Chapter 38.1 – Protagonist: You will eventually come back to me.
The blood-red, human-shaped, rune-covered creature sank into the ground, vanishing without a trace as if it had been absorbed by the forest.
Xiu sat on Zaphion’s shoulder, chin in hand, and looked thoughtfully at the result. This was the fifth time that he had recalled the blood contract beast. He knew that the man he was looking for was in there and, though the blood contract beast could enter freely, the whole elf forest was like a large magical array that kept out all unwelcome visitors.
Since that is the case then all this will have to be destroyed.
The flaxen-haired gnome straightened up, looked at the lush forest before him, and patted the head of a mechanical puppet.
From now on, there will be no Elven forest on the Chaos Continent.
***
Sunlight, filtered by the interlaced branches of the trees, illuminated the open-air altar and an exquisite idol surrounded by flowers and a fence of woven branches and leaves. On the circular altar, a golden-yellow branch dangled above a small pool. After a very long time, a drop of golden liquid would fall from the branch onto the pool.
That pool was not large. Its radius was around 3 meters and it was full of the golden liquid – the sap of the Tree of Life. According to legend, one drop of this sap can restore a person to his peak condition and greatly strengthen his physique.
Kneeling beneath the altar was a beautiful elf. Her long blonde hair, elegant white robes, and glittering white gold forehead ornament proclaimed her identity. The Queen of the Elves, with her hands crossed and against her lips, closed her eyes and adopted a reverent posture. After praying for a long time, the Queen of the Elves looked up at the Tree of Life. The foliage around the altar that was emerald green, but the rest of it was completely black.
There was a rustle of leaves and the Queen of the Elves stood up. Her golden eyes flashed with displeasure. She went outside and saw her most faithful bodyguard, Simon, and the loathsome Necromancer. They brought with them a black-haired man who was pale and appeared to be in a coma. As for the last person to arrive, Ariel, she was totally ignored by the queen.
“Your Majesty, I have something important to report,” Simon politely but hurriedly greeted the Queen of the Elves. “The gnome I spoke of last time seems to have formed a blood contract with this man. He has been looking for this person and should be here soon.”
The queen was startled. Simon had told her everything that happened in the Gnome Ruins. The sudden reappearance of a gnome was a little surprising, but right now the most important thing is to heal the Tree of Life. The gnomes and the elves have never interfered with each other’s affairs.1She believed in Simon’s ability and thought that the gnome would never find out that the elves were behind the kidnapping. But now, because of the blood contract, the gnome who controls one five-star and one six-star mechanical puppet found out and is coming?
The elves have three War Gods and two Mage Gods, so one Sword Saint and one war God can’t defeat them, but it will be troublesome. The Queen of the Elves turned her gaze to Anat: if it were not for the vampire …
Anat noticed the elf queen’s gaze and she smiled with her hand on her red lips. “Why are you glaring at me? How was I supposed to know that they had a blood contract?”
“When will you remove the pollution?”
“It depends on when you bring me the person I want. What I want is that gnome, as long as you bring him here, I will fulfill my promise.” Anat smiled mysteriously. “Anyway, a gnome is nothing to the elves, right?”
