CHAPTER 271: CHAPTER 271 - THE SKY THAT SHATTERED HOPE

The sun’s first rays stretched across the clearing, soft gold washing the forest in quiet warmth. The air still smelled of ash and blood — a reminder of what had been lost — yet now, beneath the morning light, there was something else blooming in the silence...

Hope.

The elves — light and dark alike — stood frozen, every breath held, every gaze locked onto the scene before them.

The Elf Queen — ruler of the radiant woods, the voice of the Mother Tree — had bowed her head.

To a dark elf.

To Sylthara.

Her voice still lingered in the air, trembling with sincerity:

"Will you... be willing to forgive — and live with us again?"

Luca’s heart thudded in his chest as he watched. His vision still blurred at the edges from exhaustion, but even that wouldn’t pull him away from this moment.

Are they... finally going to reunite?

His eyes softened, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

This is it. The first true victory tonight wasn’t killing cultists — it was this.

Elves who once spat curses now cried silently, their weapons lowered, shoulders shaking from relief and disbelief. Dark elves who had spent lifetimes being hunted and scorned stared wide-eyed — as if afraid that if they blinked, this fragile miracle would shatter.

A few of them clung to one another, tears glistening like dew in their grayish hair.

They would no longer be filth in the shadows.

They would finally be seen.

Recognized.

Cherished.

Luca inhaled quietly. This unity... we need it. The battles ahead will be far worse than tonight.

All eyes rested on Sylthara.

Her silver hair fluttered gently in the early morning breeze. The daggers in her hands were still stained with blood — but her expression was no longer carved from fury.

Instead... she looked up.

Beyond the treetops.

Beyond the sky.

As if searching for someone.

Mother...

A single tear slipped free — tracing the curve of her cheek.

It shimmered like a star in the rising sunlight before falling to the earth below... to the roots that once nourished her people.

That lone tear was a message.

Look.

Look at what it took.

Look at what we have finally earned.

Her chest rose with a shaky breath.

Her fists tightened once... then slowly relaxed.

The battlefield grew so silent that even the wind dared not speak.

Sylthara lowered her gaze — meeting the Queen’s eyes.

The fury in her golden irises had softened... replaced with a deep, aching sorrow and a fragile but blooming warmth.

Her lips parted.

Before Sylthara could utter a single word, the ground beneath them shuddered with a violent, sickening force, as though the very heart of the ancient forest had been seized in terror.

BOOOOM—!!

Tree trunks thicker than castle pillars groaned and split apart, collapsing in chaotic succession while roots tore through the soil like writhing serpents. A crushing wave of pressure swept outward from the heart of the woods, oppressive and suffocating, forcing every living being to their knees as if gravity itself had decided they were unworthy to stand.

Luca’s body buckled instantly — a rib-deep pain exploded through his chest and blood bubbled past his lips, yet through the haze of agony his hand instinctively reached for Aurelia. Their fingers clasped with desperate urgency, knuckles white from the strain, both of them trembling under a power so overwhelming that even breathing felt like drowning in air. His thoughts were a frantic blur — just what was this strength, this monstrous presence weighing down on their very souls?

The Elf Queen, normally the embodiment of pride and composure, struggled to keep her torso upright against the invisible force. Her elegant posture fractured, shoulders trembling, teeth clenched so hard a faint crack echoed as she forced out words drenched in disbelief.

"The barrier—it has been broken... through sheer force... Who... could wield such power...?"

Elves and dark elves alike stared around in confusion and terror, unable to move even a finger. Hope, unity — all of it froze as dread slithered into their hearts.

Then, a voice cut through the destruction —

smooth, cold, amused — a sound that didn’t belong in any world touched by light.

"Well, well... looks like I arrived a little late. What a nuisance. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to interfere." A soft click of the tongue followed, dripping with irritation. "Still, I suppose I should thank that trash for weakening the barrier for me."

Heads snapped upward — or rather attempted to — as a figure materialized high above them, not stepping into existence but tearing his way into it like a nightmare crossing into reality.

Hovering in mid-air was a man draped in a black long coat that fluttered despite the stillness of the wind. His skin was a deep, unnatural violet that shimmered like moonlight on poisoned water. Sleek black hair cascaded down his back, but what froze every breath was his face — or rather, what was missing from it. One eye was gone, replaced by a torn, jagged scar that pulsed faintly as though alive, while the remaining eye glowed with a cruelty so cold it scorched.

The aura around him radiated death and insanity — a silent declaration that he had ended civilizations before and would do so again without hesitation.

Luca’s pupils shrank to pinpoints, horror clawing up his throat.

"T-The... Fourth Demon General..." he whispered, each word escaping like a dying plea. Don’t tell me... he’s already regained his full power...?

Beside him, Selena and Lilliane’s faces drained of all color as they forced out the title no mage ever wished to utter — their voices trembling in perfect unison:

"Th-The Overlord Mage..."

The demon general’s single remaining eye drifted lazily across the crowd — not searching, but choosing. And when it stopped, locked onto Sylthara, a sick thrill twisted his expression into something far too close to delight.

"Ah... there you are," he murmured, voice smooth as poison. "That troublesome lineage... Just kill her, right?"

There was no spell circle.

No chant.

No gesture.

Reality itself simply obeyed.

A soundless rupture — the kind that makes the world forget breath — and Sylthara’s body jerked violently in place, her eyes widening in shock as invisible claws crushed her chest from within. Then she crumpled to the ground like a marionette with cut strings, a faint exhale slipping from her lips as if her very soul was being tugged away.

"NO!!!!!!!!"

Luca’s scream shattered the suffocating silence, raw and torn from the deepest well of fear a heart could hold. The crushing pressure that had forced them all down lifted — not because mercy was given, but because it no longer mattered to the monster above.

Everyone surged toward her.

Aurelia nearly dragged Luca forward, her spear forgotten, her face pale with horror. Lilliane’s trembling hands fumbled through her satchel, throwing every potion she had to the ground in frantic desperation. Kyle ripped corks off life elixirs with his teeth. Vincent and Selena poured healing mana into her like a flood, sweat and tears mixing as they worked without pause.

Elves — light and dark alike — pressed trembling palms to her body.

Their healing magic sparked... flickered... then died, swallowed by the spreading corruption in the air.

Trees that had stood for centuries rotted in seconds, bark turning black and flaking away like burnt paper. Leaves curled into ash. Wildlife scattered and perished with the same breath. And the Mother Tree — sacred, ancient, life itself — began to darken, veins of sickly blackness crawling up its trunk like a death sentence.

Above them, the demon general chuckled — low, mockingly sympathetic.

"Look at you... clinging to hope. How amusing."

He raised a hand, shadows coiling like serpents around his fingers.

"Let’s put an end to this stubborn comedy—"

He didn’t finish.

With a furious, radiant explosion of emerald light, the Elf Queen launched herself into the sky, her staff singing with the wrath of every fallen elf. She met him head-on — Nature against swirling void — but even as they clashed, even as she forced him back with the last remnants of the forest’s strength, it was painfully clear:

Without the Mother Tree, she was being devoured by exhaustion.

And he was barely even beginning.

Down below, Sylthara’s breathing weakened by the second. Her skin paled to a haunting gray. Blood trickled down her lips, staining the earth beneath her.

Senior Elowen’s voice cracked as she pressed mana into her chest again and again, refusing to accept what her instincts already knew.

"We have to save her—her mana is collapsing—and her lifeforce... it’s fading too fast!"

Aurelia bit her lip so hard blood spilled, whispering prayers that wouldn’t answer.

Lilliane sobbed through clenched teeth, choking on guilt and fear.

Even Kyle’s unshakable stance trembled as he held her still, desperate not to lose grip on her slipping existence.

And Luca —

He stared down at Sylthara’s hollowing eyes, at a life draining away despite every hand trying to hold her here, and a terrible, suffocating thought crawled through his mind—

Is this it...?

Are we just going to watch her die?

Are we... truly helpless... again?