We arrived. That much was clear when the flying fortress made a slow descent, revealing the ground below like maggots crawling over a bald patch of forest. Just like last time, the creatures crawling around came in all forms—bipedal, quadrupedal, even flying monsters—except now they seemed to number in the hundreds of thousands.
"He really didn't waste time," I remarked, leaning against the edge of the flying fortress.
"Yes," Aquaflora acquiesced at my side, her gaze fixed on the scene below. “unfortunately.”
We were currently riding the Ferron Patriarch's flying fortress, as agreed during the summit. His fortress, a literal floating stronghold, boasted features our own lacked—features that proved useful when it unleashed a rain of thorns upon the monster-filled land below. The moment the thorns landed, they exploded, filling the air with the deafening roar reminiscent of modern battlefield explosions.
In retaliation, the monsters launched their own counterattack. Lightning, fire breath, elemental bursts—attacks of all kinds were unleashed upon the fortress which made for a difficult to miss target. Yet, none of the attack bore a dent onto the giant fortress. The gigantic fortress didn't just focus on offense; it also excelled in defense. The Ferron Patriarch had manifested his Ancestral Tree around his fortress, effortlessly absorbing each attack through the barrier the sigil manifested as, reducing the chaotic onslaught to nothing more than an entrancing display of color. At least, it was entrancing to me. Judging by the tension in her shoulders, Aquaflora didn’t share my fascination.
Noticing my gaze, she asked, "What is it?"
"You're too tense," I said, giving her a pat on the back.
"I'm reasonably tense. When else are we supposed to be tense but now? You're the one who's acting unnaturally relaxed. Are you not the slightest bit afraid?"
I pretended to think for a moment before answering, "No, not particularly. I've been waiting for this for a while now, remember? So I'm more eager than anything."
"Battlemonger," Aquaflora muttered, nudging me to the side.
I laughed. "Me? You must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm a very peace-loving person."
"Yeah, and I absolutely believe you," she replied dryly.
I chuckled at her sarcasm, then, thinking about her words, declared, after prompt contemplation. "Once we're done—really done with all of this—I think I’ll take a well-earned vacation." I glanced at Aquaflora. "Wanna go live a peaceful life in a little cabin on a green, flowery mountain in the middle of nowhere for a while?"
She looked at me, her expression unreadable. "You're serious, or are you teasing me again?"
"Why would I be joking at a time like this?"
"I..."
"Just say yes, for god’s sake," Goblin sighed from his spot along the balustrade. "Just say 'yes' and spare all of us from your flirting."
At his words, Honey, Bortz, and Blondie, who were standing nearby, quickly looked away, pretending not to have noticed anything. I chuckled at their reaction, about to say something—when I noticed something in the horizon, past the flurry of attacks aimed at us, clashing against the forcefield. I let out a heavy sigh. "Seems like I’ll have to wait for my answer."
At these words, all five of them instantly realized what I meant.
"You found him?" they asked in unison.
"Yep," I nodded in confirmation. Then, glancing up at a higher balustrade, I saw that I wasn’t the only one to notice. The elven monarch had seen him too.
Understanding that it was about to begin, I looked at everyone and issued a final warning. "I doubt any of you forgot how this is going to go, but for my peace of mind, I’ll remind you anyway. We sought the help of the elven monarch for a reason—for their strength. So make sure to abuse it. Do not fight like a maniac. Preserve your energy and focus on your safety. No reckless moves. I need you all alive by the end of this. Use this as an opportunity to harvest experience, but—"
"Do so in moderation," Goblin finished for me.
I nodded, then looked at Aquaflora. "I'm going to need you in full form to acquire his ancest—"
"Don't worry," Goblin chimed in. "Honey, Bortz, and I will keep your girlfriend safe and deliver her to you when you’re done."
"You—"
"I sure count on you all," I said, cutting him off. Then, slightly raising my dress, I smirked. "Now then, gentlemen, I think I have a patriarch to kill, so... I'll see myself out."
With that, I propelled myself up onto the Umbryan Patriarch’s familiar, where the patriarch himself and the Aurian family matriarch were already waiting. Only the Ferron Patriarch remained behind, as he would be most useful staying on the fortress. The rest of us surged forward at full speed, leaving the protective cocoon that was the Ferron Patriarch ancestral tree.
Noticing our movement, many of the creatures launched their attacks. The flying ones tried to crash into us, but the Umbryan Patriarch ignored them, having his summon barrel through with unstoppable speed and absolute toughness. It made one wonder just how powerful the Argyrian Patriarch had been to have slain such an unstoppable force.
Swift and unstoppable, the three of us soon arrived within visual range of our target—no visual enhancements needed. He stood there in the distance, atop a wyvern, waiting.
“That bastard,” the Umbryan Patriarch seethed, eyes locked onto the humanoid figure hovering above the ground alongside the flying monstrosities. Though his teeth were clenched and his fists tight with rage, his pride wounded and his desire to skin the Argyrian Patriarch palpable, he knew it wasn’t his role to engage. Holding himself back, he turned to me with restrained fury and muttered, “You better not mess this up.
"That's my line." I sneered. "I put myself in this position because my conditions were accepted. A second over the agreed time, and I withdraw, leaving you all handle him so—"
"You won’t have to worry about that," the Matriarch interjected before promising, "No more than fifteen minutes."
The Patriarch backed her words with a nod.
"Since I have your word, see me ready," I declared, activating my [Mantle of Serenity], which instantly shifted me into battle-ready form—my hair shortened, my dress replaced by a sleek, full-body suit offering both high physical and magical resistance.
At my words, the Umbryan Patriarch’s summon thundered forward at his command, an ethereal juggernaut barreling straight toward the Argyrian Patriarch.
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It was then that notifications appeared in my vision, informing me of what was happening ahead:
As if confirming what my [Identification] skill showed me, the Argyrian Patriarch, atop his monstrous mount and hovering midair, displayed an overwhelming aura.
A deep hum of power reverberated across the heavens, sending tremors through the sky. Shimmering-blue lightning snaked through the clouds like living veins, fierce gusts howled with torrential force, and fiery motes whirled around the Patriarch’s outstretched hand—fusing into a single, cataclysmic sphere, which he unleashed at us.
Simultaneously, the Aurian Matriarch stepped forward to counter the offensive. She invoked "Nature’s Bulwark" and then the skill "Verdant Aegis," summoning swirling vines and brilliant emerald leaves that coalesced into a towering barrier of pure life force. The cataclysmic sphere slammed into this verdant shield, a thunderous roar tearing across the sky. Fire, lightning, and light splashed harmlessly away as the living vines siphoned off the heat. Lightning sank into thick clusters of magically reinforced bark, while the raging wind was split and funneled into swirling updrafts that dissipated into the open air.
For a moment, the brilliant energies clashed, then subsided in a burst of shimmering motes. The barrier cracked but never broke, allowing us to continue our charge. Taking advantage of the Aurian Matriarch’s proactive defensive maneuver, the Patriarch had time to come up counterattack.
He had learned from what he told us was his first mistake when going against the Argyrian patriarch, namely his assumption that skills targeting linked creatures through summoning or bonding, his forte, would be effective against the monsters controlled by the Argyrian Patriarch. They simply weren’t. Much to his complete confusion, such tactics failed outright, which was why this time he immediately opened with an “offensive” approach.
A wave of blazing spiritual energy erupted from the Monarch’s outstretched hands, engulfing the Argyrian Patriarch and his enslaved monsters.
While there was no flashy visual cue to its effect, I knew through [Identification] just how devastating the ability was. The Umbryan Patriarch was merciless, following up immediately with a relentless barrage of skill activations:
In an instant, he summoned over a dozen shadowy creatures, formed from condensed anima and shrouded in spectral darkness. Each manifestation took the same sleek, eel-like form, gliding through the air with unnatural speed. They reached the Argyrian Patriarch and his beasts in an instant, their frenzy matching their form as they tore through the ranks of his monsters. Thanks to the previously cast ability, they met little resistance, cutting through effortlessly. Within moments, they had finished with the Patriarch’s monsters—including his mount—and were closing in on him when he unleashed a scaled light-based attack, the perfect counter to such shadowy creatures. They were exterminated in an instant.
That instant was all we needed to finally close the distance. As the Umbryan Patriarch’s mount flew past the Argyrian Patriarch, I lashed out with one of my chains, catching him before he could resist. Without hesitation, I swung him forward, just as the Umbryan Patriarch brought his mount to a halt.
"Off you go!" I declared, flinging him toward a distant mountain. He crashed heavily into its side, but that was nowhere near enough. Without letting go of the chain, I yanked him out of the crater, lifting him into midair where I met him with a powerful punch. I was tempted to enhance the blow with elemental energy, but I knew better—my opponent was a Monarch well-versed in elemental defenses. Any elemental damage would be mitigated. Instead, I relied on raw strength.
The impact sent him reeling through the air, hundreds of meters away. Before he could steady himself with [Flight], simultaneous attacks from the Umbryan Patriarch and the Aurian Matriarch came barreling toward him. From the speed and distance, there was no avoiding it—not in terms of dodging. But he had another means of defense, other than skills and abilities.
In an instant, he manifested his sigil.
A silver ancestral tree materialized around him, initially covering only his form. But within moments, it expanded rapidly. The Lunith Tree—the sigil true name—grew bigger and bigger, inflating to encompass the entire battlefield. Within three seconds, it had harmlessly expanded past me, enveloping me and the surrounding space within its domain.
However, the same could not be said for the Umbryan Patriarch and Aurian Matriarch. They were forcibly expelled, their attacks failing to pierce the tree’s domain. It wasn’t hard to understand what had happened. Ancestral trees possessed two main features: they could serve as perfect prisons or as perfect barriers. The Argyrian Patriarch had chosen the latter, ensuring he remained unharmed while shoving the two Monarchs into the distance.
The reason I remained, not blasted into the distance like the two monarchs was obvious—he had chosen me as his opponent.
Outside the Lunith Tree’s barrier, the two Monarchs made no effort to break me out. Instead, they turned their backs and flew toward the ongoing battle against the monsters. It made sense. After all, that was the plan we had agreed upon.
As it stood, there was no defeating the Argyrian Patriarch without first dealing with his army. That meant this battle had to be fought on two fronts. The first, led by the Monarchs and their forces—including Goblin—was tasked with eradicating the monsters. The second front was mine alone. A duel against the Argyrian Patriarch.
It might seem like a suicide mission—maybe it was. But the decision had been made. No point in complaining now.
Summoning a spiritual sword, I stepped onto it and lifted myself up to the Argyrian Patriarch’s level, never breaking eye contact with him.
The elf before me was both miserable and grotesque. The Argyrian Patriarch was draped in what had once been a flowing azure robe, now tattered and clinging to his skeletal form. His exposed chest was a pitiful sight—his flesh seemed to have melted into his bones, giving him an almost mummified appearance. But it was his face that anchored my gaze in horrified fascination.
Much like how Goblin shifted forms, his face twisted and changed. Yet, unlike Goblin’s seamless transformations, which felt as natural as blinking, the Patriarch’s shifts were a silent, agonizing war. Every second, his features contorted as if they fought against themselves.
One moment, he looked almost typically Argyrian—his features stretched unnaturally taut, like a canvas on the verge of tearing. The next, his face twisted into a nightmarish snarl, the skin rippling as though something alive squirmed beneath it. Flesh melted into bulbous, asymmetrical horrors, reshaping in grotesque, fleeting cycles. Each transformation burned itself into my mind like a brand.
"Damn, Goblin and the others weren’t exaggerating about how miserable they left you."
I could almost feel the phantom echoes of pain it must have caused. The way his skin pulled, his bones realigned—the audible crackle of shifting cartilage—it looked unbearable. But his eyes, cold and silver like moonlight on a blade, betrayed no pain. No discomfort. If anything, he seemed bored, detached from the torment his body endured.
As I sized the Patriarch up, I caught movement in the distance behind me. Almost simultaneously, two massive ethereal trees manifested—ethereally black and ethereally golden, their presence announcing the official beginning of the war on that front.
It was also my signal—the battle on this front should soon begin.
"Tell me, Patriarch, do you still remember me?" I asked, my voice edged with challenge. "You don’t look completely mindless, so I’d be really offended if you’ve forgotten about me. One hundred and thirty-seven years ago, you stole something from me—something that wasn’t even mine to begin with."
Summoning spiritual swords around me, I let them hover in anticipation.
"As much as it pained my pride, I let that go. But today, our paths cross again. Not only did you steal something that was Goblin’s, but you also caused the deaths of two of his precious siblings."
"They did you dirty in return. Gotta hand it to them—they did one hell of a job." I chuckled, shaking my head. "But unlucky for you, you’ve got something we need. And the only way I’m getting it… is by killing you." My grin sharpened. "Which, as fate would have it, is perfect—I've been aching to settle this grudge in blood and death. So let’s end this."