Raising the Elf’s Genius Slayer

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Chapter

Enok and his companions entered the underground through the hole Tsukiyo made in the floor.

To their surprise, the underground passage was quite bright. Perhaps it was the vibrations from breaking the floor that relayed the distant commotion, but the cozy atmosphere elicited a chuckle from Zikfrein.

“They decorated this place quite well.”

“Well, if you’re going to live here, you might as well make it nice.”

Enok replied as he advanced forward.

This strange sense of familiarity. I can’t remember ever entering an underground passage before—why is that?

Perhaps it wasn’t the underground passage itself that felt familiar.

With a tingling sensation at the back of his head, Enok clicked his tongue.

“Is something bothering you?”

“No, let’s go.”

After what felt like a smooth walk through the well-crafted passage, hurried footsteps began to echo nearby.

“Zik, you don’t want to handle this yourself, do you?”

“I’ve already received all your help just to get here, so what would I do now?”

Responding with a vague nod, Enok quickened his pace. He wanted to resolve this frustrating feeling of half-remembering as soon as possible.

“That way!”

“What kind of lunatics are they?”

Men brandishing weapons came charging in. Enok flicked his wrist, redirecting their momentum.

Crack-!

A flash of purple lightning split the air, silencing the corridor in an instant.

The remaining man, having watched his comrades fall, blinked blankly before locking eyes with Enok.

“Uh, uh….”

“Who the heck are you?”

“Ex… excuse me?”

After a moment of confusion, the man straightened his shoulders, as if emboldened by some thought.

“What? You entered without knowing where you are? You’ve really lost your marbles!”

Tsukiyo and Eri looked pityingly at the man’s pathetic state of intelligence. After all, if he didn’t know where he was, there was no way the situation could change.

“Let me be clear! This is a branch of Haken Welt! This is not a place for riff-raff like you to cause a ruckus!”

“Oh. Haken Welt? Heard of it.”

So that’s why there was a sense of familiarity. Perhaps he instinctively sensed a similarity with others he had encountered before.

Having solved his curiosity, Enok cheerfully slammed the man’s head into the ground.

Bang-!

The man, now trapped upside down, trembled as his feet quivered. Enok slapped the feet a few times before sinking into thought.

“Rionne did say she nearly smashed this place, right?”

It seemed like there were still some leftovers from the organization that weren’t around when they last attacked. The leader might even be here.

Hearing Enok’s musings, Tsukiyo clapped her hands excitedly.

“Oh! I’ve heard of Tugi. Supposed to be quite powerful.”

“That’s what they say.”

And with Haken Welt’s base firmly established in the kingdom’s capital, it was clear why the king couldn’t do anything about it.

“Wait. Does that mean Tugi is stronger than the king?”

Considering how much stronger the Marquis was than he expected, it meant the Duke was above the Marquis, the king above the Duke, and Tugi above the king…

“Oh.”

Excitement began to bubble up. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to ascend to demigod status before Rionne awakens.

“Let’s hurry.”

Enok picked up his pace with eagerness.

*

Tugi? There was none to be found.

“What the hell is this?”

There were hundreds of hostiles, yet none had any real strength.

At this rate, it didn’t even count as a warm-up.

From what he sensed, the strongest aura was in the room right in front of him. Yet it was just a Master level, at best.

“Ugh.”

Sighing, Enok opened the door.

“…Looks like you’re one of the clever ones. I never thought you’d crawl this far.”

The bald, one-eyed man lounging in his chair rose as Enok entered. The aura swirling around him suggested strength, but everyone apart from Enok had already retreated to spectator mode.

“Oh, this one might be interesting.”

“Uh… Tsukiyo, isn’t this a bit dangerous? He seems to be quite the high-level Master.”

“And your point is?”

“No matter how you look at it, Enok hasn’t been a Master for long, so if he messes up, he could get hurt, right?”

“Huh?”

While Tsukiyo tilted her head in confusion, the fight commenced.

The man snatched the axe leaning against the table and charged forward, swinging it dramatically.

Whoosh-!

The force of his swing tore through the air with a powerful gust. Enok furrowed his brow, pushing his wildly flying hair back.

“Looks like it’s time to make a cut.”

“This punk!”

The man enveloped himself in Ki and lunged at Enok. Zikfrein, nervously watching, heard a peculiar remark in his ear.

“When did my dad become a Grandmaster? Oh wait, thinking about it, it hasn’t been that long, has it?”

“…What rank is he talking about?”

Kaboom-!

With a massive sound, Zikfrein’s gaze returned to Enok.

In front of him stood a human tree, a familiar sight from their earlier journey.

“…Wow, a Grandmaster.”

Zikfrein’s clapping expression bore a hint of relief.

*

After smashing one of Haken Welt’s branches, Enok quickly expanded his Ki Eye to identify the perpetrator behind the ghost incident.

Though the sequence might be a bit off, he didn’t mind it too much.

“I-I’m sorry! But since it’s a ghost, isn’t it better if I can help someone who’s already dead…?”

Looking defeated, the low-ranking member of Haken Welt stood before Zikfrein and gestured toward the knights he had previously summoned.

“Take him away.”

“Yes!”

With this, one case was closed. However, that was not the end of the incidents.

While there were no murder-related cases like this one, crimes like theft or assault were relatively more frequent.

Although he couldn’t quite grasp why that ran parallel with ghosts, Zikfrein couldn’t overlook such matters.

Still, there was something else Zikfrein yearned for even more.

“Haa… I wish I could see souls too. Even if it’s just to have a conversation.”

“Well…”

Talking to a soul was something even Enok couldn’t do. Without the Ki Eye, seeing a soul was impossible.

Even Tsukiyo, who had lived for nearly eight hundred years, hadn’t laid her eyes on an Idalian soul.

In the end, for Zikfrein to realize his wish, different conditions would be necessary.

An Idalian soul might have to gather enough strength to reveal itself, or Zikfrein needed to gain some enlightenment and awaken.

“No, perhaps…”

It was still too early to reach a conclusion. Offering a hasty assumption didn’t seem wise.

While Enok remained silently contemplative, Tsukiyo suddenly narrowed her eyes in thought.

“By the way, regarding ghosts… if we go by the norm, when the body dies, the soul should head to the Nether Realm instead of lingering in the Middle Realm.”

“So?”

Enok showed curiosity, provoking an eager Tsukiyo to pull a packet of Churu from her pocket.

As Enok unwrapped the Churu, Tsukiyo continued to speak.

“Nonetheless, if a soul remains in the Middle Realm, it signifies that it possesses enough strength to resist the pull toward the Nether Realm.”

Typically, such strength derived from intense emotions like grievances or attachments. The raw emotions of a soul could manifest into a kind of will, enabling it to exert power.

“If that’s the case, does that mean our mother…?”

“It’s not definite, but… the chances of something being wrong are high. To stay in the Middle Realm against the natural order probably leads to unresolved issues.”

Tsukiyo nodded with a somber face, licking the Churu in Enok’s hand.

“It seems we should attempt to converse once more.”

Zikfrein agreed with a nod at Enok’s remark.

*

Enok waited for nightfall.

Honestly, did night and day even matter to a soul? Still, thinking about how ghosts typically appeared at night, he figured it would be better this way.

“Is it really okay for me to be here?”

“Maybe? Actually, having a son might be more beneficial.”

Zikfrein also spent time in Enok’s room while awaiting nightfall.

Excluding Tsukiyo, who clung to the bed out of fear of ghosts, three were prepared to venture out this time: Enok, Zikfrein, and Eri.

Though Tsukiyo was also in the room, she wasn’t particularly alone.

Anyway, waiting idly in the room was incredibly tedious, so to pass time, Enok asked Zikfrein about the Idalian.

“My mother? She passed away when I was little—around six, I think? That’s why I don’t have a clear memory of her. I was quite frail back then and spent most of my time sleeping.”

After a moment of reflection, Zikfrein continued.

“But I definitely remember those times. My dad was known for being quite the family man, and when mom passed unexpectedly, it was definitely not a usual situation.”

“Unexpectedly, huh?”

“Well… she was already weak, but the doctor had said it wasn’t critical to her life.”

That’s when the Marquis’ world turned upside down. The distraught Marquis detained and interrogated all who approached the Idalian—nobles, servants, doctors, and priests alike.

“While it wasn’t torture, it was difficult for anyone to lie when being pressed by such a strong warrior.”

“Hmm… seems fair enough.”

Tsukiyo nodded as if she had recalled something.

Enok, who couldn’t particularly empathize, gestured for Zikfrein to continue with his story.

“After that, nothing much happened. There were no signs of foul play, no suspicious characters, and it just fizzled out.”

But things could be different now.

“If the reason our mother is unable to ascend to the Nether Realm is due to resentment….”

Zikfrein’s blue eyes darkened considerably.

“I doubt forgiveness will come easy.”

Vague memories of early childhood lingered. The figure of the woman who tenderly cared for the frail boy laid in bed.

As time passed, those once-clear memories now felt deeply blurred, yet the warmth from those times remained vividly in his heart.

“Still, if this incident gets resolved, both my dad and I might be able to take a step forward.”