Although it wasn't consisted of that many personnels—120 Elves—the army that followed Tinuviel was still considered many. She had, after all, never gathered that many people unless there was a big fight coming.

The Elves in Alphoetra Tribe immediately got anxious as soon as they saw their Chief Tribe headed out of the village with an army with her. Unaware of the truth, they wondered if the relationship between the two tribes would forever be ruined.

"The wind has finally blown us backwards," muttered one of the old tribesmen watching the march. "To even rely on the outsiders to kill one's own kin—how ironic..."

Tinuviel heard it loud and clear, but she was as unfazed as ever. On the contrary however, Nissena, who knew about the truth, couldn't help frowning as she looked at the old Elf who had said it.

Basil and the Legion under his command were right behind Tinuviel and her army; they took the center part of the whole formation. For some reason, many of the Elves couldn't turn their eyes away from him.

As someone who didn't like being treated like a bizarre specimen, Basil couldn't help frowning lightly. He preferred being stared with distaste like Cyane and his army to being stared with such curiosity.

'Why are they looking at me like that?'

'Your presence must feel familiar,' Asia answered. 'As my husband, your presence must remind them of the goddess who had embraced their ancestors in desperate times.'

'That sounds narcissistic.'

'Oh my, you didn't even try to argue about the husband part anymore.' Asia gasped in surprise. 'I have finally tamed your heart it seems.'

'Seriously, please.'

At that, Asia immediately got serious. 'You have been practicing [One With Nature] for slightly more than two years, haven't you? You might not realize it, but your presence blends so well with Nature, any Elf can mistaken you as a Spirit.'

'Ah, they are wondering if one of my parents is a Spirit, aren't they?'

'Considering the fact that most of them have forgotten about the Pacifer, that seems to be the case.'

Deacon abruptly stopped in his tracks, earning a light frown from Basil. He was about to ask what happened to Deacon, but as soon as he looked down, he immediately got the issue: a child Elf was looking at Deacon in fascination.

"Ophia, what are you doing?!"

The girl's mother was horrified to find her daughter right under Deacon, a 6 metres tall Tyrant Saberwolf, which the Elves even seldom encountered. She was conflicted about what to do; she wanted to immediately take her daughter, but she was afraid.

Tinuviel, who had also ordered her army to stop the march, was about to get down from her Hexapod Horse when Basil jumped down. The Elves in her army immediately clicked their tongue in worry, but she smiled at that instead.

"You are standing in our way. Are you aware of that, munchkin?"

|Huh? I-I am sorry, I was too... Wait, you can't understand me, can you?|

|I can.|

The entire village turned silent the moment they heard Basil reply the girl, Ophia, in their own native language, Eruvian, which was the language that every young Elf who couldn't speak the universal language spoke.

Any record about Eruvian didn't exist; therefore, one had to go to Padeitophys, and stay for a couple of weeks just to learn it. So far, very few people found the interest to, and even if they did, they would only stay there for three days before giving up.

The Elves considered their language sacred, but they were glad to teach anyone who wanted to learn it. Very few non-Elves managed to master it nonetheless, which was why the fact that Basil could speak it was really mind-boggling.

|I will ask you again, munchkin. Why do you find blocking our way necessary?|

|Uwah... You can really speak Eruvian! Can you understand me?|

|No, I can't.|

Ophia's eyes shone brightly as she looked at Basil. She was now more interested in the human than the Tyrant Saberwolf that she saw for the first time.

Shaking her head in the next moment, she reached into her pocket, and took out a golden colored seed. She showed it off to Basil with a grin on her face.

|Look, Mr. Mage, I can do something like—how?!|

Ophia wanted to show Basil how she could turn the golden colored seed into a fully bloomed marigold. Before she could do that however, he tapped the seed once, turning it into a golden colored marigold.

Ophia was dumbfounded; in fact, all of the Elves who had witnessed the scene were dumbfounded. They could understand Basil's proficiency in Eruvian, but what they had witnessed was something they couldn't wrap their head around.

|Nature Essence—I happen to be able to control it too.|

|No way... Are you a Spirit?!|

|I am a Mage and a Knight. Now, can you move aside?|

At that question, Ophia stared silently at Basil. Her bright look had disappeared—it was replaced by a solemn and gloomy look.

|Where are you going? Is war really the answer to this conflict?|

The question caught many people off guard—even Tinuviel—since none of them had expected a child to be able to say something like that. She shared the tribesmen's sentiment, and that made them feel bitter.

Basil extended his hand, and put it on top of Ophia's head. He kneeled down, then looked into her eyes silently for a couple of seconds.

"You have to pay me for this," he whispered with a soft smile.

Ophia widened her eyes briefly before nodding her head lightly. She looked at Basil with eyes full of wonder afterwards, anticipating what his answer would be.

|People argued when their hearts are apart. They shout at each other despite the fact that they are close, because their hearts don't want them to hear what the other side is saying.|

|In that situation, words can barely tame the heart. You need to take action to do that, and that's what we are going to do.|

|Fighting the other side is not what we are going to do. We just want to show them how dire the situation can possibly be before talking them out of it, thus we do this.|

|Bloodshed will invite hatred, and hatred will invite bloodshed. It will only lead us to a path of destruction, and none of us want to go down that path ... We will do our best to clear the misunderstanding.|

Smiling as he caressed Ophia's hair, Basil tapped the ground twice. In the next moment, tens of peace lilies sprouted out of the ground, baffling the humans and Elves alike.

'These two... Really? When did they even plan this out?' Iliana mused in amazement.

'My Lord... You look even more majestic than you already are when you are acting. As expected of you!' Ione thought while keeping a flat face.

|I see... That is really assuring, Mr. Mage. I hope the talk goes well. I can't wait to play with my Dark Elf friends!|historical

Nodding his head lightly, Basil stood up. He then told Ophia to go to her mother after refusing to take the marigold she was holding since doing so would be the same as declaring she was his future wife in the Elven culture.

Hopping on to the back of Deacon, Basil instructed Deacon to move. The march was immediately resumed, but the scene they had witnessed, and the things Basil had said still lingered in the Elves' mind.

The humans also couldn't help looking at Basil like he was the incarnation of a God—whether it was the soldiers under his command or Cyane and his army. They even avoided the flowers he had grown, so they didn't kill the flowers.

"So, when did you and Eloreth plan to do that?" Iliana asked the moment they were out of the village. "That child, she was Eloreth in disguise, wasn't she? Her soul can't lie."

"... We didn't plan it," Basil answered after appreciating his girlfriend's sharpness. "We did it impromptu."

"Although my Mastery over [One With Nature] hasn't reached the same level as you, I know it is possible to grow a flower out of a seed. What I failed to understand, however, is the fact that you could grow flowers without any seed," Ione commented.

"You might not notice it, but Eloreth actually took out a bunch of seeds, and dropped all of them but one to the ground. She then buried all of the fallen seeds carefully, so no one noticed it."

"Well, she certainly succeeded in that, and you performed splendidly," Iliana remarked. "Anyway, why though—the whole play?"

"To ease the tribesmen's anxiety. Look at these Elves." Basil gestured at the Elves watching them marching solemnly. "All of them worry about the future of Padeitophys as a whole. They have been in peace for millennia, and they don't want that to end."

"As expected of the Empress... She knows what she is doing." Ione nodded her head in appreciation.

"Well, I hope you know the consequence of your action, because those Elves really looked like they were going to worship the ground that has your flowers," Iliana reminded.

"I do. That's why I am going to have her pay me later." Basil nodded his head lightly, and the conversation ceased soon after.

The troops picked up their pace after some time. They marched as if they were going to go to a grand battle, alarming many Elves in the way.

Of course, they picked up their pace for a reason. A few moments ago, the army from the tribe that they were having a "conflict" with had just contacted them, saying they saw the signs of Yamata no Orochi.

Tinuviel didn't want to waste this chance. After all, she could immediately have Cyane and his army fight the Mythical Beast instead of spending their time "investigating" until they found Yamata no Orochi.

Aside from Basil, Iliana, and Ione, no one knew it was the case, so many were quite bewildered. The three were actually also not told about it, but their analytical skills were good enough to deliver them the right conclusion.

"Oh, so this is Khirokiev Mountain? Fancy," Iliana remarked.

"Are those golden colored vegetations at the peak or is it just covered in gold?" Ione wondered.

After marching at a high and constant speed for two hours, the people reached their destination—Khirokiev Mountain. The peak of the mountain, which was seemingly covered in gold, instantly attracted the attention of the humans.

Whoosh!

As soon as they were swept by the sickening aura that descended from the mountain however, they forgot about the peak instantly. All of them shivered in terror, except for Basil who had an anticipating smile on his face.