Chapter Eighteen: Safe Arrival at the Elven Forest and the Next Realm

Chapter 18: Safe Arrival in the Elven Forest and the Next World

Thank you all for your support—just a little effort from you, inviting your friends, gives me even more motivation to keep updating. If you have a recommendation ticket, please cast one; if not, adding this to your collection helps too. Both are sources of inspiration, and inspiration leads to outbursts of creativity.

Now, the main story:

“How many clones can you make?” Selas, just over 1.3 meters tall and needing to float in order to meet Shuster’s gaze, drifted up and asked.

“Five hundred. I can maintain them for a month. But their combat strength is only...” Shuster replied with a faint smile, revealing an astonishing number.

“What? That many? It looks like one of your clones can escort four people, that should be sufficient. Then, it’s decided—once we get through this, we’ll set out.” Selas was clearly surprised by Shuster’s ability to create so many clones, but after a brief moment, she made her decision.

“Now then... Shadow Clone Technique!” Shuster soared into the sky, forming a cross sign with his hands. Pouring in a vast amount of magic, in the next instant, five hundred shadow clones appeared in the air around them.

“Everyone, eliminate these monsters!” Shuster drew his Blood Dance Crescent Moon blade and shouted.

“Understood!” chorused the five hundred clones as they rushed down together.

A one-sided massacre began. Don’t underestimate the clones because they only possess sixty percent of the original’s power—have you ever seen six Level 1 ability users defeat a Level 5? If you want details, consult the Magic Directory. The slaughter was overwhelming; for these shadow clones, dealing with undead creatures and lesser demons was effortless.

Ten minutes later, all invading demon undead were wiped out, and every clone returned unscathed, floating behind Shuster.

“Ding! Objective complete. Reward: Soul Crystal*.”

“Ahem, everyone, listen up. We are facing relentless attacks from demon undead here, so I’ve decided to relocate all of you to the northern Elven Forest. If you wish to come, follow me—if not, you may stay behind,” Selas announced, floating before the crowd of clones and Shuster, amplifying her voice with magic.

“My life has been saved by Lady Selas; I swear to follow her to the end!” a female voice called out. Shuster looked closely and recognized her as Balalaika, head of the Magic Department.

“We will follow Lady Selas to the end as well!” The rest of the survivors, encouraged by Balalaika, joined in the declaration.

“Very good! Everyone, rest up, eat and drink your fill, then we set out. Form groups of four and follow a clone squad as you leave,” Selas declared in what she thought was a commanding tone. Little did she know, her strength merely made her a pillar for everyone to rely on—her usual role was just to act cute!

Half an hour later, everyone was ready.

“These are your rations. Each group gets a week’s supply. You have two minutes—then we depart!” Shuster instructed his clones to distribute the supplies and prepared for departure.

Two minutes later, the group was on their way. Half an hour after setting out, no trace of the main force could be found.

Two days later, on a forest path above the Breezewind Plains, Shuster, Selas, and the others were making their way toward the Elven Forest.

“Shuster, how is it I never knew you were a Fallen Angel? As far as I recall, your bloodline always registered as human at school,” Selas asked. As the leading figure among the top ten eighth-rank powerhouses, she naturally had her share of fortuitous encounters, allowing her to discern the other’s race—though she’d rather not dwell on it.

“My bloodline only awakened recently. Before that, it hadn’t, so it showed as human,” Shuster replied, unsure himself, but managed to smooth things over.

“I see. But how did you come to know the elves?” Selas, sensing the other topic was pointless, shifted to a more important question.

“Well, you know Emilia, right?” Shuster replied.

“Of course. Princess of the Elven Kingdom, studying at our academy,” Selas said, dispatching a zombie crow with a wave of her hand.

“I once rescued her from the hands of demons and escorted her to the Elven Forest. That’s all there is to it,” Shuster explained, shooting down another attacking zombie crow.

“Oh! Hmm? That city wall—is that...?” Selas had noticed a majestic wall in the distance.

“That’s the elves’ defensive line. What do you think?” Shuster said proudly.

“It’s magnificent, but judging by the traces, this is clearly a new structure.” Selas, killing another zombie crow, observed that the magic arrays in the wall’s circuits were all brand new.

“All right, I’ll go say hello with Lolita—then we’ll head inside.” Shuster realized they were within range of the elven guards atop the wall and quickly called a halt.

“Fine, but hurry up. Leave Snowy with me,” Selas said. She’d grown fond of the little creature, Snowy, and had been clinging to it these past days, always chasing it until it squeaked in protest.

“Hm? Black wings... It’s Lord Shuster! Lord Shuster has returned!” A sharp-eyed sixth-rank male elf recognized Shuster even from five hundred meters away and shouted.

“Looks like they’ve recognized me. This will be easy. Everyone! I’ve brought some friends—let us in!” Shuster called out.

“Form ranks for the welcome!” the elf leader shouted, and all the elves lined up in two rows.

“All right, let’s go—hey, Snowy, what’s wrong?” Shuster had just returned to Selas when a streak of white light darted into his chest. Looking down, he saw Snowy’s little head peeking out, calling out plaintively at Selas.

“Ah, Principal Selas, don’t put bows or ribbons on Snowy. He hates them. Be good, Snowy—don’t mess up my clothes.” Shuster gently stroked Snowy’s head, calming him until he dozed off in the crook of his arm.

“Heh, what a little rascal. All right, let’s move on.” Shuster, seeing Snowy asleep, tucked him into the pouch on his chest and led the way to the elves.

“What’s this aura?” Selas, Sakuya, and Lolita all felt something odd—a reassuring halo seemed to emanate from Shuster, a presence perhaps best described as a motherly aura, yet surprisingly radiating from a man.

“I... I didn’t see anything!” said Lolita.

“What just happened? I saw nothing,” said Sakuya.

“Huh? What are you two talking about?” asked Selas.

Fine, none of the three wanted to admit that Shuster could possess such an aura, so they just convinced themselves to forget about it.

The group passed through the elven defensive line and entered the palace.

“Shuster, you’ve returned?” Emilia and the Elven Queen emerged from the palace to greet them.

“Yes, unfortunately, I only managed to save fewer than three thousand people. I hope they can help your defense hold a few more days. Frankly, I’m not too optimistic about them,” Shuster stated bluntly.

“You did all you could! Monica, take them to rest. Shuster, let’s talk. Where are the three thousand?” The Elven Queen only now realized she hadn’t seen the rescued group.

“I split them into squads. The fastest should arrive in about an hour,” Shuster sensed the distance to his clones and replied.

“How long until they all arrive?” Emilia asked.

“They’ll all be here within a day. I’m a bit tired—let me rest. Your Majesty, have the elves stay on alert today. Monica, take me to Lolita’s room,” Shuster said. Though his body wasn’t tired from the journey, his mind was exhausted. He decided to sleep.

Following Monica into his assigned room, Shuster found Lolita and Sakuya deep in discussion.

“What are you two talking about?” Shuster asked, curious.

“We’re discussing which world you should enter next, but Brother, where do you want to go?” Lolita asked as Shuster entered.

“Hmm... Let me check the list. System, open the space-time traversal list.” After a moment’s thought, Shuster decided to look at his options.

Current list:

Touhou Project: Unlock method unknown. Note: This is a special dimension—purpose unclear.

Bleach: Requires 100,000 Soul Crystals to enter.

Fate/Stay Night: Requires 50,000 Soul Crystals to enter.

List available for exchange:

A Certain Magical Index: One B-rank plot.

One Piece: One A-rank plot.

Infinity Terror: One C-rank plot.

Infinite Stratos: One B-rank plot.

Highschool of the Dead: One B-rank plot.

...

Seeing this, Shuster fell silent. The cost to unlock these was high, and the Touhou Project couldn’t even be exchanged.

“Forget it, I’ll rest for the night and decide tomorrow,” Shuster finally said, leaving the decision for later and going to bed.

“Well, I’m off to sleep too. I can guess where he’ll go, and I’ll go with him. Sakuya, you stay here and help the elves protect the forest,” said Lolita. She stretched adorably, covered her mouth with one hand as she yawned, transformed her clothes into a pink and white nightgown with magic, and, after speaking to Sakuya, entered her own room.

“I can guess too. Going to revive her, huh? Only she can melt the ice around the young master’s heart,” Sakuya murmured quietly to herself at the table, uttering words only Lolita would understand.

PS: There was foreshadowing earlier—next chapter jumps straight into the infinite space. If you missed the hints, it doesn’t matter too much.