Chapter 53: Ruins of the Ancient Elven Dynasty
The group that had arrived was naturally the mayor of Babel Province and his entourage.
Faced with the monster—no, hero—who had single-handedly annihilated the entire army of Stone Demons, and since they had absolutely no idea what race this being was or what attitude he held toward elves, they had engaged in intense discussion before ultimately adopting the most cautious and safest strategy.
That was to raise the white flag.
This was not a surrender, but a declaration that they had no intention of resisting whatsoever, and that the esteemed sir could do as he pleased. According to the think tank's speculation, given the other party's power, he might not necessarily have any designs on the elves. On the contrary, his stance toward the Stone Demons was clearly hostile, and on this point, both sides were aligned.
An enemy of an enemy is not necessarily a friend, but at least both parties were intelligent beings with the possibility of communication. They could also attempt to win over this suddenly appearing powerhouse and tentatively glean some information... Of course, due to the vast disparity in power, everything had to be handled with utmost respect and caution.
When they were still about a hundred meters or so away from Joshua and the others, the group hastily disembarked from their armored vehicles. To show respect, they even specially changed into formal attire usually reserved for festivals or meetings. Even if it seemed somewhat excessive, they still conducted their actions according to the highest ceremonial standards.
Leading them was, naturally, Professor Nielsen. As the only elf who frequently communicated with the Volcano Dragon and was familiar with the so-called Plains Common Language, he unhesitatingly shouldered the responsibility of leading the team.
As for Joshua...
Everything was perfect. The elves' meticulous minds had considered almost every possibility—whether it was taking the initiative to greet them outside the city, the language barrier, or any other aspect. They had indeed thought of everything.
Except for the following point.
"...The Common Language you speak has a very strange tone..."
Having already stood on the Black Dragon's head for too long, Joshua thought for a moment before asking, "Do you have any understanding of these magical puppets carrying the aura of Chaos?"
"You mean the Stone Demons?"
Rubbing his somewhat trembling hands, Professor Nielsen swallowed his saliva and said with a quivering voice, "Their information? Of course we have it, but we don't know much about them either, and most of the materials are in the city center library. We didn't bring them with us."
He's exceptionally concerned about the Stone Demons—could he have come specifically for this?
While explaining, the old elf was also pondering many things in his mind. He knew that Joshua and his group hadn't come just to find that foolish Black Dragon. Having witnessed the warrior's inhuman martial prowess, he knew that no such being existed on the entire Ilgena Continent. The other party must have come from an extremely distant place—perhaps even from another world.
Joshua naturally knew that the other party would speculate about their origins, but since explaining the whole story was too troublesome, he couldn't be bothered. They could guess however they wanted. So, ignoring the expressions of the old mage and the others, the warrior said bluntly, "I need all the information you have on the Stone Demons—and also prepare a copy of your civilization's records. Everything."
Joshua emphasized this point: "Don't hide anything."
When he said this, it was originally just a casual emphasis and request to ensure he wouldn't have any misunderstandings about this world, so he didn't use any special tone. But to Nielsen and the others, this emphasized sentence sounded like thunder exploding in their ears. Instantly, everyone began nodding in panic. The mayor, sweating coldly, patted his chest and guaranteed that the information they would provide later would be absolutely complete, with nothing omitted.
Loranda stood behind, raised his hand as if to speak, but after thinking it over, he lowered it again.
Forget it. They were unfamiliar elves anyway. Let Joshua's Aura of Despair scare them a bit—at least it would improve efficiency.
As a Paladin, he naturally stood on the side of justice, but greater efficiency clearly helped more people. Loranda understood that compared to a few people's feelings, it was far more important for them to understand this world as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, in another direction.
In the pitch-black night sky, a waterdrop-shaped airship was flying through the air, rumbling loudly in the strong wind.
The airship, one of the pinnacle creations of Mana Technology, used a power array and anti-gravity core as its central components. A standard-sized airship could carry two hundred and fifty tons of weight and fly at a speed of sixty kilometers per hour.
This speed wasn't particularly fast, but it was sufficient. Moreover, if better materials were used, both the load capacity and speed could be doubled.
And this deep blue, waterdrop-shaped airship was clearly one of those that used the best materials.
Flying at over a hundred kilometers per hour toward the nearby mountain range, the fierce wind that could snap old trees in two flowed smoothly over its streamlined exterior, offering little resistance. Soon, the airship reached the edge of the mountain range.
The wind here was even stronger. Elven youths and maidens of lighter build could be swept away by this wind speed. The howling even drowned out the roar of the airship's engines.
On an external balcony on the side of the airship, a red-haired elf stood there, feeling the rush of the wind. He squinted slightly, gazing downward, when suddenly he raised his eyelids slightly and reached out to catch something in the air.
A leaf.
"The wind has grown stronger... It can even blow leaves up here." The red-haired elf, also known as High Commander Urken, sighed softly. "The Origin Mountains used to have no wind, but now... everything has changed—both these mountains and this world."
"Sir, please come back inside! A few days ago, tornadoes and other phenomena appeared in the Origin Mountains. If an aerial jet stream suddenly appears..."
A voice sounded behind Urken, filled with concern. The red-haired elf was silent for a moment, then sighed and turned away from the balcony. The leaf slipped from his hand and slowly disappeared into the deep night.
As if vanishing into a bottomless abyss.
Soon after, the wind grew even stronger. Two air currents from different directions collided, spinning and merging to form a violent vortex. With an endless roar in the sky, a massive black tornado appeared between heaven and earth. A purple bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, making the colossal tornado look like a world-destroying giant.
At that moment, the airship had already landed in a spacious clearing within the mountains.
Here, the ground was covered in war-scarred ruins and remnants, bearing the marks of gunpowder and Magic Crystals. Urken stepped out of the airship, followed by several guards. The red-haired elf surveyed the vast ruins and took a deep breath.
This was the site of the capital of the last Elven Dynasty.
And his target lay within these ruins, buried underground by the flames of war.
A true Abyss.