novelraw Chapter 176 : Chapter 176
Chapter 176 : Chapter 176
Chapter 176
She was called a princess.
Born into royalty, she inherited the strong bloodline of the Previous King.
Her most beloved older brother, Pale, spoke of destiny and became a Priest, while her other siblings met early deaths during their travels across the continent.
The Elven trait of enjoying intellectual pursuits over being swayed by the desire for procreation had become a hindrance.
The Previous King worried about his successor.
He tried to summon Pale from the temple, but he refused, saying he was already carrying out the will of the Gods.
Only Ashirian remained.
A princess raised preciously, who grew up to be a tomboy.
She had a talent for mana and the sword.
The Mana Heart she refined was powerful, and she quickly learned swordsmanship by taking Elvenheim's two guardians as her masters.
Her willful nature also naturally calmed as she aged.
When she became one of the few 7-star beings in the kingdom, the Previous King summoned her and told her to prepare, for she would have to inherit the throne in the future.
But Ashirian refused.
“Are you not still healthy, Your Majesty? I have no intention of becoming the queen.”
She would live freely.
“I am now a Superhuman.”
She said she would not stay in the southern frontier, but would travel the world and meet various people.
The king merely smiled gently.
It was a smile characteristic of the Elves, but it was also the bittersweet smile of a father who would one day have to leave his child alone.
“Do as you wish. However, if something happens to me, you must fulfill your duty as royalty.”
Ashirian promised she would.
The king was also a Superhuman who reached 8-star upon synchronizing with Yggdrasil.
He was a being who had achieved a level she could not dare to imagine.
Afterward, she traveled the world with just a single sword.
Indeed, unlike Elvenheim, the outside world was full of interesting things.
In the eastern frontier, she crossed renowned mountain ranges and encountered numerous monsters, and in the western frontier, she explored uncharted dungeons and formed connections with skilled magic families.
In the northern frontier, she endured the frigid winds and witnessed the barrier connected to the Netherworld.
While crossing the center of the continent, she witnessed the unrest between the Empire and its vassal states.
All of these were wondrous experiences she would not have had if she had stayed in the forest.
Sometimes she had unpleasant experiences as an Elf, and sometimes she watched over species she had grown fond of, only to see them end their short lives.
Thus, she wandered among the lives of Humans for several decades.
When she finished her journey and returned, Elvenheim seemed unchanged.
But unlike her, who had grown by mastering the 7-star level, the king had grown frail.
The cause was not old age, but that his connection with his God had been severed.
“The time has come.”
Suppressing his weary emotions, the king told her to inherit the throne.
She was afraid that if she listened to his request, his life would end at any moment.
“I refuse.”
The king showed a look of disappointment at her firm refusal.
But the sense of loss that would follow his death was greater than the king’s disappointment, so she desperately tried to ignore reality.
She thought she had grown while wandering the world, that she had become strong upon reaching the rank of a Master.
She couldn't stand how pathetic she was, still acting like a child.
“It is a responsibility you must bear as long as you are born royalty.”
He was a Superhuman who had lived for a long time, but to his child, he was a lenient and soft-hearted father.
Once again, the king could not bend her will.
Afterward, Ashirian stayed in the forest and interacted with its guardians.
Koran, who was in charge of the outer perimeter, was still taciturn, and Rundel, responsible for the forest's safety, was as generous as ever.
She sparred with them and spent her mundane days speaking with the tribe chiefs as a member of the royal family.
It was in the midst of this, just as she was starting to feel the urge to wander outside again, that a change occurred.
“I will kill them all.”
The king, lost in a fit of madness, cut down an innocent royal guard.
“Radiance. It is a phenomenon that appears when the curse of the Grotesquery, which is said to have appeared 200 years ago, manifests.”
Pale, after checking the king's condition, diagnosed it as such.
He said that even if a recovery potion was made with Nectar, a complete cure was impossible, and that Divine Power could only temporarily soothe the symptoms.
He foresaw the grim future of the man who was once his father.
“Ashirian. You must inherit the throne.”
Pale added, as if apologizing.
While she hesitated, the king’s illness rapidly worsened.
An envoy from the Empire came and proposed an alliance.
“If you join hands with us, we will help you lift the curse of the Grotesquery.”
The mage who came as an envoy bared his blackened teeth, saying that the Empire was the best at researching magic and curses.
For them, who had been uninterested in the continent's affairs for a long time, it was a troublesome proposal.
“It is merely a suggestion to form an alliance and interact.”
The intention was so obvious that the king could not easily make a decision.
With the king’s mind not fully sound, a meeting of the tribe chiefs was held.
The chiefs’ opinions were divided.
Some argued they should take the Empire's hand and change their reclusive culture, while others insisted they should solve the problem within the Elf tribes as they had always done.
While the fierce debate continued, the king's symptoms worsened, and another innocent royal mage lost his life to his madness.
Soon, Yggdrasil began to affect the entirety of Elvenheim, and the tribe chiefs, feeling their survival threatened, came to protest and demand he take responsibility.
As a member of royalty and a royal guard, Ashirian watched the behavior of the tribe chiefs.
She saw differences from what she had experienced in human society.
It was only then that she realized the culture of the Elves, which had continued for a long time under the name of tradition, had now become obsolete.
“Do not be rude to the king who dedicated himself to Elvenheim.”
Her father, who had lived for hundreds of years under a heavy sense of responsibility, was not respected for his dedication.
Only then did she regret her past choices of not alleviating his burden.
“The king's standing is no lower than yours. Had you inherited it earlier, you would have been no different.”
What she needed was not comfort, but a solution.
“If the synchronization with Yggdrasil is released, the spread of contamination in Elvenheim will slow. I believe you know what that means.”
A sense of apology flickered in Pale’s eyes.
“Even if the king becomes the queen, my mission does not change.”
Koran stoically supported her decision.
“As a guardian of Elvenheim. I will protect you forever.”
Her master, who had been closer to her than anyone, spoke to her with respect and pledged his loyalty.
Having made up her mind, she sought Yggdrasil.
The man who was her father and her king was there.
“You’ve come.”
He silently drew his sword.
“I thought a day like this would come.”
“I didn't know it would be like this. I didn't want to face you in this way.”
“Still so soft.”
The king no longer felt sorry for passing the responsibility on to her.
“I will change things.”
Ashirian said she would change their reclusive perception, change the tradition of clinging to the Divine Tree, and create a nation that did not take the king's devotion for granted.
“Before that, you must show you are worthy.”
Unleashing hundreds of years of his prowess, green mana enveloped the king’s sword.
An 8-star being, achieved through synchronization with Yggdrasil.
It was fortunate that his condition was not perfect.
Against an incomplete 8-star being, she poured out her Ke and let her Shik run rampant.
Koran and Rundel, hiding their presence, watched the succession ceremony.
How many exchanges did they share?
How many times did the reflux surge?
The moment their two swords crossed, the sword slipped from the old king's hand as he was swinging it fiercely.
Her sword struck away the old king’s sword and deeply cut his chest.
The blood that seeped out soaked the forest.
“There was a prophecy.”
The man, now the Previous King she had wished for, who was coughing up blood even as he died, spoke with difficulty.
“A knight from Eurasia will sever the bonds of the Elves.”
Words she could not understand for now.
Ashirian could only nod her head.
“I am sorry… Ashirian… …my… daughter…”
Those were the last words the Previous King left for her.
Afterward, she became the queen, but nothing changed.
“You must not synchronize with Yggdrasil until its contamination is resolved.”
Rundel advised.
It was sound advice.
The Empire's envoys visited several times, and the contamination of Elvenheim spread uncontrollably.
Many tribe chiefs refused to acknowledge her, citing the regicide of the Previous King and the unresolved contamination.
She reacted nonchalantly, but in her heart, she was sharpening a blade.
She believed that a day would come when she would overcome the current crisis and change the outdated customs of the Elves.
She had Rundel attempt to contact Eurasia.
It was a cautious task, as the state of Elvenheim could not be known to the outside world.
And then.
“The Fourth Young Master of Eurasia has come to see the Queen of Elvenheim.”
Just like the dying words of the Previous King.
“Do not do something you will regret.”
A confident, silver-haired knight.
“There is no mercy in the sword of Eurasia.”
Killian Eurasia had arrived.
With him, her seemingly stagnant destiny began to change.
***
“Bitter.”
Killian muttered as he emptied a bottle of recovery potion.
A month had passed since he had cut down Silvana’s will and the Piece of Grotesquery.
He was recuperating without any particular training, just drinking Heart Break Herba and recovery potions.
“Is it bitter because it’s good for the body, or are the Elves just bad at brewing medicine?”
“To hear you grumbling, it seems you’ve recovered quite a bit. You will be the first and last to complain about the bitter taste after drinking a recovery potion made with Nectar.”
Ashirian, who was stroking Hazard’s fur beside him, said quietly.
[Grrr~]
Hazard agreed with her words with a refreshing growl.
“The skills of the kingdom’s Head Apothecary are quite something.”
“An apothecary who has reached the level of an Alchemist is a rare thing.”
She smiled faintly and continued.
“Bring him here someday. I shall treat him with great hospitality.”
“…”
“There were not a few men who fell for my looks. Even so, staring so intently is an impious act.”
“You’ve changed.”
The wariness I felt when I first saw her was no longer there.
“It’s not just Humans, Elves change too.”
[Grrr~]
“Hazard says he can change too.”
“If that one changes recklessly, the world will be turned upside down.”
“That is not untrue.”
It was while I was exchanging such idle jokes with Ashirian.
“Your Majesty.”
Rundel approached.
He, too, had recuperated over the past month, and his complexion had improved significantly.
“I have brought the item.”
In his hand was a scabbard made of wood.
At Ashirian’s glance, Rundel handed the scabbard to Killian.
“It is a gift bestowed by the Queen herself.”
“This is…”
“It is a sword passed down through generations to the guardians of Elvenheim.”
She said it was, on a small scale, a gift for the prince of an allied nation, and on a larger scale, a token of promise given to a benefactor of Elvenheim.
“Is it alright to give such a sword to an outsider?”
“Did you not also sacrifice your own sword for outsiders?”
She mentioned Aether, which had been broken to save Yggdrasil.
The scabbard had been donated as a medium to strengthen Yggdrasil's barrier.
“They say the knights of Eurasia speak with their swords. I have merely done the same.”
“…”
“You are now a knight who has reached 8-star. If you use that sword to enhance the prestige of Elvenheim, even the difficult tribe chiefs will have nothing to say.”
A Superhuman from an allied nation making the Empire's blood run cold with the sword of the Elves.
She added that it was a pleasing thought just to imagine it.
“I will accept it with gratitude.”
“You may leave now. Rundel will guide you to the temple.”
Knowing that the war situation in Eurasia was not good, she bid him a quick farewell.