The Audoran Forest was a beautiful place. Even if the outermost part could be called gloomy and dark, it didn't necessarily make it look less beautiful than other places. Various types of animals and plants still lived in that place, and they all hoped to live long in it. However, since the arrival of the royal group from the Lucano Kingdom, it seemed that the place no longer had its peace.
BOOM!
"Don't stop. Keep walking straight until you find the cave that I have cast protective magic on. You will be safe there, trust me."
Although Lelitia was starting to get anxious because the humans suddenly decided to cause uncontrollable chaos as soon as they scattered, the elf tried to appear as calm as possible in front of the creatures that lived in the outermost part of the Audoran Forest. The elf repeated the same sentence every time she managed to find those who had not been evacuated. Then, along the way, Lelitia did not forget to put strong protection magic on the plants that had souls.
BOOM!
This time, the loud explosion was accompanied by the screams of creatures trying to call her name. Unable to stand it any longer, Lelitia finally left her post to approach the direction from which the explosion came. Her steps quickened when she smelled the thick scent of blood from the direction the explosion came from.
"Lelitia! What are you doing here?"
Lelitia's attention was diverted when she saw Kegan approaching her in an injured state. The beautiful elf unconsciously furrowed her brows. It had only been a few moments since the princes had gone their separate ways. Yet, one of them had already managed to badly injure Kegan.
"I came because I kept hearing loud explosions. What happened here, Kegan? Is the human you fought that strong?"
Lelitia asked as she began to cast healing magic on Kegan's body. Kegan let Lelitia do that because the fire fairy knew he had to recover to win his fight. The fairy gritted his teeth in annoyance, especially when he remembered what Jarvis had done the first time they faced each other directly.
"He's not human, but a demon in human form!" Kegan cursed hatefully. Kegan still remembered how Jarvis casually destroyed everything and even did not hesitate to sacrifice the people who came with him to survive a fatal attack. Jarvis was indeed not the strongest person Kegan had met. However, his cruelty was clearly at the top.
"They seem to have come to look for you, Lelitia."
Lelitia turned her head as Kegan continued his words. Unlike his usual fiery emotions, Kegan looked very serious when talking to Lelitia. The fire fairy looked at Lelitia and then reported what he had learned from his fight against Jarvis.
"They kept asking about the entrance to the deepest part of the Audoran Forest and whether I was the monster of the Audoran Forest. Those humans also used a strange device that could disrupt the natural flow of mana. The explosions you heard earlier were the result of my power going out of control due to their strange device."
From Kegan's explanation, Lelitia could tell that the change in the flow of mana in the Audoran Forest was caused by those humans. Fay also seemed to have been defeated in the same way. For fairies who used mana from nature as a source of power, such a disruptive device was the worst enemy.
"Kegan, let me deal with them. You help the other creatures to-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Lelitia!"
Lelitia immediately stopped talking when Kegan cut her off with a furrowed brow. Now that his wounds had healed, Kegan restarted sucking in mana as if he was taking a deep breath. Kegan's glowed body showed that he had restored all his strength. Kegan's red eyes stared at Lelitia seriously before he continued his words again in a firm tone.
"Don't you believe in my strength, Lelitia? I will never lose to those who try to invade Audoran Forest. Besides, I will never let you meet any of them. If there is someone who should not fight them directly, I'm sure it would be you, Lelitia."
"Even so...."
"Little fairy, where are you going?! My business is not finished with you!"
Their attention was diverted when they heard Jarvis's voice, walking towards them. Kegan clicked his tongue and flew in front of Lelitia. Kegan was in a position with his back to Lelitia when the fairy tried to urge Lelitia to leave that place.
"Go, Lelitia! Your job isn't done until you save everyone from their attack!"
Lelitia knew her position and duty and understood why Kegan tried so hard to ask her to leave. The fairy clenched her fists tightly. "Don't lose to that human, Kegan," she said before Lelitia finally left.
"I won't die, Lelitia. Especially when I'm only fighting a disgusting human like him."
Even though Lelitia could no longer hear him, Kegan continued to speak while flying to approach his enemy again. The fire fairy frowned when he saw the pile of adventurers' corpses around Jarvis. As Kegan had expected, Jarvis survived his attack because the prince had used the people who came with him as walking shields.
"Woah, your wounds have completely healed!"
Jarvis was amazed without much burden when he saw Kegan coming back to him with healed wounds. Maybe because Jarvis felt that he had previously managed to seriously injure Kegan, the prince's confidence had increased several levels.
"My brother told me to report to him immediately if I managed to find the monster. But if the one I'm fighting is just a weak fairy like you, I shouldn't need to ask for his help, right?"
Jarvis waved his blood-stained sword as he spoke to Kegan. Behind Jarvis, Eddy, the prince's servant, stood while pointing a mana disturbance device at Kegan.
Of all the people who came with Jarvis, only Eddy was left to accompany him. Several adventurers who could no longer bear Jarvis' cruelty chose to run away and ended up being killed by the prince. Those who remained had also died thanks to Kegan's powerful attacks.
Eddy was scared because he knew his time was running out. But in front of Jarvis, who did not hesitate to kill friends and enemies alike, Eddy could only continue to endure and fight Kegan, who was also observing the expression on Eddy's face.
"As I thought, I really shouldn't play around anymore when fighting you."
"Come here, Little Fairy!"
Among the princes, Jarvis deserved to be called the most stupid prince. Just because Kegan had held back before, and Jarvis felt that the mana interference device had put victory in his hands, the prince had no idea that the power of the elemental fairy was far stronger than what Kegan had shown earlier. Previously, Kegan held back because he did not want to destroy the forest they had worked so hard to protect. However, after seeing Jarvis' cruelty, Kegan felt that holding back was no different from ignoring the deaths of the innocent.
"Seal, open."
BOOM!
The moment Kegan said that, a huge explosion occurred where the fire fairy was standing. The explosion had such high destructive power that the magic shield was not enough to block the blast and heat from the explosion. Jarvis tried to hold back his shield with great difficulty. However, as soon as he felt that his magic alone was not enough to block the explosion, Jarvis immediately pulled Eddy to stand in front of him.
"Your Highness, I-"
"Shut up and die for me, Eddy!"
"YOUR HIGHNESS! PLEASE- ARGH!"
Even if Eddy began to struggle in Jarvis's grip, the prince had cast a binding spell that made the poor servant unable to do anything but scream and die from the heat that continued to erode his body until it was completely gone.
Eddy had been reduced to ashes, but the explosion still had not died down. Jarvis almost gave up in the midst of the situation. The prince glanced at the natural mana intruder that was slowly disintegrating and finally realized that what he had fought before was only a small part of the power that Kegan possessed.
"Are you finally afraid, Human?"
Time seemed to stop as the explosion suddenly disappeared, and a figure that looked like an adult elf with fiery red eyes and hair stood before Jarvis. The pressure of his incredible power made it difficult for Jarvis to breathe. The fiery red eyes seemed to burn every bone in Jarvis' body. The prince was sweating profusely. Slowly, Jarvis lost his strength to stand and ended up falling to the ground with a bang.
For the first time, Jarvis finally felt the fear of death that was before his eyes. Jarvis's body was shaking all over. The prince wanted to speak in front of Kegan. But with the pressure of Kegan's extraordinary power, Jarvis could only open his mouth without being able to make any sound from his mouth.
"You must feel what all those you have killed feel. Feel their pain and the fear they felt when you took their lives."
"No, no. Let me go! LET ME GO!"
Jarvis began to panic as Kegan lifted him with one hand and then began to emit fire from his palm. Slowly but surely, the fire continued to spread throughout Jarvis' body. The prince screamed and continued to beg. But just as Jarvis had no pity whatsoever for the people he killed, Kegan's eyes also showed nothing as he watched Jarvis die in his grasp.
"ARGH!"
After that last scream, Jarvis' body finally turned to ashes. Kegan stared at the empty land formed by his decision to unseal his power, then let out a long sigh.
"Forgive me, Lelitia."
Kegan's body slowly turned transparent before he finally returned to being a fairy with a small form. Natural mana was already decreasing on the Avalanche Continent. For elemental fairies who relied on natural mana to unleash their power, a single unsealing of their original power could consume a month's worth of mana.
After his mana reserves were depleted, Kegan eventually reverted to his small, slightly transparent fairy form. Kegan knew that he had to return to the depths of the Audoran Forest immediately to replenish his energy. But before Kegan could move his body, darkness had already taken over his consciousness.