54 – Elf and Kanf (4)
‘Curse of Corruption!’
Elnar gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by a mix of anger and despair. This was a horrific disaster that had been left in this world for a very long time.
The most terrifying aspect of this curse, which completely transforms a person into a different being, was that it incited the desires hidden in the target’s heart.
As a result, the ensuing rampage utterly shattered the target’s mind without any excuses like brainwashing or hypnosis.
And until now, no one had been known to overcome or break this curse.
“The world is going to perish anyway! Rather than suffer in this dying world, it would be much better to be with us. Be grateful, for we have saved your daughter!”
The Dark Elf, who shot the cursed arrow, knowingly dug into their hearts with such words.
“How dare you…!”
Elnar, having placed his transforming daughter down, charged at the enemy once more. However, the foe didn’t engage him directly and instead pointed at the elves being gradually pushed back around them.
“Look. You have no right to survive. Do you think fighting the same way as you did hundreds or thousands of years ago will work? It’s clear as day! It’s all your fault for living so complacently!”
The screams and shouts of the elves being pushed back by the rampaging Dark Elves echoed all around. Cold sweat dripped from Elnar; he simply couldn’t believe this situation.
There was no method to turn the tide. There was nowhere to seek help, nor any way to ask for assistance.
‘Is our clan truly at its end?’
Hope gradually faded away. The enemy’s words that they were doomed to perish pierced his heart.
Clearly, with the current strength they possessed, it was impossible to overcome the enemies who had grown stronger due to the effects of the corruption.
“…What is this!”
Yet at that moment, a strong wind, carrying a sense of something special, swept over the area. This wind, which twisted the flow of the atmosphere artificially, was definitely not a natural breeze.
Elnar was left speechless as he saw someone charging at the stunned Dark Elves.
Using the wind at his back and the shattered ground to their advantage, a silver-haired girl, wearing shameless clothing, rushed towards the enemy at an incredible speed.
“It seems you know what happened thousands of years ago. But I guess you didn’t know this?”
Irilia grinned at the Dark Elves, astonished by her spirit magic. Although the Dark Elf hurriedly aimed his bow, her knee had already struck him directly in the face.
“Gaaah!”
The Dark Elf, with a crushed nose bleeding profusely, dropped his weapon and tumbled across the ground several times.
Irilia landed gracefully and unleashed countless stone spears drawn from the ground towards the other enemies rushing at her, instantly taking them down.
“Oh High Elf!”
Seeing this, Elnar shouted out without realizing it. The being that had struck down their fierce foe, while dragging hope from despair, was ironically the guardian of the past that only existed in ancient times, not a leap towards the future.
The appearance that had displeased him so much that morning now seemed divine and beautiful beyond compare.
“It’s not always good to force a change. You need to measure the degree. If you act so radically like you, there will be side effects.”
“Ugh…”
Surrounded by a strong wind, she laughed at the stumbling Dark Elf, who was bleeding profusely. Born out of dissatisfaction with the elves of the current era, they had opposite tendencies and were simply determined to take a path contrary to the elves.
Knowing that opposing for the sake of opposition was merely a stubbornness without resolve, Irilia pointed this out.
‘It seems like he knows something, so I must capture him.’
Thus, she pondered on how to capture the enemy. As the only individual who knew about the corruption area but did not rampage and could communicate, it was crucial to seize him and extract information.
“Capture him!”
As she commanded the spirits following her, the arrow shot by the enemy was deflected off course by the strong wind and grazed her body, while the ground shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred, cracking and beginning to collapse, leaving the enemy with nowhere to stand.
The stunned enemy, who had rushed to avoid the crumbling ground, suddenly found himself defeated as his body lifted off the ground.
Before he could evade any further, a fierce gust of wind slammed a heavy stone down on him, pinning him to the earth.
It resembled a tornado plunging from the sky down to the ground.
“—!”
The roaring wind was so strong that it was hard to hear his screams.
Pushed down by this reverse tornado, the struggling enemy gradually sank into the ground, his head barely visible above the earth as he coughed painfully.
“I got you.”
Irilia smiled with satisfaction. The effort she made to change direction and dash over quickly had paid off.
*
“Was that the last of them?”
I frowned at the corpses strewn across the ground. The sight of such bloodshed was still difficult to get used to.
Most of them were enemies, but there were also a few elves that could be considered allies among them. Considering the small number of elves, it was truly a significant loss.
However, despite such great damage, the number of enemies who ambushed the elven city wasn’t that high. Most of them had aimed to distract and delay the main force I was with.
Of course, those enemies probably thought they could conquer the city with sheer numbers, which was why they acted this way.
“Ah…”
Elnar, who appeared to be completely drained, staggered towards me at that moment. I had been too preoccupied with fighting the enemy to pay him any mind until then, but when I turned to look at him, I was taken aback.
It was as if a zombie with shining eyes was approaching me, ready to pounce at any moment.
“W-What is it? What’s wrong?”
I stepped back and waved my hands to signal him not to come closer. He then abruptly collapsed to the ground in front of me, begging.
“Please, save my daughter! Save my daughter!”
There was a reason for his urgency. Before I arrived, his daughter Eluria had been struck by a cursed arrow shot by the enemy and had succumbed to the curse of corruption.
Tutting my tongue, I rushed towards the spot where she lay.
“This isn’t some zombie story.”
One of her arms had completely transformed under the curse, resembling the arms of a Dark Elf. If left like this, she would soon be completely overtaken by the curse and awaken as a Dark Elf.
“It’s too late. There’s no way to revert someone who has already been cursed back to their original state…!”
“Shut that thing up!”
“Gaaah!”
The being that could only show its head from the ground smugly jabbered at us as if it had won. Having ordered the earth spirit to silence him, I turned to see it being constricted by the earth, causing it to scream before I looked away again.
“Actually, that thing is right. I haven’t found a way to break the curse yet. Do you think I can revert that kind of creature back to what it was before the curse?”
“This is terrible… So even a great High Elf cannot do it?”
“However, this just happened, so I’m not completely sure.”
Seeing the despair on Elnar’s face, I sadly smiled, kneeling down and placing my hand on Eluria’s chest.
In fact, I had already broken this curse a few times before. It was a power from a long-forgotten past that only I possessed.
“Ugh…”
As I summoned the last remnants of my strength and infused it into her, Eluria grimaced and jerked. Naturally, my power clashed with the curse within her body, causing a violent repulsion.
It was a familiar pushback. I gritted my teeth and held my ground. If I faltered here, the curse would completely engulf Eluria’s body.
“The curse!”
In earnest anticipation, Elnar and the other elves who had approached looked on with agitation as they witnessed my actions.
The curse, which had started from her arm and was gradually spreading over her entire body, was visibly beginning to dissipate.
‘Uh, this feels uncertain.’
In truth, I was becoming increasingly dizzy as my vision blurred. I had already exhausted too much power, and now I was instinctively aware that I was draining my mental strength to the limit.
“Just a little more! Please lend me your strength!”
“Oh High Elf!”
At the same time that my body began to wobble against my will, the startled elves rushed to stabilizing me.
Finally, when the strength completely drained from my body, the connection to Eluria was severed.
I didn’t even have the chance to see if it had been sufficient. My consciousness went dark, as if everything had shut down.
“—!”
In the final moment, I could hear the earth spirit’s cries.
It seemed my efforts had not been in vain.
