Chapter 552: A Grudge From Millennia Past

The all-out assault that engulfed the Tegor Forest came to an end. The evil aura that had blanketed the forest dissipated, and the crazed monsters gradually regained their senses. Although the aftermath of this sudden incident still lingered, and many monsters hadn’t calmed down yet, since Lilith had withdrawn her power, the Tegor Forest would eventually return to peace.

However, things weren’t over for Shien.

“Roar!”

In front of the temple plaza in the Elven Homeland, Lid expanded once again, transforming into a giant beast the size of a dragon. It opened its massive maw, and a broken figure was spat out.

“Thud…”

With a heavy thud, the figure crashed to the ground, blood staining the earth.

“Ugh…”

Machi struggled, opened her eyes with difficulty, and took in her surroundings.

Her pupils constricted.

She was surrounded.

Machi lay in the center of the plaza, like a prisoner awaiting judgment, surrounded by elves, members of the Elven Corps, the most formidable magicians in the human world. They stared at Machi with disgust and hostility, as if looking at something unbearably evil.

Machi didn’t care about these elves. Although they were powerful magicians, none below level eighty, they were nothing to her.

However, besides the Elven Corps, there were others Machi couldn’t ignore.

Behind her, blocking her escape route, were three Demon Lords—Airi, Lid, and Millu.

Before her, looking at her with complex expressions, were three elves—Sophie, Leia, and Nia.

Beside her stood Lilith, the evil god, her eyes fixed on Machi, a faint, menacing aura emanating from her, making Machi tremble.

Even Lucy, the Kingdom’s treasure, was here, silently watching, seemingly waiting to witness Machi’s fate.

And finally, there was the man she had just met today, yet who had already left an indelible mark on her.

“Should I say welcome back?”

Shien stood before Machi, looking down at her, his eyes filled not with pity, but with sarcasm.

“Did you enjoy your game, great Dark Elf?”

Machi laughed, a strained, weak, and difficult laugh, yet also decisive.

“I didn’t expect that after toying with the human world for thousands of years, I would fall at the hands of a human I just met. How unpredictable fate can be.”

Shien didn’t respond.

Someone else spoke first.

“I also didn’t expect to see you again under such circumstances, Machi.”

Sophie, the Elven Queen, her staff in hand, finally spoke, her voice filled with complex emotions.

The smile on Machi’s face widened.

“Isn’t this Sophie? Long time no see. It seems you’ve been doing well these past few thousand years.”

Sophie’s eyes burned with suppressed rage.

“I’ve been thinking about finding you every single moment, Machi.”

Sophie said, forcing herself to remain calm.

Machi scoffed.

“Thinking about finding me every single moment? Don’t make me laugh.” She said disdainfully, “If you wanted to find me, why would you hide in the Elven Homeland, isolated from the world, instead of searching everywhere?” Ŗ𝘈Νо𝐁Êś

Sophie was speechless.

“I know, let me answer for you.” Machi’s expression became even more disdainful. “Because you care more about the Elven Race than your personal grudge. You’d rather protect your people than find me. That’s why you only dared to hide here, thinking about finding me, but actually content with your peaceful and comfortable life, right?”

Machi’s tone was filled with sarcasm.

“You’re still as boring as ever. I should have killed a few more of your little friends back then, so you could experience more pain.”

This Dark Elf was still provoking her.

“You…!”

Sophie’s anger finally surfaced.

Leia and Nia were also enraged.

Only some of the newer members of the Elven Corps looked confused.

“Vice-Commander, what’s going on?”

Someone quietly asked Carol.

Carol stared at the enraged Sophie and sighed.

“The Queen and that Dark Elf know each other.”

Carol said.

“Back when the Queen hadn’t inherited the throne yet, and the Elven Race was at war with the Dark Elves, she had some dealings with that Dark Elf.”

This was a secret known only to those elves who had experienced that war and survived until now.

Carol happened to be one of them.

“It’s said that Her Majesty had a few very close friends back then, their relationship similar to Melika and Jenom’s, almost inseparable, always together.”

“Those people were actually confidantes chosen by the previous Queen for the future Queen Sophie, the most talented of the new generation, studying magic together under the previous Queen’s tutelage.”

“Commander Leia and Commander Nia were also among them, childhood friends and confidantes who grew up with Queen Sophie.”

“But on the day of the decisive battle between the Elven Race and the Dark Elves, except for Queen Sophie, Commander Leia, and Commander Nia, everyone else in that group was killed.”

Carol’s voice lowered.

“The culprit was a newly born Dark Elf.”

“That Dark Elf had a Unique Skill that allowed her to perfectly transform into anyone. It’s said that she was interested in Queen Sophie, so she used Mental Magic to hypnotize an elf, opened the Elven Homeland’s barrier, and snuck in.”

“She found Queen Sophie, secretly killed one of her companions, transformed into her, and lived with the Queen for a hundred years.”

“Then, on the day of the decisive battle, after Queen Sophie had come to regard her as an irreplaceable friend, she suddenly attacked, killing several of the Queen’s companions and severely injuring the Queen and the two commanders.”

Carol’s words made many of the elves present gasp.

They hadn’t expected such a tragedy to have befallen their Queen.

A Dark Elf had actually infiltrated their ranks, disguised as her friend, living with her for a hundred years, and then, when their relationship was at its closest, betrayed her and committed such a heinous act.

They could imagine how shocked, how disbelieving, how despairing, and how heartbroken Sophie must have been at that time.

“If the war between the Elven Race and the Dark Elves hadn’t suddenly broken out, that Dark Elf would have probably killed even the Queen and the two commanders, right?”

“Moreover, during the war, the previous Queen, who was also Sophie’s mentor, died. Her Majesty must have been devastated.”

“But for the sake of the Elven Race, which needed to recuperate and be guided, the Queen chose to step forward and, together with the Elven Corps, purified the desolate wasteland where Dark Elves were born.”

Carol explained the reason.

“You must have guessed, that Dark Elf is this woman named Machi.”

Hearing this, the elves glared at Machi with anger and hatred.

“Truly an evil race!”

“How could she do such a cruel thing!”

“She’s despicable!”

“Such a race should be completely eradicated!”

The elves shouted indignantly.

Carol’s gaze towards Machi was also cold.

Actually, there was one more thing she didn’t say.

To purify that desolate wasteland, Sophie had paid a heavy price.

Sophie used herself as a medium, sealing all the curses and evil aura from that wasteland into her own body.

Those curses and evil auras now clung to Sophie, becoming a potent poison, affecting her in various ways.

Usually, Sophie used her magic power to suppress the curse within her, preventing it from erupting.

But even so, every once in a while, Sophie would experience excruciating pain, unimaginable suffering.

Moreover, the curse had also seeped into Sophie’s soul, causing two side effects.

One was that she could no longer use her Unique Skill.

The other was that her blessing no longer had any effect.

Because of this, Sophie’s blessing couldn’t even be replaced.

If she tried to use her blessing, the curse within her would immediately erupt, killing her. Sophie could only bear this ineffective blessing forever, guarding her people in the Elven Homeland.

Nalue, the Goddess of Nature, had also descended because of this.

She said that with Lildas’s near-omnipotent power, removing this curse wasn’t impossible.

However, since the curse was completely intertwined with Sophie’s body and soul, if they tried to remove it, Sophie might revert to her pre-transformation fairy state.

What did this mean?

It meant that Sophie would lose everything she had gained after becoming an elf, starting over from the fairy stage, slowly accumulating magic power, slowly growing, slowly transforming, until the day she became an elf again.

The goddess had also said,

“There are only two ways to remove this curse without any side effects.”

“One is to ask Omniis, the Supreme God, the truly omnipotent goddess, to remove it.”

“The other is to ask the Hero to use the holy power of the Holy Sword to completely purify the curse.”

Neither of these methods could be achieved.

Omniis, the Supreme God, how could she possibly intervene for a mere elven royal?

As for the Hero, the Elven Race had indeed asked several Heroes for help, but the Hero’s power varied, and so did the power of their Holy Swords. The Holy Swords of those Heroes weren’t powerful enough to completely purify the curse and free Sophie.

Even Mitra, the Hero from a thousand years ago, after purifying Sophie once, couldn’t completely remove the curse, only weakening it and lessening Sophie’s pain.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But the curse still remained within Sophie, affecting her to this day, preventing her from using her innate Unique Skill and replacing or using the power of her blessing.

If it weren’t for this, Sophie might not have lost to Aldia.

As elven royalty, and having lived for thousands of years, Sophie’s talent was naturally no less than Aldia’s.

If she could use her Unique Skill, Aldia couldn’t have defeated her.

At the very least, if the blessing on Sophie could still take effect, it would have given her some advantage.

But all of this was gone.

And all of this, ultimately, was because of Machi.

If it weren’t for that Dark Elf, Sophie wouldn’t have been determined to purify that desolate wasteland and absorb the dense curse into her own body.

That was a curse powerful enough to give birth to Dark Elves, existing in that wasteland for who knew how long, completely isolating magic power and life.

It was imaginable how terrifying and astonishing that curse was.

It was said that before life appeared on earth, that wasteland already existed, and the curse within was likely a small remnant of the power left behind by the countless battles between the Demon King and the Supreme God.

It was because of this that the Dark Elves born from it were classified as demons, not humans.

Perhaps it was because of this reason that this curse was so terrifying that even Lildas, the Goddess of Fate, who was close to omnipotence, couldn’t guarantee removing it without any side effects on Sophie.

Only the Supreme God and the Hero could deal with this power that originated from the Demon King.

Fortunately, it was only a small remnant of the Demon King’s power. Otherwise, even the Supreme God might not be able to do anything.

After all, the Supreme God’s power had no effect on the Demon King. This was common knowledge.

Only the Hero’s Holy Sword had a chance of completely removing it.

But an incomplete Holy Sword couldn’t fully purify this curse.

Even Mitra, the Hero, couldn’t do it. It would require a Hero with a Holy Sword even stronger than Mitra’s.

Unfortunately…

“There are no more Heroes in this world.”

Carol sighed.