ALL NOVEL Chapter 394
Still tense.
The elven skirmish was neck-and-neck. Neither side was easily taking casualties.
As expected from the collection gathered by the Observer, they seemed to possess quite remarkable combat skills. The elves weren’t overwhelmingly strong, but… they were definitely not to be underestimated.
After all, these were the Observer’s collected specimens.
There must be a hidden card up their sleeve.
Let’s hope the preparations hidden in the forest can effectively deal with the Dark Elves.
[Ah, that’s right. Just like that!]
…What are you shouting like a sports fan for?
In fact, there wasn’t much difference. For that guy, it was a game, but for us, it was a life-or-death struggle. I turned my gaze elsewhere, hoping for the safety of my grandmother and the elves.
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Swords intertwine, and blood flows.
Elves clad in armor and lightly dressed Dark Elves.
A skilled swordsman wouldn’t be greatly affected by the absence or presence of armor, but if the material is the World Tree’s bark, the story changes a lot.
The bark of the World Tree possessed strength comparable to mithril. If the unique processing method of the elves is used, it gains an armor-like flexibility that is far from what you would expect.
Because of this, the confidently charging Dark Elves were struggling to inflict damage on the elites.
“Annoying.”
Showing off that they are still favored by the World Tree, the elves wrapped in its bark were a source of irritation for the Dark Elves.
The Flowing Shadow grit her teeth at the even matchup, landing a kick to the chest of an elite charging at her. With a groan, the elite stumbled back, and the Flowing Shadow inhaled deeply and shouted.
“Sisters! Bring forth the Curse’s Flame!”
In that moment, the Dark Elves’ swords ignited as if they had been waiting for this command.
The flames, a mix of an ominous hue rather than ordinary fire, began to blaze atop the blades.
Those foreboding flames.
The fairies who had lost the World Tree’s favor honed it to survive.
The elves felt goosebumps the moment they laid eyes on the flames.
Standing before scorching fire, their bodies felt an icy chill—that sense of foreboding. What could that fire be?
The elves had no time to contemplate as they began to retreat.
Thus, the momentum that the elves were building began to wane naturally.
And that meant the Dark Elves were now poised for a turnaround.
“Damn fools.”
With a mocking smile on her face, the Flowing Shadow taunted the elves who were wary of them. While none of the elves responded to such a trivial provocation, it was still unpleasant.
Faced with the intense glares directed at her, the Flowing Shadow instead hummed, displaying a relaxed demeanor.
“If you’re going to push…”
The Flowing Shadow’s blade pierced a tree. The tree, imbued with the power of the World Tree, began to smoke slightly with a burning sound.
“What are you doing!?”
The Angry Wolf’s bewildered voice echoed through the forest.
“What do you think I’m doing… this.”
The tree catches fire.
Seeing the tree ablaze, as if soaked in oil, the elves gasped in horror.
“You’re burning the trees! Are you still calling yourselves fairies!?”
The forest was the elves’ home.
The lives of those fairies born under the blessings of the World Tree usually start and end in the forest.
Thus, elves had a tendency to be reluctant to inflict harm on the forest, even if they used fire. They were careful to ensure their flames wouldn’t spread to the woods.
Therefore, the elves couldn’t have even imagined that beings resembling their kin would lay a hand on the forest.
“D-Don’t panic!”
The Angry Wolf’s voice, still touched with confusion, echoed. But her voice soon faded, swept away by the intense heat.
“Stay Calm! This isn’t our forest!”
While it was a rather brazen thing to say for an elf, such rationalizations became necessary for the troubling situation.
The elf who was setting the forest ablaze was truly a shocking presence.
The Bear Drummer looked at the increasingly spreading fire in the forest, working hard to calm the stirred elites.
The Dark Elves made a move during the stalemate.
The Dark Elves were accumulating damage little by little due to their oddly free movement in the burning forest.
“The forest…”
Elites who gradually shook off their panic began to respond, but the initial momentum had inevitably waned.
After all, they never imagined that the tide of battle would turn in such a way.
“Where has that momentum gone? Huh?”
For the first time, blood stained the Flowing Shadow’s sword. The blood quickly vaporized, leaving behind the scent of cooking flesh from the severed limb.
The elite with an arm severed from shoulder to arm screamed. Even an elite used to considerable pain could not become accustomed to the feeling of flesh cooking in real time.
Towards the frozen elite experiencing unimaginable agony, she raised her sword again.
Definitely cutting off the enemy’s breath.
That was what a warrior was supposed to do.
The situation wasn’t favorable enough to protect the life of the elite standing at the front lines, so the elf whose arm was severed was bound to lose her life.
Unless someone intervened.
“Tsk… what the hell?”
“Fall back!”
“…Thank you.”
The Flowing Shadow, irritated that she had let a caught fish slip away, glared at a girl with a presence absolutely unsuitable for the battlefield.
Unbelievably, the thing that blocked her sword was a stuffed bear that children typically play with. The bear doll tilted its head, staring at the scorched hand, then drooped its shoulders.
With that baffling act, the Flowing Shadow smirked.
“Now I’ve seen it all, being thwarted by a stuffed doll.”
“A doll? You really have no regard for my husband, do you?”
“A doll as a husband? You’re crazy.”
The Flowing Shadow vented her rising irritation without restraint but still observed her opponent with a cold gaze.
What on earth was a girl doing walking around in such a battlefield? That question made her realize the oddity of the girl before her.
“…Honey, are you okay?”
Pat, pat.
With a worried expression, Maria looked at the bear doll as it comforted her by patting her hand.
In this ridiculous situation that abruptly became their own space, the Flowing Shadow intensified the flames dancing on her sword. The fiery sword now stretched nearly double its length.
One would expect to be alarmed by the swaying flames that seemed ready to burn everything, but the girl before her was unbothered, engaging in cheesy antics with her so-called “husband.”
“Hey, you…”
“Honey. I’ll ask a favor.”
Before the Flowing Shadow could finish her words, the stuffed bear vanished into the ground. In that moment, when the Flowing Shadow paused at the doll’s almost natural movement of sinking into the earth, the ground began to tremble.
“What, what is this?”
“Guards! Fall back and regroup!”
Seizing the Dark Elves’ moment of confusion, the elves retreated to realign their formation. As a result, the Dark Elves’ strategy to drag it into chaos was rendered futile.
But there was no time to worry about that. Something was rising from the ground.
The Flowing Shadow dashed straight toward the source of the anomaly.
“Don’t interfere!”
Maria was merely looking at the ground, regardless of the shadow barreling toward her.
At the moment the sword swung directly in front of Maria’s nose, a gigantic hand emerged from the ground, blocking the Flowing Shadow’s charge.
“What the hell is this!?”
As the Flowing Shadow desperately dodged from the giant claw rushing toward her, she shouted. This was something entirely unanticipated.
‘Did they also have a hidden card over there?’
“Honey, it’s something our grandchild asked for… make sure to do it right.”
In response to her words, something massive burst forth from the ground.
“A Golem?”
The Dark Elves’ jaws naturally dropped.
A giant wooden golem appeared in the midst of the burning forest.
While a typical wooden golem would have been scoffed at, as they were ultimately vulnerable to fire, this was different.
“What? You’re making a golem out of the World Tree? Is this even possible?”
Creating a golem with the World Tree…
The Dark Elves were left dumbfounded by that crazy notion.
“Honey, hang in there.”
In response to Maria’s encouragement, the World Tree golem that emerged in the heart of the burning forest roared.