I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 59



58 – [In the Land of the Elves – 26]

Blood Palace.

It was a forbidden technique.

I had heard it was a technique you shouldn’t use, but during my childhood, Reina, without knowing any better, secretly looked at that grimoire in Titania’s library and learned the technique.

It was a childish mind.

I thought I would be praised by Titania.

But the Blood Palace was a far more dangerous technique than I had imagined, and Titania scolded Reina.

In the end, only the result of ‘mastering Blood Palace’ remained for Reina.

“What the hell is that, a blood bow?”

Bane is startled.

Reyna was satisfied by that fact.

It seemed that even a high-ranking officer of the Demon King’s army wouldn’t know about the forbidden techniques of the elves, which hadn’t been used for a long time.

It wasn’t a technique that could be used for long, but it wasn’t one that could be used briefly either.

Maybe Olivia could have ended it quickly if she had used a technique like this, but unfortunately Reyna didn’t possess that level of explosive potential.

“Curious?”

Reyna pulled back the bowstring.

Drip, drip, the blood bow continued to ripple, with blood falling down.

“Have a taste.”

*Thwang!!*

A blood-soaked arrow flew, slamming directly into Bane’s barrier.

And then.

*Thwang!!*

“Kuh!”

It pierced through the barrier and wounded Bane.

“Wha-t is… Elves do a lot of research, but I’ve never seen that. What is that?!”

“Think I’ll explain?”

*Thwang! Thwang! Thwang!!*

Blood arrows continued to fly, and at the same time, Bane erased his previously relaxed demeanor and began to move quickly. He created barriers as footholds and moved across them.

It seemed they were using the barrier in a rather interesting way, but it was all for naught.

“Hrrgh!!”

Less leapt in, swinging his sword.

Ting!!

It was blocked by the barrier, but just like before, it wasn’t a one-sided view of Less looking down.

Reyna’s attacks were rapid-fire, and the blood arrows, ceaselessly flying, possessed enough power to pierce through Vane’s barrier and even Vane himself.

He had been an entity that could never be killed by her, but suddenly transformed into an enemy capable of killing him; Vane seemed bewildered.

“Just an Elf, and yet—!”

Thwoom!!

As the blood arrow flew, Vane frowned.

“Don’t underestimate a Lich!!”

Whoosh!!

A violet flame took physical form, blowing Less away, then immediately deflected the blood arrow.

Without stopping, it charged towards Reyna, and the defenseless Reyna was caught in the flames, sent flying into a tree.

Binding Reyna against the tree with violet flames, Vane laughed.

“With this, you too will be under the curse—”

“Heh.”

“What?”

“You seem to be the weakest out of all the Demon Army executives Olivia has defeated.”

“……!”

Bane’s face momentarily contorted in a frown, but he quickly followed it with a sneer.

“That weakling officer, you’ll lose to *him*.”

“Yeah, sure, alone, whether I use forbidden magic or not, I’d lose. I’m telling you.”

“……:”

*Thwump!!*

“What.”

Bane was shocked by the attack that had pierced him squarely through the chest.

Turning, he saw Silphy, poised with the Comet Bow, and he frowned.

“You think this is funny?! Just because you pierced my chest once doesn’t mean a ‘lich’ is going to die!!”

*Whoosh!*

Violet flames rippled out, slamming into Silphy, Les, and Reina at the same time. He could feel his skin warping, understand that the curse was spreading through his body.

But none of that mattered.

‘Why, me…?’

Silphy looked at the Comet Bow.

It felt no different than just shooting an arrow before.

Is it because I’m a half-elf?

Because I’m not pureblood?

Or because I’m not Titania?

She didn’t know the reason, but the Comet Bow didn’t answer, and had been just a silent ‘weapon’ since then.

‘Should I just give it to Lady Reina?’

Raina was a high elf, and at the same time, the daughter of the current Titania.

At least, she had a better chance of handling it than Silphy did.

“Lady Raina!!”

*CRASH!*

Her arm, touched by the flames, began to rot, and not only that, but arrows of pure fire pierced through her, mixed within the blaze. *Ugh*, Silphy coughed up blood, pulling Raina away.

Having been in the flames for quite a while, Raina’s skin was already severely altered, her condition poor.

“Why…”

“Lady Raina? Are you alright? You should have used the Meteor Bow instead…”

“Why did you save me.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not… worth… saving…. I wasn’t, a good person either.”

“I don’t know!”

“…..”

Raina’s eyes widened, and Silphy shouted.

“What reason is there to save someone?! I don’t know all the complicated stuff, we’re on the same side right now!”

“….You’re, right. That’s it. There’s no reason needed to save someone…. I didn’t know that.”

Raina’s clothes were burned away, revealing her neck that had been hidden until now.

“…….”

As expected, it was a Geas mark, and having a mark on her neck meant she was truly treated terribly.

Thinking back to when slavery existed, a mark on the neck was only given to the worst-treated slaves, making it clear how the person who used the Geas saw Raina.

“Die!!”

“Shit!”

Violet flames surged like a tidal wave toward Sylphy and Reina, and Reina tried to fire a blood arrow quickly, but as the blood burrowed deeper inside, she grimaced, her reaction speed dulled for a moment by the pain.

And then.

Les jumped in.

“Sacred Shield, manifest here and now!!”

*Kooong!!*

A shield formed, centered on his sword.

“Ho ho, a barrier! I was once a master of barriers myself! Heh heh heh!! My flames devour barriers!!!”

“Ugh!!”

*Twaang!!*

The barrier shattered, and the armor Les was wearing also broke apart, sending Les tumbling to the ground, deeply burned.

“Sir Les!”

“Les!”

“Where are you looking!”

*Twaang!!*

Reina and Sylphy were also sent flying, struck by the tentacle-like flames.

“Good, good~ Now, who should I turn into a corpse first? Hahaha! Should I resurrect you and make you kill your own elves! Those wyverns must be starting to push you back! Heheheh! That sounds like fun!”

“You piece of trash.”

“Trash? What makes you any different from me, who betrayed and tried to kill a hero?”

“…….”

Rayna’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t that she was shocked to be called out by a demon.

It was just…

“How do *you* know that?”

“Hmm, well.”

Countless possibilities raced through Rayna’s mind.

“You, could it be… that your invasion timed perfectly with this….”

*Whoosh!*

“Ugh!”

The geas on her neck pulsed with light, forcefully clamping her mouth shut.

“Ugh! aaargh!! aaargh!!”

Rayna writhed on the floor, clutching her throat, but the pain showed no sign of stopping its torment.

She absolutely couldn’t say anything that would be disadvantageous to ‘Alex Reynolds’.

From noble mtl dot com

One of the conditions she had set for the geas was that she couldn’t even speak ill of Alex, that she couldn’t try to denounce his sins, or even express suspicion. The moment she did, the geas would activate.

It was the same for writing, even indirect actions.

“Gck, Gck!”

“Lady Rayna! Lady Rayna!!”

“The geas effect is impressive! I like it!”

“Kuh.”

Silphee stood alone, glaring at Vane.

Vane chuckled, amusement dripping from his words.

“So, what can you do by just glaring?”

*Whirr*, a flicker of flame danced in Vane’s hand.

‘What do I do? What can I do? What *should* I do?’

“Hey, half-breed. Don’t you hate the Elves too? Do you really need to fight? You can just stand back and laugh as the Elves who loathed you die, right? You can jeer at them, saying it’s karma. And that Elf back there even abandoned her own comrade! A comrade who saved the world!”

“…”

“She’s not worth saving, is she?”

“…”

Reyna, clutching her neck, remained silent.

She had no reply.

It was all true, there wasn’t a single lie.

She was a villain.

Silphee wasn’t worth saving because of her.

If anything, Silphee was the one worth living.

That’s what she thought, but then…

“Shut up.”

The words sounded as if they were aimed at Reyna, making her eyes widen.

But Silphee’s gaze was fixed on Vane.

“There are many people who choose the wrong path and become sinners. We establish laws, we establish rules, we establish morals, and we establish ethics. We judge a person’s sins based on circumstances and stories, and then we punish them.”

“…….”

“Someone clumsily admitting their sin, trying to face it, and a monster like you? There’s no way they’re the same! Just because you speak doesn’t make it words, I’d rather listen to a dog bark.”

“……Fine, then go ahead and die trying to protect that villain!!”

“Sylphy! Get back! Cough, you’ll die too! Just leave me and run away…….”

Reina saw the light flickering from the meteor bow Sylphy was holding.

And at the same time.

*Thwoom!*

A loud sound echoed, and light burst forth from the World Tree.

‘This is…….’

Reina felt her body lighten, realizing she could move again.

The World Tree’s blessing was returning.

*Someone saved the World Tree?* A question arose in Reina’s mind, but this wasn’t the time to ponder that.

*Whirr!*

Sylphy, gazing at the flames that were almost upon her, drew back the bowstring.

Meteor Bow.

It was the bow created from the World Tree, to protect Elvenheim.

To receive its power meant.

To be qualified to become the elven king.

That was why Oberon and Titania’s positions were not inherited by bloodline.

Only those chosen by the World Tree became king.

Being chosen didn’t guarantee one would become king, but becoming king always demanded one be chosen.

That bow.

It would lend its power to those who sought to protect with a selfless heart.

‘Silphi, you…’

“Meteor Bow.”

*Thwoom.*

A curt word.

It pierced through the violet flames the instant it was shot. The arrow, growing larger, finally reached the very eyes of Bane.

“What the—!!”

“Silphi!”

Coughing up blood and staggering after the shot, Reyna grabbed Silphi and rolled them aside. The arrow had certainly pierced the flames, but the remaining blaze lunged for Silphi.

The burden of wielding the Meteor Bow had left Silphi half-mad.

The Meteor Bow was the highest technique passed down to elves after brutal training; it didn’t necessarily require the Meteor Bow as a weapon, but using the weapon enhanced its power and efficiency.

But Silphi, untrained, wouldn’t have been able to control it, and that burden would have been directly delivered to her body.

That’s why Reyna had quickly pulled the half-mad Silphi away, making them dodge the flames.

“Kuhhk.”

*Thwang!!*

A loud sound echoed as Bane’s body was pierced through.

No, not yet.

“Krrk!”

Reyna ran fast.

And leaped.

“Kuh-huh, so this is the ultimate archery of the Elves…!! It, it won’t regenerate…!! But I’m not dead!! I’ll use the power the Shinigami bestowed upon me like this…!”

*Thump!*

“Wha-!?”

Before Vane could even unleash the Shinigami’s power, Reyna had clambered onto his head like she was riding a horse, drawing her bow above him.

Despite the awkward position, her accurate aim proved the countless hours she’d spent training.

“There has to be a lich’s core between your brain and your groin, right?”

“…!! W-wait a minute!!”

“Go check out what hell’s like first.”

“M-my curse won’t be lifted even if I die! You guys are gonna die! I’ll curse yo—”

Reyna channeled mana into her blood bow.

As if not hearing a word Vane said, Reyna smiled faintly, blood streaming down her face.

“Sooner or later, I’ll be going too.”

*Thwang!!!*

The blood arrow, shot directly downward, pierced through his brain and down, splitting him in half.