Reincarnated as a World

Ch.295 Bloom

It wasn’t a surprise to see that Envy had prepared for their arrival. From the beginning they had been working with the information that Envy could communicate with his followers no matter how far apart they were, which was one of the reasons he had been able to cause so much trouble over the past 6 years despite never showing his face.

So since they couldn’t completely weed out the followers of Envy if they didn’t reveal themselves, it was within their expectations that some of their plans would be exposed. That was why their most important plans were only known to the most trusted upper echelons and everyone else was only here to fight when they were told to fight, and retreat when they were told to retreat.

They had already been expecting someone in their forces to reveal the moment of their arrival to Envy, and they had expected Envy to make appropriate plans. But this?

How was it possible that they would be surrounded so quickly? Moreover even the back-route had been cut off despite them just coming from there. They had not seen a single sign of Envy’s followers on the path here, so where had they sprouted from so suddenly? And what on Eridius were those malformed creatures?!

Titania felt her skin crawl at the abnormality of it all, but it was not fear that she was feeling. As she said before, they had made sure to overestimate Envy’s capabilities so that they could be ready for everything that might suddenly pop up. Even the possibility of Envy somehow obtaining one of those special Eyes that Jörma and Pharaoh had, had been accounted for.

Being surrounded before they could even reach land was not ideal, but it was absolutely not something they could not deal with.

They-

Titania’s eyes widened as she detected a dense amount of energy rushing to her head from her left.

However, surprised as she was at the unexpected danger, she still managed to efficiently escape the blow by swiftly leaning backwards. It was not everyday that she encountered someone who was both capable and willing to fight her, but after nearly 200 years of experience her fighting instincts were very keen.

A pale hand holding a wooden knife and covered in green aura swished past her face, and the meaning of what that meant shocked her so much that she missed the window to reorganise herself to face the next attack. Thanks to her unbalanced position and the short distance between her chest and the knife, it was now impossible to dodge and she had to block.

She ignored the yelps of surprise from the people around her and swung her arms up to grab the wrist, halting its lethal action in an instant. Which again surprised her.

Even with her mana already circulating through her body from her prior reaction to hearing they were surrounded, it shouldn’t have been so easy to block an all out attack from such a compromised position. She wasn’t expecting to suffer damage or anything like that but she was at least expecting the force to slam her own arms back onto her chest.

However, that did not happen at all.

Why was someone who was trying to kill her so weak? Frustration, confusion and anger rose to new heights within her heart but just as she was about to make her next act, the wrist she was gripping was suddenly yanked out of her hands as the traitor was dragged away.

She righted herself quickly and turned to face her attacker, but it was her Spirit Sense that saw it first. The sight of Alan tossing a female brown haired Elf to her knees before pulling back both of her hands and stepping on her back. She was suppressed in an instant.

Titania’s Spirit Sense had been stretched to its limits before and although that gave her a broader vision, it came at the cost of clarity. It was because of that that she hadn’t immediately identified the traitor quickly enough in the brief less than 2 second altercation. But she could see everything now and the result had her mouth parting with shock.

 

The fool was none other than Evelyn. One of the 3rd Realm Elves that had followed her to kill Envy.

She was a child of the 3rd generation and although her talent was average when compared to her peers, maybe even slightly lower, she was very hard working and diligent. Furthermore she was an experienced warrior who used to work as a hunter in her earlier years and eventually reached the ranks of royal guard.

The only thing she had that was lacking was talent and perhaps innate beauty, but not only was she at the peak of the 3rd Realm in Essence Refinement but she also had notable accomplishments in Anatomy Refinement, and as an Elf, she had always been beautiful even before the augments of Anatomy Refinement so that could not possibly be a problem.

Climbing the stages of Anatomy Refinement required great will power and everyone knew that she had it in spades. She was a shining example of the Faerie Code that all Elven kind aspired to live by, and had never succumbed to any of the various pleasures that many of her generation had been distracted by.

So how was it that her previously beautiful blue eyes were now an insidious, luminous green? How was it that her forehead now carried the disgusting Mark of Envy? How was it now that the previously honourable Elf that could be once seen practising fighting techniques early in the morning in order to raise her strength and protect the Elven race was now staring at her with… twisted arrogance and vivid malice.

“How?” She whispered out loud.

Evelyn stared at her for a pause… before a grin slowly grew on her face. A shiver ran down Titania’s spine at the sight. Seeing such a cruel expression of glee on a face that had always been stoic and calm made her feel repulsed. This was not the Evelyn that she knew at all.

“Oh Queen Titan- ack!”

Evelyn had begun to speak when a pair of hands gripped her firmly by her head and violently twisted, rotating it by 180 degrees with a mighty crack. It was a move that could kill most species instantly, but not an Elf.

She was still condemned to death, but the high quality vitality that ran through every Elf allowed them to delay death by a few seconds even if they were split in two so long as their brain was intact. From there, the only thing that could save them was water from the Spring of Life or something similar.

Obviously, Evelyn would not be receiving such precious treatment, but instead of Evelyn being subdued with her life at its end, instead of her begging for forgiveness… She began to laugh.

A wet, ugly, broken… laugh.

“My Queen…” Alan spoke out after a while, confusion and even horror apparent in his voice. It was him that had given Evelyn the killing blow, but if you were to compare both of their faces, it became difficult to tell just who was feeling victorious.

With a quick check using her Spirit Sense, she could see that everyone else was also in disarray. But she could not have that. They had an important war to fight and they could not afford to be distracted or demotivated, so she reigned in her own turbulent emotions and began to speak. She even utilised the Laws of Sound for extra effect, but before she could get a single syllable out she was interrupted.

“KEON! YOU?! YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS! HOW?!” A familiar voice bellowed. It was her neighbour from the Dawn Forest, Raiko the Beast Emperor. She knew the name Keon too. Keon was the name of the Wolf King who was subordinated to him.

But Raiko was not the only one who began yelling. Yells of rage, shock, and despair began to ring out all over the place, and amongst them were horrid screeches and roars that she could scarcely identify. The chaotic symphony, coupled with the glaring fact that they had yet to even reach land, made fear finally bloom in her heart.

All the while, Evelyn continued to laugh and she didn’t stop until death finally claimed her.