Future Knight

Chapter 38

“It doesn’t matter. Even if she is an excluded Dragon.”

“Saying that it doesn’t matter even if she’s a Dragon is quite an arrogant statement. Very well. Then I will trust her to you. In exchange, I will take charge of Elradian.”

Elradian, the Sword of the Elves and one of the four guardian deities of the Elves, was also a key figure in this invasion operation.

“If it’s Elradian, the martial god representing the Elves, he would be a suitable match for Nemitz,” he laughed.

“Lasaeon, the Summoning Magic guardian, will be handled by Silen, our master of dark summoning magic. And Racion, the Bow of the Elves, will be handled by Yara, the head of our Dark Elf tribe’s top assassin group, the Blacklion family.”

As Nemitz introduced his subordinates, they exchanged awkward greetings.

“And lastly, Amari, the Spirit Magic guardian, was originally intended to be entrusted to the Green Lord, but since he desires Arteon’s head, we will leave her to our Dark Elf wizard, Prome.”

“Understood. Thank you sincerely for your kindness, Lord Nemitz.”

“Now that the assignments are finalized, the Green Elf tribe should take care of the main forces and the remnants of the Elves.”

“Don’t worry about that. Our children are all seasoned by war.”

Nemitz nodded and looked around the meeting hall.

“Today is the day we rewrite the history of the Arkandor Continent. Our children will no longer lose their light. They won’t freeze to death in the extreme regions either.”

As Nemitz mentioned the extreme regions, Green nodded slowly with a firm expression.

“Wow-wow-wow!”

Thunderous cheers echoed throughout the cave.

“Let’s wish for today’s victory.”

When Nemitz stretched out his hand, everyone placed their hands on top of his, all wishing for victory with one heart and one mind.

“Alright, everyone to your positions!”

Everyone swiftly moved to their assigned places.

When the moon reached the exact center of the night sky, they would all begin their operation.

Unaware of the impending disaster, most of the Elves slept soundly, while the unusually red moon hinted at the forthcoming blood festival.

### 13. The Night of Nightmares

As the red moon reached the center of the night sky, the earth began to tremble.

It wasn’t just in one place; it seemed as if it had been planned, trembling in all directions.

Despite the increased number of guards due to heightened vigilance, they were all terrified and confused by the inexplicable trembling of the earth.

“What, what’s this? Is it an enemy?”

“I don’t know! I can’t see anything!”

“Just ring the bell!”

All they could do was ring the bell.

But compared to the disaster that was about to hit the Elf village, it was already far too late.

The trembling earth began to crack, and soon giant shadows emerged, breaking through the ground.

Countless legs wriggled, forming terrifyingly huge silhouettes.

These creatures slowly rose above the ground, scanning their surroundings.

Chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk…

The guards, watching the dreadful scene, couldn’t even think of screaming, just staring blankly at the sight.

They knew they had to do something, but they were frozen in place, afraid that any movement would cause the giant monster in front of them to notice them.

The giant, black, glossy exoskeleton of the monsters gleamed in the moonlight, resembling a solid armor, and their wriggling legs looked as sharp as blades.

These dozens of giant centipedes bowed their heads, frantically moving their creepy antennae to find their prey.

And soon, they found the warmth of delectable prey and roared as they began their attack.

The Elves, startled by the bell, grabbed their weapons and jumped out of the trees, only to see the guards being ravaged by dozens of giant centipedes.

More and more giant centipedes continued to wriggle up from the ground, launching relentless attacks not only on the guards but also on the Elves sleeping inside the trees.

Following the holes from which the centipedes emerged, the Green Elves poured out, like plant stems extending from the ground, with loud shouts.

Wherever those green stems extended, flowers made of red blood bloomed.

“It’s an ambush! The enemy is ambushing us!”

“Ambush! The enemies have entered the village!”

“How? Where did they ambush us from?”

The four guardian deities of the Elves, who had been engrossed in a strategy meeting for the war until late at night, were shocked by the sudden alarming news.

“From the ground. Giant centipedes are breaking through from the ground. And behind them, countless Green Elves are pouring out. There are so many we can’t count them all.”

“Fr-from the ground!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, Arteon felt as if she had been struck on the back of the head and her legs went weak. But the enemy’s attack had already begun, and there was no time to delay. They had to save as many Elves as possible.

“Lord Lasaeon, quickly awaken the Guardians of the Forest.”

“Understood.”

“Lord Racion.”

“Yes.”

“Gather all the Rangers stationed on the outskirts of the forest to protect the rear of the Guardians.”

“Understood.”

“Lord Elradian.”

“Yes, Lady Arteon.”

“Take the Elf Knights and immediately board the Elven Knight.”

“Understood.”

“Lady Amari and I will lead the wizards and spiritists to stop the enemies that have emerged from underground. Please move as quickly as possible.”

Arteon and Amari were tasked with delaying the enemy at the most dangerous spot. If the others’ support was even slightly delayed, they would surely be annihilated.

“May the spirits and the forest bless us all.”

“May the spirits and the forest bless you as well, Lady Arteon.”

* * *

“P-Princess! It’s an emergency.”

“Ugh, so noisy.”

“Princess! Please wake up!”

Despite the explosions and screams echoing all around, Edelene seemed to sleep undisturbed, which suggested that her nerves were exceptionally strong.

“Princess! This is no time to be sleeping. There’s a war happening, a war!”

“Ugh! Why would there be a war here? If you’re lying to me, you’ll be in trouble.”

Half-asleep and irritated, Edelene, who usually maintained an air of sophistication, let her unfiltered words slip out as she woke up.

“Don’t you hear the noise outside? The Green Elves have invaded up to here! The nobles have already abandoned you and fled!”

The sound of weapons clashing and women screaming jolted Edelene awake.

“What? The nobles have all fled?”

“Yes, they scattered and ran!”

“You fool! Why did you wake me up only now?”

In fact, Jaizen had been trying to wake her up for over 15 minutes.

He couldn’t touch her, so he had no choice but to shout in her ear, and waking her up was incredibly difficult given her strong nerves.

Meanwhile, the nobles had taken their horses and fled, and the horses meant for the princess’s carriage had long disappeared.

“Go out for a moment while I change clothes and gather my necessities.”

“There’s no time for that. Just come along in your nightgown. Hurry, quickly!”

“Hold on! Where do you think you’re going in a nightgown? Let me go! Let go!”

Jaizen hurriedly dragged the screaming Edelene through the forest like a piece of baggage.

Fortunately, the residence of the diplomatic mission was far from the enemy, so they managed to flee deep into the forest without much difficulty.

* * *

“O faithful Guardians of the forest who have protected it since ancient times, in the name of Lasaeon, the 21st Wood Chieftain of the Wood Elf tribe, I ask you to awaken and protect our precious forest from these evil invaders.”

Lasaeon, holding a softly glowing horn stored in a temple located a short distance from the Elf village, recited an incantation and blew the horn with all his might.

Then, a low, sacred resonance spread throughout the forest, and soon after, trees began to move slowly with small tremors from various places in the forest.

The Guardians of the forest, the Ents, had awakened from their long slumber.

“It’s done! Now we can protect the village.”

Though the number of awakened Ents was truly immense, their movements were very slow, and it seemed it would take some time for them to reach the endangered Elf village.

Relieved, Lasaeon climbed onto the shoulder of a passing Ent and set off for the village with his strong supporters to assist Arteon.

At the same time, Racion, who had been running at incredible speed through the trees, arrived at the camp of the Rangers guarding the outskirts of the forest and informed them of the village’s danger.

She then headed towards the village with them.

As they moved, Rangers who had received the message began to join in.

Their numbers grew steadily, reaching nearly 20,000.

“Our mission is to support Lord Lasaeon and the Ents from behind. Leave no intruder alive!”

“Yes, Lady Racion!”

With those words, Racion, along with 20,000 highly trained Rangers, raced towards the village at top speed through the trees.

While they rushed towards the village, Elradian and the Elf Knights boarded the Elven Knight and, along with other tribe Elves, engaged in a bloody battle against the Green Elf army.

The Fire Elves faced the overwhelming Green Elf army, which seemed to number in the hundreds of thousands, by using flame spirits in close combat.

The Green Elves, pierced by rapiers heated by elemental fire, screamed horribly, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The Water Elves chanted healing spells, tending to the wounded.

The other Wood Elves summoned tree roots to bind the legs of the Green Elves, while the Wind Elves shot arrows from afar, slaughtering them.

Despite their perfect teamwork, the sheer number of Green Elves overwhelmed them.

Moreover, the Green Elves’ skills were not inferior to those of the Elves. The Elves were gradually being surrounded and annihilated.

Even the Elven Knight, their trump card, had already been more than half destroyed and lay in ruins.

All due to the damnedly strong, giant centipedes.