Chapter 140: Accepted Leader

Evan and Reynold were hiding in the bushes, observing the situation.

Alan had gone to scout the surrounding area, and Ainis decided to use her stealth to spy on the perimeter of the Elf Village.

Until they returned, Evan and Reynold remained in their current position, waiting.

“I can’t understand a sudden swarm of monsters like this, sir,”

Reynold whispered.

“It looks like a Dimensional Rift might have opened nearby. Stay on high alert. This might be even tougher than when we went to save the World Tree.”

Evan was in a difficult spot.

Upon returning from their mission, they found the village devastated by a monster raid.

The protective barriers that once shielded the settlement, the earthen ramparts, and the tall watchtowers were all shattered.

It was safe to say the defensive facilities were almost entirely neutralized.

It appeared a monster wave from a gate had crashed into the Elf Village.

Although they hadn’t grasped the full picture yet, it was certain the situation was dire.

For a monster wave of this scale to occur, numerous gates must have opened in the vicinity.

The problem didn’t end there.

‘If the Order attacks now, they’ll be completely defenseless.’

Currently, preventing an external invasion seemed impossible.

‘Damn it. I hope the elves are safe.’

Ultimately, all these concerns were moot if the elves didn’t survive.

It would be the worst-case scenario if they had protected Yggdrasil only for the elves themselves to be wiped out.

“Young Master, she’s back!”

Reynold spoke to Evan, who was lost in thought.

Evan shifted his gaze at Reynold’s words.

Ainis, who had gone out to scout, was returning.

Evan hurriedly asked her about the whereabouts of the elves.

“How did it go?”

In response to Evan’s question, Ainis shook her head.

“There are too many monsters around the village, so it’s impossible to get close. I tried to move in as much as possible, but among the plant-type monsters, there are some with detection abilities…”

“Do we have no choice but to force our way in?”

Evan sighed and stood up.

Through the second sub-quest, he had learned why the Elf Village was in such a crisis.

“Can we really break through the monsters? And I don’t know if everyone is safe,”

Ainis said, her head dropping in dejection.

She couldn’t see any hope.

“Those guys aren’t much of a threat anyway. They just have numbers on their side,”

Evan said lightly, as if it were no big deal.

He had experienced monster waves caused by gates countless times in his previous life.

This kind of situation was actually familiar to Evan.

‘Looking at the average level of the monsters, they seem to be around C to B-rank. It’s manageable.’

Furthermore, since many monsters had already been killed, the momentum of the wave had broken once already.

“What are you going to do?”

Ainis asked Evan, her feet pacing nervously.

She couldn’t think of a way to overcome this desperate situation.

But she felt that if it was Evan, it might be possible.

He had made the impossible possible before.

Because he had achieved ridiculous feats, she pinned her last hope on him.

“Just wait a moment. Alan hasn’t returned yet,”

Evan said calmly, maintaining a composed demeanor.

“……You have a plan, right?”

Ainis suppressed her anxious heart.

Evan nodded to reassure her first, then turned his gaze back toward the Elf Village.

Monsters were continuously charging toward the settlement.

‘If a gate is found, I’ll have to change the plan slightly.’

The reason he had Alan scout the surroundings was to check for gates.

If a gate was discovered, dealing with it was the priority.

‘It won’t be easy, though.’

Just then, he spotted Alan returning through the thicket.

“Young Master.”

“Did you find anything?”

Alan scratched his head and shook it.

“I searched the entire area, but no Dimensional Rift was found. However, there were traces of some abnormal signs. I saw marks where a large number of trees had been destroyed.”

Evan felt a sense of oddity.

‘The trees were probably ruined by the monsters pouring out of the gate.’

He asked Alan again,

“Are you absolutely sure you checked everywhere?”

“Yes. I even went up the hill to check, but there was nothing.”

“That’s very strange. It’s certain those monsters popped out of a Dimensional Rift…”

Ainis, who was listening to the conversation, chimed in.

“That must be because the World Tree has been revived. The power of the World Tree brings stability.”

The moment Evan heard that, he recalled the Yggdrasil of his previous life.

‘True, gates never appeared around Yggdrasil.’

It seemed the gates had vanished after he revived Yggdrasil.

That meant there would be no additional monster waves.

Once Evan understood the situation, he began to move quickly.

He took ten Seeds of the Forest Guardian out of his inventory.

‘To think I’d use these right away.’

He didn’t know how many more monsters were still lurking outside.

It seemed wise to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

“Wait a moment. Before we head to the village, there’s something I need to do. I’m going to plant these. I found them inside the World Tree, and it was said they would protect the forest.”

Evan moved after explaining to his companions.

“Ainis, tell me the main path leading to the Elf Village.”

“Understood.”

Ainis nodded and led the way.

After a short while, she stopped and pointed.

“Do you see that hill path? That’s the final entrance into the Elf Village.”

Where Ainis pointed, watchtowers and various traps were visible.

However, they had already been destroyed by the monster attacks and seemed useless now.

“The location looks perfect.”

Evan planted one Seed of the Forest Guardian in a spot that wouldn’t be easily noticed.

Flash!

A green light flickered from where the seed was planted, and a sprout began to grow from the ground instantly.

“The… the tree is growing this fast?”

Alan, who was watching the scene, stepped back in surprise.

The sprout became a tree in the blink of an eye, and a green glow simultaneously enveloped Evan’s body.

[A Forest Guardian has been summoned]

[The forest is moved by your actions]

[- Forest Affinity has increased]

Evan looked up at the summoned Forest Guardian.

A massive tree entered his vision.

Then, a status window appeared before his eyes.

[Status Window]

Name: Forest Guardian

Level: 1

Attribute: Earth

HP: 10,000/10,000

Attack Power: 500–1,000

Defense: 10,000

Evan couldn’t hide his surprise as he looked at the Guardian’s status window.

‘This is a growth-type summon?’

Growth-type summons were incredibly rare, regardless of what they were.

And because their potential for growth was so high, a well-raised one was better than ten ordinary summons.

‘If it keeps leveling up and growing here, it’ll be a huge help later.’

Although its attack power was a bit underwhelming, its defense more than made up for that deficiency.

‘These guys are meant for defense, after all.’

If it grew, its attack power would surely increase as well.

It was just as Evan was looking at the tree with satisfaction.

Rustle. Rustle.

The remaining monsters in the area were coming up the path.

He saw man-eating plants, including the Kalaone, as well as corrupted humanoid monsters.

Ainis pulled a bow from her back and hurriedly prepared to attack.

Just then.

Thump!

The Forest Guardian pulled its roots from the ground and stood up.

‘Wait, this thing can move?’

Evan’s eyes gleamed.

The fact that the Forest Guardian could move was great news.

Although its movement was as slow as a crawling snail, it didn’t matter.

Being able to move at all was better than being fixed in one place.

“Ainis, step back for a moment. Let’s see how much power it has.”

Evan decided to watch the Forest Guardian in action from behind.

Its appearance was similar to an Entree, but unlike one, it was lush with leaves and full of vitality.

Soon, arms formed on both sides of the Forest Guardian’s trunk.

Then, it swung its arms at the monsters.

Boom!

As the massive hands slammed into the ground, a portion of the approaching monsters were killed instantly.

The destructive power was quite significant compared to its listed attack power.

[Forest Guardian’s level has increased]

As Evan checked the status window, level-up messages popped up in quick succession.

‘This is actually pretty good.’

Evan planted another Seed of the Forest Guardian.

It seemed at least two were needed for this entrance.

With the newly created Forest Guardian added to the fray, they began to block the monsters.

“That… is a truly brutal fellow.”

“Wow. Those trees are really holding them back!”

Alan and Reynold exclaimed in admiration as they watched the Forest Guardians.

Evan’s group successfully blocked the monsters with the help of the Guardians.

Evan gave orders to Alan and Reynold.

“I’ll leave this place to you two. Hold the line here with those trees. Ainis and I will head straight into the Elf Village.”

“Understood, sir!”

“Yes. Leave this place to us.”

Evan pulled out Ascalon and the Elemental Sword.

“Unless something extraordinary happens, this place will be sufficiently defended. And take these.”

Evan handed the remaining eight seeds of the Forest Guardian to Ainis.

“Why give me such precious things…?”

“You know the terrain here best. After we clean up the village, plant them in appropriate locations. You saw their power for yourself, right?”

Ainis was moved by Evan’s gesture.

Even though he was human, she could feel his sincerity toward the Elf Village.

“Thank you. I will never forget this kindness as long as I live.”

She thanked Evan with a polite bow.

“Now, let’s hurry.”

“Right.”

Evan and Ainis moved quickly toward the Elf Village.

As they arrived at the village entrance, Evan unleashed Ascalon’s power.

Whoosh!

Finding a suitable spot, he plunged Ascalon into the ground and summoned the Phoenix.

Screee!

The Phoenix began to glide through the sky.

“Phoenix, sweep them all away!”

As Evan’s command fell, the Phoenix flew at full speed.

Fwoosh!

A powerful wave of flames from the Phoenix swept past the perimeter of the Elf Village.

Evan and Ainis followed behind, taking down the plant-type monsters one by one.

In particular, Evan used the newly acquired fourth form to wipe out large numbers of them at once.

“This area seems to have held out reasonably well…”

Inside the village, mounds of monster corpses were piled up.

Fortunately, it seemed all the monsters inside the village had been dealt with.

“Chief!”

Ainis shouted as she ran forward.

“Ainis!”

At that moment, a voice was heard.

Elves who had been hiding between the village buildings began to show themselves.

“What happened?”

“Did you come from outside the village?”

“How did you get here with all those monsters around?”

The elves approached Ainis, reacting with surprise.

Ainis was relieved to see that everyone was safe.

“We cleared the outside. You can rest easy now.”

While Evan watched silently from behind, he began to look for Helena.

“Are you looking for me?”

She had deactivated her stealth and approached him with a soft smile.

“You were safe.”

“Yes. More importantly…”

Helena started to speak, then paused.

“I really didn’t know you could do it. You are the savior of our village. Please forgive my past insolence.”

“I don’t mind. I only did what was natural.”

Evan smiled brightly, showing his best side to the elves.

“No. You are the final light that will lead us elves to salvation. Hero.”

“……Excuse me?”

“After hearing the voice of the restored World Tree, I have made my decision. As promised, please lead us elves. All the elves in the village have agreed.”

It sounded a bit different from what he expected.

The agreement was only to treat him with the same status as a Chief.

Asking him to lead them made it sound like they wanted him to become their leader and command them.

“Wait a minute.”

“You saved us from a fate of destruction.”

Helena approached and tightly gripped both of Evan’s hands, pleading earnestly.

“Since the time of our ancestors, the World Tree was accepted as dead with no hope of revival. But you have broken the chains of this cursed fate.”

Helena began to lead Evan away.

“Please follow me! There is a legacy for the Hero left since the time of the ancestors.”

“O-okay, I understand.”

Evan broke into a cold sweat at her intense reaction.

The place she led him to was a lakeside.

“……This place is.”

Evan was momentarily at a loss for words.

It was a place far too familiar to him.

[You have discovered the Forgotten Spring]

[A hidden achievement has been linked]

It was a place he had visited while performing the Hero’s quest in his previous life.