Book 1 Chapter 849

849.

Woosh- Bang! Clatter!

The forest burns.

For ages, the forest, a home to countless elves, was engulfed in flames.

The Fairy Forest in the south held a very special meaning for the elves.

A long time ago.

It was the place where the Fairy King and the Elf King first made their covenant.

For the elves, it was like a holy land.

Countless elves would travel to this land to give birth, even if their children were conceived in foreign lands.

And this place was special not only to the elves but also to the fairies.

For an unimaginable length of time… a forest meticulously cultivated by the fairies.

For the fairies, it was like a second home, after Fairy Land.

That place was burning, attacked by a terrifying, aberrant monster.

By Talatunia, the Spider Princess, daughter of Shilathuna, the Monster Queen.

"The Fairy King has fallen!"

"The Ring of Life, the King's treasure, has been stolen!"

"Where is the Elf King?! Why does he not appear?!"

"They say Elf King Ergen fell fighting against Tartaros!"

"Then a new king must have been elected to succeed him!"

"Why are the High Elves not upholding the covenant?!"

The fairies were in a panic.

The holy land of the elves was burning.

Yet, the Elf King did not appear.

Not only the Elf King, but also the noble High Elves, were absent.

Fairy King Grawin lost his right hand while defending against the Monster Queen's legion.

In the process, the Ring of Life, a treasure of the fairies, was also taken.

Everything was at its worst.

"The Elf King has rejected the covenant with the Fairy King!"

"Valhalrun has surrendered to Tartaros!"

"How could they do such a thing!"

"To so easily abandon thousands of years of bond!"

Urgent news came.

Valhalrun, the city of the High Elves.

The place where the highest authorities of the elf race gathered.

The leadership that effectively governed elves across the entire continent.

They betrayed them.

The betrayal of Valhalrun meant that the High Elves had abandoned the world.

"O Fairy King!"

Grawin, his face pale, appeared before the fairies.

"Father…"

Shilod looked at the weakening Fairy King with a despairing expression.

Grawin was dying, afflicted by Shilathuna's curse.

"Truly… Is there truly no hope…?"

Grawin felt despair as he looked at the sky, which was turning gray.

Fairies are powerful mythical beasts.

But it was impossible for the fairies and the remaining elves alone to stop the endlessly surging demons and monsters of Tartaros.

A powerful army was needed, but Valhalrun, which could send that army, was now gone.

"Will this world truly perish like this?"

"I don't want that."

As the Fairy King spoke of despair.

Someone appeared, boldly denying that despair.

It was a beautiful elf, still with a youthful face.

"You are…?"

"My name is Luna Rubineness."

The elf, who introduced herself as Luna, showed a staff to Grawin.

"Folium…!"

The magic staff that had been a symbol of the Elf King for generations.

Though many years had passed since Folium stopped acknowledging an Elf King.

It remained unchanged that Folium was still the symbol of the Elf King.

It was surprising enough that a young elf possessed such a Folium, and she was acknowledged by Folium.

"You are the new Elf King…! Indeed, the elves did not abandon the fairies! The surrender was a false rumor! Where is the army?! O new Elf King!"

Grawin smiled brightly.

Seeing Grawin, Luna shook her head.

"No. I'm not the Elf King."

"…"

"And so, I don't have an army either."

"Then… why do you have Folium?"

"Oh, this?"

Luna smiled.

Grawin found her smile incredibly beautiful.

"It looked useful, so I stole it."

"Stole?"

But at the words that followed, Grawin's mouth fell open.

"Well, Folium acknowledged me, so I'm the rightful owner, right?"

She said it brazenly with a bright smile, but it wasn't wrong.

"Then… I suppose you can be considered the rightful next Elf King."

"I have no intention of becoming a king, though?"

"What?!"

To Grawin, who had a bewildered expression, Luna said.

"Valhalrun's surrender… is true."

Luna looked at the sky, which was beginning to turn gray, with a grim face.

"When His Majesty Ergen died, the High Elves chose apostasy, even though they could have fought back. The elves will no longer follow the High Elves. They certainly won't gather under the name of a king."

"…"

"The destruction of the Fairy Forest… cannot be stopped for now."

The elves currently lack the strength to stop the darkness of this era.

"Are you saying you will abandon your homeland?"

"We'll leave for a while. If we stay like this, many fairies and elves will die."

It was a short conversation, but Grawin could tell that the elf before him was different from typical elves.

Elves are a race that never abandons their pride.

And this Fairy Forest was one of the elves' long-standing prides.

She wanted to abandon the Fairy Forest to save the elves.

'In an era like this… perhaps the elves need a leader like this.'

But the woman before him refused to become king herself.

"What do you wish to become?"

"A star."

"A star?"

"Yes. I will become like a shining star in the night sky. In other words, a being far greater than an Elf King."

Looking at Luna, who was smiling broadly, Grawin thought.

'Perhaps I've met an absurd elf.'

Young Shilod, who was watching their conversation, thought.

'How cool.'

He thought this elf, who had not lost her radiance even in this desperate situation, was so cool.

"Luna Rubineness."

"Yes."

"Make a covenant with me."

"I'm not the Elf King, though?"

The Fairy King makes covenants only with the Elf King.

That was a long tradition.

"There's no reason to uphold that anymore."

Saying so, Grawin made a covenant with Luna.

"Covenant partner."

"Yes."

"May I see your hand?"

"Are you going to read my palm or something?"

"It's similar."

Grawin smiled.

Luna showed her hand.

It was an urgent situation with the Monster Queen's legion invading.

But Grawin seriously looked at Luna's palm and said.

"Oh dear, you have no luck in love."

"I don't think I'll fall for some strange man, though?"

"It's not that the other person is strange. You'll probably have a lot of frustrating experiences."

"Hmm?"

The elves and fairies preparing for evacuation looked at the two with bewildered faces.

A moment later.

Grawin smiled.

"Luna."

"Yes."

"This child is my successor."

"…"

"He will be your true covenant partner, with whom you will overcome challenges in the future."

"And you, Sir Grawin?"

"I will not leave this forest."

"Father!"

Shilod had a bewildered expression.

"I will remain until the very last moment so that the elves can evacuate safely."

Grawin smiled.

"Because that is my covenant."

"The High Elves… we broke the covenant. So there's no need for the Fairy King to fulfill that covenant…"

"No. This is necessary."

Seeing the flustered Luna, Grawin said firmly.

"I will disappear soon anyway."

He had been poisoned by Talatunia, and the Monster Queen's curse was eating away at his body.

"It might not be a bad choice to stake my remaining lifespan on the future."

"…"

Grawin smiled.

"Please help with the evacuation of the elves and fairies."

"…Yes."

Luna nodded and helped people with magic.

"Father."

"Shilod."

Grawin looked at his successor.

"As the Fairy King's successor, please be that child's covenant partner."

"There is… hope, isn't there?"

"…"

Looking at Shilod, who asked earnestly, Grawin closed his eyes.

Fairy King Grawin had the ability to see the future.

But Grawin did not use that ability.

It was an ability with a great price, and knowing the future of others was not a pleasant thing.

But Shilod could tell.

That Grawin had just seen the future of the woman named Luna.

"When the Monster Queen's legion invaded the Fairy Forest. I glimpsed the future."

Grawin looked at the gray sky.

"The world was destroyed."

At those words, Shilod gasped.

"It should have been… "

Grawin smiled faintly.

"I could not see that child's future, though."

He saw Luna's back as she prepared for evacuation with magic.

She used powerful magic effortlessly at such a young age.

"When you say you can't see her future…"

"It means she is someone who will carve out her own future."

"…"

"It means she is hope, with the power to change the future of a world that is destined to perish. Shilod, my son."

"Yes. Father."

"Do not despair. As that child's covenant partner… aspire to depict a future where the fairies cultivate this world once more."

"Yes."

That was Shilod and Luna's first meeting.

Luna tried to lead the elves and save the world somehow.

But she couldn't do it alone.

Luna was always confident.

But in Shilod's eyes, it was visible.

Like a flower withering.

Hope slowly fading from her eyes.

Luna was gradually consumed by despair.

She tried to gather the strength of the elves to somehow ignite the spark of hope and reclaim the Fairy Forest.

At that time.

They appeared.

The Fool and the Surviving Hero.

***

"Sir Leo?"

At Melina's call, Leo opened his eyes.

It was already dawn.

Leo threw off his blanket and stood up.

"Did you have a dream? You slept deeply, unlike yourself, Sir Leo."

"How do you know I slept deeply?"

"Normally, when I watch you sleep, you open your eyes right away."

Leo sat up and massaged the back of his neck.

"What kind of dream did you have?"

"Just, an old dream."

Leo said nonchalantly.

"Though it's not a dream I remember."

"Huh?"

Melina's eyes widened.

Looking at Melina, Leo glanced at the entrance to Fairy Land.

'That was Shilod's memory.'

His first meeting with Luna.

And it must have been his first meeting with himself.

'It was too vivid…'

It was when Leo narrowed his brow.

'During the Lumen entrance exam… when I conquered Albi's world, I gained the Fairy King's covenant as a reward.'

Based on that reward, he made a covenant with Kirian.

But the subject of the covenant wasn't Kirian, it was Shilod.

'Then, strictly speaking, Shilod and I are in a provisional contract situation.'

A covenant is a soul contract.

Therefore, it wouldn't be strange if Shilod's memories flowed into Leo's mind.

'The problem is that a fairy of Shilod's caliber wouldn't be unable to control his own thoughts.'

A slight anxiety crept into Leo's eyes as he looked at the forest.

'Is his condition really bad?'

At that moment.

Thump-!

The ground rumbled.

Melina's eyes widened.

Thump-! Thump-!

A grotesque monster appeared from beyond the forest.

Seeing it, Melina's expression turned to one of alarm.

"Talatunia?"

It was Talatunia, who had been subjugated by Albi, the Archmage of the Demonic Eye.

But her appearance was different from what Melina knew.

Talatunia was also a demon who had existed for 5000 years, but that was only by devouring the Ring of Life and maintaining her existence with its power.

She had existed as a monster, her reason lost by Luna, having lost her form as a high-ranking demon, with only her instinct for destruction remaining.

But her current appearance…

"Indeed… this is her appearance from 5000 years ago, before she was defeated by Luna."

"Huh? Then, has a hero dungeon appeared in Fairy Land?"

Melina's expression became serious.

"…I don't think so."

Leo's eyes glowed with magic.

He saw through Talatunia's true nature.

"It's an illusion."

'Is it related to the dream I just had?'

Talatunia also appeared in the dream.

"It's too real for an illusion, though?"

"Right. Because it must be an illusion manifested by the Fairy King's memory."

Whoosh-!

Leo summoned his sword.

"I need to break through the barrier as quickly as possible."

He didn't know what was happening in Fairy Land.

But one thing was certain.

'It seems Shilod doesn't have much time left.'

Leo bit his lip.

'Perhaps I might not be able to witness Shilod's final moments.'