Arena Chapter 188:

The air of war rang out through the Brown Mountain Range .
Entering and exiting the trading post was only permitted to a select few veteran elven warriors, and as for the women and the young elves, they were only told that they were allowed to move between safe cities .
The veteran elves, centered around Derek . Started scouting the entire Brown Mountain Range without any gaps .
It hadn’t even been two years since the trading post appeared in the Heinz fiefdom where the elves and the humans were actively trading with each other .
Although it was quite short, the elves of the Brown Mountain Range had ushered in an era of prosperity .
Thanks to that, the Brown Mountain Range was occupied by the most number of elves since the beginning of history .
Receiving the aura of nature emitted from the three Trees of Life, the elves welcomed their golden era .
Weapons that were tempered through high temperature and magic, which elves had difficulty creating, could be provided to the warriors through trading with the human merchants .
Derek was also supplied with two magic swords imbued with durability enhancement magic and was now able to unleash more of his prowess .
However, a time of ordeal was approaching after a couple of years of peace .

‘Both prosperity and crisis come from humans . ’

Thought Derek as he scouted the area with a few other elf veterans .
The fact that there were three Trees of Life in the Brown Mountain Range was thanks to the help of a human, named Kim .
However, the threat to their well-being was also caused by humans .

‘How are we elves supposed to accept humans?’

Kim, friends with the elves despite being human, recommended that the elves should interact with the humans .
He advised that the elves should interact very proactively and learn to differentiate which humans they could befriend, and which humans they shouldn’t .
Just as he had told them, the elves of the Brown Mountain Range started to interact with numerous merchants frequently and exchanged goods .
The change that originated from that was definitely a good thing .
Numerous enslaved elves were freed, and the elven warriors became stronger through the provision of magic-imbued weapons .
However, it was as though…… .

‘…as though we became a part of their society . ’

Derek, who had lived for a long time, had a hard time judging whether this was a good thing or not .
He could not get used to the fact that humans were influencing the lifestyle of elves .
However, if this was the way they could not fall behind humans, they had to accept this life .

‘Not like I could change anything just by worrying too . ’

Derek erased his trivial thoughts from his mind .
No matter what kind of change the elves meet thanks to becoming a part of human society, it did not change the fact that the Brown Mountain Range should be protected as the holy territory of elves .

“There aren’t any signs yet . ”

One elf spoke .
It was one that was around Derek’s age .
Derek shook his head .

“They will not show signs when they attack . Let us go elsewhere . ”
“Yes . ”

They headed towards the western end of the Brown Mountain Range, summoning elementals regularly to scout around the area without rest . It could be seen just how strong their will was to protect their holy lands .
Although their schedule was arduous, Derek’s well-honed concentration did not waver in the slightest .
But at that moment .
Derek was startled and stopped moving .
His actions caused all the others to stop in their tracks as well .

“What is it?”
“Did you see something?”

Instead of replying, Derek glanced towards the south .

“Is there something in the south?”
“We didn’t feel anything though . ”

His colleagues voiced out their questions .
Derek spoke .

“Go on ahead first . I will follow after I check it . ”
“Okay, then . ”
“Take your time . ”

The veteran elves departed first .
Derek left alone, started moving towards the south where he felt a slight presence .
It was very minute, yet ominous .
Derek was only able to notice it as he was on his edge all this time .
When he got through the tall grass, he was able to find something .
A small green orb was floating in the air .
The green orb was looking at Derek as though it was an eyeball .
Derek glared at the green orb .

“Who are you?”

He questioned .
The green orb did not answer .
However, Derek intuitively knew that the orb was listening to him .

“You are Kajad Pun Aman?”
– I guess I was found out .

The voice rang out with eerie black magic . However, rather than being afraid, the voice sounded very confident .
Derek creased his brows as he felt the black magic energy on his skin .

-And here, I wanted to see my nourishment for myself . You’re quite the elf for having discovered the presence of my Eye of the Abyss .
“Nourishment?”
-I am referring to the Tree of Life .

Derek’s face turned red in anger .

“And that’s your nourishment?”
-Indeed .
“Do you realize the importance it has to us?”
-That, I do .
“Yet you still aim for it?”
-Unfortunately, things turned out this way .
“So you are aware that you are walking the wrong path . ”
-Just because harm comes your way doesn’t mean that I am in the wrong . ”
“What?”
-Killing and eating animals in order to survive does not make that a sin . In the first place, being right or wrong is different according to different standards .
“So you realize your wrongs from what I hear . I hate sophists like you . ”
-…… .
“Do you think we will let you? I shall definitely slay you with my own hands . ”
-Haha, I’ll be looking forward to that .

Flash!

At that moment, Derek’s right hand emitted light .
The time between pulling the sword out of the scabbard and slashing it was too natural and seemed like a flow of light .
The Eye of the Abyss turned into dust after being cut in half .

“Kasa . ”

Kasa, shaped like a flaming giant, was summoned .
Derek ordered .

“Please tell the others to return . We are returning to the village . ”

After nodding, the flaming giant flew off to the west .
Derek’s face was still stiff .

‘The enemy really did show signs . ’

***

We were still staying at Count Wolfenburg’s mansion .
A letter containing the royal decree from Alsefon III came from the palace .

[The Aman Imperial Army has started marching towards our nation . There is no more doubt that war is inevitable .
Hence, I decree Count Wolfenburg and his allies to gather at the specified point at the specified date . ]

Here, “allies” referred to the examinees . Alsefon III did not know the exact contents of the exam, but he did know that Count Wolfenburg had powerful allies wielding supernatural powers .

“So we should get going now . ”

Spoke Odin .
I nodded my head .

“Yes . All we can do now is cross our fingers and hope everything goes according to plan . ”

Odin called all the examinees and told them about the royal decree .
Since everyone had agreed beforehand that they were participating in the war, there were no objections now .
Everyone decided to depart to the rendezvous area, while I took out my communication device prior to the departure .
I called for Baronet Raymon who was currently training the army at my territory .

– Count Kim?
“Yes . Have you gotten used to using the device now?”
– I can barely manage not getting surprised all the time . My word, such a peculiar device this is .
“Haha, that’s good . In any case, we are about to head off to war . Please protect the fief while I’m out . ”
– Please don’t worry about it . Albeit short, the results of training have started showing .
“That puts my mind at ease . I’ll call you back later then . ”
-Yes, I wish for the best, Count Kim .
“Thanks . ”

After that call, Cha Jihye and I packed up our stuff .
I took out all twelve of my rake eagles .
There were originally 10 of them, but I decided to tame 2 more a while ago .
This was thanks to the fact that I could tame a total of 12 animals with the Animal Taming skill when it was mastered .
I thought about taming another type of beast, but I ended up going with a pair of male and female eagles from the Brown Mountains .
The new ones were named Eleventhborn and Twelfthborn . I fed them a lot during the past few months, so their sizes tripled in the meantime .
In any case, two people rode on one rake eagle . Cha Jihye and I rode on Firstborn’s back .
The examinees that weren’t able to get on approached me awkwardly .

“Ah, I really hate to do this . ”
“Nothing will happen to me right?”
“What if I can’t breathe…… . ”

How could I not understand their feelings?
I sighed .

“It’s completely fine . I showed you the test . ”

Yes .
The ones that weren’t able to get on the eagles were to be taken by me in my Virtual Space .
They were very repulsive towards going inside the Virtual Space, even after showing them a demo with Cha Jihye .

“There there, come on then . ”
“Damn, I guess there’s no turning back now . ”

The examinees resigned themselves and approached me . I put them all inside the Virtual Space one by one .
There was one female examinee that refused to enter the Virtual Space to the end . I wasn’t able to put her in if she so desired .
However, when I glared at her, the light-skinned girl awkwardly apologized and obediently entered .

“Let’s go now, then . ”

Odin spoke after watching the entire thing .
I nodded my head and ordered the rake eagles .
Twelve large beasts flapped their wings and took to the skies .
We headed north-east in an arrow-shaped formation .
Even while flying, Dana showed his leisure by controlling the satellite with his laptop .

“The Aman Imperial Army is gathering on the northern border . From how the supply chain is quite thick, we may indeed be invaded very soon . ”

Dana updated us with the new intel .

“Please keep watching over them . They may be using a strategy to cause a commotion with a large army and striking somewhere else with the elites . ”

Spoke Odin .
He was the only examinee among the ones here who had experience commanding a battlefield, so he took the role of leader for this round . He wasn’t lacking in other areas either .

“Understood . ”

Replying, Dana kept analyzing the information he received through the laptop terminal .
Even though the back of rake eagles were no airplane seats, he was able to do all that on the back of a living beast . He was no ordinary guy .

“It’s beautiful . ’

Cha Jihye, who rode in front of me, spoke .
As I was hugging her back, I tilted my head .

“Huh? What is?”

She silently pointed towards the west .
The sky was dyed scarlet from sunset .

“…You’re right . ”

Looking at that scene, I felt stunned .
It looked nothing like the bloodbath that would unfold soon .