The battle that had raged for four days finally came to an end. With the reinforcements from the south and Halo himself joining the fight, the fighting concluded almost too easily.0

Halo had slain the king of the dark elves single-handedly. As the king was dependent on the Demon King of Sloth, now that his master had retreated, he no longer had the power to resist Halo.0

Great quantities of blood had been spilled upon the land. Both the elves of Aileen and the invading dark elves had suffered heavy losses. The battlefield remained littered with corpses, bodies that had yet to be recovered.0

"…Nothing remains," Baltho, the High Elder, murmured bitterly as he surveyed the desolate ruins.0

Thanks to the reinforcements arriving in time, they'd won. But the damage Aileen had suffered was beyond repair.0

Erekis' breath attack had reduced much of the city to rubble, and the once-proud walls that had defended them for so long were now broken, barely a section left standing intact.0

Yet the worst damage of all was that dark mana had seeped deep into the roots, corrupting the forest at its very core.0

"The forest… It's been tainted beyond saving," Baltho said grimly.0

The elves could no longer live in the Eastern Great Forest. The Demon King of Sloth and the dark elves had turned it into something akin to a hellscape.0

"I greet the High Elder," a voice unfamiliar to Baltho called out. 0

Baltho looked in the direction of the voice and saw the elf who had wielded the power of the Spirit King in...0