Chapter 32. Division
“To get straight to the point, just as Party Leader Raviata said, these Elves underwent this transformation because of Mana other than the Mana of the forest.”
“That does not seem particularly useful to our current situation…… Is there anything else?”
Shane shook his head at Adam’s question.
“However, unlike Elves who live in deserts or polar regions, these Elves have been contaminated.”
“Contaminated?”
“Elves alter their Mana to adapt to their surrounding environment. These Elves, however, had their Mana forcibly altered. In other words, this was done artificially. If I had to compare it to something, it would be similar to a Black Mage manipulating a corpse.”
“……Black Magic!”
The expressions of everyone present immediately darkened.
Black Mages might have been eradicated by the Empire and Allied Nations by now, but there was not a single person among them who did not know how much devastation they had once inflicted upon the continent.
“Of course, this is fundamentally different from Black Magic. But the result is similar. They are effectively Undead. That is why cutting attacks were largely ineffective against them.”
“Urgh…….”
If Shane was right, that certainly explained their previous battle.
Conversely, it also meant their weaknesses were relatively clear.
“Then they must be weak against the Fire Attribute. Fire is generally the most effective against Undead.”
Yet Shane shook his head even at Dominic’s quiet conclusion.
“Blunt-force attacks will be the most effective. Otherwise, the Light Attribute. I said they are effectively Undead, but they are not actually Undead.”
More precisely, these Dark Elves were unfinished creations of the Organization.
They possessed no reason at present, but with only a little more refinement, they would become fully sentient killing machines.
At the same time, Shane considered their incomplete state fortunate.
In his previous life, he had seen completed Dark Elves.
If those versions appeared here, everyone in this expedition aside from a handful of people would undoubtedly die.
“……Shane. You just said this was artificial. If I understood correctly, would it be reasonable to assume that humans are responsible for this?”
Adam’s question went directly to the heart of the matter.
If these were simply monsters, then the seriousness of the situation would diminish considerably.
After all, discovering previously unknown monsters was itself one of the objectives of the expedition.
But if someone had deliberately created them, that changed everything.
“Yes. This is not some form of magic from ancient times. In fact, it would be difficult to even call this magic. It is closer to Alchemy.”
“Then there are other beings inside this Cradle besides us. And they have been deliberately leading us somewhere.”
The expedition had entered the Cradle known as the Mezaia Great Forest to investigate it.
They had not come here to fight unidentified enemies hiding within it.
And these enemies possessed enough ability to contaminate Elves within their own forest?
The matter had already exceeded the scope of their authority.
“I believe we should leave this place. The information we have obtained thus far is already sufficient.”
Adam was the first to offer his opinion.
They had failed to obtain any clues concerning the Dragon Heart they originally sought, but they had at least confirmed that Shane’s hypothesis was applicable to the Great Forest.
And that was not all.
Thanks to Orca, they had even discovered a method that could make future exploration of the Great Forest considerably easier.
They had found a way forward in a region that had remained an impenetrable obstacle until now.
That was hardly an insignificant achievement.
“That is certainly true. But would it really be safe to simply turn around and leave?”
Dominic, on the other hand, believed they needed to investigate further.
“There are unidentified individuals inside the Great Forest. Individuals with enough technical ability to reduce Elves to this state. At the very least, should we not determine who they are and how far their plans have progressed?”
At first glance, Dominic’s argument also sounded reasonable.
When everyone remained silent, Dominic continued.
“Unknown individuals are clearly carrying out something suspicious inside the Mezaia Great Forest. We have no idea what kind of calamity this could bring to the continent. Moreover, is the Kingdom of Hiel not the nation closest to the Great Forest?”
“Urgh…….”
Adam could no longer find an immediate response and swallowed a groan.
“……Even so, I believe someone must inform the outside world about what we discovered. We cannot dismiss the possibility that none of us will be able to leave this place.”
“I understand. But how do you intend to send word outside through the unpredictable weather of this Great Forest? This old man believes dividing our forces here may instead introduce another variable into what lies ahead.”
“There is a flaw in that argument, Sir Dominic. A variable has already appeared. If that variable frightens us, then we should turn back immediately. If we do not, then at the very least we must inform the outside world so preparations can be made for whatever comes next.”
“……You are not wrong. But ultimately, the authority to decide rests with Commander Raviata. Commander, what do you think?”
In the end, the decision was left to Raviata.
She eventually sided with Adam.
“Adam isn’t wrong. First, let’s choose some people to carry this information outside.”
Once the decision was made, matters proceeded quickly.
Soon, they decided to select personnel from both the Imperial Guard Knights and the Knight Order of the Kingdom of Hiel.
Adam separately summoned the knights selected from his own unit.
“If the Imperial side starts acting suspiciously, strike first or flee. No matter what happens, you must inform His Majesty of what occurred here. Understood?”
“Yes.”
—
“Ambush from the rear!”
How long had it been since the messengers departed and the exploration resumed?
One of the knights from the Kingdom of Hiel screamed out the warning.
In the middle of a fierce battle against larvae that had suddenly broken through the ceiling, the Dark Elves launched an ambush from behind.
This was how the Dark Elves fought.
Rather than attacking directly from the front, they repeatedly exploited gaps in the expedition’s formation.
Because of that, ever since they dispatched messengers to the outside world, the expedition had been forced to move far more cautiously.
But today, the attack was far more intense than on previous days.
“Damn monsters!”
“Die!”
The battle grew increasingly fierce.
Raviata’s eyebrow twitched.
‘Something is strange.’
Aside from their initial attack, the Dark Elves had done little more than harass the expedition with repeated ambushes and slow their progress.
Today, however, they were charging forward as though determined to fight to the death.
That meant they wanted something badly enough to justify such aggression.
The problem was that their numbers were not large enough to pose a serious threat to the expedition.
Then what were they planning?
At that moment, Raviata’s pupils sharpened like those of a reptile.
‘Mana? No, that is…….’
Something sinister slithered beneath the Dark Elves’ feet and spread into the ground.
An instant later, as though sensing Raviata’s gaze, the Mana that had been moving slowly until then shot into the surrounding tree roots at incredible speed.
“Ah! Everyone, gather around me!”
Contaminated or not, it was still Elven Mana.
There was no telling what would happen after that Mana was absorbed by the trees.
Before everyone who heard Raviata’s shout could gather—
The trees touched by the contaminated Mana surged toward the expedition.
—
Why were Elves so difficult to fight inside a forest?
Because the entire forest was practically an extension of an Elf’s body.
Trees whose growth was ordinarily so slow that the human eye could never perceive it could suddenly move and attack like intelligent animals.
Some might ask why one could not simply burn down the forest.
But countless varieties of trees existed in this world.
Some would not burn even beneath raging flames.
Others would cause enormous explosions if set ablaze.
There were all kinds.
Fortunately, if it could be called fortunate—
The roots contaminated by the Dark Elves did nothing more than rapidly expand and block the passage before becoming still.
The problem was that the expedition had been split apart in the middle of an intense battle.
“Ah, damn it. They were hiding something like this the entire time?”
It was not as though Raviata had never considered such a possibility.
The mere presence of Elves meant that, given the nature of this place, the expedition might as well have been walking around with blades constantly poised against their throats.
That was how formidable Elves could become inside a forest.
But the Dark Elves had never once demonstrated the ability to manipulate trees until now.
The expedition had proceeded based on that observation.
And now they suddenly revealed this?
‘Still, if there is anything fortunate about this, perhaps this is the limit of their ability.’
Raviata looked at the Dark Elves collapsed on the ground.
Apparently, merely blocking the path with trees had exhausted all of their strength.
Their bodies had turned pale, and they showed no sign of moving again.
After confirming the Dark Elves were dead, the remaining expedition members let out breaths of relief.
“It looks like this expedition ends here.”
Raviata spoke after seeing their condition.
They had done nothing more than block a passage.
Even so, the fact that openly hostile Dark Elves could manipulate the trees meant no one could guarantee their safety inside these wooden tunnels anymore.
“……I believe so. But before that, we need to sort out our current situation.”
Approximately twenty-six people remained in the expedition.
Only fourteen of them, however, were gathered here.
The rest had been separated by the Dark Elves’ actions.
“Haah. Let’s start by finding everyone else.”
“Raviata, can you burn through those trees with your magic?”
“It wouldn’t be difficult. But those trees have been contaminated by Dark Elf Mana. If I burn something like that with my flames, I have no idea what kind of poisoning effect it might cause.”
“Ah…… Then what if we move somewhere uncontaminated?”
“That would still be difficult. I know monsters inside and out, but I don’t know much about trees. Do you really think the Elves constructed these passages out of tree roots just because they looked nice? I don’t.”
Even without knowing the specifics, the Elves had undoubtedly prepared defensive measures.
In fact, they had encountered more than a few trees on their way here that reacted violently to heat and exploded.
Because of that, Raviata had been unable to properly make use of her greatest weapon—her overwhelming firepower.
And there was another problem.
“If I burn the wrong thing and collapse the tunnel, we’ll be stranded down here.”
“……This has become troublesome.”
They considered numerous other ways of reuniting with the separated expedition members.
Klein proposed an idea of his own, and some began placing their hopes on Delilah.
“Would my Mana not work?”
Klein, who had been separated from Shane, stepped forward himself.
‘Brother…….’
Shane had repeatedly shown himself to be dependable ever since they entered the dungeon.
But being separated from him in a situation like this placed tremendous pressure on Klein.
Had he not sworn before coming to the Cradle that he would protect his brother no matter what?
Yet this had happened.
If fire was impossible, Klein suggested using his overwhelming quantity of Mana to force their way through the roots.
But if the tunnel collapsed, the result would be the same.
Another suggestion was to have Delilah control the collapsing earth if that happened, but……
“Hmm…… I do not think that will work.”
In truth, Delilah had recently begun experiencing a problem.
At some point, the earth had stopped responding properly to her call.
No—
More accurately, perhaps it was confused.
As a Subterranean, Delilah could sense the faint emotions connected to the earth.
The earth shared itself with countless forms of life.
And if there was one form of life more closely connected to the earth than anything else—
It was trees.
“Ever since the Dark Elves died, the trees have been angry. That is why the soil here isn’t moving the way I want it to.”
Under normal circumstances, such a restriction might have been meaningless.
But this was the territory of Elves, a race intimately connected with trees.
The trees influenced by Elven Mana possessed wills incomparably stronger than trees found elsewhere.
And those wills had become deeply intertwined with the earth itself.
“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll have to move around and search for them ourselves.”
If possible, Raviata did not want them moving around unnecessarily.
There was a reason people said the safest thing to do when lost was to remain where they were.
The problem was that this was a dungeon.
They had no idea what condition the separated groups’ food supplies were in either.
They needed to act quickly.
“Then let’s start moving immediately.”
At Raviata’s decision, everyone nodded.
Klein bit his lip and tightened his grip on his sword.
‘I will find you, Brother. No matter what.’
—
Meanwhile—
Shane, separated from the others, found himself in a space with Dominic, several Imperial Guard Knights under his command, and several members of the Lampert Adventurer Party.
Dominic, the highest-ranking person among them, frowned at the tree roots blocking their path.
Unlike ordinary roots, each one was thicker than a fully grown man, and countless such roots were tangled together into an impenetrable mass.
Several knights attempted to cut through them with Aura.
They managed little more than shallow scratches.
“It appears we have fallen into a trap. I believe our best option is to follow this path as it is. What do the rest of you think?”
Dominic directed the question toward Shane and the members of the Lampert Adventurer Party.
Shane remained silent.
The Lampert members, clearly anxious after being separated from their own leader, nodded in agreement.
“If we cannot break through from this side, the others are probably searching for another route as well. From what we have seen so far, several points in these tunnels connect with one another. I believe our best course is to move until we locate one.”
“Understood. Lampert will follow Sir Dominic.”
“I have no particular objection either.”
One of the more experienced Lampert members answered first, and Shane nodded as well.
“I appreciate your agreement. Then let us perform some basic maintenance and depart.”
Dominic still wore the same good-natured smile despite their circumstances.
At first glance, the knights under him also appeared to be keeping a vigilant watch over their surroundings.
But Shane had seen it clearly.
The instant the Dark Elves appeared—
The Imperial contingent had begun moving toward this side.
Almost as though they had known something like this would happen.
Shane watched Dominic walking ahead and gave a mocking smile.
‘An opportunity has practically fallen right into my lap.’
