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Aina could hear the incarnation of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, mumbling in bitterness and disappointment. She showed no hint of insincerity, expressing her genuine heart, which made this much more terrifying.

Whistle!! Shwang!! The attack was unannounced. The Ancient Guard charged at Aina in seconds, pointing the rapier that was originally at their waist, and then swiftly struck it towards Aina’s heart like an arrow.

The five elves surrounding Aina closed in on her with a tight combined attack formation. They had seemingly become one.

Cang!!! Aina dodged the two elves who charged toward her with rapiers at lightning speed. Then, an arrow flew toward her weak spots to utterly terrify her.

Swat!!! All five enemies cooperated with one another to pressure Aina. If all of them were as skilled as a Master, this fight could only have one conclusion. However…

‘I have to tap on my experience with large-scale battles.’ Aina Helishana took a short breath and slightly tilted her head.

At the same time, with a flash of green light, a rapier with a layer of spirit power flew over.

Immediately following the failed attack, Aina tripped the elf who was about to step back after retrieving their sword. She also grabbed the arm of another elf who was coming at her and cut the chest of the elf who had fallen to the floor.

Splatter!!! Hot, red blood shot up into the air, accompanied only by silence.

Sqwelp! Squeege!!

Of course, Aina had to pay the price for what she did.

“Sigh…”

Taking a short breath, Aina frowned as she looked down at the deep cut on her arm. ‘They are much stronger than I thought… It’s trouble if they can already injure me like this…’

Aina had subdued just one enemy. Even if she put her life on the line to overpower the rest of the elves, the most dangerous one would still be left. If the battle went on like this, the enemies wouldn’t be the only ones lying on the ground.

Aina was going to fight with her life, but she did not intend on dying; there was no one in this world who wanted to die. With that in mind, she made a rather bold decision. The incarnation of the World Tree was the core moving her enemies. If so…

‘I will neutralize the incarnation!’

If Aina’s prediction was right, the incarnation would be able to use all of the World Tree’s powers, but she would have virtually no physical abilities. Plus, it had only been about three hundred years since the World Tree’s will had changed. Thus, the incarnation would be an exceptional being, but her fighting abilities would not be great.

Aina, who was dodging attacks while looking for an opening, quickly threw a couple of daggers wrapped in cloth. She kept the Ancient Guards in check with these surprise attacks, since the daggers reflected no light and did not fly too quickly.

Swish!! Clink!! Nobody was hit since the daggers weren’t explicitly aimed at the elves. Once the daggers lost momentum, they fell to the ground.

Aina’s breathing became rougher. She also sustained more injuries. Even so, her eyes shone even brighter.

Splatter! Aina only collapsed to the ground after multiple rapiers penetrated her stomach when she was barely holding on.

‘Cough…’ She didn’t moan in pain. Instead, she fought back even while coughing and gurgling from the blood.

Boom!! Unfortunately, the elves overpowered Aina. She was ruthlessly pinned to the ground with her arms behind her back. She glared at the five Ancient Guards and Yggdrasil with cold eyes.

“Do not fight back. The World Tree does not allow it,” an Ancient Guard said with blind faith.

Aina bit her lips hard.

[Stop. We are all children of the forest; what are you going to do by violently suppressing her?]

“My apologies.” The elves bowed at Yggdrasil’s criticism.

[Aina.]

“...”

[It is not too late now. Come back to Mother’s arms. You cannot do anything about your corruption, but if you repent your wrongdoings and come back to us…]

“Ha… Wrongdoings?” Spitting out cold words, Aina’s eyes were filled with rage.

Crack!! The elves reflexively held Aina tighter, but they couldn’t shut her mouth.

“I learned something from that man, Davey. He is a damn pervert, but he is truly powerful and he has faith and loyalty. He is different from you, so…”

[Hm?] Yggdrasil tilted her head in puzzlement.

Looking at the incarnation’s benevolent smile, Aina slowly raised her fist and put up her middle finger. She declared, “Screw you.”

Click!! With that, Aina tugged on something invisible.

Psheeee!!!! The daggers that pierced the floor illuminated at once and released a nasty, poisonous smoke.

“Huh?! Mother of the Divine Tree! Take cover!” The flustered Ancient Guards all blocked Yggdrasil at once. However…

‘I hope they all die.’

Killing hundreds of incarnations wouldn’t change anything, but Yggdrasil’s true body was a large immobile tree. If she lost an incarnation, she would not be able to roam freely for a while.

Aina didn’t think the Ancient Guards would be able to harm Davey, that monstrous boy, at all; the only worrisome being was the World Tree.

Crash!!! Boom!!

Aina sighed at the huge explosion, which spread the poisonous smoke of fatal effects. The smoke was impressive since it could be detonated with the proper triggers.

With the high temperature during which the explosion took place, there was no way the incarnation of the World Tree, who only had the physical abilities of a human, would be able to endure that.

“Is it taken care of…?” Looking somewhat unsure, Aina stood up and quickly turned away. Whatever happened, she thought it was best to…

Splatter!!

Run away when she had the chance.

Aina looked down at the thin and sharp blade of a rapier that had pierced her heart with wide eyes.

* * *

Shatter!! Aina’s skull-shaped necklace was broken by the rapier’s sharp edge, and her appearance began to change. The strong physique of a middle-aged man was enveloped by light before slowly shrinking in size.

Aina was no longer one hundred ninety centimeters tall but barely one hundred sixty centimeters. Her large and tough muscles disappeared, transforming into lean, smooth, and soft light brown skin. Her black hair turned into a dark navy, as if it had lost color due to sunlight, and her short hair grew into two hanging braids.

“Cough…”

It was definitely a fatal injury. Unable to control her body, Aina fell to her knees. Her bright eyes, the only part of her which still held onto so much life, began closing.

Squelp!! As the rapier that pierced her heart was ruthlessly retrieved, Aina collapsed like a marionette with severed strings. Blood spilled from her various injuries, her bright eyes lost focus and had a blank gaze, and she could barely speak.

‘N… No… I can’t die here…’ Aina, who was struggling to mumble, felt her sight slowly begin to blur. Before losing consciousness, which hung on by a mere thread, she saw the incarnation of Yggdrasil and the five Ancient Guards walking out of the explosion without a scratch.

That attack had been a somewhat desperate surprise attack; Aina had executed it with her own life on the line.

‘I guess I’ll just die a disgraceful death.’

* * *

“What should we do with her?”

[Just leave her. Don’t be the one to take her life.]

“If that is what you command.”

Watching the elves bow towards her, Yggdrasil erased the smile from her face and stared at the brown-skinned elf who had collapsed in front of her.

Aina Helishana had initially been praised as the most talented elf in the Divine Tree’s Land. However, she corrupted herself and left the forest behind as a Dark Elf. It had roughly been thirty years since she had taken off, but her eyes remained the same.

Yggdrasil momentarily struggled to smile, feeling weird. However, she soon turned to put her hand on the elf who had been cut by Aina.

Vooosh!!! At the same time, a bright light flashed from her hands and healed the chest that had been sliced by the sharp blade. She instantly healed the elf’s fatal injury.

However, the other Ancient Guards couldn’t witness such a sight.

Yggdrasil, the World Tree, had the power to comfort the children of the forest with benevolence. She was the large tree known as the origin of elves, so she had power comparable to that of Demon Lord Perserque’s, who had been a major factor of the Continental War three thousand years ago.

“Ah… My World Tree…”

[Are you okay?]

“Yes!”

[That is a relief. Then, let’s go. We have wasted too much time and strength.] The incarnation of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, glanced at the collapsed Aina before shaking her head and walking away.

That was when the starless night sky darkened. It was as if an unknown force had sucked up all of the surrounding light.

The moment the Ancient Guards immediately realized that something was off and looked around with wide eyes…

“I heard that Dark Elves\' eyes change color based on their emotions.”

They heard a man’s calm voice.

“If her eyes, which should have been the first thing to darken after corruption, are still that bright, it means that she’s quite stubborn, right?”

“Wh–Who?!”

Click. With the sound of something being unlocked, a weapon had been drawn. It came from the elf who was standing at the front of the pack with rapiers on their waist.

“What?!”

Splatter!! The Ancient Guard’s eyes widened as they realized their rapier was missing; however, they could not say anything more about it. A blade had pierced through their forehead with a sharp, clean sound.

Elves could be healed from any injury as long as they did not die, but even the World Tree’s power could not revive those who died instantly. It only took seconds for an Ancient Guard, who was a Master hunter powerful enough to contract with an intermediate-rank spirit, to die.

The surroundings soon descended into darkness. It became a completely dark underground cave where no one could see more than an inch in front of them.

“Protect the Mother of the Divine Tree! This is a surprise attack!”

A strange man had hidden his presence and attacked them. The Ancient Guards, who were surprised by him, sharpened all their senses, but all they could feel was cold air. They could only see darkness and smell the terrifying odor of fresh blood.

“Although you are all unwelcome guests, I still have to offer you a proper welcome to our festival.”

“Wh… Who are you?!”

“Show yourself!”

The man’s voice sounded a little younger than someone in their twenties. Perhaps he was just a teenager. With his voice, the surrounding air dropped in temperature and was so close to freezing.

“There happens to be a fun event that I wanted to do, but I was contemplating whether it would be too stimulating or not. Do you happen to like haunted houses?”