The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 738

Episode 738 I need to change my plan. (2)

The forest that came into Giselle’s eyes was miserable.
The trees were bent and blackened, and the leaves had also turned black and hung damp.
The moss covering the ground had changed from its original green color to a black, sticky mucus, and here and there, red molds like blood were writhing and expanding their territory.
The air was filled with a suffocating pungent smell. The smell of rotten meat mixed in and stung her nose.
‘Hmm… … .’
Giselle slowly took in the forest.
The forest was strangely quiet, as if the wind had stopped. Even the presence of spirits had completely disappeared. Even the small bugs that should have been there in a forest had disappeared.
This was not simple pollution.
This area was filled with terrifyingly vicious malice and resentment.
‘This is… … .’
Giselle had seen a forest like this before. The center of the Demon Forest was in exactly this state.
However, it was because of the poison emitted by a huge monster called Morbus. It was an impossible feat for an orc shaman.
‘A warlock… …’
Of course, warlock magic could create such a situation.
At least if a 7th circle superhuman sacrificed numerous lives.
‘But it would be impossible alone.’
The elven forest was extremely large. The area called the northern forest alone was as large as a large territory.
Although he had been moving cautiously while talking to Erenes, it took more than two days just to get here.
Jisel himself was a wizard, so he could understand. No matter how great a warlock was, he could not have corrupted the forest on such a large scale in such a short period of time.
The elves would not have just watched with their eyes open while the warlock exerted his power.
‘There’s no way a 9th circle warlock would have come.’
If someone like that had come, the damage to the elves would not have ended at this level.
That’s why the current situation was strange.
“What happened? Did you just watch the warlock do this?”
“How could that be? I heard that they kept trying to purify it. Most dark magic can be purified with the spirit’s energy.”
“But?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t directly participate in the war. I heard that a lot of dark magicians moved in with the orc army. They polluted the forest and the rate of contamination is increasing.” It seemed
that several dark magicians had moved together. If that was true, it wasn’t impossible.
Jiselle looked down at her feet. She could see that the corruption was slowly spreading. In just a few days, it would grow to the point where it could consume several villages.
Erenes continued with a resentful expression.
“The orcs were defeated and retreated, but this time, our damage might be greater. The forest isn’t recovering properly.”
“…….”
“The elders are having a meeting right now. I heard that all the elves who know how to use the spirit’s power will gather soon to purify this place.”
“Hmm, then wouldn’t the forest soon be able to return to its original state? I don’t think it’s a problem.”
It’s not just the divine power that shows the power of purification. The spirits also have the power of purification.
Nature is the order that originally circulates all things, so it can remove corruption and correct the disturbed balance.
It wouldn’t be easy because the degree of contamination was so severe, but if all the elves joined forces, it wouldn’t be impossible to purify.
Erenes sighed in response to Giselle’s question.
“It can be purified. That’s not what we’re worried about.”
“Then what?”
“They’ll do this again. If this happens a few more times, the forest will eventually be devastated.”
Even if the dark magic is erased with the power of purification, if these artificial conflicts continue, the forest’s vitality will inevitably decrease.
Just as the soil recovers after farming, the forest needs time to recover its vitality.
Erenes clenched his fists as he looked at Giselle.
“This isn’t ordinary black magic. The elders also said it was strange. It must have been black magicians working with orcs doing something.”
“I think so too.”
“I have no intention of just watching this helplessly.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“We’re going to solve this!”
“……Oh.”
Erenes’s eyes sparkled with the aforementioned expression. She was thinking very boldly right now. She
was going to take the initiative in solving this together with Giselle.
‘This human is quite strong. He fought similarly to me(?).’
Strictly speaking, she was a little behind. However, Erenes thought that if she fought to the end, there was no question of victory.
Her fighting talent was so outstanding that all the elves in this forest acknowledged it.
She could never have guessed that Giselle wouldn’t have tried her best.
Giselle scratched her cheek and asked,
“What… how are we going to solve this? Do you have a plan?”
Giselle was curious about Erenes’s intentions.
She was going to solve the problem in this forest anyway. That way, she could use that as an excuse to borrow the holy stone.
However, she was a little embarrassed that Erenes was the first to take the initiative.
Erenes spoke with a confident expression.
“Of course I have a plan. Our excellent elven warriors are currently moving to reveal the identities of the warlocks. They will soon find the Red Fang Tribe and the location of the warlocks.”
“What?”
“You mean you formed a scouting party. If something like this happens again, the forest will really be devastated.”
“That means…”
“Yes, as soon as the forest purification is finished, we will attack the Red Fang Tribe first. That’s why we sent out a scouting party.”
“Huh….”
Elves rarely start wars.
If they were planning to attack first, it meant they were really angry.
Indeed, Erenes continued with a solemn expression.
“We’ve just been blocking incoming attacks for hundreds of years. That was enough to protect the forest. However, since they’ve joined hands with warlocks, we won’t just sit back and wait.”
That makes sense. In the current situation, Giselle wouldn’t stay still.
No, she would have attacked first and killed them all.
However, that’s only possible when you have the strength.
Elves have long life spans but small populations. In contrast, orcs boast an incredible reproductive capacity. That’s
why the orcs were able to attack endlessly despite being defeated.
Giselle suggested a slightly better plan.
“If you’re going to strike first anyway, why don’t you talk to the humans and get their support? If the priests join, you’ll be able to easily subdue the warlocks.”
“What? Bring in the human army? Are you crazy? Then we’re finished.”
“…….”
“We only join forces with humans when fighting against the Demon Realm. Otherwise, humans will continue to interfere with us.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you think humans will help us and just sit back and do nothing? They will never. They will try to use us in some way. No matter how much I yearn for the outside world, I know that much.”
“……Yes.”
Jisel nodded obediently. Erenes was not wrong.
Humans never move without a price. This is especially true for humans in this era.
When elves show weakness, they will see it as an opportunity and try to use them by offering various conditions.
Erenes returned to his arrogant expression and spoke.
“And we can easily wipe out a tribe of orcs with our own strength. If we hadn’t brought in the warlocks, we would have ignored them without attacking them first.”
“Okay, okay. I understand the situation. But how are the two of us going to solve this?”
“The reconnaissance team just left, right? Let’s move secretly too.”
“What?”
“If you and I join forces, we can easily catch a warlock. So let’s find the warlock first and kill him. Then we’ll achieve great feats.”
“…….”
“Then the Chieftain and the elders will see me again. They’ll give me permission to go out into the world. What do you think?”
“…….”
When Giselle made a face of disbelief, Erenes got a little angry and shouted.
“Orcs are weak! I can kill hundreds of orcs by myself. There’ll be a scout nearby anyway, so if it’s dangerous, we can run away and join up! We’re strong even in the mountains!”
“Ha…….”
Giselle unconsciously touched her forehead. This reckless elf is relying only on her own strength and trying to achieve great feats like a human.
And she’s trying to use those achievements to go out into the world.
‘How reckless.’
Giselle clicked her tongue. If they can corrupt a forest on this scale, then each warlock must be quite powerful or numerous.
There was a high probability that Erenes could not catch him with her current skills. Nevertheless, she was overconfident in her own skills.
There was no way such a sloppy plan would work. Even if it did succeed, the chieftain and the elders would be even more worried.
The method Erenes advocated was the method of greedy humans.
No one would agree with such a ridiculous plan.
Jiselle said with a serious expression.
“This is a really great plan. It is so perfect that it is admirable. Ah, a genius strategist is here.”
“Right? I knew you’d think so too. You seem pretty strong, so I’m sure you’ll succeed.”
It was a ridiculous plan, but it appealed to Giselle.
The best way to solve a problem quickly is to confront it directly. It’s much faster to go and smash everything.
If something goes wrong, you can use Erenes as an excuse.
The two of them smiled and shook hands. Neither of them considered the possibility of failure.
Giselle smiled happily at Erenes.
‘You were so aggressive when you were young. We had similar tastes back then? This is more fun.’
The future Erenes was always strict and cautious. She always controlled her emotions and didn’t make any rash moves.
It was amazing to see her in the past.
Of course, there were some things that hadn’t changed. Aggression seemed to be her natural disposition.
When the future Erenes made up her mind to act, she never let her guard down. How many superhumans had died by her hands?
― Don’t… … . Why are you going crazy now… … . Please… … .
― If you look closely, the past was much better? Since it has come to this, let’s just beat them all up together and steal the Holy Stone.
Unfortunately, Astion and Dark’s words did not reach Erenes.
Erenes grabbed Giselle’s hand and pulled her.
“Let’s move now! If we stay here any longer, we’ll be discovered too. We need to get out of the forest quickly.”
By order of the Chieftain, all elves were prohibited from approaching this place. Only a few elves were watching to see if any strange phenomena were appearing somewhere far away.
That’s why Erenes and Giselle were able to approach the forest without difficulty. The other elves all listened to the Chieftain’s words.
Nevertheless, Erenes urged Giselle. Giselle nodded quietly.
‘There is something that senses me in the forest.’
Otherwise, Erenes would not have urged her like that. The elves would definitely come here soon.
“Wait a minute.”
Giselle ignored Erenes’ urging and looked around a little more. There was something she had to check properly.
He entered the area where the forest had completely rotted and began to observe the surroundings.
When Giselle continued to look around without saying anything, Erenes became slightly annoyed.
“What are you doing? This is already a dead land!”
“……”
Giselle ignored Erenes’ words. Instead, she knelt down on one knee and grabbed a handful of the black, contaminated soil.
Giselle’s expression as she looked at the soil gradually hardened.
“What are you doing?”
Giselle ignored Erenes’ words this time as well. She simply stared off into the distance with a hardened expression.
“Let’s move quickly!”
“Erenes.”
“It’ll be difficult if we stay here too long!”
“Erenes.”
“……Why?”
Giselle was still looking into the distance. When he slowly got up and opened his hands, the soil he had been holding fell down. Giselle
opened her mouth without even turning her head.
“I guess I’ll have to change the plan.”
“What? Why?”
Jiing-!
Jiselle’s subspace opened in the air. A long rod began to emerge from there.
Jiselle spoke in a cold voice.
“I don’t think we need to go all the way to the mountain.”
“What do you mean?”
“The scouts… they’re probably all dead.”
Jiselle gripped the rod that emerged from the subspace tightly.
Far away in the northern sky.
Thick darkness was gathering.