Kuuwung!
It was the first time.
The green giant of Narboros shook so much that his forward steps turned backward.
Eris’s strike was both intense and shocking.
“Kuh!”
Narboros’s green eyes twisted fiercely as he stared at the elf who had dealt him a proper blow for the first time.
He was not a battle maniac who reveled in defeating the strong like the tyrant Sharcarl, nor was he a martial artist like the emperor Kurika, who recognized and respected his opponent’s strength and used all his power to take them down.
He simply desired overwhelming victory.
Thus, Narboros was truly a magical beast that enjoyed fighting the weak more than anything else.
For such a Narboros, Eris’s existence was quite troublesome.
“You little ear girl! How dare you swing that sword at me!”
A brilliant green light began to emanate from Narboros’s armor. If someone saw it, they might even call it beautiful.
With even faster movements and increased power, he swung his halberd violently.
“I’ve heard about you all. Monsters who’ve lived in the Forest of the Demon Realm for a long time.”
But unfortunately.
“That goes for us too.”
Eris, who had carried the name of Guardian for centuries while protecting the elves of the forest, elegantly deflected Narboros’s halberd with her staff.
“Wind magic?”
Eris couldn’t compete with him in pure strength. Even in the heated moment, Narboros accurately understood what his halberd had bounced off.
As he looked for an opening where the halberd was deflected, Eris’s sword sliced in. Narboros, who wouldn’t budge in terms of sturdiness, clumsily blocked the sword.
However, her sword only left a small scratch on the armor without delivering any real damage.
“Guh?”
Though she did no harm with her sword, the wind that entered through the cracks in the armor was different.
The wind that slipped into the hard armor began to whirl within Narboros like a bug crawling on his back.
“If you don’t plan to answer, I won’t spare you.”
Eris’s wind relentlessly pressed down on Narboros.
Eventually, the jade warrior, struggling to remove his armor, coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
“D-did I win?”
Ares’s mumbled words were the signal. The paladins around him erupted into cheers of victory, spreading the vibe to other knights.
“We won!”
“The elf lady helped us!”
“We took down that damn monster!”
Although Eris had killed him, it was unclear why they began to sing praises to the gods.
Eris’s gaze pierced through the army and fixated on the forest.
She instinctively felt that this was just the beginning.
At that moment, the Grand Witch approached Eris, asking somewhat frantically.
“Wh-where’s Daniel McLean?”
The tyrant and the emperor.
A strong presence that hadn’t faltered even in battles against them.
The Grand Witch, desperately needing his help, pleaded, but Eris responded with a clenched fist.
“He will come.”
“He will… come?”
As if to ask what that meant, another sharp voice rang from deeper in the forest.
“Get going! You noisy god’s lackeys, even being eaten wouldn’t be satisfying!”
At that mere command, some knights swinging their swords nearby fainted, becoming prey to other magical beasts.
Holding a trident in hand, a monkey with brown mane and golden eyes, towering at about 3 meters tall.
“Even King Mihu…”
Adriana caught the Grand Witch as she nearly fell from vertigo, crying out in horror.
She quickly compared Mihu King, explaining briefly.
“Think of him as at least two to three times stronger than Narboros, whom you just fought. He is among the strongest of the Ancient Beasts.”
At her words, the faces of the nearby paladins darkened in an instant. The joyful praises had vanished, overtaken by fear.
They had struggled against Narboros and had him taken down by the elf Eris.
But now, they had to face something even stronger?
Everyone’s gaze involuntarily turned toward the Guardian like they were being pushed.
In this situation, Sen frowned and asked Adriana.
“Does that mean Mihu ‘King’ is similar to Kurika?”
Wondering since they shared the title of king, but Adriana shook her head.
“Unlike Kurika, Mihu King simply calls himself a king. Think of it as just a name with the word king in it.”
“So, he’s a fake king, huh?”
Sen chuckled slightly. Although he wouldn’t be an opponent to underestimate.
“Well, since he’s not as strong as Kurika, whatever.”
Perhaps because they had already seen such powerful entities, the existence of Mihu King felt relatively weak.
“It’s not over yet.”
If it were just Mihu King, they could have taken him down with a joint assault from Eris and others. However, the Ancient Beasts were far from done.
“…”
A red serpent that could be mistaken for a dragon if it just had wings.
“Kuh! Sound the drums!”
A goblin, wielding a club, struck a drum clamped at his waist with both hands.
“Humans? It’s been a while since I’ve tasted a delicacy.”
A demon, sporting bat wings and horns on his forehead, licked his lips, eyeing the scattered knights as his gaze made the skin tingle painfully from a distance.
The emergence of Ancient Beasts, each drenched in blood or showing signs of battle.
They all appeared to have either soaked in blood or exhibited the traces of combat.
“Now I understand why they were late.”
Adriana voiced a mixture of disgust and relief.
“They must have been busy fighting among themselves.”
As the situation rapidly changed, the first to sink their teeth into the Ancient Beasts were the other nearby Ancient Beasts.
Always salivating toward each other, they finally felt the heat of battle again after a long time.
It was good news that the number of Ancient Beasts they had to face had decreased. However, the Ancient Beasts emerging from the forest were the elites that had survived through the hell of strong beings.
Narboros was the first to emerge because he had fought with the characteristics of someone who enjoyed killing the weak and didn’t engage with other Ancient Beasts.
Everyone knew they all possessed tremendous power. Their struggle wasn’t just against them but also against other troublesome beasts.
In such a situation, hearts could only be crushed one by one, but behind them, the light of Warp rose once more.
“A large-scale Warp?”
Responding to Adriana’s murmuring and the gazes of others, knights donned in golden armor poured out from the warp.
“Wow, royal knights!”
“Support has arrived!”
The paladins shouted excitedly about their positions, forgetting their own circumstances. The royal knights joined the battlefield with an air of majesty.
Among them was a radiant blonde girl riding at the front.
“Elise?”
As Sen called her name, Elise winked at him before charging forward.
Drawing a wavy golden sword named ‘Branch of the World Tree,’ the ring on her hand radiated dazzling auxiliary magic.
Elise, blessed by the ring that Daniel had directly compared to Apviel, the King of Insects, was now stronger than ever and began to cut through the magical beasts without hesitation, with knights following their mischievous princess.
Supplies left behind by the knights stood ominously where they had been.
One of the boxes opened, and a swarm of girls burst out.
“Aren’t I amazing? To join the war just to see my husband!”
May Plov shrugged while staring at the level of magical beasts.
“I just realized something, but it felt like losing it. This worked out well. I can get revenge on the forest’s beasts too.”
Hayun stepped forward, placing her hands on the two swords she had at her waist.
“Iv and Tana will assist from the back with me. There’ll be plenty to do like transporting supplies.”
Saint Lucia, pointing to the supplies that came with the knights, quickly found her role.
“Understood.”
“There’s nothing I can really do besides this.”
Immediately darting toward the supplies with speed, Iv and Tana started explaining to the logistics about the locations and types of items.
With a puzzled expression, Sen approached May.
“How did you get here?”
“Hm? We have the princess’s backing, don’t we? Initially, our family and the knights said it was absolutely forbidden, but we snuck in among the supplies.”
“…”
“It’s fine. What could we do with our skills? We only came to carry some bags from the back. Plus, if Daniel gets tired, I’ll give him a massage. Maybe I’ll cross a line or two.”
“Daniel’s not here right now.”
“What?”
May, who had assumed Daniel would definitely be here, asked in a flustered manner.
Sen began to contemplate how to explain this, but everyone’s attention was suddenly drawn to the brilliant yellow light pouring forth.
The source of the light was Eris’s palm. The light wrapping around her outstretched hand gradually took shape, and soon everyone understood that it was a ‘bow.’
Eris Anen Seriere.
As the Guardian of Yggdrasil, she always fought on the front lines, gripping a sword and a staff.
When seen fighting at the very front, her stance clearly reflected the appearance of the Guardian who would protect the elves.
However, the reason Eris became a Guardian wasn’t solely due to that close combat.
Originally, she was an archer.
Yet, an archer needs someone to guard the wall or the front.
She was meant to be a wall protecting the elves, but if she took up a bow, it would only mean hiding behind the wall, so she had put down her bow a long time ago.
Even so, she was still an archer.
And now, there were many who could stand as walls to replace her.
“If we hold out, we win.”
The moon goddess and huntress gifted her with a bow that was gently curved like a crescent moon.
