Chapter 377

The captured prisoner was immediately transported to the basement of the Marquis’s estate for interrogation.

I headed to the basement with Marquis Ludwig to observe the prisoner.

“You damn Westerners! Kill me now! If you don’t, I’ll tear you all apart and feed you to the dogs!”

Inside the prison cell in the basement, a Ka`har warrior clad in red battle robes was tightly bound in chains, spewing curses.

Hersela mentioned that she was a member of the elite troops called the Red Cavalry. Impressive that they managed to capture such a one alive.

Ja-han wasn’t brought along. Although he had betrayed the Ka`har to follow Hersela, it still felt wrong to show him torturing someone who had been his comrade just days ago.

Of course, Rana wasn’t shown such a scene either, so she was left in the room with Nigel.

“Ser Khan will slaughter all of you! Kill all the men and enslave the women…!”

“Hey, remember me? Long time no see.”

I leaned in with a grin toward the warrior, who was barking like a rabid dog.

The basement was a bit dark, but the glow from my cigarette should make my face clearly visible.

“You…!”

The warrior’s eyes widened to the point of tearing.

I blew a puff of smoke in his face, taunting him.

“Ha-shal-leur! So you were here! You shameless traitor, you whore who sided with the Empire!”

The enraged warrior thrashed and hurled insults.

Siding with them? I’ve punched them, but I’ve never done anything like that. And I never will.

“This guy’s got some serious energy. Interrogating him will be fun.”

I chuckled and shrugged.

Ludwig had plans to turn him into a brainwashed answer machine, but I figured I’d give interrogation a try first.

“Laugh all you want now! Ser Khan and Targien are waiting for the day they capture you! When that day comes, you’ll be screaming under the hooves of the warhorses, just like Da-hamei!”

The warrior spat out more curses.

‘Who are Targien and Da-hamei?’

[Targien is Or-han’s eldest son. Judging by his words, it seems he’s taken command of the Red Cavalry. Da-hamei… she’s Amin’s mother, and it looks like she’s taken the blame for Amin’s crimes. Under the hooves… Haha, I wish I could have seen that. It would have been a fitting sight for that sly fox.]

Hersela giggled.

=======[ Himmell ]=======

The war between Alvheim and Himmell intensified, and the Empire, unable to intervene, could only watch.

For the first time in centuries, the true military might of the other races was revealed.

It was both terrifying and shocking.

“The time has come to reclaim our former glory! Long live Alvheim!”

The elves, led by high spirits and guardians, unleashed all kinds of spirit magic, sweeping through Himmell’s territory.

Flame storms that could melt steel raged, and the earth itself rose as giants, walking on two legs.

Blinding flashes of light and thousands of lightning bolts roared.

Writhing tree roots covered the demi-humans’ territory like a tidal wave, expanding the forest itself.

It was a scene that could only be described as a nightmare.

It was as if nature itself had gone mad.

“You dirt-eating dwarves! We’ll bury you all!”

The high spirits were fundamentally different from the lower spirits, which were twisted from the souls of fetuses.

They wielded natural magic surpassing even high mages, possessing deep wisdom and firm reason.

Unlike the expendable lower spirits, they were respected even by the elves.

The high spirits were, in fact, the ancestors who had passed away within the embrace of the World Tree.

Born anew from the souls of elves who had lived for over 800 years, blessed by the World Tree.

That was the true nature of the high spirits.

This was a fact known only to the upper echelons of Alvheim, but the mindset of respecting high spirits was shared by all elves.

“Ugh…! Abandon the fortress and retreat! We can’t kill them!”

The demi-humans had no choice but to retreat endlessly before the relentless advance of the elven forces.

The demi-humans’ weapons were specialized for physical destruction, making them ill-suited against spirits.

Fire and lightning spirits took no damage at all, and earth spirits could be shattered by bombardment but quickly regenerated.

To fight spirits, one needed magic or weapons capable of harming spiritual entities.

Of course, the demi-humans weren’t just being slaughtered helplessly.

Every time they retreated, they self-destructed all their weapons and fortresses, leaving the elves with no spoils and preventing them from pursuing recklessly.

Moreover, the danger wasn’t just from the fortresses’ self-destruction.

—-

– Kaboom!

With a thunderous explosion, the head of an elf cutting off the eyelids of a captured demi-human burst like a thrown watermelon.

Bright red chunks of flesh scattered around.

The crushed brain stuck to the face of the tortured demi-human.

The elf, missing the upper part of his jaw, convulsed like a broken doll, wetting himself as he collapsed.

“Kuh, hahaha! You died well, you pointy-eared bastard!”

The demi-human, enduring the pain, burst into laughter at the sight.

“Dwarf puppets sniping! Defend!”

“Dammit, where…! We searched this area thoroughly!”

The startled elves hastily summoned spirits and crouched low.

A rock wall, formed by crushing earth spirits together, protected them like a barricade, while wind spirits spread out to search for the sniper.

The demi-humans weren’t retreating quietly.

They had buried mines that exploded when elves approached, and hidden puppets that automatically sniped from terrain where they could hide.

While bullets didn’t work on spirits, they worked just fine on their summoners.

The sniping from large-caliber bullets was a significant threat even to elven guardians.

It took about ten minutes for the demi-human’s automated puppet to be discovered and destroyed.

Three elves had their heads blown off by the large-caliber sniping. All the elves gained were broken remains.

“Damn dwarf bastards!”

The elves vented their frustration by torturing the demi-human prisoner who had been laughing until then.

“Kuh, kehek, kheeeek-! Serves you right, you tree-hugging bastards! Kuhaha-!”

Even as his organs were pulled out and his skin flayed, the demi-human didn’t stop laughing until his last breath.

—-

The guerrilla warfare using automated puppets was threatening, but it didn’t significantly impact the overall war situation.

Through the fierce battles of magic and artillery, Alvheim’s forces continued to devour Himmell’s territory.

Literally, it could only be described as devouring.

Areas occupied by the elves turned into barren wastelands within days, only to bloom with greenery and transform into dense forests with towering trees.

Blessed by the World Tree and empowered by high spirits, Alvheim’s great forest itself was expanding.

It was as if a giant lifeform made of trees was stretching its head southward.

That was the elves’ way of conquest.

—-

Repeated defeats, the emergence of high spirits, and the strength of elven guardians straight out of ancient tales.

In a crisis where the nation’s survival was at stake, Himmell’s parliament finally made a decision.

“It seems the time has come to bring out the first-class relics.”

First-class relics.

These were machines sealed away according to the ancestors’ strict instructions.

The demi-humans of that era possessed power befitting a time when dragons flew in the sky, high spirits burned the world, and the beastmen’s king led hunting parties.

Eight hundred years ago, when they proudly stood as one of the dominant races.

Destructive weapons that even current technology couldn’t replicate lay deep beneath Himmell.

Even with such power, they had fallen to humanity’s transcendent, Carolus.

No matter how powerful the weapons, there was no way to win against a monster who could collapse entire mountain ranges of the demi-humans’ underground cities.

After their defeat by humanity, the demi-humans’ ancestors sealed their core weapons deep underground.

Given the weakened state of the demi-humans at the time, if such technology were leaked, their race could face extinction.

The ancestors left a will never to unseal these relics unless Himmell faced a crisis of survival.

And now, that crisis had come.

“Let’s burn those pointy-eared bastards’ forests to the ground!”

“The ancestors would understand.”

There was no opposition.

While the demi-human clans often feuded, tearing apart elves was something everyone welcomed.

With all members in agreement, the seals on the underground vault containing the first-class relics were finally lifted.

“This is…!”

“Amazing, I never thought they had made such things…!”

The parliament members looked at the machines in the vault with eyes mixed with admiration and envy.

They too had only known of the powerful weapons, not their true nature.

The war was entering a new phase.