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Chapter 350. The Saintess’s Struggle

Sancta Shiro—The village of Forest Elves, where the Holy Great Tree towers.

In the midsection of the gigantic Holy Great Tree that seemed to pierce the heavens, there was a large library of the Forest Elves.

Amidst a mountain of ancient texts, a female elf was diligently engrossed in her research.

At first glance, she appeared to be just a tanned Forest Elf without any distinguishing features. However, her name was Liliana El Del Milfluer. She was the Saint who had returned from the Demon Lord Castle in a miraculous fashion.

Liliana’s survival was a closely guarded secret, known only to a handful within the village. Thanks to the magic of transformation, the common Forest Elves had no idea.

“That magic is really convenient, isn’t it…”

Even her mother, Queen Estel, was quite impressed.

It allowed one to completely become human, or partially use it to allow High Elves to pass off as Forest Elves. With its high adaptability, it was easy to master, requiring only the drinking of dragon blood.

The Holy Great Tree Alliance was currently searching for the White Dragon that had fled into the allied territory.

Liliana found out upon her return that the relationship between the Alliance and the White Dragons had become strained due to the failure of the assault on the Demon Lord Castle.

Since the White Dragon King, Faravgi, did not return, cooperation among the White Dragons had also vanished, causing families to scatter and live in the allied territory.

Some of the White Dragons appeared to be working as messengers under the protection of the Holy Church and the state, but it seemed that the majority did not wish to be “sustained” by the Humans.

“By the way, I wonder why the White Dragons never told us about this magic.”

If they had known earlier, they might have been able to utilize it in various ways and, more importantly, they could have dealt with the infiltration of Night Elf spies, which left Mother Estel quite vexed.

If it could be learned by other races, they should have shared it sooner, which was a fair point, but why the White Dragons kept silent remained a mystery that only they could answer.

Were they afraid that sharing such useful magic with the dark ones would worsen their stance as dragons, or did they simply not want their blood to be targeted?

It might be more of the latter.

In fact, with the Queen leading, the High Elves were showing interest in it.

—Why is that? The transforming magic could alter not just appearance, but also the inherent nature of the race.

In other words, even matured High Elves, who couldn’t possibly live normally without the Holy Great Tree’s pure aura, could potentially move to faraway places by using transformation magic.

“If we were to abandon this village—this would be an essential magic for us High Elves.”

The Queen mentioned this at a council meeting.

—Thus, the option proposed by Liliana for a thorough resistance, meaning continuing to fight against the Demon Lord Army even at the cost of abandoning the Holy Great Tree, began to be positively considered.

The conclusion that the Demon Lord Army could not be trusted was significant. There had always been doubt about the credibility of the Demon Lord Army, but particularly the opinions of the veteran and senior representative of the pro-war faction, the elder Orderju, were as follows:

“The Demon Lord promised the extinction of the Forest Elves to the Night Elves and permitted their incorporation. However, the fact that he has proposed a truce with the Holy Great Tree Alliance means that if we were to accept it, he would breach his promise with the Night Elves. In other words, the Demon Lord has declared that regardless of any agreements, he can easily change sides depending on the situation. How could we trust such a person?”

If the Demon Lord genuinely valued the pact with the Night Elves, then the proposal for a truce was merely a bluff and should not be entertained.

Conversely, if the Demon Lord was serious about teaming up with the Forest Elves, he would be the sort of dishonest fellow who could easily trample over the long-standing loyalty of the Night Elves, making him untrustworthy.

In any case, the claim that the Demon Lord’s so-called “truce with the Forest Elves” was logically flawed met with no rebuttals from anyone.

Additionally, the definitive shift toward the spirit of thorough resistance was marked by the conflict in the Arena Kingdom.

If the Arena Kingdom fell, the Holy Great Tree Alliance would have nowhere left to turn, forcing the Forest Elf Brigade to launch a desperate counterattack.

They found themselves facing the Gigamunt Tribe’s military led by the Third Demon Lord’s Prince, Diagias.

“Sex-Crazy” Diagias was well-known for his love of women, and he was also known to be a little lenient when facing the beautiful Forest Elves, allowing them to rescue injured comrades or easing off on the pursuit of retreating Forest Elves.

However.

This time in the Arena Kingdom front, it was different. Though he initially turned a blind eye to rescuing the wounded, one day Diagias personally ventured out and completely wiped out a unit that had been holed up in the forest, continuing their resistance.

Let me reiterate: this was war, and killing was a sad but natural occurrence. Nevertheless, Diagias’s approach this time showed a level of brutality that set him apart from his previous conduct, and the retrieval of dead bodies became practically impossible. The only remains returned home were charred fragments that were no longer recognizable.

Even the prince, known for his leniency toward women, displayed unnecessary cruelty. This was another manifestation of the irredeemable nature of the demon race.

Furthermore, in this battle, the daughter of a previously indecisive moderate faction politician went missing, which caused him to shift towards the pro-war faction and decisively change the momentum.

—The Forest Elves would thoroughly resist the Demon Lord Army.

For Liliana, it was a joy that the previously wavering wills of the Forest Elves had somewhat unified.

However, another of Liliana’s heartfelt wishes—to support Zilbagias—led to the conclusion that it was currently impossible.

“No, but what are you suggesting we do?”

“Well, true, that’s the case…”

In a private conversation with her mother, Liliana could only feel dejected.

She couldn’t reach out to him who was situated in the Demon Lord Kingdom. If her identity were ever exposed, it would be catastrophic, and even if she tried to provide hidden support, the distance was just too great.

…Liliana realized there was little she could do. She had hoped that her wise mother might come up with some brilliant plan.

Well, at least it seemed they could avoid losing the alliance of the Forest Elves, which was something to be thankful for…

Still, that didn’t mean Liliana was satisfied with the current situation.

Was there truly something more that could be done? And she remembered her own research into necromancy.

Several notebooks entrusted to her by Alex. A practical textbook on basic to intermediate necromancy taught to her by Enma.

In fact, necromancy could also be used with light magic. However, since the souls summoned into this world would be obliterated by light immediately, it rendered the practice virtually useless.

As a mage of Liliana’s caliber, opening a portal to the spirit realm was child’s play, and she could easily cast it even on her first attempt.

Nonetheless, summoning souls—no good. Naturally, she wasn’t about to test that with her own kin, so she tried to summon the souls of dead animals in the forest, but they vanished within seconds.

She understood this, but apparently, it would be impossible to create or control light-type undead.

(But, maybe… there’s something it can be used for?)

Alex regarded Enma as a threat on par with the Demon Lord. Liliana agreed with him.

If someone who possessed light magic could open the gate to the spirit realm, couldn’t she also interfere with the spirit realm in return? That was the thought Liliana entertained.

Could this lead to a new approach in battles against undead—?

For example, blasting a massive amount of light magic into the spirit realm, intending to obliterate undead from that side?

…In the end, after trying various things, she found that the spirit realm was indeed a domain of darkness, and compared to this world, the interference from light was dramatically weakened.

“Hmmm… Honestly, I can’t figure this out at all…”

Even though Liliana was a talented sorceress, this was a completely unknown domain, and with only a few notebooks as her starting point and no way to consult an experienced person, researching alone was quite challenging.

So, being a Forest Elf, she decided to rely on the wisdom found in the library of the Holy Great Tree. She began to sift through vast amounts of ancient texts, trying to glean some hints from historical writings about necromancy and the undead—

“Lily, are you here again?”

While engrossed in the ancient texts, she heard a somewhat languid voice.

When Liliana looked up, a slightly fatigued-looking female Forest Elf stood before her. Her tanned skin was illuminated by the crimson light. Looking outside the window, the sun was beginning to set. Just moments ago, she thought it was still midday—

Putting that aside, it was this girl.

“Helena?”

Liliana blinked in surprise.

Helena—Liliana’s childhood friend, a guide among the Forest Elves, and one of the few who knew about Liliana’s return. When they reunited, they cried tears of joy together.

It was Helena who started calling Liliana “Lily” as a nickname, but since it sounded so similar to her real name, she thought it would be obvious, yet with so many elves having similar names, it surprisingly hadn’t been discovered by those around them.

“Did you come back already? I thought you went to Tritus Principality?”

“Various things happened, and I hurried back to report.”

“What happened?”

Liliana leaned in. Helena was supposed to have visited the Tritus Principality as a part of the Forest Elf delegation. The main objective was to accuse the Cortera Trading Company, but surely there were some issues with exposing spies?

“Well, it turns out the Seventh Demon Lord’s Prince Zilbagias has been expelled from the Demon Lord Kingdom.”

“Wow!?”

Out of the blue news, an unexpected voice escaped.

“‘Wow’…?”

Helena gave a puzzled look.

Incidentally, she knew of Liliana’s return, but had not touched upon the highest priority secrets such as Zilbagias’s true identity.

“N-no, I was just a little surprised, so a strange voice came out.”

Liliana hurriedly masked her expression.

(Alex… has been expelled!? What does that mean!? Could he be in the allied territory!?)

Of course, her heart was not calm.

“S-so? What about Zilbagias?”

Liliana began to get antsy. Her pointed ears twitched anxiously, much like a dog that had been denied a treat.

Helena was suspicious of Liliana’s fidgeting, but eventually, she had a realization and looked at her with pity.

“I’m sorry, this topic might be too harsh for you…”

It seemed she interpreted that the mention of the Demon Lord Kingdom had touched a painful spot in Liliana’s heart.

“No, no! Not at all, I’m fine! I’m interested. Tell me? What happened with Zilbagias? Why was he expelled?”

“Um, um…”

Helena took a step back as Liliana eagerly leaned forward.

“Apparently, he lost in political struggles within the Demon Lord Kingdom… It seems he had intentions of hiding along with the White Dragon, and now it’s unclear where he’ll appear in the allied territory, which has caused quite a stir among all the nations.”

“Huh, huh…!”

Alex is coming!!

To the allied territory!?

And he’s bringing Leila!? He might come straight here!?

But considering the risk of exposure, he might avoid getting close to the Holy Great Tree… plus, because he’s a flying dragon, he might be intercepted.

Ah, what would he do!? Is it possible to meet him!?

—As emotions of hope and anxiety filled her heart.

“Oh, and this is another matter. When I went to the capital Todomarl, the local Night Elves were already wiped out.”

“…Oh.”

With the topic of Zilbagias done, Liliana regained her composure.

“That’s quite an odd story. Could it have any connection to the current situation with Zilbagias?”

“It might. Just that, it seemed the local Holy Church didn’t really know what was going on either. Apparently, a vacationing hero happened upon the Night Elves’ disguises and managed to capture them all.”

“Sounds like something out of a bard’s song.”

He must have been quite the seasoned hero…

“Yes, the capital was buzzing with that tale. They say a young child was about to be killed but was saved just in the nick of time. What was it again, the name was—”

Helena pondered for a moment, her gaze wandering.

“—Right, the hero Alex, or something like that.”

…………!?

Zilbagias was expelled from the Demon Lord Kingdom—

Almost simultaneously, in the capital Todomarl, Hero Alex vanquished the Night Elves!?

Ah!

Ahhh!

Ahhhhhh!

“――――”

Liliana jumped up from her seat.

“? Lily, what’s go—”

“Wow!”

“…Wow?”

Liliana dashed out.

“—Wow-woof! Awoo Awoo! Aoooooow, kyuuuuun!”

“Lily!?”

Ignoring the startled Helena, Liliana ran off, barking.

“What is happening!? Wait a minute! Lily! Lily—!!”

—So, the topic about the Demon Lord Prince had really been a bad idea.

While chasing after Liliana, Helena deeply regretted bringing up such thoughtless topics.

 

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