Chapter 162
"It's so noisy." Karl frowned as he looked at the people sitting and chatting in front of him, while also keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.
I really don't understand why these guys are chatting so happily at a time like this, when this place is so dangerous. There are dangers everywhere, and yet these people are just chatting about their everyday lives.
Lori huddled in his arms, motionless, as if dead. Silent and taciturn, like a corpse.
Carl didn't comfort her; he just gently rubbed her head with his hand.
Comforting words are useless; no one will believe such deceptive statements. Just feeling a little relieved is already a good thing.
"Did that city become like this because of me?" Lori murmured softly. Karl didn't answer, but simply soothed her as if stroking a kitten's fur.
He didn't want to lie, nor did he want to hurt the child, so he remained silent.
Without Lori, even if the city were to suffer damage due to the Demon King, it wouldn't have escalated to such a severe situation. Moreover, with the Saints present, the losses would have been minimized considerably.
"Can you kill me?" Lori suddenly whispered, "Could you please kill me while I'm asleep or unaware of it?"
“Why would you say that?” Carl sighed. “You’re just alive, that shouldn’t be a mistake.”
"But you said that I live by making mistakes."
"Child, I did say that. But it's not your fault."
"Then who should we blame? The church or humans?" Lori asked, sounding aggrieved, like a child who had been wronged.
“No one is to blame. If anyone is to blame, blame the demon that gave you that power,” Karl said softly. “They shouldn’t have given you that power. Your life was saved at a great cost. If you die, all those people will have died in vain.”
As he spoke, he cautiously observed his surroundings.
The church is already targeting her, which is terrible news. They're restless no matter where they are now.
Thinking this way, the surroundings did indeed begin to slowly change.
When the first black leaf appeared, it was followed by a vast expanse of green.
Everyone squeezed into the carriage and plunged into the green leaves. Darkness descended, and even the torches could not illuminate the road ahead.
The tin can slowly rubbed against the fire, and everyone fell silent, sitting around the fire.
Until the true spiritual realm appeared before them.
They burst forth from the green leaves and appeared in a mysterious realm.
"It feels a bit like an elf's abode here," Deedri murmured softly as she finally saw what she had imagined.
Starting with Ark, everyone disembarked from the carriage. Before coming, they had been told the rules: while the elves didn't discriminate against outsiders, anyone uninvited who arrived by carriage would be considered an impolite stranger and might even be kicked out.
Therefore, it's best to walk. Just leave the carriage here; someone will help you tidy it up.
Aside from simple luggage and a bottle of fruit wine in Yakti's hand, they carried nothing else.
They climbed up the tall vines, and Chuli said from the front:
“If we had just entered, the Elf King would have come out to see us. I will have intervened then, and I doubt he would have made things difficult for you.” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “You certainly won’t be staying long, will you?”
"We can't wait to leave."
“That would be best.” Chuli looked around. “This is where I grew up. What do you think? Pretty nice, right?”
Indeed, the entire forest of giant trees was filled with a strange light emanating from an unknown source. If you looked for the source, you could find several enormous, fallen fruits, glowing softly like a gentle breeze.
There seemed to be several shadows standing on the branches in the distance, but they disappeared by the time I looked over. Perhaps they were elves, or perhaps they were rabbits.
Carl led Lori by the hand and walked behind her. Lori looked around at her surroundings with wide, curious eyes.
It was the first time she had ever seen such strange trees. This was a space dominated by plants, and there were even flowers; it was hard to imagine that flowers could grow in such a place.
This made her feel at ease, because this was a place for monsters to live, and also her rightful home.
Spider-Man walked at the very back, as he usually did because of his abilities. This was to prevent any ambushes. Neither he nor Deedri had ever seen a place like this before, and they looked around cautiously.
Here, there is no sun, no hell, and no sign of life; only wild forests remain.
Yak raised his hand, giving a signal, and the team stopped.
Spider-Man became alert, because only now did he notice a stranger in front of him. He instinctively pulled Deedri behind him.
Even now, if it weren't for the fact that it's visible to the naked eye, one would still feel that the person doesn't exist. His presence is completely integrated into the forest; even at such close range, one wouldn't know there's someone there based solely on their senses.
However, that guy was definitely not human; he was a man who stood 1.9 meters tall, a head taller than anyone else in the group. He wore a crown of thorns and a coat covered in plants.
Holding a long staff, he stood there, silently waiting for them to approach. He said nothing, simply watching them.
Like a ghost that suddenly appeared.
Chuli knelt on one knee and greeted him with the elven greeting.
She felt a pang of regret; she hadn't been back for quite some time, otherwise she wouldn't have only recognized him at such close range. Fortunately, he didn't seem to care; as the Elf King, he was magnanimous.
“My lord, we wish to rest here.” Chuli’s voice was low, but she knew he could hear her: “We mean no harm.”
Then he waited for a reply, but said nothing. Chuli looked up, a little puzzled, and saw him staring at Ark with a hint of displeasure.
"You're still alive," the Elf King said softly. "I thought I'd never see you again."
“This means my luck hasn’t run out yet,” Ark said, looking at it. “You don’t look any different; you’re still acting all mysterious.”
The Elf King did not answer this somewhat disrespectful question, but instead quickly glanced at it.
"Your companion?" the Elf King asked, looking behind him as if to confirm.
“My partner,” Ark confirmed.
"Another batch changed, and these people don't look good," the Elf King said bluntly. "That guy was passable, but are the others just there to make up the numbers?"
Ark followed its gaze and saw the little spider at the back of the line. The two were staring at each other without exchanging a word, but there was a palpable sense of menace between them.
“Partnership isn’t about strength,” Ark replied. “I don’t believe that strength is always good.”
......
The Elf King sipped his cider, watching Ark warily.
"How does it taste?" Yak poured him another cup from a jar and placed it in front of him.
"It's alright," he said softly, then switched cups and continued to sip slowly.
“I remember you didn’t used to drink like this.” Yak swirled the empty glass. “If I used a glass like this before, you would have gotten angry.”
“I’m getting old,” he said, then put down the empty glass in his hand. Seemingly having lowered his guard a little, he finally stopped staring at him and instead looked at the people scattered around the long table.
Apart from the sounds of eating, it was completely silent.
“You really can’t tell.” Only Ark was chatting with him. He was munching on a strange fruit and looking at his profile. “You must be almost a thousand years old. You don’t look old at all.”
“I have been given a demonic mark by the demon god, and I will not age,” he said softly. “You know that our bodies do not decay.”
"So you mean the heart gets old? That sounds so literary." Yak finished the fruit in his hand and poured himself a glass of cider.
"So they know each other," Deedris whispered in the little spider's ear. "Did you know?"
“He won’t say anything about his past unless we press him,” Spider-Man replied in a low voice.
“I do know that Ark knows the Elf King, but that’s all I know,” Little White interjected in a soft voice. “But I didn’t expect that their relationship seems…to be quite harmonious.”
The wording was accepted by everyone, and those who heard it nodded slightly.
It was indeed harmonious; it was hard to tell how good their relationship was. But as mentioned beforehand, food for elves was extremely scarce, and most elves chose not to eat, relying solely on magic to survive. However, in such situations, they would set aside precious food to entertain a large group of outsiders. And Ark was currently drinking and chatting with that guy.
This relationship seems to be at least that of ordinary friends.
“I wouldn’t call him a friend,” the Elf King said immediately, having heard them speak and as soon as they had this thought. “At most, we’re acquaintances.”
He turned to look at the expressionless Ark, paused, and said, "At least now you don't make me hate you anymore. That ugly smile of yours won't disgust me anymore."
“Yeah, it’s really tough to force a smile when there’s nothing wrong.” Ark seemed to remember something and looked at him, asking, “How’s Renya?”
The Elf King stiffened for a moment, and after a brief pause, he slowly turned to look at Ark.
“It’s very bad.” His eyes were filled with anger: “She has been in the Chaos Region for too long. The accumulated corruption over the years has left her only able to rest and slumber for a long time. Judging from this, she has less than a hundred years left to live.”
"Really...?" Ark's voice was unreadable, as he carefully ate fruit with his fork. "Then you can still sit here and chat with me calmly. Your temper has improved a lot."
"I was just doing what she asked me to do." The Elf King slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly opened them again. "I will arrange rooms for you later. I heard what you were saying, and I hope that your claim of not staying long is true."
He looked at the little girl sitting at the far end of the table and said, "You have brought something very troublesome that will bring us disaster."
“I’m sorry.” Lori looked up at him and said, “Will you kick me out?”
She trembled slightly with fear as she said it, but she still asked the question firmly. Because it was her matter, and she didn't want anyone to be implicated because of her.
"That has nothing to do with what I'm saying. You are my guest. In fact, you should be considered an honored guest." The Elf King's tone was tinged with doubt: "I should be asking you if the food was pleasant enough?"
This left Lori a bit confused. Just now they said she would bring disaster, but they didn't seem to be trying to get rid of her. It was really hard to understand.
"It's alright," Lori quickly replied, seeing that the Elf King hadn't looked away.
He nodded in satisfaction, then continued to look at Ark, a nasty smile suddenly appearing on his expressionless face.
Since meeting Benny, Ark has stopped having a poker face and even smiles when something interesting happens.
"Why are you laughing?" The Elf King felt uneasy being looked at by such a strange gaze.
"Are you afraid of disaster?" Yak tilted his head and looked at him with a strange smile.
The Elf King shook his head, then looked at Ark with displeasure:
"Although I am not afraid of being destroyed for rebelling against the Church, I do not want it to be a meaningless war. I once said that if you can find me a battlefield where I can gain glory, I will not mind dying. But the war between the Church and the Demon Army ended long ago, almost a thousand years ago, and I have not found a place where I can die gloriously."
As he said this, he looked at the little spider over there.
"Your magic power is very low." The Elf King frowned. "At first, I thought you were pretending, but after observing you more closely, I find that your magic power... is less than thirty percent?"
“That’s enough.” Krissen nodded. “Thank you for your concern.”
"You're too small, your magic replenishment is too slow."
“You’re not very big either.” The little spider looked at him hesitantly: “You’re the Demon King, so you should need a larger size to replenish your magic power.”
The Elf King pointed to a towering tree not far away, then rested his head on his hand and said, "That is my true form."
"Huh?" The little spider was taken aback: "Are you and your main body separate?"
“If you want to maintain your human form and store a lot of magic power, this is a good choice.” The Elf King paused. “That tree is my magic core. Although it is easier to destroy, it must be completely destroyed to sever my life force. This is no secret, because I know that there are very few people who can do this.”
"Doesn't that mean that once you leave here, you'll only have one clone?"
“His abilities as a demon king are very convenient in this regard, though I can’t go into details, but I can only say that it’s a method that can’t be replicated.” Ark looked at the Elf King and said, “I still hope my friend can be a human being, so please don’t try to persuade him to become a monster.”
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