I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 130 : Elf Village (2)

Elf Village (2)

The soldiers of the elf village had assembled to kill the intruder.

They tried to use spirits to deliver the elders' messages to the outside, but it was all futile.

Each time the intruder sent out the spirits, he cut them down without exception.

Since it took time to use the spirits again, their priority was to defeat the intruder now.

However, no matter how many soldiers attacked, the intruder was never brought down.

"Kill that man!"

All of the village's military force rushed at the intruder.

There was only one opponent.

To take him down somehow, they hurled daggers, swords, arrows, and all kinds of magic at him.

But...

"Kyaaaah!!"

Nothing worked.

The intruder, wielding a sword, merely cut down all attacks with slashing strikes filled with aura.

The aftermath resulted in the severed limbs of the elven soldiers.

"This is a bit disappointing, you know?"

Having blocked all the elves' attacks, Kelian spoke.

Wearing a bitter expression, he kicked the corpse of a now-dead elf.

"There's hardly any known information about you elves, so your numbers were considered uncertain. I was half-expecting there'd be a lot of you."

This race, who blend with the forest, boasts excellent spirit-sensitivity.

And with senses superior to those of ordinary humans, they can respond to any attack.

That was the information about the elf soldiers known to the 7th Legion.

Considering that, Kelian had been tense, wondering if there would be anyone in this village around his level of skill.

After all, since their race was born with bodies superior to humans, it wouldn't be strange if there was someone that skilled.

"Why did you all fall in just one strike?"

In the end, it was needless worry.

After the actual fight, Kelian felt much relief, but also disappointment.

The elves lying dead before him had been cut down by sword strikes that didn't even carry his full strength.

"Is this really the end?"

Kelian spoke while looking at Mars, who lay collapsed, missing an arm.

"From the look of it, I'd say you're the leader here."

"Grr...!"

Mars had already used up every option available.

Other elves had tried to attack with spirit arts, but all were cut down by that man's aura.

Looking at Kelian, Mars felt as if he was up against an insurmountable wall.

"Is this it then?"

When Kelian said this in a mocking tone, Mars hung his head in despair.

Because, just as he said, it really was the end.

There was no elf left who could stand against Kelian.

They were all now corpses.

"You monster... do you really think you'll just get away with this?!"

Realizing that he too would end up a corpse, Mars started shouting.

"This is outright slaughter! Is this how your Imperial Court people always act?!"

It was a scream close to a last outburst.

Kelian snorted at those words.

"If what I'm doing is slaughter, then what would you call what you've done? Dragging Imperial Court people here and forcing them into slave labor—is that something to be proud of?"

"That was because those guys migrated here on their own!"

"And does that justify what you did?"

To begin with, did the migrants even know what kind of place the elf village was before coming here?

Even Kelian himself had no idea about it until just before coming here.

"Go ahead and tell the Holy Nation if you want. We'll tell the Imperial Court about what you did too."

Who would be in the more favorable position then?

Mars could easily guess, and so could not say another word.

'We really just... gave them food and shelter...'

Forcing people to labor was justified.

Like all elves, Mars believed so.

From their standpoint, it was not 'exploitation,' but 'care'.

'It's unfair. But even if I lament now...'

No matter how much he protested in such a situation, it meant nothing.

After all, not only himself but even the lives of the elders were at risk.

Trying to avoid such a desperate situation, Mars desperately began devising.

"Captain! What are you doing here?"

At that moment, a black-haired girl approached Kelian.

From the way she called him, she seemed to have infiltrated here together with him.

"I told you to stay at home. Why did you come out?"

"There was suddenly a smell of blood outside. And the floor smells delicious too?"

Rio gazed at the corpses of the elves and spoke with a cheeky expression.

Hearing such savage words from a girl who looked so innocent, Mars shuddered.

'Wait, that expression on her face...'

Mars took a closer look at Rio's face and noticed.

The irregular smile was exactly the symptom that appeared after eating that fruit.

'Did she go insane after eating the World Tree's fruit?'

It was a fruit given to all the humans who migrated here.

The moment they ate it, they lost their reason and began to obey the elves' orders.

Since it was usually given as a housewarming gift, migrants ate it without suspicion.

'That means, perhaps...'

Thanks to that fruit, the elves could force the migrants into labor.

They then lived the rest of their lives as elves' slaves with no escape until death.

Because of that, Mars decided to test things.

"Girl, kill that man!"

Judging by the title used, the man clearly held a higher rank than the girl.

Even from just their two faces, the difference in life experience was clear.

'At a glance, that man must be at least in his fifties. It's almost to the point one could mistake them for father and daughter.'

Given the obvious age difference, the difference in ability must be overwhelming too.

She would attack the man as ordered, but the girl's chances of winning seemed exceedingly low.

'No... that might not be true.'

The girl called that man 'Captain'.

Would he really be able to kill his own subordinate so freely?

That was why Mars decided to test it.

If the man couldn't fight properly against his own subordinate, he could use that opening to bring him down.

Of course, if the man ruthlessly killed his subordinate, this trick was meaningless, so Mars would just use that moment to flee and try to save his life.

'Now, let's see—'

KWA-A-A-AANG!—

At that instant, a flash of lightning exploded before Mars's eyes.

At the same time, with an eardrum-tearing sword echo, a powerful gust swept through the area.

"Huh?"

Mars blinked in confusion at the scene that had unfolded in the blink of an eye.

'What is this?'

At some point, the girl had grabbed one of the fallen elves' weapons from the ground.

Enveloping the weapon with aura, she swung it at Kelian with all her might.

Kelian barely managed to block it in time, and a shockwave spread out.

All of this had happened in the time it took him to blink.

'Impossible...'

This absurd event was unfolding in real time.

Following the order, Rio was attacking Kelian furiously.

Just before the blade reached Kelian's neck, he raised his sword and blocked it, but the recoil sent him staggering backwards.

As Kelian reeled in shock at how his arm trembled after blocking the attack, he instinctively swung his sword behind him.

That was because Rio had instantly moved behind him and was unleashing another slash.

KWA-KWAANG!—

As the swords charged with aura collided, a nearby building was uprooted and sent flying.

"Grr...!"

From the force of that mighty blow, Kelian bit his lip.

Realizing that if he didn't take this seriously his head would fly off, he put more strength into his arm and slashed with his sword.

CHAAA-A-A-AK!—

Rio, startled, leaped backwards.

Dodging the slash with a back handspring, the buildings behind her were cleanly sliced in half.

"No more holding back, Rio."

"..."

Instead of replying, Rio lunged at Kelian again.

In a split second, Kelian observed her movements and anticipated she would aim for his solar plexus, thrusting his sword to intercept.

"...!"

However, Rio twisted her body to dodge the thrust through empty air.

Kelian swept the sword horizontally to catch her evasion, but Rio ducked and avoided even that.

"Tch."

Instants later, Rio closed in to Kelian's feet and stabbed with her sword.

Kelian twisted away barely in time, but his side was grazed, leaving a wound.

After narrowly dodging the following fierce attacks, Kelian swung his sword, generating a powerful air current.

"...!"

Caught head-on in the whirlwind created by Sword Ki, Rio was blown through several buildings.

Huge crash sounds rang out as the buildings were demolished, but Rio brushed off the debris and stood up again, launching herself at Kelian.

'Ha ha ha...'

Watching their fight, Mars thought,

'Are those things really human?'

To Mars, the level of their fight was completely beyond common sense.

With every swing of the sword, the buildings painstakingly constructed by elves collapsed like they were nothing.

Marveling at such an impossible battle, Mars was dumbstruck.

'So when he fought me, he wasn't even serious.'

Kelian had considered Mars and the elves as nothing more than a warm-up.

As proof, even when Mars attacked for days on end, Kelian had always looked relaxed; now he was breaking into a cold sweat.

And the girl making Kelian sweat wasn't normal either.

'The people from the Imperial Court, what are they...'

Did the empire have many monsters like these?

The chilling thought made Mars tremble.

Of course, this wasn't all bad.

If the two killed each other while fighting, he wouldn't even need to act.

Still, Mars planned to intervene however he could to tilt the fight against Kelian.

KWA-A-A-A!—

But it wasn't easy to interfere in their fight.

The slashes they exchanged were like natural disasters.

Their sword speeds were several times the speed of sound—completely beyond Mars's sight, and a mere graze would slice him in two.

If he tried to get near, he'd be cut down like a withered leaf, just collateral damage in a clash of giants.

'I'd better just stay put.'

Unable to step into the disaster, Mars's legs froze.

It seemed best for the moment to just stay clear of the spot.

"T-this is...!"

As their battle intensified, the range of destruction only widened.

As the fight dragged on, Rio's golden aura gradually turned a crimson color, and Kelian also unleashed his magic power, his eyes glowing ominously.

If they crashed together again in those states, the whole village would be destroyed.

Now, Mars had to give the girl the order to stop fighting.

'No! If I do that, that man will start rampaging again!'

Letting them fight would destroy the village, but stopping them wasn't possible either.

There were only the worst options left, and Mars began to sob.

'It doesn't matter who, just...'

Someone, please stop those two...

"Stop."

At that very moment—

Just as the two were about to clash again with full strength, a boy intervened.

The moment he stood between the two, like standing in a typhoon's eye, both stopped.

Kelian, one of those calamities, exclaimed in surprise.

"Louis. What are you doing here?"

"I think that's enough. Stop breaking things any further. More importantly, why did you two suddenly start fighting?"

Kelian roughly explained the situation.

He said Rio went berserk because of the elf knight's order; Louis turned his gaze to Mars.

"So, if we just shut that man up, it's solved, right?"

"...!"

Mars, meeting Louis's eyes, instantly realized.

From Louis, he sensed something even more vast than the disaster he'd just seen.

"H-hey, girl!"

Stricken with a terror he'd never before felt, Mars shouted an order at Rio.

"Protect me, now!"

Compelled by the instinct to survive, he yelled.

Rio stepped in front of Mars.

Judging from her earlier display of power, he figured she could at least buy him some time.

"Rio. Move aside this instant."

"Useless! Once a human eats the fruit, they must obey our elves' words..."

They had to obey every command.

But...

"Young... master...?"

"Do you want to stay with that bastard? Or with me?"

"..."

Rio looked back and forth between Mars and Louis.

Sweating coldly, undecided on whom to protect, she dropped the sword from her hand.

"Young master!!~"

Then, with a cheeky smile once more, she ran over and hugged Louis.

"There's nothing else I need! As long as I have you, young master, that's enough!"

When Rio rejected the command herself, Mars was left in shock.

To Mars, Louis spoke:

"How do I turn her back to normal?"

With murder in Louis's tone, Mars broke into tears and pressed his head to the ground.