Future Knight

Chapter 81

“I have a debt to repay to the Green Elves. That is why I chose this place on purpose.”

“What kind of debt is that?”

“I do not wish to elaborate on such matters.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

Seeing Kang Chan’s cold and hardened expression, Lanchester tried his best not to offend him.

Lanchester absolutely had to gain Kang Chan’s favor.

“Then, may we help you with that debt?”

“Thank you, but it’s a burden I must bear alone.”

Kang Chan did not want anyone else to exact his revenge.

He had to cut down the Green Elf with his own hands.

That was the reason he had come here, even at great personal risk.

“If you insist…”

“I’ll return to my comrades now. Goodbye.”

As Kang Chan and Loki passed by Lanchester and returned to the conscripts, another wave of loud cheers erupted.

Their cheers were an expression of gratitude for staying with them.

Lanchester, who watched Kang Chan return to the crowd of conscripts with a regretful look, shouted in a loud voice.

“All troops, retreat!”

Lanchester also began to lead his troops back to their camp.

As he turned his head one last time to look at Kang Chan, his eyes did not reflect the gaze of one who had given up.

‘I must bring him to our side. I must…’

He made that vow and turned his horse around.

—

In a dark, secret room, Green and Nemitz were holding a tight meeting with their respective advisors for a joint operation.

However, Green’s eyes shook violently upon reading the parchment delivered by a suddenly arrived messenger.

“A person wielding dual Aura Blades, could it be…?”

Green’s expression turned cold upon hearing about the newly appeared enemy Sword Master from the surviving Green Elf.

“He has finally appeared…”

Nemitz asked with concern in his voice at Green’s worried words.

“Do you know this person?”

“I know him well. He is the one who made me like this…”

When Green glanced at the faint scar on her waist, Nemitz also looked at her scar.

“That scar is from the mysterious ancient giant who forcibly summoned the Phoenix, right? So, are you saying that the newly emerged Sword Master is the master of that ancient giant?”

“It is certain.”

Nemitz recalled the time he fought against the ancient giant.

He remembered the moment when the giant, with its overwhelming power, killed his two most beloved disciples in an instant.

However, the ancient giant had not wielded an Aura Blade back then.

“But the ancient giant did not wield an Aura Blade.”

Green, with a trembling voice, said,

“You haven’t seen his true terrifying form.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Recalling the night when Kang Chan deactivated the final safety mode, an overwhelming fear that she had forgotten washed over her.

As she remembered his terrifying form against which she could offer no resistance, she spoke.

“That night, he definitely…”

Nemitz, feeling the tension from her uncharacteristic fear, wondered,

‘What on earth happened that night to make this strong woman tremble so?’

“He definitely used… Aura Fire.”

“A-Aura Fire?”

Nemitz, too shocked, asked again, and Green confirmed once more.

“Yes, it was definitely Aura Fire.”

However, Nemitz was reluctant to believe her.

“Green, please stop joking.”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

Nemitz knew well that she was not joking, but the claim seemed impossible.

“Aura Fire… do you understand the significance of what you’re saying?”

“That he is a Sword Emperor, I guess?”

Aura Fire, much stronger than an Aura Blade.

It was the authority of the Sword Emperor, an invincible being, and no one in the history of the continent had ever reached such a legendary state.

“That’s absurd.”

“Why do you think it doesn’t make sense?”

“If he were really the Sword Emperor, we wouldn’t have survived that day.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Green spoke first.

“Then how do you explain what I saw that day?”

“Can you explain to me what you saw that made you think that way?”

“That’s not difficult…”

Calming himself, Green began to vividly describe to Nemitz the appearance of Kang Chan he had witnessed that day.

He had regeneration faster than a troll, an overwhelming presence that couldn’t be considered human, and the massive three-meter flames of aura that burst forth from both hands. He also mentioned the enormous traces of destruction that no human could create.

As Nemitz listened, the story seemed so absurd that he doubted it wasn’t just a made-up tale.

Decisively, the final story about the massive fire arrow that annihilated nearly 200,000 Green Elves in one blow was utterly unbelievable.

But it was undeniably the truth.

Nemitz was well aware that her children, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, were annihilated in the Elven forest.

Nemitz was momentarily stunned.

What she described was beyond just a Sword Emperor, it sounded like something out of a demonic realm.

No matter how supreme the Sword Emperor was, annihilating a force of 200,000 in one go was something even a dragon couldn’t achieve.

Even the world’s strongest dragon would need to breathe fire multiple times and cast 9th-circle magic repeatedly to wipe out a force of 200,000.

Yet, here was a being who had simply dealt with a force of that size in a single instance…

Nemitz felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance and began to seriously doubt his existence.

He was certainly not human.

So who could he be?

Nemitz pondered, and after a moment, reached only one conclusion.

“Could he be the Demon King?”

“The Demon King?”

“Think about it. It’s unrealistic for a Sword Master to just suddenly appear out of nowhere. But for a being like the Sword Emperor to show up? It defies common sense. I think he might be…”

Nemitz paused for a moment.

“A Death Knight who sold his soul to the Demon King.”

“But I didn’t sense any presence of the Demon King from him.”

“He might be hiding his dark mana thoroughly, waiting for the right moment to take over this world.”

“But even the Phoenix didn’t say anything after seeing him…”

Both the Spirit King and the Demon King ruled over different dimensions and were archenemies.

So there was no way the Phoenix wouldn’t recognize the Demon King.

“That makes it even more frightening. A Demon King who can even hide from the Spirit King’s eyes…”

Nemitz seemed completely convinced that he was the Demon King.

“Whether he’s the Demon King or a dragon, it doesn’t matter. The important fact now is that he’s become the biggest obstacle.”

“Since the urgent fire in the Eastern Kingdom has been put out…”

At the mention of putting out the urgent fire, Green and Nemitz exchanged cruel smiles.

“From now on, we’ll also participate in the attack in earnest, avoiding full-scale battles and engaging in guerrilla warfare, just like when we annihilated the Eastern Kingdom’s coalition forces.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“Whether he’s the Demon King or a human, it will be an exciting battle.”

“Shall we start the strategy meeting in earnest now?”

As Nemitz secretly smiled while watching Green, who was enthusiastically planning strategies over the map.

“In this world, the only one I can call family is you now, Rakasha.”

Green, unaware of how Nemitz viewed him, was engrossed in the strategy meeting.

### 24. The Birth of Green (1)

Located far from the Elven village was the Fairy Forest.

It was a place filled with beautiful flowers, where the fairies, the symbol of a healthy forest, played.

In that flower-filled forest, there was an elf running.

The elf had flowers in her hair.

With alabaster-white skin and beautiful features, she was a stunning beauty even from a distance.

The sweat droplets on her forehead glistened like jewels in the sunlight, and her soft, long hair flowed in the wind, creating a fantastical beauty. Unfortunately, her behavior was unlike other elves.

“Hahaha! Hello, flowers! Hello, squirrel! Nice to meet you! I’m Matana!”

Indeed, she was a very rare elf with a wild streak among the elves.

On sunny days like today, she always put flowers in her hair and ran wildly through the forest.

“La la la la~ La la la la~ Cute Matana with the flowers~”

But she was so excited that she ended up in this Fairy Forest, quite far from the village.

Fearlessly, all by herself.

A black shadow carefully pursued her—it was none other than orcs.

Natural hunters, the orcs followed her with sly glances, but it wasn’t an easy task.

“Grrk! Huff! Huff! That crazy woman, she’s so damn fast. Huff! Huff!”

Keeping up with her stamina as she ran through the forest every day was no easy task.

But as the saying goes, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” an opportunity finally presented itself.

The Orcs quickly surrounded her when she sat down briefly to pick some flowers.

“Oh my?”

Mata looked at the ugly Orcs surrounding her with curiosity, and spoke to them very kindly.

“Who are you? You look just like pigs. Heehee, do you want to play with me?”

“Grrk… She’s definitely not sane, as the rumors say. Capture her!”

When the Orc who seemed to be the leader gestured, the Orcs beside him rushed toward her.

“Why, why are you doing this? I’m scared… Can’t we all get along?”

As the frightened Mata backed away, the flowers she was holding fell to the ground, and the Orcs trampled on them mercilessly as they rushed at her.

“Capture her! Grrr!”

“Kyaah! Ma-Magic Mi… what was it again?”

No matter how abnormal she was, she knew a few basic attack spells. But her casting speed was extremely slow and she often forgot the incantations in urgent situations.

An Orc from behind swiftly grabbed her, and the Orc in front of her punched her in the abdomen with all his strength.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The Elf let out a short scream, vomited up what she had eaten, and went limp. The Orcs were delighted with the easy capture.

Elves fetched an enormous price in the slave market.

Handing over an Elf with all limbs intact to the humans, even if she wasn’t sane, would bring them a tremendous sum.