CH 260

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The city of the dark elves—Niflheim—was being bombarded by an unknown armada of airships.

Wooong!

A large magic circle also appeared and hundreds of Adventurers suddenly stormed the city and turned it upside down.

“Hyung-nim! Are you thinking of going to rescue the main forces fighting over there?”

“Hey, Seung-Gu…”

“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“Do you still don’t know me?”

“W-What do you mean by that, hyung-nim…?”

“I’m talking about my style.”

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“W-What about your style, hyung-nim…?”

This was Siegfried’s style.

He was not fond of fighting his enemies head-on. He preferred to hit them where it would hurt the most while they least expected it. In other words, he loved to stab others in the back.

‘What’s the point of fighting head-on when they’ll retreat on their own accord once their home is burning to the ground? Why would I bother doing such bothersome rescue efforts when I’m already outnumbered two to one?’ Siegfried thought.

There were times when Siegfried would become quite smart, and this was one of those times. It was truly far more efficient for him to attack the enemy’s undefended base rather than fight a battle he was outnumbered. On top of that, his personality, although he would refuse to admit it, made it far more appealing to hit the enemy where it would hurt the most rather than fight them head-on.

And that was why he assembled the armada and the Head Crusher Guild earlier...

“Do you want to go level up? The dark elves give a lot of Experience Points.”

The Head Crusher Guild members instantly gathered at the Proatine Kingdom after hearing this news, and Great Wizard Decimato was forced to draw a magic circle to open a warp gate for them.

“Ugh… To think that I will have to warp this many people over there…”

The Great Wizard was utterly exhausted after transporting so many guild members.

“Kekeke! You still have a long way to go!”

“Elder-nim…”

“You’re bound to suffer even after reaching that level, as your knowledge of magic is still lacking.”

Daode Tianzun laughed after seeing Decimato sprawled on the floor.

“You’ve already reached that level, but you’re lacking when it comes to drawing efficient magic circles.”

“I am aware of my limitations, Elder-nim…”

Decimato had become a Great Wizard after attaining enlightenment, but his knowledge of magic wasn’t comparable to a true Great Wizard, as he didn’t receive a quality education while he was still young. In other words, he had the talent but not the knowledge to properly utilize his status as a Great Wizard.

T Daode Tianzun said, “Come learn about magic from me for now. I tried to teach you from the sidelines, but it seems insufficient. Why don’t you let me teach you properly this time?”

“A-Are you certain, Elder-nim?”

“Of course! I’m not against sharing my knowledge with others. It’s just that others don’t possess the knowledge to understand what I impart to them.”

“Thank you very much, elder-nim!”

It was impossible to count just how many people Decimato had taught before, so Daode Tianzun could be considered his nth disciple. Decimato considered himself extremely fortunate now that Daode Tianzun was going to teach him seriously from now on.

Anyway, Siegfried was successfully able to stab the dark elves in the back, thanks to the Great Wizard’s effort.

***

Shwaaaaak!

Credos gathered his mana, and blue flames burst out of him.

“You son of a bitch dares to…!” he cursed. He glared murderously at Siegfried.

“I will kill you… I will kill you…!”.

“My king! Please compose yourself!”

“My king! Time is not on our side!”

“W-We need to go now, sire!”

Dozens of high-ranking dark elves rushed over to Credos and tried to stop him.

“Let me go! Let go! I will kill that bastard before I go!” Credos screamed and flailed around.

“Ack!”

“H-Hold him down!”

“We have to stop him!”

The high-ranking dark elves tried their best to stop Credos.

They had no time. Niflheim was under attack, so every second counted. The fact that their princess—Menacia—fell in battle was truly infuriating, but it didn’t mean that they would abandon their city just to avenge her.

Credos knew that as well. He was immature and hot-headed, but he was intelligent enough as the King of the Dark Elves, so he understood which matter had to be prioritized.

However, the fact that his own daughter was murdered by the ugly elf, Brunhilde, and the Adventurer beside her made his blood boil. The rage he felt right now was truly something that he was feeling for the first time in his life.

“I will… Kill you… I will have my revenge and plunge you into despair! I will definitely—” Credos growled like a wounded beast.

Siegfried suddenly cut him off and sneered, “I’d hurry up if I were you. Do you really think that you’re the first one to tell me that?”

“You fucker!”

“I have a lot of enemies, so I already know what you’re going to say. It’s too boring, so just hurry up and go while I’m in a good mood. I can easily kill you here, you know?” Siegfried said with a smirk.

Actually, he felt that he was missing out right now. He could have let his subordinates burn Niflheim to the ground while he fought Credos together with Brunhilde and Lohengrin, which would have been the best-case scenario.

Unfortunately, that scenario was impossible in the current situation, as both Brunhilde and Lohengrin were gravely injured. They could gang up on Credos three-on-one, but it wouldn’t guarantee their victory.

Tying Credos down while his subordinates burned Niflheim to the ground wasn’t feasible as well, as they were going to lose too many troops trying to tie a Master. Besides, the priority right now was to tend to Brunhilde and Lohengrin’s injuries rather than deal more damage to the dark elves.

At the end of the day, both Credos and Siegfried couldn’t get what they wanted.

However, it was needless to say that Siegfried profited the most from this.

“I will escort you, Your Majesty,” Siegfried said and helped Lohengrin to his feet.

They turned their backs on Credos, which enraged the dark elf king even further.

Credos gnashed his teeth. He would have chopped that Adventurer into pieces if he weren’t a king.

“I will definitely destroy you one day…! I will use my entire kingdom and my life to destroy you!” Credos vowed to use whatever he had at his disposal to get his revenge on Siegfried.

‘Geez… That’s another reason for me to become even stronger. I don’t feel comfortable leaving someone like him alive.’

Siegfried had another reason for him to grow stronger as soon as possible.

***

The war between Elondel and Niflheim ended in a stalemate.

As always, both sides sustained massive losses.

The atmosphere in Elondel wasn’t that good after the main forces returned. A fifth of the city was destroyed while countless soldiers and knights fell in the war, and it was difficult for the elves to enjoy their victory.

However, the elves had another reason to smile, and it was their hero, Siegfried.

“Hurray for King Siegfried!”

“Hurrah!”

“The Proatine Kingdom is our brethren!”

“Our brethren!”

Siegfried cemented his status as the most beloved human in all of Elondel, and this was a tremendous feat when taking into consideration the fact that the elves absolutely loathed and abhorred humans.

This was the first time in four hundred and fifty years that the elves trusted a human. Ironically, the last human that the elves trusted four hundred fifty years ago was none other than Siegfried’s master, Deus.

“Thank you very much. Elondel would have fallen if it hadn’t been for you!” Lohengrin exclaimed with tears in his eyes while holding both of Siegfried’s hands.

Oddly enough, Lohengrin seemed to be speaking to him with deeper affection than he originally did, and the reason was…

“Who would’ve known I’ll get such a dependable son-in-law? Hahahaha!”

“S-Son in what…?”

“Yes, I’m confident that not a single elf will be against the union between you and my daughter.”

“I never said I was—”

“It’s a reservation!”

“R-Reservation?!”

“Yes, a reservation for when you decide to finally marry someone from this world.”

“Haha… Hahaha…”

Siegfried could only laugh in disbelief at how pushy the elf was, but what he said next made him stop laughing.

“I will send a formal letter to the Proatine Kingdom.”

“What…?”

“You are a king, and my daughter is a princess. Isn’t it only right for both countries to deal with the matter officially by sending official messages to one another?”

“Hiiik!”

Siegfried was mortified at the fact that the King of the Elves was planning to make his reservation official by putting it into writing. He knew Lohengrin was not joking, and the King of the Elves seemed hell-bent on marrying Brunhilde to him.

“What do you think, Brunhilde?” Lohengrin asked.

“D-Don’t ask me…!” Brunhilde retorted with her face flushed.

Siegfried saw steam coming out from both of her pointy ears, which he found quite cute.

“Ah! In addition, I plan to officially foster trade and establish a military alliance with your kingdom. What do you think?”

“T-That’s…!”

Siegfried could feel goosebumps all over his body, ‘It’s a trap! Don’t be fooled by it!’

He knew that Lohengrin was planning to give huge benefits to the Proatine Kingdom through trade and alliance before starting to suggest a political union between the two.

“Why don’t you consider it and let me know? Hahaha!”

“Ah, okay… hahaha…” Siegfried replied with a laugh, but he wasn’t laughing inside at all.

***

A few hours later, he was greeted by Michele after returning to the Proatine Kingdom.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”

“You really seemed to have pushed yourself this time. I truly respect you, Your Majesty.”

“Respect?” Siegfried grimaced before asking, “Is it because I helped Elondel…?”

“Well, there is that, but…” Michele said. He pointed at a document and continued. “I never imagined that Your Majesty would bring such a harvest.”

“Harvest…?”

“I am talking about the trade deal and military alliance with Elondel.”

“It’s already here?!” Siegfried was shocked.

It had only been a few hours since he departed Elondel, but the official letter had already arrived. Siegfried couldn’t quite believe it.

‘Did that old man prepare it a long time ago?!’ He suspected that all of this was within Lohengrin’s plans. Unfortunately for Siegfried, he ended up being correct.

“Hmm… My son-in-law is a king, so it’s only right for this matter to be between our countries, right? I should draft a series of agreements that will naturally lead to a political marriage. Haha!”

In fact, Lohengrin had already planned on doing this after hearing about him from his daughter. Of course, there was no way Siegfried would know that, but he was free to have his own suspicions.

“Great work, Your Majesty. Our kingdom’s economic and military power is definitely going to—”

“I will have to get married if you accept that… I hope you know…” Siegfried said.

“I know, Your Majesty.”

“But?”

“You can just go ahead and get married, no?”

“What?!”

“She has an excellent background to be the queen, so why are you hesitating?” Michele retorted, and then he shouted, “Your Majesty! Wake up!”

“W-Wake up? Me?”

Siegfried was taken aback when Michele suddenly raised his voice.

“You will not find a bride with potential like her even if you search every nook and cranny of the continent! She is an SSS-Grade bride! Look at her household! Her abilities! Her personality! She only has eyes for you! Her body! The elves call her hideous, but she is an extreme beauty for us humans!”

“That is that, but…”

“I will be blunt with you. She is way above your league! You are the king of a small and weak kingdom! Not only that, you stink with flies buzzing around you!”

“S-Stop it!” Siegfried shouted. He almost lost his sanity at Michele’s relentless attacks.

“I am losing hair because of our dwindling budget these days! Should you not accept such a wonderful offer since you’ve already brought it home?! You should do it for your kingdom’s sake!”

The many different projects that the Proatine Kingdom was simultaneously doing placed a great deal of stress on Michele, and he exploded after hearing Siegfried leisurely talking about not wanting to get married.

“Your Majesty… please—” Michele pleaded.

“Your Majesty! We have an emergency!” A messenger shouted after barging in.

“Emergency?! What is it? Let’s go!!” Siegfried shouted and rushed at his savior—no, the messenger.

“Hurry up and tell me!” Siegfried urged.

“A letter has arrived from the Marchioni Empire!”