After stealing and absorbing all the relics into her body, Yelena had secluded herself in a cave for some time.

“…It’s done.”

The relics had finally become fully integrated into her body. She no longer felt any sense of foreignness. Their power now moved at her will.

She stood up and walked outside—where the elves who had followed her waited.

Elves.

Though they had claimed the mysterious forest as their current base, they had no true homeland. No birthplace. No place of origin.

At some point, they had simply decided to live there. Nothing more, nothing less.

For them, survival was everything. After enduring countless ages, their emotions had worn thin—no personal will remained.

All that was left was collective instinct. They elected a leader and followed their will. It was the simplest way to live without burden, without thought.

Living by the will of one meant you never had to think for yourself.

And as a result—

“I have something to say.”

They were now blindly being led by their leader—Yelena.

“Do you all still intend to follow me?”

Even when she was first elected as their leader, she hadn’t done anything. There hadn’t been any need to.

She had lived far too long. Nothing amused her anymore. She’d even forgotten her own age. It was the Hero who had drawn her out of that timeless slumber.

The Hero—Clay—was someone who never stopped.

A being entirely different from her, who had been living in stillness.

He had shown her a world unlike her own.

A burning conviction. The heartbeat of a living soul.

He had been both gentle and fierce—reminding her of emotions she had long since buried. He lived knowing exactly what it meant to be himself.

To Yelena, who lived only for the preservation of her kind, he had been the one and only proof that she was alive.

But she had crushed that—

With duty. With the burden of preserving her race, she had turned away.

“At last, I’m going to do what I couldn’t do before.”

There was something she had to settle first.

“That’s why I’m stepping down as leader of the elves.”

That didn’t mean they’d be safe. There were already shared crimes between them.

But—

“What I’m about to do next will be on a different scale entirely.”

At the very least, she wanted to respect their free will this time. Her desire to apologize to him was deeply personal.

She had already failed to make the right choice for the group. If she then made a selfish choice that dragged them all into the abyss—nothing would remain.

“So I ask you all to go back.”

That was her final decision.

“…We won’t leave.”

But the elves, once again, refused to disobey her will.

“We follow our chieftain.”

“It doesn’t matter what the decision is.”

“As elves, we act as one and take responsibility as one.”

Had they forgotten that following the chieftain’s will was only a means of efficient group survival?

Looking at the elves, who wanted only to carry out her will, Yelena felt something strange rising inside her.

Was this…

‘Anger?’

An unfamiliar emotion. Lately, she’d been drowning in them.

Loss. Rage. Despair.

Feelings buried in the past now clawed at her heart. It hurt. Yes—she could no longer endure the pain.

“In that case, I will make my will clear.”

She spoke softly.

“I entrust your fates to Clay.”

She wasn’t asking for forgiveness. She didn’t expect him to lead the elves on her behalf.

“If the end doesn’t matter to you—then go find him.”

If, along the way, they changed their minds and sought a different future, that too would be fine.

“Choose for yourselves.”

Yelena began walking.

“And I will choose for myself.”

The elves could only stand and stare blankly at her receding figure.

♧

“Yelena isn’t coming back.”

Royal Palace of Ezer.

Seated upon her throne, Tia murmured.

“We haven’t heard a word from her since the report that she subdued a Guardian Knight.”

Lilien stood before her, wearing a troubled expression.

Yelena’s movements had become a complete mystery. And with the elves following her, the entire group had essentially vanished.

“Shall I organize a search party?”

“No.” Tia shook her head, “We both know what she’s going to do.”

“…If you mean her objective—?”

“She’ll go after Emperor Lutan herself.”

“What?!”

Lilien’s eyes widened.

“She’s going to challenge Krata alone?!”

“Yes. Unless she’s bringing all the elves too.”

“That’s practically a path to extinction. We must stop her—”

“We can’t.” Tia sighed, “Did you forget what Yelena possesses?”

“Huh?”

“The World Tree’s branch.”

Strictly speaking, what Yelena possessed was a bow made from the World Tree’s branch—but that distinction didn’t matter.

“The branch of a World Tree that hasn’t lost its power can guide its wielder to where its roots once extended.”

The World Tree in the Mysterious Forest was actually a sapling grown from the fruit of the original World Tree, Yggsilrad.

Yggsilrad had once stood in Krata’s capital. It was said to have died for unknown reasons. The sapling now held that power.

“But, Your Majesty… would a branch from a sapling really be able to guide someone to where Yggsilrad once stood?”

“I don’t know.” And yet, Tia was sure, “But Lilien—Yelena once said something to me.”

“What did she say…?”

“She said, ‘Let’s go together.’”

She had spoken of using her bow to return to the place where Yggsilrad once grew.

“She said the only branch that still retained its power after being cut from the World Tree in the Mysterious Forest was her bow. And she told me she’d confirmed that it could guide her to the original site of Yggsilrad.”

“Is… is that true?”

“They say elves can even speak to World Trees. I doubt she was lying. I think Yelena just didn’t say it out loud, but that tree in the Mysterious Forest really is Yggsilrad. Its soul must’ve transferred into the sapling.”

That meant it was entirely possible Yelena could be directly transported to Krata’s capital.

“Anyway, I turned her down.”

Tia let out a faint, bitter laugh.

“She might not have been able to bring more than one person. Rushing in recklessly could have made things worse.”

“…Your Majesty.”

“Is this bothering you, Lilien?”

Tia shifted her gaze downward to look at Lilien.

“If I don’t stop her now, it might look like I agree with what Yelena’s trying to do.”

“Your Majesty, you cannot confront Lutan driven by personal feelings. I understand why you’d resent Krata for abandoning us, but Clay’s situation is a separate matter.”

“…”

Tia didn’t respond.

Instead, she stood and reached for the sword beside her throne—Excalbren—and stepped down with it in hand.

“I tried not to be consumed by personal emotions. I even explained it to you that way.”

“Then…”

“But that was all just an act.”

She smiled faintly.

“You know it too, don’t you? How emotional I really am.”

When Clay was executed, she had crumbled.

It hadn’t been something she could prepare for or resist with logic or plans. It was a collapse born of a deep, essential sorrow—of something undeniable, no matter how much she tried to reject it.

“Don’t you have someone like that, Lilien? Someone you spent your entire life with since childhood… who died before you?”

“Your Majesty…”

“Because of my title, I helped kill him.”

Even if it was a belated confession, she felt a small weight lift off her shoulders.

“Maybe it would’ve been better if I’d been as honest as Yuru. Though in the end, it seems she went mad.”

“You’re… different, Your Majesty.”

“No. I’m not.”

Tia’s eyes trembled violently.

“I couldn’t be. I tried to be different, but I couldn’t. In the end, I lost everything. I couldn’t even recover his body. I don’t even know why I did it anymore.”

“You did it for Ezer.”

“Then now I have to do something for myself.”

Her lips twisted slightly.

“Otherwise, I might go mad like Yuru.”

The Holy Sword, Excalbren, began to glow.

That golden light didn’t feel divine—it felt ominous.

“I think I’m ready now. I got lucky—ended up with the Holy Sword, got used to wielding it. Seems like it’s about time I made a move.”

At that, Lilien looked at Excalbren.

‘Even hearing her say this… it doesn’t respond.’

Excalbren was a Holy Sword. A Soul Sword—one that held a spirit within.

‘If it truly couldn’t accept Clay becoming the Demon King… then why…?’

Its silence was unsettling.

And yet, Tia seemed entirely unbothered—as if she had expected this all along.

“Wondering why Excalbren is quiet?”

She read Lilien’s mind with ease.

“Excalbren is designed to hand over full control to its owner. Even if it says nothing, the soul within is bound entirely to the wielder’s will.”

Which was why it had never even attempted to reach out to Clay after he became the Demon King.

“If it messed up, its very soul might be swallowed. But since I haven’t fallen, it must’ve thought I’d be safe. That was a mistake, of course.”

“Y-Your Majesty, you are a Saintess! You don’t need to suppress the sword like this—”

“I’m not interested in being advised.”

Tia’s eyes turned icy.

“Lilien, why are you pretending like you haven’t done anything? Is it guilt?”

It had been none other than Lilien and her knights who set fire to the region where Elhaen’s Mark had appeared.

“Or are you telling yourself you were just following orders?”

Lilien couldn’t reply.

She didn’t know what she was supposed to say anymore.

“You just need to follow my orders. After all the pain I’ve endured, I finally understand.”

Tia extended her hand toward Lilien.

“Why someone always tries to conquer the world.”

Whether it’s the Demon King or anyone else—

“There are things you can only do if you possess everything.”

She had changed.

No, she had long been changing—and only now did she admit and accept it.

“So take my hand. And let’s enjoy it together.”

The world we were supposed to have.

As Tia said those words, Lilien could only look up at her—eyes filled with unease.

(End of Chapter)

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