Chapter 689

【 THE PRISONER 】

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Otto suddenly raised his head and looked toward the source of the voice. There up a large tree ahead stood a cold and aloof looking female elf, leaning casually against the trunk.

She wore a black armored robe with her back resting on the tree and arms loosely folded across her chest. Her purplish red eyes gazed toward the distant, faint columns of smoke.

Yet although she stood there openly, Otto realized that he had only noticed her presence once she spoke.

No, it wasn’t entirely accurate. Even now, as Otto looked directly at the female elf, he was still unable to sense her presence at all.

There was no doubt that she was a high-ranking expert, far more powerful than he was.

When he took in her distinctive black armored dress, as well as her dark silver hair, which is a color exceedingly rare even among elves, Otto’s expression instantly grew grave.

“Zero…The Elven Godwarden.”

Being the ruler of the neighboring territory bordering the Elven Forest, Otto possessed far more knowledge than most about this Elven Godwarden who, over the past two years, had risen to prominence and was rumored to have slain several high-ranking beings.

He had always believed that her strength came from the Goddess of Life. Yet upon seeing her in person, he realized that even without borrowing the power of a true god, he was still unable to discern the depth of her strength.

“…Have you come to hunt me down?”

Otto narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Elven Godwarden before him.

Hearing his words, Evé, under the guise of Zero, gave him an even glance and shook her head slightly.

“No. I am not interested in you.”

“I am only interested in certain things you carry.”

At these words, Otto’s expression changed subtly.

Without further hesitation, he let out an angry shout, drew the sword at his waist, and lunged toward the other person.

However, before he could even rush forward, he suddenly lost all control over his body.

Lowering his head, he was shocked to see that, at some point, several vines had burst forth from the ground beneath his feet and wrapped tightly around his legs. They were thick and unyielding, coiling upward like living shackles, completely sealing his power without him ever realizing when they had appeared or how they had taken hold.

Otto opened his mouth, only to find that he had entirely lost the ability to speak as well.

Only then did the elven Godwarden calmly step away from the tree and walk toward him.

Under Otto’s terrified gaze, the female elf extended her right hand and inserted it directly into his chest. The motion was smooth and strangely, there was no wound or blood spilled when it happened.

Instead, an oval shaped dark red portal of light appeared on his chest. Nonetheless, Otto felt no relief at all. On the contrary, his fear and despair only deepened after seeing it.

Moments later, Zero finally withdrew her right hand and in her grasp was a continuously rotating, semi-transparent crystal. It hovered slightly above her palm, spinning with a slow, steady rhythm, as though it possessed a will of its own.

It resembled a blood stained ruby, gleaming brilliantly under the sunlight, its surface refracting light in sharp crimson hues that seemed almost alive. 𝑅𝐀ΝＯᛒÈs

“Hm… This power…? How interesting…”

A trace of interest appeared in the eyes of the dark-silver haired elf, her previously indifferent expression shifting ever so slightly.

As the crystal left Otto’s body, his appearance then rapidly began to age. In just a short time, he transformed from a handsome middle-aged guy in his prime into an elderly looking man with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles.

However, Zero did not seem surprised by his sudden transformation at all. Her attention was solely upon the blood red crystal, which she calmly put away.

Then she turned lightly and walked toward the distance. The vines restraining Otto slowly loosened, leaving behind only a withered old man staring blankly at her retreating figure.

“W-Why… did you not kill me?” he could not help but ask, his voice hoarse and trembling.

At that, Godwarden Zero only slightly turned her head and shook it slowly.

“I already told you. I have no interest in punishing you.”

“Your judgment will be dealt by those whom you have truly wronged and harmed…”

As she spoke, she glanced toward the area behind Otto, and her figure gradually dissolved into nothingness.

He instinctively turned his head and saw several villagers with furious expressions approaching from behind.

Otto’s vision wavered slightly as he recalled that these people seemed to be the villagers who had managed to escape when he had forcefully ordered the local townspeople to attack Augsburg city as cannon fodder…

༺⟐༻

With their king’s escaping, the morale of the Red Maple Army collapsed almost instantly.

Now leaderless, the army of Red Maple Kingdom was swiftly routed under the elves’ relentless counterattack. Some soldiers fled in panic, abandoning all order, while others, overwhelmed and terrified, surrendered on the spot.

Amid the chaos, the commanding nobles of the Red Maple Army were thrown into disarray, struggling to maintain any semblance of control.

The stronger ones among them, fueled by anger and desperation, vented their rage by striking down the disordered soldiers around them in an attempt to assert authority. Yet their efforts were short lived, as swarming elves quickly surrounded them.

And for those of lesser strength, these nobles were trampled to death outright by the frenzied, retreating troops.

Before long, the nobles accompanying the Red Maple army were left either dead, wounded, or had fled.

Players who were not yet satisfied continued to hunt down the fleeing soldiers, pursuing them relentlessly across the battlefield, while many others paused to begin gathering the valuable drop loots scattered across the ground.

The nobles in particular were their prime targets, as many of them carried spatial rings, making them exceptionally valuable prizes.

At this moment, the outcome of the battle of Augsburg city had been completely decided.

On the city walls, Yeye, who had not gone out to engage in melee battle, let out a long, steady breath as he gazed at the players filling the sky, the enormous airship hovering above the city, and the dense tide of elven troops across the streets below.

Thunderous cheers erupted from all around, reverberating both inside and outside the city walls, filling the air with the intoxicating roar of victory.

Most of the voices, however, did not belong to the players themselves, but to the local townspeople.

Faintly, Yeye could even hear shouts such as “Long live the elves!” and “Praise the Goddess of Life!”

Those voices also came from the local human civilians, their tones raw with emotion, a mix of relief, joy, and newfound reverence.

Many of them gathered around the elves, lifting them onto their shoulders and tossing them into the air as if they were celebrating heroes returned from battle.

Even more striking were the civilians who had only recently awakened from the effects of the blood pact. With tears streaming down their faces, they knelt devoutly toward the direction of the temple, murmuring prayers of sincere gratitude.

Yeye exchanged a glance with FacetheWind, and both saw a trace of emotion reflected in each other’s eyes.

“Feeling a bit better now?” the veteran player asked with a smile, noticing that Yeye’s complexion had returned to normal.

Yeye took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yep.”

By now, the game’s bgm music had shifted into a celebratory elven melody, lifting one’s spirits almost involuntarily.

Yeye’s gaze swept across the surroundings. Particularly at the local NPCs rescued by the players.

“It is truly fortunate that the Goddess was able to intervene… ” he sighed softly.

“This is war,” FacetheWind said, shaking his head with a somber tone. “Wars in the real world are far more brutal than this. There are no gods too and throughout history, using civilians as cannon fodder, meat shields, or even massacring entire cities has never been rare.”

“Well, history is history,” Yeye replied with a sigh. “Ultimately, it’s just cold numbers and words on the page of a history book. But I really did not expect that experiencing it firsthand would hit me so hard.”

“That is completely normal,” FacetheWind nodded knowingly.

“This game is so realistic that the emotional shock is almost the same as in reality. You are still young, and a complete newbie at that. On top of that, this campaign directly involves humans, so feeling mentally overwhelmed is perfectly natural.”

“You know, when I first fought in the Orc War, I nearly wet myself,” the older man added with a laugh, a brief, self-deprecating smile crossing his face.

“You will get used to it. Just log off for a couple of days and recover in the real world. Tonight, we will gather in the city and hold a proper victory celebration.”

As he finished speaking, the older man licked his lips.

“Hey, Habsburg and the others just sent me a message. Looks like they seized several noble carriages and apparently got their hands on a few bottles of wine while pursuing the Red Maple army.”

“Wine?” Yeye paused slightly, then laughed.

“Brother Wind, do you really love drinking that much?”

“Haha, I cannot help it. In real life, my wife keeps a tight rein on me and will not let me drink much. So I can only satisfy my cravings here in the game. Besides, ElvKing actually has some decent tasting wine,” FacetheWind said, laughing heartily.

Just after he finished laughing, his expression suddenly changed and FacetheWind hurriedly sprang to his feet.

“Oh no, it is almost dinner time in the real world! I need to log out and start cooking, or else my wife will pull the plug on me again.”

Yeye: “…”

Watching the older man fumble around as he packed up his equipment and ran toward the temporary logout point, Yeye could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He glanced at the avatar icon in his friends list that had just lit up again, then checked his teammates’ positions on the mini map.

He stood up as well and headed into the city.

Thanks to the timely deployment of the holy barrier, Augsburg city had not suffered severe damage in this battle.

The houses previously damaged by catapult strikes had already had their fires extinguished. Only faint wisps of white smoke still drifted upward, and the stench of blood in the air had largely dissipated.

There were far fewer players inside the city and most were still outside, cleaning up the battlefield.

The streets, however, were anything but quiet. On the contrary, they were lively, filled everywhere with celebrating local town folks.

Whenever they saw Yeye, they would enthusiastically crowded around him, stuffing all kinds of gifts into his arms.

Bread, fruit, pastries.

Before long, the boy’s arms were almost completely full.

Some beautiful human teenage girls even gathered their courage, ran out from the crowd, approached him, kissed him on the cheek, and then fled swiftly amid a chorus of whistles.

It left Yeye feeling both embarrassed and amused.

Naturally, he was also quite happy.

That was, until a teasing female voice rang out from behind him.

“Well Well… looks like you are having quite a good time, eh? That silly grin on your face is really rather lecherous.”

Yeye stiffened and looked up toward the source of the voice. There, he saw Nana holding a pile of gifts stuffed into her arms by the citizens, squinting at him.

Yeye: “…”

He cleared his throat twice and said, “Ahem, unforeseeable circumstances. That just now was completely out of my control.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than another thought arose in his mind.

—Hm?

Why was he even bother explaining himself at all?

Seeing the slightly dazed look in Yeye’s eyes, the girl let out a soft snort and said,

“Help me carry some of this. These citizens are far too enthusiastic, I cannot hold all these gifts.”

“Uh… my inventory is already full.”

Yeye scratched his head helplessly and gestured toward the bulging pack on his back.

Nana: “…”

The two looked at each other and could not help but burst into laughter.

“I really should buy some spatial ring,” Nana said.

“I know right? But they’re so expensive. Maybe if I earn some merit, I can apply to the guild to lend me one,” Yeye shrugged.

Then he looked at the girl again.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Nana nodded.

“Mhm. I’ve felt better after logging out.”

After speaking, she sighed softly.

“Grinding in the Labyrinth is still way better. Even though it is exhausting, at least the psychological pressure is not this intense. When we level up later, we should go back to grinding in the Labyrinth.”

“I do not think the Demon Kings there wants to see you again.”

“Oh get lost.”

The two players bantered as they walked toward the city’s temporary encampment.

However, as they continued walking, they suddenly heard a wave of cheers mingled with angry shouts echoing from the streets. The sounds were so intense that it made them instinctively pause.

“What is going on?”

Both of them paused in surprise.

They stopped a civilian NPC and asked curiously,

“Excuse me, what happened?”

The citizen who visibly seemed excited, quickly replied,

“Honored elves. They caught the King of Red Maple! Those people who returned just now have captured the Rebel King!”

They caught the Red Maple King?

The two newbies exchanged glances, their curiosity instantly spiking. Without another word, they altered their course, following the crowd toward the source of the commotion.

When they reached the main avenue of the city, they saw a carriage passing by under the escort of several players and local civilians. Atop it sat an elderly man with graying hair, dressed in luxurious clothing.

Currently, his aura was pretty weak, his eyes dull and lifeless. He looked nothing like the imposing, legendary-rank mob boss described in the intel reports

The surrounding citizens hurled curses at him, spat at the carriage, and repeatedly picked up stones to throw at the rebel king, leaving him in a thoroughly miserable state.

Seeing this, Yeye and Nana exchanged looks again, each noticing a trace of confusion reflected in the other’s eyes.

“So this is the Red Maple King, Otto?”

“He does not look very impressive at all.”

Hearing their remarks, a nearby civilian who knew the details hurriedly explained,

“Honored elves, that is indeed the Red Maple King, Otto himself. However, it is said that he encountered a powerful elven expert and was punished, thus losing all of his strength.”

A powerful elven expert?

The two players exchanged glances, their curiosity instantly piqued.

Could there really be someone in the Elven Forest capable of standing against a legendary-rank mob boss?

Well…

There actually was one.

“What did that elven expert look like?” Yeye asked, leaning slightly forward with interest.

“I’m not too sure, but I heard it was a beautiful woman wearing black armored robes,” the civilian replied, shaking his head as if trying to recall every detail.

Hearing this, the two players suddenly connected the dots.

“So it was Big Sister Zero! I didn’t expect her to take action as well,” Nana said, her voice tinged with both surprise and admiration.

She glanced at the procession slowly fading into the distance and could not help asking,

“Where are they taking him?”

“I heard they’ll parade him around the city first, then transport him to Zelouan City and hand him over to Lady Sophia to be judged for his crimes,” the civilian answered respectfully, bowing slightly in acknowledgment.

The two nodded lightly in understanding.

If nothing unexpected occurred, Sophia would likely become the new ruler of Maple Leaf Territory. Therefore, handing the Red Maple King, Otto, over to her was indeed the most appropriate course of action.

As they watched the first carriage disappear further into the city, another commotion suddenly arose from the opposite side of the street.

Another carriage appeared, carrying several nobles bound with anti-magic chains. Among them, a tall and thin young man kept shouting frantically,

“Let me go! Let me go this instant! I am the Viscount of Zelouan, Sophia’s brother! I want to see Sophia, my sister!”

His face was smeared with tears and snot, his appearance utterly disheveled, drawing uncomfortable glances from those around him.

Yeye and Nana shared strange expressions as they looked at him.

“…Those two are siblings?”

“The difference between them is far too great…”

The carriage carrying the tall, gaunt youth followed behind the one escorting the Red Maple King Otto, rolling off into the distance amidst the citizens’ scorn.

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