"A half-deer?"
Hearing Sophie's description, Kurose Akira couldn't help but picture it in his mind.
A centaur had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse.Then a half-deer would naturally be a human upper body with the lower body of a deer.
As for how to tell them apart… antlers versus a horse's tail would be the most obvious difference.
Also, the fur along a deer's back was longer—probably softer to the touch, too…
"Brother Akira—!"
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a voice called out from behind.
Akira turned around to see a girl with short, deep-blue hair walking toward them. She was about the same height as Fuli and Flora—small and delicate—and behind her followed a petite female elf.
If you added Marei Rhine to the mix, that would make five short—cough, cough.
"She's here!"Liu Xue smiled and waved at the girl.
"S-Su… Brother Akira! H-Hello! My name is Ye Lingxi! Please take care of me!"The girl hurried over and bowed deeply, her manners almost excessively polite.
"Hello,"Akira replied calmly.
Lingxi lifted her head with a shy smile. Between strands of her deep-blue hair, a pair of reddish-brown eyes shimmered like polished gemstones.
Akira found himself giving her a second look.Her eyes were beautiful—like they hid some kind of buried treasure.
Still, her speech was hesitant and reserved. She clearly wasn't good at interacting with people.
"Don't be so nervous, Lingxi,"Liu Xue said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder to help her steady herself.
"Mmm…"Lingxi nodded, lifting her chin slightly, though her gaze still darted away now and then.
Akira didn't mind. He simply said,"Let's get moving. The timing's about right."
"Mm-hmm!"
Not long after, they arrived near the Gloom Prison.
"Just like I told you earlier," Akira instructed Liu Xue and the others,"set up the teleportation array outside the prison perimeter and wait for me to come back out."
"Got it!"Liu Xue and Ye Lingxi nodded in unison, following his directions without hesitation.
"Um… p-please… be careful!"Lingxi added softly, her voice tinged with nervous concern.
"I will."Akira smiled and nodded, then turned his gaze toward the depths of the Gloom Prison and murmured,"Now we just wait for the right moment."
At this time, only two elven guards stood outside the Gloom Prison.
That was mainly due to the prison's special structure and the very small number of inmates inside.
Among the elven race, crimes serious enough to warrant imprisonment here were exceedingly rare. There might only be three dark elves inside—if that.
About half an hour later, Akira seized the moment when the guards were смен shifting posts and slipped silently into the Gloom Prison.
The instant he stepped inside, he found himself immersed in a dim, greenish world. Calling it a "prison" felt inaccurate—it was more like a裂缝, a rift in space itself.
Akira turned around. The entrance he'd come through had completely vanished, replaced only by dazzling, distorted light caused by warped space.
"No wonder this place doesn't need guards," Akira muttered to himself."Trying to escape really does require catching the weakness window… And information about that weakness period must be known only to the Elf Queen and a handful of others."
As he spoke, his gaze locked onto three faint, green-glowing points in the distance.
That had to be where the dark elves were.
"This place is pretty interesting,"Marei Rhine said, clearly intrigued by the surroundings as she followed him in.
"Do you sense anything?" Akira asked.
"There's a trace of divine law here," Marei replied."And it's not a low-tier divinity, either."
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers lightly. A layer of crimson radiance enveloped both of their bodies.
"Divine law…?"
Akira narrowed his eyes, thinking.
If this power was related to the elves, then it should belong to the Elemental Goddess or the Goddess of Nature.
But the aura in the air didn't feel like elven magic at all.It was closer to a dark attribute.
"If you ever run into an enemy you can't deal with," Marei continued,"you can flee here. The divine law woven into this place can repel even a demigod—no, even a low-ranking god."
"So that's how it is…"
Akira silently committed that to memory. He hadn't expected the elven Gloom Prison to possess power capable of resisting gods.
"Let's find the dark elves first."
He immediately headed toward the three green lights.
At the same time, three dark elves were chatting inside the prison.
"Nilu… when do you think we'll be able to get out of here?"One dark elf with short amber hair asked nervously.
"Seriously, what rotten luck!"Another, with long pale-purple hair, snapped angrily."We finally got our hands on the holy relic, and then those elves caught us!"
"At least they don't know our real objective,"the third dark elf, with short deep-pink hair, added."As long as we can escape, we can awaken Him."
"But how are we supposed to escape?"Nilu sighed softly, utterly at a loss.
The other two fell silent as well. They looked around—the dim green prison held nothing but flickering distortions of space…
…and a pair of crimson eyes staring straight at them.
Crimson eyes?
"Ah!""A ghost!"
The three dark elves instantly raised their weapons, their legs trembling as they backed away.
"Calm down, dark elves,"a voice said gently.
Akira stepped out of the darkness, wearing a friendly smile.
"A human?"
The three dark elves stared at him in disbelief. They couldn't understand why a human would appear here.
And where had those red eyes gone?
"Three third-rate dark elves,"Marei Rhine emerged from the shadows as well, her tone dripping with disdain."The darkness clinging to you is pathetically thin."
When the dark elves saw Marei beside Akira, terror flooded their faces once more.
"A… a dragon!"
Even in her half-dragon humanoid form, Nilu instantly recognized Marei's true identity.
"A dragon!?"
The other two dark elves immediately hid behind Nilu, their minds reeling.Why would a dragon be inside the elven Gloom Prison?
Akira didn't answer. He simply stared at the three of them.
Aside from Nilu, the other two were trembling so badly they could barely stand.
Only Nilu was above level 40.The other two hovered around level 30.
What concerned Akira more was that all three had traces of darkness staining their skin, as though their once-snowy complexions were slowly being dyed a pale silver-gray.
And the stronger the elf, the denser the dark aura.
"I was sent to rescue you," Akira explained calmly.
"Rescue us?"The three exchanged shocked glances before turning back to him."This is the Gloom Prison. Even elven princesses can't leave freely. How do you plan to take us out?"
"I have my methods," Akira replied lightly.
After a moment of hesitation, the three dark elves moved aside and whispered among themselves, occasionally glancing back at him.
Akira watched them with casual indifference. Their behavior wasn't much different from ordinary elves—the only distinction was the dark aura they emitted.
They clearly weren't members of the Dark Night Elf Legion.More likely, they were elves who had left the elven race for other reasons.
That made sense.Anyone heavily steeped in darkness would probably be detected before even entering the Elven Kingdom.
So they had used elves with only faint traces of darkness to disguise themselves, sneaking in to steal the holy relic.
That was their only chance.
After a brief discussion, Nilu turned back to Akira."We believe you. What do you need us to do?"
"Nothing," Akira replied."Just follow my instructions."
He glanced around.
Based on the timing, the prison's weakness period was about to begin—their only window to escape.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the space inside the Gloom Prison began to twist violently.
At the same time, a white particle of light emerged from Akira's forehead, drifting forward as if guiding the way.
"Rhine!"
Akira immediately issued the mount command.
"Got it!"
Marei Rhine instantly transformed into her true dragon form, becoming his mount.
With her claws, she grabbed the three dark elves and shot off in the direction the white light indicated.
Her speed surpassed the sound barrier, yet the surrounding darkness continued to flicker endlessly, as if the prison had no boundary at all.
Akira cursed silently.No wonder no one could escape. Without the White Elf Queen's guidance, this place was effectively an infinite domain.
But there was also a difference.
He could still locate the three dark elves.
That meant that under the influence of spatial laws, this region only appeared infinite—it was likely an endlessly looping space.
Before long, following the white light, Akira found the exit.
"We're almost out!"he warned the three dark elves.
But at that speed, they could barely keep their balance, let alone answer him.
As Marei burst through the white brilliance, they successfully escaped the Gloom Prison.
Then Akira froze.
He'd expected to reappear near the prison—
So why was he now suspended above the Elf Queen's Palace?
Below him, a silver-haired elven woman stood quietly, looking up at him.
"Elena?"
Akira frowned slightly.Princess Elena… was she waiting for him?
There were no other elves around her, and the surrounding space seemed sealed off by magic.
Even Marei Rhine's hundred-meter-long dragon body failed to cause any disturbance.
"Let's go down,"Akira said at once.
Marei descended and landed in front of Elena.
The moment they touched down, Elena smiled at him with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Secretly taking three dark elves out of the Gloom Prison…"she said slowly."This time, you've really fallen right into my hands, big~ man~."