On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Upon entering the forest, all of us are immediately on high alert. Although we can see everything clearly, it is simply impossible for us to pay attention to every little detail the vast forest has to offer.

We can’t detect any Dark Elf in surroundings, but we are sure they are hiding somewhere. There is simply no way they don’t have any intention to slow us down—they must have predicted this to happen.

“Are you sure that Teanosvera is just not being neutral and helping both side?” I ask Haletha in curiosity.

“Teanosvera is not like that.” Haletha shakes her head. “He really is on our side this time. Had he remained neutral, he would’ve abstained from this war, and did nothing to help us.”

“Then, Iorael and his cronies must have something planned.”

“They sure do.”

We have been venturing into the forest for three minutes. It might not seem long, but considering our speed, we should already be, at least, 6 miles into the forest; in spite of that, still, there is no Dark Elf to be spotted.

I spread my Mana Sense—I believe the others also do—to somehow detect any life form nearby, but what I get is just a bunch of random Wild Beasts that I don’t even know the name of.

My instinct is actually telling me that the real danger is still ahead. I trust it, but I just can’t bring myself to immediately discard the possibility of the enemies lurking around, thus I keep scanning my surroundings.

“Haletha,” I call. “No matter how scummy they actually are, what they want is just the best for the Kingdom and the forest, isn’t it?”

“… Yes?”

“I have a crazy idea.”

The idea is so crazy, it might piss Teanosvera off. I am definite, however, that the Rebel Army will also be greatly provoked, so I am going to do it regardless.

“Everything is fair in love and war,” I mutter.

“What are you…”

Ignoring the curious gaze that Haletha and Eliseus are giving me, I softly instruct Genelos, “Show everyone why you are the best Wyvern this world has ever had!”

“Do you want me to do THAT?” Genelos asks, slightly baffled.

“Yes, THAT.”

“… Fine.”

What I am going to do is letting Genelos burn some trees in the forest, until none of the Dark Elves in the Rebel Army can stomach the scene any longer. As I said, this is a crazy and a risky idea.

Nonetheless, my instinct tells me everything is going to be fine. I have also thought this through; if Teanosvera is really on our side, he will not let the fire eat the entire forest up.

Burst!

Under everyone’s shocked and baffled gaze, Genelos shoots his fire breath out. The fire immediately engulfs the nearby trees, lighting up the surroundings surprisingly well.

“What the…”𝐎𝑣𝑙xt.𝑐𝑂𝓜

“A Wyvern spitting out fir?”

“What kind of a ridiculous joke is this?”

“H-Hey, the forest!”

The reactions varied from each side: our side is confused by the fact that a Wyvern has a fire breath, meanwhile the Dark Elves are dumbfounded by the fact that someone has just decided to light their forest on fire.

“Did I do well?”

“Yes, you did well, Genelos. You have made them understand why you are the best Wyvern this world has ever had.”

“Ku-ku-ku. It’s great that you understand it well, partner!”

Although I certainly exaggerate a few things, I really mean what I said—Genelos is special. Only Dragons have a fire breath; Wyvern can never have it, so Genelos really is one of, if not, the best Wyverns this world has ever had.

“Layland, you may anger Teanosvera! What are you thinking?” Haletha exclaims in bewilderment.

Ignoring Haletha, I say, “Burn some more, Genelos. Let these Dark Elves know how hell looks like.”

“Ku-ku-ku. Leave it to me!”

Burst!

Summoning Rexorem, I immediately use Fire Magic. I cast [Ignatio] once, and create ten fireballs at once.

After sending them to my surroundings, I cast [Incendia] to cover Rexorem with fire. Although it looks like it is doing the same thing, unlike [Ignia Ferrum], this Spell only uses Rexorem as its “medium.”

[Ignia Ferrum] still allows the fire to remain covering your sword even when you swing it; but [Incendia] doesn’t, which is why I say it is merely using the sword as its “medium.”

Other than that, [Incendia] can be cast on anything—steel, wood, stone, etc.—meanwhile [Ignia Ferrum] can only be cast on a sword. Shortly, I am using [Incendia] because I want to make an improvised flamethrower.

Whoosh!

I swing Rexorem, allowing the fire covering it to immediately leave it before engulfing the nearby trees.

p Burst!

“Layland, I don’t think this is a great idea,” Eliseus warns. I can sense worry in her voice. “You will end up destroying the whole forest if you keep doing it.”

“You are right.” I take a quick look around, and find that I am the only one playing with fire, literally. “Still, what do you expect from a war? A beautiful scenery and a non-chaotic situation?”

Scoffing, I continue, “No. That’s not how war works. Destruction is inevitable when it comes to war. You should’ve known better, Eliseus.”

This forest, according to the history, has never been engulfed in fire even once. Aside from the fact that no one has ever dared to do it; Teanosvera, the guardian of the forest, also makes it very hard to be engulfed in fire.

The fact that I can do it means that Teanosvera allows it to happen. He really is on our side, and no one seems to realize it.

“Stop this nonsense immediately!”

As soon as we hear the thunderous roar, all of us immediately stop moving. Someone with a powerful aura has just shown himself before us; he is looking at us with a murderous gaze as he stands on one of the tree branches mightily.

I can’t hold my gleeful smirk back. The fish has finally taken the bait, and now it is time to take it out of the water.

“I am very disappointed in you, Haletha! How dare you bring harm to our home?”

The Dark Elf who is facing us with his unpleasant glare is the oldest Dark Elf I have ever seen. Although he still looks young compared to humans, seeing a middle-aged looking Dark Elf is slightly uncanny.

For the race that is known for their eternal youthful look, his appearance can only mean one thing: he has lived long enough.

“You are spouting nonsense, Elder Rohan,” Haletha says coldly.

As I expected, the old man is one of the people who saw the establishment of Lysimork.

“This place is no longer my home since the day Iorael sent me his arrow, and YOU supported him!”

“There seems to be a really grave misunderstanding between us, Haletha.”

Another Dark Elf, who I believe is also an Elder, joins the party. She is a mature looking Dark Elf, which is just as rare as the middle-aged man looking Dark Elf.

Click!

She snaps her fingers once, and the fire engulfing the trees immediately disappears. The air has become more humid than it was before, so I can immediately conclude she is good at Water Magic.

“We just want the best for Lysimork. You barely contribute anything to Lysimork, so we decided to dethrone you. You were too adamant on keeping your throne—we were left with no choice, thus what happened happened. This is still your home, Haletha.”

“You do spout nonsense too, it seems, Elder Viledi,” Haletha retorts. “You want the best for Lysimork? Why do you act like I am the one who has always been making underhanded deals with the humans for my own benefits?!”

“This insolent lass!”

The truth hurts. Seeing how enraged they are by Haletha’s remark, the truth behind it should not be questioned.

“Fucking hypocrites.”

Just as I am about to attack one of the Elders, Velucan suddenly shouts, “Go! I will take these two bastards on my own!” He immediately throws himself toward the two Elders afterwards.

Seeing that, none of us stay in our place. The infantries resume their march, and the Riders instruct their Wyverns to fly away.

“Do you think I’ll let you?!” Rohan exclaims.

“Your opponent is me!” Velucan cackles gleefully.

Boom!

None of us look back and worry about Velucan’s fate. We know he will rejoin us in a couple of minutes.

When a minute passed since our encounter with the two Elders, another two show up. These two look way older than previous two—wrinkles decorate their face, making me think they are just old human men with pointed ears.

“Leave these bugs to me! You can go ahead, and exterminate the opponent’s army,” Jovenus exclaims this time.

None of us even stop for a second. We just keep advancing, mind focused on wiping Lysimork clean off the Rebel Army.

In a blink of an eye, five minutes passed. I expected another Elder to show up, but no one shows up anymore; Haletha explains not long after that they only have four Elders.

“Hoh? Ready, aren’t they?”

When Lysimork enters our vision, we can immediately see tens of thousands of fully armed Dark Elves standing before it. The aura they are emanating is intimidating enough—they are ready to fight.

“Riders, break through!” Eliseus shouts.

Unlike the infantries, we, Riders will not fight outside Lysimork. We will fight the Dark Elves who remain inside, and take Lysimork down even before the fight outside is concluded.