With the final hour leading to the last wave approaching, Lucia had finished recovering all her mana. Fina and the healers that were able to survive until the last wave had also finished healing everyone and were recuperating their mana.The Academy Presidents were gathered together in the middle of the plaza holding a meeting. Now that it was finally the last wave, they no longer could afford to hold any ulterior motives to one another.
They had to be aboveboard and fair with each other in order to eke out a win in this final trial. They were discussing just what kind of monster the Dark Wood Elves were.
The Academy Leaders naturally turned to the elves since the monsters also had elf in their name. Cecil didn"t find any information about these elves, but it didn"t mean that the Elven race"s young generation were deprived of this knowledge.
They knew full well what these elves were. The second stain of their race after the Blood Elves who now called themselves vampires.
"The Dark Wood Elves were originally the caretakers of the World Tree"s roots alongside the Drows...but, during the last ancient war when the demon race had invaded our continent, they were somehow tempted to join the demons and tried to steal the World Tree"s Blessing for them."
Cleo Clarentine, the High Elf that Cecil had met during his outing in Elfheim, was actually the true leader of the elves. The Sun Elf Alanda Sunstrider had stepped down since she was only a temporary subst.i.tute since Cleo liked to remain inconspicuous and maintain a low profile.
But since the situation called for it, she had to step forward and take command. She explained the history of the Dark Wood Elves to the others and the characteristics of the corrupted elves.
"Hmmm... so they control vines and dark magic?" Zephyr asked once more.
"Yes, at least that"s what was recorded in the books," Cleo replied, she then looked towards Zephyr"s group and tried to find the person she had met during her outing.
"Uhm...wasn"t there a black haired foxkin boy within your academy?"
"Hm? You mean Cecil?"
"Yeah, that"s him!" Cleo smiled when she heard the familiar name.
"...didn"t you know? He was the person who was pulled into the ground inside that large hole..."
"Huh? So...you mean that boy was the one who created that large hole?"
"Yeah...he"s our strongest student...it"s a shame that he isn"t here...the trial would have been much easier with him," Zephyr regretfully shook his head.
Of course, he didn"t believe that Cecil had failed or died. Since Lucia said that his mana inside her bracelet was still active and she felt his presence was very close on the day just before the 3rd trial began, but the connection was suddenly cut off afterwards.
It was cut off during the time when Cecil had stepped through the teleportation gate that sent him to the next extra trial.
The distance was just close enough for the bracelet to create a connection with Cecil, but since he was sent far off into the branches of the World Tree, the connection was severed once again.
But at least they knew that Cecil was still alive and was somewhere in the trials.
"Ah...what a pity...he was an interesting fellow..." Cleo sadly said.
"Hmm..."
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
"Hmph! Why are we talking about a dead guy anyway? We have more pressing matters!" The Beastman Academy President, a werelion named Reinhart Orca, interjected with a reprimanding tone.
"..."
"We should be discussing how to defeat these Corrupted Elves!"
Zephyr looked at his counterpart and simply said, "I"m leaving the northern lane to my Academy"s Little Kings, we won"t need to worry about that area."
"Little Kings?"
"The party of six that crushed the monsters in the northern lane during the 40th to 49th waves," Zephyr replied while pointing towards Lucia and her party.
"...that girl..."
"You better not p.i.s.s her off again. In our academy, she"s called the Apocalyptic Queen for a reason."
"Hmph, you and your "Kings"," Reinhart scoffed.
"Heh, I"m only leaving this warning since that girl can keep a grudge." Zephyr scoffed in reply.
The Gigantes Leader, a giant named Mal"norr Fik, the Neftersea Academy"s president, a merfolk girl named, Eva Quorra, and Cleo Clarentine turned an eye towards the foxkin girl who was sitting down and frowning while glancing at her bracelet.
"She"s a great a.s.set," Cleo smiled.
"A great warrior and mage, Mal"norr, respects," the giant said as he pounded his chest twice.
"Hey, Lucia! Come over for a sec!" Zephyr called out.
Lucia looked up at him and walked over.
"What"s up?" Lucia asked plainly.
"Can I leave the northern lane to your party?"
"...Mhm." Lucia nodded and turned around.
The leaders looked at the girl"s back. She showed no respect to Zephyr or to any of the leaders present. She hadn"t even bothered to glance at them or greet them.
"Hmph, arrogant!" Reinhart said in dissatisfaction.
Cleo and Eva only chuckled while Mal"norr smiled widely, in his opinion a strong warrior should be like her. A person with little words, but had unprecedented strength.
Zephyr only shrugged and said, "She knows full well that I"m the Crown Prince, but she doesn"t even care to show me any sort of respect, so don"t expect her to give any of you any sort of attention. The only ones she"ll show any sort of reaction to would be the members of her party and her fiancé."
"Oh? That girl"s engaged?" Eva asked.
Cleo and Mal"norr were also intrigued. Just what sort of person could capture the heart of such a strong individual?
"Well, I"m pretty sure you know by now, it"s their party leader, Cecil Silvaria," Zephyr answered.
"Hah! The dead guy!" Reinhart laughed. But then he felt a sudden chill. He quickly turned around, but found no one there.
"...you better not antagonize her," Zephyr warned.
"..."
Lucia had moved back to the northern gate with the rest of Little Kings. Ainz and the rest suddenly felt the girl release an enormous amount of bloodl.u.s.t before she reined it in.
"What"s wrong Lulu?" Fina worriedly asked.
"...nothing," Lucia replied.
"..."
It was obviously not "nothing". Lucia was mad at something, but they didn"t know what so they could only drop it.
"Let"s just focus on the task at hand...these dark wood elves, I can tell that they are some species of elves that"s been corrupted," Lucia said solemnly.
With her change in gear, every member of Little Kings became serious.
"Let me explain what they are," Yuna suddenly raised her voice. Everyone"s attention turned to her and the dragon girl began to explain in detail all the information she had about the elves.
"...so they are monsters now?"
"Yeah, during the last ancient war, that species of elves were tempted into the demon"s side and they were corrupted, the World Tree stripped them of their blessing and cast a curse on their bloodline, turning them into monsters that protect the World Tree"s roots."
"..."
Yuna then began to explain the abilities of the Dark Wood Elves. Fina then planned out their battle arrangements to counteract and quickly take down the monsters.
"Remember, we need to take them down as quickly as possible. We still have to help out the rest of the academies. If we take too long and they are wiped out, we"ll be surrounded and besieged on all sides later," Fina solemnly reminded her friends.
They nodded in response and Ainz began prepping the terrain to work in their advantage. The other academy students saw them getting ready for action and they mobilized as well. They quickly created earth ramparts, trenches and pitfalls with earth spikes at the bottom in the lanes.
They did all they could to prepare for the final wave. When there was only 30 minutes left until the last wave, they had one last meal to fill their bellies. Then the Academy Leaders rallied everyone together and began to give them words of motivation and encouragement.
Once the last second of the timer ticked away, the administrator"s voice sounded in everyone"s heads.
[3rd Trial"s Final Wave! Corrupted Dark Wood Elves!]
Once the announcement was made, from afar the students could see 5 Elves appear in the distance. The difference between these elves and the normal elves was that they had a naked upper body with their lower bodies composing of numerous corrosive tentacles and vines.
Zephyr saw this and he immediately raised a cry.
"Everyone! Get ready!!! Here they come!"