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With the sharp sound of metal, the elves pointed their rapiers right at Davey. Two of them even showed their intention of slicing his neck if he wronged them one more time. It seemingly didn’t matter whether their power affected him or not.

Thud!!

Of course, the person standing beside Davey wasn’t just going to sit back and watch.

“Rinne warning you. Rinne will use highly valued weapon if you do not put your weapons down this instant,” Rinne warned eerily. She dragged her bat, which was larger than usual, on the ground.

“War fanatics… How ridiculous. Us residents of the forest are peace-loving. This is all because of your interference,” Yulgren scoffed.

“What?” Davey stopped tapping on the table with his fingers. He said, “You have to give credit where credit is due.”

“W–What?!”

“The one who approached, interfered, and wanted to control the elves living happily in the Rowane Kingdom is the lunatic tree that you serve.”

“You human!!”

Boom!!

As soon as Yulgren shouted, a huge explosion happened.

Davey wondered whether having a conversation with the elves was really meaningful. Amongst the elves who trusted the Divine Tree blindly, some of them had enough faith to be zealots. And logic was not a requirement when one had such extreme faith.

Only after the dust settled from the sudden explosion did they see the tragedy. On one side, two elves had collapsed onto the floor. They were immobile and covered in blood.

Davey and Yulgren did not move.

“You killed my subordinates. You people don’t have the slightest bit of conscience.”

“You should’ve considered the possibility of you dying if you are wielding a deadly weapon,” said Davey as he looked down at Yulgren.

Yulgren stood up, then said, “This is your last warning, Prince Davey. There will be no more sacrifices other than your life if you return the residents of the forest.”

“I don’t think you get it yet. You are the ones who started it, but you don’t get to decide how it ends.”

Slice!!

An eerie sound of metal slicing something could be heard.

“Kergh?!” Yulgren flinched with his hand on his neck.

“Prince Davey.”

“This conversation was meaningless. Let’s end the meeting here.”

“Yes, we should.”

The Pallan Empire did host this conference as a neutral nation, but Sullivan did not seem like he was going to remain on the fence.

When Sullivan calmly replied to Davey, Yulgren glared at Davey with bloodshot eyes. Then, he paused, flinched slightly, and started to back away. He realized that this had been a meaningless conference from the start.

Winley, who followed Davey as soon as he exited the conference room, held onto her staff with an even tighter grip. She approached Davey with a determined face. “Big Brother.”

“Stay out of this.”

“No!”

Davey firmly discouraged Winley, because he already knew what she was trying to say.

“Winley.”

“You’re always like this, Big Brother! You always try to do the dangerous things by yourself! How long am I going to accept your help all the time?! I can help, too!”

As a 4th Circle mage, Winley was a good asset to have even though she was a little inexperienced. However, Davey didn’t even have to think about his decision as it involved Winley.

Davey sighed at how Winley was being stubborn about participating in the war. He asked, “Do you think war is a game?”

“I know… Do you know how many people died in front of my eyes during the continuous attacks from the thieves of the plains? I will participate in this war even if you stop me! I will be of help.”

Davey was thinking about what to do with Winley’s determination to take part in the war when…

—Why don’t you listen to her?

‘Are you crazy?’

—You have a tendency to be too overprotective of your younger siblings.

‘This is a war, Perserque. And wars are for lunatics. I can’t protect everyone this time around.’

This war was not going to end until Davey slaughtered the World Tree, the origin of this war. Once he left the battlefield to fight the World Tree, no one side would be at a guaranteed advantage.

—You tend to look down on others too much because you are too strong.

‘Why don’t you be in my position then? You have no idea how nervous and anxious it makes me.’

One wrong thought or move, and countless people would die; that was not what Davey wanted.

—Then, what about backline support?

“...” Winley stared up at Davey with a determined gaze.

Looking at Winley, Davey said with a sigh, “Go to the backlines. I cannot allow you to stand in the frontlines.”

This was the most that Davey could do; he would never allow Winley to stand amongst the Pallan Empire army who were going to be at the frontlines and stopping the elves from advancing.

“Baris and Marquis Peiltris will set up in the backlines with five thousand soldiers. Go and join Baris there.”

“...Okay. I will do this and slowly earn your trust.”

“Alright, but do not get hurt. That’s a promise.”

“Okay, I promise,” Winley said confidently.

However, war wasn’t that easy a matter.

* * *

Emilia had been kept in her room for a long time now. She was fully aware that she was an unwelcome guest and a hostage in this place.

When Aina rose from her seat and checked her weapons, as if preparing for the final battle, Emilia felt complicated emotions in her heart. She asked, “Are you leaving?”

“Yes, I have received orders from Sir Davey. We have come too far to stop now.”

“Are you not afraid of fighting your own kind?”

“What is it that you want to say?”

“I don’t know. Although I may be amicable towards humans, it’s hard for me to imagine standing against fellow elves for them.”

Aina, who grabbed a huge dagger and slid it into a holder, wrapped the holder around her waist. She said indifferently, “Having long ears does not make you an elf, Lady Emilia… When the Saint of the Divine Tree made me like this and when Yggdrasil, the World Tree, targeted my sister, I turned away from my kind.”

Aina would do the same even if the elves ended up being the last race left in this world.

“Elves would curse Yuria, the residents of the Moon Forest, and myself as traitors… Unless the elves disappeared. So, do you think I would be too afraid of their insults to protect my family?”

The World Tree was in the wrong here, not them.

Aina’s words only made Emilia’s anxiety and mistrust about the World Tree grow even more.

“Sir Davey is a mean human.”

“...”

“However, unlike the Saint of the Divine Tree, he keeps his promises.” Aina sighed, then covered herself with a robe and put the hood over her head. She added, “Also, he does his best to protect his loved ones, even if that means going to war with another race. On the other hand, the World Tree… Is she protecting the ones who serve her?”

Emilia was momentarily speechless as she watched Aina leave the room. She could not understand the decision and actions of the World Tree, but she was an elf. She was a part of the forest kind that served the World Tree and followed its will. As such, even if she was wrong, Emilia could not easily gain the courage to turn away.

* * *

The large army of elves advanced much faster than Davey expected.

Davey predicted there to be tens of thousands of elves in the army, and that was just a rough estimate. It was definitely not a big number considering it was the army of an entire race. It was also normal to expect a much bigger number since this was going to be the elves’ first attack out of many.

In the army attacking the Heins Territory, the World Tree had included the elves and countless spirit beasts that lived near the Divine Tree. The spirit beasts, which could use some power of the spirits unlike ordinary animals, had sufficient weapons; it was also true that their attacks, which would be carried out according to one ideology, would be too strong for the enemy to simply ignore.

Originally, Davey’s first goal was to crush their attack force and advance to the Divine Tree. However, the elves had probably come here prepared, so they could drag the battle on even if they failed to gain an immediate advantage.

Davey, who was sitting on the edge of the rift and watching the situation, was being notified of the progressions of the war through the three crystals near his feet.

[They are advancing in three groups. However, everyone that we’ve sent out to engage in guerilla warfare failed… It seems like they have something that senses humans when they reach a certain distance.]

Davey heard Sullivan’s voice through the communication crystal.

Of course, guerilla warfare played an important role in a war, making the enemy lose focus. However, the elves had discovered and killed all of the troops that had been sent for guerilla warfare. It appeared that the elves did indeed have something that could detect humans at a certain distance.

“What about the preparations to advance?” Davey asked.

[The preparations are ready. We will be able to strike right away as soon as their army stumbles.]

“Guerilla warfare will be done on this side.”

‘We can’t do guerilla warfare because we get detected by getting too close? Then, the least I should do is knock them out from a far away distance.’

Davey, who was watching the situation from a huge rift located outside of the elves’ detection perimeter, tapped empty space. He was going to look for the advancing elves himself.

Boom!!

At the same time, a large staff came out of the empty air.

—Ooh… The Transcendence’s Demise!

Perserque’s eyes still shone every time she saw the staff.

Whoosh!!

The Transcendence’s Demise had the magic power of magnification and shrinking. Even if that power was not at all used, the staff was far from useless. The staff could support mages whenever they used their magic, and the staff’s innate power was just an additional power.

Davey swung the big and heavy staff in the air. Then, he waited silently for the elves to come into a certain distance. He ordered, “Rinne, order the Decepticon Fleet to attack as soon as I attack.”

“Command accepted,” Rinne answered calmly as her eyes shone.

[Elder Brain, delivery of command. Choosing concentrated tactics. Ordering the others to defend.]

[Command accepted.]

[Command accepted.]

Rinne heard the replies from Sniper, the sniping golem, and Juggernaut, the gatling gun golem that shot mini magic bullets.

[Then, Rinne, delivering additional commands. Megatron, activate Punisher Cannons.]

[Punisher Cannons activated. Requires recharge of mana after use.]

Rinne was slightly ecstatic, as if Megatron’s new weapon was to her liking.

This was the first time that the Decepticon Fleet’s golems were sort of being revealed to the world. Sullivan would not publicize this information if he was smart, but this was the first time Davey was showing the golems to someone other than his immediate circle.

As soon as Rinne gave the command, Davey swung the staff in the direction of the elf army who had come into proximity. At the same time, a large amount of mana escaped his body.

[6th Circle]

[Wide-Range Explosion]

[Multi-Explosion]

Sizzle…

It sounded like the fuse wire had been ignited.

The elves kept advancing. They had no idea what was happening to them, so they were puzzled by how their surroundings were starting to shine.

Boom!!!!!

Those sparks soon created huge explosions, which effectively signaled the start of Davey’s attacks.

Boom!!!!

There were explosions that shook the entire ground and black smoke everywhere. As the ground got blown up into pieces, Davey crumbled a mana stone from his pocket and threw it into the air.

‘You have to supply the catalysts with mana if there isn’t enough.’

“Start concentration.”

[Concentration]

Boom!!

A large amount of explosive bullets began raining on the base of the elves, who were flustered by the first round of surprise attacks.