Episode 961
Chapter 236: The Fire of Destruction, Cruel Past (4)
Elona couldn’t comprehend death.
She didn’t understand what it truly meant for a person to lose someone they loved because of another.
All she felt was an unexpected, gnawing discomfort that made her shudder. Far from experiencing the joy of connecting with others as a living being, she was drowning in despair over the fact that she could never return to the way she was before.
Though the kingdom where the sacred ground once stood had vanished, beneath its ruins the sanctuary still glowed with a vibrant green. The tree Elona had emerged from remained firmly rooted.
“Ugh…”
Every day, Elona curled herself into the cracks of the tree’s bark, wishing to become one with it again.
But just as a life once born cannot return to its mother, Elona could never truly merge back with the tree.
Still, she slept within the tree’s hollow each night. It was the only place that could somewhat mask the foul stench of humans and the world outside.
A state of completeness, safety, and desirelessness.
When she was a tree, Elona lacked nothing. But now, that was no longer true. Sometimes, terrible odors and energies seeped into the sanctuary—so vile they couldn’t even be hidden by the tree’s scent. Each time, Elona would flee the tree and roar in frustration.
Eventually, she began to wonder what she needed to do to find peace again. Staying hidden inside the tree wasn’t enough; the filth and disgust kept creeping in.
The answer came quickly.
She would go outside and wipe out all the land and life—except for this place.
That was the conclusion Elona reached.
She remembered the day Reginald fled, the kingdom she had destroyed. Despite the massive slaughter and devastation that left not a single survivor, Elona hadn’t heard even a single scream.
That was because the kingdom had vanished with nothing but the magical power she unleashed to eliminate Reginald.
Elona possessed a sense that allowed her to grasp the scale of the world even while sitting still.
It had taken her an hour to annihilate the kingdom. By that measure, destroying all life across the entire realm would take about ten days.
If there were humans like Reginald who resisted fiercely or tried to escape, it might take a bit longer.
Even accounting for such variables, it wouldn’t take more than a month.
Moreover, the task felt as natural as if she had longed for it since before she was born. Though she didn’t know she was born from the destructive desire of the sun god, instinctively, she craved destruction.
The only problem was that she would have to leave the tree—the only sanctuary she had—until the mission was complete. Wandering outside while leaving her refuge unguarded felt incredibly dangerous.
Even if she didn’t understand resentment, she had personally witnessed humans coming here. What if those harmful beings did something to the tree while she was gone? The thought kept her awake more and more nights.
A few days later, Elona’s ominous premonition became reality.
“My brother… The demon who killed Vicelin is here.”
It was Reginald.
His eyes burned red with hatred as he led an army to the sanctuary. Hired mercenaries, elite knights from allied nations, and the rough-footed mages of Ziphl trampled across the sacred ground.
About five hundred in total.
But none of them posed any real threat to Elona. Even Reginald—the strongest among them—couldn’t leave a single scratch on her. The rest were so weak they might as well have been flies compared to her ferocity.
The unpleasant warmth radiating from the humans made the sanctuary writhe in discomfort.
Elona waited until they drew close to the tree. The humans surrounding it wore terrified expressions, and Reginald took his place at the rear.
“Is this really the tree?”
“This place feels strange… As Lord Reginald said, there’s no hunger or fatigue at all.”
Screech!
The moment a group of knights and mercenaries stepped right before the tree, Elona lightly waved her hand and ended their lives.
Before their filthy blood could touch the sanctuary, she ignited flames that evaporated it. Magical power and fire shot out like blades, instantly killing those gathered nearby.
Most of the humans who had come to the sanctuary lost their will to fight in that instant.
“Ugh, aagh!”
“What is this…!”
Those who fled in panic drew no attention from Reginald. In a dry voice, he ordered the Ziphl mages to erect a protective barrier around the area.
“Lord Reginald! What are you doing? Blocking the retreat!”
He didn’t answer, his gaze fixed solely on Elona’s display of transcendent power.
The mercenaries and allied forces Reginald had brought were mostly mid- to low-tier fighters.
“She begins the slaughter without hesitation. Her power surpasses even Changseong’s. She might even be stronger than Lord Shinu. But her fighting style is crude and shallow—like a beast.”
Reginald had brought the knights and mercenaries to use as expendable probes to understand Elona.
How did she fight? Did she have weaknesses? Did she need time to recover after using her power?
If he could figure that out by sacrificing these low-level soldiers, he was willing to do so repeatedly.
“She seems obsessed with the tree… Damn monster, does she see the tree as her mother? And she’s careful not to let blood stain the ground.”
“Indeed. It seems she’s extremely protective of the tree and this land.”
“Good intel. Let’s withdraw for now. Tomorrow, we’ll send a thousand.”
“Understood, Lord.”
Elona poured magic at Reginald as he fled, but by then he had already perfectly understood that her attacks were predictable. Her magical beams missed the retreating group.
From that day on, Reginald came to the sanctuary daily, leading his troops.
Sometimes a hundred, sometimes nearly a thousand, used as bait. The mercenaries and allies knew those sent wouldn’t return, but they dared not disobey Reginald’s orders. To defy him meant losing their place in the world.
Elona sank deeper into despair.
She couldn’t leave her post because of the constant swarm of pests. She sensed, oddly enough, that they were becoming more fixated on the tree. Reginald had realized how precious the tree was to her.
Having found her weakness, Reginald relentlessly provoked her nerves.
Finally, the day Reginald decided to end things with Elona came. He arrived at the sanctuary with some of Ziphl’s elite mages and the most renowned knights of the era.
Unlike the expendable troops before, these were sent to properly take her down.
The plan was simple: the mages would bombard her while the knights approached the tree to attack.
Boom! Thud-thud-thud!
As the magical barrage rained down relentlessly, Elona easily blocked their attacks.
But in the chaos, she was too slow to notice a knight approaching the tree, who managed to carve a long, deep slash into its center.
“Aaaah!”
For the first time, Elona screamed in pain and rushed to the tree. Losing her composure, she clung to it and wept.
The knight was torn apart by the energy Elona unleashed, but for Reginald, it was the moment he was certain of future victory.
Elona even appeared to fall ill for a while after that day. Reginald led expeditions daily to observe her, and even when he closed the distance, she didn’t attack.
She would wave her hand to scatter magic when he got very close, but she no longer slaughtered his troops with the same ferocity. It was as if her will had broken.
“Summon Baekya, the Tower Lords, and all the knights on standby. Tomorrow, we tear that monster apart and avenge Vicelin’s grudge.”
The largest force in the realm gathered at the sanctuary.
The knights were desperate to become the true best of their time by defeating Elona, and Reginald smiled coldly.
“Begin the hunt.”
No matter how strong Elona was, with such a glaring weak spot, the battle was impossible to win. To Reginald, Elona had fallen from an object of worship to mere prey.
The hunt was meticulously prepared. The knights approached the tree far more easily than the first time, and the mages unleashed their spells boldly.
Elona exploded with rage, unleashing her magic. Many mages were swept away and killed by her simple attacks.
But when the knights’ blades finally began to ravage the tree, she crumbled like sand.
Learning from the first knight’s death, the others pressed their swords against the tree, blocking her approach. They used the tree as a hostage.
Then, for the first time, the hunting party heard Elona speak.
“No… stop…”
It was the phrase she had heard most in her life—while killing countless expendable soldiers.
Unconsciously, Elona mimicked their words, kneeling and rubbing her hands together like them.
“Hahaha…!”
At that sight, Reginald burst into maniacal laughter and stepped closer to Elona.
“Lord! Danger!”
“Lord!”
Despite the protests of his closest aides, Reginald stood bare-chested before Elona, looking down at her. Tears streamed down Elona’s face as she kept pleading for the tree’s life.
“You killed my brother, and slaughtered so many lives like they were nothing, yet you can’t bear to see something you care about get hurt?”
“Stop, please… stop!”
Reginald studied Elona, who had completely broken down, for a moment before speaking.
“At first, I intended to kill you outright. But now I see there’s a better revenge. Yes, I was shortsighted. I can’t just kill you so easily…”
Wiping the faint smile from his face, Reginald declared,
“From today onward, this monster belongs to Ziphl. Uproot the tree completely, and move this creature to the Tower One laboratory immediately.”