Chapter The Contaminated Forest
"Alyhodorei Forest is in the easternmost part of the continent, but it"s quite close to the central region. We"ve been there to rest on our previous visit to the Elven Continent. We"re going to engage in an all-out battle on the eastern border?" Vanessa looked left and right at the conclusions, she could draw from the conversation just now.
"Why did the elves fail to eradicate the cursed monsters? Aren"t the anti-curse mechanisms very effective at negating the dangerous curse? They are nothing more than ordinary monsters in the anti-curse zone." Yuuki looked suspiciously at the Elven Emperor in light blue armor.
"That"s because our opponents are extremely troublesome liquid monsters. They can easily seep into the ground and contaminate large areas in a short period of time. We"ve been fighting for a few hours, but the past three hours are our limit. I can"t sacrifice my brothers and sisters to die in vain." Uevareth shook his head with a sigh.
"In that case, we can scorch the ground and exterminate them all at once. Those liquid monsters may be resistant to magic, but what we need to use is pure elemental attack." Sylvia raised her hand to propose an idea.
"We"ve tried all kinds of ways, including what you just suggested, the devil. However, those liquid monsters have turned into gas monsters. That"s why the forest is covered in invisible poison gas with illusions. You won"t know the dangers of the forest until you arrive at the scene." Uevareth shook his head once again.
"They are troublesome monsters, indeed. That"s why I sealed them underground with a root seal. They have weakened a lot, but their troublesome traits are still there." Lifa held her chin as she recalled the distant past regarding her battle strategies.
"The most effective way is to force those liquid monsters to materialize themselves into ent.i.ties. If that can"t be done, then the only way is to exterminate them along with the contaminated land with a high-level divine law." Lifa just said that, but she subconsciously glanced at Elysia and Elena. She remembered that they were the most effective solution, but she didn"t want to just say that to the mortals.
Sylvia also glanced at Elysia, and a brilliant idea came to her. She remembered what her friends could do it. "Ah! I know, mngh!"
Unfortunately, Lifa suddenly squeezed Sylvia"s cheeks, making the devil girl unable to speak clearly.
"Whh-ah?" Sylvia puckered her lips.
Lifa didn"t respond with words. She just shook her head and freed Sylvia"s cheeks.
Sylvia just nodded innocently even though she didn"t know what was happening.
Lifa, Rhea, Elena, and Oceanid then exchanged ideas regarding their method of dealing with those liquid monsters. Ashera and Uevareth took part in the discussion to explain and comprehend the whole thing regarding what they were going to do.
Elysia was also there because she had a vital role in the strategy. Still, she didn"t put herself too conspicuous or prominent.
Meanwhile, Sylvia and the girls were at the side, listening to it all without having a role in it.
"Psst, take a look at the female elves around us. They"re like what I said before, right? They"re only wearing skimpy dresses and showing a lot of skin. Meanwhile, the male elves... Well, they"re fully clothed." Sylvia covered her mouth and whispered close to Yuuki"s fox ear.
"They did that on purpose, right? That doesn"t mean they are exhibitionists. But, um... Don"t they feel the slightest bit embarra.s.sed? It just takes a gentle breeze or some movement, and their unmentionables are visible." Yuuki glanced left and right, but she felt ashamed of seeing those shameless elves.
"Hehe, you"ll get used to it. Do you have any intention of wearing such a s.e.xy dress, Yuuki? You need more than that white robe of yours. Ely will probably pay more attention to you. Look, she"s around that stunning Elven Empress for a reason." Sylvia tried to persuade Yuuki with a mischievous smile.
"I"m currently wearing Master Elysia"s white dress. And, no, I absolutely don"t want to show my body to everyone in a dress like that. It doesn"t matter if it"s my master, but it"s just not like those female elves. Don"t try to instigate me, the devil. You can wear those revealing dresses or whatever like I care. However, blame yourself if you are labeled as a bad girl or a prost.i.tute." Yuuki looked at the dress she was wearing and shook his head. She then went away from the devil"s instigation and approached her senior Vanessa.
"Whoo, I have my own style. No one dares to label me arbitrarily. Then, how about you, sweetie?" Sylvia turned around and poked Ella and Evelyn"s chins gently.
"No, it"s very embarra.s.sing. Underwear and swimsuits are one thing, but those revealing dresses are something else." Evelyn also immediately went to Vanessa"s side for protection from sedition.
"My apologies, it really is a sin to expose a woman"s body to people who are not their spouses or owners. May the G.o.ddess grant them leniency." Ella also ran away from Sylvia and approached Vanessa like the others.
"What? After changing clothes around us without the slightest shame, that"s what you said?" Sylvia tilted her head slightly with some surprise.
"A fair lady looks a lot prettier when they"re well-clothed. You can try an elven dress if you"re interested, but we"re not going to try." Vanessa gave a response with a faint smile.
"I"m just interested in those quirky elven dresses. That doesn"t mean I want to wear them all the time." Sylvia pouted because no one had the same interests as her. She might need to persuade Elysia to buy some souvenirs with her later. If Elysia agreed, then everyone would obviously come along.
An hour pa.s.sed quickly, and Heavenly Valhalla"s departure preparations were finally over. More than three thousand elite elves boarded elf"s ultimate weapons and headed to the eastern border region.
Lifa looked up at the tree that towered over two hundred meters into the sky with a subtle smile on her face.
Elysia seemed to understand what Lifa was feeling. Still, now was not the time for them to visit Hea due to the urgency of a sudden emergency. "Have you spoken to Hea regarding your departure to the battlefield, Elven Empress Ashera Nirvalen?"
"You don"t need to be so distant to me, Elysia. You can call me Empress Ashera or Lady Ashera. For your question, I already said my goodbyes to Hea before I boarded Heavenly Valhalla. She was such a crybaby and wouldn"t let me go. However, I am an Empress who needs to lead an army to destroy the looming threat." Ashera grasped her hand and stared at the Heavenly Tree, getting further and further out of sight.
"I see..." Elysia replied with a subtle nod.
Ashera arranged several green semi-transparent runes before her, and Heavenly Valhalla gradually accelerated its flight speed to over six hundred kilometers per hour and still increasing. Heavenly Valhalla"s safety mechanism activated a semi-transparent green barrier to protect everyone from high-speed hazards.
"Hmm, there"s no scenery to enjoy as usual when traveling at high speed. Everything is blurry. I hope everything will be fine." Evelyn heaved a subtle sigh.
"That way, we"ll get to our destination on time. We can save more lives, Eve." Ella smiled tenderly in reply.
"It"s just a swarm of fluid monsters similar to the ones we fought on the Aquatic Continent. Our divine battlesuit can handle them with ease. However, these exist on land, absorbed into the ground over a wide area. I wonder what the elves have in store to deal with that difficult situation. Can this floating altar do the job?" Sylvia sat leisurely near the center altar and stared at a rune tower in wonder.
"..." Yuuki and Vanessa looked at each other as if they had similar thoughts. They didn"t want to get involved because Sylvia"s opinion seemed to offend the surrounding elves.
"How rude of you, the young devil. You just don"t know anything about elf"s ultimate weapon. If our Empress wants it, we can wipe out your devil kingdom with one hit." An old elf clad in a green robe sneered spitefully.
"Hmm? Who are you? Am I talking to you or something? Please go back to your duties and don"t bother me. I"m in a bad mood right now." Sylvia stood up and went to Elysia"s side.
"What"s the matter with you, Sylvi?" Elysia smiled helplessly and gave the angry elf a silent apology with a hand gesture.
"I crave violence now, Ely. I want to destroy those monsters as soon as possible. That way, we can return to elven forest city to play." Sylvia smiled innocently like a little girl.
"We"ll be back there soon." Elysia didn"t know why, but Sylvia seemed to have a plan in Elven Forest City.
A few moments later, Ashera took a deep breath as Heavenly Valhalla drew near their destination. "Yep, we"re almost at the eastern border."
After saying that, Ashera slowed down the pace of Heavenly Valhalla and the scenery became clear to everyone. They floated several tens of meters above a sea of green forest.
Everything looked fine. It was like an ordinary dense green forest. However, as Ashera lowered Heavenly Valhalla"s alt.i.tude, storm-like smoke could be seen in the distance.
"Like I said before. Strange energy can trick our view from a certain distance. Ylsthas Woodland is over there, while that place is where the forest has been contaminated with the curse. Luckily, it"s still moving slowly westward and hasn"t entered the Ylsthas Woodland yet." Uevareth gave a little explanation regarding the situation in the scene.