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Chapter 187 - To the Elves\' Sanctuary (4)

"The traces are heading in there."

The queen frowned as she looked at a small hidden cave in the forest.

The inside was too dark to see.

"...Are they hiding? Wind, deliver the information from inside to me."

The queen murmured softly.

The wind blew and headed inside the cave.

Ketal watched curiously.

"Is that spirit magic?"

"Yes. It\'s the power of the wind."

There was no way to know what awaited inside the cave.

She intended to use the spirits to gather information beforehand.

But the wind was blocked at the entrance of the cave and could not go further.

The queen tried to penetrate somehow, but it felt as if a stronger wind was blocking it.

The queen clicked her tongue and withdrew the wind.

"They\'ve thoroughly prepared against detection. We’ll have to check it ourselves."

"No. That\'s not necessary."

Ketal stared quietly into the cave and spoke.

"The passage is longer than expected. There might be traps. There are about ten dark magicians. It seems there are about three rooms... The elf children seem to be in the deepest room."

The queen blinked.

"...Did you just figure out the inside of the cave?"

"Yes."

"How did you do that? The defenses against detection were thorough. Can someone of your level break through that defense?"

"No. I just heard it."

"...What?"

"I judged by the sounds inside the cave."

The queen was speechless.

The forest was not a quiet place.

The sound of leaves shaking in the wind, insects crying, and wild animals moving made it very noisy.

He had clearly identified the sounds inside the cave amidst all that noise.

\'No.\'

If it was that easy to figure out, why did he quietly watch her try to detect with spirit magic?

\'...Is he still angry because I attacked him?\'

Ketal\'s attitude had been strange for a while.

Ketal wanted to see the elf\'s skills one by one, but from the queen\'s perspective, she couldn\'t help but think that.

"It seems to be a temporary residence. What do you plan to do?"

The queen quickly came to her senses.

"...It\'s right to request cooperation from the sanctuary, but we don\'t know what will happen to the children."

"Then we must respond immediately."

The queen nodded.

She prepared for battle.

"I call upon you, one who has gained self-awareness after being isolated for thousands of years in the depths. Come forth, one who dwells in the depths. Unduru."

Ripple.

At the same time, water gathered in the air.

Ketal\'s eyes gleamed.

"A water spirit."

It was a human-shaped water spirit.

It was short and stubby, like it had been chibified.

"An upper-level spirit?"

"Intermediate. Those who contract with upper-level spirits are extremely rare. Unfortunately, I do not have that level of power."

"Is that so?"

Indeed, Marsilia, who had contracted with the highest-level spirit, seemed special.

But a spirit was still a spirit.

It was quite a sight to see a new spirit.

Ketal smiled as he watched the summoned water spirit.

The spirit shuddered at his gaze, then slowly hid behind the queen.

"Why is it doing that?"

"It seems frightened by the pressure it feels from you."

"...Does that happen?"

"It does. It\'s not common, though."

The queen could feel a strange pressure emanating from Ketal.

Even she occasionally flinched, so the spirit, a being of nature, would be more sensitive.

"It hasn\'t happened before."

"If it hadn\'t, it might be because the spirit had enough power to ignore it. If an intermediate spirit is like this, weaker spirits might flee to the spirit world at the sight of you."

"...I see."

Ketal looked shocked.

The queen found his reaction a bit puzzling.

She couldn\'t understand why such a strong person would be so shocked just because a spirit avoided him.

"Shall we go then? Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Ketal snapped out of his shock and clenched his fist.

The queen took the lead.

She used Unduru\'s power.

A whip of water lashed at the cave.

The defensive magic at the entrance shattered, setting off an alarm.

"What\'s going on!"

"Intruders!"

The dark magicians, who had been resting inside, scrambled to respond.

The queen shouted fiercely.

"You dare attack the village and kidnap the children! It\'s time to pay for your crimes!"

"Queen! How did you find this place! All traces were hidden!"

"Did you think such a petty trick would work!"

"Ridiculous! The traces were perfectly hidden! You can\'t follow us!"

Their question was valid.

Without Ketal, the queen would not have been able to track the dark magicians.

Instead of arguing, the queen shot an arrow through the dark magician\'s shoulder.

"Aaagh!"

"Kill them!"

The dark magicians did not just sit back and take it.

They wielded dark magic to summon monsters.

And Ketal advanced lightly.

Crack.

The dark magic that hit his body shattered, and the monsters were torn apart.

The dark magicians were astonished, and the queen let out an exclamation.

Boom!

The battle was one-sided.

The queen\'s power wasn\'t extraordinary, but it was stronger than the dark magicians\'.

They reached the depths of the cave without much trouble.

And there, the leader of the dark magicians was waiting.

The leader shouted harshly.

"How dare you interrupt our great secret!"

"Hah! How shameless! You filthy being who sold your soul to a demon! It\'s time to pay for your crimes!"

The leader\'s power was at a top level, equal to the queen\'s.

With Ketal present, the dark magician had no chance of winning.

But the dark magician laughed at them.

"Hahaha! How arrogant to come here with just the two of you! Did you think we wouldn\'t have any countermeasures? Darkness!"

Bzzzt!

A prison of darkness formed around Ketal and the queen.

The queen\'s expression changed.

They had fallen into a trap.

She hurriedly gathered her arrows and struck the walls of the prison, but it didn\'t shake.

"With your power alone, you can\'t break it! Queen! I\'ve already called for reinforcements! You\'ll die here trapped!"

"You think I\'ll let that happen!"

The queen gathered her strength and struck the prison, but it was designed by the dark magicians over a long time and didn\'t break easily.

The queen gritted her teeth and pushed her power to the limit.

"Unduru! Imbue my arrow! And explode!"

She shot the arrow fiercely.

Rough waves spread in all directions.

The prison cracked with a loud noise.

But it didn\'t break.

The queen panted heavily.

The dark magician mocked her.

"Hahaha! It\'s impossible! You\'ll die here!"

The dark magician was sure of his victory.

With some leisure, he turned his gaze to the barbarian next to the queen.

"...Why is a barbarian here?"

The dark magician, who had been looking at Ketal curiously, widened his eyes.

"Wait a minute. Are you that barbarian!"

"So, you can imbue spirits into arrows too. The applications are varied."

Ketal, who had been enjoying watching the queen\'s power, raised his arm.

"I could break it with strength, but here..."

Bzzzt!

A golden light enveloped his fist.

Both the queen and the dark magician opened their eyes wide.

The divine power was imbued in the fist of a barbarian, a symbol of savagery.

Ketal swung his fist lightly.

The prison, which the queen had desperately tried to break, shattered like glass.

"...What?"

"Oh, oh."

A strange silence lingered.

Ketal looked at the dark magician.

He was going to die.

The dark magician, feeling the murderous intent, turned hurriedly.

He planned to take the elf children in the room as hostages, but he couldn\'t.

An axe flew and separated the dark magician\'s body.

Ketal reached out and retrieved the axe.

"Are you alright?"

"......"

The queen stared blankly at Ketal.

After a moment, she spoke.

"If you\'re angry about me attacking you, I truly apologize. I will sincerely ask for your forgiveness."

* * *

"Hmm? Why are you saying that all of a sudden?"

"Aren\'t you angry at me?"

It had been strange from the start.

Ketal knew everything but quietly watched her struggle.

Even just now, he could have broken the prison immediately, but he let her try with all her might.

The queen was sure he was angry because she had tried to attack him and apologized.

Ketal shook his head.

"No. It\'s a misunderstanding. I\'m not angry at you."

"Then why..."

"Hmm."

\'I just wanted to see how you would respond.\'

He thought it might be better to let her misunderstand.

Eventually, Ketal changed the subject.

"Anyway, I\'m not angry, so don\'t worry about it. I\'m not that petty."

"If that\'s the case, then good..."

The queen stood up with a vague expression.

"Anyway, it\'s all over."

In the deepest part of the cave, the elf children were there.

"If I go, they\'ll surely be scared and cry, so please take care of it."

"Understood."

The queen entered the room.

The trembling children burst into tears at the sight of her.

After that, they headed to the sanctuary with the children.

Ketal asked with a curious expression,

"Aren\'t we going to bury the bodies?"

"We need to get to the sanctuary as soon as possible with the children. More importantly, we are born from nature and return to nature. The bodies will be left in the middle of the forest."

"Ah, I see."

They followed the queen in the direction of the sanctuary.

Meanwhile, the children glanced at Ketal.

When their eyes met his, they would let out a squeal and quickly look away, but they didn\'t run away.

Finally, one child gathered the courage to approach.

"M-Mr. Barbarian!"

"What is it?"

Ketal smiled.

The child\'s face turned pale, but he closed his eyes and shouted,

"Thank you for saving us!"

"...Thank you."

It was the first time Ketal had heard pure words of gratitude from an elf.

He nodded with a strange expression.

The child quickly hid among the others.

The sight made him chuckle.

"Adorable children."

"They are our treasures. If we had lost even these children... I don\'t want to imagine it."

The entire clan would have been annihilated.

The queen sighed.

And before long, they arrived.

"This is the place."

"But there\'s nothing here."

The place they arrived at looked like any other part of the forest, with dense trees and the sounds of insects.

Ketal\'s senses detected nothing unusual.

"You\'ll understand once you take out the jewel."

Following the queen\'s words, Ketal took out the red jewel.

Bzzzzt.

The red jewel began to glow and floated into the air.

"Oh?"

Ketal\'s eyes widened.

The separated space began to overlap.

A precious place that could only be entered with permission revealed itself on the continent.

The ordinary forest scenery began to transform.

Brilliantly blossoming flowers appeared.

The barren forest gave way to a gentle plain.

It was a miraculous transformation.

"Ah..."

And most of all, there was something that moved Ketal deeply.

He raised his head in awe, his body trembling with emotion.

At the end of his gaze was a tree.

An extremely tall and thick tree, seemingly touching the sky, made of gold.

Instinctively, he knew.

It was the World Tree.

He was now in the sanctuary of the elves.

The queen spoke calmly,

"Welcome to our sanctuary, Elfo Sagrado."