They had won the invasion while a second fake attack led by Cavirieth struck the city on the other side. That drew the attention of the Circle Nines. Those who attacked the other city would be teleported away as soon as the Circle Nines arrived, and Cavirieth would create a distraction before fleeing as well. Another strategy they used was targeting the city's main Towers, which could communicate with Princess Elithia's castle. That was why Hiderom and the other main Circle Seven elves invaded the central Towers, preventing them from communicating with those outside the city.
"It was an almost perfect strategy."
"Lord Cavirieth, welcome back. And to be honest, for me our strategy was perfect."
Hiderom saw Cavirieth arrive with blood on his clothes. It seemed he had managed to distract them but had to flee quickly to avoid being eliminated. Fortunately, they had taken the city quickly and without suffering a single casualty.
"The small-minded will always think an improved strategy is good."
"Then improve it even more."
"It's a pity, but the battle is already over, so I can't do anything."
That smiling face of his was irritating. This elf had only sat there while they discussed their strategy. Of course, he knew Cavirieth only did that to irritate him... the worst part was that it always worked.
"Just do what was ordered by the princess."
"Wow, looks like a fly bit you."
Veins appeared on Hiderom's forehead as the Circle Nine walked past him. Climbing the stairs, Cavirieth pointed to the sky, and a barrier enveloped the entire city. With a snap of his fingers, they erased the city from the map. He had created a small parallel dimension in the area around the city and transferred it there. Since it was a new spell the enemies had never seen before, it was a great advantage for them.
"It's done, leader."
Snorting, Hiderom went to where the civilians and guards stood with relieved expressions. They had stayed in that city for years, obeying every order given by Elithia, and never imagined they would be saved. If Enrico hadn't told them that some confident elves were inside the city, they would have only invaded from the outside. But since there were allies within, and Enrico had infiltrated to warn them, he had also obtained the important locations of the communication points connected to the castle, making the invasion easier.
'By the way, where is he?'
He couldn't see the boy anywhere. Hiderom truly wanted to thank him for the improvement to the plan. His original plan, aside from the internal invasion and the communicators, the rest had been theirs.
"I guess he must be with his companions."
"Sir, thank you for communicating with us."
A high-ranking guard approached. He had been the main one to secretly grant them entry. He was an elf with tired eyes. In fact, all the guards and civilians had exhausted expressions and some marks of damage on their skin.
"What happened to you?"
From what the guard explained, their magic had been constantly used to feed the rotten part of the World Tree, so the corrupted elves would regularly visit their homes to forcibly take their magic, even from those who offered it without resistance.
'Those bastards.'
Clenching his fist, he knew exactly that the corrupted elves not only wanted to feed the World Tree. They were also monsters who enjoyed crushing those who couldn't defend themselves. It would be surprising if the corrupted elves and the elves on Elithia's side were shocked by this betrayal, considering how they treated their own citizens.
'Tsk. The only good corrupted elf is a dead corrupted elf.'
He made an unpleasant face as he thought about them. It wasn't a lie to say he had considerable apprehension toward those corrupted elves, especially since they had been told the story of how they were created. Not wanting to make the elves uncomfortable with his expression, he quickly returned to a serious look. Before he could speak about making the corrupted elves pay, a voice interrupted.
"It's good that you're all safe now."
It was Tailon, with a smile on his face like a grandfather looking at his grandchildren. Both guards and civilians almost seemed to rush toward him. That was because he had been one of the greatest commanders of the past. He was known as the Traveling Commander for a simple reason—he would go from city to city visiting and seeing how things were. That was why all the civilians and guards knew him and loved his presence.
"Yes, sir. Thankfully that elf warned us."
"So he took more than one person to communicate with the elves? Smart boy."
Tailon nodded in satisfaction. Princess Elaris was truly special for having secured such a good subordinate. Bringing an elf from their side to gain the civilians' and guards' trust had been a good decision. He would want to meet that elf later.
"Miss Victoria, don't be like that. I'm sure you'll find her in the future."
"I know, but I wanted it now. Aahh."
Erina tried to comfort Victoria, who was sitting in a chair with an expression never seen on her face before—annoyance. She even looked like a child wanting a new toy. The reason was that she could only fight Enrico or Kai once this war ended. That had been the deal for her to help them, and it was also why she wanted to find someone to fight.
"I can't believe I lost sight of her."
"But they used a teleportation stone."
"So what? That doesn't change the fact that I lost her... I'll create a spell just for those damn teleportation stones."
Erina wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. Great, now this prodigy would evolve even further just because of a stone. Not that it was bad for their side, but she at least wanted to get a little closer to her.
'These aberrations will never let normal people keep up.'
Sighing, she looked toward the place where they had lost sight of them. For some reason, Erina felt it would be difficult for them to go very far.
"The professor isn't here, so he must have found a way to go after them... I think."
"If that's the case, then I hope he brings that elf to me."
"Well, I only think that because he isn't here."
"What do you mean I'm not here?"
Enrico appeared right beside them, startling Erina and leaving Victoria surprised, since she hadn't seen him anywhere during the battle. Beside him was the elf who had appeared on the day of their graduation. Taking a small breath to calm her rapidly beating heart, she looked at him.
"Professor, where were you—"
"Enrico, I found a prodigy like us, so let's go after her."
Erina was interrupted by Victoria, who began recounting the fight. Enrico simply listened with a calm smile, showing some interest in her words. Even so, Erina still had the feeling that something was wrong, with those two having managed to escape.
'Unless he set up a trap, because our professor is...'