Chapter 27: It was a little awkward to pounce on the Elf King.

When the mist suddenly enveloped the great tree, Doris let out a delighted series of chirps. Shu Li and the chicks hidden beneath her belly all poked their heads out at once.

At the sight of the dense mist, Shu Li clasped his hands tightly, tears glimmering in his eyes.

Wonderful! The gods had heard his prayers.

Before long, chaos erupted beneath the tree. Affected by the mist, the Black Knights began hallucinating and turned on one another.

Shu Li instinctively covered his nose, afraid that if he inhaled the mist, he would lose his mind too.

But he had already breathed in plenty before covering his nose, and nothing strange had happened. When he turned to look at the chicks beside him, every one of them seemed perfectly normal.

It appeared that the mist only affected outsiders.

Shu Li lowered his hand and waited anxiously, silently reciting the true names of the gods and thanking them for their protection.

The turmoil beneath the tree grew worse, punctuated by terrible screams. Then a sinister voice suddenly roared, "An illusion! All of it is an illusion! This is nothing more than one of the Elven King’s pathetic tricks!"

Shu Li’s entire body tensed, and his heart seemed ready to leap into his throat.

What was that Black Knight shouting? His voice sounded terrifying, brimming with vicious hostility!

A beautiful voice faintly sounded from beneath the tree. Immediately afterward, the mist vanished.

Shu Li paled in shock. Gripping the edge of the nest with both hands, he ignored Doris’s attempt to stop him and leaned out to look below.

And then—

He saw a mass of light.

Warm, hazy, dreamlike light, purer even than moonlight.

Wherever the light moved, darkness gave way and silently disappeared.

Shu Li’s eyes widened in disbelief. Without blinking, he stared at that mass of light—or rather, at the unicorn surrounded by its own glowing effects and the golden-haired Elf riding upon its back.

Even from more than twenty meters above, even looking down from such a height, Shu Li could still make out the rider’s appearance clearly.

It was the Elven King!

He swore upon his enormous, sparkling eyes that he was not mistaken. The golden-haired Elf riding the unicorn, radiating elegance from head to toe and looking as perfect as a god, was undoubtedly the Elven King he had seen on the first day of his life.

Shu Li was overjoyed. His little heart pounded wildly, and in the heat of the moment, he forgot his circumstances. Unable to wait another second, he spread his wings and flew toward the Elven King.

However, the instant he jumped from the nest, a beak caught hold of his clothes.

"Huh?"

Shu Li froze.

Doris swiftly pulled him back into the nest, wrapped him tightly beneath one wing, and gave several reproachful coos.

Pressed against her soft feathers, Shu Li’s overheated mind gradually cooled, and a wave of lingering fear washed over him.

He had nearly forgotten that those terrifying Black Knights were still below!

He was only a fragile cub right now. What if he accidentally became a burden to the Elven King?

Fortunately, Doris had been more sensible and caught him in time.

"Th-thank you." Shu Li’s small face flushed as he thanked her.

"Coo, coo." Doris gently touched the Fairy cub’s head with her red beak to reassure him.

Just wait. The Elven King would soon deal with those evil intruders.

He did not have to wait long.

Shu Li silently counted to twenty, and by then, the commotion beneath the tree had ceased. When he reached ten, he heard a gentle voice.

"Sperien, I’ve come to take you home."

The man’s voice was like music from heaven. Shu Li trembled, his very soul shuddering with it.

He wriggled out from beneath Doris’s belly and eagerly leaned over to look down.

The golden-haired Elf lifted his flawless face and extended a hand toward him.

Shu Li stared blankly at him. Tears gathered in his eyes before he could stop them. He had spent the entire night frightened and anxious, had nearly brushed shoulders with the God of Death, and now, in the depths of despair, the sight of the Elven King felt like seeing family. An overwhelming sense of grievance surged through his heart.

"Waaah—"

Unable to hold back any longer, he rushed out of the nest, flapping his wings rapidly as he threw himself toward the Elven King, tears flying everywhere.

This time, Doris did not stop him. Instead, she worked hard to straighten the tilted nest.

Shu Li plunged downward from a branch more than twenty meters above the ground, his tiny wings fluttering furiously. Yet after flying for what felt like ages, he had only descended a little over ten meters. The emotion he had felt upon seeing the Elven King abruptly diminished by half, replaced by inexplicable embarrassment.

Under normal circumstances, was he not supposed to immediately throw himself into the Elven King’s arms and seek comfort?

But... he had already been flying for quite a while, and there was still a considerable distance between them.

His streaming tears stopped abruptly.

This was nothing like he had imagined!

The Elven King still held out his hand. His expression had not changed from beginning to end, and his gaze remained as gentle as water.

Shu Li closed his eyes. Abandoning all dignity, he folded his wings and simply let his body enter free fall.

The speed... was actually faster than when he flew on his own!

Shu Li covered his face in humiliation.

Grievance? Emotion?

Neither existed anymore.

At this very moment, all he wanted was to lie quietly in a hole, have himself covered with a thick layer of soil, and sleep peacefully forever.

Waaah... this was seriously too humiliating!

The golden-haired Fairy cub dropped in a straight line like a tiny pebble, brushed past the Elven King’s fingertips, and continued plummeting toward the ground.

The Elven King: "..."

Just as the cub was about to plunge into a patch of weeds, the Elven King moved one finger. A sphere of gentle light swiftly wrapped around the little body.

Shu Li felt his fall stop. He lowered his hands from his face and opened his eyes dazedly, only to discover in astonishment that he was inside a ball of light.

Huh?

He tipped his head back and was confronted by an enormous—

Horse head!

A long, spiraling horn grew from its forehead.

This was... a unicorn!

"Neigh, neigh~"

While Shu Li stared blankly, the unicorn bared its teeth at him.

At the sight of the neat row of gleaming white animal teeth, Shu Li experienced a fleeting moment of horror, and his beautiful impression of unicorns shifted ever so slightly.

Fortunately, their staring contest did not last long. The sphere of light carried him upward and floated toward the Elven King.

The Elven King opened his palm, and the little cub landed squarely in it.

Face-to-face with the Elven King once again, Shu Li blinked his large, pale green eyes. Feeling both shy and conflicted, he nervously twisted the hem of his clothes between his fingers and tried hard to recall the etiquette Aisha had taught him.

For example, when meeting the Elven King, he was supposed to offer the highest form of respect.

He brought his feet together and stood properly. Awkwardly raising his right hand to press it over the left side of his chest, he bowed his head and bent forward, stammering, "Th-thank you, noble King... for saving me. I will praise you every day!"

The Elven King smiled and asked softly, "Were you hurt?"

After completing his bow, Shu Li straightened. At the question, he shook his head so vigorously that it resembled a rattle drum. Pointing toward the branch above, he said, "No! Doris protected me very well."

"Doris?" The Elven King glanced upward.

Doris was in the middle of setting her nest straight and calming her four chirping chicks. Hearing the Elven King and the Fairy cub talking, she spread her wings and flew down, landing on a nearby branch.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp—" she called toward the cub.

A magical beast of her low rank could not yet express herself in Elven.

Naturally, Shu Li could not understand her. He only felt that Doris seemed somewhat displeased.

He looked to the Elven King for help.

Fluent in the language of magical beasts, the Elven King considerately translated for him. "She says she is not called a plump bird. She is a Taganya bird, and her name is Doris."

"Chirp!" Doris nodded solemnly.

"I-I’m sorry!" Shu Li flushed with embarrassment. He had not known what species she was, and because she was white and plump, he had privately called her a plump bird. During his conversation with the Elven King just now, the words had slipped out by accident.

"Chirp, chirp~" Doris had always been tolerant toward cubs.

Seeing that she did not mind, Shu Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at her sincerely. "Thank you, Doris."

He had only given her a single fruit, yet Doris had not only sheltered him but protected him throughout the crisis.

Without her, he had no idea how many times he might already have died.

Shu Li touched his storage ring, intending to find the finest treasure inside and give it to Doris as thanks.

The magical serpent had given him so many things that he could not decide which was the most valuable. His eyes nearly crossed from trying to choose.

The Elven King moved before him and presented Doris with a gift first.

With a wave of his hand, four translucent red crystal flower seeds floated toward Doris.

Doris did not recognize the seeds, but she was instantly drawn to their dense magical power.

"Doris, thank you for saving Sperien. These are red crystal flower seeds. I offer them as thanks to you and your cubs," the Elven King said.

Doris’s eyes widened.

Those four tiny red specks were actually red crystal flower seeds, treasures capable of raising a magical beast’s rank!

She stared excitedly at the Elven King and chirped several times.

Was he truly giving her something so valuable?

The Elven King smiled and nodded.

Once she received confirmation, Doris immediately opened her beak wide and pecked four times in rapid succession, swallowing all four seeds before spreading her wings and flying back to the nest.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp—" The four chicks opened their mouths and cried loudly when their mother returned.

They were hungry!

Without hesitation, Doris fed one red crystal flower seed to each chick.

Shu Li looked up at the lively nest in confusion.

Strange. Why did the red crystal flower seeds the Elven King had given Doris seem so familiar?

Unless he remembered incorrectly, the gift he had given that plump sparrow not long ago had also consisted of exactly four seeds.

Ah, perhaps he was overthinking it.

The Elven King had lived for so long. There was nothing strange about him possessing red crystal flower seeds.

After feeding the chicks, Doris flew down again and circled twice above the youth lying near the tree trunk.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp—"

She was reminding them that two humans of uncertain life or death were still lying on the ground!

Although she disliked humans, compared with the Black Knights who carried an aura of death, these two were clearly somewhat better. After all, they had not been affected by the mist or fallen into hallucinations.

Usually, only upright and kindhearted humans could withstand the mist’s Trial.

Prompted by Doris, Shu Li suddenly remembered something. Bracing himself against the Elven King’s finger, he looked down at the grass.

The sight nearly made him vomit.

He had been so excited upon seeing the Elven King that he had completely forgotten there were other people here.

For example, the crying youth and his companion, as well as those savage, evil Black Knights.

The moon hanging in the sky was exceptionally bright. Silver radiance poured through the branches, illuminating the grass below with perfect clarity.

Blood-soaked heads and headless corpses lay scattered everywhere. The riderless horses remained where they stood, lowering their heads to graze on weeds stained with blood.

The youth in tattered clothes lay motionless beneath the tree trunk. Ten meters away from him lay a man who looked as though he had been drenched in blood. His body bore so many wounds that his back had been reduced to a mangled ruin.

Sitting in the Elven King’s palm, Shu Li covered his mouth and fought down the urge to retch.

The Elven King lowered his eyes and curled his fingers slightly, blocking the cub’s view. Then he raised his free right hand and spoke a brief incantation.

In an instant, the Black Knights’ corpses scattered across the grass turned to powder and melted into the forest soil. The horses reared in fright, then fled in every direction, soon disappearing without a trace.

Only Prince Seriu and his magic instructor remained.