I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 129 : Elf Village (1)

Elf Village (1)

All the elves living in the elven forest suddenly stopped what they were doing.

As it was still just before dawn, many elves were not yet awake, but they were forced to open their eyes.

"The elders..."

A single message was delivered to all of them.

The elders, who currently manage this village, were in a crisis.

The elders' own telepathy had reached the entire village.

The situation was easy enough to understand.

An intruder had suddenly entered the village and was now inside the World Tree's management and research facility, harming the elders.

Reportedly, several elders had suffered severe injuries, some having their limbs cut off or their palms pierced with spears.

However...

"Do you really think this makes sense?"

"Exactly...?"

At first, most didn't believe it. In this village, no one could use magic or aura.

With bodies no different from ordinary people, it was impossible to break through the security that protected the World Tree.

In the past, even a man once called the imperial court's Swordmaster was rendered powerless here in the elf village.

If even such a powerful figure was left helpless here, who could possibly invade?

"Is it really possible?"

"It's absurd."

Most elves in the village were skeptical of the elders' telepathy.

It was hard to believe, but there was one strange point.

The elders would never contact every villager via telepathy for no reason.

It was easy for an elder to use telepathy on a single person.

But to use it on many, several elders would have to combine their strength.

If they used it on the entire village, that meant a considerable amount of power had been expended.

"Huh?"

Then the elves noticed something strange.

"Magic power..."

An elf, who had woken from sleep, clenched their fist absentmindedly.

Suddenly, wind magic was created in their hand and blasted off the building's ceiling.

"How can we use magic?"

It wasn't just magic.

From another elf, who liked to show off every morning, aura erupted from their body.

Here, those powers had been sealed, allowing them to live as ordinary people.

They'd gotten used to not worrying about controlling their strength.

That's why it was so startling when magic power suddenly manifested even from a casual gesture.

"Don't tell me..."

They could now use the magic power that was absolutely sealed off here.

With such a bizarre phenomenon, the elves felt a chill run down their spines.

The elders' telepathy had come so abruptly— but it didn't take long for suspicion to turn into trust.

"Everyone gather! From now on, we'll split into two teams!"

An elf knight, who quickly understood the situation, shouted.

It was Mars, the head of security in the elf village.

In front of him stood the guards who had gathered in response to the telepathy.

Almost every elf who could use magic had gathered as well, forming a force akin to an army.

"One team will rescue the elders! The other will follow the elders' orders and inform the Holy Nation of what has happened! If there are no questions, then immediately..."

Unlike other villagers, Mars instinctively sensed the urgency.

He wanted to proceed without questions, but a citizen carrying a bow raised his hand.

"Do we really need to go ourselves to deliver the message? Isn't there a way to send a spirit to the Holy Nation?"

As elves skilled in the power of nature, they were adept at spirit magic.

Using spirits as intermediaries for communication or sending letters was child's play.

"We already tried."

But there was a reason that method wasn't used.

"We sent spirits right away, but... all contact was cut off."

Spirits were beings that couldn't physically die.

However, attacks imbued with magic or aura could harm them, so it was possible to incapacitate them.

The guards had already sent out spirits upon receiving the telepathy.

Yet, for some reason, all the sent spirits returned incapacitated.

"If spirits were harmed, it was surely due to a magical attack. But is there anyone among our elves who would attack a spirit?"

At that explanation, dry gulps could be heard. In this village, the only one who could do such a thing was the intruder.

"So, we will head outside the village after we've eliminated the root cause. For now, the elders have ordered me to prioritize alerting the outside world."

They were even informed who the culprit was.

Mars bit his lip at the fact that they were intruders from the Kilvus imperial court.

"The arrogant imperial bastards have finally done it. This continent has survived the demon realm thanks to the World Tree since ancient times! We, who preserved the World Tree for so long, are the true stewards of this land!"

It was true that the World Tree had wielded sacred power for ages, and it was, of course, the elves who maintained it.

"Of course, I never wanted to treat the imperial scum with utter disdain. If we despised them, it would negate the very meaning of the World Tree protecting the continent. But they rejected the World Tree's care. The very fact that they established that bizarre group called the 7th Legion is proof enough!"

Are those criminals claiming to be superior to the World Tree?

The idea of solving anything with mere meat shields was laughable.

Quite a few thought the real problem lay with those imperial fools who used that cursed shield.

"Now they've attacked our village. Since it's come to this, all the better! If it takes annexing the imperial court to make them come to their senses, so be it!"

Once the Holy Nation heard of this incident, it would erupt into a major diplomatic issue.

It was detrimental to the imperial court, so they would be held accountable for this event.

"That's why I will put all my strength into eliminating the intruder. Now, everyone! Move to your assigned teams!"

"There's no need to go in person."

At that moment, a man stepped in among them.

The elves sensed an unusual air from the sword-wielding man.

"Because I came here myself."

As Kelian spoke, the elves tensed. He was the very man who had heartlessly cut down the spirits they'd sent.

****

"A world where we can only live by depending on the World Tree. I guess that was true."

Louis spoke as he led the elders outside.

The elders' entire bodies were covered in blood, likely from a beating at Louis's hands.

"But now that the World Tree is already a dead tree, is there any need to depend on it?"

So great was their dependence that they even created something called the sacred stone, desperately trying to keep it alive.

But in truth, it was but a means to make it seem alive.

"Trying to preserve life for symbolism's sake doesn't seem to bring much real benefit to the continent."

Now the World Tree, little more than a zombie, only had two functions left—sealing magic power with a barrier, and producing a strange fruit.

All of those were easily abused and didn't even get rid of the troublesome demon realm.

It was simply being forcibly kept alive for no real reason. Without it, the Holy Nation itself might have no reason to exist.

"The demonkin war itself seemed odd to me. The demon realm had been known as a safe place—as long as you didn't enter it. Until that war broke out and the environment went to hell."

The 7th Legion formed after that war ended.

After the war, the demon realm's changed environment made monsters even more ferocious.

Even monsters that normally would never invade the imperial court began changing their behavior.

"Why do monsters that used to hole up in their own nests now go out of their way to invade human settlements in the empire? And why have their numbers increased so drastically?"

Even after the war, they had to devise countermeasures due to monsters constantly pouring out of the demon realm.

After overcoming those endless crises, the 7th Legion was created.

"And... why did the demonkin war break out at the same time as the World Tree's death?"

At those words, the elders' hearts pounded.

With magic power circulating through Louis, he could clearly hear those heartbeats.

"At the same time... Who spread that nonsense?"

The elders tried to wave it away as a lie, but to no avail.

"The Great Mage said as much."

"The Great Mage?"

There was only one being in this world who bore the title Great Mage.

The mage Mirianne, who offered her body to the World Tree for the elves and the continent.

"He's still spouting such nonsense..."

She no longer existed in this world. Even if she did, she was already too deeply merged with the World Tree to ever return.

"So aren't you curious how I'm able to use magic power here?"

"......"

Louis wreathed his hand with aura as he spoke.

The elders felt a cold chill and grew lost in thought.

Magic power should only be usable by themselves in this village—never should someone else manifest it so naturally.

Could it really be that she's...

"I don't know whether you're telling the truth, but it certainly looks that way."

Though it wasn't confirmed whether she had returned, the elders admitted the obvious.

"But don't think you'll all get away just because you can use magic power."

"Because... every elf in this village can use it too now!"

"Did you know? There are skilled individuals among the elves living here who used to serve on the front lines."

Indeed, Louis had noticed as much while walking around the village.

He'd seen elves slicing meat at the market with extraordinary knife skills.

"Especially the head of security, Mars. As long as he's here, you won't leave alive!"

"He's the monster who once single-handedly wiped out dozens of monsters that had escaped the demon realm."

Monsters escaped from the demon realm?

"Was it a stampede?"

"Yes, exactly. The demon realm's frequent monster rampages! Even a single monster that broke out of there was stronger than our entire village's forces combined."

"Since they came from outside, we fought them beyond the village so they could use magic power."

"Actually, Mars was the one who wiped them out by himself!"

Given that, he must have been quite the warrior on the Holy Nation's side.

Monsters from the demon realm were leagues above ordinary ones.

"Is that so?"

But...

"So what."

Louis laughed at their words.

"Are monsters that escaped a mere stampede really that impressive?"

"What?"

The elders couldn't understand Louis's dismissive tone.

"You bastard... What are you saying?"

Sensing something ominous, one elder asked, and Louis answered with a smile.

"Bunch of rookies who've never faced a REAL stampede... Getting excited over a few lowly monsters you managed to kill. It's hilarious."

****

"Raaaaagh!!"

Mars roared and swung his sword like mad.

Unlike humans, elves had heightened senses and could accurately sense danger.

Right now, Mars's danger sense was at its lifetime maximum.

"Die!!"

At Mars's feet lay elves cut down by his blade. Those who had just gathered to eliminate the intruder were all dead—killed by the single man before his eyes.

'Why... isn't it working?'

Mars had honed keen senses as a Holy Knight of the Holy Nation.

His gaze was sharp enough to foresee his opponent's attacks in advance.

But...

"Is that all? Aren't you the head of security?"

Kelian scoffed, parrying all of Mars's swift sword strikes.

It was strange. Up until now, he'd always been able to predict monsters' or stranger's movements.

But Kelian's movements were as unpredictable as witnessing a natural disaster.

Even when Mars aimed for vital spots, Kelian parried everything.

As a last resort, Mars unleashed sudden wind magic for an irregular attack, but Kelian filled his sword with aura and sliced through it with ease.

'Even magic doesn't work?'

Wind magic strong enough to tear apart a monster from the demon realm in a single blow.

Yet Kelian had sliced it the other way around—Mars was dumbfounded by such skill.

"I faced demon realm monsters myself, so why...?"

"Demon realm monsters?"

Kelian snorted after hearing that muttering.

"You're just a frog in a well."

Kelian's voice sounded behind him. At the same time, Mars's sword hand fell to the ground.

"A guy who's never even experienced a stampede."