#55
Elf (3)
It’s a change of plans.
Originally, I planned to cause some chaos and then escape with a summoning release if things got too intense…
“Um, excuse me…”
The elf girl that the Elven Kingdom and the Holy Church Order are looking for.
‘This situation could be useful!’
My mind raced in an instant.
It was a two-birds-with-one-stone opportunity to raise Harley’s reputation and for Heinrich to gain merit with the Order.
“Well! My name is Harley. By the way, you want to get out of here, right?”
“…Yes!”
The scent of black magic grew stronger.
A massive number of enemies rushed out from deeper within the cave.
“Then excuse me for a moment!”
“Huh? Wuhah—!”
With an axe slung over one shoulder and Cecily tucked under my arm, I turned and sprinted away.
My leg muscles expanded, and I accelerated with explosive speed.
“Whew—!”
Cecily, clinging to my side with her eyes squeezed shut, still hugged a branch.
“By the way, miss, what’s that branch? Is it something precious?”
I asked casually as we rushed toward the entrance.
It didn’t look like anything special from what I could see.
“Wha? Oh, this… It’s a branch from the World Tree. Thanks to this, I was able to escape safely until here…”
She answered sincerely, scrunching her face as the wind hit her.
I was surprised that she managed to escape from wherever the sacrifice ritual was happening, but it seemed the World Tree had helped.
How that branch ended up in her hands as the sacrifice was a mystery.
‘Now that I think about it, she has been quite obedient despite the tense situation.’
From our first meeting until now, Cecily had been friendly.
Even in a situation where she should be cautious.
The muscular, naked man encountered in the black wizard’s lair.
Blood splattered all over his body, and he wielded a pair of axes with blood dripping from both hands.
‘Oh man, I would be terrified too.’
Of course, I personally found it satisfying, but I knew objectively it wasn’t pleasant to look at.
In that situation, she was simply slightly intimidated.
‘Now that I think about it, becoming a High Elf means receiving guidance from the World Tree.’
It was said that the World Tree would guide them to safely reach its location.
It seemed like the World Tree concluded that this was my only way out of this situation.
‘If she cooperates like this, it’s obviously convenient for me. But what about that thing hanging around Cecily’s neck…?’
The master of black magic, Hans, rapidly analyzed the findings.
‘A sealing magical equipment using black magic. It’s of quite a high level. It would be dangerous to forcibly remove it. Hans could have unleashed it, but…’
To deactivate the magical equipment required a delicate task of regulating magical energy, which I didn’t have the ability to do.
‘Although I perfectly understood it with my brain, I can’t actually do it.’
That must have been why the High Elf Laforey couldn’t locate Cecily.
‘Seeing how the World Tree responded as soon as I entered, it seems like it had been aware of Cecily’s location.’
Well, it wasn’t the Holy God per se, but the World Tree was a divine entity worshipped by the elves.
Perhaps it had its own restrictions preventing it from directly informing me.
“Haha! It doesn’t matter now!”
Even though I felt the tide of black magic rushing in behind me, the cave entrance was right ahead.
As long as I got outside, those monsters wouldn’t be able to catch me with my stamina.
At that moment.
I felt something rapidly approaching from underground again.
Unlike before, it was accompanied by clear murderous intent.
The problem was that it was moving towards the outside forest, where we were headed…
Boom—!
What surged from the ground at the entrance was so massive that it completely blocked the cave.
“Don’t block my path!”
But I didn’t care and sped up, charging toward the giant earthworm that blocked the entrance.
“EEK—?!”
I twirled Cecily, who was tucked under my arm, to secure her properly and then launched into a dropkick against the beast.
[Thud—!]
The earthworm writhed with the impact.
But its massive weight and the remaining body parts stuck to the ground meant there was still no gap at the entrance.
As I bounced back from the recoil, I landed smoothly on the ground with a chuckle.
“Ha ha… Things are getting a little too easy.”
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed to need a bit more time to break through the entrance.
And that meant there was no escaping the fight from those rushing in behind us.
“Miss, stay alert. It seems like we need to prepare to fight now.”
“Ugh— Yes?”
While Cecily, who was swaying from the intense movements, was surprised, I was already preparing.
I set Cecily down and sharply tore the leather connected to a black panther helmet like a cape.
Cutting the middle into two halves and again slicing the upper parts of both sides so they could stretch longer.
“Come this way!”
“Y-Yes, indeed!”
Then, holding Cecily in my arms, I tightly wrapped her up like a cocoon with the two lengths of leather.
The leather covering my back was so large that it enclosed her completely except for a small hole for breathing.
A small leather bundle, like a baby wrapped up, clinging to my massive muscular frame… I mean, the elf girl.
‘This should be better for protection than carrying her on my back. It’s monster leather, so it shouldn’t easily tear.’
As I finished getting ready for battle and gripped my axe tightly in both hands, the earthworm still stood still guarding the entrance.
It had movements that didn’t scream instinctive monster.
It was definitely under someone’s control.
“Ha ha! Then let’s get going! First, I’m going to deal with you!”
I poured energy without holding back as I summoned my “Biotic Aura.”
To break through the entrance before facing other monsters.
*
“Huh? What did you just say, Sir Heinrich?”
The saint asked, visibly startled.
The reactions of others around her were no different.
Archbishop Latinus and the paladins, as well as the elves, including Laforey.
“I believe I know where that Cecily is.”
Despite the skeptical looks, Heinrich confidently repeated his words.
“Um… Do you have a blessing that allows you to track specific individuals?”
Archbishop Latinus asked cautiously.
It surely sounded hard to believe.
How could a High Elf from the Elven Kingdom find their target so quickly after just speaking up?
But now wasn’t the time to dither.
“It isn’t a blessing, but I can definitely sense it. The elf named Cecily with green hair and orange eyes is nearby. However, she is in a precarious situation.”
His statement changed the atmosphere of everyone present.
The elves looked at the saint and the church’s higher-ups with urgent expressions.
They had no idea how much they could trust a sudden claim from someone who looked like a servant.
The saint stared at Heinrich for a moment before turning serious as she looked at the elven group.
“We can trust Sir Heinrich. He is someone the Holy God is interested in. If he felt that way, there is certainly a solid reason behind it.”
“We’ll follow the church’s judgment.”
The elves nodded solemnly in agreement, and she sprang up from her seat to look at Heinrich.
“Then let’s move right away. Where is the location?”
Her eyes, directly meeting his, were full of trust.
“It’s at the Northern Mountain Range, near the border of the Tulke Kingdom in the western continent. If we use the gate at the Tarak Shrine in Aonia’s territory, we’ll save a lot of time.”
“Let’s discuss it on the way.”
They all stood up together and quickly moved towards where the gate was.
Even while murmuring quietly, the saint clutched her holy emblem and looked back at Heinrich.
“I’ve prepared the gate for immediate use. We can move straight away.”
“Sir Heinrich Landguard. Is there any precise location you can identify?”
“If we get closer, I can use my ‘blessing’ to pinpoint our destination, but… for now, I can only tell it’s somewhere to the north of the Steel Fortress.”
Everyone here assumed Heinrich’s words were true as they proceeded.
The saint’s full support greatly influenced their actions.
Now, as long as he replied with actions befitting their trust, his standing within the order would surely rise.
Hastily, they soon reached the location of the gate.
During their journey, there was a brief minor exchange.
“The saint cannot go.”
“Is there a need for the saint to accompany us when we have two paladins and an archbishop plus a high elf?”
“Ha ha ha! Those heretics could willingly yield to us!”
The saint, who had initially intended to move naturally towards the gate, was stopped by members of the Order.
Her cheeks slightly puffed up, but perhaps to maintain her dignity in front of the elves, she didn’t argue back.
It was a hastily decided affair, and there was no time to gather more people, but this group posed sufficient strength.
“If we know the location, we should be enough on our own.”
High Elf Laforey confidently added, and she could only nod softly and step back.
However, that didn’t mean the saint had nothing to do.
Uh, uh, uh—
Though not as distant as the Talia Kingdom at the far west, the distance from the center of the continent here to the western Tulke Kingdom was considerable.
A massive amount of holy power was needed according to the distance traveled, so her help would be absolutely essential to move all at once right now.
“Then, everyone, please take care of yourselves.”
“Don’t worry. There won’t be any major problems.”
Heinrich nodded sincerely in response to the saint, who expressed her worries.
Given the strength of this team, they could finish without any notable issues.
‘Actually, the real issue is whether we can make it in time.’
Harley could manage alone for a bit, but what would happen when the monsters unleashed their full power?
Signs were starting to show.
*
“Haha!”
Harley laughed fiercely, striking the head of a dwarf monster, the gremlin, with his axe.
The area around him was a battlefield crammed with all sorts of corpses.
From monsters he had hunted while traversing the forest to unfamiliar ones he had never seen before, even the minions of the black wizard were piled high.
Even after slaughtering numerous foes, monsters continued to swarm in from the surrounding woods.
‘It’s good that I managed to escape the cave.’
I made it through the earthworm blocking the entrance, but in the process, the black wizards caught up with me.
The bigger issue was that these wizards specialized in commanding monsters.
With the Northern Mountain Range overflowing with creatures, their synergy was beyond imagination.
‘They must have set up their base here while considering that from the start!’
Not only were monsters gathering from the woods, but those summoned by the black wizards were also a problem.
These creatures showcased a variety of strange characteristics.
One silver lining was that they didn’t seem intent on harming Cecily since they didn’t want to damage their offerings, thankfully.
But that didn’t mean she could be used as a shield.
There was no assurance that the monsters attacking would follow orders like robots.
All of this was just an unspoken agreement to be cautious around each other.
‘Still, if I keep this up, it would be troublesome. My strong point is charging in without taking care of my body, but moving like this imposes limitations.’
If I set Cecily down to fight, they would take her immediately, and if I continued in this state, I’d end up exhausted when my energy ran out.
Having arrived at Tarak thanks to the gate, Heinrich’s group was hastily moving.
They were racing here thanks to the high elf summoning the wind spirit, but they still needed more time to actually arrive.
‘Alright, then, let’s go all in.’
I spotted a black wizard lost in controlling monsters off to one side.
Even though he had a defensive barrier and monsters surrounding him, he was…
“Ugh!”
With my right hand’s axe blade charged with dense aura, my waist bent as I spun in place.
Drawing a large and beautiful circle with the trajectory of my aura.
Clang—Boom!
With a missile-like launch, I broke through the barrier and crashed into the black wizard, sending him flying out of sight.
In that instant, the monsters paused as their control slipped.
I didn’t miss that opportunity and charged back into the fray, exploding my rage.
Thud—
With my left axe carving elegant lines, I tore through the enemies, while my monstrous right hand diligently ripped the hearts from their chests and munched on them.
Unending energy and overflowing stamina.
At this rate, I could last all day.
Of course, the enemies wouldn’t just let me be.
Brace yourself—!
A sudden spear flew at me, and I slashed it away with my aura-infused claws.
When the ambush failed, the spear-wielding man retreated into the monster horde.
“Is that a Lycanthrope? Something feels off… A mutation?”
I heard a voice from one side.
Clang!
An arrow from the opposite side bounced off my axe.
“Our control isn’t effective at all. It seems there’s beast blood mixed in.”
As if confirming his words, another attack came from a different direction.
Monsters continued to surge forward, resulting in total chaos.
‘Ugh, these guys fight dirty.’
While I praised my opponent’s combat style, I kept moving my body without pause.
With the battle intensifying, I needed to utilize “Physical Transformation” without reservation.
“Hrraah!”
My entire body swelled with muscle, shark-like teeth and jaws jutted out.
My eyes, nose, and ears had long abandoned their human shapes.
‘Is this okay? It’s a kid I feel a bit guilty about.’
The more the fighting continued, the more I felt my body becoming tainted by madness.
I was laughing continuously since earlier.
While I could take control of myself at any moment, I wanted to avoid a scenario where I couldn’t appear in front of others like Hans.
In that moment of contemplation.
《The entity has achieved the conditions and gained enlightenment. You have acquired the skill “Wildness.”》
In an instant, my senses flipped upside down.
Caught off-guard by the sudden disconnection, my body moved purely by instinct.
My head jerked sideways.
Crack—!
An attacker’s blade was caught between my tooth-like fangs.
And without delay, my left axe swung to slice the assailant’s body in half, confirming the nature of “Wildness.”
A skill that maximized aggression by moving on pure instinct.
But while doing so, I didn’t forget the techniques engraved into my body.
Though it was a wilder, freer version, it clearly built upon the axe techniques and martial arts I had been using until now.
In an instant, I crouched down, and my nose and ears twitched non-stop…
Poh—!
In the blink of an eye, I plunged into the monsters’ ranks and twisted the neck of the spear-wielding man.
The information that I had dismissed with my reason was not lost on my instincts.
‘…Maybe this is going to be alright?’
Utilizing “Wildness” felt completely different from my usual combat method.
My greatest strength had always been my ability to stay calm and calculate my actions, no matter the situation.
To observe and adapt to every variable like a third party, using overwhelming mental power.
But that approach didn’t suit Harley.
To fully employ the body that evolved from devouring numerous monsters, a new combat style, one not human, was needed.
Just like now.
And above all.
‘I can control the activation!’
I could channel Harley’s madness into “Wildness.”
Like a berserker, unleashing fury only when necessary!
‘If that’s the case, I can definitely hold on until reinforcements arrive!’
The monsters had no idea that a timer was subtly counting down.
