Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 257

“So how do you find our village?” Fores suddenly asked, turning to Suho and the others.

Nobody could respond to Fores’ question, not that he expected an answer. The old elf didn’t need the visitors to speak to know what they were thinking.

“It is truly beautiful, don’t you agree?” he continued.

Suho and the others were being shown around Elvenwood by the high elves.

“Frankly... it’s more than beautiful,” Suho finally responded.

Fores chuckled. “Well, I am grateful to hear you say that.”

He smiled at the hunter’s honest answer, and the other high elves accompanying them beamed with pride as they walked through the serene streets.

Indeed, this green city where the high elves resided could not be adequately described by a mere word like “beautiful.” The vast, translucent barrier surrounding it marked a distinct border between two completely different worlds.

Outside the barrier, the fierce battle between the shadow soldiers and spirit-infused birds raged on, but inside, it was a tranquil paradise like something out of a fairy tale. Fresh green grass softened their footsteps as they walked, and large trees stood in orderly rows on either side of them.

“These trees are where we live,” Fores explained.

Just as he said, massive doors and windows adorned each tree, with high elves passing in and out.

“Did you build these yourself? With magic?” Suho asked.

“Not something as grand as magic. It was simply a kindness.”

“A... kindness?” the hunter repeated, puzzled by the unusual response.

Fores smiled mysteriously. He spread his hands wide, and something remarkable happened.

Whoosh.

Flowers of vibrant colors began to bloom through the lush grass at his gesture, their petals unfurling one by one. Although there was no breeze, the flowers swayed gently as if waving to the visitors.

Fores smiled warmly like he was acknowledging a greeting. Despite his eyes being covered, it seemed as though he could truly see the blossoms.

“Did you feel that?” he asked. “Everything in our village is made possible through the kindness of the spirits. As I mentioned, we are nomads, wandering without a fixed home. But wherever we settle, the spirits take it upon themselves to prepare a place for us. We rely on their kindness.”

“So it’s spirit manipulation...?” Sirka suddenly asked. She had been unusually quiet this entire time.

Fores paused mid-sentence and turned to her with a gentle smile. “Ha! Manipulation of spirits... It’s been so long since I last needed to use such cumbersome methods that I had almost forgotten about them. I haven’t done such a thing since becoming a high elf.”

Sirka frowned slightly, clearly displeased by the way he spoke as if she were a child.

However, now wasn’t the time for an argument. Just ahead, a small brook meandered across their path.

Without hesitation, Fores stepped onto the water. Beneath his feet, tree roots rose and intertwined, forming an arching bridge over the brook in an instant. The old elf crossed it naturally as if it had always been there.

Sirka’s eyes went wide. This was no spirit manipulation—she hadn’t sensed any mana being used as the bridge formed.

Like a grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren, Fores continued, “Did you see that, little elf-follower of Sillad? For your tribe, which has always lived in the frozen tundra, spirits must have seemed like the manifestation of cold—foes to endure and overcome to survive. But that is quite far from the truth.”

Sirka listened intently as he spoke.

“We elves have always been a race that lives in harmony with nature, not in opposition to it. The countless spirits born from that nature are our friends and comrades,” Fores said.

Sirka couldn’t respond. There was a weight to the old elf’s words that carried the experience of countless years.

After a moment of silence, she nodded slowly and humbly asked, “How can I become a high elf?”

Instead of replying, Fores burst into hearty laughter.

The other high elves laughed along with him and teased her.

“What a question!”

“Do you wish to run before you can walk?”

“Haha! You cannot become a high elf just because you want to.”

“There is no special technique or secret.”

Feeling mocked, Sirka frowned.

But before she could respond, a ripe fruit sprouted from the tip of a branch nearby. Fores plucked it with a gentle snap and handed it to her.

“Here, take this. The spirits find you endearing and wish to offer you a gift.”

Sirka was caught off guard, but she accepted the fruit carefully with both hands.

As she held it, the surrounding high elves began to offer her words of encouragement.

“This is how it is, becoming a high elf.”

“It’s not something you achieve through effort.”

“You must be chosen by the spirits.”

“Chosen...?” Sirka repeated.

Fores nodded. “Yes! Effort won’t get you there. For an ordinary elf to become a high elf—it is a gift from the spirits. Now eat. A gift from the spirits is sweeter than any fruit.”

Sirka lifted the fruit to her lips and was about to take a bite when she was interrupted.

“Don’t eat that.”

Haein’s hand shot out. She seized the fruit from Sirka.

The ice elf looked up at her, startled.

“Huh...? But why?”

“You should never eat food offered by strangers.”

For some reason, Haein’s gaze, fixed on Fores, carried a flicker of anger.

Although blindfolded, he seemed to sense her mood and offered a sheepish smile.

“Heh. Fruits given by the spirits are harmless to elves. On the contrary, they make you healthier and more beautiful.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s up to her guardian to decide what she eats,” Haein replied.

“Guardian?”

At those words, Fores looked taken aback as if he’d heard something completely absurd.

“You are a human, are you not? Why would a human presume to act as an elf’s guardian?”

“What does race matter? Sirka is like a daughter to me.”

“Utterly preposterous. Even if the child isn’t a high elf, she hardly requires protection from a mere human.”

From behind his green blindfold, Fores’ gaze seemed to pierce straight through Haein. His face then shifted back to Sirka, and he gestured toward Haein with a nod.

“Now that I think about it, I didn’t ask... Who exactly is she?”

Fores’ curiosity about Haein’s identity seemed to emerge only now. He already understood that Sung Suho was the “Son of the Shadow,” the descendant of the Monarch of Shadows, and that Sirka was a descendant of the Monarch of Frost.

However, Haein seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary human, hardly worth his notice. He was rather insulted that a human would take away a gift that the spirits meant for the descendant of a Monarch, and even more baffling was that Sirka herself seemed to accept this as completely natural.

“I am—” Haein began.

“Don’t answer that.”

This time, it was Suho who stepped in front of his mother.

“You don’t reveal personal information to just anyone, especially not suspicious individuals like these.”

Though he had been strolling through Elvenwood as if he were on a sightseeing tour, his gaze had now hardened, filled with hostility.

“Suho...?”

Haein’s bewildered eyes lingered on the back of her son’s head.

“Well done, Young Monarch. It would only serve to make things dangerous if it came out that Lady Haein is my liege’s wife. They will learn eventually, of course, but I don’t see why we should reveal it first.”

Beru’s tiny face popped out next to Suho’s ear, whispering low enough to ensure the high elves wouldn’t hear. With sharp, narrowed eyes, he glared at Fores and the others as he settled onto Suho’s shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a buzz as a lone insect flew toward Suho’s opposite shoulder. It was a bee, striped in yellow and black.

“Hmm...?”

When Fores noticed the bee, his expression hardened abruptly. It was only natural for the Son of the Shadow to be accompanied by a shadow soldier, but this insect clearly wasn’t a shadow.

“What’s with the face? Never heard a bug before?” Suho mocked, glaring at Fores. Despite his playful tone, his entire body radiated a readiness for battle.

Fores and the high elves grew visibly uneasy, their faces hardening even more.

“W-wait, don’t tell me you—”

“Oh, right. I guess it would be the first time. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a single insect in Elvenwood. That’s strange, isn’t it? With so many flowers and trees around, you’d expect there to be at least a few.”

As Suho spoke, more bees began to gather around his shoulders, their numbers increasing rapidly. The swarm condensed, forming the figure of a stunning woman.

The high elves radiated shock.

“The M-Monarch of Plagues?!”

“What is the Queen of Insects doing here?”

“Ah, such kind words!” Arsha exclaimed. “It’s true, I am destined for that title soon enough.”

The Queen Bee smiled radiantly at their shocked reactions. She looked at Suho, then pointed toward the towering trees that the high elves had called their homes.

“As I suspected, those buildings hold humans imprisoned underground,” she declared.

The high elves’ serene and generous smiles vanished, and they froze like lifeless puppets.

“Oh, dear. So it’s come to this after all,” Fores said. He sighed as if the situation were rather troubling.

A cold wind swept through the area, and a chilled silence fell. The warm, gentle breeze that had circulated through Elvenwood was gone. The vivid greenery began to wither, fading into desolation, as the paradise of a city rapidly crumbled into a barren forest full of dry trees.

“It would have been easier for all of us if you’d just passed through quietly,” the old high elf said.

“Really? I had a feeling it’d turn out like this,” Suho declared as he summoned Kamish’s Wraths in both hands.

The twin daggers cut through the air, tracing dark arcs as they tore into one of the withering buildings. The slash revealed an appalling sight within.

“S-save us...”

“Ngh...”

Humans, tightly bound by thick roots, hung suspended and on the brink of death.

“No... How...”

The shocking sight left Sirka wide-eyed in horror.

Haein, on the other hand, had not let down her guard once since entering Elvenwood. She was already gripping Baran’s longsword in her hands.

Suho, who had instructed Arsha to scout the area earlier, was also fully prepared for battle.

“I was told that the high elves are a bunch of failures and Monarch wannabes. What are you doing holed up in a place like this?” he asked.

The high elves protested.

“Failures? An amusing choice of words, Child of Shadow.”

“You dare call us that?”

“Look at yourself, human. You will not become a Monarch until your father dies.”

“What’s this? Everyone seems so angry all of a sudden. Did I hit a nerve?” Suho asked.

Suddenly, a torrent of hostility erupted from the high elves, filling Elvenwood with a palpable, malevolent energy.

In response, Suho’s shadow unfurled beneath him like an endless tide, spreading through the entire area.

[Skill: “Monarch’s Domain” has activated.]

The atmosphere bristled with tension as they teetered on the brink of an all-out battle.

“Oh...” Sirka murmured as a realization dawned on her.

What Sillad had mentioned before they entered the city—and the truth of what it meant to fail at becoming a Monarch—became crystal clear. It was no wonder she had felt such intimidation at the sight of the high elves.

“You’ve already been devoured by the spirits,” she said.

At her words, the high elves’ faces shifted. They revealed their true selves for the first time.

“Devoured?”

“No, it’s the other way around.”

Cruel smiles twisted their faces. Their slim, graceful forms began to warp, dry bark creeping over their once beautiful features.

“We’re the ones who ate them.”

As the blindfolds fell away from their eyes, the high elves revealed their horrifying gazes.

There were glittering Star Fragments where their eyeballs had once been. A highly refined Stone of the Outer Gods occupied each empty socket.

“Even if you are the son of the Monarch of Shadows, you are merely a human.”

“You are not the Monarch himself.”

“You have only yourself to blame for walking into this place unbidden.”

With that, the withered flowers and trees of Elvenwood, which had appeared to be a utopia, began to attack Suho’s party from every direction.

“And not even the Monarch of Shadows will ever learn of what happens here,” Fores declared.