The Elf Invasion

Before me, stood a small figure in an oversized helmet. I knew it was a girl by her clothing. Such a destructive power from a girl who seemed younger than me left me dazed for a moment.

"Is there something wrong with my appearance?"

Her voice snapped me out of my daze.

『You should stay alert. Everything is wrong with that person. I cannot read her data from the Iris.』

My gaze shifted to the bright screen in front of me. I wondered what she meant. Obviously, there was something wrong with the oversized helmet but that wasn't the case. She was too strong for her age, something not the mere magic of this world could achieve. The screen was as confusing as ever. Whoever made this didn't even care about the UX.

"P-pleased to meet you!", I stuttered.

『I never thought you'd be thinking about making friends with this suspicious girl you just met.』

It wasn't my fault.

I saw something move beneath the rubble. Was she still alive? I wasn't sure I would be able to survive something like that.

"Let's getaway." the girl exclaimed in a tone that was too monotonous to be called an exclamation.

I followed her as we left the room. There wasn't anyone in the place. It felt weird since the meeting was not too long ago.

We reached the exit in a few minutes. It felt weird. There should have been a room filled with masks before me. However, all that stood was a dead end.

"Did we perhaps come the wrong-" I was interrupted by the eighth.

"This is the right way."

Saying so, she punched the wall in front of us. The wall crumbled and revealed the room I was first in. Where did that wall even appear from?

"The wall was makeshift. It was probably the work of Pumpkin. He must have meant to confine us in here until things at the surface were wiped."

"Hey hey wait a minute! Why would he want to confine us in here? And what do you mean by wiping the things at the surface?"

"Now that the wall is already broken, we could be found out any moment. I will explain the situation as we move."

She grabbed a huge chunk of the broken wall and YEETed it on the ceiling.

"Um, do you perhaps not know of the proper mechanism to move out?"

"There is no time."

We climbed out of the room. The moment I stepped out, all the questions in my mind disappeared. I saw the woods burning. I couldn't breathe properly. It totally felt like an everyday thing. I grew tired and wanted to sit down and relax.

A sharp pain in my head snapped me back to reality. I saw the screen in front of me.

『You are surrounded by a calming spell of the elves. You would not need to worry about falling for it. I can wake you up each time just like now.』

I'd rather stay alert. What puzzled me was the term "elves". If I remembered right, they were supposed to be a long-lived proud race from fantasy stories. It wasn't a surprise after seeing the fantasy-like creatures and the system of this world.

The eighth seemed unaffected by the spell. It would be hard even if she was, given her huge helmet and her monotonous voice. She moved forward prompting me to follow her. As I followed her, we left the woods and reached the Sanctum. It was run down. There were bodies strewn on the floor, on pools of blood. It was horrifying.

"There are no signs of resistance. As expected of the elves. They should have attacked the Sanctum first to make sure none of the goddess' influence would be left in the world."

Her words were completely in contrast to her appearance.

"Wait, does that mean the city was attacked as well?"

"It's obvious. It would be too late before we reach the city. It's not like we can fight against the elves either."

"..."

"Now that I have confirmed the situation, I allow you to ask me questions. No more than four."

I had too many questions. Four was too less. I decided to ask her my most important questions first.

"What happened here?"

"An elf invasion."

"What is an elf invasion?"

"I assume that is your second question."

I was careless. I listened to her as she continued.

"Elves have a huge lifespan compared to an average human. They suffer from overpopulation due to their high lifespan and high fertility. They occasionally attack and colonize other, unguarded worlds. Colonize would be a bad term. They just massacre the world's inhabitants and take over the world for themselves."

That was totally not the elves from the fantasy stories and RPGs from one of my lives. I decided to ask my next question.

"What is the calming spell?"

"It is a basic spell used by elves to remove fear and panic from the minds of creatures and produce a calming effect while also dulling the senses. I am not surprised you know of it as a wielder of a child of Iris. However, wouldn't it be wiser to ask such questions to the child instead of wasting your four questions on such matters? You have used up your third question by the way."

『You are an idiot.』

That was right. I was an idiot. I didn't think of it. I only had one more question left. Something bugged me about her statement just now. I was sure nobody other than myself knew about Lily. I decided to go with the question Lily couldn't answer.

"Who are you?"

"The Eighth Apostle."

"That isn't the answer I want and you know that."

"..."

She paused for a moment.

"Lady Nightmare's servant."