As the black dog vanished in an explosive burst, the cursed mist that had shrouded Arboness also disappeared.
The elves, who had been trapped with no escape route, could now flee again—but the problem was the fire.
Even though the black dog and the mist had disappeared, the flames that had spread to the sacred tree continued to grow, burning even more fiercely.
There was no time to check the loot message for defeating the monster—I had to evacuate the elves while dodging the flaming branches crashing down.
“Ravi! Elfin! Lenis! We need to get out of here! Can you move?”
“Haa… Haa… Yes!”
“Ugh… Somehow… I can manage.”
“Kehk… Damn it… My… my body… won’t move…”
Ravi and Elfin could move, albeit barely.
But Lenis, who had exhausted too much mana healing countless elves and casting protective spells on Elfin’s plants until the very last moment, seemed to have reached their limit.
As Lenis tried to move, their legs gave out, and they collapsed onto the ground.
I immediately ran over and lifted Lenis onto my back.
“This works, right?”
“W-what are you doing?! Alvis, someone like you carrying me… Ugh…!”
“Don’t act tough when you can’t even move! Just focus on getting out of here!”
“Ugh… A-alright.”
CRACK—BOOM!
A massive branch from the burning sacred tree, unable to withstand its own weight, crashed to the ground, shaking the earth with its impact.
Leaves burned, scattering ash everywhere.
Embers leaped onto more leaves and branches, setting the entire sacred tree—the elves’ home—ablaze.
The elves wept as they watched their sanctuary burn.
“O-our home… Arboness is…”
“This can’t be happening…”
“Water! C-can anyone use a torrent spell?! Or at least bring some buckets—”
“How do you put out flames that high up with just buckets?!”
“Everyone, get back! Stay here, and you’ll either burn or be crushed!”
CRACK!
As the fire spread rapidly, the sacred tree was soon engulfed in flames.
I quickly ordered Ravi to grab the items left behind after the black dog’s demise.
With Ravi carrying the equipment, me carrying Lenis, and Elfin leading the surviving elves, we fled from the collapsing sacred tree.
Fwoosh! Crackle—!
The spreading flames grew even fiercer, and before long, the sacred tree Yggdral—home to the elves for tens of thousands of years—was consumed by fire.
Each time a burning branch crashed to the ground with a deafening roar, the elves wailed in despair.
Elfin, however, urged their people forward, ensuring everyone escaped beyond the tree’s reach.
“Anyone carrying unconscious elves, get out first! Mages, set up barriers!”
“Elfin! A fallen branch is blocking the path!”
“Warriors, forward! Archers, focus your shots on a single point and infuse them with mana—break through in one hit! As soon as the archers fire, warriors, clear the way!”
“Yes!”
The elves swiftly obeyed Elfin’s precise orders.
The massive burning branch blocking their path was bombarded by mana-infused arrows, creating a deep indentation.
Then, the elven warriors struck the weakened area, breaking through and clearing an escape route.
“Mages! Put up barriers to stop the flames from engulfing the path!”
“Understood!”
CRACK!
As the elves hurried through the gap, another massive branch fell from above.
Mustering the last of their strength, Elfin summoned plants from the earth to catch the falling branch, preventing it from crushing their people.
“Run! Everyone, get out of here! Go somewhere the fire won’t reach!”
The thousands of surviving elves ran across the grassy fields outside the sacred tree, their tears scattering in the wind.
Only when they reached a safe distance did they finally collapse onto the ground, staring at the burning Yggdral in despair.
“Sob… Hic…!”
“The sacred tree… It was our home for tens of thousands of years…”
“Our pride as a race… How could this happen…”
The elves wept uncontrollably, lost in grief.
Even Elfin, her eyes brimming with tears, bit her lip hard, her body trembling.
But despite her sorrow, she didn’t cry.
Instead, she walked among the injured, checking on them.
Only when she found her grandfather, the elven elder, alive and unharmed did she finally break down, sinking to the ground as she sobbed.
“Hic… Huaaah… Grandpa… Grandpa… I couldn’t save the sacred tree… Our home… Our land… Everything our people had is gone, burned to ash… What am I supposed to do now…”
The elves’ wails filled the night.
Only despair and helplessness spread among the survivors.
Before such negativity could consume them entirely, I raised my voice so everyone could hear.
“Are you all just going to sit there and cry? You should be thinking about where you’re going to live next! How long do you plan to just mourn here? There are roads leading to cities in different countries! You need to start figuring out how to survive from now on!”
At that, the elves snapped back with sharp voices.
“You want us to go to human cities and live among them?”
“How can we do something like that?! We are the race blessed by the sacred tree!”
“Our home was always beneath its shade! And now it’s gone!”
“You’re just an outsider human, so of course you can say that so easily!”
I raised my voice even more.
“The situation has already happened! Even now, you’re clinging to your pride, refusing to mix with humans, insisting on isolating yourselves like you always have! Is that really the future you want?!”
I pointed at the sacred tree, now collapsing in flames, and stepped toward the elves, shouting.
“If you hated the idea of blending into the human world so much, then you should’ve died along with that tree! When I saved you from the cursed mist, instead of thanking me, you should’ve just run back into the fog and died!”
“Alvis!”
Elfin gasped in shock at my harsh words, but I didn’t stop.
“You all wanted to live, didn’t you? That’s why, when you were rotting away inside that mist, bleeding and dying, you were grateful for the help! You wanted to survive—that’s why you ran from the collapsing sacred tree!
“You have your families, your friends, your lovers—so many of you still have long lives ahead! And yet, instead of thinking about how to live on, you’re just mourning over what’s lost and resigning yourselves to sleeping on the ground like beggars?!”
“B-but… we’ve never lived outside the sacred tree before. We elves can’t survive without its blessings—”
“Then go ahead and say that nonsense right in front of Elfin!”
I grabbed Elfin by the shoulders and pulled her forward, standing her before the surviving elves.
“Look at Elfin, the granddaughter of the elder you all follow! She lived for three years at the International Academy, far from Arboness, yet she never once complained that she had weakened without the sacred tree’s blessing! She never even showed a sign of it! You are not a race that can only survive with the sacred tree’s grace—you were simply too accustomed to its comfort and never felt the need to leave!”
“…Alvis.”
“What exactly do you lack? Do you have short lifespans? Are you so powerless that you can’t even survive among humans? Or do humans discriminate against you? Look at the Bani people! They’re just as capable as humans—if not stronger physically—yet they struggle against human prejudice, fighting desperately to prove that they, too, can succeed!”
Beside me, Ravi looked at me with an expression of deep emotion.
“But you elves? Humans admire you instead! Even if you’re not at Elfin’s level, you can make plants grow from the earth, you have swordsmen, archers, and mages! Some of you know how to make potions, others can weave fine fabrics! You have long lifespans and keen hearing! If you have the will, you can integrate into human society, and humans will welcome you with open arms! But instead, you just sit here mourning the sacred tree? What do you think your fallen kin would say if they saw you like this?!”
Elves, despite their long lifespans, are not immune to the grief of loss.
They, too, fear death and mourn separation.
So when I mentioned their brethren who had perished inside the cursed mist, I saw their eyes shift.
Then, a frail voice emerged from among the wounded elves.
“Cough… What did you say your name was?”
Turning toward the voice, I saw an elderly elf with long white hair and a beard, struggling to rise.
The moment they recognized him, all the elves gasped and rushed to his side.
“Grandfather!”
“Elder!”
“Elder, you’re safe! Are you alright? You should be lying down!”
“I am fine,” he reassured them before turning back to me.
“Now then, young man, what was your name again?”
“My name is Alvis.”
Elfin’s grandfather, Elder Elois, coughed several times before continuing.
“Alvis… Listen well, everyone. There is not a single falsehood in what he has said. We have lived too comfortably under the sacred tree’s embrace. In our efforts to prevent the prophecy of ruin, we built walls and shut ourselves off from the world. Just as the many generations before us did, we followed the same path—and perhaps this is the price we now pay for our complacency.”
“But Elder…! Then what are we supposed to do now?!”
“The prophecy of ruin has come true! Does that mean our race is doomed?!”
Elder Elois gently stroked his beard.
“When all is burned to the ground, the supreme race shall be blinded, clinging to a single ray of light as they fall to the earth.”
The moment he recited the final verse of the prophecy, the elves shuddered.
“The prophecy of ruin… But does it truly signify destruction? Nowhere in the prophecy does it say our race will be wiped out. It merely states that we will be blinded and fall to the ground.”
Then, he turned his gaze to me.
“A single ray of light to rely on… Before I lost consciousness, I saw such a thing. And it was none other than this young human, Alvis. Am I wrong?”
“If you mean light…”
I drew my lightsaber, and the elves let out awed gasps as if they sensed something profound within it.
Elois slowly looked around at everyone and spoke.
“We were blind. In this darkness, we cannot see where to go or what to do. But this young man, with his guiding light, saved us—and he is showing us a path forward.
“Perhaps we are not falling to our doom, but instead, we are finally standing at eye level with the other races. Right now, we have fallen, and the sacred tree that protected us for millennia is gone—but that does not mean our people are finished.”
Turning toward the blazing sacred tree, Elois closed his eyes.
“And so, we must now bid farewell to our great tree that sheltered us. Though we were not prepared for this day, all things in this world come unexpectedly. From now on, do not stop struggling to live. Do not forget those we have lost—carry them in your hearts as you move forward.
“Do not think of this as a fall into ruin. Think of it as the moment we finally stand as equals with others. But…”
A single tear slipped down his wrinkled cheek.
“Just for today… let us all grieve together for the passing of the sacred tree that once embraced us.”
As the elder’s words came to an end, thousands of elves turned to the burning sacred tree and wept.