Chapter 186 – Chapter 39: Ghosts

The Sky Forest, the home of the dark elves, was the land that the first fairy king had set up in the distant past.

Looking down at it from the deck of the Black Flame Dragon, In-gong let out sounds of admiration, and Chris and Caitlin weren’t much different.

The home of the dark elves was reminiscent of a huge forest covered in fog. The fog was at a fairly high level, with the ends of the tall trees barely visible, while the high rise buildings looked like skyscrapers popping up through clouds due to everything underneath being covered by fog.

“Isn’t this good? It looks like a forest in the sky, which is why it is called the Sky Forest.”

“Yes, yes. Amazing!”

Caitlin responded to Felicia’s description with a wide smile. It really was a fantastic sight. In-gong had admired the Sky Forest when he visited it several times in Knight Saga. The sky of the Sky Forest was truly dream-like in reality.

“But how can it play the role of the capital?”

Chris asked in a twisted tone. Admiration couldn’t be seen on his face, but that was just Chris’ nature.

Felicia seemed to have already anticipated this question as she replied quickly,

“The fog isn’t present all day. So, the three of you are rather lucky. Such a sight isn’t something that the residents here often see. There are only a few days a year when it looks like this.”

“Hoh.”

Chris didn’t sound angry because he didn’t have any bad feelings toward it in the first place. As Felicia said, it was a sight that couldn’t normally be seen. The fog spread wide in the distance, so it was like watching clouds being lit up by the sun at sunset.

The chilly wind was pleasantly cool. Felicia arranged her hair which was blowing in the wind and leaned back against the ledge. She looked down at the forest and said with a shrug,

“Well, Chris’ words are true to a certain extent. It is inconvenient to live here sometimes due to such a widespread fog. Quite frankly, there aren’t many dark elves living in the Sky Forest itself. The dark elves live in other forests or cities around here. This is closer to being a spiritual capital.”

“Aren’t you being quite honest?”

Chris asked aggressively with a surprised expression. The old Felicia might have been angry about his words, but things were different now. She knew that an aggressive smile was an ordinary smile to Chris.

“Insisting stubbornly is something that only fools do. Additionally, you are the other person.”

There was some shame in the last words. Chris frowned like he was confused while Caitlin just laughed.

“Unni is so good!”

“This child…”

Felicia didn’t resist hugging Caitlin. It was a different reaction from when Silvan hugged her, but it was a heartwarming sight. In-gong watched the two people with a relaxed expression as Chris asked again,

“Hmm, but I am also curious. Why did the fairy king establish his kingdom in a place like this? Was it to hide it in the fog?”

The first fairy king had established his kingdom during a terrible time when the many species were at war. When deciding on the capital, it had been natural to choose based on defending against external attacks, rather than the convenience of traffic.

The massive scale of the fog was capable of hiding the residences. However, Felicia said that the fog didn’t cover the Sky Forest 24 hours a day. Moreover, the dark elves resided elsewhere. Even if the Sky Forest didn’t exist, there would be many places to hide.

“This isn’t an ordinary fog.”

“Shutra?”

It was In-gong, not Felicia, who replied, so Chris glanced at him in surprise. Felicia, who was hugging Caitlin, was also surprised. However, In-gong faced the two people with a relaxed expression, and Felicia nodded. As always, the answer was ‘because it is Shutra’.

“Shutra is correct. You will discover the special feature of the Sky Forest fog once we descend.”

Felicia shrugged, while Caitlin turned her head away from Felicia’s chest and toward the ground. The Black Flame Dragon glided to the ground smoothly.

&

In the middle of the Sky Forest, the palace of the dark elves rose high into the sky. There were a wide variety of buildings built on what looked like plates, to the left and right of the central building.

The Black Flame Dragon landed on the lowest placed plate, where it was dense with fog. The crew members folded the sails and lowered the anchor as In-gong’s party looked around. Then he heard Green Wind’s voice,

“Master, it is strange. I seem to have become stronger.”

He was startled by Green Wind’s voice and shook his head. It wasn’t because of her semi-solid state, but because he had woken up from a type of trance. It didn’t end there, and Chris looked around with confusion.

“Ghosts?”

There were shapes in the fog, and they were spirits of the wind in a semi-solid state. There was also the figure of a woman and a beautiful animal.

“There is also that.”

Caitlin pointed to a distant place where a bunch of fire spirits were swirling around in the mist. In-gong exchanged looks with Felicia, who explained,

“The concentration of magic power in the fog is great. Those children weren’t summoned here. Thanks to the power of the fog, they made themselves.”

Green Wind nodded. It seemed like the area was so rich in magic power that she unknowingly took a solid form.

“Now, do you know why this is the capital of the dark elves?”

Felicia asked again, and Chris nodded.

“Indeed. The dark elves have a huge affinity towards spirits, so this land is like a blessed fortress for them.”

“This is a story from when the first fairy king was still guarding us.”

The land where the first fairy king established his kingdom had been the home of the dark elves for thousands of years. The tomb of the past kings were also on this land, meaning they were guarded by their ancestors. After talking about the fog, they were ready to disembark. As soon as the stairs were set up, Chris wanted to descend straight away, but Felicia stopped him.

“Noonim?”

Instead of answering, Felicia turned to look at Silvan walking out of a room with 3rd Queen Sylvia.

“We will go down first.”

Felicia winked before joining Silvan and Sylvia. They descended the stairs at a quick pace under Silvan’s guidance and then turned back toward the Black Flame Dragon.

By this time, In-gong could see what Felicia—no, the Queen of the Dark Elves and her children were planning to do.

Felicia and Silvan stood with Sylvia in the middle, then dozens of dark elves surrounded them. It was a welcoming ceremony.

“Children of the demon king, who are like my own children, welcome to the land of the dark elves.”

Sylvia opened both arms widely. It was a welcome from the Queen of the Dark Elves.

In-gong smiled at the sight of 3rd Queen Sylvia, Silvan, and Felicia quickly descending the stairs just for the welcoming ceremony. They were a really cute family—no, a really cute mother and children.

&

After the welcoming ceremony, a magnificent dinner party was prepared.

The interior of the Dark Elves’Palace was decorated like a forest, with high ceilings which strengthened the feeling of walking through a forest.

In the middle of the spacious hall, there was a large wooden table with a huge number of plates on it. Unlike the elves, the dark elves weren’t choosy about what to eat, and the food on the plates ranged from greasy meats to sweet snacks.

It was a buffet style party where everyone could pick the food they wanted to eat.

The highlight of the party was Amita, who looked cute and pathetic when they couldn’t reach the food they wanted to eat on the table.

“Amita, I will help you. Please sit on my knees.”

Daphne stepped forward, but Amita jerked back and said,

“It’s okay. The more hungry I am, the more delicious the food will be! Daphne should also dig in!”

Then Amita turned and moved the food with Telekinesis. They were consuming stamina using Telekinesis while eating, which made them more hungry.

“Master, I can feel the atmosphere of an expert eater from the raccoon.”

“Yes.”

Consuming stamina to make sure they had more room in their stomach… It was enough to give Amita a new title.

Since it was a dinner party which had started late, it was natural to go to bed after it was over.

“Everyone should rest for today. I’ll show you around after you’ve unpacked.”

Felicia said before personally showing In-gong, Chris, and Caitlin to their guest rooms. Everyone was given one large room with a small one attached where their aides could stay. The children of the demon king were each assigned a room close to each other.

“Well, it is good that we don’t have to go back and forth.’

Carack smiled while arranging In-gong’s bed. Even though his hands were rough from army life, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say they looked different when grabbing the bedding.

“Huh? Prince, when did you use the Lucid Dream Pillow so much?”

Carack suddenly asked when he saw the pillow. The surface of the Lucid Dream Pillow indicated the number of times it had been used, and that number had changed from before.

In-gong flinched, while Carack took the posture of a nanny and started scolding him.

“Prince, I know your mind is active when sleeping, but…”

“Carack!”

In-gong jumped up and shouted, but it wasn’t to prevent the sermon. An ordinary orc wouldn’t react, but Carack was different. As soon as he realized that In-gong’s cry was strange, he rushed away from the place where he was standing. At that moment, In-gong used Dragon Words,

“Ku-pa-ha!”

The Dragon Words didn’t stop the shaking in the air. The dark grey beings which had appeared above Carack’s head scattered.

“Ghosts?!”

Carack asked urgently, while In-gong opened the mini-map. The number of red dots were increasing.

“They aren’t spirits! Banshees!”

“The female ghosts?!”

They were a representative monster of the ghost species. Instead of answering, In-gong gave an order to Green Wind. The first thing to do was to get rid of the banshees forming in the room.

“Green Wind!”

At the same time, a green wind swept through the entire room. After filling the room with her power, Green Wind took a solid form and told In-gong urgently,

“Master, White Eagle is strange. Abseltur’s heart feels different from usual.”

White Eagle was like a house for Green Wind. In-gong instantly took White Eagle out of his inventory. Indeed, an extraordinary light was emitting from Abseltur’s heart in the center of White Eagle.

“Resonance.”

The heart itself wasn’t causing the light. It was a light caused by other forces. If so, what had stimulated Abseltur’s heart?

“The fairy king.”

It was all he could think of. Abseltur was a creature created by the fairy king. So, it was natural if his magic power stimulated Abseltur’s heart.

“Is this abnormality due to the heart?”

In-gong shook his head at Carack’s desperate question.

“No, it is the opposite. Abseltur’s heart isn’t the cause. It is just part of the phenomenon.”

“Master, the flow of magic power is strange. The fog is becoming thicker.”

Green Wind spoke with a pained expression. In-gong closed his eyes and focused on the glow of magic power. Yes, the density of magic power was indeed growing thicker. It obviously wasn’t an ordinary situation. This sort of thing had never once occurred in Knight Saga.

The fog started to pour inside the building. As the screams of the banshees could be heard in the distance, Abseltur’s heart shook more ominously. What was happening today? Why had the status quo suddenly changed?

“I-Is it because Prince showed up?!”

He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. It was because the timing was too complicated.

“Kyahhhhhh!”

At that moment, he heard a scream from afar. The voice was so familiar that he couldn’t not notice it.

“Felicia!”

In-gong no longer delayed and shot forward like a thunderbolt. He broke down the door and threw himself into the hallway.