Chapter 260: Noble Soul (14)

Chapter 260: Noble Soul (14)

Chapter 260: Noble Soul (14)

Soya tried hard to understand Baek Yu-Seol’s words with a bewildered expression.

'Who did he ask me to kill?'

It was definitely Chelven.

The cowardly dark mage who dared to challenge the Dark Mage King, but fled to save his worthless life after losing.

She had heard he was now a traitor whose whereabouts were unknown...

"Chelven? Did you say Chelven?"

"Yeah. Why? Are you scared?"

"Hah... You humans really don't understand anything..."

She brushed her hair back behind her neck and spoke.

"Chelven is the worst criminal even in dark mage society. Just offering his head to the Dark Mage King would bring an enormous reward, so why do you think no one has hunted him down yet?"

Because Chelven was strong enough to challenge the Dark Mage King. And his whereabouts had been unknown for years.

"He’s been missing for years now. I’ve looked for him a few times myself, but hunting Chelven is impossible—"

"You sure have a lot to say."

“What?”

There was no benefit in prolonging the conversation, so Baek Yu-Seol cut her excuses short and continued speaking.

"Do you think I would make such an offer without considering such trivial things? I know where Chelven is. And I know that you can’t defeat him."

Soya's expression hardened.

She couldn’t defeat Chelven.

That was a clear fact.

Among the current dark mages, how many could defeat him?

Probably no one except the Dark Mage King... Anyone else would be impossible.

So, Soya was about to refuse the offer.

No matter how tempting Baek Yu-Seol’s method to fully absorb the spirit's heart might be, it wasn’t worth risking her life.

Therefore, Baek Yu-Seol had to propose conditions that would tempt her.

"You can't kill Chelven in a head-on fight."

"But there is a way to win."

"What? That sounds like the same thing. Are you playing word games with me?"

"It’s different. It seems like you don't understand."

Only then did Soya's eyes widen. She belatedly understood Baek Yu-Seol’s words.

She couldn't kill him in a direct confrontation, but... There was a way to win.

"You just need to bring back Chelven’s head. Why go for a head-on battle if it's not necessary?"

"So, that means..."

"He has a very critical weakness. And I know what it is. So, how about it? Will you make a deal?"

"... Chelven has a weakness? Even if that's true, how am I supposed to believe that?"

How could he persuade her further?

What evidence should he present?

The truth was, everything he said so far was a lie.

Soya was dangerous.

Not only did she possess unique abilities that allowed her to steal a spirit's heart, but even with just her physical abilities alone, Baek Yu-Seol would clearly be defeated before they even had a proper fight.

But he couldn’t just leave a woman who threatened Leafanel alone.

‘It’s like using one evil to control another.’

This woman couldn’t defeat Chelven.

Even if the heavens collapsed and the world started over, that fact wouldn’t change.

In the original game, Aether World Online, there were several scenes where Soya and Chelven fought, and Chelven always won decisively.

The reason was that Chelven’s abilities were superior to Soya’s.

In other words, sending her to Chelven was a way to deal with her without having to confront her directly.

‘To tempt her here, I should...’

Just as Baek Yu-Seol was about to shake Soya's mind with another lie, he suddenly felt strange and narrowed his eyes.

As he stared intently into her eyes, he felt something.

[Half-belief, Positive, Excitement, Slight Doubt, Vigilance, Indecisive.]

Fragments of various emotions could be seen.

This was undoubtedly the blessing of the Pink Spring Moon.

‘... She’s more positive than I thought?’

“Well then, I’ll be off! Stay out of trouble! Bye~!”

After she left, Soya licked her lips and began to gather her thoughts.

'So that old hag is interested...'

The fact that she, who never showed any interest in worldly matters except for witches, was now showing interest was already proof that Baek Yu-Seol was not ordinary.

‘He’s definitely worth using.’

Chelven’s head.

And the heart of the divine spirit.

Thinking that all these things could fall into her lap, her smile grew even deeper.

—

Crunch!

“Ugh...!”

He snapped the neck of a dark mage with both arms.

Of course, this alone wouldn't kill a dark mage.

To completely end its life, the heart must be precisely pierced and burst to destroy the source of its dark magic power.

Swish!

Like swatting a mosquito with a flyswatter, Chelven nonchalantly tore out the heart of one dark mage with his bare hands and sighed in annoyance.

“Phew! I managed to deal with it quietly.”

He tried to make sure the dark magic didn’t leak outside. This time, he realized that fighting without unleashing his full power was harder than he thought.

“Can I pass through quietly this time?”

He dusted off his hands as he muttered to himself.

“Says who?”

A young man's voice echoed from the air, like a reverberation.

The voice was so irritatingly familiar that Chelven’s expression crumpled with frustration.

“... Who are you?”

Leisurely lifting his head to the sky, he saw Aryumon. He approached while walking on invisible steps in mid-air, and their eyes met.

“Finding you was tough. If those bugs hadn’t bothered you, it might have been a bit more difficult...”

A lazy, laid-back voice.

Its strange tone seemed to find everything bothersome and even made the listener drowsy, which only irritated Chelven further.

“Sigh... Can't you just let it go this time? Are you really going to fight here? Not that it’s my place to say, but if we fight here, the World Tree will completely collapse, and innocent lives will be lost.”

“I don’t care.”

This time, someone else answered.

Quickly turning around, he saw a woman completely covered in a black robe walking toward him gracefully.

‘Elf King.’

He could sense it immediately.

Such a unique and vivid aura of the World Tree could not belong to just anyone.

Even the World Tree itself wouldn't be as pure as this woman.

“The World Tree will not be harmed.”

“... This is a bit troublesome. Why has the Elf King come here? Surely not to capture me?”

“It’s not for such a trivial reason, so don't worry. You’re just a small task that needs to be dealt with while I’m here on a ‘very important matter.’”

Florin seemed genuinely displeased.

He didn’t know what this 'very important matter' she mentioned was, but the fact that it was more significant than him, who had made a name for himself, was quite shocking.

“I’m not someone who should be treated like this...”

What should he do?

Chelven sensed the auras of the Elf King and the Chairman blocking him front and back.

One was a Class 9 mage.

The other was a high elf blessed by the World Tree.

Even though Chelven possessed great power enough to challenge the Dark Mage King, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to avoid a tough battle.

‘But... I can’t avoid the fight.’

Thinking up to this point, he felt rather excited.

Chelven slowly twisted his lips into a bizarre smile, one filled with pure 'joy'.

“Alright... I was bored anyway, so this is perfect. Both of you come at me.”

He cracked his wrists.

“Instead, one of you should be prepared to lose your head.”