Chapter 5: A New Journey

The life-and-death duel between Mels and Divak had reached its most critical moment. Mels, who had been on the offensive but was physically outmatched, used his wits in a tactic of feigning weakness, finally finding a fatal opening in Divak.

A powerful strike lashed out from Mels’ hands in an instant, while Divak still had his back turned to him. Whether it was Mels fighting on the field or Xiu Lante and the others watching from the sidelines, everyone believed Divak was doomed. However…

A thunderclap sounded from behind Divak. Mels was only a few centimeters away from him—close enough to reach out and touch him. Yet, at such close range, Mels launched a sudden attack!

Faced with a moment of life and death, Divak’s formidable power and transcendent martial prowess were truly displayed before everyone’s eyes.

Mels, completely focused on the fight, believed he would “absolutely” hit Divak, only to suddenly find his enemy’s figure vanishing before his eyes! It wasn’t movement or evasion—it was “disappearance”! Though it lasted only a second, that fleeting moment allowed the powerful Qi energy Mels had unleashed to pass through without touching any substantial object!

‘Shocked’ was an understatement for the astonishment in Mels’ heart. The unimaginable had happened right before his eyes. He even forgot to retract his right fist from the attack, standing there dumbfounded as the unbelievable turn of events shattered his belief in fighting to the end.

Had Divak really disappeared? No! Within a few seconds, Divak reappeared before Mels, but now he was facing him, a faint, enigmatic smile still lingering at the corner of his mouth.

As if sensing that Mels had lost the will to continue fighting, Divak looked at him with a smile, as if waiting for a question.

After staring intently at Divak for a long moment, Mels finally choked out a few words: “How exactly did you dodge my attack?”

“I didn’t dodge your attack. It was the Federation’s technology that allowed me to escape from your grasp!” Divak seemed unwilling to hide the truth from Mels. After saying this, he immediately took out a small metal box from his belt and placed it before Mels.

Although Mels didn’t understand how this box had allowed Divak to evade his fatal strike, he knew Divak was telling the truth.

Divak seemed to want to explain everything to Mels. Picking up the metal box, he said, “You might not understand, but I’ll tell you anyway. This device is the Federation’s latest cutting-edge tactical equipment. It can instantly decompose all matter in a person’s body and reassemble it a few seconds later.”

Worried that Mels might not grasp his explanation, Divak smiled slightly and continued, “A person is made up of countless tiny particles invisible to the naked eye. This device can instantly break a person down into these particles, making them invisible. Even Qi energy cannot destroy these particles. After a few seconds, they reassemble, and I ‘reappear’ before you.”

Although Mels didn’t fully understand Divak’s explanation, he knew this small metal box was something truly marvelous. His eyes remained fixed on it, unwilling to look away.

Divak seemed to sense Mels’ thoughts and continued, “I admit, you beat me in this battle. Although your strength is still inferior to mine, your tactics exceeded my expectations. However, even though I lost, I must still take Emma away—it’s my job. If you insist on challenging me again, I will not hold back this time!”

After hearing Divak’s words, Mels snapped out of his earlier daze. He retracted his arm and said earnestly to Divak, “No matter what, even if I have to fight to the death, I will stop you from taking Emma away!”

Before Divak could respond to Mels’ words, Xiu Lante suddenly spoke from a distance: “Mels, that’s enough. You’ve done your best. Now it’s time to face reality. Even if you fight to the death, the outcome will not change!”

Xiu Lante’s words not only surprised Mels but also made Divak turn to look at the one-armed man in the distance.

Xiu Lante showed no fear, taking a few steps forward before raising his voice again to address Mels: “Mels, you’ve done well. Continuing this fight holds no chance of victory for you. Even a warrior should abandon a pointless battle when they know death cannot change anything! If he takes Emma today, it doesn’t mean you can’t bring her back tomorrow!”

Listening to Xiu Lante’s words, Mels was deeply moved. After a brief internal struggle, his tightly clenched fists gradually relaxed, and the Qi energy condensed around his body began to dissipate. Clearly, swayed by Xiu Lante, Mels had decided to abandon the futile fight and withdraw from this hopeless struggle.

Divak quietly observed Mels’ reaction. At that moment, he suddenly realized that the one-armed man in the distance had a significant influence on Mels. Divak frowned slightly, thinking to himself: As the possessor of the sixth non-attribute Summoned Beast, he should not be bound by any emotional attachments. If this continues, the growth of the Summoned Beast will slow down again…

Just as Divak was secretly contemplating this, Mels’ voice suddenly reached his ears: “Tell me, what will happen to Emma after you take her back? Will she be executed?”

“Hmph, how to deal with her is our business and has nothing to do with you! If you have the ability, take her back from me right now!” Divak, who had been treating Mels gently until now, suddenly changed his expression and shouted sharply.

Hearing his words, Mels’ face turned pale, but he suppressed the anger in his heart and sighed deeply at Divak. “What the old man said is right. I’m no match for you, and continuing this fight won’t change anything.”

After hearing Mels’ words, Divak sighed inwardly: *Sigh… The worst-case scenario has still occurred. To help you grow into a useful experimental subject for us as soon as possible, I have no choice but to do this now!*

Having made up his mind, Divak gave Mels a cold glance and said loudly, “It seems that man over there has a great influence on you. But in my opinion, you don’t need to follow anyone’s orders! For your future, I must now eliminate the one holding you back!” As soon as he finished speaking, immense Qi energy suddenly burst forth from Divak’s entire body.

Sensing the killing intent emanating from Divak, Mels immediately felt a sense of foreboding. Just as he tried to gather his strength to stop Divak’s next move, his opponent’s figure vanished from his sight.

In shock, when Mels located Divak again, he had already flashed to a spot in front of Xiu Lante. At a speed almost imperceptible to anyone, Divak drew a Beam Sword emitting a blue light from behind his back.

“No!” Mels understood what Divak was about to do. However, even as he cried out in a near-scream, he could not stop Divak’s intentions.

In an instant, before anyone could react, the blue beam pierced through Xiu Lante’s chest. As if not yet feeling the pain, Xiu Lante stared in disbelief at Divak, now right in front of him. He never imagined that Divak, who had been fighting Mels all along, would suddenly launch a surprise attack on him. Even more unbelievable was the strength and speed of this strike, leaving him no time to evade!

“I’m sorry, this is for everyone’s future,” Divak whispered, his words audible only to Xiu Lante. He then yanked the Beam Sword free from Xiu Lante’s chest and vanished from everyone’s sight.

Almost simultaneously with Divak’s disappearance, Mels and the others rushed to Xiu Lante, catching his collapsing body. “Old man, old man, what’s wrong? You can’t die!” Mels’ voice was choked with tears.

But Xiu Lante could only offer Mels a faint smile. At this moment, he no longer had the strength to speak.

“Mels, this is a nautical chart to the Free Federation. If you want to get your revenge on me, come to the Free Federation within a year. Otherwise, you will never have the chance for vengeance!” After assassinating Xiu Lante, Divak finished speaking, then took Emma and shot straight up into the sky. The nautical chart he mentioned fell from mid-air toward Mels!

“Don’t go! Come back here!” Mels shouted at the airborne Divak, tears in his eyes and bloodshot rage in his gaze. But Divak was unwilling to stay a moment longer. After uttering his final words, he flew higher and higher, disappearing from everyone’s sight.

“Don’t go…” Just as Mels was about to chase after the distant Divak, Xiu Lante’s hand grabbed his sleeve.

“Old man, old man!” Seeing that Xiu Lante was still responsive, Mels hurriedly called out to him.

Summoning his last ounce of strength, Xiu Lante spoke with difficulty to Mels: “He… he is ten times stronger than you… Don’t… seek revenge for me, or… you will die. He must have had some other goal for going easy on you all this time. Right now, you are… no match for him. Absolutely… do not go looking for him!”

“Yes, I understand. Old man, don’t speak, don’t speak!” Mels replied, tears streaming down his face.

“Mels, I… I have one more thing… I want you to promise me,” Xiu Lante said, blood slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth.

“Old man, tell me. I promise you anything!” Mels hurriedly agreed.

“Don’t… don’t seek revenge for… Blue Whirlwind… They… they are…” Before Xiu Lante could finish his sentence, he closed his eyes forever.

No matter how much the youths called out to him, Xiu Lante would never respond again. As if in a deep sleep, Xiu Lante entered another world with a smile on his face.

The north wind howled past, capable of sweeping away everything on the land, but it could not carry away the deep sorrow of the youths. Xiu Lante—once revered by thousands, once the continent’s strongest Knight Captain, once a caring elder who had shown the youths endless affection—had left them forever.

Remembering, Mels recalled the night of their first meeting and the countless experiences of fighting side by side. Many times, Mels had been overjoyed to earn Xiu Lante’s praise. Many times, he had hoped to weather storms together with this father-like “old man.” But now, all of that had become an illusion, an impossible dream.

No one knew exactly how they buried Xiu Lante. Mels only knew that when he regained consciousness, he was already standing before Xiu Lante’s grave. No matter how great a person is, in death, they are the same as any ordinary person—a simple mound of earth can bury everything about them. Looking at the simple grave, tears silently streamed down Mels’ face.

“Old man, forgive me. I cannot fulfill your final request. I must go to the Free Federation and bring Divak’s head before your grave! If your spirit watches over me from above, please bless me to avenge you soon!” Mels swore quietly, voicing the determination in his heart.

“Mels, don’t be too sad. I believe the old man wouldn’t want to see you like this,” Bagina said, speaking to Mels in an unusually gentle tone for the first time. Having witnessed Mels’ anguish when Blue Whirlwind was destroyed, Bagina knew that losing Xiu Lante this time had struck an even deeper blow to Mels.

“You’re right. Now is not the time for sorrow! We only have one year. No matter what, we must avenge Divak!” Mels suddenly wiped away his tears and declared loudly to everyone.

“Boss… Sob… Boss, why do you say we only have one year?” Sol, still sobbing, suddenly asked.

“Have you forgotten what I heard those bastards saying at the port? They originally planned to destroy us within a year. So if we can’t reach that Free Federation within a year, we won’t be able to stop their plot, and we’ll have no chance to avenge Divak,” Mels explained loudly to Sol.

“So that’s it. But where exactly is the Free Federation?” Sol asked, now understanding.

“There’s a nautical chart here. As long as we can find fishermen who sail the seas year-round, we should be able to figure out the location,” Mels replied.

“Let me take a look. Maybe I’ve seen it before,” Bagina said, reaching out to Mels.

Although surprised that Bagina could read nautical charts, Mels quickly handed her the chart Divak had left behind. However, after taking the chart, Bagina’s expression grew increasingly grim, and she kept shaking her head.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you read it?” Sol asked anxiously.

“I really wish I couldn’t!” Bagina replied dejectedly to Sol before turning back to Mels. “The markings on this chart are clear enough. The problem is the journey is far too long. Even with the ships my father built, the fastest it would take to sail such a distance is eight months! Even if we could set sail with our current ship, the food supplies on board wouldn’t last more than eight months for everyone.”

“So, according to you, it’s impossible for us to reach the Free Federation? But back at the harbor, I heard them say they planned to use ships to sail out to sea!” Mels said anxiously to Bagina.

“Mels, you’re really panicking. They only said they’d sail out to sea—they never said they’d use those broken ships to go to the Free Federation! Don’t they have many flying machines? Once they reach the remote seas, they can switch to other machines as they please!” Bagina retorted after hearing Mels’ words.

“Is there really no other way? Even if we ask your father to build us a faster ship?” Mels asked. “No, with current technology, it’s impossible to build a faster ship. If we don’t have a faster vessel, then… Wait, I’ve got an idea!” Bagina suddenly exclaimed excitedly. Perhaps too thrilled, she spoke before Mels and the others could even ask. “I once heard the white-haired elders say that the forest elves living by the sea can build ships powered by wind spirits! They’re incredibly fast and have excellent navigation capabilities. If we can get our hands on one of their ships, we’ll definitely be able to sail out and reach the Free Federation!”

Upon hearing Bagina's words, everyone was quite excited, but Sol suddenly threw cold water on the idea, saying, "That's like saying nothing at all! With others I wouldn't be so sure, but the forest elves haven't had contact with humans for over a thousand years. Since the outbreak of the Holy War, they've regarded us as a threat and want nothing to do with us.

Moreover, forest elves are highly skilled in natural magic. If they intend to avoid us, even if we enter their territory, finding them in the vast forest would be a problem, let alone asking them to build ships for us!"

Although Sol's words were disheartening, Mels looked encouraged and said, "No matter what, as long as there's a glimmer of hope, I have to try. If we can find the forest elves, perhaps we can win them over with our sincerity! We haven't even tried yet, so how can we assume we'll definitely fail?"

Mels' words instantly ignited the passion in the young men's hearts. Rek and the others nodded in agreement, and even Sol, who had been pouring cold water earlier, was moved and said, "You're right, boss. Maybe the forest elves aren't as difficult to deal with as we imagine. Hehe, I've also been fascinated by the Elven Clan's natural magic for ages. I hope we can gain something this time!"

"Now that we've decided, let's get moving," Mels said, rising to his feet.

At that moment, Rek suddenly spoke up, "Boss, the forest elves aren't a warlike race. I believe you won't face much danger this time, so I'd like to take the opportunity before we depart to return to my masters and train for another half year. After all, my skills are still too weak, and even if I go with you to the enemy's country, I won't be of much help, so..."

"Don't worry about it, Rek. Half a year from now, I'll wait for you at the Sekbang Fortress in the southwestern borderlands, and we'll set off together!" Mels said magnanimously.

In truth, Mels didn't want to drag his good friend into danger, so Rek's request to leave for a while was exactly what Mels had hoped for. Rek, unaware of Mels' thoughts, was greatly relieved that Mels didn't blame him.

Afterward, Bagina also wished to temporarily return to the Magic Family to seek strong support from the elders. Since Akafir had been injured in the previous battle, Mels decided to let him return with Rek to the Seven Immortals of Myriad Changes. Only Sol refused to leave no matter what, and Mels had no choice but to agree to let him come along.

Thus, the next morning, Mels and the others went their separate ways. Bagina returned to her home in the northern capital of Feijinando, Rek and Akafir headed to the Seven Immortals Valley in the south of Feijinando, while Mels took Sol westward across the grasslands directly toward the elven forest in the southwest near the coast.

With the speed of their horses, Mels and Sol left Feijinando after seven days. Later, as Little One regained its strength, Mels abandoned the horses and instead had Little One carry them, flying toward their destination.

Little One's flying speed was naturally much faster than galloping horses. Although they couldn't fly continuously every day, it still cut their travel time in half. About ten days later, the vast grasslands had disappeared, replaced by various tall coastal plants appearing before Mels and Sol.

"Boss, according to the map, we've already left human territory. Once we cross the small hill ahead, we should be able to see the elven forest," Sol said to Mels after putting away the map.

"Yeah, it's still early today. Let's push on a bit further," Mels said, taking a big gulp from his water flask before standing up.

"Huh?" Sol blurted out in surprise upon hearing Mels' decision. He instinctively looked up at the gradually setting sun, his expression clearly saying: Boss, the sun will set soon. Shouldn't we rest?

However, Mels, already on his feet, glared at Sol and said, "What's wrong? If you don't want to go, then..."

"If I don't want to go, I should go back by myself, right? Boss, you've said that hundreds of times. I get it, I get it. Let's go!" Throughout the journey, whenever Sol tried to slack off, Mels would tell him to pack up and go home. This time, Sol got up first to pack his belongings, ready to set off, to avoid Mels using the same old line to send him away.

Seeing Sol's reaction, Mels was amused but kept his expression neutral. He knew his childhood friend all too well and understood what would happen if he gave him an inch.

Under Mels' repeated urging, as dusk fell, the two stood atop a low hill. Looking down from the hill, they saw a dense forest spread out before them. Although the light was fading in the twilight, the forest bathed in the afterglow of the sunset held a special kind of beauty.

Gazing at the forest turned golden by the sunset, listening to the enchanting songs of countless birds, and feeling the sweet fragrance carried by the gentle breeze, Mels and Sol almost forgot all the hardships of their journey.

"Boss, those elves really know how to enjoy life, living in such a beautiful environment!" Sol said, taking a deep breath.

"Heh, watch your words. This is elven territory. Be careful they don't catch you and make you into a snack!" Mels said with a sly grin, looking at Sol.

Hearing Mels' words, Sol felt a wave of fear and quickly covered his mouth, falling silent. But a few minutes later, he suddenly realized something and said loudly to Mels, "Boss, you tricked me again! The Elven Clan are vegetarians. How could they make me into a snack?"

"Haha, you finally figured it out? I tricked you because you're easy to fool—that's how gullible you are!" Mels laughed heartily as he rushed down the hill, turning back to Sol and saying, "As punishment for being so dumb, you're in charge of all the luggage."

"Boss, you're so cunning! Wait for me!" Seeing Mels already far ahead, Sol could only helplessly pick up the luggage and walk down with a bitter smile, muttering to himself, "Just my luck! But then again, why am I so easily fooled?"

That night, Mels chose a dry patch of grass covered with fallen leaves to rest. Surrounded by the hypnotic chirping of insects and birds, accompanied by the fresh scent emanating from the earth, the exhausted Mels and Sol quickly fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, when only the calls of nocturnal animals remained in the surrounding forest, Mels was suddenly awakened by faint, rustling footsteps. Opening his eyes and discerning that the footsteps weren't from an animal, Mels gently shook Sol awake and whispered to him about the possible presence of enemies.

After briefing Sol, Mels, agile as a monkey, quickly climbed a nearby tree and peered into the dark forest around them. Before long, several dark figures entered his line of sight in the distant, shadowy woods.

"Elven Clan?" When Mels was surprised to see that these figures all had long, pointed ears, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. Just as he was about to call out to them, he suddenly changed his mind and devised a new plan.

Quietly descending from the tree, Mels approached Sol and whispered, "Sol, the ones approaching us are the Elven Clan!"

"What..." Before Sol could exclaim, Mels covered his mouth. Only when Sol blinked to indicate he wouldn't speak loudly again did Mels release his hands.

"Boss, if they're the Elven Clan, why didn't you call out to them? Isn't that why we came here—to find them?" Sol whispered to Mels.

"I thought about doing that just now, but it occurred to me that the elves approaching us likely discovered us resting here and want to capture us. Since we need to meet their leader, being taken by them is the best method. If I call out to them and they scatter, wouldn't it be much harder for us to find their settlement on our own? Let's pretend we know nothing and let them willingly lead the way!" Mels said softly.

"Boss, I knew you were cunning, but I didn't realize you were this cunning!" Sol said, shaking his head at Mels.

"Cut it out. Now lie down and pretend to be asleep!" Mels lightly hit Sol and then lay down first. Following suit, Sol, before settling down, worriedly said, "Elves are all master archers. What if they shoot us full of arrows without saying a word?"

"Don't worry. With me by your side, what are you afraid of?" Mels whispered to reassure Sol.

Just as Sol was about to complain some more, the rustling sounds in the forest grew closer and closer. Mels knew the Elven Warriors were preparing to launch a surprise attack on him and Sol!