East Road Quest

Chapter 72: The Tyrant’s Wanderings

The elves were clad in shimmering green garments that seemed made of leaves themselves, layered over with armor that resembled tree bark on their shoulders and chests.

Their white hair sparkled in the sunlight, and large ears like those of a rabbit protruded through it; their chins were pointed, and their eyes were twice the size of a human’s.

Jade had heard countless stories about the elves from Daniel. Just like in the tales, the elves possessed a beautiful appearance. However, the serene and quiet demeanor that Daniel described, akin to that of a philosopher, was entirely absent.

Upon spotting Baltian at the forefront, the elves immediately armed themselves with spears and swords, ready to attack.

“Stop!”

Poe blocked Baltian’s path and shouted. The elves’ weapons then turned towards Poe.

In an instant, the atmosphere turned hostile.

Jade had no illusions of a romantic and beautiful first encounter with another race, but neither had she hoped it would start with a fight, much less escalate to bloodshed.

While Jade was too flustered to act, Leopold Browne quickly grabbed Poe’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. The elves do not engage in needless killing…”

Leopold Browne stepped forward and bowed to the elves, then spoke something quietly in the Kun tribe’s language. It seemed like an apology.

There were six elves, all male. They lowered their weapons and conversed among themselves for a moment.

Oddly enough, Jade could understand their conversation.

“Why have humans come this far?”

“This Kun tribe hunter says he’s here due to unavoidable circumstances. Kun tribe hunters don’t do strange things.”

“There’s no need for us to intervene. The sentry will handle it.”

“Let’s hurry. The humans’ presence here doesn’t seem like a good omen.”

One of the elves nodded at Leopold Browne and then disappeared quickly into the forest beyond the pond.

‘Is that… the language of the elves?’

Jade looked at Mitchel with wide eyes. Mitchel seemed puzzled by Jade’s surprise.

“Lucky us. They were just passing through.”

Leopold Browne sighed in relief.

Poe narrowed his eyes, watching the direction in which the elves had vanished.

Leopold Browne approached Jade to explain.

“But this is strange. I’ve met elves more than ten times, and I’ve hardly ever seen them carrying weapons. Unless it’s something special, they don’t appear in the Dark Forest. Isn’t that right?”

Leopold Browne sought agreement from Baltian.

Baltian asked Jade, puzzled.

“I understand being startled at seeing an elf for the first time, but why are you so flustered?”

“The language of the elves…”

Jade trailed off, and Baltian shrugged.

“Sorry, but I don’t know the language of the elves to translate for you.”

Leopold Browne added,

“I only know simple greetings…”

Jade extended her hand.

“It’s the opposite. I understood them.”

“You understood? What do you mean?”

Leopold Browne asked, astonished.

Jade turned back to Mitchel and said,

“I’ve learned it. And quite diligently too.”

At Jade’s words, Mitchel’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Did you learn it too, Father?”

“Yes. I learned it from Father Daniel as ‘Ancient Language.’ He said it would be useful someday. I thought it was the most useless, the least desirable, and the hardest of the many unnecessary pieces of knowledge Father Daniel taught me.”

“I felt the same. It was meant to be learning for reading ancient documents, but I never understood why we had to learn to listen and speak it too.”

Leopold Browne said, flustered.

“Ancient language… Am I misunderstanding the language of Rome?”

Jade, Mitchel, Leopold Browne, and Baltian all looked at each other’s faces when Poe interrupted the conversation.

“Enough, what’s so surprising about it? Your teacher must have taught you the elvish language for preaching to the elves! Let’s drop it now. I can hear the tyrant’s voice from over there.”

“What? Where?”

As Jade stepped forward,

Poe extended his hand.

“I’ll go alone; you stay here.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright alone?”

“Isn’t your question wrong? You should ask, ‘Will we be alright here without you, Poe?’”

Poe snorted and darted into the trees.

Jade turned to Leopold Browne, Baltian, and Mitchel and said,

“Poe is right. We should stay hidden here.”

♦

Poe quickly found the tyrant.
Stumbling through the dense forest, he collided with the surrounding trees, unable to avoid them properly. Tripping over the uneven terrain, he moved slower than Jade, who walked with ease.

“Angel Chief! I have come! Please take me in.”

The tyrant’s voice boomed through the forest, so loud there was no need to sharpen one’s hearing.

‘Angel Chief… as easy to remember as the name of the Four Archangels.’

Ruby could have captured the tyrant at any moment, yet chose to wait.

‘Yes, keep calling. Let’s see the face of your master.’

The tyrant shouted upwards to the trees.

“The Fire Angel is dead. He boasted that without his name being revealed, he could rule the Kuman Plains and soon even the empire of men, arrogantly mimicking the lord of hell, Angel Chief, and calling himself the Fire Angel. But now, he’s dead.”

With each step, the tyrant swayed from left to right, as if he had a serious problem with his balance.

‘Even with a demon’s body, too much blood loss will hinder movement. Surely he won’t just die like this?’

Ruby silently followed the tyrant.

“Water Angel, I have arrived! I, the tyrant. Didn’t you say to take the Fire Angel’s place if he perished?” The tyrant continued to shout.

“Give me the same beads you gave to the Fire Angel. He foolishly fed them to the beasts of the plains! But I will feed them to humans, turning them into demons to form an army. Or better yet, I’ll consume them all and build an empire myself.”

“Shut up, you foal!” As Ruby wished, something appeared atop the tree, but it was unclear what it was.

“Pretending not to know, then you’d blabber all secrets, real or not. And… your name is the tyrant? Since when were you granted such a name?”

The voice seemed to come from a tree two hundred paces away, then suddenly from one only a hundred paces away. It was impossible to pinpoint the direction and location.

‘Where is he?’

Ruby waited.

“I apologize. But even in the plains, I’m a recognized demon. Isn’t the name ‘foal’ a bit too much? I named myself the tyrant. Anyway, thank you for coming, Duor! Please take me to Angel Chief.”

The tyrant spoke with joy, but Duor’s tone was far from welcoming.

“You’ve come at a bad time, foal. I have no time to spare for the likes of you.”

“How dare you call me ‘the likes of me’! I am the tyrant! I will become the great warrior of Angel Chief…

“The lord needs no warriors. Only martyrs and believers.”

“Martyrs? Believers? What… what do you mean? If that’s the condition, I can be it.”

“Then praise Angel Chief now. Through that, I will judge your faith and loyalty.”

“I praise you! Before the mighty power and the flames that burn hell…

“You’re already wrong. Go graze with the sheep in the plains.”

“Didn’t I tell you? He’s dead!”

“Is that so? Then you die too.”

“Are you saying you’ll kill me?”

“No. You’ll die at the hands of the tracker who’s followed you from the forest’s entrance. I simply won’t save you.”

For a moment, Ruby thought his position was compromised.

“Who, who has followed me?”

“The Watcher.”

With that, Duor vanished. There was no physical form to begin with, only a voice that now disappeared.

“Who followed me?”

As Ruby muttered to himself, a deep voice addressed him from behind.

“You know how to hold your breath well, child.”

It was the language of the elves, and it sounded quite close. Yet, even at this distance, Ruby couldn’t see the speaker.

‘What a situation, that Duor was far, but this one is so close and still unseen?’

Ruby turned around and asked in a whisper, careful not to alert the tyrant.

“Which beautiful flower dares to call me a child?”

“You speak the language of the elves.”

“Yes, I speak all languages.”

“Good. If you understand me, take your companions and leave. You’ve come to the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“And who are you? What’s a Watcher?”

“Who I am is not important.”

“You know I have companions?”

“Two hunters from the Koon tribe and two humans from Rome. It seems you don’t intend to disturb the forest, so I’ll let you be. If that horse is your target, I’ll handle it. Then your business here is done. Leave.”

“Show yourself before you speak, you leafless weed.”

“Is it my fault that your senses are too dull to see me?”

The voice was deep and serious, yet clearly mocking.

“This flowerbed offspring…

Ruby cursed, but the voice had already disappeared.

Suddenly, the forest fell into silence. The tyrant was still wandering, searching for his companions.

“Duor! Water Angel! Take me with you! I will praise Angel Chief. If my way of praising is wrong, I will learn anew.”

Then, the voice that had spoken to Ruby addressed the tyrant.

“A demon from the Kuman Plains, I see.”

“Who are you? Ah! You must be the guardian of the dark forest!”

The tyrant bellowed with vigor.

“Very well. Guardian, I shall slay you and offer you to Cauking. If I kill you, perhaps he will accept me.”

“If you serve Cauking, the demon, then I have no warning for you. Die.”

An arrow, unseen in its approach, struck the tyrant’s head. He crashed to the ground as if not an arrow but a boulder the size of a house had crushed him.

Then, one after another, arrows flew and struck the tyrant’s four limbs.

Poe tried to locate the archer but saw nothing.

The tyrant gasped for breath, pinned to the ground.

“Quite… skilled, aren’t you? But, a few arrows like these cannot kill me! I am a demon with an immortal body, destined to be the king of the plains.”

“I know. Hard to kill,” a deep voice responded.

Soon, blue flames ignited at the tips of the arrows lodged in the tyrant’s body.

“However, you will regret having a body that does not die easily.”

The flames, following the arrows, spread to the tyrant’s body.

He writhed and screamed in agony, unable to pull out the arrows or even move from his spot.

The archer had vanished. Poe could not find the assailant’s position or even catch a glimpse.

Poe muttered softly, “Guardian?”

♦

“The tyrant has no name, does he?” Jade asked.

“Not that I could see. But perhaps it’s merely hidden,” Daniel replied.

Jade opened the holy book to a passage that would annihilate a dark demon in advance.

Poe warned as he led the way, “Don’t be so tense. He can’t move right now. And we might not even need to annihilate him.”

Soon, Jade heard the tyrant’s screams too. They were a monstrous cry, unlike any ordinary sound, making one reluctant to approach.

“No need to annihilate him?”

Jade inquired.

“He’s dying.”

“I never thought death could sound so refreshing.”

The tyrant lay under a large tree, his four limbs stuck to the ground, unable to move. From a distance, it looked like a charge, but up close, the prone position was unnaturally awkward.

With his head pinned to the ground as if weighed down by a heavy plumb, the tyrant vomited pain. Upon closer inspection, an arrow that had pierced his head was embedded in the ground.

Blue flames wrapped around the tyrant’s massive body. Even five steps away, there was no heat, only a captivating and beautiful color that made one want to keep looking.

“It seems like magical flames that burn the body until the target dies. It doesn’t burn the surroundings, just the intended target. As far as I know, this is a very high-level spell,” Poe explained.

As if to prove it, Poe touched the tyrant’s body engulfed in flames. The blue fire did not transfer to his hand.

Nearby trees and grass, though touching the flames, merely trembled.

“Who are you?” the tyrant asked, unable to lift his head.

Black blood streamed from his eyes. His fur was almost entirely singed, and his thick hide was melting like candle wax.

“Poe, it’s the one who shattered you. Though the second shattering was by another.”

“So, you’ve brought along a human with the power to annihilate me,” the tyrant spoke in a voice that split into two, then three.

“What if I did?”

At Poe’s question, the tyrant made an unexpected request.

“Then, please, annihilate me.”

Poe silently turned to Jade.

Jade left Daniel behind and approached the tyrant’s side.

“Tyrant, what is your name?”

The tyrant slightly turned his head, still impaled by the arrow, but could not meet the gaze.

“I am a nameless lower demon. Therefore, you can annihilate me as much as you please! I will accept death quietly.”

Jade examined the tyrant’s condition more closely.

Arrows had pierced through the hooves of the tyrant’s front and back legs. The arrows were almost as long as Jade’s legs and as thick as three fingers—a giant arrow. It was hard to imagine the size of the bow needed to shoot such an arrow.

Yet, it seemed unlikely that even such large arrows could immobilize a beast as large as the tyrant. The arrows were merely stuck in the dirt.

“Please… kill me. To die like this…”

The tyrant continued, sobbing.

“It hurts so much… Please, annihilate me. Please…”

“Is it that painful?”

Jade asked.

“Yes. Show me mercy,” the tyrant pleaded.

Jade looked down at the tyrant and said,

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ve done what I wanted. If that magic hurts so much, then die like that.”

“You, you brat!”

The tyrant screamed.

“I curse you. May you be forever filled with unhappiness and sorrow.”

“Sure, keep cursing me until you die. That you say such things is proof of your pain.”

The tyrant writhed and continued to scream, while Jade just looked down at him with narrowed eyes.

After a while, the screams that seemed to tear through his eardrums slowly faded away. And he died just like that.

“Looks like it’s over?”

Ruby asked.

“Make sure of it.”

Jade opened the book and completely incinerated the tyrant with the light of annihilation. The blue flames disappeared then as well.

Jade looked down at the floor, now only pierced by arrows, where the tyrant’s traces had vanished, and asked,

“Was it the guardian of the Dark Forest who did this?”

“Yes. But I don’t know who it is. When I was in the Dark Forest, there wasn’t such a thing.”

Ruby easily pulled out the arrow stuck in the floor. It wasn’t because Ruby was strong. Jade could have pulled it out just as easily.

Barsh approached from behind and said,

“Now that we’ve confirmed the tyrant’s death, let’s leave this place. If the guardian of the Dark Forest warned Ruby to leave,

it means they don’t like us being here.”

“Yes, you two should leave.”

Jade examined the heavy arrow, turning it over in his hands, and said,

“But the three of us will continue on. We might have to meet that guardian.”