83: Each with their own battles

The ground was shaking similarly to an earthquake. When the light finally settled down… I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Did the shock leave you speechless? This is our guardian! Cower before it's might!"

*ROAAAR!*

I am shocked. Their guardian was… a turtle. A giant turtle. I'm shocked because I wasn't expecting something so lame. It was big, I'll give them that. Roughly the size of 5 story building. It was around the same size of their royal tree. But compared to dragon mom… he's still small. His head looked similar to one of those alligator snapping turtles. As for his shell… it was completely covered in crystals. My guess… orichalcum. Sorry guys, but after all the things I faced, I just can't take a turtle serious. Let's see if it's even worth my attention. I extended my hand. 5 light spears formed behind me.

"[Impact Javelin]!"

I fired the 5 spears at a frightening speed and all of them hit the turtle. Huge explosions were formed, but to my surprise, there wasn't a single scratch on it.

"Hahaha! It's pointless! Our guardian is indestructible. Nothing can penetrate it's shell!"

As the trash prince was bragging, his father waved his staff. So it wasn't just a simple staff for supporting himself. It was a magic staff. As he waved his staff, huge vines emerged from the ground and were headed straight for me. For real? Didn't he see me burn his soldiers before? And now he's attacking with plants? As I took a deep breath I prepared myself to throw a big fire breath and vaporize them, however… Aria stepped in front of me. She extended both her hands out and surrounded herself with a magical aura. When all those huge veins got close, they made a 90 degree left turn and soon fell lifeless on the ground.

"You are… Aria Rivercrest! I never thought you were still alive."

"Dark Elves are persistent. We don't play dead that easily."

Aria turned her head towards me with her usual soft smile.

"Lady Milla, could you please let me handle these 2?"

"Aria… are you sure?"

"Of course. It's the perfect way to demonstrate that my mana is superior. If they fall by my hand, there will be no doubt that I deserve to rule. And besides, you aren't the only one with a grudge against them. I want to pay them back for all the suffering they put us through all these years. Please. I ask that you handle the guardian. Lead it away from here and I will take these 2 on."

"Aria… I understand your feelings, but… that's a turtle. You say you want me to lead it away but… doesn't that thing move incredibly slow?"

"Turtle? I have never heard that word before."

What, you guys don't have turtles in this world? I started scratching my head.

"As for it's speed, it's quite agile for it's size."

"Fine then. I will leave you to dish out punishment for these fools. Be careful though."

"Thank you."

And with that I leaped into the sky and fired some more spells to get the guardian's attention. Aria wasn't lying. I thought I would leave it in the dust, but it moved it's feet rather fast and started to chase me. Well then, let's see how much that shell can take!

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"So, you really think that an impure creature like yourself deserves the throne?"

"Isn't mana quality the most important thing our Goddess taught us since ancient time? Anything else doesn't matter."

"Bwah! By that foolish judgement even that little brat would be suited for the throne."

"How very true. I don't see any problem with it though."

"And such foolishness is exactly why you and your fellow Dark Elves deserve to die."

The old man waved his staff again and more vines emerged, aiming for Aria.

"[Jet Cutter]!"

Aria spinned her body rapidly like an elegant balerina and numerous water blades were formed, slicing all the vines that were headed her way. But she didn't stop there. Once the vines were cut she extended her hands towards the sky. A magic circle formed above her head.

"[Aqua Nebula]!"

She unleashed a barrage of bubbles. But they weren't ordinary bubbles. They were explosive bubbles. The old king thrusted his staff in the ground and vines surrounded him in a similar manner as if forming a protective dome. The bubbles exploded loudly, but didn't manage to penetrate all the layers set up.

"Foolish woman. This is getting us nowhere. I will show you what true power means!"

The old elf took a stone that was attached to the staff and swallowed it. Not before long, his eyes shined green and he was surrounded by a sinister aura. The ground around him started to cover him, as if it was turning him into an earth statue. Cracks appeared on it and a thick tree trunk emerged from it along with the old geezer. Although he still had his white hair and beard, his body completely transformed and became bulky similar to a professional body builder. And his lower half was merged with tree trunk that just emerged.

"This is the true power of a King. I am now connected with every lifeform in this forest. What hopes could you possibly have before my power?"

But Aria simply smiled and brought her right arm to her left middle left finger where she had a very unique sapphire blue ring.

~A few hours earlier to the event~

"Hey Aria, do you have an element you specialize in?"

"Yes. That would be water. However my strongest magic requires me to be close to a water source. Given the proper amount of 'fuel' I could even produce a small tsunami. But inside this forest I am afraid that my powers will be a bit restricted."

"In that case, I'm giving you this."

Milla pulled a unique ring from her showed and tossed it over to Aria. It was from a set of magical enchanted jewelry series that she and Lorina made, but she herself never used.

"That jewel is connected to another jewel lying on the bottom of the ocean. It will constantly give you access to water, even in the desert. Consider it a measure of precaution."

"Oh my. Not that I'm ungrateful, but why would you give something like this to me?"

"Because I want to make sure nothing happens to that body of yours. I don't want a single scratch on it before I taste it."

"My, oh my! You are a very honest person. I don't dislike expressing your feelings like that, fufu!"

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Lady Milla, I thank you. I will use this gift that you gave me to achieve my revenge. For our future, I will drown every snobby High Elf in this forest if needed. This is my retaliation!