Duke Pendragon

After walking for two more days, Raven and the Red Moon Valley elves reached a narrow tributary which was only 10 yards wide. It was only around half a day’s distance if they travelled by trees like the elves, but it had taken longer because Raven could not travel as such.

The narrow, shallow river was murky, and the jungle on the other side appeared dark and gloomy. According to Eltuan, the water served as a boundary of the land under the control of the Red Moon Valley elves. As soon as they crossed the river, the land would be infested with monsters.

However, Raven smiled at her words while telling her not to worry. Eltuan and the elves were a little puzzled at his carefree attitude. It seemed he was still unaware of the true horrors of the Great Forest.

However, she and the elven warriors understood the reason for his ease within hours. By now, Raven had fully recovered from his injuries and regained his stamina. He slightly exudated the Spirit of the White Dragon after crossing the river.

In human cities or villages, he did not exert his spirit except in battles since he did not need to attract any attention and put pressure on people without reason. However, the same did not apply here.

The Spirit of the Dragon, especially that of Queen Soldrake, was not something that could be handled by simple beasts or monsters.

Even if dragons were foreign to the Great Forest, the creatures instinctively sensed danger and avoided coming near Raven and the elves. However, if he exuded the spirit too strongly, it could provoke belligerent monsters such as the ogres or the lycanthropes, so he maintained the spirit at just the right level as the group continued forward.

After travelling for one and a half more days, they were finally able to arrive at their destination.

***

“There it is.”

“Hmm?”

Raven came out from the bushes, and he was slightly astonished when he saw where Eltuan was pointing towards. The building in front of them looked out of place standing in the middle of the green jungle. It looked as if it had simply fallen from the sky one day.

It would have been originally white, but the tower had faded and turned gray over the years. Surprisingly, the architectural style of the tower resembled those of the mainland rather than the southern styles.

‘Was Jean Oberon not a southerner? Did he cross over from the mainland? How strange.’

Raven walked towards the entrance while closely observing the tower. Wizards were usually full of curiosity and academic enthusiasm, so they tended to be well versed in various disciplines outside of magic as well. Naturally, architecture was included as well, and most wizards put quite an effort into building their own spaces.

Hence it was quite strange that the tower had been erected in the middle of the jungle, especially in a mainland style. There must have been a reason behind the choices – after all, Jean Oberon was not just a regular wizard, but an almighty sorcerer.

“Did your tribe help build this?”

Eltuan replied with a nod.

“When the wizard first came here, we laid the foundation and brought him wood and stones. But that was all the help we provided. The sorcerer used the monsters to do the rest.”

“Monsters?”

Raven asked back, and Eltuan continued with a darker expression.

“That is right. Usually, there are no monsters around the village. However, there are quite a few near the border who target the children. Sometimes, they intentionally enter the border at night. The wizard said he would solve the problem, so we helped him capture the monsters, and he used the monsters to build the tower.”

“Hmm.”

Raven nodded.

Apparently, the tower had been constructed by the monsters that the elves had helped capture.

“It would have been a large-scale construction… Did he say he did not need your help at all afterwards?”

“The wizard said it was fine. We also did not want to mix up and work with the filthy monsters.”

“I see…”

Indeed, even though the elves of Red Moon Valley had strange appearances and lived a vastly different life from their mainland relatives, it did not make sense for elves to work together with monsters.

Nevertheless, Raven felt a little suspicious.

Quite a bit of manpower would have been needed to build a tower of this size. The more manpower, the better. Whatever the reason, there had been no need to withdraw all the elves overnight.

“Hmm.”

Raven pondered for a moment, then soon nodded his head in understanding.

“He did it to create the Troll King…”

That was the only possible reason.

Even if the elves were favorable towards the wizard, they would not allow him to create such a dangerous monster.

“That is what we thought as well.”

“And by the time the Red Moon Valley elves realized, he must have already left.”

“…..”

Raven felt mixed emotions as he gazed at Eltuan’s somber face. The Red Moon Valley elves had been abandoned by their own kind and endured all kinds of hardships before finally managing to settle down. The elves would have spared no help and cooperation to a sorcerer who understood and empathized with them.

But how were they supposed to know it would lead to the possible demise of the entire tribe and destruction of the Great Forest?

“If so…”

After speculating the situation in his mind, Raven asked a question that suddenly popped into his head.

“Is that why when you first met me, you killed the ones who were tracking me?”

The elves had lived their lives in the Great Forest, and they would have faced all kinds of dangerous enemies. Even so, the way they had killed the soldiers tracking Raven had been too cruel.

Raven wondered if it had been due to Jean Oberon.

“That is right.”

Sure enough, the eyes of Eltuan and the other elves turned fierce.

“Until now, our tribe was generous toward humans. Even though there were only a few, we helped humans who entered the Great Forest. Naturally, we did not show ourselves according to the law, but we dropped water, food, and herbs to help the humans.”

Eltuan continued with a glare.

“But after suffering betrayal from the human wizard, our tribe changed. No, we had to change. We do not forgive the lizards and the trolls. The wizard who deceived and betrayed us kept sending them near the village to keep us from finding him. But the humans who were chasing Pendragon came with the lizards. They will never be forgiven.”

Eltuan spoke in rage. Raven realized once again how great the hostility held by her and the Red Moon Valley elves was. Their animosity would work in their favor, and it would also greatly benefit Raven for what he had to do.

“That is good. I do not forgive my enemies either, and you and I share a common enemy.”

“I know. But…”

Eltuan hesitated for a moment before continuing with a light sigh.

“Pendragon is still a human. I don’t know about now, but we don’t have complete trust in you. I hope you understand.”

She seemed a little apologetic with her words, and Raven smirked while responding.

“I understand. I would have done the same. Well, I will not tell you to trust me completely. You just have to watch and help me until your tribe’s sorrow is finally repealed. You can decide later whether to trust and follow me.”

“…Thank you.”

Eltuan answered in an embarrassed voice, then stepped forward after regaining her passive expression.

“I will guide you. The entrance and the structure of the first floor are well known. I was here when the construction was…”

Rumbleee!

Eltuan paused at the sudden tremor.

Shiing!

Raven quickly pulled out his two swords and glared towards where the sound originated from.

Boom! Boom!

As soon as the earth trembled with a large roar, Raven raised one of his hands. At his command, around one hundred elven warriors took out their respective weapons and took their battle stance.

Booooom! Boom!

The roar came from the back of the tower, and it was growing louder every second. The tension on the faces of the elven warriors grew in proportion.

Finally, something appeared from behind the gray tower.

A large body reaching 30 feet tall and elongated arms dragging on the ground. It was a creature with dozens of yellow teeth, each as big as a man’s forearm. Its dark, red eyes were looking directly at the group. It was…

“Ogre!”

Eltuan exclaimed.

Ogre. It was one of the strongest two-legged monsters to walk the earth. The power of an ogre was hard to match even with dozens of soldiers or as many as six orc warriors. In addition, even though ogres were a little stupid, they were able to construct their own weapons, unlike the trolls; the intelligence of the trolls were comparable to mere beasts. Ogres were quite swift as well.

Therefore, unlike trolls who hunted in groups, ogres often acted alone.

However, there was another reason why ogres were imprinted as terrifying monsters.

Monsters such as trolls, griffons, and lycanthropes hunted animals such as sheep and cattle, but the ogres hunted humanoid creatures as prey, and unfortunately, humans and elves also fell into the category as well.

“Guwwwuuaaghh!”

A ferocious, deafening roar resonated throughout the jungle.

Fwooosh!

Birds flew up from their branches after hearing the roar of the one known as the mountain king, and small animals like monkeys ran away from the creature as fast as possible.

In addition, the ogre’s roar affected more than the small animals.

“Keuk!”

Quite a number of elves fell on one knee under the pressure. Even though they were the strongest warriors of the Great Forest, the ogre was known as the king of the mountains.

Even powerful creatures such as griffons and lycanthropes tended to avoid the mountains that ogres resided on. Elves had similar mental strength as humans, so they could not easily face the pressure of the ogre’s roar.

“Brothers! Get it together!”

Eltuan raised his voice. As the strongest warrior of the tribe, her mental strength was formidable as well.

“Ugh…”

The elves attempted to straighten their knees with clenched teeth at her encouragement. It was then.

“Kyarurururu!”

“Shhhheek!”

The ogre licked its lips in anticipation, and numerous figures appeared from under the creature’s legs. Eltuan was flabbergasted at the sight.

“How are the lizards…”

The lizardmen were clothed in animal hides and carrying crude, but deadly metal weapons. They outnumbered the elves as well. However, it wasn’t due to their large numbers that Eltuan had been surprised.

Ogres preyed upon ‘humanoid creatures’, and this included the lizardmen and orcs as well. There was no way that an ogre and lizardmen were working together.

“Don’t tell me…”

Eltuan gritted her teeth at the possibility.

This was the tower of Jean Oberon, the sorcerer who deceived and betrayed them. It was very possible that he was controlling the monsters with his magic.

Boom!

“Come to your senses! Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Eltuan shook herself from shock as the ogre took a powerful step. She shouted orders to the warriors, as she had done until now.

“Ah…!”

But she quickly realized that the elves were not alone right now, and that the position of the leader had been won over by someone else. She quickly turned her head.

“Hm!”

Her eyes widened.

Fwoooosh!

Even though the man had wandered through the jungle for days, his armor had never dirtied or received a single scratch. And now, a translucent flame rose like a haze over his shining armor, surrounding his entire body.

The spirit soon spread to his two weapons, making them appear like flaming swords.

“Take care of the lizardmen. I will take care of the ogre.”

Staring at the giant, cannibalistic monster with blazing eyes, the Dragon Queen’s companion charged forward.