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Chapter 28: Familiar Face? (1)
The Sanctuary of Fire in the Train Region was located on the dormant volcano Mount Idea.
I thought I might encounter the High Elf Diana's unit on the way here, but there was no sign of them.
“Haste.”
Having learned the 3rd-circle magic spell, I diligently cast Haste, which increases speed, and ran to the Sanctuary situated midway up Mount Idea.
Yet, there was still no trace of Diana’s group at the Sanctuary of Fire.
“Hmm... Is there an orc territory nearby?”
“To my knowledge, there is an orc village around here…”
“Let’s head there.”
Under Alfid’s direction, I started running again.
Learning the 3rd-circle spells seemed to have paid off.
While there were many offensive spells, support magic like Haste proved to be incredibly useful.
“Peep, peep.”
By the time the sun had set and darkness had fallen, as I pushed through the forest, the little bird that had been quiet on my head suddenly spread its wings.
Following its lead, I ventured further and came upon a clearing.
From there, I heard sounds of battle.
As I approached, to my surprise, I saw elves fighting among themselves.
However, while one elf unit was clearly outnumbered, the attacking elves had decayed and rotten bodies.
“Those are Lady Diana’s unit members… but why are they fighting each other? Ah! Zombies!”
Alfid, observing the battlefield from my back, let out a lament.
Right, zombies.
That’s what they were.
They couldn’t have been zombies from the beginning, which means someone must have turned them into zombies.
We need to help them first.
“Alfid, I’ll start with arrows. Prepare yourself as well.”
“Yes… Turning elves into zombies… How could anyone…”
Grasping Artemis’ Bow, arrows of light materialized.
I aimed at the over one hundred zombie elves and unleashed a barrage of arrows.
Thud!
The zombies disintegrated into dust, as if swept away by my holy arrows.
Thanks to the divine power infused in the arrows, they were far more effective than I expected.
“Reinforcements!”
The elf unit, who had been on the verge of despair surrounded by zombies, regained their spirits.
As they desperately defended against the zombie elves, I poured all my mana into shooting more arrows.
“Ugh…”
Even as their zombie comrades disintegrated behind them, the zombies paid no attention to me.
They were entirely focused on attacking the elves in front of them.
This made it easy to target them, and the battle became one-sided.
When the last zombie was shot and turned to dust, the surviving members of the elf unit collapsed where they stood.
“Ha…”
“We’re alive…”
“Nass became a zombie… sniff…”
Some elves began to cry, likely recalling their comrades who had turned into zombies.
It was a sorrowful and somber atmosphere.
But we couldn’t afford to waste any more time here.
“Alfid, let’s go.”
“Yes…”
As we approached the elves, a gruesome sight came into view.
While the zombies hit by my holy arrows were purified and vanished, those defeated by the elf unit remained.
Zombies with severed limbs crawling on the ground, headless zombies with twitching eyes, and half-burnt, half-rotted zombies—it was grotesque, especially considering these were once a beautiful race.
“I’ll purify them with divine power. Alfid, inform the unit members.”
I purified the immobile zombies one by one with arrows of light.
As I was nearly done cleaning up, the elves approached.
“I’ve heard from Alfid. Apostle of the God of War, I am Eshil, deputy-commander of Diana’s Guard.”
This was one of the first female elves I’d seen in this world.
Though her appearance was marred by dust and blood, her beauty as an elf remained evident.
Most of the unit members were also female elves, suggesting that Diana led a predominantly female guard.
“What happened here?”
“A lich… A lich appeared.”
“A lich?”
A high-ranking undead mage who rejects death and transforms themselves into an undead monster.
I hadn’t faced a mage-type monster before, so I tensed up.
Dragons were one thing—they just breathed fire.
“Yes, and there isn’t just one. There are multiple. Please help us, Apostle! Lady Diana is in danger!”
“Let’s head there immediately.”
While moving toward the orc village under Eshil’s guidance, I learned more about the situation.
High elves were akin to royalty among elves and, alongside the World Tree, were considered sacred by the elven race.
As such, Diana, a high elf, led the Diana Guard, consisting of two units.
During their search for the Sanctuary of Fire, half of the first unit went missing.
Following their trail led them to an orc village near the Sanctuary.
Diana then divided her forces and launched an attack on the orc village…
But it turned out to be a trap set by the liches.
“The orc village was completely empty, with our comrades lying unconscious in the center of the village. We tried to save them, but… they had already been zombified by the liches and magically altered to hide their decayed appearance.”
Damn, they’re cunning.
Unlike the brute-force enemies I’d dealt with so far, these liches had a different approach.
Well, they were high-ranking mages, so tricks like that were probably second nature to them.
“Lady Diana ordered a full retreat. I gathered the second unit and withdrew, but… Lady Diana is missing. Knowing her, she’s likely holding back the undead forces on her own.”
Buying time for her troops to escape, huh?
But if the high elf ends up protecting the high elf guards, what’s the point?
If she gets captured and corrupted by the enemy, it’ll be a nightmare.
Suddenly, I remembered a certain R-rated guide written by Kim Jiho.
Why am I thinking about that now?
Ahem, never mind.
“There’s no time to waste. Without Lady Diana, we can’t open the Sanctuary of Fire!”
“This is the right direction, yes? I’ll go ahead. Summon: Flame Chariot.”
Sensing we were close, I summoned the Flame Chariot.
The female elves’ astonished expressions made me puff out my chest a little, but given the situation, I set off immediately.
Riding the flame chariot in ethereal form, I galloped across the sky.
Thanks to my increased mana reserves, I arrived at the orc village without issue.
Or rather, what used to be the orc village—it now resembled a cemetery where all the corpses had risen.
“This place is crawling with undead.”
Elves and orc zombies roamed together, while a towering skeletal knight in white bone armor led them.
They were surging like a tide toward the village’s central square.
Amidst the undead, a radiant light pulsed with divine energy.
That must be High Elf Diana.
[Who are you?]
An eerie voice echoed in my ears.
The sound of rattling bones came from above.
Looking up, I saw a robed skeleton standing in midair, staring at me.
Though it was just a skeleton, its glowing red eyes were unsettling.
Without responding, I raised my bow and fired a surprise arrow.
An arrow imbued with divine power.
If it hit, it would surely deal significant damage to the lich.
However…
A black barrier formed around its body, deflecting the arrow.
[An arrow imbued with divine power… So you are an Apostle of Order.]
The barrier wasn’t perfect—it cracked slightly from the impact.
Good, that means it’s effective.
Riding the chariot, I dashed through the undead while continuously firing arrows at the lich above.
It was my first time shooting arrows from a moving chariot, so my aim wasn’t perfect.
Still, a few arrows found their mark.
As the cracks on the barrier deepened, the lich gestured, and the barrier began to regenerate.
Hmm. Not going to be easy, huh?
[Dark Flame.]
Suddenly, a wall of dark flames rises in the direction of the carriage's path.
The moment I saw it, I knew.
This thing would hurt even in spiritual form.
Should I just charge through it?
“Peep! Peep!”
At that moment, Peep started chirping and began sucking in the black flames with its beak.
Not just regular flames, but even those dark flames—can it eat those too?
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[A phoenix! A servant favored by the gods. Heh heh heh, how delightful.]
A sinister laugh came from above.
I wanted to pull the carriage up and take down that lich immediately, but the rescue had to come first.
Burning through the undead army as I advanced, I finally saw the high elf the elves had begged me to save.
A woman radiating a gentle light, just like the high elf, Liana.
Clad in pure white armor, she wielded a sword in each hand, performing an elegant sword dance.
Her platinum blonde hair flowed out from beneath her helmet, streaked with blood, and her white armor was stained with blood and pieces of enemy corpses.
Yet, the soft white light emanating from her armor and swords was beautiful and sacred.
A warrior of the gods?
She looks the part more than me, clad in this black armor.
“Are you Lady Diana?”
“Yes, I am Diana. The Chariot of the Sun God… Who are you?”
Her voice was similar to Liana's.
Even her hair color.
Are all high elves this similar?
“I’m Kim Jiho, Apostle of Minerva, the Goddess of War. I’ve also received a blessing from the Sun God. But we’re short on time, so please get on the chariot.”
Diana hesitated for a moment, staring at the blazing chariot.
Scared to ride it?
“You won’t burn. I can manage that much.”
“Ah… Alright.”
Using the chariot skill frequently had taught me how to control it.
Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t guarantee safety for a regular person… but she’s strong, so she should be fine.
Diana elegantly leaped onto the chariot, cutting down nearby zombies in a single stroke before landing.
It was like watching a martial arts movie.
“It’s… a bit hot.”
“But bearable, right? Let’s go.”
Hmm.
I thought I managed the heat well, but she still says it’s hot.
Good thing I didn’t try this with a regular person.
I immediately turned the chariot around.
Zombies, ignoring the flames that engulfed them, charged at us, only to be incinerated the moment they got close.
As we crushed through the undead army and pushed forward—
[Bone Wall.]
[Darkness Hands.]
[Dark Flame.]
[Do not use fire magic. There’s a phoenix!]
Three distinct voices echoed from above.
At the same time, an impenetrable wall of bones rose from the ground in front of us.
Behind us, dark flames surged, and above, massive black hands formed.
It was obvious we’d be surrounded if this continued.
“Explosion. Explosion.”
I used Explosion, the 3-circle blast magic I spent 500 million gold learning, twice in succession.
Boom!
Flames erupted from the bone wall, followed by a massive explosion.
At the same time, Diana hurled her twin swords.
The swords, imbued with divine power, crossed paths and sliced through the Bone Wall.
The wall shattered in an instant, and her swords spun back into her hands.
[Chain Lightning!]
“Anti-Magic Shield. Anti-Magic Shield.”
A lightning bolt shot down from the sky, aimed directly at me.
I’d expected them to retaliate, so I cast Anti-Magic Shield just in time.
The purple shield absorbed the lightning bolt, snuffing it out.
Hah.
Investing 5 billion into 3-circle spells was worth it after all.
[Ice Field.]
[Bone Missile.]
[Lightning.]
But the magic attacks kept coming, annoying me to no end.
I summoned Artemis’s bow and handed it to Diana.
“What’s this?”
“You’re an elf, so you know how to use a bow, right? Take care of those guys for me. I’m busy maintaining the shield.”
“There are no arrows.”
“That bow generates magic arrows automatically. Just touch the string.”
She fiddled with the bow for a moment before aiming at the sky.
Then, two arrows of light appeared on the string.
What?
Two at once?
How is that even possible?
But she fired them.
Thwack, thwack.
Then, three arrows appeared on the string.
And they fired simultaneously.
Finally, four arrows.
When the fourth volley was fired, a loud boom echoed from above.
This was followed by a terrible groan.
[Ugh! Arghhh! My mana, my dark magic… it’s leaking away…]
[To penetrate the Darkness Shield…]
[That weapon—it’s divine. Retreat!]
I looked up and saw only one lich remaining.
Two arrows of light were embedded in its body, white flames burning as they devoured it.
The other two liches had vanished.
No matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t see them.
Wow.
Elf archery really is something else.
How can she shoot four arrows at once?
Thunk. Thunk.
The undead army chasing the chariot began to collapse one by one.
As the liches retreated, the undead suddenly stopped moving and fell.
Only the large skeletal knight remained standing before it, too, dissolved into the ground, starting from its feet.
“Phew… Could we stop for a moment?”
At Diana’s polite request, I nodded.
I was running out of mana anyway, so it worked out.
She stepped off the fiery chariot and removed her helmet.
Her face, as expected of a high elf, was beautiful, but…
Huh?
That face—it’s Liana!
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