot."

The way she needlessly poked around the bushes with the branch she was holding was exactly the image of a child.

However, Vlad was someone who knew well that within that innocence lay a mystery that could not be ignored.

"Lord Varadis is?"

At the girl's words that Varadis was struggling, Vlad asked back in a voice that sounded slightly surprised.

The captain of the rangers, the elf Varadis.

Because the man he knew was not one to be easily shaken by ordinary adversity.

"Yes."

The Divine Maiden turned her head at Vlad's question coming from behind her.

Then, when he faced her, the image of the girl he had just seen had vanished like a lie.

"Because until now, there was no one to help him."

Vlad paused his steps for a moment at the girl's suddenly changed gaze.

Although the girl's eyes had become hazy as if she were dreaming, he still felt a strong gaze looking at him.

"But it's fine now. Because Vlad brought many people to help."

However, as soon as she finished speaking, the young Divine Maiden returned to her innocent self and began to walk, slowly stepping backward.

Her hopping steps looked light; it seemed she was quite excited.

"There are much more people than I saw in my dream. Back then, it wasn't even half of what it is now."

"Dream?"

The girl, who had been continuously looking at Vlad, tilted her head slightly to the side and continued speaking while looking at the Luga tribe people following behind.

"Yeah. A dream. I saw this moment in a dream shown by the World Tree."

The World Tree was the highest tree reaching God's will, and the girl, the representative of that tree, saw the future through the medium of dreams.

But the future she saw through an entity like the World Tree had already passed through several stages, making it inevitably blurry and disjointed like a child's drawing.

"But this mole wasn't in the dream I saw?"

Because of this, when the future she saw was encountered in reality, it was sometimes vastly different from what she had seen in her dream.

Like the time Vlad raised his sword over the deep blue sea to save the dwarves, and like the mole right now that supposedly didn't appear in the dream.

"I guess Vlad brought him. Is that why more people came?"

"........."

The girl's tone was cheerful, but an odd tension settled on the face of Vlad, who was listening.

Because her words just now sounded as though if not for the mole, the number of Luga tribe refugees would have been halved.

["The city is strange, Vlad."]

Behind the girl who spoke those meaningful words, the elven city of Aushrina was slowly coming into view.

However, the elven city, which he had returned to after a long time, looked much different from when Vlad had left.

["Seeing that they've erected palisades around it, they seem to be preparing for battle. And on a quite large scale at that."]

Vlad scanned the distant scenery of Aushrina, following Quijano's words echoing from within.

Indeed, just as Quijano said, the elven city in sight was filled with sharply erected palisades.

CREAAAK.

Perhaps having spotted the Luga tribe refugees, the gates began to open slowly, and the palisades of the city of Aushrina began to part.

At the entrance, now as grand as a human fortress wall, stood a man with navy blue hair, his arms crossed as he looked at Vlad.

"It was you after all. Vlad Aureo."

The captain of the rangers, Varadis.

Smiling bitterly at the droves of people his runaway sister had brought, he slightly raised one hand toward the familiar blonde hair.

* * *

"As always, you go around doing unpredictable things."

"Thank you for opening the gate. Varadis."

"I opened it because of you. Not because of the beastmen."

After temporarily settling the Luga tribe refugees in a makeshift shelter, Vlad was walking toward where the elders were, guided by Varadis.

The elven settlement built inside the massive tree was a wondrous sight even after a long time, but right now, Vlad did not have the luxury to marvel at the elves' architecture.

"So there's no need to thank me. My authority is only temporary at best. Keeping them inside Aushrina ultimately requires the consent of the council of elders."

It was the elven race that did not easily permit approach not only to humans but also to other races.

To the elves, who had survived thus far through such an exclusive stance, the hundreds of refugees who arrived so suddenly would undoubtedly be unwelcome.

"They are people with nowhere to go. I also bear responsibility for their wandering."

"You'll have to organize those stories well and explain them to the elders you're about to meet."

After walking down the corridor for a long time, Varadis stopped in front of the large door they had seen in the past and gestured with his eyes toward Vlad.

"Are you ready?"

"... Yes."

Quietly tucking the mole, which was still dozing on his head, into his embrace, Vlad took a deep breath as he looked at the door of the conference hall where the elders would be waiting.

"Then I hope there's a good result."

CREAAAK.

Bright light began to pour out through the crack of the door that opened with Varadis's gesture.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, the sight of a spacious conference hall became visible.

Sitting here and there atop massive tree roots tangled like stairs, over ten elders were looking down at Vlad.

"... It's been a long time. Knight of humans. Vlad."

The old elf sitting at the very top among them gestured toward Vlad and offered a strained smile.

Old Geronimo, the Great Elder of the elves, remembered the young knight who had saved their World Tree and was showing delight at the sight of Vlad returning once again.

"It seems you've gone through a lot since then. You've grown much bigger than before."

It was a potential that shone even when he cut down Nidhogg, the sharpest dragon.

But the image of Vlad that Geronimo saw now had taken form to an extent incomparable to back then, and the old man's heart seemed somewhat pleased by the young potential that had suddenly grown up.

"... Have you been well all this time? Great Elder."

But as a child grew, an old man inevitably aged.

Even though he sat way up there, Geronimo's vitality had noticeably waned, enough for Vlad to realize it.

"I'd like to say we've both been fine, but it is our sad reality that we cannot."

Seeing Geronimo's faintly trembling fingers, Vlad quietly began to scan the other elders nearby.

'Something is definitely going on.'

Though not as much as Geronimo, the other elders also looked as though their energy was drained.

Seeing them like that, Vlad could realize that something major was happening in Aushrina right now, even without the palisades erected outside.

"I don't know what's going on, but I should be able to help. So please..."

"I want you to take the Luga tribe and leave."

Varadis had also seemed to want him to stay here.

Therefore, Vlad had thought he could resolve the Luga tribe's matter favorably if things went well, but the words that came from Geronimo's mouth were unexpectedly firm.

"If possible, it would be best for you to leave quickly. That is better for their sake as well."

Geronimo spoke of leaving quickly while letting out strained coughs, but his attitude showed no hint of annoyance or an attempt to reject anyone.

"Before long, the lord of humans will come invading this place."

"The lord of humans?"

"Yes. You probably know him too. The Count of Vitskaya."

The Count of Vitskaya was certainly a familiar name.

"And even those who have revived are targeting our forest with hideous appearances. In other words, this place cannot be a safe refuge for the Luga tribe."

And the term 'those who have revived' was as well.

"... Those who have revived."

Familiar names heard in a completely unexpected place.

Vlad, who had sought out the Luga tribe to face Frausen, could find their traces even here in Aushrina.

"Are they invading this place right now?"

The nobles, the clergy, and even the Imperial Family, the masters of the Empire.

Vlad had chased their existence, which all responsible figures had turned a blind eye to, until he reached the city of Namarca.

Although he ended up being chased out even from there by the oldest dragon, Vlad had not lost his original purpose even in the moment he was crushed.

"That is right. Even now, they are approaching us, dyeing this forest black."

Upon hearing Geronimo's words, Vlad unconsciously gripped his scabbard.

"........."

Vlad's anger was being conveyed through his tightly gripped hand.

The Dragon Slaying Sword, which resembled its master and thus understood his anger, began to tremble slightly along with Vlad's firm grip.

RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

Vlad's sword began to heave even more as it beat in sync with its master's pulse.

A silver light was shining on the blade of the Dragon Slaying Sword, which slipped out little by little with that heaving.

"... Hmm?"

Geronimo's eyes began to widen as he recognized that familiar light.

Not only Geronimo, but even some of the elders beside him slowly began to lean forward as if bewitched.

"Even so, I beg of you. Elder. Please grant the people of the Luga tribe a land to stay in for a while. They have nowhere else to go."

It wasn't only the young knight who had grown behind the farewell they faced.

Because Vlad's sword was also wrapped in a honorable silver light rather than its youthful blue light, the elders who recognized that sight were standing up from their seats one by one.

"If you do so, I will also repay you with my sword."

Doing what must be done at the place where one must be.

Since the only thing that can promise that is the sword I am holding.

The young knight, who had wielded the most honorable sword to protect the World Tree, was now speaking while lifting his very own sword.

"... Silver knight."

Declaring that he would hold up a sword of the same color as back then once again.

Just like the Swordmaster's sword he had wielded to protect the young World Tree that day, the sword Vlad held now was also shining with the exact same silver color.