Chapter 218 – Reversal (4)

The Dark Elves almost seemed as if they were flying across the desert thanks to the wind Elementals. The Dark Elf in front was moving the fastest as they approached Castle Leona.

Squish, squish.
The black liquid. She was stepping through the dead mana as if it was nothing. Nothing could stop her from walking forward.

She arrived right underneath the castle wall that was full of debris from the destroyed ships. She stood on the black ground as she reported out.

"Commander-nim, everyone has safely arrived!"

Valentino subconscious gulped.

Dark Elves.
They were even rarer than Elves, and had been shunned by the Western continent until now. Actually, it was worse than that, as they were despised.
Dark Elves were known for living around places with buried bodies. Even though they had not harmed anybody, the fact that they lived around these dark places made people wary of them.

'…Are they part of the Roan Kingdom, no, Commander Cale's group?'

Crown prince Valentino's gaze toward Cale changed once he thought about the necromancer as well.

'Scary.'

He was suddenly scared of Commander Cale. It was not because he was evil. In fact, the commander was actually a good person.
However, the power of goodness without prejudice was scary to the crown prince.

Of course, Valentino had no idea that these were the Dark Elves that had lived underneath the Land of Death. He was just amazed at Cale and the Roan Kingdom's reach. He was also shocked at their decisiveness to bring out existences that were loathed one after another during this war.

"Your highness."
"…Commander."

He looked toward Cale.

"Can we start our attack?"

The word, 'attack,' and not, 'defence,' came out of Cale's mouth. Crown prince Valentino slowly started to smile.

"Why are you asking me? Didn't I already tell you earlier?"

Valentino recalled what he had told Cale before the battle.

"I leave it to you."
"I will not let you down."

He was trustworthy.
At the same time, Valentino felt thankful to the Roan Kingdom's crown prince, Alberu. The Roan Kingdom had sent the best they had to offer to help them.

He could hear the order Cale gave to the Dark Elves.

"Don't let the enemies escape. Make sure to get them."

The Dark Elves did not respond. They started to move in order to show their competence with their actions.
The Dark Elves, who numbered as many as a large Knights Brigade, started to move.

Fire, water, earth, and wind. Elementals of all different elements started to help the Dark Elves out.
Fire arrows were shot toward the shores while water bombs flew toward the heads of the Bears. The ground also started to shake and grab onto the ankles of the soldiers heading toward the ships.
The close to 100 Dark Elves started to run wild outside of Castle Leona. The one to stand out the most was Tasha, who was leading the group.

She raised her voice.

"Don't let even one of them escape!"

The wind that was stronger than any other Dark Elf's wind was roaring next to her. Numerous wind arrows that were close to two meters long shot up into the air and flew toward the central shores and the ships.

Baaaaaang!

One of the large ship's deck was broken.

"Aaaaaaah!"
"Ahhh!"
They could hear screams coming from the ship. The Bears stared at the broken deck and the Dark Elves without being able to hide their shock.

"What the…? Dark Elves? They still exist on the Western continent?"
"Why are they suddenly coming out?"
"Did the humans team up with the Dark Elves?"

Many of the Bears and soldiers were shouting in confusion. They were all shocked by the entrance of an unexpected race. A loud voice shouted out at that moment.

"All of you, shut up! Grrrrrr."
An animal's growl followed the shout. The Indomitable Alliance soldiers finally came back to their senses and turned toward the voice.

The Polar Bear Beast person. The Polar Bear that was close to 3 meters tall stepped forward and shouted once again.

"We will proceed as planned! Mages, activate the shields in order to defend against the Dark Elves' attacks! Bear warriors, come forward!"

The stern voice calmed the chaos.
They could see the Polar Bear starting to smile.

"We will kill them the moment the Dark Elves exit the dead mana zone!"

Chaos could be settled with madness like this. The Polar Bear feigned madness as he continued to shout.

"Rip them to shreds! This is going to be my first time killing a Dark Elf. It sounds fun! Kahahahahah!"

The other Bears started to laugh as well.
Dark Elves. Although the Dark Elves were known to be strong, Bears in their berserk state were strong as well. Bears that numbered almost twice that of the Dark Elves that were standing by the ships.

They were not afraid.
In fact, the Dark Elves should be afraid of them.

The Polar Bear shouted once more.

"Don't you dare take another step if you want to live, you Dark Elves! Our claws will rip you to shreds the moment you step out of the dead mana zone!"

The Dark Elves that were running out of the dead mana zone and toward the shores flinched at that moment.
The Bears' smiles became wider as the soldiers quickly started boarding the ships again. They were almost done and the hundreds of ships were ready to depart.

The Dark Elves remained still as they slowly turned their heads toward Castle Leona.
Their leader, Tasha, was standing there.
She mumbled to herself with a shocked expression.

"…Are they idiots?"

'Weren't the Bears supposed to be shrewd?
Would a shrewd person say something like that?'

"Is he just an idiot?"

Tasha tilted her head to the side in confusion before giving the next command. The wind fluttered around her and amplified her voice so that everyone could hear her voice.

"Drench yourselves!"

The Bears flinched at that moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom!
The Dark Elves who had stopped suddenly stomped on the ground. Tasha's wind brushed by them and made the dead mana shoot up from the ground.

The Dark Elves' bodies were covered in dead mana, however, the Dark Elves' eyes that were visible through the black liquid were brighter than ever.
They could feel power flowing through their bodies.

Tasha started to smile.
They were currently on land that was covered in the precious and rare dead mana.

"What a great battlefield."

There was no better place for the Dark Elves to run wild.
She looked down at the other Dark Elves who were drenched in dead mana.
She then started to smile toward the enemy who did not know the true scariness of the Dark Elves.

There was a reason that they were rejected from the world but still managed to survive.
They had the power to survive in environments that no other races could.

She started to speak.

"Attack."

The Dark Elves that were covered in dead mana and surrounded by Elementals obeyed her command. They started to run toward the shores. The enemy would have to run if they did not wish to be killed by the Elementals or by being poisoned by dead mana.

"…Shit."
"We can't attack if they come at us covered in dead mana!"

The Bears flinched.

"Hurry, hurry up and get on!"
"Hurry up!"

The Indomitable Alliance's knights quickly urged the soldiers to get on board. The crew members also quickly got on and prepared to escape.
The Dark Elves coming at them covered in dead mana looked like devils to the soldiers. Fear filled the hearts of the soldiers who were pushing each other in order to try to get onto the ships even a bit faster.

They could survive if they ran away.

Even crown prince Valentino and the Caro Kingdom's commander realized the fear in the enemy's eyes. The two of them made eye contact as Valentino quickly shouted.

"All mages prepare your magic! Attack their ships!"

They did not need flight magic in order to send the knights over. The Dark Elves were doing much more than the knights could ever do.
They would tie the Bears up at shore and attack the ships.
In the meantime, they needed to do what they could do with magic in order to accomplish the same goal.

Oooooong, oooooong.
Crown prince Valentino felt a rumbling underneath the castle wall and headed toward Cale.
He knew it was shameless, but he wanted to ask Cale to put his shield up in case the enemy somehow attacked while the mages were focused on attacking as well.

He walked up next to Cale, who was standing at a ledge at the top of the central tower, and quietly whispered.
"Commander Cale, can I ask you to activate your shield? That way the mages can focus on their attacks."

Crown prince Valentino knew that Cale had coughed up blood and suffered every time he used his ancient power. Other than the information about the shield, it was the first thing that came up when he investigated Cale.

Valentino finally realized that Cale looked extremely pale.
However, Cale was actually fine. His skin just happened to be very white, so he was not actually pale. He was just a bit hungry.

– Human, are you hungry? Should I secretly hand you an apple pie?

Cale deferred Raon's question for a moment and looked toward Valentino. His calm gaze made Valentino feel apologetic and thankful at the same time. He was thankful to the Roan Kingdom's people who were willing to sacrifice themselves even when his own kingdom's priests were not willing to do so.

It was at that moment.

"I don't think I can create a shield."
"…What?"
"It may be too taxing."
"Ah."

Valentino let out a sigh.

'I guess he's overworked himself already.'

"Yes, the commander cannot faint while using ancient power."
Commander Cale needed to persist. The soldiers had not forgotten about the silver shield just yet, and thanks to that, they were able to overcome their fear of the dead mana.

Valentino apologized to Cale.

"I'm sorry. I'm asking you for too much."
"Because I need to destroy things."
"…What did you say?"

Valentino could see the smile on Cale's face. That smile made his heart start to beat faster again.

'The Dark Elves weren't the end?
There's more?'

"…Commander Cale, what do you plan to do?"

Cale responded back in a confident voice.

"Catch them as I promised."

He was going to capture the ships.
But how?

It was the moment Valentino was about to ask that question.

Crackle, crackle.

The noise came from the other video communication device that had yet to be connected.
The call to the southern tower had finally connected.

He could see a person's face through the screen.
No, what he could see was the black robe covering the person's face.

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

"Mary."
– Yes sir.
"Go ahead and start."
– I understand.

Valentino looked toward Cale. Cale smiled at Valentino and started to explain.

"The strongest existence, when surrounded with dead mana, is a necromancer."

Valentino suddenly felt chills run down his back.
The enemy had used dead mana in order to destroy the Caro Kingdom's defence. However, the situation had reversed.

Oooooooong- ooooooong-

Valentino looked down at his feet.
The rumbling had been going on for a while now.

He had thought that it was the aftershock of the magic bombs.
But was that really the case?

'Perhaps?'

He quickly turned toward Cale.
It was at that moment.

"Gasp!"

The Caro Kingdom's soldiers and knights who were looking down at the bottom of the southern tower started to gasp.

Crackle, crackle.

The ground that was covered in black liquid started to wiggle.
The young soldier who was on the southern tower could see the necromancer who was covered by the black robe.
Black light was coming out from her sleeves. The ground was roaring while following that light.

'The thing that the Roan Kingdom's people had planted!'

Had that been for the necromancer?
The soldier gasped before looking down at the black swamp underneath the castle wall.

Finally, something white started to crawl up from the swamp.
Yes. 'Crawled up,' was the correct phrasing.

The ground split open. Well, the ground and the bags that were covering these white things opened up as they came up to the top of the dead mana.

It was bones.

Pure white bones.
Hundreds, no, thousands of bones started to crawl up from the ground.
Even the bones that were underneath the debris broke through the pile in order to surface.

"…H, how."

Valentino grabbed the ledge and looked down at the bottom of the southern tower.

Creak, creak.
The thousands of bones that had crawled up were starting to gather together as if they were being controlled by a black spiderweb.

Mary had worked on these bones while watching over Clopeh in the underground prison.
The bones were starting to become whole again.

The white bones followed the black threads in order to gather into different forms.
The first to be created was a large foot and claw.
Then was the body and the head.

The last was the wings.
Yes, wings.

Large wings.

Two undead monsters with large wings were created once the bones finished gathering together.

Valentino turned his head back toward Cale.
These monsters were the ones that had attacked the Henituse territory.

"…Wyverns!"

He could see Cale responding to his answer with a smile.

Swoooooooosh-
He then heard the sound of something cutting through the wind.
Valentino raised his head.

The two large wyverns were shooting up into the sky.

These wyverns had exploded because of the Dragon Slayer.
However, not all of them had turned to dust. Their sturdy bones had remained.
Cale had gathered up all of those wyvern bones.

'Why would I waste them?'

He then handed them all over to Mary.
The result of that was currently visible in front of his eyes.

"…Commander Cale."

He saw that Valentino was at a loss for words and opened his mouth to speak. However, Mary spoke through the video communication device before he could do so.

– I am strengthening them now.

'Strengthening?'
Cale's expression changed.
He had not heard about this before either. 'What does she mean by strengthening?'

However, Cale could not help but laugh after seeing what was going on.

"Ha, haha-"

Boom, boom!
The two wyverns stomped down onto the black swamp.
The white bones contrasted very well with the black swamp. However, that contrast quickly disappeared.

– Our Mary really is amazing.

'Right? Absolutely amazing.'

The black liquid was starting to disappear from the ground.
The two wyverns were absorbing the dead mana. This led to their color starting to change.

They now resembled the Black Bone Dragon that had protected the Henituse territory.
They now looked like two smaller versions of that Black Bone Dragon.

Valentino, who was watching this with a blank expression, could hear Cale's voice.

"I guess we don't need purification."

The necromancer was absorbing all of it.
Mary had found an opportunity to get even stronger.

Cale spoke to Mary through the video communication device. He knew that she would know what he meant.

"Come."

'Come?'
Cale continued to speak before the crown prince had a chance to voice his confusion.

"Choi Han, let's go."
"Yes, Cale-nim."

Valentino could see the sword master jumping onto the castle wall from behind the black-robed necromancer.

'Perhaps?'

He turned back toward Cale after he thought about something. Cale was already standing at the ledge.

"Commander Cale, are you-"

He could not finish his sentence.
One of the Black Bone Wyverns came up to the ledge and bowed its head.

Commander Cale stepped on the wyvern's head in order to walk up and stand on its back. The wyvern's wings started to move.

"I will be back, your highness."

Cale then flew away.
Choi Han's wyvern soon approached him.

"Cale-nim."

Choi Han had an odd expression on his face.
Cale understood the reason behind it.

'Things changed from our original plan.'

The original plan was for Vice Captain Hilsman to be on this second wyvern. Choi Han and Hilsman were to attack the enemies from the air.
However, Cale had to personally come as the situation had changed.

"Choi Han, you are to guard me from here onward. Block all magic and any attacks directed at me."

Choi Han looked down at Cale's hand instead of responding back. Wind was swirling on top of Cale's palm.
A vicious power that Tasha's wind arrows could not even compare against seemed ready to explode at any moment.

The Sound of the Wind.
That ancient power started to roam around Cale.

Choi Han looked back up at Cale's eyes.
Cale started to speak.

"I will create whirlpools in the ocean. The enemy will not be able to escape. Got it?"

The path out to the ocean.
Cale was planning on destroying that path.

"Yes, Cale-nim, I understand."

Choi Han's demeanor had changed.

The two wyverns started to head toward the ocean. One of the wyverns was in front, as if it was guarding the other wyvern. Choi Han was on top of that wyvern.
Cale looked down at the ground and the water while flying behind him.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]