Sylffie's team quietly slipped into the Royal Palace
Keeping a careful watch for the guards
They followed the same route the squirrel had taken earlier
After several turns, they finally reached the corridor
Sylffie stopped in front of a plain stone wall
"This is it" Sylffie whispered
"Great, but where is the secret door?" Rikka frowned
"Hang on, give me a second"
She closed her eyes, recalling the exact pattern of bricks Lior had pressed
One by one, she pushed the stones in the same order
A low rumble echoed through the corridor
The wall slowly slid open
"There it is" Sylffie whispered "Let's go"
The four of them stepped inside
The moment they entered, the stone door sealed itself shut behind them
A long, narrow passage stretched before them
Dim lights along the walls barely illuminated the corridor, leaving its end hidden in darkness
Rikka ignited his sword
Orange flames flickered across the stone walls
Sylffie nocked an arrow
"Be careful"
"If our guess is right, this Cardinal should be the one with sensor magic"
"That means he already knows we are inside"
The others nodded and slowly walked forward
No sound…
No sight of the Cardinal…
Or even the end of the dark corridor
They kept walking while keeping their eyes open
Then in a blink of an eye, several thorn-like spikes burst from the darkness
"Watch out!"
They ducked to avoid its
Before they could recover, a thick vine lashed out from the wall toward Helen
"Stay low!"
CLANG!
Gill blocked it with his shield
Then with an arrow on her hand, Sylffie cut the vine
Followed that, she shot her arrow right to the endless corridor
It flied quickly, but seems like it didn't hit anything
"Tch"
Then Helen moved forward
"Lightning spark"
A bolt of lightning shot forward, illuminating the corridor for a split second
But again, there was nothing
Only empty stone walls
Sylffie frowned
"You coward come and fight us"
No answer
Feel annoyed, Sylffie cast her spell
"Come out wolf"
She summoned her familiar
Then she controlled it and ran right through the dark corridor
The other waited
Sever seconds passed
Until her expression suddenly stiffened
"What happened?" Helen asked
"I saw a room ahead…"
"But there is something wrong…"
"What is it?" Rikka asked
"The moment my familiar get there, it instantly dead"
Everyone's expression changed
"What!?"
"Yeah, I don't know what happened…"
"But whatever's waiting ahead…"
"Let's be careful"
They continued forward even more cautiously
Nothing attacked them this time
Until they found a light ahead
A room
"That's the room"
"Get ready"
Gill already prepared in the front, his shield raised
It was a closed room, a chamber, empty and filled with nothing, just an empty round room
The moment they went inside the room, a massive boulder dropped from above
"Behind me!"
The others hid behind Gill's shield
"Perfect wall!"
CLANG!
The enormous rock shattered against his barrier, exploding into countless fragments
Dust filled the room
Gill swiped the dust with his shield
Another attack came
This time a giant fist burst through the remaining dust
"Tch, move!"
They scattered, avoided the attack
BOOM!
The big fist crashed into the stone floor with enough force to crack it
For a brief moment, it became lodged into the ground
"What is that?" Rikka asked
Then without an effort, that thing pulled its fist from the ground
While everyone's attention remained on the giant figure hidden by dust, Sylffie seach the room
She spotted him
Lior
Standing silently at the far end of the chamber
Immediately she pulled her arrow and shot right toward him
It flied really quick
But the thing inside the dust came and blocked the arrow with its hand
It got deflected
"What!?"
The dust slowly ettled
Finally, that thing could be seen clearly
A towering golem
Its body was formed form intertwined vines and massive slabs of stone
On the other side of the palace, Gramm's team was confronting the other Cardinals
Cael's face twisted with anger
"Tch… Veyn what are you doing?"
"I already told you…"
He pulled a blade from his back and put on his stance
"I'm going to bring back the King"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"We are guessing that you are the one behind the King disappearance"
"And looking at Lior's gestures, I think our guess was right"
Cael ready to step forward
But Elric stopped him
"Enough"
He stared at Cael with cold expression
Cael clicked his tongue but stepped back
Elric slowly looked across the group
"So, you have discovered our secret, then what?"
Veyn lowered his blade
"What are you talking about?"
Elric remained silent for a moment before glancing toward the empty throne
"The King has done nothing for a long time"
"Letting those low creatures continued spreading across the world and filled it with their idiocracy"
Ashley brows furrowed
"Low creature"
"That's how you see everyone else?"
"All you ever done is look down on other races"
Elric answered calmly
"I don't despise them"
"I'm merely stating the truth"
"Why do we have to look at them equally?"
"Is it our fault they are weak?"
Gill then stepped forward
"Truth? Weak? What the hell are you talking about"
Without changing his expression, Elric told them
"Human are a weak creature"
"They died easily"
"Their lives are short"
"And their power doesn't match with us"
"But somehow they multiply quickly and filled the world with their race"
"They establish kingdoms"
"They wage meaningless wars"
"They endlessly repeat the same mistakes"
"For what?"
"All of that just for their own fun"
"Why are these creatures have to be the one who fill this world the most?"
"So, you wanted to rule this world all by yourself?" Gramm asked
"You get rid of the King, while slowly ruled this forest and eventually you wanted to rule the world?"
Without a hesitation Elric answered that question
"No"
The group shocked hearing that answer
"I never intended to be a King or ruler over this world"
"All I wanted is to make the world where only the best races were live"
"I don't care who rules this world"
"I don't even care if it's an elf"
"As long as the one standing at the top belongs to a race worthy of standing there"
"My ideal world isn't filled only by elves"
"It's filled by whoever truly worthy"
"Whether only one race…"
"Two…"
"Or three"
"The number doesn't matter"
"What matters is that every race that survives has the strength to stand on its own"
"No burdens"
"No helpless weak"
"No one forced to sacrifice themselves for those who contribute nothing"
"And our aura fulfilled the requirement as one of those races"
"The aura to nurture the life itself"
"It is proof that we deserve a place in that world"
Veyn slowly narrowed his eyess
"So, the reason you hate the Dark Elves is this?"
With a straight face Elric answered
"Yes"
"Their aura are the contradiction of ours, they will rot everything near them"
"Why should the world need that?"
"That's also the same for you" Elric said while pointing at Gramm
"Human doesn't do anything special"
"Other race can do everything that human can do"
"Even they can do everything better than human"
"So why does the world need them?"
"Why does this world need these weak creatures?"
"Why don't we just get rid of them and filled it with the best races?"
"Minding these weak creatures won't do anything"
"It only a waste of our resource"
"Why waste precious resources protecting races that contribute the least?"
"Wouldn't those resources be better spent strengthening those already capable"
"My goal is simple…"
"I wanted to create the world where there is no such thing as being weak"
Gramm's grip became tighter
"What the hell is that kind of world?"
"If you really wanted the world like that, why don't you just make everything equal?"
"Why do you need to get rid of the weak while you can make them better?"
"You could make these weak races into one of those best races"
"If a race falls behind"
"Guide them"
"Teach them"
"Give them a chance to be better"
"That's what the King always said" Elric answered
"And some elves still think like that"
"They really know how to slow me down"
"But the answer is easy"
"It takes a long time and power to do that"
"And the outcome couldn't be predicted as what we wish for"
"So why would we waste our resource for something that doesn't worth for?"
"Why gamble endless time and resources on uncertainty?"
"Getting rid of these creatures would be faster"
"Even if the outcome is bad, the result is still the same"
"What remained lived is the best races"
"They could live without the help of the other"
"No one depend on others"
"They'll build a stronger world"
Gramm's grip tightened around his axe
"No"
"There is never a stronger world from that"
"There is only a lonelier one"
"The moment you decide someone isn't worth saving"
"You've already become weaker than the people you call weak"
Veyn silenced for a while, then he raised his blade again
"Seems like we really cannot finish this problem with talking anymore"
Elric sighed
Elric let out a quiet sigh
"I supposed not"
"Very well…"
"If that's your answer, then prove it"
He raised his hand
"Come"