Gardenia’s Heart

Crossing the mountainous terrain of the Valley of Dawn was not easy, but with only two days of uninterrupted running, the pair managed to leave the forest behind.

During the journey, Elarielle tried her best to set aside her first impression of the human mage and approach him somehow. However, even giving it her all, she couldn’t find a way to get past that arrogant personality.

As undeniably one of the strongest humans on the battlefield, Malus had certainly developed an overwhelming pride. As if that weren’t enough, although she didn’t know much about beauty, she was certain that everything about the man would lead others to consider him handsome.

Besides belonging to a wealthy family, the man possessed extremely rare silver hair. Combined with his blue eyes, his lifestyle certainly didn’t make it easy for modesty to grow—even from the perspective of the elven princess.

While lost in these thoughts, they soon approached their destination.

The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder.

When her emerald eyes settled on the river, even after everything she had seen in her life, Elarielle couldn’t help but feel her jaw drop.

The water, colored golden by the setting sun, split violently as it reached the abyss, plunging into endless cataracts that roared like thunder tearing through the earth.

Although she couldn’t estimate it precisely with the naked eye, Elarielle guessed the waterfall was at least ten kilometers wide, with a vertical drop of nearly one kilometer.

And then, at the exact midpoint of the descent, on a natural rise of land, a temple of dark stone with sharp towers stood.

As the only structure existing where the land surrendered to the abyss, its arches and walls cast deep shadows over the falling water.

The architecture—solemn and severe—was robust. The kind of place designed to remain standing even amid the extremely complex terrain of the region.

“So this is The Fall?” Malus whistled, resting one hand on his waist. The force of the waterfall sent waves of wind strong enough to sway his silver hair even from that distance. “I’ll give those bastards some points for building a base in such an extravagant place, but they completely ruined the landscape.”

Crossing his arms, Malus let out an irritated sigh. Watching the human mage finally react in some different way after the entire journey, Elarielle thought she shouldn’t miss the chance.

“It seems the waterfall was formed by the seismic upheavals of this region, in the same way as the uneven terrain around the land of the dragons and the mountain itself.”

Opening the map on the ground in front of Malus, the high elf traced a line connecting the continent’s shoreline.

“Since the battles were focused only on the North and the East, we ended up not paying attention to the South and Southwest. This is one of the main exits to the sea, and the rivers connect everything from Phaea to Anthus. Its strategic value is extremely high, so the demons having a base here is quite logical.”

However, even the elf made a confused expression during her explanation, looking around.

“This is strange. I thought we might be in the wrong place, but this should be the rendezvous point with the scouts. They were supposed to wait for us here.”

After leaving the Valley of Dawn and reaching the plains surrounding the forest, they had walked for a few more hours until reaching this specific spot near the colossal river. With few trees or dense vegetation around, if they knew exactly who they were looking for, it shouldn’t be difficult to find where the advance team was hiding to observe the laboratory.

“Whether they’re here or not, does it even matter?” Malus rolled his blue eyes. “In the end, they called us here because the trash who came before couldn’t solve the situation on their own.”

The situation might have changed, and they may have been forced to retreat. Elarielle wanted to believe that was the case, rather than the demons already knowing that the alliance had discovered this construction.

“Very well. This will be an infiltration mission. We only want the Twilight, so since this is our first fight together, we should familiarize ourselves with each other’s magic, Malus.”

Storing the map in a compartment of her armor, Elarielle pointed to the large carved wooden weapon on her back.

“My specialty is decomposition magic. I can destroy cells as my primary target, but I can also dismantle materials in general if I’m using my axe. I need to strike my opponent to use it, so I usually act on the front line when there’s no one else for that role. However, I can also operate from the rear as a healer if necessary. As long as I begin the healing quickly, fatal wounds are not a problem for me.”

A warrior oriented toward both offense and defense. Thanks to her versatility, Elarielle was trying to say that she would adapt her strategy to the human mage’s fighting style.

“You really like talking, don’t you? Do you want to be praised that badly for your communication skills?”

Showing no sign that he wanted to explain his own specialty—or that he even cared about what Elarielle had said—Malus simply turned his back to the girl and began walking away.

“Wait, Malus, I was assigned as the leader of this mission!”

Quickly running after him, Elarielle tried to get his attention, but without even turning around, he simply kept walking.

“Yes, yes. Let’s go, leader. You said yourself you’re the rear guard, didn’t you? Just don’t get in my way.”

Ignoring any further attempt at communication, Elarielle eventually found herself simply walking alongside the silver-haired man for some time, until they finally reached the banks of the raging river.

“Swimming near the edge of the waterfall is far too dangerous, and I don’t think we can jump that entire distance in a single leap.”

Kneeling at the riverbank and touching the powerful current, Elarielle narrowed her eyes before looking again toward the black-brick structure.

“We’ll walk along the riverbank for a few kilometers and then use the current to descend on a raft. It’ll be a little difficult to aim for the island, but we should manage. Besides, if we wait until nightfall, we’ll have the element of surprise.”

As mages, they could attempt to swim or run across the violent waters for a certain distance, but that would obviously require a large amount of mana, which would alert any demons watching the laboratory.

Their objective was to ensure Orlaith’s death or capture. At this stage, rushing would only ruin everything, so they needed to act calmly.

Building boats wasn’t her specialty, but there was at least an hour until nightfall. If they put in the effort, Elarielle was certain they could at least prepare something sturdy enough to withstand the strong current long enough to reach the place.

“How stupid. That’s not necessary.”

Elarielle heard an irritated voice along with the weight of a hand grabbing her head.

“We’re already here, after all.”

It happened in the literal blink of an eye.

In a single instant, the river that had been in front of her was replaced by the black stone temple.

Rising from the dirt in panic, Elarielle turned around, staring at the riverbank now behind her—nearly five kilometers away.

“That was… teleportation?” Elarielle whispered, looking around in extreme confusion. “But where is the portal?”

Watching the boy who didn’t seem interested in answering her question as he walked away, the confused girl couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

Although Malus’s personality didn’t match hers, human magic seemed incredible. With magic that practical, Elarielle thought that having him as a mission partner from now on might not be so bad after all.

“Wait, from here on we need to be extremely careful.” Running toward the boy, Elarielle quickly stepped in front of him before bringing her hands together. “Iris, it’s alright, you can show yourself.”

With Elarielle’s words, a small cyan glow reverberated through the air.

About the size of a small ball, a tiny shining fairy with a spherical form fluttered cheerfully around her contractor.

After receiving a confirming nod, Iris shone even more brightly. Her translucent body transformed into a hair ribbon, which was quickly tied in place.

“Invisibility?” Malus commented, feeling the soft touch on his shoulder and the faint cyan aura making his body subtly translucent.

“Yes, but my fairy can’t muffle sound past a certain point.”

Not receiving any dismissive reaction from the boy this time—he simply resumed walking without complaint—Elarielle felt she had made some progress.

“By the way, aren’t you going to take your weapons, Malus?” Elarielle asked.

“I don’t need weapons that can’t withstand my magic. If you need one, it only proves you haven’t reached your full potential as a mage.”

The response made her realize she might not have made as much progress as she thought.

Deciding to think about it later and looking up at the massive walls of the structure, the elf tried to find some entrance that would allow discreet access.

Up close, the temple seemed even more imposing. There were no doors or windows, so she doubted they would find the entrance easily.

Malus hadn’t explained his magic, but she assumed there must be some limitation, since he hadn’t simply teleported them inside.

“Do your best to block the sound of this, leader.”

Approaching the black wall, Malus lightly rotated his wrist and pressed the back of his hand against the cold surface. With a small gesture—one that even made Elarielle show a confused expression—the human mage bent his index finger.

Exactly like someone lightly knocking on a door to ask permission, his finger struck the stone once.

With a thunderous blast, rocks and black dust erupted in every direction, flying dozens of meters before falling into the river’s current.

Startled so badly she nearly fell backward, Elarielle widened her eyes at the grotesque hole more than five meters wide that had formed in the temple’s side.

“This was supposed to be a silent infiltration!” she shouted, immediately covering her mouth with both hands, unsure how to react.

“We got in. That’s what matters.” Ignoring the elf’s exasperation, Malus walked into the structure.

A corridor of black bricks lined with steel pipes received him.

What seemed to be steam—or some other kind of gas—escaped through the gaps in the metal fittings. The light was dim, almost nonexistent. He seemed to briefly consider whether the gas might be flammable, but without thinking much further, a small crimson flame appeared in his hand.

“I don’t sense any mana signatures.”

Looking down both ends of the corridor, Malus whispered, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Unlike a battlefield—where releasing one’s mana could intimidate the enemy or boost the morale of allies—there was no point in showing off power uselessly and attracting unwanted attention. Yet no matter how much he searched, Malus couldn’t find guards anywhere.

“Has this place already been evacuated?” Walking over the rubble of the broken wall into the structure, Elarielle watched the silent human mage with apprehension.

The situation she feared seemed to be becoming reality. If the demons had left during the time it took them to arrive—or had even encountered the scouts and discovered the mission—then they had already failed their objective.

Despite her unease, they had come this far. They needed to at least search the entire place to be certain. Even if they didn’t find the Twilight, there was still a chance of discovering valuable information that would keep this from being a total failure.

“This place really is impressive…”

Even though it was an enemy base, no matter where Elarielle looked, she couldn’t stop herself from being amazed.

The middle floors seemed to be where the research had taken place. Everything in the facility was efficient—even the pipes designed to handle ventilation and excess humidity appeared to be cutting-edge technology. She wondered what the enemy’s laboratory artifacts and instruments were like. Unfortunately, they all seemed to have been removed already, so she couldn’t take any to study how they worked.

As they had suspected, no matter where they went, the entire place was empty. When they reached the stairs that connected both the underground levels and the upper floors, they decided to check the basement first.

And it was on the first underground floor they reached that they finally heard something resembling a voice.

“H-Help…”

The four-meter-wide corridor ended in a single reinforced door. Like a symphony of suffering, a faint, almost pleading voice echoed through the walls and reached the stairwell.

Exchanging silent glances, both mages walked toward the source of the voice.

Lightly touching the steel door, Malus narrowed his eyes for a moment. “I sense presences on the other side. They’re not demons.”

Seeing the human preparing to blow the door open, Elarielle—waiting beside him—quickly became agitated.

“Wait, Malus, let me do it!”

Worried about another explosion like the last one, the elf hurried forward, pulling the amber axe from her back.

A numbing glow spread across it.

As if a putrid green aura had overtaken its structure, the elf’s axe began to shine with a threatening light. Carefully approaching the steel door, Elarielle cut a precise opening—large enough for a person to walk through without bending down.

Pulling with meticulous care, she removed the cut section from the opening she had made, revealing what she could only describe as something morbid.

The rotten smell mixed both blood and waste, the air so thick it was almost possible to taste it on the tongue. But what truly made the elf feel every gram of her body erupt with panic and fury was the dozen people with pointed ears scattered across the floor.

“Elves…”

Running forward, Elarielle immediately began checking the pulses of the people fighting for their lives.

Bound in conditions worse than animals, the elves had chains around their legs preventing them from escaping. Their bodies were so thin it was clear they hadn’t eaten for weeks. The excessive bruises made her dread imagining what they might have gone through.

“H-Help…”

Grabbing a young black-haired elf, Elarielle quickly wrapped one arm around her and began examining her injuries.

“It’s alright now, everything will be alright! I’m here—I’ll save all of you!”

The scent of wildflowers filled the air.

Without hesitating even for a moment, Elarielle immediately began healing the imprisoned elf.

Her body, covered in purple bruises and cuts, was slowly enveloped by emerald petals. The cold that once dominated her skin was replaced by a deep, comforting warmth.

Seconds after the healing began, the young woman blinked several times in confusion. Turning her head toward the beautiful woman holding her, her eyes widened instantly.

“The Twilight—she’s here!” Noticing the pointed ears, the elf clutched desperately at Elarielle’s armor, shouting in panic. “She captured the others! They need help!”

Shouting and thrashing with such intensity that Elarielle struggled to hold her without hurting her, the young elf seemed utterly terrified.

“What do you mean others? Wasn’t this place evacuated?” Stepping closer, Malus questioned the young elf, who shrank into herself in panic.

“Malus, wait. She’s still in shock—you can’t question her like that.”

Frowning at the silver-haired boy, Elarielle gently hugged the elf to calm her down.

Taking several deep breaths to slow her racing heart, the elf—finally seeming a bit calmer—spoke with reluctance.

“The demon… she’s here. Earlier today she took several of ours to the upper floors…” Although her body had been healed, the mental exhaustion was evident. As she explained with difficulty, the elf never once let go of Elarielle’s armor.

“What do you think?” Elarielle asked the boy with a confident smile on her face, watching as he turned to confirm the elf’s words on his own.

Since she still needed to heal the other elves, Elarielle knew she couldn’t follow Malus. Besides, trying to convince him to wait would probably be useless, so she made no effort to stop him.

And that was her mistake.

“Got you~”

Like thunder erupting from directly beneath them, the roar of the earth rose into an intense, blazing explosion.

In a single instant, a pillar of energy tore through the stone floor of the long corridor. A massive crater formed as debris flew in every direction, swallowing the human mage’s body.

“Malus!!”

Shouting in panic, Elarielle could only watch as her companion fell dozens—perhaps hundreds—of meters into a dark ravine whose bottom couldn’t even be seen.

Her first instinct was to chase after him, but something else made that impossible at the moment.

Reluctantly, despite her shock, the confused girl looked at the girl in her arms. No longer clinging to the elf, she stood up and made several cheerful hops.

“What…?” the golden-haired elf muttered, staring at the black-haired girl with wide eyes.

“Why didn’t you go after him? I thought you cared about your companions!” The black-haired elf frowned. “Is the chance to take my head less important to you than these elves? That makes me a little sad.”

The way she spoke had changed.

The way she acted had completely transformed.

It was as if…

She were a completely different person.

“Orlaith…?”

Elarielle could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, but the smile forming on the elf’s lips made her body freeze.

“In the flesh… well, not my flesh, of course!”

Bowing forward in an exaggerated presentation, the black-haired elf in worn clothes widened her grin even further.

“So this laboratory is just a decoy?” Elarielle asked as she stood.

“Idiot, do you really think I would put my head out for you to take? I left weeks ago!”

Clutching her stomach as violent laughter echoed through the dark room, Orlaith felt the air fill with bloodlust.

Planting her feet firmly on the ground, a bluish glow burst from Elarielle’s body. Gripping the handle of her amber axe tightly, she spun and swung the weapon straight toward the woman’s neck.

“Oh, are you sure?” Without making the slightest effort to dodge, Orlaith—who didn’t react at all—hummed lightly. “Even if I’m the one in control, this body still belongs to that elf.”

With those words—no, without her even needing to say them—the demon watched the axe freeze in the air, millimeters before splitting her slender neck.

Her smile widening further, Orlaith ran her index finger along the sharp edge of the axe. The moment a single drop of blood spilled from her skin, the elf who had just attacked her leapt to the opposite end of the room in panic.

“This kind of attachment you all have to your own kind… I’ll never understand it.”

Looking indifferently at her injured finger, Orlaith turned her gaze to the elf struggling internally over what to do.

“Healing magic can’t recognize marks made on the soul. That’s a very useful piece of information. Thank you very much, miss ridiculously kind elf!”

Snapping her fingers, all the elves scattered across the room—who had previously been unconscious—rose to their feet despite their severe injuries. Like people without a shred of awareness or clarity, their expressions empty, they began to surround Elarielle.

Now with her back against the wall, the elf’s mind spun, trying to decide what she should do.

How should she react?

How should she fight?

As more and more questions flooded her mind, the elf who had sworn to protect those people felt the fingers gripping her axe begin to tremble.

Her allies—her own people—now stood before her, slowly approaching to kill her against their own will.

“Until now I’ve only been trying this on mindless monsters or demons, but at last I have some proper test subjects from other species to expand my repertoire.”

With the demon humming somewhere behind the crowd, Elarielle felt the core of her being twist.

“Wait… don’t tell me—!?”

“Yes, I’m the one who sent the message to your headquarters! I’m the one who brought you here, you idiot!”

Laughing once again, Orlaith simply watched as her pawns began grabbing Elarielle’s body.

“W-Wait! Stop! Please! Stop!”

Struggling to push the elves away, Elarielle felt both her arms and legs being grabbed and struck.

With every attempt to fend them off, red blood spread across the room.

Yet the crimson liquid spilling without a single reaction did not come from the elf being attacked—it came from the fragile bodies trying to harm her.

“N-No! No, I didn’t mean to!”

Simply raising her arm to protect her face was enough to break the wrist bones of whoever tried to punch her.

Trying to restrain them only led them to twist their own flesh to break free—even if it meant destroying their own bodies in the process.

In desperation, Elarielle tried to heal each one of them, but the moment the emerald glow finished mending one, another elf would fatally injure themselves striking her body.

She even tried controlling her strength to knock them unconscious, but even with their brain functions impaired by concussions, their bodies kept moving.

“Monsters and demons are easy to kill without remorse or guilt, aren’t they?”

Watching the elves destroy themselves with every blow they struck against Elarielle, Orlaith couldn’t stop laughing.

“You’re all so mediocre and pathetic. You can’t even attack your own kind and end up getting captured. Just like you couldn’t attack these elves, every human I captured refused to attack their beloved missing comrades and ended up becoming one of my adorable little pets.”

As if she might collapse from laughter at any moment, Orlaith mocked Elarielle.

“I received messages from the North, so I know who you are. If I could have dealt with the alliance’s greatest healer through a surprise attack, that would’ve been wonderful, but at least I’ll get rid of the man who killed the Eighth. My beloved professor will praise me so much!”

Clasping both hands together in sheer delight, the black-haired elf smiled once more.

“So? So? What will you do? Take them to a medical center and try to rip the stigma out by force? Lock them in a prison for the rest of their lives? I can keep controlling them regardless of distance. Take me straight to the heart of the alliance across the two continents, and I’ll be able to obtain as much information as I want!”

“You’re lying—something like that is impossible!” Elarielle shouted in protest, blood still spreading across the cramped chamber.

“Am I?” Orlaith tilted her head, laughing madly. “Maybe I’m already there! Maybe I’m already commanding your army!?”

“What a boring joke.”

A voice that seemed to cut into the very core of everyone present echoed through the room.

“If you could actually do that, you wouldn’t be making such a spectacle of it. Bluffing so blatantly like a cornered dog just to get something out of a failure this pathetic is as stupid as trying to knock down a wall by blowing on it.”

Walking into the room was a man with silver hair and a pristine white cloak.

“Hey…”

As the mage—without a single injury—stepped calmly into the cell, a visible vein appeared on Orlaith’s forehead.

“Hey… Hey… Heeeeeey!”

Grabbing her black hair with force, Orlaith screamed so loudly her voice echoed throughout the entire temple.

“You have got to be kidding me! How is this even possible!? How are you alive!?”

“And why wouldn’t I be?” Malus replied, tilting his head.

“That was a fall of half a kilometer! There were over a hundred human mages waiting for you down there in case you survived! I—I lost my connection to all my little pets… What the hell did you do!?”

Raising an eyebrow as if he had finally understood what the demon was referring to, Malus simply shrugged.

“A trivial effort that wasn’t worth my time. Still, I’ll praise you for at least managing to bring that disgusting stench of flesh before me. That other demon of yours who fought me earlier couldn’t even do that.”

Stomping the ground furiously several times, Orlaith rushed toward Malus, who simply grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.

Turning his head toward Elarielle—who was staring at him in confusion—Malus let out a soft laugh before instantly appearing beside her.

“Curious?”

In the blink of an eye.

And they were in hell.

“Blargh!”

Her first reaction was to vomit the bile from her stomach.

The second was to collapse to her knees and repeat to herself that the sight before her was just a dream.

The sea of corpses in the deep pit before her was horrifying enough that her mind refused to process anything.

Elarielle was a healer.

As a physician, she had already seen horrible things—terrifying injuries and brutal deaths.

But the state in which those more than a hundred corpses lay…

It was too much.

“You bastard! You killed all of them without even hesitating!? You killed my pets!!”

Even while being held and with part of her throat crushed by the grip, Orlaith continued screaming, genuine hatred burning in her eyes.

“Bring at least ten times more next time. Only then might you make me sweat.”

With a single movement of his fingers, the elf’s neck twisted at an impossible angle. The crack that echoed made it clear that something which should never have been broken had been destroyed.

Collapsed on the ground, Elarielle watched the elf’s corpse join the grotesque hell before her. The smell of blood flooded her senses, the stench of exposed, rotting viscera making her heart race as cold sweat covered her skin.

And yet, the silver-haired man remained calm enough to appreciate the hellish scene.

“They… they’re our allies.”

Finally, after much struggle, the words managed to leave her mouth between desperate breaths.

“If I understood correctly, if they’ve already been marked by her magic, that means they’ve become our enemies. Or do you know a way to destroy those stigmas?” Malus asked, tilting his head while placing a hand on his waist.

“I—I… N-No, but—!”

“Then just get out of my way. You’re making this take longer than necessary.”

He simply touched her shoulder.

“Huh…?”

And Elarielle suddenly found herself back at the riverbank.

The roar of the waterfall became louder.

Confused, she looked toward the temple, now several kilometers away.

Appearing on top of the fortress in the literal blink of an eye, the world itself seemed to distort around the man.

Like a clear sky shining within darkness, his fist clenched and he struck downward.

His punch hit the top of the castle, and in that moment it was as if everything beneath it collapsed under his command.

Steel, stone, concrete—none of it seemed to matter. Like a house of cards falling apart, the black-brick temple crumbled, along with the rise of land that supported it.

The result could not have been more devastating.

Caught by the current of the massive waterfall, all the temple’s debris—along with everything inside it—was swept away by the force of the water straight into the abyss leading to the ocean.

“Now the view looks much better.”

Appearing in the air beside the elf, Malus spoke with a hint of satisfaction as he looked over the waterfall, now unobstructed.

“When we return, explain to the old men what happened. I doubt that Twilight will leave demon territory to risk another idiotic trap like this. So if they want her dead, make sure they tell us exactly where she is before calling me again for a waste of time like this.”

Having completed his mission, Malus prepared to leave when a quiet voice became audible even over the roar of the colossal waterfall.

“They were… they were our allies.” Elarielle repeated the words that still lingered in her throat. “How could you do that to them?”

Still kneeling on the ground, the elf protested, her clenched fists digging into the soil beneath her.

“I clearly separate what interests me from what I couldn’t care less about. They simply had the misfortune of falling into the second category. They can blame their bad luck at birth for that.” With his white cloak and silver hair swaying in the wind from the waterfall, Malus spoke in a calm tone.

“Then… why didn’t you leave me there to die? Why did you bother pulling me out of there!?”

Elarielle couldn’t understand it. She doubted she belonged to the first kind of person Malus had mentioned, so her mind couldn’t process why he had saved her.

“You’re not that bad, Elarielle. Just a guess, but you might be one of the things we need to win this.” Malus said, watching the shoulders of the emerald-eyed elf slump.

“But… if you don’t care about everyone beneath you, why are you even in this war?”

Even to this day, Elarielle wondered whether what she heard next was real or simply the result of her shock.

However, she was certain of one thing.

If it was real, the one who had spoken those words might become a threat as great as the Demon King himself.

“A world doesn’t need two emperors.”