The chief could hardly grasp the situation right now.

In less than 10 minutes since the sudden intruder showed up, not only had the guards been taken out, but the twelve guardians of the Great Forest were also subdued.

To top it off, that bizarre dude had just blown up the World Tree in the strangest way imaginable.

It was already a level of chaos he couldn’t withstand, but there was another kicker—

Why was this guy, who had burned the World Tree, standing before him with that calm face?

Everyone knew the infamous tale of the foolish alchemist whose entire body rotted away just for trying to break a twig off the World Tree.

And now, this guy had burned the sacred tree down, yet he showed no signs of punishment whatsoever.

And the weirdest part was…

‘Why do I feel completely fine right now?’

The fact that he felt perfectly okay despite everything happening around him.

The World Tree was on fire.

No, to be more precise, the World Tree was ablaze!

A being essential to the survival of Elves, a source of life itself, was in shambles, yet he felt nothing.

He could still sense the energy of the World Tree.

And even more oddly, it was coming from that strange white-haired guy.

“What the hell did he just do?!”

He simply couldn’t wrap his head around it.

What had that bastard done? What did he mean about saving “our girl”? It all sounded like gibberish to him.

So, the chief asked the man.

“You should be the one explaining,” said the white-haired man as he walked towards him. Before he knew it, the guy had grabbed the chief’s hand unexpectedly.

What the hell was he doing? The chief wanted to shout, but it was too late; his consciousness started to fade away.

A wave of excruciating pain crashed over him.

The agony twisted his vision, distorting everything in front of him.

An eerie and hideous sound echoed around. Until the moment the man let go, the chief wasn’t even aware that the scream belonged to him.

The perspiration dripped coldly down the chief’s brow as he looked at his left arm.

What had been a perfectly normal arm just moments ago had now turned grotesquely rotten as if it could start decaying any second.

The chief stumbled backward in fear, but his pain-racked body wouldn’t cooperate properly.

He ended up collapsing uselessly onto the ground.

The white-haired man, now smeared in blood, gazed down at the fallen Elf.

“You told the prince where our girl is, didn’t you?”

“That…,” came the shaky reply.

Cold sweat trickled down his back as he felt like he was about to lose his mind.

The murderous intent and hostility that surged when the prince was mentioned…

Combined with the power behind this utterly insane feat—

The conclusion was inescapable.

Before him stood the Black Fangs’ leader.

The chief quickly scrambled to think.

There was no way to resist against a human strong enough to crush the Holy Church. If he wanted to survive, he had to come up with a plan, fast!

After some deliberation, he cautiously spoke up, “W-We were also threatened. They said they’d kill us if we didn’t cooperate…”

The Black Fangs were known to be rather benevolent towards the weak, providing support to slums even.

It was true that they had taken the initiative to cooperate with the prince, hoping that playing the victim would earn them some clemency.

But…

“Think carefully.”

Before he could finish his sob story, the leader of the Black Fangs interrupted.

“Now that I’ve used that one-time devour buff, I have no reason to insist on keeping you alive anymore.”

Stuff about devour buffs and one-time things? It was a garbled mess in his ears.

Still, the line about not having to keep him alive anymore, combined with the murderous aura directed at him, made it clear.

The chief immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

…He had been casual.

After hearing reports of how he’d nearly killed his adversary with his own hands, he thought he could afford to be lax.

What he faced now was overwhelming strength.

The kind of strength that could snuff him out at any moment.

In the face of such a being, he had only one option left.

“I-I’m sorry!”

He prostrated himself on the ground and confessed everything. There was no way the man wouldn’t see through his lies.

All he could do was speak the truth and beg for forgiveness.

So, the chief revealed everything from how he had contacted the prince to details about their plan, spilling all that he knew.

And just as he finished his testimony…

His entire body started to rot away.

A palm pressed down on his head, and through it, he felt his life force being drained.

“Why…?”

He had told the truth. He followed the orders.

So, why was this the outcome?

He asked the man, but all he got back was, “Telling the truth is one thing, but punishment is another.”

That was the only response that came back to him.

His consciousness began to fade out.

The elderly Elf reached the pitiful end of his miserable life.

*

As the absorption completed, he felt a slight increase in the energy swirling around his body.

He was a terrible liar whose thoughts were plastered all over his face, but it seemed he had some real power.

Using a staff similar to the one the Elf Chief wielded ten years ago, he was likely a representative of the Elves, wasn’t he?

‘Well, that’s no longer relevant.’

He was a traitor who actively cooperated with the prince, even trying to hide that fact. There was no way he would let someone like that live.

As I pulled my hand away from the now lifeless old Elf, I stood up.

I could feel the gazes on me.

The eyes of hundreds of Elves watching me from a distance.

Before long, one of them approached me.

It was one of those I had downed and healed, careful not to accidentally waste my one-time devour buff.

The one known as the first guardian.

“What do you desire?”

The tone was now much more respectful.

That was to be expected; if they had any sense, they’d at least grasp the situation.

I replied to that guardian, “Pay for what you did.”

“What do you mean by pay?”

“If you want to reclaim the half-elf you sold, you’ll need to fight the First Prince.”

The Elf’s face went pale upon hearing my request.

This was a completely irrational demand.

Albeit, not surprising considering the Empire could easily wipe them out at a moment’s notice.

“Are you asking us to oppose the Empire?!”

Well, it made sense for them to react like that.

Kicking up the demon armies and monsters from the Demon Realm was something only the Empire took lightly. For them to go head-to-head with such an opponent was a matter of course anyone would protest against.

“That’s… that’s too unreasonable! It’s practically a death sentence!”

As expected, the woman in front of me protested.

Not like the guardians would be so naive, they recognized their wrongdoing but still argued that death was too heavy a punishment.

After hearing her lengthy tirade, I spoke again.

“I know.”

I was aware of it.

It was practically the same as using them as cannon fodder. If it went well, half of them would likely get slaughtered in the process.

Looking at it coldly, this was indeed too heavy a punishment.

But…

“I know, so what?”

What does that have to do with me?

Even among Elves, finding a half-elf would not be an easy task for those with mixed blood.

It takes a considerable amount of time, elaborate rituals, and most importantly… everyone would have to collaborate for it to work.

The Elves here must have all cooperated to track down Siel’s whereabouts.

So why on earth should I judge this matter fairly?

I despised them.

Just as they cooperated with the chief’s plan to save Siel, I wouldn’t care less what happened to them.

I was going to throw them into the pit of danger.

After all, I am not a virtuous saint.

I cherished that dull, blank-eyed child far more than any Elf who would profit from selling us out.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. This isn’t a proposal; it’s simply a threat.”

Without hesitation, I unleashed the energy from the World Tree.

Simply doing that caused the Elves to start screaming and collapsing one by one.

“You don’t have any freedom of choice.”

Obedience.

That was the only option offered to them, and I wouldn’t bother offering any alternatives.

I declared that right before the dying Elves.

*

“Hm…?”

While engrossed in repairing the Holy Sword, Rob’s expression turned curious.

He could swear he saw something extraordinarily strange just moments ago.

Yet…

“There you! How many times do I have to tell you? You can’t melt an artifact like that!”

As soon as he saw the foolish subordinate ruining a precious artifact out of sheer stupidity, Rob dismissed any lingering questions from his mind and raced toward the furnace.

Well, you could say it was a natural consequence.

After all, who would believe that the Holy Sword could temporarily turn black?