I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 56



55 – [In the Land of Elves – 23]

KA-KA-GANG!!

“Sylphy! That bow…!!”

Les said, staring at Sylphy.

The bow Sylphy held was the Meteor Bow, passed down only to Titania.

Then, could it be that Titania already—

“Kehehehe!! That’s a bow made from the World Tree!! The Meteor Bow! And yet, it can only produce pathetic attacks!”

SHWaaaNG! SHWaaaNG! SHWaaaNG!!

Shooting down all the magic, while also keeping an eye on the wyverns, fighting a Demon Lord Army executive was no easy feat.

“Who the hell are you!!”

“…Heh.”

The lich laughed.

“Demon Lord Army executive, Bane. I wanted to get my hands on a few elf corpses from Elvenheim, you see. High elves even! If possible, Titania!!”

CRACK, a clear killing intent could be seen rippling toward Bane.

No matter how many strong countermeasures had been taken, it was Titania who had protected Elvenheim for so long.

She had lived even longer than the other elves, and only ever protected Elvenheim, so to the other elves, Titania was a kind of guardian, or even an image like a guardian deity.

The mere mention that he had come to obtain Titania’s corpse was the perfect statement to provoke the elves’ anger.

WHOOM!!

As Sylphy’s arrow flew, Bane immediately blocked it with magic.

“Everyone!! Listen to me!! Right now, we need to do what we must! Take down the wyverns!! I’ll deal with this Demon Lord Army executive named Bane….”

WHOOSH!!

A purplish flame flickered into being before Sylphie’s eyes.

*Thwack!* Les yanked her back, narrowly avoiding the blaze, but the tips of his fingers grazed it and caught fire.

“Les-nim!”

“Calm yourself. We cannot win if we fight without composure.”

“…”

Sylphie looked at Les’ face and quickly regained her senses.

She had been consumed by rage, failing to grasp the situation properly.

Their opponent was a commander of the Demon Lord’s army.

It might seem easy considering the Hero Olivia Reinhart had eliminated five of the so-called Eight Holy Generals of the Demon Lord’s forces, but each one was a powerhouse wielding ridiculous strength.

They were among the strongest of the monsters.

“Everyone!! Listen up!! You are now to begin the extermination of the wyverns!! Kill every last one!! For Elvenheim!!”

“Yes, sir!!”

“Damn it, that lich b*stard! How dare he insult Titania!”

“Let’s go for now! If we can’t take care of the wyverns, elves, not just soldiers, might die!”

Bane chuckled and reached out toward the backs of the retreating elves, but then *thoom!* A loud noise echoed and he understood that an arrow had just pierced his palm.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Sylphie glared at Bane as she spoke, and Bane grinned.

“You’re a half-elf, aren’t you? Half-elves, nice! Much longer lifespans than humans, but weaker than elves! The perfect material!”

With each word Bane spoke, Sylphie felt a rage she had never before experienced surge within her.

It was an emotion she didn’t even understand herself, and Sylphie’s eyes widened.

Silphee slammed the brakes on her rapidly cycling mana.

The instant the mana ceased, her head, which had been burning hot, began to cool.

“Indeed.”

“Ooh, what’s this? You’re sharp, huh?”

“Lady Silphee?”

“It’s mind erosion. For a moment, I mistook the anger I felt just now as my own.”

“Aww, you *did* have some anger~ I just helped it burst out more flamboyantly. Even now, after breaking the erosion, you still want to kill me, right?”

Mind erosion, if it hadn’t been underway for long, could be broken by momentarily ceasing the self-circulating mana.

The problem was, the person afflicted had to do it themselves, so this method was only usable if they sensed the abnormality in the very early stages.

Good thing she’d heard it from Royce.

Les, having heard the story as well, instantly cut his mana and immediately gripped his sword.

“An elf wielding a sword? Ah, you must be that famous captain of the guard? I want your corpse too… How about this? If you hand over your corpse quietly, I’ll only take Titania’s and leave the rest of the elves untouched…”

“We don’t negotiate with demons.”

Les leaped in, swinging his sword.

Clang!!

Vane created a small barrier, blocking Les’ attack.

“Figured as much, right? I don’t know why you hate us so much, you guys kill and eat dogs and pigs, don’t you? How are we any different?”

“If dogs or pigs were to kill humans, they would be put down immediately. …It is the same. Are you aggrieved, you beast, for being judged by the standards of humanity?”

“……”

Les furrowed his brow.

“Are you seriously bringing up morality when you’re demons killing so many humans by your own demonic standards? We can never, ever coexist.”

That’s what Lois had said too, echoing Les’ words.

Demons have a fundamentally different way of thinking than humans, and even if they wanted to coexist, they simply couldn’t.

But humans, after all, kill beings they deem inferior, sometimes even animals—mere livestock—for food. So, maybe calling them objectively ‘evil’ isn’t entirely fair.

Still, they *were* human, and they could only think from a human perspective.

“Is it unfair? Stop the fighting, stop the bloodshed, stop eating humans, stop deciding everything with brute strength, and manage things properly with laws.”

“……”

“Can you hear me? Do you understand? Don’t we humans look foolish living like this? We could decide everything with power, yet we create all these meaningless rules—you don’t get it, do you?”

“You b*stard…”

“That’s how we feel about you demons.”

*Thwack!*

The barrier cracked slightly, but Les’ attack still couldn’t reach him.

*Clang!*

Silphy’s arrow followed, but Bane casually blocked it, stepping back.

Silphy frowned.

‘No, the Meteor Bow isn’t unleashing its full power.’

It should be displaying the strength of a legendary bow, if not quite Titania’s level, yet its current power was barely different from an arrow Silphy would make herself.

The Meteor Bow was allowing her to hold it and fight, but it wasn’t truly lending her its power yet.

It felt like it was just letting her *hold* it.

It definitely felt like the magic of the Comet Palace was entering Sylphy’s body at first.

And.

‘Strong…’

This is a Demon King Army executive.

Olivia basically took down five of them alone, they said.

“A bow, huh? You shoot it like this, right?”

Bane created arrows of violet flame in the air, filling the void as if copying them.

For a moment, Sylphy and Les were stunned by the sheer number of arrows.

But then, they braced themselves, frowning.

“Just so you know, my attacks are laced with curses… If you get hit, it might not be the end of it!!”

The arrows flew.

Blocking them all was impossible.

If they combined their strength, Les and her, they could at least avoid fatal wounds.

*Thwang!!*

“Huh? What was that?”

Bane frowned.

He was about to have some fun after a long time, but suddenly a wind-like arrow flew past him from the side.

The arrow caused a storm, deflecting all the other arrows.

“This storm-creating arrow.”

Les’ eyes widened, and Sylphy naturally turned her gaze in that direction.

“What the hell is this… What’s going on?”

“Lady Reina.”

Reina was there.

*

“Ugh, I’m going crazy.”

I gasped for breath, sweat pouring down my face.

What kind of world tree path was so steep? It was impossible to just walk up, I had to almost climb a wall, and it wasn’t even a proper path.

If Titania had guided me, maybe I could have taken a more sensible route, but there was no time, so I had no choice but to just climb.

After passing the barrier and finally reaching the world tree, I saw that Titania’s illusion had vanished and the tree had no leaves at all.

‘I’m worried about Elvenheim, but if I think about the worst case, reviving the world tree could be my way to turn this around.’

If the world tree comes back, its blessing will return and give aid to the elves.

The reason why the elves, who were outnumbered during the war between humans and elves, were able to survive was because they got stronger in the forest thanks to the world tree’s blessing.

In other words, if the world tree is revived even now, the elves will gain strength, and those elves who might die might be able to survive and get treatment thanks to the blessing.

And if I could get the world tree’s sap quickly, I could cure Livia.

If Livia is free from the God of Death’s curse, she might be the key to resolving this crisis.

“How the hell am I supposed to get in?”

I came all this way but I don’t know how to get inside.

Is there a hole or something somewhere?

It didn’t look like there would be any kind of physical hole I could just easily walk through.

I carefully placed my hand on the World Tree.

Then, light shimmered, forming a hole as if inviting me in.

“…At least I’m qualified to take the test, right? Gotta think positive?”

Considering the World Tree itself granted me entry, it seemed like they weren’t going to outright reject me.

At least the worst-case scenario was off the table.

There was a chance they wouldn’t even let me in, and considering the spirits’ temperaments, it wasn’t an unreasonable possibility.

“Let’s go, we don’t have time.”

Whether it’s acceptance or rejection, I wish they’d make up their mind already.

And I’d really prefer it to be acceptance.