I’ve Reincarnated into an Elf

Chapter 14

“Ugh!” It was a close call.

The branch I was about to land on shattered under Martikan’s hammer, and the tree started to fall, but just as it was about to crash.

I stepped on another branch and leaped into the air again.

“Heh, you’re one stubborn bastard.”

Who said that?

I landed on a nearby tree and quickly scanned my surroundings. That’s when I realized something.

The tree I was standing on was the last one left. All the other trees had been destroyed by that bastard’s hammer.

‘To think he turned this place, full of nature’s vitality for thousands of years, into a wasteland.’

The fallen trees were scattered all over the place, and their massive trunks created a chaotic and dizzying scene.

It was truly a sight of devastation. With my strategy now useless, I abandoned it and dropped to the ground.

Martikan, the one responsible for all this destruction, looked at me with a fierce grin, his tusks gleaming.

“What’s wrong? My heart’s still beating just fine.”

“…You just won’t die, so I came down to finish you off myself.”

“Hahaha, I like you! You’re my kind of guy!”

The battle, which had started off somewhat in my favor, had turned overwhelmingly bad after five relentless rounds.

Even though the trees were destroyed and I couldn’t fight in the air anymore, I still had cover from the fallen trees.

I still had the advantage of the terrain.

“Well, I’m your fifth, huh? How many of us do you think you can satisfy?”

“Shut up. I’m planning on killing you all.”

At my venomous words, War Hammer laughed again.

“I never thought I’d find someone I like among the earless ones. Heh, little elf, you’ve earned the favor of eight of my brothers. Do you know what that means?”

“Who cares?”

Either I’d kill them or they’d kill me. What’s the difference? War Hammer, Martikan, kept smiling.

“It means your death will carry the blessing of Ka Haran.”

“You crazy bastard.”

I wouldn’t accept God’s blessing. If it were some kind of skill, sure, I would have taken it, but what use would a bloodthirsty god’s blessing be for an elf like me?

It’d just turn me into a freak, like a second Dark Elf or something.

“Heh, it started as just a way to kill time, but now fighting you has become more fun than I imagined. I don’t know how long this will last, but I hope it goes on… for both of our sakes.”

“…What?”

As I caught my breath, I couldn’t let that comment go unanswered.

“What did you just say?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Was he pretending not to understand? I gritted my teeth.

“You just said ‘the other side.’ What the hell does that mean?”

“Ah… that?”

Martikan scratched his head, as if he had let something slip.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. The result won’t change anyway.”

“So, what the hell are you talking about?!”

The wind dies down. My shout fades, and the creepy stillness of the forest increases the unease in my chest.

As my anxiety grows, Martikan casually explained.

“Well, it’s nothing important. Actually, there are nine of us brothers in this forest, including me.”

“……”

“Just like you can feel us, we can feel you. You came right to us, offering yourself as bait. We found that interesting, so we sent one of my brothers to fulfill the fate. Heh, he was more interested in fighting you, but oh well. He lost, so he’ll have to go.”

“So, the reason you were dragging things out was…”

“Ah, right, you didn’t even realize. You kept stalling, huh? Well, that just made it more fun for us, so it wasn’t a total waste.”

Martikan laughed loudly and pounded his chest with his fist.

“But dragging things out didn’t really work in your favor. My brother is probably already with those kittens you were trying to protect…

They’ve probably caught them by now.”

“…Atir is there.” “Atir? Oh, you mean that spirit?”

In the stillness, Martikan’s laughter echoed.

“You think that spirit can really be a match for us?”

“Atir is there, you bastards.”

An uncontrollable tremor seized my body.

Rage.

Unbearable anger blurred my vision. Warm tears ran down my face.

“Yeah. That spirit is probably dead by now.”

Martikan now looked confused. But that didn’t matter. I prayed. I prayed desperately. Please, please let that damn spirit be okay.

Spirits have the ability to connect with their contractors mentally, to understand and resonate with them.

The longer the bond lasts, the deeper the understanding, making them stronger together. That strengthened bond is what elves call a blessing.

This is a blessing, but I also call it a kind of shackle that strongly proves the bond between us.

And that makes sense because, if one of the two, bound by a long contract and living with their minds connected, dies… Well, you can guess the rest.

The death of one no longer just means the death of one. Our minds are already intertwined, so what’s the point in distinguishing them?

Esiria. My mother. She was the only one who allowed me to live in this world and gave me a reason to keep going. I went silent.

And then, the forest became still.

I’ve always hated this stillness. Every time I walked through the village, I felt the urge to break the silence of the forest. But that urge was never… this.

“I’ll kill them all!!”

My mind went blank.

At that moment, it felt like there was a ringing in my ears. Was it ringing? Or a mechanical sound?

I couldn’t tell. But right now, that wasn’t important. My hand, holding the bow and arrow, moved. But I didn’t even know how.

Was I shooting the arrow? Was my bow aimed at him? I couldn’t process anything properly.

Wait, did I just catch the hammer he threw?

“Heh.”

I heard a breath. It should’ve been coming from him, but strangely, it felt incredibly close.

It was as if it was coming from my own mouth.

Suddenly, my vision changed. What was once a hammer was now an axe. I couldn’t tell if it was thrown or if he had come closer to swing it.

I just saw it and dodged, climbing up onto the fallen giant tree and swinging my bow.

…Wait? Did I swing my bow? The hammer came flying, so I dodged.

I hid behind the tree and shot… no, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t a bow.

Was it a hammer? An axe?

Anyway, I shot the arrow. I didn’t even check where it went.

The hammer flew, the arrow shot, the hammer came again, swung, flew, split…

CRASH!

With a huge sound, my thoughts were interrupted. A sharp pain exploded in my head.

Cough.

The intense pain felt like boiling water suddenly dropping to freezing temperatures.

What had felt distant before now became clear and sharp.

Blood.

I could feel right away that my left rib was broken. Did the hammer hit my side? My body wouldn’t move.

“Whoo… whoo…”

I could hear ragged breathing. My head couldn’t turn, so I barely rolled my eyes and saw the Warhammer, breathing heavily with arrows stuck in his body.

Ah…

Did I really lose? Am I going to die without avenging myself?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I saw something strange. That figure… It wasn’t the Warhammer Martikan.

It wasn’t the fifth warrior I had been fighting.

“Impressive… truly impressive, warrior.”

The Warhammer spoke in a voice mixed with slime. He coughed for a moment, then spat out blood and slime

“Really amazing. I can’t say anything else. I never thought you’d be able to face all of us alone.”

“…”

I wanted to ask what he was talking about, but no words came out. My body wouldn’t move, and I couldn’t even react.

I just lay there pathetically, only able to roll my eyes and look at him.

“Ugh… ha ha, heh heh heh!”

Every time he laughed, blood surged from his throat, but he kept laughing loudly, as if he couldn’t hold it in.

He laughed. Even while vomiting blood, he kept laughing, unable to stop, as if he was driven to do so.

“Be proud, warrior! You fought against my eight brothers and killed half of them! You have successfully dedicated a battle to Ka Hran that will go down in history!”

Half.

Half?

“You said you would kill us all! Even though you only killed half… no! You killed half! Just like you said, you killed half of us!”

I wanted to argue, but no words came out anymore. I just wondered if I really went that far, and looked around again.

I tried to find the other three, but sadly, I couldn’t see them.

“Heh… young warrior, do you have any last words?”

“…”

“Heh heh, you don’t even have the strength to speak, do you? Cough, ha!”

The Warhammer coughed roughly, then spat the blood at the corner of his mouth.

“Ugh! Heh… it was a satisfying fight, young warrior. Offering eternal victory is what we, the priests of Ka Hran, must do. I can feel Ka Hran smiling. Even urging me to take your life… Heh… A life-and-death battle always stirs a warrior’s blood. I’m sure you feel the same…”

What nonsense.

Who has such twisted tastes?

Even as I thought that, I instinctively tried to answer, but no words came out. It was just an empty, breathless sound.

With my mouth barely moving, I gave up, silently questioning him, ‘Eternal victory?

What the hell is that? Ka Hran’s teachings weren’t like that.’

“It’s a shame I didn’t hear your last words, but we can’t waste more time. It’s about time. Heh.”

With those words, the Warhammer raised his hammer high, as if ready to split the earth.

“Goodbye.”

And then…

His head was pierced by an arrow that came from somewhere.

“…Huh?”

That was the last thing he could say.

“Eldmir!”

“Is he alive!!”

I heard the voices of the protectors. Some sounded like the guards of our village, others like guards from nearby villages.

At those words, I finally let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, I felt all the strength leave my body.

In the end…

Yeah. In the end…

Did I win?

Tears started to fall.

The voice that had never come out of me before faintly escaped. But it wasn’t really a voice—it was more of a groan, turning into a pitiful cry.

Mother.

My mother.

I wanted to ask if she was okay, why she came to me, what happened to her… but I couldn’t form words.

That frustration made the tears keep falling.

“Oh my, Elder Delarell…”

“The forest…”

I could hear elves murmuring as they witnessed the scene. I kept listening for my mother’s voice, but I never heard it.

Finally, I closed my eyes.

“This isn’t what matters right now! Treat Eldmir!”

Healing power flowed into me.

I accepted it, but I didn’t really want to recover. I just let my body follow the flow of fate.

Surviving this injury would be nothing short of a miracle.

“Chase them! There are still survivors! Go after those hateful, fighting bastards!”

“Remember! The enemy is of high bloodline! Even though they’re near death, don’t let your guard down!”

All sorts of noise and shouting filled the air. The forest was in chaos.

This wasn’t the kind of noise I wanted.

I never wanted the forest to be destroyed like this…

Ah…

I’m getting sleepy.

As my consciousness faded, the noise around me started to blur, like I was submerged in water or like I had a waterlogged sponge in my ears, the sounds becoming faint…

“Er!”

I thought I heard a familiar voice.