'As expected… they're unimpressive.'

As Aurora stood in front of the humans she so easily subdued, she heaved a sigh.

She was grateful that they didn't give her any issues whatsoever in the battle.

'The Ashen Staff's barrier was able to deflect all his attacks, so I suppose there was no need to worry about the combat abilities that humans possess.'

Her S-Tier Nature Magic was also pretty useful in subduing all of them without any need for excessive violence.

'I must have overestimated them in a bid for caution.' Aurora nearly smiled to herself.

The only one who was still awake despite her Spell was Fenrir, but he was barely even conscious.

'Even if he chooses to counterattack, he'll barely be able to do anything.'

Right as she was having these thoughts, ten Elves emerged from the entrance of the Warehouse.

'They're back! Finally!' Aurora smiled, glad to finally be done with dealing with humans.

Her relieved expression soon took a dip, however, once she looked in their direction and saw the kind of face they made.

"H-huh…?"

The ten Elves had sad and weary looks practically embedded on their face.

Not even a single one had a twinkle of joy in their eyes.

It puzzled Aurora.

"You're back early. How was it?" She asked, looking at Lila and Lali especially.

They appeared to be the most exhausted of the group.

"We encountered a horde of Monsters, most likely a trap left behind by the Dragon." Lali responded.

"We managed to bind the first batch and block off the room they occupied. We had to hurry, though, since they could break out at any time." Lila spoke next.

Aurora furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Why didn't you just put them to sleep?"

"We tried. It didn't work."

"Must have been the Dragon's control."

Aurora had a few more questions, but they could all wait. The biggest one on her mind was why they weren't carrying anything with them.

"Where… are the Enchanted Items?" She asked, her tone taking a bit of an anxious turn.

The whole reason they had gone through all of this trouble was for the grand prize that would assist their people and their land.

Yet why wasn't she seeing anything with them?

"We found nothing. We searched high and low, through every corner of the Warehouse… but in the end…"

"There was nothing. It's empty—at least, for the most part."

Aurora couldn't believe what Lila and Lali told her.

"A-are you sure you weren't in too much of a hurry?" She knew it was insensitive to ask such a question, especially after her sisters had done their very best.

Lila and Lali were especially diligent, and everyone knew that for a fact.

But… Aurora simply couldn't believe that their prized goods were missing.

"The Dragon must have taken them all. Could it be Spatial Magic?"

Aurora could feel anger getting mixed with frustration as she gritted her teeth at the news.

"Kekeke…" A strained chuckle echoed from the man who knelt before her.

He was in a delirious state, barely conscious. Yet, he gave his all to laugh at the Elves.

"Serves you bitches ri—!"

~FWIP!~

In one swift turn of her staff, Aurora whipped Fenrir, causing him to lose consciousness that very instant.

Afterwards, she took a deep breath and sighed.

"Haa… I guess there's no helping it." As Aurora muttered this, she looked at the human beneath her.

There was no need to resort to violence since he would have passed out a few seconds later anyway. The reason she went so far was due to her frustration.

She was angry!

'That cursed Dragon!' Her mine echoed as she clenched her fist.

Everything was ruined now.

'We can't just go home empty-handed, and there's no telling how things have escalated over there.'

She bit her lip and did her best to hide her immense vexation, knowing fully well that her impressionable sisters would feel even worse seeing her that way.

"Let's retreat for now. It wouldn't be good if the earlier fight attracted unwanted attention."

This was the middle of nowhere, and Aurora doubted that the Dragon would return, but the safe call for the current situation at hand was for a timely retreat.

"What about the humans?" One of the Elves asked.

Aurora felt the question was unnecessary, and she was about to let her thoughts be known.

'But, considering our major loss, this isn't the time for anything of the sort.'

"We'll leave them here. There's no no need to worry about them."

"Understood, LadyAurora!"

The Elves were pretty much done with everything related to the Warehouse, and while Aurora felt the temptation to check things out herself, she decided to trust Lila and Lali.

'I might return to check things out on my own later…'

If indeed all the Enchanted Items were gone, they would have no choice but to leave within the month.

'I only fear what will happen to us afterwards.'

********

[Hours Later]

"Urhh…"

Fenrir woke up in a field of wilting flowers, and not long after doing so, he could see his comrades slowly waking as well.

Despite falling unconscious so abruptly, his entire body felt so relaxed and amazing.

He felt a slight sting in his head, but other than that, his tense muscles were in top shape, and all his stiff joints were back now loose and flexible once again.

Still, despite all of these positives, Fenrir could not ignore what had just happened to him and his subordinates.

"So we lost, huh?"

It was a frustrating thing to admit, but Fenrir couldn't deny the power he had felt.

He was always willing to accept it when he was weaker than his opponents—though that didn't mean he liked doing it.

'It also seems like they don't have the Enchanted Items either.' He rubbed his head as he winced.

'The Dragon has it, huh? I don't know which is worse…'

Objectively speaking, the Dragons having their hands on so many assets was the worst situation.

However, Fenrir pretty much despised Elves now thanks to the defeat he suffered.

"Haaa…" He sighed once again as he stood up.

The willow tree that Aurora had summoned was no longer present, and most of the flowers were drying up.

Fenrir had never seen such Magic before, but he knew it had to be very strong.

'Strong, huh? Dragons and Elves… it seems both sides are stronger than we humans.'

He chuckled to himself and shrugged.

Thankfully, his job didn't involve any of them in the slightest.

'Looks like I'll have to inform Scylla about all of this.'

Without their means of compensation, Fenrir wondered what she would offer up next.

'Whatever it is… it had better make me stronger!'

********

[A Few Days Later]

Rebal Blanc sat within his office as he opened an envelope and pulled out a letter addressed to his Blanc House.

It was from The Underworld Triumvirate itself.

"N-no…" As he read the contents of the letter, he felt his body tremble slightly.

Just when things were beginning to stabilize, this had to come and disrupt everything.

Once Rebal was done reading the letter he slapped it on his table and groaned softly.

Placing both hands on his face, while exhaling deeply, he murmured words that no one could hear but him.

"The Dark Gathering… is at hand."

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Thanks for reading!

We're slowly approaching the climax of this part of the arc. Yes, it's been slow, but I hope you all are having a good time.