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Chapter 337 - Legend of the High Elves (3)

“Layla, what did you do to persuade Douglas? He seemed a bit hard to please,” Kim Si-Hun whispered as he approached Layla.

Layla giggled lightly and replied, “Douglas fortunately harbored a great deal of faith for Lady Gaia as well.”

‘Liar.’

“He lowered his suspicions as soon as I explained to him how great and benevolent Lady Gaia is.”

‘You didn’t even say a thing about Gaia.’

“Oh, then did you reveal to him that you’re Lady Gaia’s incarnation?” Si-Hun asked.

“No, I didn’t. I just... told him that I am one of Lady Gaia’s loyal devotees.”

“A bond born from serving the same goddess, huh? I can understand why he lowered his guard all of a sudden.” Si-Hun nodded with a smile.

Kang-Woo averted his gaze from Layla in silence.

‘Si-Hun... It looks like you’re gonna live your life being whipped by Layla.’

Kang-Woo lightly clicked his tongue. Although he despised lies, he could understand Layla’s circumstances of not being able to reveal the truth.

‘I guess this is what you call lying in good faith.’

It couldn’t be helped; yes, there was no other way. Anyway...

“I’m proud to have Layla as my comrade,” Kang-Woo responded to Douglas while smiling brightly.

Douglas smiled back. “Right, you wanted to know about high elves, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone. They were finally getting into the main subject at hand.

“What do you want to know exactly?” Douglas asked.

“Their location.”

“Mmmh...” Douglas groaned as if he could not answer.

“Do you not know where they are?” Kang-Woo asked.

“I do not. To be exact, there is no way to know. However, I do know the conditions that they appear in.”

“Conditions?”

Kang-Woo’s face, which had been dyed in disappointment, brightened again. Douglas scratched his head as if he didn’t know where to begin his explanation.

“Mm. It seems I have to explain some things about high elves first.”

“Please take your time.”

“Okay.” Douglas nodded. “First, do you know the difference between elves and high elves?”

“Uhh... Mm. Aren’t they kind of like... elven nobility or royalty?”

“Not exactly.” Douglas firmly shook his head. “To make a comparison, they are actually closer to gods. According to records, high elves were beings of godhood that possess Divinity. Among them, elder high elves were of the same level of godhood as Celestial Goddess Seraph, or even higher.”

“Hah,” Kang-Woo chuckled.

‘High elves are deities?’

He had never even expected it. One would normally consider a high elf to be something like the king of elves.

‘I guess they’re not kings, but gods that the elves serve.’

If that was the case, it made sense that barely anyone knew of their location.

“Wait, then does that mean there is no physical way to meet with the high elves?” Kang-Woo asked.

Although it was not the case for all beings of godhood, deities such as Gaia and Uranus stayed out of the physical world in order to be as free as possible from the influence of providence. Even a goddess as powerful as Gaia had only influenced the physical world through Layla via Deific Manifestation.

“No. Mm... Well, I guess it’s not exactly untrue.” Douglas shook his head ambiguously. “Although high elves do not reside in the physical world, they can manifest here by borrowing the power of the world tree to form a body.”

“I see.”

Kang-Woo sighed in relief. If they were able to descend into the physical world through a body, it meant that it was not impossible to meet them.

Douglas opened a book on the desk and continued, “When the Arnan Empire was first founded, a high elf descended to bless the first emperor personally.”

“Does that mean high elves are like the Arnan Empire’s guardians?”

“I’m not sure, but... You could say that they are the guardians of the imperial family. As proof of that, all those who carry the blood of the imperial family are extremely handsome and beautiful.”

Kang-Woo recalled Reynald’s face. The blond hero’s dazzling looks had been on par with Si-Hun’s.

“Then... How can we meet those high elves?”

Kang-Woo had a rough idea of what kind of beings the high elves were from Douglas’s explanation, but the most important thing was where they were. They needed that information to meet with the beings that would guide them to the Demon God’s corpse.

“There is a legend related to the high elves,” Douglas mumbled. “When this world reaches the brink of collapse, the protector of the world tree will manifest before the savior. And, the protector of the world tree is referring to a high elf.”

“Wait a minute. Does that mean...”

“Yes,” Douglas smirked. “It means there is realistically no way to meet them.”

Kang-Woo frowned aggressively. They had ultimately gone back to square one. Douglas patted Kang-Woo’s shoulder while chuckling.

“Do not be so disappointed. According to the records, elves and high elves are not that much different in terms of appearance. Although we cannot meet high elves, we at least have elves!” Douglas looked toward Layla while snorting.

“Is there truly no other way? An elf that can communicate with the high elves, perhaps?” Kang-Woo asked.

There was actually no need for them to meet with a high elf in person; just like how Layla relayed Gaia’s will through Deific Manifestation, there could possibly be someone among the elves that could relay the high elves’ will through a similar method... No, there needed to be.

“Mm. Probably not. I can proudly say that there is no one in this world who knows elves better than me, and I have never heard of an elf that could communicate with the high elves,” Douglas responded as if hammering the final nail in the coffin.

The faces of Kang-Woo and the expedition team froze.

“Hyung-nim, then...”

“We have no choice but to look for the Demon God’s corpse without the high elves’ help,” Kang-Woo said while sighing.

They did not necessarily need to find the high elves first to find the Demon God’s corpse. Although it was an ignorant method, they could just search every nook and cranny of the continent.

‘Though I have no idea how long it would take.’

They would be searching through an entire star. Even if Kang-Woo’s party could freely soar across the skies, it would not be easy at all.

‘And...’

Considering the Demon God’s corpse had never been found until now, it was safe to assume that it would not be visible just by looking down from above.

‘It could either be in the deep seas, a deep cave, or...’

In the worst-case scenario, it might not exist in the physical world, just like the high elves.

“Shit,” Kang-Woo cursed.

He placed his hand over his forehead as if his head hurt. Kang-Woo was not the only one deep in thought; Layla had also realized the gravity of the situation and was biting her lip with a gloomy expression. The air in the study grew heavy in an instant.

“Kang-Woo...” Han Seol-Ah carefully placed her hand above the contemplating Kang-Woo’s hand. “No matter how long it takes, I’m fine with it.”

Seol-Ah smiled brightly. Echidna also trotted over and sat on Kang-Woo’s lap.

“Hm! I’m fine with it too, as long as I’m with you, Kang-Woo!”

The two of them consoled Kang-Woo to lighten the mood as much as possible. Kang-Woo smirked and patted Echidna’s head. Echidna swayed her legs while humming in joy.

“Yeah, we have to find it, no matter how long it takes.”

They needed to, even if it would take years, or even decades. It was only a matter of time until Earth would be invaded by outer worlds if they did nothing.

‘The problem is...’

Kang-Woo’s expression was as gloomy as ever despite Seol Ah and Echidna’s consolement. To be honest, he didn’t mind however long he would need to stay in Aernor for, as long as he was with his comrades. It was different from Hell, where he had nothing good to eat, drink, and enjoy.

‘It’s just that there’s a time limit.’

According to Gaia, the protections of the three stars of the Triad were dependent on each other. If they did not manage to find and eliminate the Demon God’s corpse, Earth’s protection would fall apart, and it would affect the protection of the two other stars soon after. A building was bound to collapse without its supporting structures.

‘But Gaia said that she would be able to hold on for a few years at the very least.’

But if interpreted in another way, they only had a few years until Earth’s protection collapsed.

“Haaa,” Kang-Woo sighed.

The air in the study was as heavy as ever. Kang-Woo fell into thought with his head lowered.

‘We need a way to find the Demon God’s corpse.’

However, he could not think of any, no matter how much he thought. Even Lucis, whom Kang-Woo had trusted to know where it was, did not remember; neither did the angels, and not even Gaia. The expedition team did not even have a single clue to go off of.

‘Is there no other choice... but to depend on Bauli?’

Kang-Woo thought about bringing the sleeping Bauli up from the Abyss, but shook his head. It was way too risky.

‘What should I do...?’

His mind had become a tangled mess.

“Oh.”

Just then, a thought struck his mind like a lightning bolt.

‘Yeah.’

Kang-Woo chuckled unbeknownst to himself.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

He almost burst into laughter from his own stupidity. It was a rather simple problem to solve, to the point that he felt pathetic for not having thought of it sooner.

‘It was right in front of me!’

There was no need to even think about it. The solution was stupidly simple. Kang-Woo recalled the legend that Douglas had mentioned.

- When this world reaches the brink of collapse, the protector of the world tree will manifest before the savior.

‘If a high elf will only appear if this world is on the brink of collapse...’

A smile filled with malice was plastered on the demon’s face. Snicker. He was unable to suppress his laughter.

‘... I just have to bring Aernor to the brink of collapse!’

Truly a 5Head moment.