Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

Chapter 636: Vanguard of Y'gdrazil

636. Vanguard of Y'gdrazil

***

Her name was Kali’natha, and she was the Principality of the Farl-Zun Forest. Although she wasn’t always a member of royalty. When she was born, she was a mere Worker. The lowest of the Elven caste. But that was the beauty of their society. She was able to rise up the ranks and grow strong enough to challenge the previous Principality of the Farl-Zun Forest whom she challenged to battle.

When she won, she assumed the role of a Principality herself. Because it was the strongest who ruled, and the weakest who obeyed. Kali’natha had wanted to rise up the ranks even further and become a High Ruler. Unfortunately for her, she was met with the then High Ruler As’triel.

Kali’natha was defeated with ease, and she would have perished that day. But As’triel had other plans, sparing the life of the Principality on one condition. Kali’natha was to serve as one of As’triel’s personal bodyguards— the Vanguard of Y’gdrazil.

Soon after, As’triel went on to conquer all of the Elven Rainforests, becoming the first Matriarch of Elvenkind in a millennia. As their now Dominion, As’triel tasked Principality Kali’natha and a few other members of the Vanguard of Y’gdrazil with the important goal of eliminating Humankind’s greatest assets, even before the war began.

And Kali’natha served her Dominion faithfully, hunting down the stray Elites of Humankind who wandered too far away from their lands. But that was not enough. Not for Kali’natha. She wanted to prove herself to As’triel— so that she could be promoted to a High Ruler.

That was when she heard of the perfect target. His name was Daniel Song, and he was the [Hero] of the Human Lands. He wielded a Mythical Grade Weapon, going from battlefield to battlefield to turn the tides against the Elves.

It sounded like Kali’natha had a difficult task ahead of her. But she was a Level 176 [Mystic Huntress], and she wasn’t alone.

A voice said, drawing Kali’natha’s attention. She turned around with a frown to face an elderly Elven man stroking his wispy white bead. He sat atop his staff as she looked up at him. As they were Elves, they weren’t the tallest creatures around. In fact, they were rather short.

But Kali’natha especially was tiny, even as an Elf. So the way he purposefully perched up above her to tower over her annoyed her. She scowled as she lowered her bow, a golden aura vanishing from her body.

“I did not miss, Vla’di. I am certain I hit my mark. Everything in a radius of over a mile should be reduced to ash.”

“And yet, I do not see a corpse amongst the rubble. So that means they have escaped.”

Vla’di spoke simply as his eyes shone with a blue light. She narrowed her eyes, and another voice piped up. The two Elves faced a third figure— the youngest of them all, clearly evident by his clean-shaven face.

He was rather rotund and stout, hefting a giant hammer behind his back.

“If you’re so certain that you killed the [Hero], you should be able to confirm it yourself, no? You should have gotten experience for that, right?”

“Crim is right.”

Vla’di said as he nodded sagely. But the young Elf just frowned in response.

“My name is Crim’zu’son’ra.”

“And I’m not saying all that. Your name is Crim, to me.”

Vla’di snorted in response. And Crim opened his mouth. However, before he could speak, Kali’natha interrupted him.

“Silence, Crim. I am trying to focus.”

“But my name’s not Crim—”

He protested, and the Principality of Farl-Zun ignored him. She narrowed her eyes as her gaze bore into the pillar of smoke just ahead of the three Elves. She remained silent, and she waited to hear the words resound in her head, confirming the [Hero]’s death.

But it never came.

Vla’di snickered when he knew she realized what had happened— when her eyes widened in shock, knowing she failed.

“I told you.”

“That was… that was my Grand Skill! How could they possibly have escaped?!”

Kali’natha exclaimed in anger. Vla’di just rolled his eyes, before looking towards the distant horizon as his eyes glimmered with a faint blue.

“I think I have an idea about what happened…”

***

Kacey didn’t want to do it. But she had been left with no other choice. Everyone else at the Fort City of Taritos had been slaughtered. It was a terrible sight. This hadn’t been just an attack on soldiers.

There had been civilians living there. Over ten thousand of them. And there had been thousands of guards protecting the walls too. But they had all been massacred by the Elves.

Kacey did her best to stop it. She tried to save anyone she could. However, she was too weak. Even with the combined efforts of her and the other [Crusaders] that were with her, they could not save even a single soul. And she was forced to watch helplessly as everyone else was slaughtered.

For whatever reason, she was spared. The Elven assailants seemed to know that she was connected with Daniel, so they forced her to lead them to her. Kacey hadn’t wanted to do it. But they tortured her and then threatened the people of the surrounding cities until she obeyed.

When she got to the [Hero], all she could do was apologize for what she had done. She thought they would be instantly killed— wiped out by those three Elves before he could even process her words. But somehow, she was still alive.

Kacey saw the flash of light. She closed her eyes and braced herself, waiting for a world of overwhelming pain. And it never came.

She just stood there with her hands raised and her eyes shut. She heard a thudding sound, and a gasping voice. But she only looked up when a violent shockwave shook the ground beneath her, followed by a powerful gust of wind that nearly knocked her off her feet.

Kacey reeled back as she opened her eyes. She saw a brilliant flash of light in the far distance, but it was already fading away, leaving behind a trail of smoke leading to the sky. Her eyes went wide when she recognized the atack, even though it was so far off.

“W-what… what happened?”

She asked in a trembling voice as she stared at the blast in the far distance. It had to be over dozens of miles away, and the [Crusader] did not know how they managed to get that far away from the explosion.

Kacey heard the soft trudging of footsteps behind her, and she quickly turned around. She watched as a woman stood there, overlooking a figure squirming on the ground.

“Daniel?”

The [Crusader] blinked, recognizing the [Hero] as he lay there, curled up into a ball. She narrowed her eyes as the woman produced a vial from her bag.

Kacey took a step forward, calling out to the young man from Earth.

“Daniel, what happened—”

And she paused. She inhaled sharply, her breath catching in her throat as she took a step back. She stared down at Daniel as he clutched onto the stubby elbow of his right arm, biting back a pained scream.

Everything from his right forearm up to his hand was gone, burned away by the explosion. The Sword of Alexander laid at his side, and Kacey covered her mouth.

“Daniel…?”

“Relax.”

The woman said, cutting off the [Crusader]. She uncorked the vial and tilted it to the side, pouring a glowing liquid onto Daniel’s arm.

His breathing slowed, and his eyes darted up to face the woman as he relaxed.

“This is a Potion of Regeneration. You’ll be fully recovered in a moment.”

And sure enough, the [Hero]’s missing limb began to regrow. He exhaled in pain as he raised his right hand, its flesh red and tender, completely regenerated. Slowly, he got to his feet as he stared up at the woman.

“Ivonne… what happened?”

Daniel asked as he tried to steel himself.

Ivonne? Kacey thought, her brows snapping together? As in the Ivonne Vigil? The famous [Trader]? But the [Crusader] couldn't confirm it as the woman named Ivonne shook her head as she looked down at a ring on her finger.

“This is a one-time use per day Instant Teleportation Ring. I used it to get us out of there. But you were standing too close to the blast, so you lost your arm. I was barely able to save your life.”

“I see.”

Daniel nodded to himself, before shaking his head.

“Thank you. For saving me.”

“My main concern was saving myself and the Sword of Alexander. You just so happened to wield it.”

Ivonne answered matter-of-factly. And Daniel rolled his eyes. But he paused when Kacey caught his gaze. The expression on his face immediately changed. He walked past the [Trader] and glared at the injured [Crusader].

“You.”

Kacey flinched as he spoke. He clenched a fist, his piercing gaze boring into her.

“You led them to us.”

“I didn’t want to—”

She tried to defend herself. But Daniel pointed accusingly at her and cut her off.

“You should be ashamed of yourself. And you call yourself my bodyguard? You could have gotten the people of Soros killed!”

Kacey backed up as she lowered her head.

“I-I was trying to save them! Those Elves said they’d kill everyone if I didn’t—”

“You were just trying to save your own life.”

Daniel snarled, before shaking his head.

“I am disappointed in you, Kacey. I always knew you were only pretending to guard me— I know you were sent by the Council of Cremont to spy on me. But this? This is outright shameful. And you call yourself a [Crusader].”

“That’s not…”

Kacey opened her mouth, before trailing off. She watched as the [Hero] turned around and picked up the Sword of Alexander. She bit her lower lip, unable to find any words to say. Because she knew he was right.

He looked like he was about to mach off, but Ivonne spoke up.

“Daniel Song.”

The [Hero] blinked, turning to face her. She held his gaze, speaking in a calm voice.

“While I understand you are upset, we are not free from danger just yet.”

“What are you talking about?”

Daniel frowned, and Ivonne glanced towards the explosion in the distance.

“Those Elves have marked you. They are scrying you now. They know where you are. We need to leave. Now.”

He paused as he stared back at the [Trader] for a long moment. And then he raised the Sword of Alexander as he started forward.

“Good. Then let them come. I shall deal with them when they get here.”

“No.”

Ivonne said simply, making him come to a halt. Her gaze bore into his back as he gritted his teeth.

“You cannot take them on. They will kill you, then they will claim the Sword of Alexander. Do you wish for that to happen?”

“I…”

Daniel clenched his jaw, before turning to face Ivonne. She just nodded at him and proffered a hand. Kacey glanced between the two of them, watching as the [Hero] deliberated on what to do.

Finally, he acquiesced as his shoulders sagged.

“Fine. But what do we do? How do we survive?”

Ivonne smiled as he took her hand, and she drew back. Kacey could only watch, standing silently in shame as the two spoke and headed off.

“It is simple. We continue to our destination. That is all.”

“Our destination? You mean to repair the Primordial Longsword? But why?”

“You’ll see…”

Author's Notes:

The Salvos kickstarter is 93% of its way towards its first stretch goal! Check it out and back it so that we can hit the first bonus rewards of five cool illustrations of the /projects/1943799137/salvos-book-1-an-epic-litrpg-fantasy-novel