The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 738: I’ll Have to Change the Plan (2)

The forest that met Ghislain’s eyes was utterly devastated.

The trees were scorched black and twisted, their leaves darkened and drooping limply. The moss covering the ground had turned into a black, sticky sludge, and patches of blood-red fungus writhed and spread across the soil. The air was thick with an acrid stench so strong it made breathing difficult, and the smell of rotting flesh stung his nose.

Hmm...

Ghislain slowly took in the sight before him.

The forest was unnaturally silent, as if even the wind had died. There was no trace of spirit presence—something that should’ve been naturally abundant in any forest. Even the tiniest of insects had vanished.

This wasn’t just pollution.

The area was soaked in overwhelming malice and resentment.

This is...

Ghislain had seen something like this before. The center of the Forest of Beasts had looked exactly like this.

But that had been caused by the deadly miasma released by the monstrous creature known as Morbus. An orc shaman shouldn’t have been capable of producing such results.

Dark mages, huh...

Indeed, if it was dark magic, this level of devastation was possible. But only if at least a 7th-circle transcendent had sacrificed countless lives.

Still... it couldn’t have been done by just one person.

The elven forest was vast. Even the part called the northern forest was about the size of a large territory. Even though they’d traveled carefully, chatting along the way, it had taken them over two days to reach this point.

As a mage himself, Ghislain knew—no matter how skilled a dark mage was, it wasn’t possible to corrupt such a wide area in such a short time. Not while the elves were watching with their eyes wide open.

A 9th-circle dark mage wouldn’t have come either.

If someone like that had shown up, the elves’ casualties would’ve been far worse than this.

Which made the current situation even stranger.

“How did this happen? Did the dark mages do all this while you just stood there watching?”

“Of course not! From what I heard, they’ve been trying to purify the area continuously. Most dark magic can be neutralized with spirit energy, after all.”

“Then?”

“I don’t really know. I wasn’t part of the battle myself. I just heard that the orc army moved in tandem with a whole bunch of dark mages. They corrupted the forest, and the corruption keeps spreading faster and faster.”

So it really had been multiple dark mages acting together. That made it possible.

Ghislain looked down at the ground. He could see the slow, creeping spread of the corruption. In just a few more days, it could engulf several villages.

Ereneth continued with a bitter expression.

“The orcs were defeated and driven back, but this time... we might have taken the heavier losses. The forest isn’t recovering properly.”

“...”

“The elders are holding meetings nonstop. I heard all the elves who can use spirit power are being summoned to purify this place.”

“Hmm. If that’s the case, shouldn’t the forest recover pretty quickly? It doesn’t seem like it’ll be a huge problem.”

Holy power wasn’t the only thing capable of purification. Spirits also possessed cleansing properties. Nature was governed by the order of renewal and cycles. It could remove rot and restore balance.

The contamination was severe, so it wouldn’t be easy—but if the elves gathered their power, it shouldn’t be impossible to purify it.

In response to Ghislain’s question, Ereneth let out a deep sigh.

“Purification will happen, sure. But that’s not what we’re worried about.”

“Then what is?”

“That those bastards will do it again. If this happens a few more times, the forest will be ruined for good.”

Even if dark magic could be purified, if these unnatural assaults continued, the forest’s vitality would inevitably wither.

Just like farmland needed time to recover its fertility after harvest, the forest needed time to regain its life force.

Ereneth looked at Ghislain and clenched her fist tightly.

“This isn’t normal dark magic. Even the elders said it felt strange. I’m sure the dark mages who allied with the orcs did something more.”

“I agree.”

“I’m not going to sit around and watch this happen.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“We’re going to fix it ourselves!”

“...Oh?”

Ereneth’s eyes sparkled with determination. She was clearly thinking something bold—she wanted to take the lead in resolving this matter alongside Ghislain.

This human’s pretty strong. He fought me on equal footing.

Strictly speaking, she had been slightly overpowered. But Ereneth believed that if they had fought to the end, the outcome was uncertain.

After all, her combat skills were widely acknowledged among the elves.

She never even considered that Ghislain might not have been using his full strength.

Ghislain scratched his cheek and asked:

“So... what exactly are we doing, just the two of us? Do you have a plan?”

He was curious about what she had in mind. Either way, he had intended to solve the forest’s problem himself. That way, he could use it as a reason to borrow the Sacred Stone.

But Ereneth’s unexpected enthusiasm had caught him slightly off guard.

With a confident smile, Ereneth answered:

“Of course I have a plan. Right now, our best elven warriors are out tracking down the dark mages’ identities. Soon, they’ll find the location of the Red Fang Tribe and the dark mages.”

“...What?”

“I mean we’ve already formed a reconnaissance team. If this happens again, the forest will be devastated.”

“So that means...”

“Yeah. Once the purification is done, we’re going to attack the Red Fang Tribe first this time. That’s why we sent out scouts.”

“...Huh.”

Elves typically avoided initiating war. If even they were preparing a preemptive strike, they must have been truly enraged.

Sure enough, Ereneth continued with a grim expression:

“For centuries, all we did was repel their attacks. That was enough to protect the forest. But now that they’ve allied with dark mages, we can’t just sit around and wait.”

It was a sound argument. In this kind of situation, even Ghislain wouldn’t stay idle. In fact, if it were him, he’d have already invaded and wiped them all out.

But that was only possible with power.

Elves had long lifespans, but their population was small. In contrast, orcs bred at an absurd rate.

That was why they could keep invading despite constant defeat.

Ghislain suggested a better approach.

“If you’re going to strike first anyway, how about getting help from humans? If priests join in, taking down the dark mages would be easy.”

“What? Bring in a human army? Are you crazy? That’d be the end of us!”

“...”

“Working with humans only happens during war against the Demonic Realm. If we do it at any other time, they’ll never leave us alone.”

“Hm.”

“You think humans would just help us and walk away? Never. They’ll definitely try to use us somehow. Even if I long for the outside world, I know at least that much.”

“...Yeah.”

Ghislain nodded without argument. Ereneth wasn’t wrong.

Humans never act without expecting something in return—especially humans in this era.

If the elves showed weakness, humans would see it as an opportunity, throwing out demands and exploiting them.

Ereneth returned to her usual prideful expression and declared,

“And anyway, we can wipe out a mere orc tribe on our own. If they hadn’t brought in dark mages, we wouldn’t have even bothered responding.”

“Alright, alright. I get the situation now. But what exactly do you mean by we’re going to take care of it?”

“The scouting party already left, right? Let’s move in secret too.”

“...What?”

“You and I together could easily take down a few dark mages. So let’s be the ones to find them first and kill them. That way, we’ll be the ones who earn the glory.”

“...”

“If we do that, the High Chief and the elders will finally see me differently. They’ll have to acknowledge I’m ready to leave the forest.”

“....”

As Ghislain gave her a stunned look, Ereneth, slightly flustered, snapped.

“Orcs are weak! I can kill hundreds of them by myself! And if things get dangerous, we can just retreat and regroup with the scouts! We’re strong even in the mountains!”

“Haa...”

Ghislain instinctively pressed a hand to his forehead. This reckless elf was putting all her faith in her own strength and trying to pull a very human stunt to gain merit.

And she was hoping to use that merit as a ticket to leave the forest.

She’s completely out of her mind.

Ghislain clicked his tongue.

To corrupt the forest at this scale, the dark mages had to be either absurdly powerful or present in significant numbers. And there was no way Ereneth could handle that with her current strength.

Still, she was clearly overestimating herself.

No one would ever approve such a sloppy plan. Even if it somehow succeeded, it would only leave the High Chief and elders more troubled. Because what Ereneth proposed was exactly the kind of reckless ambition humans were known for.

No one in their right mind would back a plan like that.

With a perfectly straight face, Ghislain said:

“What a brilliant plan. Truly flawless. I’m speechless. A genius strategist is standing right here.”

“Right?! I knew you’d get it! You’re pretty strong too, so we’re bound to succeed.”

The plan was garbage—but Ghislain liked it just fine.

If you wanted to solve a problem quickly, the best method was direct confrontation. Crush everything in your way. That was the faster path.

And if something went wrong, he could always blame Ereneth.

They both grinned and shook hands.

Neither of them even considered the possibility of failure.

Ghislain smiled as he looked at her.

So she was this brash when she was younger. She and I actually had similar tastes back then. This is way more fun.

The future Ereneth was always serious, always cautious. She controlled her emotions and never made rash decisions.

But now, in the past, she was a total wild child. Even seeing it with his own eyes, it felt surreal.

Still, some things hadn’t changed. That violent streak—definitely something she was born with.

In the future, whenever she made a move, it was without mercy. She’d killed multiple transcendent beings with her own hands.

— Stop... Why are they both going insane now... please...

— Honestly? The past version is better. Screw it—let’s go break everything and steal the Sacred Stone with her.

Astion and Dark’s lamentations, sadly, were not heard by Ereneth.

She grabbed Ghislain’s hand and tugged.

“Let’s move! If we stay here, we’ll be discovered. We need to get out of the forest!”

This area had been declared off-limits to all elves by order of the High Chief. Only a few select elves stood at a distance, keeping watch for anomalies.

That’s how Ereneth and Ghislain were able to get close without trouble—most elves obediently followed the High Chief’s orders.

Even so, Ereneth kept urging him to hurry. Ghislain gave a subtle nod.

Yeah... something’s definitely detecting me in this forest.

Otherwise, Ereneth wouldn’t be this impatient. It wouldn’t be long before the other elves showed up.

“Hold on.”

Despite her urging, Ghislain continued inspecting the area. There was something he needed to confirm.

He stepped further into the fully decayed zone of the forest and began surveying the surroundings.

As he silently looked around without saying a word, Ereneth grew irritated.

“What are you doing?! That land’s already dead!”

“...”

Ghislain ignored her. Instead, he knelt down on one knee and scooped up a handful of the blackened, corrupted soil.

His expression stiffened as he examined it.

“I said, what are you doing?”

Once again, Ghislain didn’t answer. He simply stared into the distance, face grim.

“Come on! We need to move!”

“Ereneth.”

“If we stay here, we’re in danger!”

“Ereneth.”

“...What?”

Ghislain was still staring into the far distance.

He slowly stood, letting the dirt fall from his hand.

Without turning his head, he spoke. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“...Looks like we’ll have to change the plan.”

“What? Why?”

Bzzzzzzzt—

Ghislain’s subspace storage opened with a low hum. A long staff began to emerge from it.

Ghislain spoke in a cold tone.

“We probably don’t need to go all the way to the mountains.”

“What do you mean?”

“The scouts... they’re probably all dead.”

He gripped the staff firmly in his hand.

Far in the northern sky—

A thick, oppressive darkness was approaching.