Chapter 370

Chapter 370

Floa had cast aside all pride as a dark elf.

Until now, dark elves had lived in isolation to preserve their purity. They avoided contact with other races and pursued survival on their own.

The cost was brutal.

Their lives had regressed to something close to the Stone Age, and they had even suffered the humiliation of being trampled by orcs.

While crossing the desert with Zeon after losing their home, Floa had made a resolution.

She would not hesitate to join hands with humans for the sake of her people.

Thankfully, many dark elves shared her determination.

During their nights camping outdoors, they spoke often.

Hardship had forged stronger bonds among them, and their conversations revealed their true thoughts.

It was then that they decided—

If a good opportunity came, they would abandon their pride and seize it.

The older dark elves didn’t look favorably upon the decisions of the younger ones, but the tide had clearly shifted in favor of the youth like Floa.

Floa’s decision was effectively the decision of the entire dark elf clan.

She once again addressed Go Doo-won.

“Please accept our clan as residents of this forest. I beg of you.”

Floa knelt on her remaining knee.

Seeing her kneeling in supplication, Go Doo-won was taken aback.

“P-please stand up.”

“Not until you give me an answer.”

“Understood. I accept you all as members of the Black Forest.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much. We’ll fulfill the responsibilities and duties of residents.”

Only then did Floa rise to her feet.

Go Doo-won smiled warmly as he looked at her.

He had married an elf and fathered the half-elf Hahr. Naturally, he harbored no prejudice or wariness toward elves.

That was why he could accept them as residents so readily.

Hahr will be happy too.

She had always lived in loneliness, without friends.

With the dark elves joining, Hahr would surely be delighted.

As soon as Go Doo-won welcomed them, cheers erupted from the dark elves.

“Waaah!”

“The master of the forest has accepted us!”

“This forest is our new home!”

“Huuuh…”

Some dark elves dropped to their knees and wept.

It was a forest where sprouts were growing.

Right now, they were no bigger than a fingertip, but with care, they would grow into great trees.

One by one, as they were nurtured, a vast forest would one day be born.

For the forest-born dark elves, there could be no greater blessing.

At that moment, Zeon addressed the dark elves.

“As I said earlier, a spirit is about to be born here. But monsters who’ve sensed the spirit’s birth will continue to attack.”

“Don’t worry. From now on, we will protect this forest.”

“This forest is our home. No monster will set foot here again.”

The dark elves responded with firm expressions.

They were born warriors.

With proper equipment and preparation, they were confident they could face any monster.

Go Doo-won spoke to Floa.

“There’s just one problem. As you can see, there are no houses here.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“Pardon?”

“The Black Forest provides shade, does it not? That much is more than enough for us.”

“But still…”

“Besides, we dark elves have always grown the trees we live in ourselves.”

“What?”

Go Doo-won blinked, unable to understand. Floa smiled and explained.

“In the world we originally came from, that’s how it was. When a dark elf child was born, the parents gifted them a fine sapling. They would raise the tree together, and it would become the child’s home. On the desertified Earth, we couldn’t grow trees, so we had no choice but to live in houses made from monster hides. But now things are different. Can’t you see it? The look in their eyes…”

Floa gestured to the dark elves.

They gazed at the sprouts on the carbonized trees as if in love.

Their eyes sparkled as though they might offer their very hearts in devotion.

“So don’t worry. To protect and nurture this forest, we’ll do whatever it takes.”

Floa had never used honorific speech toward either humans or fellow dark elves. But to Go Doo-won, she was speaking with full deference.

It was her way of showing she acknowledged and respected him as the forest’s master and her superior.

Go Doo-won responded with an awkward look.

“But won’t it take a long time to grow those trees?”

“We are a forest people. We know how to grow trees quickly. Once the spirit is born, it will be even faster. So, Master of the Forest, you need not worry—we won’t have to suffer long.”

“Uh… Master of the Forest sounds a bit much…”

“Are you not the master of this forest?”

“Just call me village chief, please. This forest belongs to all of us, not to any one person.”

“Village chief? That sounds nice. Then I’ll call you that—Chief!”

“Ah… thank you.”

And so it happened that Go Doo-won ended up thanking her—a comical turn of events.

The people nearby burst into laughter.

Even if only for a brief moment, conversing with the dark elves made them realize they weren’t bad people.

Those who were more sociable had already struck up conversations with the dark elves with ease.

Watching it all, Levin said to Zeon with a grin,

“Wow! First the Iron Fortress, and now the Black Forest, are you becoming a professional at uniting different races, Hyung?”

It was a joke, but not entirely wrong.

Zeon had played a major role in founding the Iron Fortress, and now he was doing the same in the Black Forest.

While Zeon didn’t think much of his accomplishments, someone like Levin found them incredible.

Then, Zeon turned to Brielle and asked,

“When do you think the spirit will be born?”

“I don’t know for sure. But I don’t think it’ll take very long.”

“Then let’s stay here for a while. At the very least, we should witness the birth.”

“Yeah!”

Brielle answered without a moment’s hesitation.

The dark elves weren’t the only ones longing for the spirit’s birth.

Brielle wanted to see it too—

The very first spirit to be born on this land.

* * *

From the day they became residents of the Black Forest, the dark elves began to move busily.

“First, we need to confirm which trees are sprouting.”

They immediately began to count how many trees had sprouts.

“There are fifteen.”

“Those trees must be protected from monster attacks. Let’s set up our defenses around them.”

“Let’s place traps too.”

“What about luring the monsters away from the sprouting trees?”

The dark elves gathered to discuss the best ways to defend the Black Forest.

Human Awakened joined in as well.

“We’ll help with building traps.”

“How about digging a moat so monsters can’t easily approach?”

“Sounds good, but who’s going to dig it?”

“We have Sir Zeon, don’t we? I’m sure he can make a moat in no time.”

“Right! I’ll ask him.”

“Yup!”

With the human Awakened participating, the discussion became even livelier.

The older dark elves watched the scene with bittersweet eyes.

“To think we could work so well with humans. Were we the ones holding back progress all this time?”

“If I had known, we should’ve tried reaching out to humans sooner.”

“From now on, we’ll leave the future to the young and support them from behind.”

“As the human saying goes—new wine in new bottles. Yes, a new land deserves new blood as its masters.”

Though they were relinquishing leadership, none of them looked displeased.

They too understood.

Something monumental was beginning in this land.

Perhaps this was the birth of a new age.

To witness such a change was, in itself, a great honor.

Soon, one of the dark elves who had been part of the discussion ran to Zeon.

“Sir Zeon! We have a request. Could you create a moat in front of the Black Forest?”

“Even if I dig a moat, the sand will soon fill it back up.”

“We don’t expect it to last forever. Just until the spirit is born.”

“How big do you need it?”

“To stop large monsters, at least thirty meters wide, twenty meters deep. About three hundred meters long should do.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“But for you, Sir Zeon, it’s not impossible, is it?”

The young elf’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Zeon.

Though it was a request, he didn’t feel ashamed or apologetic.

This was about the future of humans and dark elves. So he had chosen to be bold.

He could repay the favor by surviving.

For now, survival was the top priority.

Zeon didn’t mind his shamelessness.

If you wanted to survive in the desert, you had to be like that.

Let go of pointless pride. Crawl up from the bottom.

Zeon smiled and answered.

“Let’s do it. The moat.”

“Thank you. I’ll show you exactly where to dig.”

The young dark elf excitedly took the lead.

Outside the forest, he pointed out the exact positions for the moat.

Zeon began digging as instructed.

Whoosh!

Under Zeon’s command, the sand began to move.

An immense amount of sand—enough that even a century of effort wouldn’t suffice for a human or dark elf—began to shift and roll.

A giant moat began forming on the flat sand.

“Wow!”

“Insane! He’s like a human excavator.”

“Even an excavator couldn’t do that. Truly overwhelming.”

People watching from afar gasped in awe.

Even seeing it with their own eyes, it felt like witnessing a miracle.

* * *

“Useless orc bastard. He ended up dying after all.”

A man in a black robe muttered as he surveyed the ruins of the dark elf village.

The destroyed village had been buried in sand.

It had taken him a while to find it, with everything covered.

At his feet lay the headless corpse of Chuangkar. But the bone necklace that should have been around his neck was gone.

“So, Kroll’s necklace was destroyed too?”

The man had known Chuangkar was dead because of that.

The necklace he’d given Chuangkar had an alarm enchantment.

The moment the necklace was destroyed, it triggered an alert to him.

Thanks to that, the man had realized Kroll’s necklace had been destroyed—

Which meant Chuangkar was dead.

Chuangkar had been a kind of test subject.

He hadn’t known it, but he had been quite useful to the man in various ways.

“Did the dark elves rebel?”

The man tilted his head.

It was the most reasonable theory for now.

But he quickly dismissed it.

“Would dark elves really take such reckless action with their children held hostage? That’s not the behavior of the dark elves I know. Something else must’ve interfered. Interesting turn of events.”

A smirk crept across the man’s face.

Had he been a mere ordinary figure, he would’ve raged or panicked at the disruption of his plans. But he was neither average nor inexperienced enough to be shaken by such things.

On the contrary, he found the unfolding situation amusing.

“Well then. Let’s go take a look at who’s behind this.”

He glanced around briefly, then began walking in the direction the dark elves had disappeared.