Chapter 72

Palas was born as the fifth son among the high elves created by his mother, the World Tree El Prigion.

The mission bestowed upon him by his mother was bravery.

It was his job to protect other elves so that they could fulfill their own missions.

In line with that mission, Palas was born more aggressive and strong than other high elves or elves.

Within the vast forest that was under his mother’s dominion, the land of elves, now known as Elven Road, was initially just a part of the forest.

Though the elves inherited life and power from their mother, they were merely born as they were, and the forest was a harsh environment for them.

Therefore, it was instinctual for Palas to step forward.

He was the first to take action, and several strong and courageous elves followed him as they began to explore the forest and gather the resources necessary for living.

The exploration of the forest was entrusted to Palas while the other elves began to find their own necessary tasks for the greater good.

Soon, a high elf followed Palas and the elves.

Araya.

The youngest, born last among the high elves.

A child who had received no clear mission from her mother.

Palas felt pity for Araya.

Compared to her older siblings, the youngest Araya seemed rather unstable.

Even though high elves were born with an instinctive understanding of the laws of the world, the youngest did not even realize her own gender and often babbled nonsensically.

Furthermore, she was immature not only compared to high elves but even among other elves.

While their mother said it was by design, Palas knew that while his mother was a divine being, she was not a god, and therefore he did not think everything she did was necessarily right.

It was not surprising for Palas, who had the instinct to protect the elves, to feel sympathy for such a younger sibling.

Still, it was fine when she was with her other siblings, creating makeshift clothes or tools alongside Sarasvati.

However, when she occasionally sat in an odd position, completely still, or began to make strange movements in the air, worry inevitably arose in his heart.

‘…Is Araya developmentally slow?’

While other elves showed no such issues, among creatures in nature, immature animals born slow to develop were often found.

Moreover, for some reason unknown to him, her behavior was vastly different from that of other female elves and resembled that of male elves instead.

‘…Since at first she was confused about her own gender…’

Then, one day, while shaking her short limbs as she moved, he scolded the youngest harshly for following him through the dangerous forest, but she stubbornly seemed to not understand.

Even when left with her other siblings, she somehow found a way to crawl after him into the woods.

The forest was inhabited by fierce beasts and transcendent beings, which Palas found difficult to handle, so he felt anxious about Araya’s reckless behavior.

The beasts instinctively knew that elves were not good prey and did not often attack, and because the transcendent beings were capable of communication, they would typically avoid harming elves unless exceptionally violent.

But there were always exceptions, and those exceptions were always dangerous.

In the end, Palas could not stop Araya from following, but all the elves who were with Palas were friendly towards Araya, so they searched for resources while taking care to avoid dangerous encounters.

Eventually, it was inevitable that they would confront the worries they had been harboring.

When they finally encountered a dangerous beast, Palas and the elves tried to distract it for fear of Araya getting hurt, but she stepped forward.

Everyone was taken aback by her audacity, but what was astonishing was what happened next.

A beast that would normally require the most skilled fighter among the elves, Palas, to handle was struck by Araya’s tiny fist and emitted a whimpering cry.

For a moment, all the elves present stared blankly at the scene, but the quickest to recover was Palas, who lent a hand, and together they swiftly subdued the beast.

From that point on, everything changed.

Araya discovered how to use ki and efficiently applied it to a martial art that began to spread among the elves.

Those elves who learned the martial arts that Araya taught with great care began to take control of the forest at a pace much faster than before.

Watching this, Palas, with his immature heart at the time, could not see it in a positive light.

In truth, the younger sibling, whom he subconsciously thought was beneath him and that he needed to protect, possessed combat power far superior to his own.

How could he not feel ashamed?

Moreover, unlike him, who merely took action to protect, she was strengthening the elves and enabling them to protect themselves, essentially safeguarding them at a fundamental level.

It felt as if his own mission had been snatched away from him.

And it was by the hands of the very younger sibling he had thought he should protect.

Fueled by resentment, he shamefully challenged her to a duel multiple times.

Initially, it was somewhat competitive, but as time passed, it became uncompetitive.

Perhaps it was because he saw his own childish face hardening, unable to accept the outcome.

Noticing his demeanor, Araya began to give in to him.

How could he not realize she was graciously allowing him to win?

The inferiority complex that had been accumulating exploded, and he unleashed his anger upon Araya.

How dare she, a mere child, pity him? He spat out words so vile they barely could be articulated.

The youngest, who was much stronger than he, who had been the strongest among the elves, fell silent, overwhelmed by fear and hurt.

Seeing that expression snapped him back to reality, and he realized the heinous acts he had committed but could not find the words to apologize.

Even during the awkwardness that persisted, the youngest only watched him, following him closely every time they searched the forest.

Unlike the other elves, Palas did not learn martial arts from Araya.

Though it was a childish emotion now, it was due to pride.

It was only natural that Palas, once the best among elves, started to be gradually surpassed by other forest-keeper elves.

Knowing this, Palas became increasingly irritable, and Araya began to mirror his wariness.

At the time, he likely felt a despicable satisfaction from Araya’s awareness of his every word.

Palas was now tormenting the very child he had wanted to protect due to his inferiority complex.

But ultimately, such a relationship must end somewhere.

That event occurred on the fourth anniversary of the elves being born from their mother.

The wild god in the form of a wolf.

Fenrir clashed with the elves.

“You stay out of this. This is none of your concern.”

He deliberately excluded Araya from this battle, fearing that if he could not even fulfill the duty of protecting the elves, he would be deemed useless.

Then Palas stepped forward to fight.

It was his mission, after all.

Unwilling to prove himself to be an unnecessary being, he charged headlong without looking back.

However, his opponent had long reigned over this massive forest like a tyrant.

Even as an excellent race known as high elves, Palas, being only four years old, was not a being he could match.

Though Palas and the elves fought desperately, they were all severely injured and lost consciousness. The colossal claws of the wolf towering like a tree came crashing down on the last standing Palas.

When he sensed his impending doom, a shadow appeared to block Fenrir from reaching him.

The figure astonishingly batted away Fenrir’s claws but seemed to waver as it did not fully succeed.

After that, Palas lost consciousness, so he did not remember it well.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself staring at Araya, who had gruesome wounds that were far from being merely halved across her body, lying next to the lifeless giant form of Fenrir.

With her barely alive, dim eyes meeting his as he approached, she managed to twist her blood-stained lips to utter.

“Are… you… okay?”

“Why… would you go this far?”

“Because… we’re… family…”

Even as she was dying, she faintly smiled while stating that the reason she risked her life was because they were family.

That was always how his youngest sister was.

Craving attention and love from both family and outsiders.

Despite appearing outwardly strong through martial arts, she still remained the precarious child she had always been.

At that moment, Palas finally grasped the true meaning of his actions up to then.

And it was, shamefully, because of his inferiority complex and pride that his originally protected younger sibling was now dying.

After that, he held Araya tightly and sprinted with all his power.

Her injuries were grave, so he tried to make sure as little tremor and shock was transmitted to her as possible.

Ironically, those steps bore a striking resemblance to the ones Araya had cheerfully shown him and encouraged him to mimic.

It was nothing special; he had practiced them thousands of times.

So they reached the village where the elves were gathered, running towards their mother.

Only their mother could heal wounds of such severity—both Atira and Sarasvati or Anart could not.

It had to be a miracle from their mother.

Despair overwhelmed him as he presented Araya’s time-fading body before their mother, screaming in agony.

To this day, he still cannot recall what he said.

What he did remember, however, was the rage of the siblings directed at him for allowing Araya to reach this state.

It was something everyone knew: Palas’s mistreatment of Araya was shameful.

Fortunately, their mother showed mercy and healed Araya.

After that, Palas did not speak much with Araya.

What had changed was that, though he never learned directly from her, he had gained insights into martial arts through sparring with other elves.

And he would challenge Araya to spar periodically.

Besides that, he resolved all the problems that arose from Araya’s actions himself.

Though the tasks were dangerous and necessary for the elves, he solved them without notifying Araya, taking them upon himself.

But eventually, Araya left.

To learn about the ominous energy coming from the east and the situation outside.

The most formidable forest-keeper among the elves, Araya, was going directly to find out.

Six years had passed since he realized his foolishness.

Originally, it was his role to step forward, yet in the end, it was Araya who carried that burden.

Even knowing the outcomes, he wanted to shoulder the weight for her one last time, so he asked for a spar, but as always, the result did not change.

Before leaving, Araya left him with words, telling him to prepare for a future he could not see or think of.

“Just come back in one piece. I’ll beat you up then.”

In truth, he wanted to tell her to come back healthy and safe.

Whenever he thought of Araya, who was out of his sight, the image of her in a horrendous state next to Fenrir’s corpse kept surfacing in his mind.

But because he believed he did not deserve this child’s love due to unforgivable transgressions that could not be erased, he simply said.

“Take care.”

Nonetheless, Araya smiled knowingly, bidding farewell as she left.

After Araya left the forest, Palas dedicated himself to training.

It was his incompetence that had hurt Araya, forcing her to bear a heavy burden that should have been his own.

Having thought this, he engaged in relentless training.

Seven years later, though his talent could not match hers, through hard work, he was recognized as the undeniable strongest elf, capable of defeating ten forest-keeper elves.

Checking in on how Araya was faring, he learned there had been a horrible misunderstanding along the way, but she seemed to be doing well.

Just as he found solace in that, a summons from their mother was issued along with a pale-faced Saras.

Their mother rarely called them directly, and she had never summoned all the high elves before.

Within Palas, a small unease sprouted, which transformed into reality through the news their mother conveyed.

Araya has gone missing.

That was how he summarized her words.

Upon hearing that, he felt an overwhelming urgency to rush out and seek Araya.

But he already learned thirteen years ago that acting purely on emotion would not yield good results.

Under Demis’s leadership, alongside Sarasvati and Anart, he headed toward the human city.

Upon arrival, the information they received was even more disheartening.

Araya had fought a Gal Dragon, a being of the same caliber as their mother, and had lost contact.

‘…That was originally my role.’

Once again, she had assumed a task meant for him, leading to this outcome.

Despite having grown stronger through years of training, everything felt hollow.

In the end, if he could not protect her, what purpose did his strength serve?

If given another chance, he vowed never to let her outside again.

Still, Sarasvati, unlike himself, always made the right choices, examined the toys crafted by humans, and suggested waiting until spring.

He felt anger rise within him but, looking into Sarasvati’s eyes, equally filled with fury, he silently complied with her decision.

At least, unlike his own immature self, Sarasvati’s choices had never been wrong.

His feelings did not matter.

Only the method with the highest probability of saving Araya mattered.

Having endured until spring came, Palas felt the anger from a recently arisen situation beginning to fracture his long-trained mind.

“…What?”

“Um… Palas? I don’t know what you heard, but first, try to calm down your anger a bit.”

When spring arrived, as the so-called king of humanity departed south, as if to take his place, Araya suddenly appeared in the Grand Temple where they were staying.

The Araya he met after a long time had discarded the clothes Atira had made for her and donned splendid garments akin to the elves’ hair colors. She looked stunned to see them but awkwardly waved and smiled.

Beside her stood an unfamiliar, towering elf with an indifferent expression.

An elf exuding a colossal presence that he had never encountered in seventeen years.

Instinctively, Palas’s discomfort surged.

What kind of deer-bone creature is this?!

As he approached the deer-bone creature, Araya flinched and retreated, while the indifferent deer-bone creature gazed at Araya, who was stepping back.

“What are you?”

“I told you, you are mine. I warned you not to stray from my side.”

“…Huh?”

Seeing Araya attempting to withdraw from him, indifferent to her circumstances, and trying to bring her into his embrace, Palas felt a string in his mind snap.

“What the hell are you?”

“Show respect, insignificant creature. I am a Gal Dragon. If you were not Araya’s blood relative, you would be dead by now.”

Gal Dragon? He recalled hearing that name recently, but what kind of hapless… being is it?

Not just Palas, but both Sarasvati and Anart were staring at the deer-bone creature before them.

A Gal Dragon. A winged lizard that was supposedly engaged with Araya.

Though it looked different from how he had imagined, that was not particularly significant.

A surge of killing intent erupted from within his chest.

“…What?”

“Um… Palas? I don’t know what you heard, but first, try to calm down your anger a bit.”

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