NOVPUB"Half-elf?" Saul refused with difficulty. "I can't give it to you."
The consciousness in the black space had once instructed Saul to take Kongsha out and hand her over to a half-elf, but he hadn't expected the half-elf to enter the valley himself.
"You don't have to worry. I will take care of it. Unlike you ordinary people, once I entered the valley, I could never leave again."
Saul froze for a moment but, thinking carefully, realized it was indeed the case.
From the information he had just obtained, this Elven Valley was like a filter, the outermost lock imprisoning the elves.
Wizards could still struggle to squeeze through the mesh, but elves were truly trapped once they entered — no way out.
Even though the one before him was a half-elf, unless he could somehow shed half of his elven blood, he would spend the rest of his life stuck here.
But even so, Saul couldn't just hand over the elven king's head to him.
The half-elf clearly understood Saul's concerns. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If I told you I wanted to destroy it, you probably still wouldn't trust me easily, right? How about this, you hold on to it. I can destroy it without ever touching it. After it's destroyed, the remains will be yours to handle however you want, including taking them out of the valley."
"And how can I be sure you really destroyed it?"
The half-elf wasn't angered by Saul's repeated questioning. "Some things are like the sun. Even if the sky is covered in clouds, you still know it's there, behind them."
Saul lowered his eyes to look at the head in his hands.
Strangely enough, the elven king wasn't even as good-looking as this half-elf.
Is it true that mixing bloodlines creates miracles?
"Can I ask why you want to destroy it?"
"Didn't you want to destroy it just a moment ago too?" The half-elf took a few steps closer to Saul but stopped voluntarily about three meters away.
"This distance is enough," he said, as the snowflakes drifting around him grew denser. "Since you wanted to destroy it, you must already understand its danger, right?"
"Even though life is hard, I truly love this world. And the return of the elves would bring irreversible pollution to it. Moreover..." The half-elf hesitated slightly before continuing, "The world is bound for destruction."
Saul looked at the half-elf with a serious expression.
What was the part he just omitted?
Could it be about the sinkhole?
"Although it's our first meeting... I choose to trust you.”
Saul straightened his arm and placed the elven king’s head down on the carpet in front of them.
"Go ahead."
Seeing Saul so straightforward, the half-elf was momentarily stunned. Regaining his senses, he asked Saul, "Are you Saul?"
"How do you know my name?"
"When I came in, Gorsa told me to make sure I got you out before I died," the half-elf said, clapping his hands lightly. "On my way in, I met a wizard apprentice. I asked if he was Saul. He said yes. So I sent him out."
Saul immediately realized it must have been Mark who had escaped.
He hadn't expected that, despite killing Monroe and Herman along the way, Mark had been lucky enough to get out early thanks to the half-elf.
Saul smiled faintly. "Master Gorsa... still cares about me after all."
Seeing Saul’s slightly cold smile, the half-elf added quietly, "Some things may look a certain way, but they're not always what you think."
Saul withdrew his smile.
For some reason, in front of this half-elf, he had revealed his real emotions.
"That's true," Saul said calmly. "But even understanding that, there are so many twists and turns in interpretation that, in the end, you still know nothing for sure."
The half-elf said nothing more.
He raised his hands, and his ten fingers turned into shimmering streams of colorful light.
Then he beckoned toward the elven king’s head lying on the carpet.
A colorful thread of light was pulled out of the head, drawn by invisible forces.
Saul watched silently without interrupting.
He could tell that, as the colorful thread was gradually extracted, the once-beautiful face of the head began to change.
It shifted from the black-haired female appearance that fit Saul’s aesthetics to a silver-haired, androgynous beauty.
Still beautiful, but the features and contours were entirely different from before.
The colorful thread continued to extend into the half-elf’s hand.
More and more threads were pulled out, and the beautiful head underwent further transformations.
It began to shrivel, wither, and lose all vitality.
Finally, as the last bit of colorful thread left the head and entered the half-elf’s hand, the head completely dimmed.
It was dead.
Saul could feel this clearly.
Meanwhile, the half-elf holding the thread began to be covered in thick frost. The color in his body also began to recede, concentrating into his palm.
Saul opened his mouth slightly in shock.
He watched as the half-elf's appearance lost all its color and beauty, turning into a pale humanoid figure.
He looked eerily similar to those bizarre humanoid creatures in the forest!
But he didn’t have that unreal, ghostly feeling.
He was real.
Maybe this was the blessing of his half-human bloodline?
Finally, all the color condensed at the tip of his finger, forming a constantly shifting, colorful sphere.
"You can take the head away now," the half-elf said, "Although it no longer has the support of spiritual power, it’s still excellent wizardry material — highly adaptable for various modifications."
Saul bent down and lightly touched the shriveled head with his fingertip, easily stowing it into his compressed satchel.
"Thank you."
The half-elf nodded, accepting Saul’s thanks.
Then, holding the colorful sphere, he walked step by step toward the Pure White Throne.
Saul moved aside automatically, a strange sadness rising in his heart.
The diary didn't sound any warnings, which meant the half-elf really was walking calmly toward death.
The half-elf reached the throne and knelt on one knee.
He paused slightly, but ultimately, slowly and steadily, offered the colorful sphere to the woven tapestry on the throne.
In the next instant, the seemingly ordinary tapestry generated a strong suction force, absorbing the entire colorful sphere.
Then, the half-elf collapsed powerlessly at the foot of the throne.
The frost covering his body began to melt away.
The snow drifting in the room also began to dissipate.
It was as if the miraculous power was crumbling — everything returned to normal, everything fell silent.
He turned his head to look at Saul and finally showed the first smile since they had met.
"Good. At least with the throne's power, I can still send you out. Otherwise, I would have broken my promise."
Seeing the half-elf struggling to climb onto the throne, Saul stepped forward, wanting to help him up, but was stopped by the half-elf shaking his head.
"Is it my eye you have with you?"
Saul thought of the Eye of Banishment he had just obtained and nodded.
The half-elf, now seated weakly on the throne, seemed to regain a bit of strength for a moment.
He looked solemnly at Saul and said, "The Forest of Seasons was only one of the elves’ settlements. There were elves living in other places too. No matter when, no matter where, never respond to the requests of elves."
Saul nodded. "I understand."
The half-elf closed his eyes, "Alright. Now, I’ll send you out, and give you everything I have left."
The next second, countless snowflakes surged up under Saul’s feet, completely blocking his vision.
In the final moment before his sight was obscured, Saul saw the half-elf’s pale body rapidly rotting away.
When the snowflakes dispersed, Saul found himself standing again in the forest where he had first met Mark.
He hadn't managed to bring back the four vessels he had lost in the Elven Valley, but this journey had yielded great rewards.
Because as he was leaving the valley, he realized what the half-elf had truly given him:
The half-elf had transferred all the pure magic power remaining in his body to Saul!
Saul had no idea how he managed it.
After all, in this world, magic wasn’t like internal energy that could simply be passed around.
Now, Saul’s magic reserves were already very close to the minimum requirement for a true wizard!
All he needed to do next was quietly study for a year or two... and he could officially advance to become a true wizard!
Saul looked back into the depths of the forest.
"Thank you, half-elf — who never even had a name."
(End of Chapter)
