Chapter 417: The Ruling

Jilannis’s body, which had been standing in place, rapidly dissolved into motes of starlight. Her true form appeared on the other side of the cave.

Although the Moon Elf could clearly perceive the power contained within the short sword, the difference in their strength was too vast. Even without the Spider Elf’s intervention, the Old Elf had absolutely no chance of actually hitting her.

‘But why would the Spider Elf do that? And why would the Old Elf?’

“My foolish girl…” The Spider Elf collapsed to the ground, a highly corrosive fluid seeping from his arachnid parts. The short sword embedded in his body still shone with a bright light, its surging Arcane Energy bombarding his fragile insides like cannonballs.

CRACK! A piece of his chitinous shell shattered without warning and fell to the ground. The Spider Elf coughed up a large mouthful of blood thick with Red Mould.

He could no longer move, and what little life he had left was rapidly draining away. Yet he showed no signs of panic. Instead, he seemed almost relieved, for he was gratified to see his other, more human-looking self had also collapsed in agony, clawing at his own face.

It was the mouthful of tainted blood he had just coughed up. It contained a third-generation variant of Red Mould, one that hadn’t even been properly tested in the cave yet. This strain could dissolve most Protective Magic and was immune to the corrosion of Strong Acid. Its only weakness was that, by not sacrificing its reproductive ability to evolve a hard shell, it could not withstand sunlight.

Of course, he was now the only one who knew this.

“My foolish girl, I did it to stop him from assassinating you, of course!” The Spider Elf coughed up another mouthful of foul blood, gasping for breath. “No matter what you’ve become, you were once my student. How could I just stand by and watch you be attacked?”

The Spider Elf gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Of course, I never expected that little girl from back then to have become so powerful. When did you create the Phantom? I didn’t notice it at all.”

“…From the very beginning,” Jilannis replied after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry to have disappointed you, but the Jilannis of today is no longer the Jian of the past.”

“You don’t trust anyone easily, do you?” The Spider Elf seemed to let out a sigh of relief. “I can understand. After all, I’m not the man I used to be either…”

“Of course you’re not who you used to be!”

A powerful surge of Arcane Energy suddenly erupted from the Old Elf lying on the other side. The Red Mould was continuously eating away at his body, the pain and itching driving him to tear at his own face, strips of aged flesh falling from his fingertips. But when the Spider Elf spoke those words, the Old Elf, who had looked moments away from killing himself, suddenly exploded with immense power and charged toward the Spider Elf!

He gripped the hilt of the short sword once more. With a single exertion of force, he shattered the Spider Elf’s entire exoskeleton, revealing the bloated, gnarled, and twisted flesh within!

“Because I’m the one from the past!”

“A young soul in an old husk… Jian, do you hear that? Such a tired old trope,” the Spider Elf said. His injuries were far more severe than his counterpart’s. He tried several times to stop the other’s advancing hand and short sword, but failed each time. “But what I want to tell you is, this was a foolish thing for even a true old man like me to do.”

“You… split yourself into two?”

“One half is the me I used to be, and the other half is the me after we parted,” the Spider Elf nodded. “Thank you for showing us both the same respect earlier. After all, in principle, we are both your teacher. It’s just that…”

“You are not!” the Old Elf viciously interrupted his other self. “You’re nothing but an empty shell! You have the memories of the past, but none of the feelings for her!”

“I’m the only one! I’m the one Jian remembers in her heart! You are a mistake!”

He pulled the short sword out, letting the Spider Elf’s fluids gush freely. But strangely, despite suffering such a fatal blow, the Spider Elf showed no signs of dying. Instead, it was the Old Elf’s power that was rapidly fading.

“Is that so? Then why is it that when I am injured, you grow weak as well?” the Spider Elf said mockingly. “You’ve always known why. You’ve always known. That’s the reason you like to hide, capturing those poor souls and modifying them to ruin my plans.”

“You don’t dare face me, nor have you figured out how to. Because you *are* me, but I am not you. You can’t guarantee you’ll survive after killing me!”

“Nonsense! Of course I can—” Before the Old Elf could finish, his body suddenly swayed violently. He propped himself up against a nearby wall, his mouth, which was constantly spewing blood, twisting into a huge grin. “This is the effect of your Red Mould, not you! I won’t die with you!”

“Someone can save me!”

“Are you talking about her?” The Spider Elf looked at his younger self, who was struggling to stay on his feet, and laughed even more wantonly. “Jian! Will you save him?!”

“He may be the teacher from your memories, but the time I have lived through is far longer than his! I am the main body! Not to mention, I’m the one who just saved you, while he tried to attack you! Will you save him?!”

“Give it up. You’re redundant. Just a redundancy, not even worth mentioning,” the Old Elf gasped, trying to draw more air into his lungs. “Besides, I don’t need her to save me at all! I still have—”

“Stop trying to hold on, Teacher. Your strength is almost completely gone,” Jilannis said, her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to persuade him. “We still have a chance, don’t we?”

“Splitting yourself was a mistake, and you’ve seen the result. As your student, I happen to have an Arcane Magic that can merge you back into one. But before that, you must both heal to avoid inflicting double the wounds on a single body.”

“As for the matter of healing, please allow me to ask for instructions from my Lord.”

Ron, who had been watching coldly from the side, glanced at the Moon Elf. When he saw her questioning gaze, he didn’t immediately nod or shake his head. Instead, he raised his left hand. Between his palms, a strange, gray mist pulsed rhythmically, neither urging nor forbidding.

Perhaps to that Final Lawgiver, these “little people” whose natural lifespans had already reached their end were simply not worth mentioning. Their demise was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.