The Emperor, in his phoenix form, soared through the sky at tremendous speed, heading directly toward the continent of Mira.
His fiery wings tore through the air at incredible speed, while his mind was occupied with the events that had taken place moments ago.
He was thinking about the Guard Captain and the ten knights he had left behind on the Fallen Islands.
Then he said to himself:
"How much time can those ten knights, along with the Guard Captain, buy me?"
He knew that they were facing an extremely dangerous situation.
Nevertheless, he hoped they would be able to hold out for a while, allowing him to get far enough away from the island.
But...
Suddenly...
His thoughts came to a halt.
He sensed a terrifying, sinister aura approaching from behind him.
The aura was incredibly powerful, so powerful that he could clearly sense it despite the great distance.
The Emperor quickly looked behind him.
And in the next moment...
His eyes widened.
For in the distance, he saw a gigantic and terrifying crow flying toward him at tremendous speed.
The Human Emperor immediately recognized the crow.
It was the very same crow that had emerged from the aura of the mysterious figure when he had fought it before.
The Emperor said in astonishment:
"How did it catch up to me so quickly?!"
The Emperor did not know the answer.
And in truth...
He did not care much about how the crow had managed to catch up to him so quickly.
The only thing that mattered to him was survival.
He looked ahead once again.
The continent of Mira was still far away.
There was still a long distance separating him from it.
The Emperor realized that continuing to flee would be useless.
The crow had already gotten too close.
Therefore...
The Emperor stopped fleeing.
Then he canceled his phoenix transformation.
The flames surrounding his body disappeared, and he returned to his human form.
He then stood in the sky, waiting for the crow that was rapidly approaching him.
After a few moments...
The crow arrived before him.
Now, the two were standing face-to-face.
The Emperor glared at it angrily and said:
"So, you finally caught up, you bastard."
But the moment the Emperor said that...
He suddenly shouted furiously:
"What did I ever do to you for you to hate me and do all of this?!"
His expression grew even more intense as he continued:
"By doing this, you are declaring war on all of humanity!"
The enormous black crow continued staring at the Emperor.
It did not answer.
It did not utter a single word.
Instead, it looked at him mockingly.
Then...
It opened its mouth.
And suddenly...
An enormous number of black creatures poured out of its mouth.
An entire army of dark creatures emerged and charged toward the Emperor at tremendous speed.
The creatures spread out around him from all directions.
Their objective was clear.
To surround him...
And then eliminate him.
Elsewhere...
On one of the Fallen Islands...
The Elven Saint stood atop the castle located on the island.
She looked downward from beyond the castle walls, watching what was happening below.
Down there...
The demons were engaged in a fierce battle against the spiritual elven creatures.
The spiritual elven creatures attacked the demons without stopping, while elven archers fired their arrows from atop the walls, attempting to eliminate as many demons as possible.
The battle continued.
The demons were falling one after another beneath the attacks of the spiritual elven creatures and the elven archers.
The Saint continued watching the battle in silence.
But suddenly...
One of the Elven Elders approached her.
He stopped in front of her and bowed slightly.
"Saint."
The Saint turned toward him.
He then said:
"There is something important."
She looked at him with interest.
He then told her about the rumors that had begun spreading throughout the continent of Mira.
He told her about the rumors concerning the Dark Elves.
And about the seed that was said to possess the ability to grow into a Sacred Tree.
The more the Saint listened to the Elder's words...
The more serious her expression became.
When he finished speaking...
She was stunned for a few moments.
Her mind began working rapidly.
She remembered the attack that had previously occurred against the Sacred Tree.
The Saint quickly connected that attack with the current rumors.
If the Dark Elves had truly obtained something capable of producing a Sacred Tree...
Then perhaps the previous attack had not been an ordinary attack at all.
Perhaps it had been part of a much larger plan.
But she did not want to jump to conclusions.
The Saint spoke in an enigmatic tone:
"We must uncover the truth."
Then she looked at the Elder and gave him her order:
"Send one of the spirits to investigate this matter."
The Elder listened carefully.
The Saint continued:
"And make sure that this spirit specializes in stealth."
Then she added:
"I don't want the Dark Elves to realize that we currently believe these rumors."
She fell silent for a moment.
Then she said:
"Right now, I only want to know whether these rumors are nothing more than lies... or whether they are actually true."
The Elder listened attentively to the Saint's words.
Then he nodded.
"I will go to the continent of Mira and carry out your order, Saint."
The Saint calmly replied:
"Don't take too long."
The Elder bowed, then quickly departed to carry out her command and spread the Saint's instructions.
The Saint remained alone atop the wall.
She turned her gaze back toward the battle taking place below.
She could see the demons fighting against the spiritual creatures, while the elven archers continued firing their arrows from atop the walls.
But the Saint's mind was no longer focused solely on the battle.
It was far more occupied with what she had just heard.
She looked toward the horizon and said to herself:
"I hope what I'm thinking is nothing more than nonsense..."
She remained standing there, silently watching the battle, while deep inside, she continued wondering whether the thought occupying her mind could actually be true...
Or whether it was nothing more than a mere imagination.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]