Future Knight

Chapter 57

“Answer my question.”

“Oh! I’m sorry! Yes, he went with them.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go there immediately. Lead the way.”

“Well, um, we have something important to do here…”

Zikyon could go to the dwarves’ kingdom, Mine Kingdom, alone. However, she didn’t want to wander around looking for Kang Chan, so she intended to take the elf in front of her.

But the elf had an important mission.

It was the task of retrieving Gigantes, which would be the foundation for the revival of their race.

Zikyon already knew well what the elves had to do.

So, instead of forcibly dragging her along, she judged that helping them with their task would be more beneficial and preserve her dignity.

“The important task you’re talking about is moving these things called Gigantes scattered around here, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Great One…”

“I will help you. Now, tell me the coordinates of where these need to be moved.”

At Zikyon’s offer to help, the elf opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“You’ll help us?”

“Yes, there’s no time, so quickly tell me the coordinates.”

“J-just a moment.”

The elf could hardly believe whether this situation was a dream or reality.

Not only had the Dragon saved their lives, but now she also offered to help the elves.

If Zikyon helped them, they could definitely rebuild more quickly.

Transporting these gigantic Gigantes, each weighing 60 tons, to the dwarves’ village through 49 teleportation magic circles would take several days.

Also, the amount of mana required to teleport these massive Gigantes was enormous.

The elves gathered to infuse mana into the magic circles would undoubtedly remain exhausted for weeks to come.

“Here it is. These are the coordinates.”

Zikyon checked the coordinates on the parchment handed over by the elf and immediately began her work.

A gigantic magic circle started to form under her feet.

It wasn’t drawn by hand; the magic circle began to form quickly on its own.

The magic circle, which the elves had united their strength to create, turned black as it covered the vast area.

Surely, the magic circle on the other end was also burning the same way.

Once the magic circle was completed, Zikyon slowly ascended and began moving the scattered Gigantes debris toward the magic circle one by one.

The gigantic Gigantes started to rise slowly and disappear through the magic circle to the other side of the space.

It was truly an astounding sight.

The elf magicians watching were almost fainting.

Their plan was to disassemble the limbs of the Gigantes and use lightweight magic to load them onto the heavy equipment brought by the dwarves.

Of course, without the lightweight magic, it would have been impossible to move the destroyed Gigantes with just 100 people.

However, Zikyon skipped such processes and moved dozens of Gigantes simultaneously with pure magical power.

A long line of Gigantes extended, disappearing one by one through the magic circle. The sight was dizzying for the elf magicians.

Zikyon was casting three extremely high-level spells simultaneously.

Gravity reversal magic and long-distance warp magic.

The elves could only cast one of these high-level spells with the aid of a magic circle.

Yet, Zikyon maintained all three spells, including levitation magic, effortlessly.

After about two hours, all the Gigantes had been moved to the Mine Kingdom through the magic circle.

The estimated time for this task was a week. But Zikyon had finished it alone in just two hours.

It was indeed a sight to behold.

However, even for the mighty Ancient Dragon, moving 49 Gigantes, each weighing 60 tons, through long-distance warp had exhausted her.

“Huff, huff, huff, it’s all moved now, right? Huff, huff.”

The sight of Zikyon with sweat beading on her forehead was quite unfamiliar, but her beautiful appearance, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, looked even more attractive.

Unfortunately, the elf standing before her was a woman, so she showed no particular reaction to Zikyon’s sexy appearance.

“Now, it’s all done. Let’s head to the Mine Kingdom.”

“Thank you for your help, Great One. The grace you have bestowed upon us elves will be our eternal glory.”

Zikyon didn’t mind the elf’s flattering words.

Moreover, the sweat running down her forehead and into the valley of her chest felt exceptionally cool today, giving her a sense of satisfaction.

‘Is sweat from working this refreshing?’

Having never done such physical labor before, Zikyon felt a refreshing sensation.

Feeling a slight thirst, she took out an apple she had saved earlier and took a bite.

Seeing the cold air emanating from her hand, it was clear that the apple was chilled.

The ice-cold apple tasted truly delightful, especially after the hard work, making it even more delicious.

“Wow, this is really delicious!”

The reason dragons like Zikyon often took on the forms of other species was to enjoy such tastes.

In her true form, she could never experience such flavors.

What taste could there be from throwing an apple the size of a pea into her mouth?

As Zikyon expressed her deep admiration while eating the apple, the elf watching her couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

For an elf whose main diet consisted of fruits, the apple that even a dragon found delicious looked extremely appetizing.

Moreover, she had only filled her stomach with meager vegetables since the war started, so the sweet-scented apple appeared even more enticing.

Reading her longing gaze, Zikyon took out an apple and handed it to the elf.

“Would you like to try one too?”

Zikyon offered the elf a chilled apple in the same way she had cooled hers.

If it had been gold or jewels, she wouldn’t have handed it over, but dragons were not particularly greedy when it came to food.

They could get it whenever they needed.

“Are you really giving it to me?”

“Yes, take it.”

“Thank you.”

With an expression that seemed on the verge of tears, the elf received the cold apple and took a big bite.

It was curious how her small, cherry-like mouth could open so wide, but the elf nearly bit off half of the apple at once, savoring the icy, sweet, and refreshing flavor.

Crunch, crunch.

“Is it good?”

With her mouth full of apple, the elf vigorously nodded her head instead of answering, making Zikyon feel even better.

Seeing her enjoy the apple she had grown so much gave Zikyon a feeling akin to that of a proud farmer.

“Indeed, good fertilizer is essential.”

“Pfft!”

Upon hearing the word fertilizer, the elf magician spat out the apple she was eating.

“Are you okay?”

“Cough! Cough! Yes, yes, I’m fine.”

“You choked because it was so delicious, right?”

“Yes, that’s right, Lady Zikyon.”

Engrossed in the apple’s taste, the elf had momentarily forgotten where it had grown, but Zikyon’s words reminded her of that hellish place.

An organic apple grown from the blood wrung out of hundreds of people… The elf magician suddenly lost her appetite.

“Eat slowly. I’ll eat slowly too.”

“What? Oh… okay…”

Zikyon smiled and took a bite of the apple in front of her, gesturing for her to take another bite as well.

The elf, having no choice, took another bite of the apple with a resigned expression.

However, unlike before, the apple now tasted bland and unappealing.

It didn’t taste like anything at all.

On top of that, she felt like she could detect a faint smell of blood.

That day, the elf painfully realized how taste could change so drastically based on one’s thoughts, all thanks to Zikyon.

Forcing herself to finish the apple, the elf magician hurriedly led Zikyon to the teleportation magic circle.

She feared Zikyon might offer her another apple.

“We have prepared the magic circle over there. Lady Zikyon, you just need to step onto it.”

“Is that so? Lead the way.”

“Yes.”

—

As Zikyon finished tidying up the situation and headed toward the Mine Kingdom, chaos erupted there.

The teleportation magic circle they had set up suddenly caught fire.

This could only mean that someone on the other side had tampered with the teleportation magic circle.

In other words, it meant that those who had left to retrieve the destroyed Gigantes had been ambushed and annihilated.

As everyone wept over the deaths of their comrades who had departed, a new, much larger magic circle began to form over the burnt remains of the previous one.

It was an astonishingly advanced magic circle.

“Oh! No way?”

The elf magicians watching the enormous magic circle were stricken with fear.

They were certain it was an attempt by the enemy to track their transportation route and teleport here.

The thirty elf magicians who had gathered to infuse the teleportation magic with mana tried their hardest to distort the magic circle.

But they were even more shocked.

The magic circle before them was a high-dimensional teleportation magic circle created by a magician of unimaginable skill.

In the end, they couldn’t even touch the magic circle.

They could only cast attack spells to destroy the enemies crossing through space.

“Forget distorting the teleportation! Everyone, cast attack spells!”

“Yes!”

The elf magicians hurriedly began chanting attack spells.

However, they fell into despair once again.

The massive silhouette that began to appear in front of them, brimming with magical power and tension, was unmistakably a Gigantes.

Gigantes were fundamentally clad in thick steel armor that was impervious to most magic.

Moreover, depending on their grade, they had magical shields that offered some degree of protection against high-level magic.

Seeing such a formidable foe gradually manifest before them, the magicians’ faces turned as pale as sheets.

But the Gigantes that began to appear weren’t normal.

Its joints were destroyed, and the cockpit in the shoulder area was completely wrecked.

In short, it was nothing but scrap metal.

They exchanged puzzled looks, but soon realized that these were the Elven Knights they had created.

“What on earth is going on?”

Though they couldn’t understand the situation, the Gigantes retrieval mission was a success.

However, they had no time to think further.

More Gigantes kept coming in.

Every two minutes, another piece of scrap metal piled up on the magic circle.

The fact that the Gigantes were being transported so quickly was certainly good news, but this was too fast.

“Damn it! They didn’t consider our situation at all…”

“What the hell is going on? Who’s transporting these Gigantes so recklessly?”

“How would I know? Maybe a dragon is helping them.”

“Well, if that’s true, I’ll eat my hat! I’ll do it!”

“Haha! Me too!”

While sweating profusely and exchanging jokes, the dwarves continued their work.

From a teleportation magic circle set up in a corner of the wide open space, a bright light emanated, revealing two figures.

“We’re here, Lady Zikyon.”

“Yes, it’s been a while. I used to come here often.”

Recalling the times she came empty-handed and left with full hands, Zikyon indulged in a moment of nostalgia.

But her reminiscence was interrupted by a voice.

“Gloria Sister!”

At the call, the elf magician turned her gaze.

Elf magicians, drenched in sweat from their work, were running toward her.

“Ah, Lady Adora!”

“What is going on? How did so many Gigantes arrive all at once…?”

Lady Adora, the elf magician, bombarded Gloria with questions before turning her attention to the beautiful woman standing beside her, who had a somewhat sullen expression.