NOVPUB
Chapter 256
It was truly a strange sight. Suho could hardly believe they were really in North Korea, or even on Earth, for that matter.
The city that came into view when the blue mist parted was so astonishing that it left all of them stunned. It was green, encased in a dome-shaped transparent barrier, and undeniably beautiful yet utterly alien at the same time. It looked unreal.
The first thing that stood out about the city was the towering ancient tree at its center. It was nowhere near as gigantic as the World Tree, but it was big enough to be reminiscent of it. Its branches extended outward, and its lush green leaves covered the city like a roof.
Beneath that canopy, countless beautiful trees shaped like buildings formed the vast cityscape. Visible windows embedded in the tree trunks seemed to indicate that these were actual buildings, not just empty husks for show.
“No... Is that...”
Sirka blinked and clutched Haein’s sleeve tightly.
Haein turned to look at the elf. “What is it? Do you recognize this place?”
“If I’m not mistaken, that’s Elvenwood.”
“Elvenwood?”
Haein tilted her head, puzzled.
Sirka stared at the city and murmured in disbelief, “When I was little, I heard stories from the elders. They said somewhere in the world is a village where the high elves live.”
“High elves?” 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
Kaisel had already reached the outskirts of the city as they spoke. Suho had been gliding ahead of Haein and Sirka, and as he turned back toward them, the wyvern slowed his descent and hovered in place.
“Elvenwood? So this is the city of the high elves?” Suho shouted.
“You’ve got good ears,” Sirka said as he flew back over to them. Even amid the ongoing battle between the shadow soldiers and the spirit-possessed birds, Suho had managed to overhear her comments.
“What exactly are high elves?” he asked.
“They are a higher race than ice elves. I am the guardian of my tribe, but from what I hear, every member of the high elf tribe is at the guardian level.”
“What? All of them?”
Suho’s eyes gleamed with interest, though Sirka didn’t seem entirely certain.
“Well, so I’ve heard,” she clarified. “But all I have are old stories, so I can’t be too sure. The high elves are simply a legend, even among us elves.”
“Sillad, do you know anything about this?” Suho asked, speaking directly to the Monarch. He probably knew more than the elves who told Sirka those stories in the first place.
[Sillad rubs his chin arrogantly.]
[Sillad says that the high elves are a gathering of those who have failed to become Monarchs.]
“Failed to become Monarchs...?”
Suho tilted his head at the odd description.
“That sounds like they rank right below Monarchs. Were you a high elf, too, Sillad?”
[Sillad nods.]
[Sillad says that he is the only ice elf to ascend to the status of high elf, becoming the ruler of all ice spirits.]
“Oh!” Sirka exclaimed. She seemed deeply shocked by Sillad’s words. “Wh-what about me, then?”
“You’re out of luck,” Beru suddenly said from beside her.
Her expression froze instantly. She had always believed she was the only possible successor to the Monarch, but if the high elves—beings known only in legends—actually lived in that city, what did it mean for her?
“Young Monarch, something doesn’t seem quite right,” Beru added. “In the old days, during the wars between the Rulers and Monarchs, I never once met a high elf.”
“Hmm... That is strange,” Suho muttered. “I thought every race gave their all to win that war.”
It was indeed odd. Beru, who loved to fight, had been in the vanguard on nearly every battlefield. How had he never encountered a single high elf?
[Sillad smiles bitterly, saying this isn’t surprising considering the high elves.]
[Sillad explains that the high elves are cowards who wish to be Monarchs, and therefore want the Monarchs dead.]
“So they all avoided the war because they could only become a Monarch if a current one died, even if it meant the entire elf race dying out?”
It seemed to make sense, but Suho couldn’t shake a strange feeling nonetheless. After a brief pause for thought, he made a decision.
“Why don’t we head in? We’ll have to meet them to be sure.”
They were already right at the city’s entrance. The ongoing aerial battle could be left to his soldiers for now.
“Mother, come with me,” he said to Haein.
“All right,” she replied with a nod. “Kaisel, would you let us down and rest in my shadow for a bit?”
Haein then patted the still-shocked Sirka gently on the back.
“You’ll be fine, Sirka. You’re the Monarch’s heir. Sillad chose you himself. That doesn’t change.”
The elf was silent.
Haein felt a twinge of guilt, as her attempt at consolation hadn’t seemed to help much. She was able to watch Sirka the closest during her few years among the ice elves, and she had seen firsthand how hard the little elf worked to protect her tribe despite her small, fragile physique.
“It’ll be all right, Sirka. Really,” Haein repeated, patting her back again.
Sirka’s petite shoulders, shrouded in silver hair, looked more fragile than ever. She seemed just like a frightened little hamster, and it tugged at Haein’s heartstrings.
***
Suho was coming up with a plan as they approached what they presumed was the city of Elvenwood.
Good. This is an opportunity to help Sirka grow.
In truth, he didn’t really care who the high elves were.
If they’re enemies, I’ll simply take them out.
Experience points were experience points. They were the biggest reason he had come to North Korea in the first place.
I’ll kill them, turn them into soldiers, and have them teach Sirka how to become a high elf.
[Sillad laughs wickedly, saying that it is a wise plan indeed.]
Suho sent his thoughts to the Monarch: “Stop laughing like that. You’re making me feel like a villain.”
[Sillad cocks his head.]
However, Suho felt no sympathy for the high elves. Even if they once desperately wanted to be Monarchs, they had hidden like cowards even as their own race was being annihilated elsewhere.
Beru ground his teeth. “Those with power must use it responsibly! If they had accepted defeat with dignity and joined the shadow army, they would be invaluable to my liege in the current war with the Itarim...”
Then a voice spoke.
“Welcome to Elvenwood, Son of the Shadow.”
Suho was taken aback.
Huh? Who...?
As they entered the green city, a group of towering elves—each over two meters tall—suddenly emerged. They greeted the visitors with warm smiles.
While Sirka cowered behind Haein, intimidated, Suho and Haein glared at the elves with wary eyes.
“‘Son of the Shadow?’” Haein repeated.
“You know who I am?”
The malice Suho gave off seemed to trouble the old elf who had spoken. He stood at the front of the group and pointed to the sky outside the city.
“How could we not? If you intended to hide your identity, perhaps you should have done something about those soldiers.”
“Oh,” Suho mumbled, a little embarrassed.
Outside the city, his flying shadow soldiers were still busy hunting spirit-possessed birds.
[Level up!]
There were so many creatures that Suho had managed to level up from his soldiers’ efforts.
The elves who had come out to greet them raised their heads to the ongoing battle, looking exasperated, but they didn’t seem afraid.
They don’t seem like they want a fight, Suho thought.
“Young Monarch, the energy of the Itarim disappeared the moment we entered this city,” Beru whispered.
Harmakan had taken a smaller form, and he whispered in Suho’s other ear, “It’s likely due to the barrier surrounding it. I’ll investigate.”
Harmakan seemed to be right. The city’s massive dome-shaped barrier was keeping the dense blue mist from seeping inside.
“What is this barrier made of?” Suho asked the old elf.
“Hah. You seem to have many questions,” he responded. “We will answer them all, but first, would you mind pulling back some of the hostile power you’re giving off? I can somewhat withstand it, but the young ones seem to be struggling.”
Suho did as he was asked.
The old elf had maintained his kind smile even as he endured the full force of the hunter’s hostile energy. It was hard to tell whether his lack of fear meant he was confident he could hold his own in a fight or if he simply had no interest in fighting at all.
Suho cast a quick glance at the name tags floating above the elves’ heads.
[??]
So the system doesn’t know about them? Or maybe...
Suho studied them warily.
Just like the ice elves, the elves here were all strikingly beautiful. The male elves were handsome, and the female elves were stunning. Even the older elves carried an air of timeless elegance.
However, there was one noticeable difference that set them apart from the ice elves—they each had a pair of horns growing from their heads. At first glance, the horns looked like deer antlers, but the material they were made of did not seem quite ordinary.
“Interesting,” Suho remarked. “Are those horns or tree branches?”
“There is no point in making a distinction,” the old elf said. “Our appearance changes depending on the region we live in, though we remain elves all the same. It is common sense to us, though I suppose a tribe that has never left its home might not know it.”
He chuckled as his gaze shifted toward Sirka.
“It’s been a while since I met someone with Sillad’s blood. Perhaps you are not aware, but we high elves are nomads who wander from one land to another. We rarely venture to frozen regions.”
Haein hid the cowering Sirka behind her back and asked, “So you are the high elves?”
“That’s right. My name is Fores. We do not have a traditional tribe leader, but I lead the others by merit of my age.”
“And... what happened to your eyes?”
It was another detail they had noticed right away, one that stood out even more than the horns. Every high elf present had both eyes covered with a green blindfold.
“Our eyes...”
Fores’ lips curved downward for the first time, and he answered calmly, “What further use do we have for eyes? We only watched idly as our race was destroyed. Therefore, we plucked them out.”
Suho’s group was stunned.
“In any case, welcome,” Fores said. “Let us show you our village.”
