Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Allen's group looked into the small lake.

"Hm? Wait, that's my village…"

Luck was seeing the Dark Elf Village Fabraze, which was located in the eastern desert of the Gyariat Continent, to the south of Rosenheim.

On the sand a large wall 100 kilometers wide and tall encircled a village where a million dark elves lived, and in the very center stood a World Tree, which was incredibly tall, but only half as large as Rosenheim's.

"...So the problem affecting the Spirit Village is also related to the war between elves and dark elves?"

Tonies also looked down the lake, a sad expression on his face, and Allen asked that.

'Precisely so. Rosen and Elize stood at the center of that conflict after all.'

Tonies was about to say more, but the mosasaurus Spirit Beast woke up.

'Guru?'

'Oh! The Spirit King is awake!!'

The spirits' healing magic had worked, and the Spirit Beast woke up and stood up like a seal, looking at Allen and the spirits. Without aggression, it just flopped down into the lake.

Soon after there was no sign of it left, and the spirits and Tonies looked at it with saddened faces.

'Wait, there's an elf and a dark elf. Did you bring them, Lord Tonies?'

One of the spirits there was curious about Allen's group.

'Yes, they came here to help us solve the Spirit Paradise' problem. So don't attack them.'

'Okayyyy.'

The spirits seemed to trust Tonies, so they gave an energetic response.

Then Allen's group and the spirits sat around Tonies.

'Alright, where should I start… Rosen is a God now, but back when he was a Young Spirit he used to serve the Spirit King Elize.'

Elize had been a wood spirit that looked like a beautiful woman.

"Ohh?!"

This was the first time Sophie was hearing that story.

Elize was a wood spirit just like Rosen, and they lived in the Spirit Paradise. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

They were watching the conflict between elves and dark elves through the Spring of Life.

Rosen watched as the dark elves cornered the elves in Rosenheim, around the World Tree.

Rosen held a lot of affection for elves, so he made a request to Elize.

He wanted more power, so he could descend to Rosenheim and help the elves overturn their situation, since otherwise the dark elves would defeat them.

(So Rosen had already used the Gem of Foresight to know that.)

Elize had rejected his requests at first, since it could lead to the elves becoming overpowered and completely eradicating the dark elves, but in this situation she had no other option.

She obliged his request, giving Rosen her own power as he descended to the surface.

After that, Rosen passed on the power he obtained to an elven girl, and also formed a pact with her, which made her become a high elf in Extra Mode, with incredible strength.

"So that's how Rosen had the power to save elves, even though he was still a Young Spirit."

Allen had always wondered how a Young Spirit like Rosen was able to overturn the war.

Rosen never spoke about those times, so Allen just assumed spirits had mysterious powers.

"But that wasn't the end of that story, was it…"

Sophie had heard more about that story from her mother.

'Yes, and I'm sure you and the dark elves are painfully aware of the result that had.'

The elves did not forgive the dark elves, destroying all their settlements and killing everyone they saw until only a few thousand could flee to another continent.

Tonies' voice was filled with anger as he recounted that story, not mincing words.

He had watched all of that unfold through the Spring of Life.

The Spirit King Elize was terribly shocked by that, calling it excessive.

Elize did not only favor the elves, she held both elves and dark elves in equal regard.

There were other spirits in her service who also supported the dark elves, so one of them, Fabre, also descended with a portion of Elize's power.

"Then was it also Elize who opened that tunnel under the lake?"

'Yes, that was also done by Elize. She was always keeping an eye for where the dark elves had fled to.'

All the dark elves, young and old, had left Rosenheim in ships, so Elize kept searching for them on the Spirit Paradise, carving a tunnel into the Spring of Life in their direction.

Since she spent so much time doing that, her body slowly began to change into a beast.

But Elize did not mind that, continuing her search until she found the dark elves in the desert.

Using all her remaining consciousness and power, she produced one seed which she let fall onto the surface. That would later become the second World Tree on the human realm.

After that, Elize lost all consciousness, becoming a beast with no name or intelligence.

She no longer needed to think as a beast, but her appreciation for dark elves never ceased.

She continued carving away at the cave, opening it up and making a second Spring of Life to bless the dark elves.

"So that's why there's a World Tree in our village. I remember dad telling me the first days after moving were really harsh."

Luck had heard how around 1000 years ago the World Tree had sprouted in their village, and spirits began to gather there.

(I guess that's a story passed down amongst dark elves.)

Even behind their tall wall, living in the desert was harsh. But slowly they saw the center of their village miraculously change to lush greenery.

'Yes. There's always spirits who wish to go down to the surface, and there are many of them who also want to see the dark elves do well.'

There were many spirits who wanted to help the dark elves.

"And you were helping them too, Tonies?"

(He doesn't seem to prefer one over the other, and he agreed to form a pact with Sophie.)

Allen also wanted to know about Tonies. He seemed to know Elize well, and knew the details of everything that happened, so he had to be involved somehow.

The trip through the tunnel to get there had also happened strangely smoothly.

'...To put it somehow, I'm just as guilty as her. I never attempted to stop her, and then I also brought them here…'

He had also been involved, carrying spirits who wished to help dark elves into that cave.

'The Great Spirit God got angry at Tonies, and made him just a Great Spirit after that.'

One of the spirits lamented Tonies' fate.

'He said I'm not fit to be a Spirit King anymore…'

The Great Spirit God Easley did not forgive Tonies' actions either.

"So that's the whole problem of the Spirit Paradise. And so having to sustain two World Trees on the surface will make the Spring of Life dry up?"

The conflict between elves and dark elves had calmed down once dark elves moved out.

But now the Spirit Paradise had a problem, with the Spring of Life having to be shared on both locations.

'That seems to be what's happening. In just 1000 years the Spring of Life has shrunk to half its size.'

There was not enough Dew of Life to sustain two World Trees.

"And spirits can't live without the Dew of Life either, right?"

'Precisely. If we don't do anything, the Spring of Life will dry up in the near future, and spirits will struggle to live.'

(So the problem between elves and dark elves was much bigger than a simple war.)

The Spring of Life was being drained by having to sustain the two World Trees.

"What should we do, Allen?"

Sophie, Luck, and Formar were all silent, so Cecile was the one to ask Allen that.

"Well…first we should let the leaders of both sides know of the current situation."

This was not something Allen could solve on his own, he needed the queen and king to meet and discuss what to do.

(Merus, do you have a moment?)

Allen used Sharing to talk to Merus, who was in the S Rank Dungeon.

'What? I'm busy Creating Heaven's Blessings…'

He sounded rather annoyed, but he still listened.

(I'd like your help with something related to the divine realm. Could you go out for a bit?)

'The thing with the Great Spirit God? What do you want me to do?'

Merus had also gotten the gist of the situation with Sharing, and he listened to Allen's suggestion.

They had to find a way to keep the Spring of Life from disappearing from the Spirit Paradise.