The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 91

Chapter 12: Submersion – The Flowing Scoundrel

He brazenly intruded during the baptism.

Moreover, the intruder was human.

These two facts alone were enough to earn me unfriendly glares from the Elves.

“What an impudent fellow.”

“What brings him here?”

The enhanced warriors, faces reddened, grabbed their weapons as if competing to be the first.

“Hold on.”

Chief Elder Richard raised his hand, stopping the warriors from using force.

The Chief Elder looked at me and smiled faintly.

His expression was full of ease, indicating that he thought the current situation was quite favorable.

Well, I would have thought so too if I were him.

This was the Elves’ base, and there were three hundred enhanced warriors around him.

It was truly a den of devils.

Since I had jumped into such a place alone, I must have looked like a moth throwing itself into the flame to the Chief Elder.

“Human, what is your name?”

“Henon Lloyd, Baron.”

“!!!”

Chief Elder Richard’s eyes widened at my name.

He probably never imagined that the leader of the human race would show up here in person.

“Humans are always telling lies.”

“Oh, please. As if you’re any better. Elves are riddled with lies and deceit.”

“How dare you insult our race?”

“Isn’t that beside the point right now? Anyway, I am Baron Henon Lloyd. The human leader you need to capture.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I drew the Cheonma Sword and poured mana into it.

Dragon Blood + Green Mana + Blue Mana.

The three-colored mana swirled and gathered into the Cheonma Sword, soon manifesting into a beautiful emerald light sword.

The Mana Sword was more solid proof than anything else that I was who I claimed to be.

Only then did the Elves properly confirm that the strange intruder was indeed Henon Lloyd, whom they had placed at the top of their list of targets.

The Elves stared blankly at their leader, Chief Elder Richard.

They were waiting for his decision.

“Is he really Baron Henon Lloyd?”

“Yes.”

“What brings you here?”

“Does one need a reason to attack the enemy’s base?”

“You are just one person. Are you saying you can handle us alone?”

“Of course.”

The central plaza became as quiet as a mouse.

Only the sound of burning firewood broke the silence.

Chief Elder Richard, who had been looking down at me from the altar with deep eyes, grabbed his stomach and burst into wild laughter.

“Kuhahahaha! Kuhahaha!!!”

After laughing for a while, the Chief Elder suddenly stopped laughing and exuded murderous intent with a crazed expression as if nothing had happened.

“I thought you were someone because you had won a few victories against the great Elven army. But now I see that you are just a stupid piece of trash who can’t distinguish between courage and recklessness.”

“Well, wouldn’t the trash be you, who drives your own race to death and encourages war with humans, not me?”

I dug into Chief Elder Richard’s soft spot by exposing the secret he wanted to hide.

But no matter what I said, they would dismiss it as nonsense spewed out by a member of a different race in a fit of anger.

It was time for me to play a card that would shake the opponent.

I signaled Sasha with a wink.

Hiding in the bushes and waiting for this moment, she readily came out and stood before the Elves after a long time.

“Everyone!!!”

Her voice, projected with all her might, spread evenly to every corner of the central plaza.

Even if they didn’t know me, they couldn’t not know Sasha.

The Elves were startled and buzzed when they saw Sasha, her mysterious silver hair flowing.

“Isn’t that the Shaman?”

“Why is Sasha here?”

“The Chief Elder clearly kicked her out.”

“Is it because she’s young? She doesn’t know when to join and when to leave.”

The pro-Chief Elder Elves, including the baptized, did not welcome her appearance.

On the other hand, the ordinary Elves who had not been baptized gave her sympathetic looks.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. Why did Sasha have to be expelled?”

“That’s right. Sasha is a Shaman. She was the spiritual pillar of the race.”

“It’s a relief that she’s back now.”

The Elven tribe was divided into two factions just by Sasha’s appearance.

That’s why Chief Elder Richard was most wary of Sasha and made the ruthless decision to sell the naive girl to Liang’s slave market.

But what a pity.

I brought Sasha back in front of the Elven race and tried to awaken the ugly truth that the Chief Elder was trying to hide.

“Everyone! Don’t be fooled by the false name of baptism. It’s not a baptism at all. It’s the beginning to lead our Elven race to ruin.”

Each word Sasha spoke caused a great stir in the group.

If I were an Elf standing there, hearing that the Chief Elder, whom I had trusted so much, was actually a traitor to the race, I would have been shocked.

“Those who have been baptized may become stronger for a while, but in the end, they will be consumed by infinite animosity towards the human race and will only die fighting wars. You are being brainwashed without even knowing it!!”

Judging that it would be difficult to manage the situation if it went any further, Chief Elder Richard shouted back.

“You should have lived quietly after being kicked out. What brings you here to interfere! I can’t forgive you twice, even if I did once. Capture the human and Sasha immediately!”

The enhanced warriors drew their swords and rushed forward.

I wondered how many baptisms they had performed, but the number was three hundred.

As three hundred Mana Swords soared simultaneously, even I felt a chill down my spine.

What would have happened if all the Elves who had received the group baptism today had advanced towards the human territories?

I don’t know for sure, but more than 80% of the Lloyd Marquisate, including the territories of the affiliated families, would have been turned into ruins or wastelands.

The weakened family would have been attacked from all sides and fallen, and the Hilton County, which was conducting military operations nearby, would have automatically absorbed and merged with it.

A chilling future to imagine.

So, I had to break Chief Elder Richard’s plot head-on and stop the baptism at this very moment.

“I’ll show you exactly how reckless it was to come here without an army!”

I lightly dodged the attack of the Elf swordsman who rushed in with great momentum and slashed horizontally at his waist.

Red blood splattered in the air.

The Elf, whose body was cut in half, died on the spot.

Originally, I wanted to subdue him while keeping him alive, like the Elf pursuit team I had met before, and then have Sasha remove the black threads [a form of mind control or corruption].

However, even I was overwhelmed by that many numbers.

Since they were already baptized and doomed to die, I decided to give them a clean rest.

[Wood Control]

[Bind]

[Stone Control]

[Stone Shield]

[Stone Lance]

I mobilized all the Druid skills I could use alone.

Several people were entangled and fell over by the tree trunks that rose from the floor, and sharp stone awls flew towards those warriors.

Warriors screamed as they were skewered by Stone Lances or strangled to death by Bind.

“Kuhuk!!”

“What is this?”

“Suddenly, what’s with the trees and rocks…”

The enhanced warriors were unable to cope with the unfamiliar situation where the forest, which had protected them since birth, was attacking them in reverse.

But not everyone was like that.

Chief Elder Richard pointed at me with a more surprised expression than when he saw Sasha.

“Druid! So that’s what it was!”

As expected, the Chief Elder knew my identity.

Even though the first Druid Merlin appeared a thousand years ago, the Elves had long lifespans and were a closed-off race, so older Elves were likely to know about Druids.

“Kill him first!”

Chief Elder Richard’s priority changed from Sasha to me.

However, the enhanced warriors were not in a position to carry out the Chief Elder’s orders.

That was because the Elves here were meeting a Druid for the first time today, and they were quite embarrassed by my unexpectedly excellent martial arts.

Swish!! Swish!!

“Kkuaaaak!!”

Trees and stones poured down from a distance, and if they managed to break through and approach, they were slaughtered with elaborate Cheonma swordsmanship.

Since I was strong in both close combat and ranged combat, it was nothing short of torture for those who were facing me.

Still, numbers couldn’t be ignored, and sometimes enemies appeared, creating openings and aiming for blind spots.

[Wind Control]

[Activating Sunbo]

In such cases, I used the S-class escape skill to fly into the sky and perfectly fill the gaps.

At this point, the enemies were going crazy.

“You fools! Shoot arrows! No matter how much he jumps around, there’s no way to stop arrows flying from afar.”

Finally, the archers formed a formation and pulled their bowstrings all at once.

With a whooshing sound, a rain of arrows covering the night sky poured down towards me.

“That’s it!”

“What do you mean, that’s it?”

[Summon Wood Golem]

[Summon Stone Golem]

The giant stone golem and wood golem surrounded me on three sides like bodyguards, blocking the rain of arrows.

Their wide bodies and bodies made of hard materials were perfect for blocking ordinary arrows.

Rather, the golems pushed the Elf warriors with the backs of their hands, or I jumped into the warriors and swung the emerald sword energy back and forth.

“Is this the power that one human is exerting?”

“He doesn’t seem human.”

“He’s like the owner of the forest.”

The enemies, filled with fear and losing morale, began to regard me as something other than human.

It was a good situation for me and a critical situation for Chief Elder Richard.

So, Chief Elder Richard finally gave up on me and pointed to Sasha.

“Capture Sasha! Secure Sasha!”

The royal guards, who received the elder’s order, rushed towards Sasha all at once.

This was a bit difficult.

I could easily deflect the attacks focused on me, but protecting my comrades was a different level of difficulty.

Fortunately, Sasha also had a bodyguard.

Amelia, who was holding a kukri [a curved Nepalese knife] with a crescent-shaped blade, neatly cut off the neck of one of the approaching royal guards.

“Are you trying to harm the tribe’s shaman? Have you forgotten all about the pride of the race! You should be ashamed!”

“There’s no reason to talk to a traitor. Hand over Sasha quietly.”

The baptized royal guard warriors were all large, but Amelia, who had not even been baptized, cleverly managed her strength with skill alone and led the fight.

I cast buff skills on her and Sasha.

[Wind Control]

[Haste]

Her ankles were wrapped in the wind.

Amelia, who had been struggling with the numerical inferiority, was surprised when her body suddenly became lighter and her attack speed and movement speed increased.

She inadvertently turned her gaze and confirmed that I was the one who had given her the buff.

Perhaps because it was an awkward relationship to exchange words of gratitude, she only blinked once and refocused on the fight.

I was also busy fending off the warriors who were running towards Sasha.

How much time had passed?

It felt like an eternity.

The number of fallen enhanced warriors exceeded fifty.

I had almost single-handedly defeated fifty out of three hundred.

“He’s a monster.”

So much so that the enemy leader, Chief Elder Richard, called me a monster.

However, I was slowly reaching my limit.

[Passive Skill]

[Tenacious Life Force]

[Self-Purification]

I wasn’t the problem.

My stamina was recovering in real-time, and I had quite a bit of mana left.

The problem was Amelia.

Amelia had been exhausted for a long time, but she was panting and protecting Sasha with her mental strength.

At this rate, Sasha would be caught by the enhanced warriors.

Chief Elder Richard, who had been optimistic about victory, regained his composure.

“It was quite surprising, but this is the end. I’ll capture the shaman, and I’ll slowly cook you with time.”

I responded to the triumphant Chief Elder Richard with a smile.

The Chief Elder narrowed his eyes as if he was uncomfortable, seeing me smiling instead of frowning at the moment of desperation.

“What’s so funny? Are you enjoying being in a life-threatening situation? Soon, the shaman and traitor you brought will die, and you will be burned alive.”

“No, that won’t happen. I’ve already bought enough time.”

At this point, it was enough time for Zion to turn the wormhole generator.

My calculations were accurate.

The bushes beyond the hill shook greatly, and a loud shout was heard.

“Waaaaaaa!!!!”

A large force appeared.

At first glance, it was a number equivalent to thousands.

They were probably coming over through the wormhole.

Rakan and Aiden stood at the front and saluted me.

“You’ve worked hard, my lord!”

“Lord, please leave the rest to us from here.”

Zion, Campbell, and Coco soon appeared.

They had brighter expressions, perhaps because they had succeeded in their mission.

On the other hand, Chief Elder Richard, who faced the large army that had fallen from the sky, distorted his face like a demon, perhaps because he was dumbfounded.

“How dare you! Deceive me?”

“I didn’t exactly deceive you.”

“Wipe out all those humans!”

The royal guards, who received the order, advanced towards the human army.

However, the human army had just crossed over and was in top condition, and they were eager to fight.

The Blue Falcon Mercenary Corps and the Liang Defense Forces, who saw the approaching enemies, thought it was great and came down the hill, raising a cloud of dust.

The human race was on the top.

The Elven race was on the bottom.

A fierce collision occurred, and blood and flesh splattered.

At first, the Elven warriors who had received the baptism seemed to be pushing fiercely.

Even if they were half-baked, the enhanced warriors were experts, and the Mana Swords they emitted were threatening.

However, there were also experts on the Blue Falcon Mercenary Corps and Liang Defense Forces side.

Experts led by Rakan and Aiden took charge of the opposing experts, and Zion and Campbell also relentlessly spewed Mana Swords, mainly dealing with enhanced warriors.

I also took the lead in dealing with enhanced warriors, alternately using Druid skills and the Cheonma Sword.

Then, the remaining human army, which had found some breathing room, swept through the opposing Elven army like a tsunami.

“Waaaaaaa!!!”

The number of Elven troops in the base gradually decreased, while the number of human troops coming out of the wormhole gradually increased.

One thousand became two thousand, two thousand became three thousand, and soon six thousand troops swarmed the Elves’ sanctuary.

“Everyone! Children, the elderly, and women, please follow me! It’s dangerous here!”

Sasha, who had escaped from the threat of the enhanced warriors, actively led the Elven civilians who were caught up in the war.

The civilians, who had been terrified by the sudden chaos, found the shaman and followed her like they had found a shepherd.

Amelia swung her sword to knock down the occasional stray arrows.

Sasha’s performance was outstanding.

If it hadn’t been for her, a considerable number of Elves caught up in the fierce battle between the two races would have died.

It was Sasha’s wit that saved their lives.

In the battlefield where civilians had left, the human army pushed the baptized even harder.

The baptized, who were wielding unstable Mana Swords, eventually couldn’t hold on and collapsed one by one.

Before long, the sun peeked out over the sky.

The red dawn was driving out the darkness.

The desperate battle that had been going on all night in the deep heart of the Eastern Great Forest finally ended with a great victory for the human side.

“It’s terrible.”

That’s what Campbell said.

The baptized did not surrender until the three hundred had been reduced to thirty.

The remaining prisoners were captured alive with the Bind skill at the end of the battle, when there was room to spare, because they were desperately trying to fight.

Leaving survivors was important.

As it was, we were intruders who had trampled on the homes of other races.

We had to remove the black threads that had been eating away at the enhanced warriors through Sasha and prove that the Elven race had been deceived by Chief Elder Richard.

When I explained this to Sasha, she nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do as you say, mister. I’ll show our tribe exactly how bad Chief Elder Richard is.”

Looking at Sasha’s firm expression, I didn’t think I needed to worry.

Now all that was left was the enemy leader, Chief Elder Richard.

He realized that the tide had turned in the midst of the chaos and ran away.

“Zion, did you see where the Chief Elder ran away to?”

“I’ve identified the direction, but I don’t know the exact location.”

“I know.”

Sasha stepped forward.

“If I were the Chief Elder, I would have definitely gone there.”

“Where is that?”

“The place where the Spring of Life is. The Sanctuary.”

In fact, all of this started with the Golden Branch and the Spring of Life.

It seemed that Chief Elder Richard wanted to end where it had begun.

Rakan, who heard the story, had a bright expression.

“It’s better that the enemy is crouching still. Let’s push them as they are and finish them off.”

“No.”

Sasha shook her head.

Aiden, who was next to Rakan, asked.

“Why not? Elven girl.”

“Only those who have been permitted can enter the sanctuary.”

“Permission? What kind of permission are you talking about?”

Sasha paused for a moment at his question and said.

“Only those with the blood of a High Elf can enter the sanctuary. Chief Elder Richard knows this, so he ran away to the Spring of Life.”

“I don’t believe in such superstitions.”

“It’s not a superstition. You really can’t go in. I went there out of curiosity when I was young, but the power of the forest pushed me away. Only Sasha and the Chief Elder can really go there.”

Amelia, who was next to her, reinforced Sasha’s claim.

If she, a skilled warrior, said that, there must really be some kind of device in place.

“This is troublesome.”

“We’ve run into an unexpected difficulty.”

Rakan and Campbell groaned.

Looking at them, I stepped forward.

“Don’t worry.”

But I didn’t care.

Although it was only half, the blood of a High Elf was definitely flowing in my body.

I thought it was a good thing.

I decided to properly finish things with Chief Elder Richard in the sanctuary.

“I’ll go into the sanctuary alone.”