Chapter 1343 — The "Bodyguard"

As for the "Barrier Wall Plan" Armaun had brought with him, Belantia was not yet certain it could truly put an end to the wasteland, but since the plan had been proposed in person by Gaoyang Cecil and the former Goddess of Magic, it surely rested on ample theoretical grounding and was necessary to carry out—of this she had no doubt. On the other hand, she understood better than anyone how difficult the plan would be to realize.

It was true the Silver Empire could manufacture enough purification devices, but the situation on the southern front had already begun to deteriorate. The original Silver–Highridge allied force had only just managed to hold the line, and now that the mutant legions retreating from the western front had begun moving south, the southern theater was bound to be in peril. Armaun had mentioned that allied troops from the west could also march south in support, but Belantia knew in her heart that the Auley Tribal States had vast occupied territories to recover, that the mountain barrier required a large number of legions left behind to guard against counterattacks from the wasteland, and that, with the front so long and with supply and communication to consider, how many expeditionary troops setting out from the Cecil Empire could actually reach the Highridge defense line? That was a question no one could evade.

"Until the situation on the southern front improves, at least, it will be very difficult for us to set the 'barrier wall' plan in motion," Belantia said gravely. "But we can begin preparations now—producing the purification devices and the protective devices."

"I understand your difficulties, and the north understands them as well. I will carry the situation here back faithfully," Armaun said, lowering his head slightly and brushing the crown of the Silver Empress's head lightly with the tip of his nose. Then his tone grew gentle as he continued, "In addition… though I do not know whether this will be of any help to you, I have brought a rather unusual guest with me today."

"An unusual guest?" Belantia looked around in surprise. This was the first time she had heard that this "messenger" had actually brought someone along. "Who is it?"

"Come out, little one," Armaun raised his head and called toward the shadows among the trees not far away. "Be bold, don't be so nervous—your Silver Empress isn't going to eat you."

The underbrush in the woods rustled and swayed. Belantia and Elaine instinctively widened their eyes and looked toward the sound. The next second, they saw a petite figure step out from the shadows screened by shrubs and flowers—it was an elf.

But not any kind of elf Belantia knew.

She had the same golden hair as the silver elves, yet the ears that extended from beneath that long hair seemed a little shorter than a silver elf's. Her skin was exceedingly pale—so pale as to be faintly translucent—and beneath that thin skin, glowing, vein-like lines were dimly visible. She wore light hunting garb in the style of a forest hunter, and on the exposed skin of her arms, neck, and legs, arcane symbols and lines were everywhere—patterns that might have been war-marks or magic-marks, and which were certainly nothing that existed in silver elf culture.

She looked very much like a silver elf, but any true silver elf could tell at a glance the difference between this girl and the race. Belantia considered herself well traveled; she had seen every elven subrace in the world, yet never such a peculiar "branch." She studied the other curiously and watched the elf girl step out with a timid expression, cast her one nervous glance, and then, as though having summoned great resolve, begin walking toward them.

"…Hello," Belantia said, deciding to break the silence herself after noticing how excessively nervous the other was. "May I ask who you are?"

The petite elf girl gave a start and immediately began to speak: "I… my name is Berna Lightwind! I live at Number Seventeen, Backflow Street, Whitesand City. My mentor is Master Thornheart, and my professions are ranger and mage… they were, I mean. I've been traveling abroad these past years and only recently returned from the north. My last registered location was Sentinel Monitoring Station No. 112. It is an honor to meet you, honored Empress!"

The string of self-introductions came tumbling out in a rush. The little elf who called herself Berna Lightwind had stammered at first, but the words that followed flowed with perfect smoothness—that conditioned-reflex torrent sounded as though she had recited it countless times, so that even after she fell silent, Belantia did not react at once. Two seconds later, the Silver Empress blinked and gave the elf girl before her an extremely astonished look.

Beside her, Elaine could not help speaking up: "You mean… you're a silver elf? A silver elf who has been traveling abroad?"

As she spoke, she instinctively studied the other again, but at such close range she only grew more certain that the girl before her was no silver elf. Whether in her physical features or in the "life aura" she gave off, the other felt profoundly strange—it did not even seem like the "texture" possessed by any race she knew. And after a careful look, Elaine noticed something else:

Those "magic marks" on the elf girl's skin were not painted-on decoration—they were part of her skin itself! Those runes were even circulating continuously like a real magic circle, forming complex flows of magical power she could not comprehend.

"Y-yes, I really am a silver elf, I…" Berna noticed Elaine's gaze and instinctively shrank back, as though trying to hide somewhere, and said in a small voice, "The things on my body are because… because I had some special experiences… but I really am a silver elf…"

Elaine blinked, seeming about to say more, but she suddenly caught the subtle hint of movement from the Silver Empress beside her and fell silent at once.

"…It seems you have been through a great deal—an adventure beyond what others could imagine, surely," Belantia said with a smile, looking at the petite elf before her. "Though your body seems greatly changed, silver elves are always glad to welcome home brothers and sisters who return from far journeys. In short—welcome back."

Berna listened to the Silver Empress speak in a kind of daze, looking as though she still could not quite take it in. Only after a stunned two seconds did she hurriedly nod. "Ah, yes, it really is hard to imagine… I never thought I would be… er, brought back by Mr. Armaun himself, and we even crossed the Shadow Realm. Oh, right—I've brought some helpers too. I heard you needed help here, though I don't know how much use they'll be…"

As she spoke, the little elf turned her head toward the depths of the woods. Belantia and Elaine were startled to see the runes on the elf girl's body suddenly light up one after another, beginning to give off a radiance far brighter than before, shining on Berna's skin like a field of breathing stars. The dazzlingly complex "casting process" was completed in an instant. Belantia sensed an enormous "signal" spreading outward from the elf girl, and the next second she heard countless heavy footsteps rise from the dense forest not far off, accompanied by the sounds of snapping vegetation and branches scraping together.

A moment later, she saw those towering figures—treants, treants in numbers vast as a legion, yet utterly different from the "guardian ancient trees" Belantia knew.

Those intelligent "plants" strode out from the dense forest, drawn up in neat ranks that had clearly undergone rigorous training and radiating the bearing of professional soldiers. Alloy-forged armor and all manner of auxiliary equipment hung from their trunks and branches, arming them into something imposing and eerie, and at the ends of their obviously modified arms they carried rail-accelerator cannons that in no way looked like something a soldier could hold in his hands.