Chapter 250

Chapter 250
## Chapter 250

Ganghwange (2)

Drasha, the capital of the Elven Kingdom.

“Sigh…”

Cecily Granwood released a heavy breath as she stepped away from the grand palace located at the core of the city.

‘Where could he have vanished to so suddenly…?’

She was still completely bewildered by Harris’s abrupt and unannounced actions from just a few hours prior.

He had been watching over the World Tree with absolute dedication, remaining alert for any potential trouble, when he suddenly asked for a leave of absence.

It was by no means unprecedented for High Elves to take a break. Everyone required a period to unwind and restore their energy, so the remaining High Elves readily consented, advising him to take it easy and make the most of his rest.

The issue was that he wasn’t merely stepping outside the gates of Drasha; he was departing from the Elven Kingdom entirely, heading toward an unrevealed destination.

‘…He never specified a location, but I have a strong suspicion he has left the Enamel Continent altogether.’

Predictably, Cecily along with the rest of the High Elves attempted to talk him out of it.

A High Elf, standing as one of the ultimate symbols of the Elven Kingdom and representing a rapidly ascending pinnacle of power, was traveling entirely alone to an unmapped and hazardous territory. They simply could not let him walk away without a word.

Yet, completely contrary to his typical relaxed and easygoing nature, he remained uncharacteristically resolute, forcing them to ultimately concede to his wishes.

‘The danger posed by the Lycanthrope has been completely neutralized, and our current protective measures are more than adequate, meaning his temporary absence shouldn’t cause any major issues… ’

They had settled on a strict ten-day window.

Harris gave his word that he would come back before those ten days concluded, and then, only moments ago, utilized the Forest Path to journey toward an unidentified realm.

“I truly hope he stays out of harm’s way.”

She doubted that a creature of his immense strength would easily find himself in jeopardy, yet given the volatile state of the world, she couldn’t completely shake her anxiety.

She honestly wished he would have just remained in his spot and engaged in his usual sunbathing and photosynthesis.

As she strolled along, deeply buried in her own thoughts—.

She caught sight of someone lingering near the hillside where Harris frequently loitered to catch the warm sunlight.

‘Oh? Shapiron…?’

The young Elf girl, Shapiron Silvesty, was dressed in her absolute best attire, her blue hair gleaming beautifully beneath the light as she surveyed the area, clutching a basket filled with treats.

She was the daughter of Rapori and a personal friend of Cecily. The two had grown quite close during the period of the summit, given their matching ages.

‘Ah! That explains it.’

She had frequently observed Harris and Shapiron spending time in each other’s company.

Most of the time, they were simply sharing food or engaging in lighthearted bickering.

She had naturally assumed that he would have informed Shapiron about his impending departure…

However, it appeared he had simply vanished without offering a single word of explanation.

‘Honestly, what was the immense hurry?!’

While she remained standing there, briefly paralyzed, her gaze locked with Shapiron’s blue eyes.

Shapiron’s eyes expanded with surprise, and she hurriedly dipped her head in a polite bow.

Observing that innocent and visibly startled demeanor only served to make Cecily feel more distressed.

“Sigh, that ridiculous Harris… Just you wait until your feet touch this ground again…”

Releasing yet another sigh, she began walking directly toward Shapiron.

It fell upon her to break the news regarding Harris’s sudden exit and offer an apology on his behalf.

—

Danger Level: Very High, Prioritize Survival.

He was well aware that he couldn’t simply deploy just any avatar into a realm filled with such extreme peril.

He possessed the ‘Dismiss’ ability, ensuring they wouldn’t perish permanently without effort… but the mere cycle of trial and error represented an immense waste of precious time and capital.

‘Furthermore, to establish a secure base of operations and harvest intelligence, possessing an overwhelming presence of force is absolutely mandatory. There is zero reason to claw your way up from nothing when you already wield supreme power!’

Hans was completely occupied with his physical recovery and ongoing academic inquiries within the Immortal Fortress, while Heinz the Second was handling the management of both realms simultaneously.

Heinrich found himself directly in the public eye, drawing the gaze of the entire continent, and Harley was still occupied with unresolved matters down in the southern region.

‘This leaves Harris as the only individual with open availability.’

Naturally, even Harris was constrained from remaining away for an extended duration. He was required to journey back to the Elven Kingdom the moment a secure foothold was established.

He possessed a window of roughly ten days.

That duration ought to be sufficient to fulfill his primary targets.

Somewhere within Ganghwange.

Positioned in the center of an isolated mountain chain.

Whoosh— Ha—

“So, this is the realm of Ganghwange… Highly impressive.”

Harris inhaled a prolonged breath, nodding his head in quiet approval.

The air here didn’t possess the absolute purity found in Auterica, where the World Tree flourished, but when held up against the tainted atmosphere of Earth, this location felt like a pristine, untouched haven.

‘It isn’t merely a lack of pollution… The sheer availability or absence of ambient energy alters everything.’

In stark contrast to Earth, which resembled a barren desert completely stripped of supernatural forces, the air of Ganghwange was saturated with a distinct essence that flowed perpetually, cleansing the land.

‘Could this be… Ki? The sensation is remarkably unique.’

Wielding the heightened perceptions of a High Elf and existing as a transcendent entity, he could perceive it with absolute clarity.

It wasn’t solely the variation in energy density, but the fundamental structure of the atmosphere itself differed entirely from both Auterica and Earth.

‘Experiencing this firsthand is genuinely captivating. What exact trait allows awakened individuals to remain completely unaffected when transitioning between such wildly contrasting environments?’

The sheer autonomy to exist entirely separate from the cosmic constraints of any given dimension, alongside the physiological stability required to retain their distinct traits across such varied worlds.

It felt highly improbable that such monumental traits were distributed entirely by coincidence.

“Hmm.”

The strikingly attractive Elf, characterized by his elongated, pointed ears, golden hair, and vibrant green eyes, cocked his head slightly while rubbing his chin before dismissing the thought with a shake of his head.

This was hardly the moment to lose himself in the grand mysteries of creation.

‘The primary takeaway is that this trial has proven to be an absolute triumph.’

Consequent to this success, he had pulled off yet another magnificent accomplishment following his feat of ‘returning to Earth on his own’: upgrading the capabilities of “Interdimensional Transfer Formation Summon”.

The standard cooldown period, which previously demanded ten full days of otherworld time, had successfully been cut down to a mere five days.

‘The specific benefit that grants the ability to trace your steps back to any location previously stood upon within an alternate world.’

That precise mechanism was what allowed him to set foot within Ganghwange.

By utilizing the sharp, detailed memories pulled straight from the intellect of Salma, paired alongside the theoretical breakthroughs achieved by Hans.

‘This marks the exact region where Salma used to reside, doesn’t it?’

He had ultimately managed to deceive not merely his own senses, but the fabric of reality itself, by—

Bending the threads of causality to project the illusion that he had personally stood in this location within Salma’s recollections.

“Alright, shall we commence our preliminary environmental analysis?”

Harris displayed a subtle smirk, shifting his eyes across the surrounding woodland and vegetation.

The flora consisted entirely of species he had never encountered before, yet the rejuvenating vitality they radiated was more than enough to please someone possessing the trait “Assimilation with Nature”.

This particular setting was…

“Step forward, Pascal.”

Whirr—

…an absolute paradise for his spirits to roam freely.

—

Yangsan Mountain, bordering Changsha City, Hunan Province.

“Tsk, modern times are miserable. Trade is completely stagnant today.”

“What choice do we have? It is what it is. The empire is falling to pieces, so who in their right mind would be traveling around without a care?”

“Don’t be so incredibly dense! We are bound to starve to death at this rate! Shouldn’t we relocate to a different territory?”

“I understand the captain is currently weighing that option. He has been plagued with stress ever since the Sohochwi crew was forced to uproot.”

A cluster of five or six individuals were packed closely together at the mouth of a hidden mountain trail, venting their frustrations to one another.

They formally referred to themselves as the protectors of Yangsan Mountain, noble champions pointing out the flaws of a decadent world— though in truth,

They were common highwaymen.

“Hey! Is there any update from the scout up top? The captain will lose his mind if we return to camp empty-handed yet again.”

“Not a single whisper. I highly doubt we will cross paths with any patrons today.”

“Sigh, traveling traders have completely vanished as of late. I genuinely wish a wealthy fool would drop right out of the sky for us.”

“Hehehe, if you are going to talk absolute garbage, you might as well close your eyes and sleep! What in the world is… Wait?”

While they were passing the time with idle chatter, supposedly preserving the mountain’s order… an entirely unprecedented event unfolded.

“What?! What on earth is that?! It is heading straight toward us…!”

One of the men pointed his face toward the clouds, his tone dripping with sheer panic.

The remaining men tracked his pointing finger, their gazes swinging upward simultaneously—.

And they bore witness to a form descending gracefully from above, propelled by a violent surge of wind.

Whirrr—!

“Ah, I have located some locals.”

A poised, almost indifferent voice resonated from the heavens.

As they observed his feet touching the dirt, a singular realization swept through every mind present.

‘…Is that creature actually human?’

They could look past the golden locks and the green coloration of his eyes.

Travelers from distant lands were uncommon in these territories, but they weren’t entirely unheard of.

‘Are those… actual ears? And look at those eyes…!’

‘A… A mythical demon?!’

Yet every other physical attribute he possessed shattered their conventional grasp of nature.

A flawlessly chiseled, beautiful face, elongated, pointed ears, and star-shaped patterns embedded within his green pupils.

Furthermore, he had dropped straight out of the sky, cradled by a highly visible, swirling vortex!

Even for men like them, who boasted a highly flexible and unbothered perspective on worldly anomalies, this was an entirely unbelievable spectacle.

“…”

“…”

They traded frantic glances.

They desperately wished to debate this bizarre development, yet their survival instincts immediately dictated their behavior.

“A grand welcome to you! What noble purpose brings a magnificent champion such as yourself to our simple domain?!”

The brigand sporting a prominent mole right upon his nose was the quickest to throw himself flat on the dirt, his speech saturated with inflated reverence.

“For an individual of such celestial status to honor us, pathetic insects, with your presence…”

“If… If there is any item you seek, we shall execute your commands without hesitation…”

“My frail, elderly mother is counting on my safe return…”

The remaining bandits instantly mirrored his posture, pressing their foreheads firmly against the soil.

They had managed to endure at the lowest rungs of civilization by relying on their raw instincts. They were smart enough to recognize that challenging an entity capable of commanding the wind to fly was a quick path to the grave.

“Hmm, you lot possess quick wits.”

Harris, the traveler from another world who had dropped from the heavens, gave a nod of approval.

He felt quite satisfied that he wasn’t forced to employ physical intimidation during his introductory meeting with the indigenous population.

‘And I honestly never anticipated that “Xenoglossy” would turn out to be this incredibly practical here. I previously written it off as an absolute waste, but it is proving to be a massive victory!’

As he engaged in dialogue with them, he discovered that he could seamlessly comprehend and utilize their native tongue as a direct result of that specific skill.

It appeared that the automated language translation provided by the system only functioned within the precise dimension where he was originally dropped. It offered no such convenience for unapproved journeys across dimensions.

‘Had it not been for this capability, I would have been forced to transport Hans along to master an entirely unfamiliar language. That would have dragged out the timeline immensely.’

He was beginning to fundamentally reevaluate his initial assessment of “Xenoglossy”. It had demanded an investment of 500,000 points, but…

‘No, I will analyze those thoughts at a later time.’

He pushed down the sudden temptation to engage in further point spending and redirected his focus entirely to his current situation.

“With that settled, why don’t you escort me directly to your headquarters?”

He had already detected the precise location of their camp from a great distance away.

He had merely opted to make contact with this group first due to their closer proximity.

The request was a mere formality.

“Ah… might we dare to inquire what business draws you to such an insignificant dwelling…?”

“What?!… Hehe, naturally! Walk this way! I shall pilot you there with the utmost speed and security!”

The brigand with the mole instantly altered his wording, accurately reading the flash of irritation in Harris’s posture.

This marked an incredibly fortunate twist of fate for their group.

And as a matter of course,

The very moment he was escorted into the heart of their hidden camp, he effortlessly brought them to heel and initiated a thorough cross-examination.

A mere single hour had drifted by since the transcendent figure, Harris, had first stepped foot into this world.