***
The next day.
Alfheimr Forest.
"I didn't expect Jommon to be inside the young man's body," explained Finnea Miredove, Princess of the Elven Race.
"There are many mysteries in this place. It's probably Jommon attaching the last of his magic to that young man's body," revealed Faraine Miredove, Queen of the Elf Kingdom.
Finnea squinted. The shoulder-length white-haired woman continued to watch her mother intently, "Is that possible for Jommon to do that?"
"He could. There's a lot of magic we don't know about the dragon race. He may have placed his spell on the young man," Faraine replied.
Finnea and Faraine were still seated on their white steeds, walking ahead of the elven warrior who seemed to be walking behind them.
Avery's unconscious body was carried in a horse-drawn wooden cart to the Alfheimr forest and to the elves' sacred tree.
About ten elven warriors were seen accompanying the Elven Queen and Princess, their safety far more important and a priority for the warriors.
Finnea occasionally looked back, watching with a sad face at Avery. The man was still faint. His body must have been exhausted from being used by Jommon all night beyond the limits of human strength.
"With Jommon inside that man's body, shouldn't we kill him?" Finnea asked.
Faraine remained silent, looking ahead with both hands tightly gripping the reins of her horse, "We have no idea what the consequences of killing him would be. There could be great destruction."
"Is this something never recorded in the history of the mythological races before?" asked Finnea.
"This is the first time in hundreds of years that a Demon King has been defeated. We have no history of this incident," replied Faraine.
"But we already know Jommon will be defeated by using holy spells and anti-magic spells. We have many items with similar abilities," Faraine continued.
"We'll know more when he regains consciousness." Faraine continued riding from the outer forest into Alfheimr's forest area. They could see a different forest area from the forests outside the elven kingdoms.
The Alfheimr Forest was sacred, a legendary one that many humans spoke of as the origin of the white elves. Not just anyone could enter Alfheimr, especially those who were not from the elven race.
After passing through the valley, both Faraine and Finnea's eyes witnessed a protected-looking forest area with a cliff behind it.
A protective dome had been built in the forest area of Alfheimr, a dome that could not be seen with the bare eye by humans but not by white elves.
The dome was bluish-white, like the color of a light sky full of clouds. It could protect the Alfheimr from magic attacks but not physical attacks such as arrows or swords.
Faraine and Finnea finally arrived in the forest, seeing the houses of the white elves who mostly used the banyan tree for their living place.
The white elves who saw Faraine's arrival immediately knelt down in obedience, with their white hair typical of the elves.
A man walked up to Faraine, athletic in build with long silky white hair. Visible at his left waist was a sword that always stayed with him.
"Mother," called the man, Tulen Miredove.
"Prince Tulen," Faraine greeted, smiling as she placed her palm on Tulen's forehead, a typical elven greeting from older to younger.
Age no longer mattered to the elves, so the standard for determining who was older and younger was set by their magical capacity.
Older elves will have a large magic capacity, and vice versa. Tulen was happy his mother and sister had returned to Alfheimr safely.
"So, he's the one who emitted that dark magic aura, huh?" asked Tulen, watching Avery lying unconscious on the wooden cart.
"Yes. Do you know anything about him?" asked Faraine.
"We only found a way to neutralize the dark magic aura but couldn't find any correlation with Jommon's killing," replied Tulen.
"Hmm, what about the information from the forest elves?" asked Finnea, joining the conversation with Faraine and Tulen.
Tulen shifted his eyes to the side, curiously looking at his sister, who had gotten off the horse.
"No, they didn't tell us any information about these Dark Magics," Tulen replied.
"Don't expect information about magic from forest elves. They are completely clueless about it," Faraine replied.
"Uhuk!"
Coughing sounds could be heard from behind, especially from the wooden cart carrying Avery. Avery woke up, opened his eyes slowly, and saw he was inside a forest surrounded by men with white hair and skin, holding weapons such as arrows.
"What's happening? Who are you?" Avery shouted.
Faraine, Tulen, and Finnea simultaneously turned their eyes back, seeing Avery already awake from his stupor.
"How are you?" asked Faraine, smiling.
Avery's attention was distracted, staring at the three people who had suddenly arrived. They too had the same characteristics, except that they all wore crowns like a royal family.
"Who are you? Why did you bring me here?" asked Avery.
"Calm down. What's your name?" asked Faraine, trying to calm the confused Avery.
"Avery, Avery Romarich," Avery replied.
"So, who am I talking to now? The real Avery or Jommon?" Faraine asked.
Avery squinted, sitting up straight and staring off to the side, "How do you know about him?"
Faraine turned his head slowly to the right and left, looking closely at Finnea and Tulen. Both of her children seemed to nod as if they understood the Elf Queen's intentions.
Faraine's eyes fell on the elven warriors, telling them to take Avery into the Lefail Tree —the sacred tree and home of the elven noble families.
Avery tried to rebel at first but eventually agreed to be taken away by the warriors. Avery became the first human to arrive at Alfheimr, let alone come to Lefail.
The last time a human came to Alfheimr was 150 years ago when King Aleric Archibald declared war on the white elves.
The war ended in a tie, a decree of truce was made between the two races, and a temporary peace has been maintained until now.
"From your looks, I'm sure you're the white elves," observed Avery.
"You guessed it well, Avery," Faraine replied.
"Do you want to start another war with the humans?" asked Avery sternly.
Faraine shook his head, continuing to walk up the circular-looking stairs to reach the upper area of the Lefail Tree, where talks usually took place.
"We, the elven folk, have never started a war with any race. It is you, humans, who have become so ambitious that we have to go to war!" insisted Tulen.
"It's all right, Prince Tulen. It's the past that doesn't need to be talked about anymore," Faraine replied.
"But because of the past, it makes us more wary of humans compared to other mythological races," replied Tulen.
Tulen's sardonic gaze was now directed back at Avery, his eyes continuing to intimidate the young man from the human race.
"After they defeated Jommon. I'm sure they feel confident to destroy every other mythological race in this place," Tulen continued.
Faraine looked back, then smiled broadly at Avery, who was annoyed at being intimidated by Tulen.
"I'm sure humans won't do it. Isn't that right, Lord Avery?" Faraine asked.
Avery was silent. He was not the King of Lancaster or a person of important deciding position like a duke, but from King Richard's attitude, Avery was sure the humans would no longer start a war with the elves.
This time, the talk was not with the elven elders but with a human. Arriving at the area, Avery's two eyes could clearly see the meeting room.
There was a circle in the center of the room, surrounded by seating that seemed to blend in with the wooden floor of the room.
This made it easy for people to talk without any barriers. Avery was placed in the center of the circle, with Faraine sitting in the wooden chair provided, Finnea and Tulen keeping her company by sitting next to her mother.
"Now tell me, why do you have Jommon's spirit in your body?" Faraine asked, curious.
"Because he cursed me," Avery explained.
Faraine squinted, his hands resting on his crossed legs, looking ahead, "A curse?"
"He cursed me with an eternal curse of suffering. He made it clear that I would lose my human nature and turn into a more powerful demon if the curse wasn't removed from my body very soon," Avery explained.
"That's the reason Jommon was inside your body, so he could keep an eye on you. Is that true?" Faraine asked.
"It's pretty much like that. Why are you so interested in me?" asked Avery.
Faraine was silent, as were Finnea and Tulen, "Don't you remember what happened last night?"
"What?"
"Jommon took over your body. He destroyed Waterside in a single night."
