If there's anything in the world that compares to the city in front of you, it's probably the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or Machu Picchu in its heyday.

Looking down the ridge, minaret-like buildings jutted out of the forest, as if competing with the surrounding trees.

There were few shrubs and vines in the clean forest, a far cry from the thousand-year-old ruins on the outskirts of the city.

The houses and trees here are as if they were under the care of the gardener, and not even moss can be found.

In the center of the valley, which resembles a huge basin, is the pyramid that can be seen from afar.

From here, it was as tall as a miracle built by the ancient Egyptians, but it was completely different from that—

The bluish-white stone surface has no signs of cuts, and even from this distance you can see that the tower is carved out of a single mountain cliff.

The elves of the Dawn Mountains inherited this skill well, carving the royal city of Elgonda on the ridge, guarding the western part of the Dawn Mountains like a beast prostrating on the mountains.

Here, the pyramid in front of you has a completely different kind of momentum, this feeling of rising from the valley and sitting firmly in the center, like some kind of totem to worship.

"Please follow me"

The leader of the group pulled out a horn from under the broad green cloak and took a deep breath to blow it.

The other elves that came with us immediately turned back and ran into the depths of the forest.

At the same time, you can see that around the entire valley, both near and far, there are faint flashes of green.

It was the light emitted by the elves when they rode the magic circulation, and just now, at least a few hundred elves were moving towards the outskirts of the city.

What do they go to do?

I don't know, but that's not what Ellie and I care about the most.

"When will we see ......?"

"When necessary"

The tall elf who led the team interrupted Ellie's words, and it was rare for the little guy to ask so politely, and now the princess was a little unhappy.

"You're in luck"

The tall, thin man pointed to my leg.

"A soul weapon is necessary to protect you on the way ahead"

"Huh?"

I looked down, oh......

This guy is talking about my tiger tooth sword.

With that, the elf took a step forward and walked away.

'What an arrogant stinking fart'

The little guy complained in his heart, and almost grimaced at the backs of others.

But the princess knew that the other party would be able to see it, and that it would damage the image of the Dawn Mountains, so she resisted the impulse to play a prank.

"Anyway, let's go ahead and have a look, right?"

"No, that's what we're here for."

So I took a step forward

Brush –

The colossal impact was as if it had been swept into some kind of explosion, but it was different, there was no violent impact of the expanding air, and there was only the feeling of a grand ocean current.

Magic!

The colossal magic that can't even be discovered with detection magic is even more powerful than the magic circulation of the city's main road just now.

It's just that......

"This flow of magic has no consciousness"

The elves who walked ahead of us were like sandstorms in the desert, and they could only barely move forward if they stood in front of them with two hands and leaned forward.

"So raw and wild"

I see, so that's what the magic circulation is all about.

As soon as he stepped into this realm, the heavenly court immediately turned gray-yellow, and all the surrounding trees withered, and all that remained in the entire valley was dirt ash and ruins, and gray-black tree trunks.

From the outside, it looks like it's full of life, but it's actually ......

'This is the edge between the afterlife and the real world'

It was only when I heard this sentence that I reacted, this gray-black forest like a sandstorm was very similar to a scene I had seen-

'Mogore?'

Thin, mummy-like elves are walking with us beside us.

He didn't seem to feel the wind and sand around him like knives and ocean currents, and he walked away quietly, as if he was called by something.

"Don't be left behind, we have to hurry up and ride the river of life!"

The elf in front of us shouted at us, and his voice was as pale as death.

The river of life is probably the green magic circulation.

Surrounding the entire Bladetooth City, there are countless details that this group of ancient elves can freely move through.

These magical currents converged into two streams, one flowing into the pyramid in the valley in front of them, and one flowing out of the pyramid.

Anyway, I really agree with the tall and skinny man, and it's better to hurry up here.

It was as if I had been blown head-on by a force 7 wind, and every step was difficult, and I had done my best just to stand.

"Hey, hey——!"

Ellie was almost blown out of me, and the little one was so frightened that he hurriedly hugged me.

Saying......

"Could it be that the effectiveness of magic is decreasing?"

"Scared!?"

The princess looked at me with a look of horror.

Could it be that in this magical environment, our magic has been weakened?

It's possible.

It should be said that only this possibility can make sense.

Eh......

I had been feeling something superfluous around my vision from just now, but now I can see it clearly.

An elf.

The bones of an elf, to be exact.

Standing behind dead wood not far away, looking at us from the wind and sand, I don't know if he was looking at us or not, after all - that guy has no eyes.

Because I'm used to seeing Moggrey, I won't be frightened, but ......

The further we go, the more such guys there are.

They stood there and watched us, far or near.

I'm sure they're watching us, because as soon as we move forward, their heads will turn in our direction.

'Ellie!!'

'I've never heard of this place being haunted!'

Even though I'm a boy, I'm not brave at all in front of me.

It's only because I've been in another world and used magic to fight other monsters for so long that I can keep going.

If it had been in the human world, I would have been screaming and running away now.

So I quickened my pace, not daring to lag behind the tall and thin elf in front of me.

Whoosh –

I've heard the sound of waving a weapon N times, and it's too familiar to be more familiar, so I skillfully shake it to the side.

A long sword swept past me.

"Hey, do you want to pull the funeral?"

Steadying myself in the sand, I raised my fist and protested over there.

Oh......

Although his body had withered, his armor and battle robe were still firmly tied to his body.

Although this person's battle robe has been painted grayish yellow by the wind and sand, some patterns on the robe can still be seen.

The motifs had to be linked to some old memories in order to be deciphered, the dusty texts that were recorded in the big library.

'Elves of the Bluethorns?'

'Whoa...... Yes, that's right'

Ellie and I are stupid, we are in front of a group of elves who have been extinct thousands of years ago in the battle with the Akashan family for the throne of the Dawn Mountains.

Hey!

I raised my hand and played my trick, and the black and white vortex flew out like bullets.

Whoosh –

It's like it's passing through the air, and there's no resistance...... Anyway, I didn't hit it at all!

So in front of us, this skeleton that is slowly raising its hand and planning to attack us with a long sword is it an illusion formed by magic or an illusion caused by wind and sand?

I took a step sideways, trying to dodge his attack.

But the attack range of that long sword was too great to dodge in such a large wind and sand.

Stretched out his hand and pulled out the tiger tooth sword, and flicked it to the side.

Clang!

The longsword was blocked and cut into the ground.

Frightened, Ellie and I broke out in a cold sweat at the same time.

"What are you doing, quick!"

The tall, thin man waved at us.

Anyway, just as Elle and I confronted the skeleton, more and more of the same kind appeared around us, some of them seemed to be just watching indifferently, and some of them were eager to try.

"Ellie, how many enemies have you made?"

"Nonsense, what does it have to do with me, don't run yet!"

The princess was so anxious that she patted me on the head.

I can only run with my legs, kicking the ground hard against the wind, I don't care about so much, it is important to escape.