I Need to Change the Plan. (2)
The sight of the forest that entered Ghislain's eyes was devastating.
The trees were blackened and bent, their leaves also darkened and hanging damply.
The moss covering the ground had turned from its usual green into something black and sticky, like slime, and in various places, red mold writhed like blood as it expanded its territory.
A suffocating stench lingered in the air. The smell of rotting flesh mixed in and stabbed at the nose.
'Hmm....'
Ghislain slowly took in the sight of the forest.
The wind had stopped, and the forest was eerily quiet. Even the presence of spirits had completely vanished. Not even the tiniest bugs, which should naturally inhabit any forest, could be found.
This was not just pollution.
This area was saturated with a grotesque and overwhelming malice and grudge.
'This is....'
Ghislain had seen a forest like this before. The center of the Beast-infested Forest was exactly in this condition.
But that was due to the toxic miasma emitted by an enormous monster named Morbus. Something like this was impossible for an orc shaman to achieve.
'A dark mage, huh.....'
Indeed, if it was black magic, such a situation could be created.
That is, if someone of at least the 7th Circle had sacrificed countless lives.
'But still, not alone.'
The elven forest was vast. Even just the northern forest, as it was called, was nearly the size of a large territory.
Even though they had moved cautiously while speaking with Erenes, it had still taken more than two days just to get here.
Ghislain, being a mage himself, could tell. No matter how powerful a dark mage, they couldn't corrupt the forest to this extent in such a short time.
Surely the elves wouldn't have stood by idly while the dark mage unleashed such power.
'There's no way a 9th Circle dark mage would show up.'
If someone of that caliber had come, the elves' damage would not have ended with just this.
That was why the current situation was baffling.
"What happened? Did they just sit around and watch while a dark mage did this?"
"No way. From what I heard, they kept trying to purify it. Normally, black magic can be cleansed with the power of the spirits."
"And?"
"I don't know. I wasn't directly involved in the battle. But I heard that dark mages were moving alongside the orc army. They corrupted the forest, and the rate of corruption kept accelerating."
It seemed multiple dark mages had been working together. If that was the case, then it wasn't impossible.
Ghislain looked down at his feet. He could see the corruption spreading slowly. In a few more days, it would be large enough to devour several villages.
Erenes spoke with a frustrated expression.
"The orcs were defeated and pushed back, but this time, we might suffer more. The forest still isn't recovering properly."
"......"
"The elders are in constant meetings right now. I heard that soon, all the elves who can wield the power of spirits will gather to purify this place."
"Hmm, in that case, the forest might soon return to normal. It doesn't sound like something to worry too much about."
It wasn't only holy power that had the ability to purify. Spirits also possessed purification power.
Nature, by its very order, cycles all things, so it can sweep away corruption and restore broken balance.
Though the extent of the contamination was severe and not an easy task, it shouldn't be impossible to purify it if all the elves united their strength.
To Ghislain's question, Erenes sighed and said,
"They'll purify it, sure. But that's not what we're worried about."
"Then what is?"
"That they'll do this again. If something like this happens a few more times, the forest will end up devastated."
Even if the black magic was erased with purification, if such artificial conflict continued repeatedly, the vitality of the forest would inevitably decline.
Just as farmland needs time to recover its nutrients after harvest, the forest too needs time to recover its life force.
Erenes looked at Ghislain and clenched her fist.
"This isn't normal black magic. Even the elders said something was strange. Those dark mages must've pulled something with the orcs."
"I think so too."
"I have no intention of just watching helplessly."
"So what do you want to do?"
"We're going to handle this ourselves!"
"...... Oh."
Erenes's face lit up with excitement, her eyes sparkling. She was having quite a bold idea.
She intended to take the lead in resolving this together with Ghislain.
'This human's pretty strong. We fought pretty evenly, after all.'
Strictly speaking, she had been slightly pushed back. But Erenes believed that had the fight continued, the outcome would've been uncertain.
Her combat skills were so outstanding that every elf in the forest acknowledged her.
She never once imagined that Ghislain hadn't gone all out.
Ghislain scratched his cheek and asked,
"You and me... how exactly are we going to solve this? Do you have a plan?"
Ghislain was curious about Erenes's intentions.
He was going to help solve the forest's problem anyway. That way, he could use it as leverage to borrow the holy stone.
But since Erenes was coming forward so aggressively, it caught him slightly off guard.
Erenes replied with a confident expression.
"Of course I have a plan. Right now, elite elven warriors are moving to uncover the identity of the dark mages. Soon they'll find the location of the Red Fang Tribe and the dark mages."
"What?"
"I said we've formed a scout team. If something like this happens again, the forest really will be ruined."
"You mean..."
"Yeah, once the purification work is finished, this time we're going to strike the Red Fang Tribe first. That's why we sent scouts."
"Huh ...."
Elves almost never start wars first.
For them to be planning a preemptive strike meant they were furious — deeply so.
As expected, Erenes continued with a determined expression.
"For hundreds of years, we've only defended against incoming attacks. That alone was enough to protect the forest. But now that they've allied with dark mages, we're not going to just sit and wait."
It was a valid point. In a situation like this, Ghislain wouldn't sit still either.
No, he would've already stormed in and killed them all.
But that was only possible if one had power.
Elves, while long-lived, had a small population. In contrast, orcs had incredible reproductive ability.
That was why orcs could keep invading despite repeated defeats.
Ghislain offered a slightly better idea.
"If you're going to strike first anyway, how about asking the humans for support? If priests join, dark mages would be easier to deal with."
"What? Bring in a human army? Are you insane? That would be the end of us."
"......."
"The only time we ally with humans is during war against the Demon Realm. Otherwise, they'll keep trying to interfere with us."
"Hm."
"Do you really think they'd help us and just leave quietly? No way. They'll try to take advantage of us in any way they can. Even I, who admires the outside world, know that much."
"... Yeah."
Ghislain nodded obediently. Erenes wasn't wrong.
Humans never move without asking for something in return. Especially humans in this era.
If the elves showed weakness, the humans would see it as an opportunity and start pushing all sorts of demands on them.
Erenes, now back to her usual arrogant expression, said,
"And it's just an orc tribe. We can wipe them out ourselves. If they hadn't brought in dark mages, we would've ignored them."
"Alright, alright. I get what's going on. But how exactly do you and I handle this ourselves?"
"The scout team already left, right? Let's sneak out too."
"What?"
"If you and I team up, we can take down dark mages easily. So let's find them first and kill them. That way, we'll make a huge contribution."
"......"
"Then the Grand Chieftain and the Elders will finally look at me differently. They'll approve of me going out into the outside world. What do you think?"
"......"
As Ghislain gave her a look of disbelief, Erenes flared up slightly and shouted,
"Orcs are weak! I could kill hundreds of them by myself. Besides, the reconnaissance unit should be nearby, so if it gets dangerous, we can just run and join them! We're strong even in the mountains!"
"Ha...."
Ghislain unconsciously pressed a hand to his forehead. This reckless elf was putting her trust in her own strength and trying to gain merit like a human.
And she wanted to use that merit to justify going out into the world.
'Completely unreasonable.'
Ghislain clicked his tongue. If corruption of this scale was possible, then each dark mage must be quite powerful, or there were many of them.
With high probability, Erenes's current strength wouldn't be enough to defeat them. Yet, she was overconfident in her own ability.
There was no way such a sloppy plan could work. Even if it did succeed, the Grand Chieftain and the Elders would only grow more worried.
Erenes's approach was the very image of ambition-driven humans.
No one would approve of such a half-baked plan.
Ghislain spoke with a serious expression.
"A truly outstanding plan. So flawless it leaves me speechless. Ah, a genius strategist is right here."
"Right? I knew you'd think so. You're pretty strong too, so I'm sure it'll work."
It was a ridiculous plan, but Ghislain found it perfectly agreeable.
If they wanted to solve the problem quickly, confronting it head-on was best. Smashing everything would be far faster.
And if something went wrong, he could always use Erenes as an excuse.
The two exchanged sly grins and shook hands. Neither considered the possibility of failure.
Ghislain looked at Erenes with a cheerful smile.
'So she was this reckless in her youth. Back then, we actually had similar tastes. This is more fun.'
The future Erenes was always strict and cautious. She constantly restrained her emotions and never acted rashly.
It was fascinating to see that she'd once been this much of a troublemaker.
Of course, some things hadn't changed. Her recklessness was clearly part of her nature.
When the Erenes of the future set her mind to act, she never showed mercy. How many superhumans had died by her hands?
– Stop it.... Why are you both losing your minds together now.... For the love of everything...…
– Looking at it now, the past is way better? Since it's come to this, let's just wreck everything with her and steal the holy stone.
Unfortunately, Astion and Dark's words never reached Erenes.
Erenes grabbed Ghislain's hand and tugged.
"Let's go now! If we stay here any longer, we'll get spotted too. We need to get out of the forest."
By the Grand Chieftain's orders, all elves were forbidden from approaching this area. Only a few elves stationed a bit farther away were monitoring for signs of abnormal activity.
That was why Erenes and Ghislain had been able to reach the forest without difficulty. The other elves strictly obeyed the Grand Chieftain's commands.
Even so, Erenes urged Ghislain to hurry. Ghislain nodded subtly.
'There's definitely something in this forest that detects my presence.'
Otherwise, Erenes wouldn't be rushing like this. Surely the elves would arrive here soon.
"Wait a moment."
Ignoring Erenes's urging, Ghislain inspected the area further. There was something he needed to confirm properly.
He stepped into the fully decayed area of the forest and began observing his surroundings.
As Ghislain silently looked around without a word, Erenes grew slightly irritated.
"What are you doing? This land is already dead!"
"........."
Ghislain ignored her. Instead, he knelt down on one knee and scooped up a handful of blackened, contaminated soil.
As he stared at the soil, his expression gradually hardened.
"I said, what are you doing?"
Again, Ghislain didn't answer her. He just gazed off into the distance with a grim face.
"Let's move already!"
"Erenes."
"If we stay here too long, we'll be in trouble!"
"Erenes."
"..... What?"
Ghislain was still looking off into the far distance. As he slowly stood up, the soil slipped through his fingers.
Without turning his head, Ghislain spoke.
"We'll need to change the plan."
"What? Why?"
Ziiiing—!
A spatial rift opened in midair. A long staff began to emerge from Ghislain's subspace.
Ghislain spoke in a cold voice.
"I don't think we need to go all the way to the mountains."
"What do you mean?"
"The scout team… they're probably all dead."
Ghislain gripped the staff that had emerged from the subspace.
Far off in the northern sky, a dense darkness was rolling in.
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