Elaris was seated while a sphere filled with snowflakes, wrapped in darkness, glowed above her head. From that sphere, a freezing aura flowed into her body. Every cell absorbed the magic entering her.
'It's incredible that the blessing is truly accepting her.'
Skadi watched the feat with a mixture of surprise and relief. There was a major reason why she cared so much about the blessing. For a brief moment, she had seen a future where she would be freed from the curse that had tormented her entire life—the curse was precisely the blessing. It granted the power of an unbelievable unique ability, yet she herself could do nothing, chained to it without being able to use its power.
'I can only be freed and do as I wish if I find the one chosen by the blessing.'
Over the years, a certain affection had grown within her. She had always taken her duty seriously, and combining those two things made her strive even harder to protect Elaris. In truth, even now that she had found the chosen one, Skadi would undoubtedly protect her—even from within another's body.
'I will do my duty as always.'
The sphere began to dissolve as the magic fully entered Elaris's body. When she opened her eyes, they were a deep blue, and her breath carried frost. Looking at her own hand, she felt something completely different. Her control over her magic had increased considerably.
'I feel that's not even the best part.'
She was certain of one thing: a new unique ability had emerged. Unlike her other abilities, which could already be used, this one would take time to master perfectly.
"Unique Ability: Blessing of the God of Ice. Your first ability is purification."
"That means I can now heal the Elven Dimension, right?"
"That's correct, child."
With that power, she could remove the rotten shell from the World Tree that had tormented them and created so many corrupted elves. Without a doubt, it would infuriate her sister—and she would enjoy seeing that irritation. Rising carefully, she tried to estimate how long she had remained there. It must have been at least ten hours since she separated from the group. That meant the first invasion had likely ended.
"You want to know how they are."
"If you can show me, Lady Skadi."
With a raised palm, a reproduction of the battle unfolded before Elaris. Skadi herself had not seen it either, as she had been focused on whether the blessing would fully accept the princess. This would be her first time watching it as well.
"That elf is troublesome if she can fight Victoria…"
Thoughtful, she watched the battle between two aberrations unfold magnificently. In fact, she was beginning to think that, in terms of genius in creating an Ego Weapon and those ice towers, that elf surpassed her in mastery of ice magic.
'Don't worry. Now you have the blessing and that necklace. If I were to say who's better, it's still you—because with those two, your level surpasses a Circle Seven in that regard.'
It seemed Skadi wanted to give her confidence. Accepting those words with a small smile, she continued watching, relieved that there had been no deaths on her side. The attack had been so perfect she almost felt like jumping in celebration—but it was better to wait until the war was won.
"Congratulations on your first victory, Princess Elaris."
"…Well, I should have expected it. It was a well-executed plan by my subordinates—and myself."
She had helped design that plan, and when Enrico applied his improvements, everything fell into place. Now that she held that city, she could begin purifying the Elven Dimension if she wished… but perhaps it was wiser to end the war first. If she purified it now, they might simply try to corrupt it again.
'It's best to keep this blessing hidden…'
Enrico had said he had a plan to end the war quickly. He hadn't explained how, yet she trusted that it could work. When she stepped outside, she found Lake Thalanor empty.
"Don't worry. They won't be able to approach here easily anymore—I changed the lake's position while we were inside."
Apparently, relocating parts of the elven dimension had become easy for Skadi. If she could use that power in the war, it would be incredible. The only problem was that Skadi was still not fully released by the World Tree to interfere in the war. She would have to wait a few hours after being freed from the blessing before she could intervene.
"I also need to return inside and place the four creatures back in their locations. Once I do, you'll be able to use them freely as companions."
"Thank you very much, Lady Skadi."
"I do this for the blessing within you. So please take good care of it while I'm away, Princess."
With a confident nod and a smile, Elaris bid her farewell. It had been a day full of good results for her side. As she left the place where Lake Thalanor had been, she saw it vanish from existence.
"This region is near the crossroads between the west and south. It would be best to visit—"
Her smile vanished when she saw smoke rising from one of the secret bases where some of her elven subordinates were stationed. It was also the place where her third Circle Eight was assigned to protect.
"What is happening?"
She immediately ran toward the location, careful not to be seen by any potential enemies. As she approached, flames reflected in her eyes. With growing desperation, she increased her speed. Half of her subordinates and civilians who had waited so long for her return were inside that base.
'This can't be happening—'
But of course it could. This was a war to decide the queen of the elves. She had forgotten that for a moment. With her hair shadowing her eyes, she reached the ruins of the destroyed base. She did not step too close—she simply looked at the scene before her.
'This is the kind of thing Elithia's friend used to do.'
Before her stood a massive mountain of corpses, cleanly dismembered with terrifying precision—as if done with the utmost care. In the distance, she saw the corpse of the Circle Eight on the ground. Without a doubt, those wounds had been inflicted by someone of a higher level.
'One of the Circle Nines attacked the base… and Elithia must have ordered that wretched woman to come as well… as a warning to me.'
In the past, that friend had loved splitting objects in half—especially other children's toys. When Elaris once asked Elithia why she did such things, her sister had answered with a smile that it was to—
'Have fun. Everyone enjoys themselves in their own way. That's just hers, so don't judge her too harshly.'
Her eyes filled with deep hatred rising from within. Without a doubt, her sister was someone who did not deserve to live. Elaris could never live peacefully if Elithia continued causing disasters and allowing others to do the same.
Her determination, already strong, intensified even further. Taking a teleportation stone, she clenched it tightly while staring at the destruction—engraving that moment into her memory so there would not be even the slightest hesitation when the time came.
"Without a doubt… I will kill her."