Chapter 6: Chapter 6
"Ugh... What happened?" Belial regained consciousness, confused about what had happened to him earlier.
He had been unconscious for nearly five full hours, with his head injured and oozing a little fresh blood from the impact he had experienced before.
"Ah, I remember, I collided with something invisible, but what was it?"
The young man looked up to see what it was that he had collided with before:
"...!" Belial was slightly surprised.
"A barrier? But who set it up?" Yes, what he had collided with earlier was a transparent energy barrier. And now he wondered, who had set up such a powerful shield in this vast forest.
"Wait, if there's a protective magic like this set up here, does it mean there is life in this forest? And 'they' have set up this barrier to protect themselves from threats outside the forest?"
Genius! His guess was correct, that was indeed the purpose of setting up this incredibly strong protective magic. However, the young man still didn't know who these 'they' were.
"Tch, if that's the case, I won't be able to escape from this damn forest."
Belial grumbled in frustration, realizing that with the existence of this powerful protective magic, he wouldn't be able to escape from this vast forest. Despite that, he still wanted to try.
"Just do it, I don't care about the outcome."
The young man stood up, still feeling a slight pain in his head from the injury he had suffered.
'Power of Healing.'
Shing...
By uttering those words in his mind, a faint green light appeared all over his body, and in an instant, the wound on Belial's head healed.
"Alright, it's time to destroy this damn barrier. Power of Magic + Power of Destruction."
Shing... Shing...
Two faint lights appeared all over his body, one blue and one red.
"The magic I can use with my Mana Energy now, and the one that can cause significant damage is... Gehenna Lightning Strikes."
Fwing! Fwing! Fwing!
A golden-yellow magical circle appeared on the palm of his hand, consisting of three concentric rings. The first ring was the size of his palm, followed by the second ring slightly larger, and the third ring twice the size of the second.
Petish!
The magical circle emitted sparks of electricity strong enough to harm an ordinary human who came into contact with them.
Although Belial had above-average physical strength, he still felt the sensation of tingling from the magic.
"Ugh...! This really drains my Mana." Sweat began to pour down his handsome face.
This was only half the power of the Gehenna Lightning Strikes magic, yet it was already enough to burden Belial and force him to endure the consequences of using half of its strength.
* * *
Belial realized that he wasn't currently able to unleash the full power of the magic with his Mana Energy.
But...
"Here it is!"
Cetassh!!
After Belial exclaimed, he released the magic towards the strong barrier in front of him. Despite feeling overwhelmed, he didn't forget to curse at the barrier that had prevented him from leaving the vast forest.
"Feel this, you damn protector!" he exclaimed in frustration.
BOOOM!
The powerful lightning magic energy collided with the life energy of the formidable barrier, resulting in a tremendous explosion. The sound of the explosion was so loud that even the birds flew away from the forest upon hearing it.
"Hah... Hah... Did it work?"
Belial was sweating and gasping for breath. It seemed that he was exhausted from the impact of using the magic, but he still stood upright.
He gazed towards the explosion, which was still engulfed in a cluster of energy. The sight was both beautiful and deadly.
Sshhh...
The cluster of energy slowly faded, revealing the results of Belial's lightning magic attack.
"What... It didn't work?"
In truth, Belial's attack had successfully cracked and pierced the barrier, but it quickly regenerated itself, covering up the damage.
"Tch, it seems someone is remotely repairing this annoying barrier."
Yes, Belial was right. The powerful barrier could be repaired by replenishing its energy through the central magic circle located in the Gloreux Kingdom.
But...
"Where are those who control this barrier?"
The young man was unaware of both the individuals who controlled the magic and the Gloreux Kingdom.
"Sigh, forget it, I give up. No matter how much I try and exhaust all my Mana, it won't succeed in destroying this damn barrier that seems to keep regenerating."
This frustrated him. In annoyance, he sat cross-legged on a large rock in the vicinity.
"I'll wait here. If there really are those who control and oversee this damn barrier, they will come after my recent attack."
Although he knew waiting was boring, he ultimately decided to wait for the 'they' he mentioned at that location, with a desire to beat them up in his heart.
He didn't dare to say it out loud, but he still cursed in his mind:
"Come, you damn native folks!"
* * *
Gloreux Kingdom.
A kingdom that has stood for millions of years. The buildings and houses in this kingdom have their own uniqueness because they are located within a forest. The houses and important structures in the kingdom are built on top of trees, with bridges connecting each place.
One of the most magnificent buildings is the Royal Palace, located directly beneath the world tree, Yggdrasil.
Although most of the buildings and houses of the Elves are built on trees, there are still other places beneath those tall and majestic trees. Among them are the market, adventurer's guild, blacksmith, and various other locations built beneath those magical trees.
And currently, inside the royal palace, there is a very spacious room. Carved on the floor of the room is a very large magic circle. A woman wearing a luxurious gown adorned with beautiful ornaments and a crown on her head is present in the room.
That woman is The Wise Elf Queen: Glorieux eta Dotorea. At the moment, she is about to do something very important for the safety of the Elf race and her kingdom.
"What is actually happening there?"
Queen Dotorea is puzzled by what is happening to the large magic circle in front of her. One part of the magic circle that uses Rune language appears to be fading.
She questions what has happened to the protective barrier in the north.
"Oh, Mother of Megálos, protect your descendants with your abundant life force... Tier 10 Magic: Absolute Divine Protector."
(A: Queen Dotorea uses the Elven language in her incantation.)
Queen Dotorea holds a wooden sculpture shaped like a leaf in both of her hands, it is the Mythical Item: The Wood of Life. She then lifts the Item up while reciting the mantra.
Swish...
Finally, with the flow of life energy emanating from the Item, a portion of the large magic circle returns to its original state, emitting a golden-green light.
"It is done... With this, the damage in the northern section has been repaired. Thank you, Mother of Megálos." She clasps her hands together and looks up.
It seems that the Mother of Megálos is the deity of the Elven race, and Queen Dotorea sincerely expresses her gratitude while uttering that name.
"However, who could dare to damage our kingdom's protection? If it were the demons from the neighboring continent, it's highly unlikely they could generate such an attack. Though the demons are powerful, they are incapable of causing any damage to that absolute barrier."
Queen Dotorea ponders, trying to think of the entity that possesses such immense power.
"I cannot fathom who they truly are, but what I do know is that they could pose a threat to my kingdom and its people."
She gazes solemnly out the window, looking in the direction where the entity attempted to destroy her kingdom's barrier.
"I hope they are all safe."
With a sense of worry in her heart, she turns around, and her figure disappears behind the large door of the room.
* * *
At this time, Celestia Zalduna, Isolde, and the knights of Glorieux Kingdom are heading north, towards the direction of the 'entity' mentioned by Queen Dotorea.
They have all been instructed by Queen Dotorea to investigate what is truly happening in the northern part of their kingdom's protection. Currently, the knights are clad in their full armor, from head to toe, with silver armor adorned with green patterns covering their entire bodies.
"Hey, Celes, aren't you scared? We're heading towards a place with a dangerous entity, you know!"
Isolde, Celestia's friend, suddenly asks with a hint of fear visible on her face.
The two of them walk side by side among the crowd of Glorieux Kingdom knights.
"A little. Nevertheless, I can't allow any entity or whatever it is to harm our forest's protection."
Celestia, though feeling a slight fear within herself, cannot let her home be disturbed by an entity that appeared without any known origin.
Isolde can only shake her head upon hearing Celestia's response.
"My friend truly is courageous," she thinks to herself.
The two of them, along with the other knights, continue to march north. It can be seen that all the knights carry various weapons.
There are swords, bows, spears, axes, rapiers, and a variety of other sharp weapons. They are all on high alert for what they will face at their destination.
Celestia wields a longsword as her weapon, hanging by her waist. Meanwhile, her friend Isolde wields a spear longer than her own body.
The sword Celestia currently wields was a gift from her father on her 120th birthday celebration. The Elf race indeed has a long and youthful lifespan, with their age limit reaching up to 500 years. However, there are those who can exceed this limit and live for a thousand years.
Their long lifespan grants them a wealth of life experiences, and the positive impact of this is that they become one of the strongest races that cannot be easily disturbed. In Glorieux Kingdom, Elves and Dark Elves live together without racism or discrimination between the two races.
"Halt!"
The captain of the knights, a Dark Elf himself, suddenly shouts, raising his clenched hand.
"...?"
All the knights, including Celestia and Isolde, are puzzled by their captain's command. However, their confusion is quickly answered and replaced by astonishment.
"That... That's Igneus Serpens."
Isolde, standing beside Celestia, murmurs after seeing the red horned serpent passing in front of them. She breaks into a cold sweat and feels fear upon witnessing the sight.
On the other hand, Celestia remains calm and serious. However, she stays vigilant about what might happen.
However, nothing happens. The large serpent simply passes them by and continues to chase its prey, a horned rabbit the size of a baby.
"Relax, everyone. The monster is just chasing its prey, so it won't attack us. Now that it's gone, we will continue our journey."
Since Igneus Serpens is no longer in sight, the captain of the knights leading them decides to proceed. However, he gives a warning:
"Don't let your guard down."
He remains vigilant. It is understandable, as they are in the middle of a forest where danger can arise at any moment without their awareness.
In response to the captain's command, all the knights nod their heads and remain alert to their surroundings. This includes Celestia and Isolde.
Finally, they continue to traverse the forest towards the north, a place that may be even more dangerous than the forest itself. They have strong reasons to believe that their destination is highly perilous, as there is an entity in the north capable of damaging their forest protector, something that no one else in the world can do.
After walking hundreds of steps, Celestia, Isolde, and the knights finally reach their destination.
However, after investigating the surroundings, they find nothing. There are no dangerous entities or any other hazardous elements in the area.
"There's nothing here. So what caused the damage to the forest protector?"
The captain of the knights and the other knights are perplexed, but they still seek to find out the cause of the damage to their forest protector.
Their search eventually brings them close to the protective magic circle, and there, they are shocked by what they see.
"It... It's a human?"
Yes, they see Belial, a human, who is currently sitting on a rock with his hands crossed and his eyes closed.
They are all puzzled, wondering in their minds:
"How could a human be in this place?"
Indeed, it's impossible, considering that the Great Megálos Forest has an absolute protection barrier that only allows entry for the Elf race.
And now, a human is right inside this forest, right in front of all of them.
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