Chapter 21: The Accusation of the Dark Elf

Angelina, upon hearing this, leaped up in alarm.

“Hey, how could you say such a thing!” she cried indignantly, pointing at the little girl.

“I’ve never done anything to you!”

Sally was the first to declare her unconditional support.

“I believe in Lady Angelina!” she exclaimed.

“This creature was originally her captive; not killing her was already merciful. Even if Lady Angelina truly wanted to do something, it would be perfectly acceptable.”

She scurried over, fawning, and linked her arm through Angelina’s, then looked at the dark elf girl with disdain.

“Besides,” Sally added, “we’re all women here, so it’s not like anything could actually happen.”

Her words were largely sound, even to my ears, and everyone else readily agreed.

However, there was still a blind spot in their reasoning.

While others remained unaware, I was intimately familiar with Angelina’s past.

The former Ren Yunkong had been a notorious playboy, with every conceivable type of girl by his side.

Therefore, hearing such accusations, I couldn’t help but suspect that she might have, in a moment of lust, made a move on the little girl.

It was crucial to remember that this world had no ‘three years minimum, death penalty maximum’ laws.

Even if Angelina currently lacked the ‘tools for the job,’ it did nothing to quell my doubts about her integrity.

Heaven only knew what new tricks she might devise.

My previous experiences served as a vivid lesson.

“You…”

Seeing that none of us believed her, the dark elf girl grew so distraught she was on the verge of tears.

Her eyes welled up, making her appear utterly pathetic.

“You truly are all in league with him! You humans are indeed nothing but vile, depraved, shameless creatures!”

“Whoa, whoa! Let’s not make wild accusations!”

When the insults escalated to a broad generalization, Brook grew visibly displeased.

“Exactly!” Sally chimed in, equally indignant.

“For all we know, this could be a ploy by their dark forces to sow discord among us.”

She promptly leveled her own accusation.

Tiffany, seeing the girl’s profoundly wronged expression, felt her heart soften instantly, as she had always been susceptible to anything cute.

“Could there be some hidden circumstances or a misunderstanding?” she mused.

“I believe there are many suspicious points to this situation,” Amos interjected, having remained silent until now.

“Consider that almost all the demonic beasts we’ve either heard about or encountered personally during this campaign have been of the low-intelligence variety.”

“Dark elves, on the other hand, are dark creatures specialized in assassination and typically do not appear on such large-scale battlefields.”

“That’s right!” Brook exclaimed, immediately realizing the discrepancy after Amos’s reminder.

His extensive experience fighting dark creatures meant he was well aware of their tactics.

“Furthermore, an underage elf like her would generally not be allowed to roam freely outside their tribe, let alone engage in a pursuit and assassination,” Brook continued.

This was precisely why he had been so astonished upon first seeing her, as such young dark elves were exceptionally rare.

“Since you claim she insulted your innocence, please recount the entire sequence of events,” Amos requested gently of the little girl, his tone designed to help her lower her guard and reveal the truth.

“Explain why you appeared in this place and why you attempted to assassinate Angelina.”

Given the possibility of a conspiracy, Amos had grown cautious.

After sniffling a few times, tears still in her eyes, the little girl wrestled with her thoughts for a considerable while.

Finally, she slowly began to explain the full story…

****

“So, you ran off on your own accord, intending to assassinate Angelina?”

It took a good while for everyone to finally piece together a general understanding of the events.

According to the elf girl, her kin had largely perished in the preceding battles, both large and small.

Consequently, having lost her protectors, she felt compelled to distinguish herself to survive within the enemy’s ranks, despite her tender age.

However, the recent forest skirmishes offered no opportunities for assassination, leaving her sidelined.

It wasn’t until she heard from various demonic beasts fleeing back to their main camp about a lone angel relentlessly hunting them that her eagerness for merit spurred her into action.

Under the cover of night, she sneaked out, determined to assassinate Angelina.

Yet, her attempt backfired spectacularly, and she was captured instead.

Facing Brook’s question, the dark elf nodded with extreme reluctance.

“Then why did you claim she ruined your innocence?” I asked, still having heard nothing crucial.

My gaze naturally shifted back to Angelina.

“Did she do something else to you?”

“I truly didn’t do anything!” Angelina vehemently denied, seeing my gaze.

“She tried to assassinate me at night while I was sleeping in a tree. In my desperation, I didn’t even have a chance to draw my Qi-Condensed Sword; I had to fight her bare-handed.”

“That creature was far more formidable then than she is now; it took considerable effort to subdue her. It’s just that…”

Her expression suddenly changed, and she hesitated, as if recalling something amiss.

“It’s just that after I subdued her, I hadn’t expected her to be such an adorable young elf.”

“Being quite annoyed at having my rest disturbed, and wanting to get my money’s worth, I couldn’t resist secretly… secretly stroking her head a few times, and pinching her cheeks…”

‘I knew it!’

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but press a hand to my forehead.

As expected, it was precisely her usual style; it would be a disservice to her character not to take advantage of such an opportunity.

“You didn’t do anything else, did you?” I pressed again, feeling truly uneasy.

“Absolutely not!” Angelina immediately raised her right hand in a resolute, almost military stance.

“I swear to the heavens, I truly only stroked her head a few times! And she escaped shortly after.”

“Well, that hardly proves she ruined her innocence,” Sally asserted, remaining firmly on Angelina’s side.

Indeed, she had a point; surely, a few casual head pats couldn’t constitute such a grave offense.

I hardly imagined dark elves to be so conservative.

Turning my gaze back to the little girl, I saw her still glaring fiercely at Angelina, as if she wished to devour her whole.

“Wait a moment! Lady Angelina, are you certain she was much stronger before than she is now?” Sally asked, observing the little girl closely and seeming to sense something.

“Absolutely certain! I was caught off guard and she nearly succeeded!” Angelina replied, still appearing somewhat shaken by the recollection of the perilous situation.

“It was only by knocking away her weapon with my wings at the last possible second that I managed to gain a slight advantage.”

“Then, when you captured her and were… stroking her head, did you also use the power of light elements?” Sally inquired.

She walked over and lightly touched the dark elf’s body, her expression growing more certain.

“How did you know that?” Angelina asked, surprised that Sally could discern such a thing.

She then recalled the situation in detail.

“Because I discovered that using the light elements within me could effectively suppress her abilities, I expended a considerable amount of them while restraining her.”

“As for later… she struggled so fiercely that I applied a bit more…”

“If it weren’t for that, which left me even more fatigued and unable to concentrate, she wouldn’t have seized the opportunity to escape.”

Angelina still seemed rather disgruntled at the mention of her prey escaping.

“Then we can pretty much confirm what happened,” Sally said with a sigh, looking at everyone as she drew her conclusion.

“It’s light pollution. A significant amount of light elements still linger on her body. That’s why she’s so weak now.”

“Light pollution? What’s that?” I couldn’t help but ask, this being the first time I’d encountered the term.

Then, after a lengthy and intricate explanation from Sally, it took me a good while to finally grasp the full situation.

In essence, dark elves and other dark creatures derive their power from dark elements.

For instance, while this dark elf was young, her normal state of strength should be no less than that of a Minos.

Some dark creatures are even entirely dependent on dark elements for survival.

Therefore, light elements, being antithetical to dark elements, are akin to poison for them.

Although dark elves do not rely on dark elements for survival in the same way demons or vampires do, an invasion of light elements into their bodies can cause severe, even permanent, damage.

The most noticeable effect is a decline in strength, and if the quantity of light elements is overwhelming, it can even affect their entire physical being.

This also, in a way, explained why light and darkness were so fundamentally incompatible, almost to the point of mutual annihilation.

“So, if she just returns to a place rich in dark elements, like Hell, and slowly recovers, shouldn’t she be fine?” Tiffany proposed, sounding puzzled.

“That’s true in theory, but judging by the residual light elements on her body…” Sally frowned, carefully assessing the dark elf’s condition once more.

“After I escaped back, everyone shunned me, hated me,” the little girl recounted, her face contorted in a sob.

“They even said I had an unspeakable transaction with an angel, which is why I carried so much of that detestable aura!”

“That’s why I *must* kill that hateful angel to prove my innocence.”

“Alright, so that’s what happened.”

With the truth now laid bare, Amos, having learned the complete story, wore a look of speechlessness.

Ultimately, it was confirmed to be nothing more than a misunderstanding.

“But what about this dark elf? Can you bring yourselves to kill her?”

He posed the most crucial and difficult question, one that almost everyone present struggled to answer.

“Or should we just release her and let her return? Though there’s no guarantee she won’t try to assassinate someone again next time.”

“Actually, I don’t think she *can* go back,” Sally offered, her expression one of resignation.

“Judging by the residual light elements on her, it’s likely no dark creature will be able to tolerate her presence.”

“Eventually, she’ll probably transform into a light elf. This current state isn’t something that can be resolved simply by replenishing dark elements.”

“What? A light elf?” I couldn’t help but ask, my curiosity piqued.

“That’s right, light elves,” Sally confirmed with a nod.

“Originally, there were only dark elves. However, some dark elves, after being purified by light elements, became more attuned to light and could even reproduce, thus forming the light elf race.”

“They typically reside in natural environments like forests and rarely show themselves.”

“Light elves, apart from their ears, generally resemble humans in appearance, though their elemental perception is much stronger.”

“Conversely, if a light elf is corrupted by dark elements, they will gradually transform into a dark elf.”