Chapter 146: The Final Moment

Ella’s mouth twitched.

She felt a strange sense of envy.

The Elves really had resources overflowing to the point of communal child-rearing.

But then again, with only five people left, it didn’t really matter whether they found them or not.

At Xisha’s killing speed, five would be gone in under three seconds.

She tugged on Celes’s arm, signaling to go out and talk.

It was deep night, almost dawn.

The glowing plants around them were still emitting light, but the glow had faded.

In the Middle Great Forest, the darkest time wasn’t midnight, but the dawn between night and day.

Outside, Celes spoke first.

“Should we split up? There are five of us, just like Isadora did, to buy time.”

“No.”

Ella shook her head firmly.

“That’s too dependent on luck. If Xisha happens to guess the first target right, splitting up is just handing them over for free.”

They didn’t have Isadora’s skills, nor were they familiar with the Forest, so there was no way to guide Xisha in the order they wanted.

“Then should we protect them and escape together?”

Celes said.

“We have nearly a whole day…”

Even though the map range was limited, the Forest was still vast, so buying time was possible.

And even though it was called a day, Isadora might not be dead yet at this moment.

After the Sacrifice, Xisha would also need some time to react.

Ella nodded.

“That’s definitely the best way.”

At that moment, a light knocking sound came from behind them.

It was Lambart knocking on the door.

“I made a little midnight snack. Do you want to come and eat?”

“We’ll be right there.”

After Lambart went back inside, Celes sighed and lowered her voice.

“The situation he described matches perfectly. Is it possible…?”

“It is.”

Ella’s eyes were calm.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

A secret Pregnancy known only to Elder Laiteni, who chose death to keep the secret, and an eight or nine hundred-year-old Elf calling someone Elder Sister—it was obvious.

Over a hundred years ago, Isadora, who had secretly set up a backup plan, succeeded in becoming pregnant at Lambart’s place after dozens of failed attempts, then returned alone to the Sealed Land—her original Village—to give birth.

“Let’s not tell him. At dawn, we’ll take everyone and leave.”

Mainly, the Elder Sister he had thought of for over a hundred years had just been captured for Sacrifice, and his daughter had become Xisha’s final target, destined to be hunted for the next day.

Already miserable, this would be enough to make him collapse.

Back in the house, everyone sat down.

But the five young faces wore mixed expressions.

The boys were better, but the girls’ eyes were red.

They were all prodigies.

Even if there were differences in talent, their minds were sharp.

What Celes could think of, the locals could naturally figure out as well.

Ella announced the plan.

They would wander the Forest with everyone for a day—destination didn’t matter, as long as they weren’t caught.

No one objected.

Dawn arrived quickly.

Outside the Elven Treehouse, the Glowgrass had lost its shine, making it even harder to see.

After a brief rest, the group of ten gathered outside, preparing for their final escape.

“Headcount… only nine? Who’s missing?”

“Silitya will come out in a moment.”

Tereka stepped forward and whispered to Ella.

“Among us three girls, two are just over two hundred, only she’s around a hundred.”

So, the five Elves had already figured out last night who the final target was.

Inside the Treehouse, ten people had lived together for two days.

No matter how tidy everyone was, there was still plenty of living trash left behind.

Silitya struggled to push a broom bigger than herself, sweeping garbage out the door.

“Don’t bother, I’ll handle it.”

Lambart, who was clearing the dishes, said.

“Hurry and go outside. Don’t miss anything important.”

After putting away the bowls and chopsticks, he came over and took the broom from the Elf girl’s hands.

“I got it. I got it.”

Silitya didn’t try to take it back.

She just stood there, staring at him blankly for a while.

“What is it?”

“Nothing… Just… don’t do this again. Live well. There are many years ahead.”

Lambart smiled.

He hadn’t expected that even now, she hadn’t given up on persuading him.

Just like over a week ago, when they first arrived with flyers.

“I heard from you all. Now that a demon has appeared, once she succeeds, the entire Elf race will be wiped out. I may not even see the sun tomorrow. What’s the point of saying all this?”

“What if she doesn’t succeed?”

Silitya bit her lip.

“She’s… still not done.”

Lambart was going to brush it off, but when he turned and saw her pleading, miserable face, his heart tightened.

“Alright, I promise you. If there’s still a tomorrow after today, I’ll try to live well again.”

“It’s a promise!”

A few minutes later, Silitya came out of the Treehouse, wiped away her tears, and said to the pink-haired Big Thunder Miss who was giving orders.

“I’m ready. Let’s go.”

***

Isadora was hung from a tree root in the Sealed Land, killed in an Artistic Manner, and had been dead for a while.

But the good news of the Sacrifice’s completion never arrived.

After dawn, Xisha stood up from the haystack, walked to the corpse, and twisted her neck a few times.

“Sally, you cunning little fox. You secretly had a child and didn’t tell anyone?”

“But it’s fine. I’ll send you mother and daughter to reunite soon.”

“Thank you? No need to thank me, we’re good friends~”

She straightened her twisted neck and skipped outside.

“Stars, stars, stars—tell me, where is the last prey?”

***

The Middle Great Forest was vast, but with five local Elves as guides, it was impossible to get lost.

The day’s escape went smoothly.

With no target, there was no need to rush.

When tired, they rested, eating whatever they found along the way.

In this process, Ella truly felt the weight of the phrase, “The Forest nourished every Elf.”

There was food everywhere.

“We’re almost at the edge, east-north edge.”

Tereka said.

“A bit further and we may need to change direction.”

They couldn’t leave the Forest—those were the rules of the game.

“Maybe we don’t need to.”

Celes walked over from behind.

“Look at the light. The sun’s about to rise.”

With the Glowgrass dimming and sunlight faint, this was the darkest moment in the Middle Great Forest—a time called Dawn.

Three days ago at dawn, Xisha broke out of the earth.

Now, only half an hour remained until that deadline.

“Maybe we’ll make it through like this.”

An Elf boy sat down to rest.

“Time’s almost up. We saved the Elf race.”

At those words, the faces of the young ones brightened.

Responsibility for their race outweighed fear.

When they set off yesterday morning, they made a vow: for the Elves to see another tomorrow, the prodigies of the younger generation would give everything.

But there was no smile on Ella’s face.

She glanced at the sky, anxiety growing.

“Celes, I’ve played games like this before. Do you know? To maintain Dynamic Balance between sides, when time is almost up, the side chasing will get Direction Information about the prey.”

In the Evil God’s Game, the Evil God will intervene.

Celes was silent for a moment, gripping her sword tighter.

“If that’s so, we keep moving.”

She called the others up and the escape continued.

According to plan, they would reach the north-eastern border and stop at the last line of trees—right around the time limit.

However, twenty minutes later, the group came to a sudden halt.

In the dim dawn, the figure of a young girl stood at the end of the road.

“Where are you all going?”