#223. The Last Forest (5)
—
“What are you talking about? How could I be the one who abducted the children?”
Gwendel retorted at Ray’s words.
There was not even the slightest ripple in her vessel’s emotions.
Elves, by nature, rarely showed emotional fluctuations.
But the calmness now present in Gwendel’s vessel resembled not a tranquil lake but a hard, solid stone.
…Unnatural. Extremely so.
Why had he only noticed it now?
“Where did you hide the children?”
“……”
After a long silence at Ray’s chilling voice, Gwendel suddenly spat out her words, her tone turning eerie.
“Don’t worry. I’ve taken them to a very safe place, where no harm will come to them no matter what happens in the forest.”
The moment she finished speaking, wind-formed daggers tore through the air toward him.
In a flash, his vision flickered.
*Thwack! Crackle! Crack-crackle!*
All the daggers struck the wall.
Ray had already vanished from his spot and reappeared behind Gwendel.
*Zap!*
His body was cloaked in yellow electric currents.
“Lightning Strike…? No, this is… what?”
Even an elf well-versed in magic couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
Sensing defeat, Gwendel instinctively bit her tongue without hesitation.
*Thwack!*
At the same moment, Ray struck the back of her neck with a knife-hand strike.
“Ugh─ Ack!”
…Why didn’t she faint right away?
Frowning slightly, Ray grabbed a thick book from a shelf and struck Gwendel on the back of the head.
*Thud!*
*Flop!*
Only then did the room fall silent.
**”How to Discipline Disobedient Children.”**
The book seemed to be something brought from the human world.
Ray stared blankly at the book for a moment, squeezed it in his hand to test the grip, then tucked it into his clothes.
He then checked the current flowing through his body.
‘So it’s possible to activate Electromorph without making any sound.’
If it had roared like thunder, every elf in the village would have rushed over.
There was no special principle behind it.
He had simply imagined silent lightning.
Also, it seemed he could avoid harming others even when they made direct contact with the current, if he wished.
Ray shifted his gaze back to Gwendel.
‘I didn’t expect Gwendel to be the one who had fallen under an illusion spell.’
A few minutes earlier.
Ray had spotted Gwendel holding the hands of the last two missing children and leading them somewhere.
The sentinels who witnessed this took no action.
Because of her high rank?
Because she was an elder?
No. It was neither.
Because in the sentinels’ eyes, they still saw the children playing in the village square.
Gwendel had cast an illusion.
Using magic, she had concealed herself and the real children, leaving behind fake children in their place as she leisurely walked out of the village.
Given the complexity of the illusion magic crafted by the designer of the forest’s distortion barrier, it was almost impossible for the ordinary elves of the village to detect it.
Ray had tracked her immediately.
Though Gwendel widened the distance rapidly by weaving through all sorts of forest shortcuts, thanks to the mana fragments Ray had attached to the children, he managed to persistently follow her.
But by the time he completely caught up,
「…….」
he found only two mana fragments floating in midair.
…Where had they gone from there?
He searched the area immediately but found no sign of the children.
Afterward, he discovered Gwendel alone, having returned to the village, and requested a meeting, leading to the current situation.
‘I knocked her out because she tried to kill herself…’
But would waiting for her to wake up really reveal the children’s location?
Illusion spells usually could not be undone unless the caster triggered the specific release mechanism they had set.
─────!
Just then, loud commotion erupted outside.
When Ray exited the hollow tree, he saw elves battling homunculi.
“Where did these humans come from…!”
“Defense! Check the forest defenses!”
Each homunculus was merely first-circle in strength—not particularly threatening individually.
However, there were clearly over a hundred of them, and their numbers kept growing as they poured in from beyond the village.
Their chests bore glowing red circles, resembling swarming red ants.
“You think I’m going down that easily?!”
Turning toward the voice, Ray saw Veronica fighting, wind whipping up around her.
And behind her, a swarm of homunculi charged.
The boy’s vessel swelled with rage.
*Boom──!*
In a flash of light, Ray arrived in front of Veronica.
The surrounding homunculi turned instantly into black ashes.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah! I’m not hurt at all!”
Veronica’s face lit up brightly upon seeing Ray.
“But what the heck is happening here? How did the homunculi get through the forest defenses?”
“We’ll find out now. Veronica, go into the hollow of the World Tree. It’s the safest place.”
“No. I’m going to fight too. I’m a proper mage, you know.”
“…….”
Their eyes met for a moment.
Ray spoke as if he understood.
“Alright. Just don’t get hurt.”
“Of course! I won’t! Thanks for worrying about me.”
Again, a flash of light.
The next moment, Ray was sprinting through the forest, far from the village.
*Rustle! Rustle!*
He could feel the presence of homunculi converging toward the village from all directions.
He spotted a hawk perched on a tree and silently sent his thoughts.
‘Please.’
*Fweee──!*
The hawk spread its wings and landed lightly on Ray’s arm, then soared vertically into the sky.
A string of violet mana was tied to its ankle.
‘Straight path ahead.’
No obstacles for now.
As he ran, Ray closed his eyes and shared the hawk’s senses.
*Fweee──!*
*Flap! Flap-flap!*
Branches and leaves brushed against the hawk’s wings.
The scenery rapidly rose through the lush greenery.
At the end of it, the vast sky unfolded.
Looking down, he saw the Last Forest surrounded by hundreds of vehicles.
From them, a countless number of homunculi were pouring into the forest.
‘The forest defenses and distortion barrier… they’re down.’
Grasping the situation, Ray stopped running and opened his eyes.
A familiar flower field appeared.
Turning around after watering the flowers, Obsess stretched out her arms toward Ray.
“You came again today. Come here, my good, sweet child, my very own child.”
Though she wore a gentle smile, Ray did not react as usual.
Only cold indifference reflected in his gaze.
The silence between them was heavy and sharp.
After struggling to form words, the woman finally spoke, her voice laced with ripping sorrow.
“You were pretending all along, weren’t you.”
“You too. You knew from the start, didn’t you? That I wasn’t under the illusion spell.”
She gave no reply.
Only a sorrowful smile.
“Did you follow me here?”
In response to Ray’s question, the woman exhaled a trembling sigh.
“…Father had been searching for the Last Forest for a long time. Eventually, by tracking an elf named Grin’s movements, he could infer the forest’s location.”
“Tracking Grine’s movements?”
“Father watches everything from the highest skies.”
“Are you saying the doctor has become some kind of god?”
“He is… trying to become one. Father ordered us to find and destroy the Last Forest.”
Ray could guess why.
It was probably to erase the records of the old era that remained there.
“And he also ordered me to eliminate you. Because you would be an obstacle to humanity’s future great progress.”
“…Great progress.”
“I don’t know all the details. He only said it’s about returning to the origin.”
The woman took a deep breath.
“The moment I saw you, I knew. I couldn’t follow that order. How could I kill such a lovely child with my own hands? The forest will soon disappear. The homunculi are spreading like fire, destroying everything. Nothing living will remain. But you… you will be the exception. Because—”
Her vessel overflowed with turbulent emotions.
…Anxiety, restlessness, excitement, and fear.
But the largest among them was—
“—I will protect you.”
—**a deep, flesh-colored obsession.**
Facing her, Ray shifted his gaze to the ground at her feet.
The saplings she had tried to nurture, having been overwatered despite advice, had all withered and died.
“Where are the hidden children?”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to raise them too. In a better environment, with a mother who can give them love and attention fully focused on them.”
Mother.
It was clear she was referring to herself.
“You said you grew up alone without parents. You must have been so lonely and sad. Poor child. Come into my arms. You can cry your heart out. I’ll fill the empty place of your mother from now on.”
Her gaze, filled with anxiety, fear, hope, and longing, stretched toward Ray.
…A cold silence followed.
It was sharper than any refusal.
The woman’s face twisted painfully, and her eyes blazed with a manic light.
The veins around her eyes bulged, but Ray did not move an inch.
“Why…! Why isn’t it working?! Why…! I thought if I gave my all, it would work no matter who it was!”
“You must have used that to cast the illusion on Gwendel too.”
*Step—*
“This can’t be happening!”
“The mother who waited every day, gazing out beyond the wasteland for her daughter to return… her emotions must have been extremely fragile.”
*Step—*
“D-don’t come closer! Why won’t you accept my love…!”
“You used Gwendel to disable the defenses and the distortion barrier. Now, stop the homunculi. Tell me where the missing children are. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to capture you and make you suffer terribly.”
Just as Ray’s body began to glow yellow with electricity—
“Kyaaaaaa──!”
Obsess clutched her head and screamed.
Mana pulsed violently from the shockwave, causing flowers to snap and trees to shudder.
*Rustle—!*
Ray blocked the impact with a shield.
“The children are mine! I will never, ever part from them again!”
Behind her scream, the earth rumbled.
Countless footsteps approached.
And then—
*Shriek—! Screech—!*
Homunculi appeared between the trees from all directions, wielding blades and emitting deadly bloodlust.
*Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!*
The world flashed several times.
After the thunderous roar subsided, what unfolded before his eyes were dozens of piles of ash.
“…….”
The boy noticed that the woman had disappeared.
Only the flowers she had tended to for a short while had all been snapped at the stem and lay dead.
‘Should I track her?’
From a practical standpoint, that would be the right choice.
They needed to capture her to extract information, including details about the Doctor.
However, the cries of animals echoing from all around and the sounds of trees collapsing made him hesitate.
—Kkyeeek!
—Crack! Thud!
The homunculi’s attacks were aimed at the entire forest.
“…….”
Perhaps because, though brief, he had developed a small attachment to this forest, a place abundant with mana.
The pain the animals and plants were experiencing felt as though it were his own.
For now, he had to act for the sake of the forest, rather than his own gain.
The moment he came to that conclusion, the green jewel within his body resonated powerfully and shone brightly.
But the boy, deep in thought, failed to notice the change.
‘The homunculi might be weak individually, but there are too many of them. If I try to eliminate them one by one, the forest will suffer irreparable damage in the meantime. And the children. Obsess said she would raise the children. The affection she showed me wasn’t a lie either. At the very least, she won’t harm the children. According to Gwendel, they were hidden in the safest place… Safest place?’
The safest place in the forest.
KWA-RANG──!
The moment a certain place flashed through his mind, a burst of light erupted, and with a thunderous sound, the boy vanished from where he stood.
