Chapter 360 |
The Elf assassins were taken aback by Pantos’ appearance.
‘How? We even put up a barrier so people around couldn’t see.’
That was why there had been no reaction from the surroundings during that fierce fight with Rudger.
Yet this beastman had easily broken through such a barrier.
Another surprising thing was his incredible speed that didn’t match his size.
The female Elf commander gritted her teeth.
‘Just by his movement alone, we were all pushed back and sent flying.’
How could he move like that with such a hefty body?
Was his chubby appearance just superficial, and in reality, was he completely packed with muscles inside?
However, knowing this wouldn’t change their future.
“How long are you going to just stand there?”
The large beastman with long, unkempt white hair, Pantos provoked the Elves.
“Did you get scared? As expected, you pointy-ears aren’t even worth hunting, such cowards.”
“……!”
The Elves bristled at those words.
How dare this smelly beast insult the noble Elves?
Moreover, the Elves present were from the Shadewarden family, known for being the most extreme.
They were those who held the strongest chosen people ideology among Elves.
Pantos’ provocation worked better than expected.
“Hmm.”
Even while facing the surging fighting spirit from the Elves, Pantos couldn’t hide the disappointment in his eyes.
It was still not enough.
It was a very arrogant behavior to not even be tense with enemies right in front of him but Rudger didn’t rebuke Pantos for this because he had earned that right.
“Die!”
First, one Elf swordsman rushed toward Pantos.
Holding Elven swords in both hands and summoning wind spirits behind his back to boost his speed.
The faint aura dimly wrapping around the sword tip was said to be usable only by skilled swordsmen.
It showed his determination to definitely kill his opponent.
The distance between the two closed in an instant, and just as the Elf’s sword was about to touch Pantos’ skin.
-Thwack!
The Elf’s head flew off cleanly.
The body of the Elf swordsman, with nothing left above the neck, collapsed ungracefully like a puppet with cut strings.
“Huh?”
The fellow Elves watching that scene from a distance made dumbfounded sounds.
The scene they should have seen was Pantos being slashed by the dual swords.
In fact, until just before the sword touched his body, Pantos hadn’t moved from his spot but the result was the opposite.
In that split second, Pantos’ fist had crushed the Elf swordsman’s head first.
“What, what is this?”
“……”
The Elf swordsmen and archers were bewildered.
Among them, there was one female Elf who remained silent while breaking out in cold sweat.
Pantos’ gaze fell on that Elf.
Ignoring the Elf who flinched, Pantos muttered.
“Just one, huh?”
There were almost twenty who had charged in, but among them, only one had seen his movement.
Pantos couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“I rushed over hearing there was a fight.”
Pantos stared at Rudger with a dissatisfied look.
He was asking why he was called if it was just to face such opponents.
“There was no one else but you.”
“Wasn’t there Alex?”
“That guy doesn’t fight properly when there are pretty women.”
“Ah…..”
Well. Elves are a race excellent in beauty if nothing else.
Moreover, half of the Elves who had charged in were female.
Elves were a kind of matriarchal society where gender didn’t matter at birth, or rather, women held more powerful authority.
Naturally, from the position of having to face such Elves, Alex wasn’t a very good choice.
“Besides, you haven’t been moving your body much lately, so I wanted to check if you might have gotten rusty.”
At Rudger’s words, Pantos’ white ears perched on his head twitched.
“Do you think your senses have dulled?”
“…My senses have always been the same as before. No, they’ve actually become even sharper.”
Pantos tightly clenched his fist.
“Though it’s woefully insufficient to prove it by catching just a few flies, I’ll show you.”
“That’s an answer I like.”
“In exchange, next time I’d like you to call some prey that’s a bit more worthwhile.”
“I’ll try.”
The Elves who had been standing dazed watching the two people’s idle conversation came to their senses.
“You dare have such idle talk in front of us?”
“Do you know who we are!”
Particularly the young Elves who hadn’t yet accepted reality acted emotionally.
The Elf commander should have stopped such subordinates, but couldn’t.
‘My voice won’t come out.’
Having clearly witnessed Pantos’ movement with their own eyes, they had completely lost their fighting spirit.
This chubby beastman looked ridiculous on the outside, but he was a monster beyond imagination.
Rudger Chelici was already an uncomfortable human to deal with, but if such a monster joined in, they had no chance of winning.
As commander, they should have immediately ordered a retreat but their body wouldn’t listen.
Their body, having lost control of will, froze before the predator.
‘Something’s wrong! Could it be, this beastman?’
Indeed, befitting the most skilled person present, she noticed that Pantos had done something to her.
‘He’s focusing his energy just on me without the other kindred knowing!’
It was a shocking thing.
Could the presence of a strong one as an individual be directed to target just one person?
No matter how much she gritted her teeth, she didn’t know what to do about her trembling hands, and her wandering pupils lost their way.
While continuing to press his presence on the commander, Pantos slowly moved his feet.
“Here he comes!”
The Elf warriors who still didn’t clearly know the opponent’s strength took their stances and prepared to face Pantos.
However, their efforts were meaningless struggles.
Because the moment Pantos took a step, his distant figure approached right in front of them.
“Huh?”
Along with such a sound, an Elf swordsman’s neck broke.
Before he could even realize his own death, other Elves started falling one by one.
In a split second, Pantos had passed by all the Elves and the Elves fell at almost the same timing.
There were no Elves left alive except for the Elf commander whom Pantos was pressing down with his presence.
“Finally cleaned up.”
Pantos lightly dusted off his hands.
As he withdrew the presence he had spread, the surviving Elf coughed and breathed roughly.
“Kuhek! Heuk.”
The body possessed by fear had even forgotten to breathe.
The Elf commander looked up at Pantos with a pale face.
“Ho-how. For a beastman to have such power. That’s only possible for the Great Chief……”
Pantos didn’t answer those words.
Instead, he just turned his body sideways to make way.
Seeing the man walking steadily towards her, the Elf commander’s expression became ashen.
Rudger, wrapped in shadows, was clearly visible even in the dark night.
-Swoosh.
Every time his shoe stepped forward, the shadows wrapped around his body scattered like sparks.
The barrier around also disappeared, and the moonlight in the night sky illuminated Rudger’s back.
Though his face was hidden by the backlight, those blue pupils were clearly visible like will-o’-wisps.
It was a mistake.
They shouldn’t have messed with this man.
They should have just watched from afar and contacted headquarters, but they were blinded by arrogance.
However, regret came too late.
All her subordinates were already dead, and she couldn’t even run away in front of these two monsters.
“Right. Now we can have a calm conversation.”
-Thud.
When Rudger struck the ground with the tip of his staff, the earth rose up.
Rudger sat down there and crossed his legs.
“What’s the reason for suddenly attacking me? No matter how I think about it, I haven’t done anything to earn the enmity of Elves specifically.”
Rudger barely had any contact points with other races.
If there was any possibility, it would be related to the World Tree hacking that Bellaruna had warned about earlier.
‘They didn’t come looking for Bellaruna, but targeted me directly. There must be something else.’
But despite Rudger’s question, the Elf kept their mouth firmly shut.
Well, he didn’t expect an easy answer.
Rudger spoke to Pantos.
“Bring her here.”
“……”
Pantos asked ‘Me?’ with his eyes, but seeing Rudger’s firm gaze, he reluctantly left his spot.
The Elf commander who saw Pantos suddenly disappear wondered who Rudger had called for.
That would soon be known.
“Hieeeek!”
The disappeared Pantos soon returned with something tucked under his side.
-Thump.
Bellaruna who fell to the ground rubbed her painful bottom.
“Wh-what is this suddenly? Su-suddenly barging in and bringing me to such a place.”
“Bellaruna. I need your help.”
“What?”
“We need to get a confession from this Elf here.”
At Rudger’s words, Bellaruna finally noticed the Elf commander and opened her eyes wide.
“Sha-Shadewarden?”
Recognizing the pattern embroidered on the Elf commander’s green robe, Bellaruna’s voice trembled.
The Elf commander was equally perplexed.
“Why is a kindred here……”
“Le-leader! Why is this person here?!”
Bellaruna turned to look at Rudger with eyes wanting a detailed explanation.
Rudger lightly shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know either. They came looking for me on their own, trapped me in a barrier, and attacked.”
“That’s……”
“Rather, I want to ask. Didn’t you say the pursuers would come much later? But they came faster than expected.”
The Elf commander who had been watching the conversation between the two twisted her lips.
“So it was you. The arrogant intruder who secretly snuck into the Divine Tree! You are a traitor to our race!”
“Eek!”
Bellaruna quickly hid behind Pantos’ back.
The Elf commander glared at Bellaruna as if they would tear her to death.
Rudger stroked his chin.
“Hmm. That means you didn’t target me specifically because of Bellaruna. There must be another reason.”
“……”
The Elf commander shut her mouth again.
An attitude showing they wouldn’t reveal information no matter what was done.
“As a pursuer sent to eliminate external problems, she probably won’t open their mouth to ordinary physical pain. So let’s go with a method that is good for both of us.”
Rudger nodded at Bellaruna.
“Bellaruna.”
“Ye-yes!”
“Make this Elf open her mouth.”
“M-me?”
“That’s why I called you.”
“You forcibly brought me here though.”
While saying that, Bellaruna’s gaze never left the Elf commander.
A strange light flickered in her eyes, and a small smile gradually formed at her lips.
“Bu-but if it’s leader’s order……”
“Wh-what. What are you planning to do!”
Though the Elf commander trembled with anxiety, when Rudger bound her body with magic, she couldn’t move at all.
Bellaruna approached the Elf commander while taking out reagents one by one from her pouch.
“He-hehe. Do-don’t worry. I don’t plan to cause pain.”
“Wh-what is that!”
“If you just drink it, you’ll become honest. It’s also called the truth potion.”
“Ho-how can you do this to your own kindred!”
Though it wasn’t something to say from someone who came to kill, in this situation, they just blurted out whatever came to mind.
At those words, Bellaruna paused for a moment.
The Elf commander hoped that perhaps kinship as the same race had worked, but looking at Bellaruna’s appearance, she realized it hadn’t.
She was smiling.
Her pupils were unfocused, her mouth was split in a grin, and she was laughing loosely like someone somewhat insane.
“He-hehehe. I-I was actually curious. Whether my potions would work on Elves like me too.”
The commander was overwhelmed by pure madness.
This crazy Elf didn’t hesitate at all to use even her own race as test subjects.
“Now. Drink it all up~”
“Mmph! Mph!”
Bellaruna grabbed both of the Elf’s cheeks with one hand, then poured the uncorked reagent bottle into her opened mouth.
“Don’t spill any.”
After pouring all the potion, Bellaruna firmly covered her mouth with both hands and tilted her head back.
The Elf commander tried to resist somehow, but it was meaningless.
The drug took effect immediately.
The Elf commander’s eyes became hazy and her reactions became quiet.
“It’s done. Now she’ll tell everything she knows when asked.”
At Bellaruna’s words, Rudger asked to confirm.
“Your name?”
“Gallien Shadewarden.”
“What purpose did you come here for?”
“To eliminate the race traitor who secretly snuck into the Divine Tree.”
“How were you able to move so quickly?”
“At the time, the one managing the Divine Tree was Root family head Lady Lifrey. After directly encountering the intruder, she was enraged and called us Shadewarden with her authority as family head.”
“……”
Rudger shot a sharp glance at Bellaruna.
Bellaruna avoided Rudger’s gaze while breaking out in cold sweat.
“…Then, why did you attack me directly?”
Gallien answered in a dazed voice.
“From you, I sensed the energy of the Plante family.”
Plante?
Rudger immediately recalled what that was.
The Plante family was one of the Elder Elf families that used to be in charge of managing the World Tree.
And now it was completely gone, a place that had perished.