Chapter 307

The Ancient Forest, located in the eight o’clock region of Together, was the outermost of the six territories, spanning the fourth and fifth zones. The city was filled with trees and vegetation, as one would expect of a place where Viridis, a group that had become independent from Sefirot, would settle.

Elves were accustomed to settling in areas without harming the existing nature because plants grew as the elves willed them when they touched the plants with Nature Force infused in their hands.

As a result, they could make homes by having giant trees grow while completely hollow, or having small trees and grass grow so that they intersected. Despite that, the vegetation still provided the elves with nutritious fruit, so it was only natural that the elves loved nature.

The Ancient Forest was usually quiet and cozy, with only the sounds of chirping birds and the shuffling of insects, but there had been more chatting visitors lately.

“Whoa! Look at that tree! It must be over a thousand years old!”

“Chwik! A blessed, fertile land!”

“Neigh! This place is stifling. Not a single plain to run on to your heart’s content.”

They were members of Underground, including humans, orcs, dwarves, and centaurs. The elves did not express shock at their visit since the Ancient Forest had expressed conditional approval to visitors, meaning they needed to be screened before entering.

The screening process was Veritas Oculus, the high elves’ exclusive skill, and any visitors with ill intentions were restricted from entry. Since the elves of Viridis trusted the high elves, their leaders, they also trusted the visitors whom the high elves allowed entry. However, some conversations caused the elves to frown.

“That tree’s really tempting. Maybe I could lumber it if I asked Artisan Elfanya, who was recently appointed as the diplomatic ambassador!” a dwarf said.

“Can it, crazy dwarf!”

“If you did that, you’d get an arrow to the head and become fertilizer for the tree.”

“I heard we’re allowed to take dead trees.”

“Quiet! It’s because of dwarves like you that the entire dwarf race gets criticized!”

“Elves call us the race of destruction, not creation!”

It was only natural since Together had only been formed recently. Over time, each race would better understand the other races’ cultures and tendencies, which would serve as a driving force for Underground’s development.

There were various stores in the central area of the Ancient Forest. Most of them sold rare herbs and tea leaves that were hard to come by, so they were popular with visitors.

One of such stores, located in the shopping district’s outskirts, had a sign labeled Tobacco Leaves For Sale, and the stall was filled with various well-dried leaves, twenty each. Behind the display stand was an old male elf with white hair and a white beard, sitting on a stump as he smoked his tobacco pipe. Birds chirped as they sat on the old man as if he were a tree branch.

The old man who seemed to have become one with nature stared at the thriving shopping district with his golden eyes and mumbled, “Change, huh?”

Sefirot was strictly divided into floors: the Qetseb (root), Qaneh (stalk), Zemorah (branch), Tereph (leaf), Tsiyts (flower), and Periy (fruit). However, there were no such categorizations here, and all elves lived together in harmony, regardless of whether they were grey elves or high elves.

“Did the World Tree restrict us?” the old man wondered.

The World Tree, Sefirot, was their precious Mother Tree, the source of their lives, and nature itself. To the elves, the tree that had birthed and raised them was the greatest treasure of all.

However, the elves could never have thought they would become freer by leaving the World Tree’s embrace. Considering that, it seemed obvious that the World Tree had been restricting the elves as a race, whether it be psychologically or physically.

“Rafina. You said that the destiny of the elves would change and shine brightly if you became the World Tree herself.” The old elf stared at the dissipating smoke, his eyes filled with remorse, and mumbled, “But look. The elves can shine brightly even without the World Tree.”

The old man stared at each member of Viridis around the shopping district. He couldn’t see a single shade on their faces as they walked under the bright sunlight.

“You—no, we failed.”

The radiant life filling this city was proof of that. Of course, the elves of Sefirot might tell the elves of Viridis that they were nothing but vagrants without the World Tree—that they were merely waiting for their deaths, unable to birth the next generation.

However, the elves of Sefirot only despised them because the freedom the elves of Viridis had earned by abandoning everything was too radiant for them. It didn’t matter if they were vagrants or simply waiting for their deaths. All that mattered was that they were free and happy in this moment. Rather, the elves of Sefirot, who were tied down by rules, hierarchy, the system, and restrictions, were going against the rules of nature.

“Poor frogs in a well... I was no different. I had been afraid of change. I did not dare to lumber the World Tree, so I ended up abandoning everything,” the old man mumbled remorsefully.

As the smoke was dissipating, he heard someone approaching the store.

“Kekeke, is business going well?” asked Ozenta, the bald elf with brown eyes and age spots, as he approached the old elf with white hair and a white beard.

“More or less,” the old elf replied.

“Keke, of all the herbs you could sell, you’re selling tobacco? It sure is like you,” Ozenta said, smiling with his eyes as if telling the old elf he knew who he was. He continued, “You always took that form whenever you visited the outer zones... The form of your grandfather.”

The old elf, who had been listening to Ozenta in silence, suddenly began to change form. The imitation wood veneer wrapping his entire body was being removed. The birds that had been sitting on the old man, thinking he was a tree, were startled and flew away.

A few of their feathers fell on a male elf with flawless pale skin, golden hair, and golden eyes, where the old elf had been sitting. He tapped his tobacco pipe on the display stand, removing the burnt tobacco leaves. The smoke from the leaves rose toward the sky, separating the two men.

The man with golden hair and eyes stared at Ozenta and said, “You’ve aged quite a lot, young Ozenta.”

“And you haven’t changed one bit,” Ozenta replied.

“Were you becoming fertilizer in Domen?”

“Keke, that is correct. I barely survived thanks to the Tortoise Emperor.” Ozenta slowly kneeled, brought his hands together, and placed his forehead on the ground. “It has been a while, Master Hod, the Eternal Glory.”

The man stared intently at Ozenta and replied, “I am not Hod. Call me Lapsus.”

***

Silence filled the Ocean Prison. The sound of air bubbles only seemed to enforce the silence.

“What are you... talking about?” the hammerhead shark merfolk asked dumbfoundedly, staring at the smiling man with black hair and eyes.

“You want me to say it again? You and I are fellow Chaos.”

“Kekek... You’re crazy. Stop playing around and just kill me already!” the merfolk shouted.

Seong-Hwi nodded and mumbled, “Good, you’re tight-lipped. I commend you for that.”

“What the hell are you—”

“But you may drop the charade in front of me.”

[Operating Wings of Evolution.]

[Sixteen Wings.]

[Converting Destiny Force to Chaos Mana.]

The sixteen Wings of Evolution sprouted from Seong-Hwi’s back, and the night sky with countless shining stars filled them. The purest of Chaos Mana filled the cell like a wave.

“Now, will you still lie to me?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“Cosmos! Then... you must be...” the merfolk trailed off, his eyes widening as they turned pitch black. “Master Dopper?!”

Dopper? Seong-Hwi wondered.

He engraved the name that the hammerhead shark merfolk said into his memory and nodded nonchalantly.

“That’s right,” he said.

“Why are you in that form? From what I had heard... You were in the middle of becoming an exemplar of a very powerful individual,” the merfolk asked.

Seong-Hwi heard yet another word he did not know. He divided his thought process into two and racked his brain intensely. He used one to infer and decipher the information he had just heard, and the other to make up a lie good enough to fool the man before him.

The best way to fool someone isn’t the perfect lie, but using their imagination.

“I have my reasons,” Seong-Hwi replied vaguely.

The merfolk attached his own assumptions to fill the gaps. “I-I see. You became an exemplar of the envoy of the Sēmen! It would be bad if our plan in Gurzes is leaked to the Sēmen, after all.”

“Exactly. Because of that, there has been a setback.”

“No way!”

“How far has the plan progressed?” Seong-Hwi asked as he placed one hand behind his back, holding a golden card. ℯℓ.

[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]

[Majestic Scepter, one of the symbols of No.4 The Emperor]

A golden ankh scepter appeared in his hand once he activated the skill. It was the Majestic Scepter, symbolizing domination among the symbols of the Major Card, No.4 The Emperor. The Majestic Scepter, possessing a manipulation ability, shone with a golden light, and so did Seong-Hwi’s eyes.

The merfolk’s eyes turned hazy, and he began to divulge his deepest secrets. It was the result of his certainty that no other race than the Chaos could use the Cosmos, mixed with the effect of the Majestic Scepter.

“The plan to divide Pontus is currently in its final stage, and...”

However, Seong-Hwi couldn’t even be happy about the success. The more the hammerhead shark merfolk talked, the paler his face became.

Fuck! He screamed inwardly.

***

The waves of the ocean under the night sky splashed like spit from a whining, hungry child. Two silhouettes stared at the ocean that Seong-Hwi had previously split.

One was a handsome man, resembling a teenager, wearing a flashy red robe. His ruby-like hair and eyes stood out, and the golden horns sprouting perpendicularly from his temples shone brightly even in the dead of night.

“Is Gurzes directly under us?” the man asked.

“Ohoho, that is correct,” the other silhouette answered.

“Where is Natantes?”

“In Gurzes, I would assume.”

“Then I suppose I should make a path,” the man said as he outstretched his hand.

Blade-like winds gathered around the man’s hand, pulsating with an unimaginable mana wave.

“Please wait, Young Master Rahab. You must not be hasty,” the silhouette said, the voice of a woman.

She had black hair, black eyes, copper skin, and was covered in gold ornaments. Her upper body was that of a human woman, but her lower body was that of a black snake.

“You promised me that you would assist me in killing Natantes,” the man said, his red eyes blazing. “That fucking dog killed Haema Sanguis and took the seat of the Ninth Fiend! So how does it make sense that I, Rahab, have yet to become one of the Ten Lords and Fiends?!”

He was Rahab, the Storm Dragon, twenty-first in the world ranking. He was the heir apparent of Dragon King Regnator and was the leader of Clan Aquilo under Echion’s banner.

Rahab was greatly dissatisfied with the current situation. He had faced immense humiliation when Natantes and Pseraslav were nominated as potential candidates alongside him to take the place of Insectum, the Insect King, as the Tenth Fiend. It was his life’s goal to become a member of the Ten Lords and Fiends like his almighty father, and he had been just one step closer to achieving it.

Being compared to a fish and a dog was hard to bear for a royal of the almighty dragons, but he had put up with it because he was certain that he would be chosen. He was the strongest of the three, and Echion had also been pressuring the Sēmen to choose him.

However, Rahab’s suppressed rage exploded once the unexpected news that Pseraslav defeated Haema Sanguis and became the Ninth Fiend started spreading.

“Once I kill Natantes, I will skin Pseraslav alive!” he shouted, then turned to the woman beside him with his crazed eyes. “I suggest you keep your promise, Vipera Anguis.”

The female naga, Vipera Anguis, the Eighth Lord, smiled benevolently and said, “Of course, Young Master. That is why I brought you here in secret.”

Pythons slithered up her arm once she stretched her arm. These pythons were the Snake’s Den, snakes with infinite space in their stomachs. Vipera had used one of them to transport Rahab so that no one would detect him.

“Now is the time for caution. Grandis has begun to make his move,” she said.

“Grandis...” Rahab trailed off, flinching the moment Vipera mentioned the name because he was more powerful than his almighty father.

“Something is strange about Grandis’s movements. He granted the absurd position he calls the inspector to that nuisance, Mucro, and that grumbler, Ascia.”

“What does that have to do with me? All I want to do is kill Natantes!”

“And you will, but we need enough justification so that Grandis can’t say anything about it.” Vipera smiled with his eyes, then whispered to one of her Snake’s Dens, “Make contact with Ananta, Sagara, Vasuki, Ashwasena, Kurma, Kulika, and Manasvin.”

The Snake’s Den that heard Vipera’s command opened its mouth, and eight snakes shot out like bullets and fell into the water.

“What are you doing?” Rahab asked.

“I toild you. I am making you a justification,” Vipera said as she flicked her long tongue and licked her red lips. “Pontus has been in secret meetings with the Chaos. That is more than enough justification for you to kill Natantes, Young Master.”

She appeared to be devoted to Rahab, but her cold heart thought otherwise.

But I will take the merfolk Race Stone! she shouted inwardly.

She was the Snake Queen of Patala, the naga society. Anyone charmed by the Charm Force of Vipera Anguis, the Nagaraja, moved as if believing they wanted to do so. A pink aura lingered around Rahab’s eyes as he stared at Vipera.