Chapter 151

Chapter 151

“Lord Herteias.”

“I said Helteyn!”

“Um… What exactly do you want me to do?”

“I told you. I’m Heltayn, a simple country boy. A human who lived alone with my old mother after humans went extinct! A human who knows nothing of the world, finds everything new and bright and cheerful, but whose magic is second to none! Don’t use honorifics with me!”

“…Got it.”

Dojae scratched his head and replied in an exasperated tone.

Herteias, striding confidently with bright, alert eyes, seemed completely absorbed in the game.

Meanwhile, Harques, keeping a slight distance behind, remained alert and tense.

“Hey, giant dude! Come closer!”

“Yes… Oh! Got it!”

Harkes snapped to attention, using formal speech, but when Herteias’ gaze shifted, he quickly switched back to casual speech and came running breathlessly.

It was pitiful to see such a strong and sturdy Titan warrior reduced to that state.

“Human! What’s your name?”

“Kuhthan.”

“No, I mean your real name. That’s a name made in the language used by the elves, isn’t it?”

“…Dojae. Lee Dojae.”

Dojae hesitated briefly before revealing his name.

Now that it was known he was human, there was no need to keep pretending to be a High Elf.

“Lee Dojae? That’s a pretty strange name too, isn’t it?”

“I’m not from around here.”

“Oh ho. You’re from across the sea? They say humans still remain there. So the rumors were true?

“There are rumors like that?”

Dojae listened intently to Herteias’ words.

He had been told all humans here were extinct.

At first, he thought this planet only had the Tranfeion continent, so he assumed the human race itself didn’t exist here.

But on the map Harques showed me, beyond the vast ocean, there was an unnamed continent. I was curious, but unfortunately, even Harques didn’t know about it.

“Well, I heard dragons that lived there crossed over to Tranfeion long ago. Probably?”

“So?”

“That’s all I know.”

Herteias feigned ignorance.

He clearly knew.

He knows, yet he pretends not to in order to immerse himself in the persona of Heltine.

“Come on, Heltain read tons of books left behind by ancient archmages. Wasn’t that mentioned in any of them? A smart guy like Heltain should remember something. He’s human too, right? I bet Heltain looked into it out of curiosity.”

“Hmm…”

Herteias shot Dojae a sidelong glance.

Dojae, too, put on an innocent face and stared back innocently.

He wanted to make him regret polymorphing into a human.

“Dammit! I remember now.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“It says here that the Ancestor met that dragon. It said the dragon looked incredibly unusual. No wings and a long body, was it? Anyway, it says that dragon died not long after it crossed over.”

“Died?”

“Yeah. They say the sea beyond Tranfeion is extremely treacherous, and a powerful mana barrier stretches across it. They say it died from exhaustion while trying to cross over?”

“Then you… no, have dragons ever considered crossing over to the outside?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

Herteias said with a sullen expression.

The atmosphere suggested she wouldn’t say more.

Still, Herteias explained it well.

At least from the perspective of Haltain.

Anyway, since Dojae seems to mistake himself for a human from outside the continent, it’s clear at least that Herteias has never been out there.

Moreover, given the nature of dragons, they wouldn’t even consider venturing out, risking death itself.

And this applied equally to Dojae.

“But seeing you ask these things, you must be a human from outside, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Really? Where are you from?”

“Somewhere farther than the outside? Hmm… I guess there’s no need to hide it…”

Dojae told him about himself.

He told them about Earth, the Hunters, and even that Briasius was there.

“What? That guy actually did dimensional travel?”

“Huh? Doesn’t Haltein know about Briasius?”

“Ah! Ahem… No, it’s not that… I’m just amazed! Books don’t even mention dimensional travel.”

Herteias, determined to survive as Haltein somehow.

His efforts were commendable, so he decided to give him a chance.

“It’s all done! Everyone, come up here.”

Herteias, who had drawn a magic circle outside the lair, called out to Dojae and Harques.

Though Briasiilius could teleport perfectly well in human form, Herteias insisted on drawing a magic circle for the transfer.

“Alright, moving now! Keep your eyes closed!”

At Herteias’ command, Harques shut his eyes tight.

Doja chuckled softly.

Pop!

***

“Hamar, watch out!”

Push-!

Sari swiftly drew her bowstring and embedded an arrow deep into the monster’s body.

“Thank you, Chief!”

Hamar, undeterred even after nearly dying, threw himself toward the other monsters.

Was she alone?

The eighteen Grey Elves with her each engaged monsters in combat.

“Guh…”

One gray elf was crushed to death under a monster’s massive foot.

Sari witnessed it with her own eyes, but she couldn’t afford to just grieve.

After all, more than half of her group, which had once numbered over thirty, had already fallen like that.

Whoosh.

Sari bit her lip hard and drew back the bowstring once more.

Pang-!

Thud-!

Sari’s arrow embedded itself in the eye of the monster that had just killed the gray elf.

The creature writhed in agony. Seizing the moment, two gray elves charged forward like flying arrows and thrust their swords into it.

“No!”

But the two gray elves who thrust their swords were electrocuted by the current flowing through the blades, their bodies paralyzed.

Unable to move, they twitched helplessly before being trampled to death just like the first gray elf.

“Karan… Serkan…”

Sari forced back the tears threatening to spill, shooting arrows until her fingers bled.

Even witnessing the brutal deaths of two friends she had grown up with since childhood, all she could do was shoot arrows until her quiver was completely empty.

“We’re almost there…”

The temple, the only structure standing on the rugged plain, was visible nearby.

An hour?

Thirty minutes?

If only we could have held on a little longer, we could have taken refuge inside the temple. But the gray elves kept falling, unable to endure even that short time.

“Guhhh!”

A massive, fur-covered monster charged toward Sari.

The other Grey Elves are fighting monsters and cannot help.

Sari fired arrows relentlessly with her torn hand, but the agile creature dodged every single shot and charged forward.

“Chief!”

Hammar, noticing the situation, shouted toward Sari.

But she too was locked in combat with the monster before her and couldn’t come to help.

Sari reached into her quiver again.

But no matter how much she searched, nothing came to hand.

The monster was already right in front of her.

Just as she thought, “This is it, I’m done for…”

Whoosh-!

Thud-!

An axe flying from somewhere struck the monster squarely between the eyes.

“Gurgle…”

The furry monster let out a death rattle, its eyes rolled back, and it collapsed.

Sari gasped for breath, her eyes wide with shock as she looked around frantically.

“Huff… huff… Ohson?”

She thought it looked like a familiar axe.

Sure enough, a dwarf with neatly braided beard was running toward Sari.

“Sarieta! Are you alright!”

Osun, worried about the startled Sari, pulled the double-bladed axe from the hairy monster’s head and raised it.

“How…?”

“Just you wait!”

Thud!

Swish-!

Before they could exchange greetings over their long-awaited reunion.

Osun swung his axe once more and plunged into the midst of the monsters.

“Ahh…”

Sari covered her mouth, feeling immense gratitude.

The dwarves who had come with Osun were now hunting the monsters relentlessly, taking the place of the exhausted gray elves.

***

A short while later.

The dwarves, having hunted all the monsters, lowered their weapons.

The one who had undoubtedly slain the most monsters and stood out the most was Osun Ironhammer.

Wiping the blood thickly caked on his Wyon-born double axe, he approached Sari.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m the one who should be asking that. How did you even get here, Osun?”

Sari and Osun shared their respective circumstances.

Oson had managed to fend off the monster attack with relatively little damage, but Sari had lost her entire village.

Hearing this, Osun’s nose turned red, and she even sniffled.

“You’ve been through a lot. It must have been unbearable for a young lady like you…”

“Osun… I’m over 200 years older than you, you know?”

“Hmph, young is young!”

“Thank you… I’m so glad I got to meet you, Osun.”

Sari’s slender, small hand wrapped around Oson’s thick, rough hand.

Through the cold, trembling hand, Sari’s sorrowful emotions flowed in.

“Won’t you join us?”

“You know… dwarves hate elves. How could I possibly do that?”

Sari spoke, watching the dwarves and gray elves gathered separately, each group to themselves.

Then, this time, Osun wrapped his hands around Sari’s and said.

“It’s fine. We Eastern Dwarves hold no particular feelings toward elves compared to other regions. If you’re okay with it, we’d like to act together.”

“Really?”

“Having skilled hunters like the Grey Elves with us would be reassuring and beneficial!”

Osun twitched his mustache and smiled.

Knowing it was a forced smile, Sari couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Hmph… Guess you’re not completely without feelings after all.”

“What can you do? It’s between dwarves and elves.”

“Thanks for saying that first, Osun. We’re grateful to you just as much as we are to the dwarves for their help. So please don’t worry too much about it.”

“Whoa! So that means you’re in with us!”

“We’ll be counting on you.”

Sari and Osun shook the hands they held.

These two had taken the first step toward uniting two races that had long been at odds.

“But what brings the Grey Elves all the way here? There must be plenty of other elves in the west?”

“The elven kingdoms we’ve seen were either destroyed by monsters or on the brink of collapse. So expecting help from them was impossible. Ultimately, our village had to fend for itself. The only place we could find hope was where Lady Elatra resides. That’s why we came here.”

“It must not have been easy. Still, it’s fortunate you made it this far alive. Let’s stay inside the temple tonight.”

Osun pointed to the temple standing alone.

Perhaps due to Elatra’s influence, monsters avoided the temple’s vicinity, and there were no signs of them dwelling there.

“Yeah. I’m so tired.”

Sari lifted her heavy body and headed toward the Grey Elves.

Osun also headed toward the dwarves, relaying the conversation he’d shared with Sari.

Fortunately, both sides agreed to join forces as Sari and Osun had suggested.

The two groups were awkwardly unfamiliar with each other, but the gray elves expressed their gratitude and united as one.

“Chief of the Grey Elf village. I am Fusun Ironhammer, father of Osun. Pleased to meet you.”

“Thanks to you, we survived. We are truly grateful the dwarves have agreed to join us.”

“With the continent in such turmoil, shouldn’t we help if we can?”

“Yes. Shall we head to the temple first? Our side suffered heavy losses, so we need to rest.”

Fuson nodded, and Sari slowly headed toward the temple.

But then.

A bright light erupted, and something appeared right before the temple.

Thud!

Thud!

The dwarves and gray elves swiftly drew their weapons, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

But Sari and Osun dropped their bow and axe to the ground and began running toward something without looking back.

“Dojai!”

“Master!”