Salemir raised the torn envelope in his hand, his tone heavy.
"Bad news. That crew ran into an elven patrol last night. They didn't even get the advance payment warm before they bolted."
"The message said the patrol density was higher than estimated, and they didn't want to risk it for that amount of money."
"It pisses me off." Natalis huffed, her face puffed with anger. "Last time at White Tower Docks, it was the same—they took the deposit and vanished. Are all shadow professionals like this? When I get back, I'm going to find them and beat the crap out of them."
Orion cut her off. "Now's not the time for this. We'll head straight into the Shadow Mountains. The terrain is complex there; maybe we can shake them off."
"But we don't know the way."
Salemir folded the letter and tucked it into his chest, watching the two of them ride off.
"The shadows in the Shadow Mountains are alive. They change every day. Even if you have a map, a marker you put down in the morning might be gone by afternoon."
"The only reason we got deep into the mountains last time was because we had a shadow professional guiding us. Other times, we've barely moved beyond the river area. Plus, we have less than three days' worth of dry rations left. If we get lost in there and run out of food, that's worse than being caught by the rangers."
"Hey, do you two remember what those two slimes said before they left? They said if we needed help, we could come back to the river area and find them."
Salemir didn't turn to look at her; he was staring at the torches drawing closer behind them along the river bend.
"But what if they were just saying that offhand?"
"Maybe they've already left that forest. If we rush over there now, we'd be walking into a dead end."
"Any direction is a gamble," Orion cut in, his voice firm. "We have to believe in one."
"If it really comes to it, we can still slip into the Shadow Mountains."
Salemir was silent for a moment, then let out a soft puff of white mist. "Do you remember the exact spot?"
"Roughly. Follow me." Orion turned his horse's head and galloped toward the riverbank where they had parted ways with those two slimes three days ago.
The elven rangers were closing in behind them again. Arrows kept flying from the rear, enchanted arrowheads trailing blue-white streaks through the night.
Natalis brought up the rear, her massive hammer swinging left and right, deflecting the arrows aimed at their horses' legs.
One arrow grazed past her ear and embedded itself in a withered pine trunk ahead, the fletching still vibrating.
Gradually, she was finding it harder to keep up, but the good news was that the elven rangers were running low on arrows too.
Orion reined in his horse, pointing at the riverbank ahead.
"We're here. I remember this spot. This is where they left."
Several iron pines at the edge of the clearing still bore broken branches where Chubby One's dragon wings had snapped them on takeoff. But the clearing was empty. Nothing stirred except the night wind rolling a few withered leaves past their horses' hooves.
Salemir looked around, his voice tightening. "Did they say how to contact them?"
Natalis took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted with all her might toward the pitch-black forest: "Hey! They said they could hear us! You heard them last time, didn't you?!"
Orion and Salemir exchanged a glance and shouted together, "Sir! We're back! Please save us!"
"Save us!"
Little Nana's voice was smaller than both of theirs combined, but it startled a flock of shadow crows dozing under a nearby withered pine. They flapped up into the night sky, circling and letting out harsh caws.
The elven ranger captain behind them yanked hard on his reins, raising a hand to signal the squad to halt. The cold-blue enchanted arrowheads all swiveled to point at the forest.
"Someone's meeting them? Who are they shouting at?"
Everyone stared into the dark forest, but after a long moment, no one came out, and no sound answered them.
"Bluffing." The captain lowered his hand and gave a cold order. "Keep pursuing. Don't let them into the forest."
The rain of arrows resumed.
Salemir dodged while riding, turning his head to shout at Orion, "It's useless! What now? Maybe they left. We bet wrong."
Orion clenched his jaw and yanked hard on the reins, pulling his horse's head toward the dark forest entrance to the north. "Follow me! Straight into the fores—"
"Hey! Look!" Natalis suddenly interrupted him in amazement, pointing behind her.
Orion looked back.
The old vines that had been quietly wrapped around the withered pine trunks were now visibly growing, spreading toward the pursuers.
The vines entangled the forelegs of the elven warhorses and snared the arms of the rangers drawing their bows, trapping them in place. The cold-blue arrows all flew wide, embedding themselves in the canopy.
"This way." A cool, pleasant female voice came from deep within the forest. It wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the night wind to their ears.
The three of them didn't even have time to exchange a glance.
Salemir was the first to turn his horse. Orion followed behind him, and Natalis brought up the rear. All three horses plunged straight into the forest.
The voice guided them ahead, occasionally giving a brief direction at forks in the path, leading them around several iron pines covered in withered vines.
After they crossed a shallow creek and passed an entrance to a forest path completely hidden by ferns, they finally shook off the torchlight and hoofbeats of the pursuers.
The trees ahead gradually thinned, and they were blocked by a cliff face.
At the foot of the cliff was what looked like an ordinary cave entrance. In front of it stood a figure in a dark cloak, who had clearly been waiting for some time.
Natalis slowed her horse and leaned forward to get a look at the figure, muttering under her breath, "How come it's a woman? Where are the slimes?"
The figure seemed to have heard her. She raised a hand and pushed back her hood, revealing a delicate face.
Long, pointed ears. A cascade of silver-white hair fell from her shoulders to the front of her cloak, shimmering with a faint, cold light in the moonlight.
An elf. A pure-blooded high elf.
"His Majesty sent me to receive you."
"An elf!"
Natalis yelped, quickly grabbing her giant hammer and holding it in front of Orion and Salemir, the hammerhead aimed at the woman's chest, her face a mask of wariness.
"I'm warning you, I'm really strong! Ever heard of an Extraordinary warrior? Ever heard of the Bloody Hammer? Don't come any closer."
Selene merely glanced at her ridiculous hammer and her bristling, cat-like expression. Then she turned around and walked straight into the cave entrance.
She left behind only one sentence: "I am from the Slime United Empire, the current Grand Sage of the Forest Sage Council. If you want to save your half-elf compatriots being held by the Council and break the Withering Curse, follow me."
"What do we do?" Natalis held up her giant hammer, looking back at her two companions. "She doesn't look like a bad person. In my experience, pretty people are usually not bad."
But Salemir looked as if the woman's words had struck him. He was frozen in place.
His lips moved, and it took him a moment to find his voice: "The Forest Sage Council? The one that voluntarily left the Emerald Crown and still uses the old moon emblem?"
"Rumor has it they're a group of scholars who believe in the path of natural balance. They've never liked the Council elves."
"I've heard of them too." Orion led his horse, his gaze also fixed on Selene's retreating figure. "Some old merchants who escaped from the Emerald Crown mentioned that a few sages had settled in the Slime United Empire. I just never imagined the Grand Sage was an imperial citizen."
Without a word, both of them followed.
Only Natalis lingered behind, looking a bit troubled. How come she didn't know about this Sage Council? Wouldn't that make her look dumb?
She stood there for a moment, hammer raised, watching her companions who had already walked several steps ahead. Then she quickly slung the hammer over her shoulder and trotted to catch up.
She leaned out from beside Orion, nodding vigorously. "Yeah, yeah, I've heard of it too! The Sage Council, uh... that organization that handles leaves and tree bark."
Orion glanced at her, finding it amusing, but didn't call her out.
The front part of the cave was pitch black, lit only by a few scattered clusters of glowing moss on the walls, providing a faint luminescence. Their footsteps echoed and re-echoed in the narrow passage.
Selene walked ahead, her pace unhurried. The hem of her cloak occasionally brushed against a clump of dark-green moss on the ground, causing the moss to briefly brighten and then dim again after she passed.
They walked further in, and suddenly a soft glow appeared ahead.
At first, it was just a vague patch of brightness. The closer they got, the clearer it became. Until the moment they followed Selene through the end of the cave mouth, all three of them were stunned.
Before them was a vast natural stone hall. The space was large enough to hold several dock warehouses. Glowing Gray Gravel Crystals had been deliberately embedded into the stalactites high on the dome, their light flooding the hall like a snowfield under moonlight.
Slimes were hopping all over the floor of the hall. A pink slime, pushing a small minecart, rolled right past their feet.
It even stopped for a moment, tilting its head to stare at Natalis, then went *splat* and continued pushing its cart away.
Around the stone walls of the hall were several slime variants they had never seen before.
A group of slimes covered in rough rock was clinging to the wall, constantly eating the stone. For every chunk they bit off, they spat out a blob of translucent gel that quickly solidified in the air, filling in the spot with smooth, flat rock.
Not far away, a squad of metal slimes, their shells gleaming with a cold, metallic luster, marched in a patrol formation past a stone pillar.
As they passed, a few goo slimes who were carrying magical crystals for installation quietly shuffled aside to make way.
"Oh my god, is this slime heaven?"
Natalis's eyes were dazzled. As she rounded a massive stone pillar, her field of vision suddenly opened up onto a spacious training ground.
She saw magical creatures.
Magical creatures of all sizes were lined up in neat square formations on the training ground, as if waiting for some kind of inspection.
The first thing they saw was a giant boar crouching low. In the middle row were dozens of Poison-stinger Wasps hovering in midair, their wings vibrating at high speed, emitting a low hum.
At the front of the formation stood a young, black-scaled dragon, its wings folded, docile as a cat.
Beside it stood the Death Knight, leaning on his Bone Spear, utterly motionless. A proud crow perched on his shoulder pauldron, giving a hoarse speech to the formation.
"...So, this count tells you, those Shadow Scions that have been roaming the Shadow Mountains for centuries used to take a detour whenever they saw me!"
"If you train hard with me, when the Autumn Brewing Festival comes, we'll charge out of that teleportation gate and make those pointy-eared elves not even have time to raise their staves!"
"Caw! Mind the formation! Peachy, don't think this count can't see you sneaking a bite of that rock!"
Peachy let out a reluctant grunt and put down the half-eaten rock snack.
"There are even undead here." Natalis let out a soft *wow*, her eyes wide as saucers, her voice filled with awe.
"They said the Empire has citizens from every race. I used to think it was just a story the Merchant Alliance traders made up to drum up business. Turns out it's all true. They even have undead here."
Salemir stood still, his gray pupils reflecting the entire scene of slimes, magical creatures, and undead bustling and coexisting in the stone hall.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, he lowered his head and muttered to himself.
Orion was also a little dazed, gazing at this harmonious scene, not knowing what to say.
Selene stopped in front of a gel teleportation gate that was emitting a faint green glow.
The green membrane of the gate spun silently, reflecting the Gray Gravel Crystal light of the stone hall and the complex expressions of the three people standing before it.
Selene said calmly, "The other side of this gate is the Empire. It leads to His Majesty's Royal Palace."
"We're going to meet that Slime Majesty?" Natalis swallowed hard, clearly a bit nervous.
"That's a Legendary, and a Legendary who started out as a slime."
She whispered to the other two, "I heard rumors about him while waiting for a boat at White Tower Docks. Some people say that Slime Majesty is pitch black, as big as an entire castle, and always surrounded by an aura of fear that makes even Legendary demons tremble."
"What if we're so scared when we see him that we can't speak?"
Orion and Salemir weren't much better off. Their bodies were tense, obviously also way too nervous.
Hearing Natalis's whispers, Selene said without looking back, "If you want to save your compatriots, follow me. If you don't have that resolve, now is the time to leave."
With that, she didn't wait for any response. She turned and walked straight into the teleportation gate. The green membrane flashed once, and her figure completely vanished from the stone hall.
Natalis stared at the teleportation gate, gripping her hammer handle tightly. After a long moment, she turned her face to Orion. "Orion, what do we do?"
Salemir's gaze also fell on Orion.
Orion took a deep breath, his tone turning resolute.
"With our strength alone, we can't even hope to shake the Ancient Tree Council, let alone safely exchange our captured compatriots."
"We need outside help. No matter who it is, even if it's the Demon King, as long as we can get our people back and make the Council acknowledge the half-elves..."
"I, Orion, am willing to give my life for the liberation of the half-elves."
"Me too!" Natalis raised her hand excitedly, the nervousness on her face completely replaced by exhilaration. Anyone watching might think she was signing up for a tour group.
Salemir spoke last. His voice lacked fervent passion, but was calm and steady. "I'm not going to live much longer anyway. I might as well use what's left of my life to do something meaningful."
"Come on." Natalis held out her hand, signaling to them.
Orion and Salemir placed their palms on top of hers, just like they did before every operation for Leaf of No Distinction.
"Alright. It's decided."
Orion lowered his hand and took the first step toward the teleportation gate. "Let's go. Let's see this terrifying Slime Emperor for ourselves."
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