Chapter 244: Madness, Adoration, and Truth (6)

Boom! Bam!

In the open field, where usually only the sound of the wind and snow could be heard, constant explosions were now echoing.

Bam! Kaboom!

Oh, God.

Every time he heard the rumble, Cale, despite being invisible, couldn't help but shrug.

And there was another person who also shrugged in unison: Archie of the Whale Tribe.

He was waiting in the rear tent, but his pupils kept shaking with each rumble that shook the earth.

"What's wrong with you?"

The Sword Master, Hannah. Due to the attack on the Whale Tribe, she and Archie had an uncomfortable relationship, so no one could say a word even when they were together, but Archie's eyes trembled as if an earthquake had occurred to the point where she uttered a single word.

Kaboom!

At the instant the ground vibrated once more in the distance, Archie, unintentionally, opened his mouth to respond to a question.

"...She's angry."

"What?"

"...When I was a child."

Cold sweat gathered on Archie's forehead.

"You know my village is on a glacier, right? And there..."

Archie fluently spoke to Hannah, with whom he normally didn't exchange a word.

"Anyway, there was a despicable guy in the Whale Tribe. That guy bullied the Penguin Tribe when Witira-nim was still little."

The Penguin Tribe lived alongside the Whale Tribe and helped them with many tasks.

"Seeing that, Witira-nim..."

Bam!

The ground trembled again.

"Sigh~"

Archie involuntarily sighed and wiped away the cold sweat.

He then continued his tale.

"Anyway, Witira-nim went to catch that despicable guy."

"And then?"

"That despicable guy ran away and turned into a whale to jump into the sea!"

"And then?"

"Witira-nim caught the whale. And..."

After witnessing that scene, Archie decided he should never challenge Witira.

"And, Witira-nim lifted the entire whale and slammed it to the ground."

"..."

Kaboom!

"That sound just now! Grabbing the caudal fin while she hits and spins around! At that moment, that was the sound!"

"..."

Kaboom, Bam!

"She's really angry now! They say Witira-nim's eyes turned white at that moment! That it only stopped when young Paseton cried and hugged her, saying 'Noona, stop'! Paseton is older now, no, but even so, if Paseton were to come and cry and hug Witira-nim, she would stop! But Paseton is in Roan! How do we bring him?! Huh?!"

"...Why are you asking me that?"

"No, this is really serious!"

Archie jumped up and shouted at Hannah.

"This is just the beginning, the beginning!"

Flutter~

Archie lifted the canvas of the tent entrance.

"Darn it!"

And he cursed.

Hannah stared at Archie in shock as he acted by himself. But Archie, almost having a nervous breakdown, kept talking nonstop.

"It keeps snowing! The snowstorms are getting worse! Damn it! Here we don't have to worry about running out of water!"

Sigh~

Hannah let out a sigh and asked in disbelief.

"So, it's not good for the Whale Tribe then?"

Isn't it good if it snows a lot?

Archie responded with a frustrated expression.

"That's why it's a problem! With so much snow accumulated!"

He grabbed his hair and shouted.

"She might even trigger an avalanche!"

Archie finally dashed out of the tent.

"Darn it! Everything's going to break! I have to stop her!"

Hannah watched Archie's back as he ran off like a madman.

However, Archie was dead serious.

He had a thought that he always took seriously.

"In the sea, Whales are the Dragons."

The assessment that Dragons are the strongest and supreme race is based on the "Land."

Since Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Dragons all live on land, they've set their own way to measure strength.

However, in the sea live countless and varied creatures that cannot be compared with the land.

Those who protect the sea where they live are the Whales.

That's why, if the land and sky are Dragons, the sea is Whale.

Archie hadn't changed his mind despite knowing many Dragons and strong individuals.

Although Whales don't have magic or aura.

Archie believed it was because there hadn't been a proper opportunity, a real battlefield, to show the greatness of Whales to those around him, including Cale.

Archie quickly ran towards the direction where the rumbling came from.

"Hitting it with her body!"

Why would Witira be so angry?!

Archie ran with a more urgent face than when he saw Dragons Rasheel and Kendall fighting.

"Human, Archie is going to the battlefield! Why?"

"...I think I understand."

Without responding to Raon's cheerful question, Cale looked towards a place.

There it was-

Kaboom!

"Grr, grr-!"

There was a huge worm being beaten from all sides.

The worm couldn't even groan properly anymore. The earth forming its body, which seemed as hard as rock, was cracked like drought-stricken dry land, and there were many sunken places as if a storm had passed.

"This is...!"

The Ninth Elven Inquisitor, Yanni, ran with her sword in hand to try to save the worm, but...

Boom!

The worm's enormous body passed right in front of her nose.

Every time she tried to get close, Witira would hit the worm to block her way.

And then she would crush the worm without any noticeable emotion.

It was an indifferent action, without any perceivable emotion.

"Are you going to keep going like this?"

At that moment, Yanni's calm voice came.

Witry didn't even look at her.

She simply repeated the same action.

"There's no other choice, right?"

It was at the moment she heard those words from Yanni...

Crack!

A strange sound came from the worm's body.

Witira's eyes gleamed for an instant and then dimmed.

At that moment...

"You will regret what you've done."

Yanni's voice was tinged with contained anger.

The Elves are the ones who grew and created villages on branches given by the World Tree or within it.

However, the 24 Elves who became Inquisitors betrayed the World Tree.

And as a result of taking the Dragons' hand, they were able to take a part of the Source of the World obtained through the World Tree.

With this source, they tried to surpass the limits of the Elves.

Each of them had their own reasons for betraying, so the way they used the source was different.

'It seems there's a limit to what an Elven body can do.'

Yanni longed to be a Dragon.

She looked at Dragons as the great heroes of fairy tales.

And she wanted to be like that.

However, her own body was that of an Elf. Not a Dragon.

When another crushing sound was heard from deep within the worm's body...

'However, Elves have precious friends.'

Those were the Elementals.

Yanni shared the Source of the World given to her with her Elemental.

My dear friend.

My only friend, the Elemental.

Yanni thought:

'If both I, an Elf, and the Elemental become strong, and if we combine our power, wouldn't we be as strong as a Dragon?'

Couldn't we reach the Dragons?

Yanni, she, with the desire to make that thought come true, strengthened her friend, the Elemental, as herself.

"You will pay the price for touching my friend."

Yanni uttered those words and moved her finger.

Crack!

The sound of Yanni's finger hitting something was heard.

And in an instant...

Sizzle!

The sound of something tearing was heard.

Witira's eyes widened.

She released the worm in panic and stepped back.

She then looked at Yanni.

Witira, with a neutral expression, asked:

"Can you do this to a friend?"

At those words, a smile spread across Yanni's lips.

"If it's my friend, shouldn't I do anything to them?"

Unlike the World Tree, which did nothing.

The Elemental did everything.

That's why they're friends.

Yanni was sure her response didn't reach Witira's ears.

Because the moment her words ended...

Kwaaah!

With a thunderous roar, the worm's body exploded.

The shattered earth scattered in all directions like sharp needles, like the quills of a hedgehog.

Bang! Boom! Kwaaah!

The ground sank, cracked, and exploded everywhere, pierced by the needles.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, Yanni-nim! Could you be a little gentler?"

The Dark Elf Tasha and Peterson had to dodge to the side to avoid the needles. However, Peterson couldn't help but laugh.

'It seems she really intends to fight!'

Yanni, the Ninth Inquisitor.

The number preceding each Inquisitor represents their strength.

Whether by using strength, intelligence, or cleverness.

It didn't matter the method used, only the result was judged, and Yanni was the ninth.

'And she's also crazy, they say.'

Although she appeared to care about her Elemental, when Yanni actually prepared for a real fight, her stance was different from that of other Elves.

'Soon she'll devour the Elemental.'

To be precise, she'll put it on top of her.

Yanni had upgraded her Earth Elemental to be very powerful, though not as strong as a King Elemental, it was still much stronger than usual.

In exchange, she took away the will from the Elemental.

That's why the Elemental had become a formless monster, like a worm, and fought senselessly.

'My friend doesn't need to think. I'm the one who should think.'

The words Yanni had said once came to mind.

'Crazy b*tch'.

It didn't matter if that worm exploded.

"Hehe."

Peterson burst into laughter.

"Did you notice too?"

He was looking at Dark Elf Tasha's perplexed expression.

Tasha, unaware, looked towards Witira and the exploding worm.

"This can't be, the main body is-!"

Peterson nodded.

"That's right. The worm isn't the main body of that Elemental. It's just a shell."

Elementals don't have an original form.

To the eyes of the Elves, they are just energy with a particular property, invisible to most.

Of course, that energy has a personality and a heart, and lives in this world as an Elf or a Human.

That's why they can also be considered living beings.

Kwaaah!

The Dark Elf Tasha couldn't say anything.

Between the exploding worm and the flying earth spikes, there was tremendous energy.

It wasn't very visible, but it could be clearly felt.

The energy of the earth and another unknown energy.

The two were strangely intertwined.

So intertwined that it was difficult to distinguish them.

However, it could be felt that they were two clearly different energies.

That strange collection of energy was Yanni's friend, the transformed Earth Elemental.

"...That's not an Elemental."

Tasha's face distorted.

- Tasha, Tasha!

She heard the voice of her friend, the Wind Elemental.

- She's completely eaten it up!

Yanni's Earth Elemental had been devoured by the Source of the World. To be precise, it had lost its form by blending with the powerful natural energy.

- ...I can't forgive her!

Tasha's eyes blazed with her friend's anger.

Her gaze turned to Peterson, who was laughing.

"Why? What's wrong with you?"

Tasha, with blood spurting from the numerous wind arrow wounds covering her body, responded to Peterson, who was mocking her.

Her voice didn't reflect pain, but anger.

"Shouldn't we follow the natural order?"

"Ha. We? Seriously? You're a Dark Elf, and you're talking about 'we'?"

At Peterson's question, Tasha calmly nodded.

"Yes, both Dark Elves and Elves. We all live within the natural order. You get power from living beings, and I from the dead. And so, we coexist in this nature."

Elves and Dark Elves get more from nature than Humans, Dwarves, or Beast People.

That's why they must live with gratitude towards nature.

At least, that's how Tasha lived, despite being a Dark Elf who was treated with coldness and lived close to death.

At least, she was sure of that because she had an Elemental by her side.

We are part of this world, part of nature.

Tasha raised the spear she had in her hand.

Swoosh!

The enormous spear cut through the wind.

It is aimed straight at Peterson.

"You've crossed the line."

Heh~!

Peterson chuckled.

"Now you're going to give me lessons? Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself and your companions?"

At that moment, Tasha laughed.

Peterson's eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his mouth to respond.

But before that, another voice echoed.

"How?!"

It was Yanni.

Peterson turned his head. His gaze went to the space left behind after the explosion of the worm.

Splash!

The sound of water was heard.

The snow melted and formed droplets, rippling and forming a large semicircle.

The semicircle was filled with countless earth thorns.

The numerous earth thorns pierced into the semicircle.

Then, the earth thorns mixed with water and turned into mud, falling to the ground with a dry thud.

The water forming the semicircle also gradually withdrew its beautiful waves and descended, creating a small puddle.

Witira stood upon the puddle.

An earth thorn pierced her cheek, from which blood flowed here and there.

Without any fuss, she pulled it out casually.

A trickle of blood ran down her face, but Witira lowered her head without blinking.

"No!"

Yanni's cry came.

"How can you...!"

And then, the sound of water vaporizing was heard.

Witira, she, looked at her other hand. The sound came from her hand, which was burning. Despite the considerable pain, she didn't even flinch. In her hand, she held a tremendous energy.

Witira clenched her fist.

The energy surged with a horrible sound.

A smile spread across Witira's lips. Looking at Yanni, she opened her mouth.

"This is your Elemental, isn't it?"

Her voice, with a soft smile, was calm.

"It's really bothersome."

She wanted to catch Yanni, but the huge worm was distracting her.

And also, the tremendous energy hidden inside the worm.

As soon as she sensed the energy, the Elemental made a loud noise, and Witira decided what to do.

"So first, I'll get rid of this, and then I'll catch you."

The puddle at Witira's feet stirred.

And the snow around her began to move.

The snow melted.

And formed a small path.

A path made of water.

Witira stepped onto the beginning of the path and began to walk.

The path led towards Yanni.

"Now it's your turn to be caught."

Yanni looked terrified, and Witira smiled.

Then the wind started blowing.

Witira released it.

Since she was from the sea, she sensed something she should understand better than anyone else.

"Wind."

Yes, the wind.

And not just one.

"The winds are coming."

The winds were heading towards Tasha.

The Dark Elf Tasha remembered the words of the Elf Peterson.

'Now you're going to give me lessons? Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself and your companions?'

Tasha, looking at Peterson's serious expression for the first time, opened her mouth.

"I don't think I have to worry about myself or my companions."

Her friend's voice, the Wind Elemental, reached Tasha's ears.

I've brought friends!

Those who came to see Cale also want to fight!

We cannot forgive this!

In the dry Erghe Mountains.

There are no beautiful flowers or lush forests.

But this place was also nature, and in a way, a natural environment.

And so, alongside the snow.

The wind was also present.

In other words, the Wind Elementals were present here more than anywhere else.

A huge wind swirled around Tasha.

No, although she had not made a contract with them, the Wind Elementals, her friends, were with her.

Tasha was not fighting alone.

* * *

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]