Forbidden Region

by Michael Sisa

  The warrior leading the vanguard pointed his sword at the Scylla. He roared, “Proud warriors of Aerith! Protect our kingdom! Charge!”

  The elven warriors roared, their eyes filled with resolve.

  “Protect the kingdom!”

  “For the kingdom!”

  The archers located at the back of the army started firing their arrows at Blackie. Despite the distance, their arrows flew toward the Scylla with great accuracy. As expected of elves.

  Blackie snorted and cast a simple barrier spell to fend off the attacks.

  The vanguard army started speeding up. Behind them, the guardian golems also started running toward the seven-headed monster.

  It was only a matter of time before things completely blew up into an all-out war.

  “I think this is enough of a warning for these elves,” said the third head. “Unless they’re fools, they won’t dare snoop around our sacred ground after this. Let us head back.”

  Thankfully, the other heads agreed. They also thought that killing any more than this would be quite drastic.

  The third head amplified its voice using magic. It spoke in the language of humans and elves. “You brought this upon yourselves.”

  The elven warriors halted in their tracks. They hadn’t expected the seven-headed monster to be capable of human speech.

  “Let this serve as a warning.”

  The Scylla stared at the warriors below for a moment, flapped its wings, and flew in the opposite direction. Without another word, it disappeared from sight.

  Even after the Scylla was gone, the warriors remained there, staring in the direction the seven-headed monster had disappeared. The words the monster uttered were few, but they were more than enough to instill fear among their people.

  It was basically telling them to stop investigating that part of the forest—where the clumps of mana were first detected.

  VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 18

  After investigating the ‘disturbances’ in the Endless Forest, Blackie went back to the golden statue and eagerly awaited Lark’s return. True to his word, Lark returned exactly a week after he left the Endless Forest.

  “God Evander! Welcome back!”

  The Scylla’s eyes glimmered with excitement.

  “We’ve prepared some refreshments for you,” the first head said proudly. “Flying all the way here from the town must have been tiring. Please, have some wine.”

  Lark gazed at the stone table and chair sitting near the castle’s entrance. A bottle of wine and a wooden cup were placed on top of the table. Lark wondered where the Scylla got these things.

  Using wind magic, the third head pulled back the chair, ushering Lark to sit on it.

  “Where did you get this?” Lark asked as he sat on the chair and grabbed the bottle of wine. Dark red liquid sloshed inside.

  The third head didn’t answer immediately. A hint of hesitation flashed on its face and it momentarily averted its gaze.

  The seventh head merrily replied, “We got it from the elves! There’s an elven outpost not far from this place!”

  Lark froze. He stared at the bottle of wine then at the Scylla. The seventh head was grinning mischievously, the third head held a look of resignation on its face, while the rest were proudly nodding their heads.

  “Elven outpost?” said Lark. “There are elves living in this forest?”

  “That’s right, God Evander,” the fifth head softly. “If you keep flying east from here, you’ll eventually arrive at an elven kingdom.”

  The first head smirked. “They call it a kingdom, but it’s nothing more than a puny city.”

  Lark’s intention in coming here was to hear the result of the Scylla’s investigation of the forest. But he did not expect to hear that an elven kingdom was located deep inside the Endless Forest. It easily explained the spirits wandering in this part of the forest. It also explained why the forest was eerily peaceful, as though all of the monsters here had been culled by some unknown creature.

  Lark poured himself a cup of wine. “A kingdom of elves, huh? Tell me more of what you’ve found out.”

  The Scylla started to recount excitedly everything that transpired during their investigation of the Endless Forest. How it initially abducted several sylphids to interrogate but ended up killing all of the elven scouts instead. How it tried investigating the elven kingdom, but the elves stationed in the western garrison started attacking the seven-headed monster without regard for their lives.

  Lark’s expression slowly turned sour as he listened to the story. With the exception of the third head, everyone animatedly and proudly told him everything that they had done during the past several days, down to the finest details. And when Blackie came to the part wherein the elven kingdom sent out thousands of warriors and gigantic guardian golems to defend their kingdom against the Scylla, Lark finally sighed.

  Although he wanted to reprimand the seven-headed creature in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to do so, especially after hearing that his disciple, the Dragon Devourer, was the one who taught the Scylla to do things this way. Looking at things from a different perspective, he should probably be glad that the Scylla didn’t destroy the elven kingdom.

  “So, after destroying the garrison, you went back to the elven outpost, ransacked everything you could, and came back to the castle,” Lark summarized.

  “That’s correct, God Evander!” The first head repeatedly bobbed its head.

  “We also got some items from the outpost! We thought that you might be interested in them.” said the sixth head. Using gravity magic, it took out several items from the castle’s tower and presented them before Lark—fabric, fruits, meat, and herbs.

  Lark took the fabric and inspected it. It was soft like cotton and smoother than silk. Furthermore, it was surprisingly durable. It was almost as strong as leather. It was the type of item Big Mona would gawk over.

  The fruit and meat were nothing special, but most of the herbs were rare. Lark was sure that he could further improve the middle-grade potions he’d been selling to Big Mona if he used these plants. Pinnacle-grade potions were still impossible to concoct due to the lack of ingredients, but high-grade potions should be feasible with the addition of these herbs.

  “Good work gathering these,” said Lark.

  It seemed that a lot of rare herbs grew in the deeper regions of the Endless Forest and the elves knew where to find them. Furthermore, Lark’s interest was piqued by the unknown fabric. Lark was certain that it would be possible to make strong yet comfortable armor using it.

  The heads looked at each other. They seemed really happy after Lark complimented them for the items they’d gathered.

  “G-God Evander!” The first head moved closer to Lark and looked at him with expectant eyes. “If you want, we can gather more of these things. Please give just give us the order!”

  “That’s right! We’ll gather more of those if you want!” The sixth head looked toward the east, in the direction of the elven city.

  Lark was dumbfounded. It seemed that he needed to set things straight here. Otherwise, he was worried about what this creature would do once he was no longer here.

  “No. You’ve already killed enough elves this week. Are you seriously planning on attacking an entire kingdom just to obtain these… things?”

  The Scylla looked at Lark as though asking ‘are we not allowed to do that?’.

  Lark rubbed his forehead. “Look. I don’t like unnecessary killing. Humans, elves. This applies to both of them.”

  “But they attacked us first!” said the seventh head indignantly.

  “That’s right! They shot us with their arrows!” added the sixth head.

  The first head agreed with its brother’s statements. “And they dared snoop around this sacred ground!”

  “He is saying that we could have subdued them instead, without killing them,” said the third head. “Isn’t that correct, God Evander?”

  Lark was becoming fond of the third head. Wi
thout it, he would have probably disowned this seven-headed monster. Well, he knew that he probably wouldn’t go that far. Although this creature considered humans and elves as mere insects it could kill and trample on, it was still the pet of his beloved disciple. And Lark had never forgotten the fact that this seven-headed monster had spent almost its entire lifespan protecting his treasure in the dungeon. He would always be grateful to the Scylla, no matter what.

  “That’s correct,” said Lark. “Unnecessary killings are forbidden. If it is possible to just subdue them, subdue them.”

  The Scylla’s tail, that had been wagging in excitement before, stiffened and started drooping to the ground.

  “And it’s understandable why the elves tried breaking through the illusion spell you’ve cast on this place. Think about it. Imagine: Your kind has been living in this forest for centuries when suddenly, an unknown creature appears at your kingdom’s border and makes it its home. Anyone would naturally want to try to investigate it.”

  The Scylla listened attentively but its eyes were looking at the ground like a sinner.

  “They attacked us first. They shot us with their arrows,” said Lark. “Of course, they would. You tried to abduct their contracted spirits, after all. For the elves, their contracted spirits are family. Imagine this—what would you do if someone forcefully took Kubarkava right before your very eyes?”

  “The master?”

  The Scylla’s heads looked at each other.

  “That’s impossible, God Evander…” the first head said slowly. “The abductor would be killed before he could even touch the master.”

  Lark smiled. It made sense. Even he couldn’t see that kid being abducted without putting up a fight. Lark realized that he should have given a more plausible scenario to the Scylla.

  “Kubarkava was my strongest disciple,” mumbled Lark. He rephrased, “Then how about this. What if someone suddenly took Quervanu by force? Right in front of you?”

  “The poison brat? We’d kill them immediately, of course!”

  “How dare they harm the creator of our dungeon!”

  “We’d tear them to shreds and burn their bodies into ashes!”

  The heads started spouting threats one after another. As Lark had expected, it seemed that even after his death, Quervanu had not become as monstrous as Kubarkava. Based on the history books Lark had read before, it seemed that Kubarkava had become so strong that even the dragon race avoided him.

  The Dragon Devourer.

  It was truly unfortunate that he had lost his life immediately upon opening the rift.

  Lark smiled. Like a father patiently explaining things to his son, he said, “See? You wouldn’t let something like that to happen to Qeurvanu, right? It’s the same for the elves. You said that they started it, but from their perspective, you’re a monster trying to kill their contracted spirits.”

  “But we were really just going to interrogate those sylphids,” mumbled the fifth head, its eyes still staring at the ground.

  Lark walked toward the fifth head and patted its snout. “I understand. But please try to restrain yourselves from now on. No unnecessary slaughter, understood?”

  The eyes of the other heads shook with envy. They stared at the fifth head, who was now closing its eyes and softly mumbling, “Yes, God Evander.”

  Lark looked up at the sky. If they left now, they could probably arrive before dusk.

  As far as he knew, the elven race kept to themselves and hardly made contact with traders. They raised their own food and produced their own tools. With the exception of dwarves, their nation was probably the hardest for a merchant to conduct trades with.

  But Lark held an item which the elves coveted. An item that would solve their nation’s most dire problem.

  According to Blackie, the Kingdom of Elves was only as large as a human city. By estimate, their population hardly reached past the hundred thousand mark. It was apparent that even after more than a millennium had passed, the elves still couldn’t overcome their extremely low fertility rate. Their kingdom was slowly dying due to the declining population.

  Under normal circumstances, the item would have been more than enough to convince the elves to trade with his territory. But after Blackie annihilated all of the elven scouts and destroyed a garrison, Lark doubted if negotiations would proceed smoothly.

  They’re right next door. It’d be a shame if I couldn’t grab this opportunity to monopolize the trade with an entire country.

  Although the chances that the elves would agree to his parley were slim, Lark decided to go along with it.

  Lark went inside the castle, entered the golden statue, and took out a particular item.

  After coming out of the castle, Lark said to the Scylla, “Blackie, want to visit the Kingdom of Elves with me?”

  The seven-headed monster immediately unfolded its wings, creating gusts of wind.

  “Of course! We would love to!”

  Its enthusiastic voice reverberated through the forest. Lark chuckled and jumped onto its body. He’d learned before that it would strike pangs of jealousy if he sat on one of the heads.

  “Then, to the elven kingdom,” said Lark.

  The Scylla roared and flocks of birds flew out of the forest. It jumped into the sky, flapped its wings, and shot toward the east at a tremendous speed.

  VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 19

  The entire elven kingdom was in turmoil after the incident with the seven-headed monster. Including the scouts and those stationed in the western garrison, they’d lost more than a thousand elves from that single encounter. Furthermore, a portion of the city had been blown into smithereens, and several houses had been burned to the ground. Thankfully, the water spirits had managed to put out the fire before it spread throughout the entire forest.

  Several days had passed since then. All of the kingdom’s officials were gathered at the royal palace to discuss matters concerning the kingdom.

  “Your Majesty, we’ve finished relocating the affected families,” reported one of the ministers. “We have repurposed the elven oaks which served as storage houses last winter. We plan on letting those who lost their homes stay there, at least until the elven oaks in the east are mature enough to be converted into houses.”

  “Good work.” King Melandrach nodded in approval. He said to another official, “The burial ceremonies?”

  “We’re almost done with the preparations, Your Majesty. Two days at most and our fallen warriors can finally return to God Gaia. We’ve already received the blessings of the priestess and the temple.”

  “It seems that hundreds of elven oaks will sprout in the forest this year,” King Melandrach said in a glum voice.

  Although the body of an elf wasn’t a prerequisite for an elven oak to grow, for some strange reason, there was a very high chance of an elven oak sprouting from the ground where a deceased elf was buried. This was why the elves considered the trees sacred, since most of the trees here grew from their deceased ancestors’ bodies. They would wait for a hundred years, until the elven oaks had matured, before carving their homes inside the trunk of these trees.

  “My King,” said Commander Khuumal. “We’ve been receiving reports of several… disturbances in the city.”

  “Disturbances?” said the king.

  “Yes, Your Majesty. There have been protests among the citizens of the kingdom. The warriors wish to hunt and kill the monster. They are demanding for the royal family to take immediate action. Even the vice commander averred his desire to take revenge on the Earth Scylla.”

  “Even Vice Commander Calen.” King Melandrach found this troubling.

  The vice commander had several hundred warriors under his command. If he suddenly decided to go to the border and take revenge on the Earth Scylla, it would be easy for him to rally the other warriors under his banner.

  They’d lost a lot of warriors already. King Melandrach had no intention of letting their casualties increase even further.

  “Keep an eye
on the vice commander. Make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish,” said the king. “It’s not like I don’t understand why they are acting this way, but we need to face reality. Commander Khuumal, you understand too, don’t you? Had that Earth Scylla wanted to, it could have killed more of our warriors that day.”

  Commander Khuumal nodded grimly. “I believe so.”

  “But we have the guardian golems, Your Majesty,” said one of the officials. “Surely, the guardians our ancestors created would be more than enough to protect the kingdom?”

  “Even if the guardian golems could somehow manage to take down the Earth Scylla, it would cost us tens of thousands of lives. Imagine this—what would have happened if that monster had chosen to fight the golems right in the middle of the city?” said the king.

  Heavy silence fell in the room. They could vividly imagine what would have happened had the monster chosen to go on a rampage in the city. Hundreds of elven oaks would have been burned to ashes, and thousands if not tens of thousands of elves would have died that day.

  They did not doubt the strength of the guardian golems who have been protecting their kingdom for several centuries. But they knew that even those fifteen-meter tall giants wouldn’t be enough to completely hold down the Earth Scylla.

  “As the king of this nation, I hereby prohibit any expedition to the border region,” declared the king. “Anyone caught violating this decree will be given the death penalty. No exceptions. Even if the violator is a high-ranking officer in the military.”

  The king’s statement showed how much of a threat he believed Earth Scylla to be. In order to avoid antagonizing it even further, His Majesty was willing to go as far as making this decree. Everyone in the room knew who the king was referring to in the last part of his statement.

  “Disseminate this decree to everyone. Tighten the security at the perimeter of our kingdom,” said King Melandrach. “We do not know the reason why that creature suddenly appeared and made the border its home, but for now, we shall capitulate that part of the forest to the Earth Scylla.”