Danmachi - Infinite Mana System! - Chapter 178 - Elf King.

[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
Third Person POV
Elf's Florest.

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The next morning, Lucius and Riveria parted ways with Ryuu and Asfi as they continued flying south. They had finally left the kingdom of the dwarves and were heading toward the great elven forest, swiftly cutting across the kingdom above the trees while advancing at full speed through the sky.

“Lucius...” Riveria murmured as they approached.
“I know... we're going there, and I'm with you. We'll deal with Orario's matters later... But how do you think your father will receive us?” he asked in the air as they advanced over the forest.
“Not well... He will try to capture us... we will have to fight,” she said.
“And I'm sure he'll have prepared some magical defense,” Lucius commented as Riveria nodded.

The great tree finally appeared in the middle of the forest on the horizon as Lucius surged forward at full speed.
As they drew closer, a massive city in the heart of the forest came into view. To the elves below, they were nothing more than birds in the sky.
“So this is your kingdom. There must be around fifty thousand elves living here,” Lucius murmured. It was quite large, with rivers running through the city, as Lucius continued toward the elven castle.
“Where should I enter... it looks like there's someone sitting on a rather large chair...” Lucius said, opening his magical eyes and peering into the castle.
“It’s my father...” she said. “The center of the castle is open to the audience hall; we can enter directly there,” Riveria explained.
“I see. Let’s go then; I’m sure your father will be surprised by our entrance,” Lucius said as he quickly vanished.

The king was in the middle of an audience with other nobles who had come to the castle to discuss matters concerning their territories in the elven forest. Everything seemed to proceed as usual. The king was seated on his royal chair, resting his face on his hand, listening to his lords.
This continued for a while without anything unusual, but suddenly, the entire atmosphere changed. The three elves who had been conversing with him, along with the entire guard, ministers, and counselors beside him, were caught off guard and barely had time to react when a blue sphere enveloped all the elves in the room in an instant.
“What?!” the king exclaimed, immediately rising from his chair, seeing all those present trapped within that sphere. Everything seemed calm as he looked around, realizing he was the only one not caught within that magic.
“Father!” It was then that he heard his daughter's voice in the middle of the hall. When he turned his gaze, he saw Riveria standing before him with a serious expression.

The king was slightly stunned for a moment before regaining his stern expression and facing his daughter. His look of confusion lasted only a second, quickly replaced by an expression of anger as he saw the daughter he had not seen for almost a decade, though she had not changed at all.
“You finally appeared, Riveria... After doing whatever you pleased so recklessly!” he said harshly, having somewhat expected her.
“That was the choice I made, Father,” Riveria retorted quickly, offering no further explanation.
“Is that truly what you want? Are you really going to abandon your race, your dignity, and your high-elf pride? More than anything... The crown princess of our race and our unique lineage, to the point of wanting to give birth to a half-elf? Do you think you’re right in this, Riveria?!” the king responded, raising his voice against his daughter.
“You don’t need to accept it,” Riveria said firmly. “I made this decision for myself. I love the human I intend to marry. Today, I’m here to confirm that. Your guards have probably already told you, as they met us outside the city of Altena. I am abdicating all my rights to your throne. I have chosen my life partner and have already given myself to him. You know very well that when we elves do that, we can never go back on our desires.”

The room fell silent. The sphere of light continued to enclose everyone, but the king completely ignored the situation around him. His gaze was fixed on his daughter, saying nothing for a moment.

Then, the king's gaze shifted upward, filled with hatred.
"So, it's you... It was you who seduced Riveria, you damn human!" he bellowed.

Lucius was floating in the middle of the hall, above Riveria. His cape swayed in the air as he remained silent, listening attentively to everything.
"Well, I wouldn't say I seduced your daughter. After all, I believe it was something more... reciprocal," Lucius replied calmly, looking at the elven king.

"Why, human?! Why don't you just...?! What do you want?!" the king said through clenched teeth, consumed by fury.
"Father..." Riveria tried to intervene, but the king – her father – looked at her, overflowing with anger.
"Do not interfere, Riveria!" he interrupted her, making her fall silent.

The king then turned his gaze back to Lucius, who was still hovering in the air.
"Tell me what you want. What are your plans? You want the elven throne, don't you? You think you’ll get it by marrying the princess?" he spoke in a furious tone.

“Hahahaha!”
Riveria was stunned, but Lucius merely laughed. His laughter echoed through the hall as he turned his gaze back to the elven king.
"You really think I’m interested in your kingdom or even in how your race is doing? You are gravely mistaken if that’s what you believe. I won't waste my time with such things. After all, I can build my own kingdom on this continent. I’m not interested in your forest," Lucius spoke with mockery in his tone, but he did not stop there.

"Besides, I don’t want anything from you. It just so happens that Riveria and I are together, and we love each other. Your daughter is already committed to me, no matter what you do. And I assure you: even if our children are mixed from two races, they will be the most powerful in magic this world has ever seen. Neither you nor anyone else can change that. Perhaps, in the end, you might even brag about it, since your blood will be running through those children... but just a little bit," he concluded.

Lucius finished with a confident look, while Riveria's eyes widened in surprise, seeing her beloved speak in such a manner to her father.
The king, on the other hand, seemed to finally reach an internal collapse. Hearing such words was something impossible and unforgivable to him.
"Very well... Unfortunately for you, that will not happen," the king said coldly before touching the armrest of his throne.

In the next moment, magical inscriptions began to appear throughout the room.
Lucius observed it with interest, while Riveria quickly analyzed the symbols and exclaimed:
"It's a magical trap!"

Right after, the room shone for a second before all the magic was dissipated. The blue spheres vanished, releasing all those who had been trapped.
At the same time, Lucius lost his ability to fly and began to fall toward the ground, but he landed calmly beside Riveria, showing no sign of panic, as he had expected this.

Riveria gripped her staff, closely watching the guards and nobles who were slowly getting to their feet, still dazed.
The royal guards, who were not advanced magic users, reacted more quickly.
"You really thought I wouldn't be prepared to receive you?" the king spoke, raising his voice with contempt.
"Now, without your magic, you are nothing!"

Immediately, the doors began to close along with the windows.
The elves finally grasped the situation and began drawing their weapons, pointing them at Lucius and Riveria.
"I want them taken to the dungeons. Before that, put anti-magic shackles on them," the king ordered as the guards approached.

"You think that just because we are mages, we are defenseless without magic?" Lucius commented calmly, his voice resonating once again. He was watching the movements around him with a certain interest.
"You can do nothing now. Your title as the strongest mage in the world ends here!" the king declared with conviction.

But in the next instant, Lucius gave a slight smile before disappearing.

He reappeared in front of one of the royal guards and punched him directly in the chest. The elf's armor crumpled violently, and before anyone could react, the guard was hurled against the wall with a crash that echoed throughout the hall.

Everyone present was stunned, frozen for a moment. The royal guards, who were between levels 5 and 6 in physical strength, had never expected such a thing.
Lucius did not rely solely on magic – his physical strength was monstrous.

All eyes turned to Lucius in shock. Even the king lost his stern expression and widened his eyes at what he had just witnessed.

But Lucius was not done. He simply advanced again.
Another royal guard attempted to strike him with a spear, but Lucius swiftly dodged before punching the elf's chin, sending him flying to the ceiling and crashing violently into the structure.

"You say we depend on magic... But without magic, you are not that strong. Perhaps level 4 or, at most, level 5 among your royal knights... But that's your limit," Lucius said before appearing in front of another royal guard and punching him before he could react.

"What?! But he’s a mage!" the king exclaimed, growing more and more surprised as he saw a fourth royal guard collapse to the ground, unconscious.

The other guards, now lacking confidence, prepared to defend themselves.
Lucius, on the other hand, charged at the fifth, taking him down with ease. His speed was that of someone at level 6.
In just a few moments, he had begun to take them down one by one.

Upon reaching the seventh royal guard, Lucius stopped.
The remaining elves looked quite frightened and cautious now, hesitating to advance.

"Well... That was a little fun, I admit," Lucius said calmly, placing his hand inside his robe and pulling out a stone.
"But, either way, we knew you’d be preparing some kind of trap... That’s why I came prepared as well," he said, raising the stone for the king to see, who appeared confused, not understanding what Lucius was planning.

Suddenly, Lucius crushed the stone.
At that very moment, an energy of lightning quickly spread throughout the room. The magical markings that formed the trap began to disappear.

"As you can see, I canceled your magical trap with a counter-magic from this rune stone. Not that you know what that is," Lucius said with disdain.

In the next moment, he snapped his fingers.
Once again, everyone who had been freed – even the unconscious ones – was enveloped by the blue spheres once more.

The king took a step back, surprised, while Lucius effortlessly trapped them again.

Riveria remained silent the entire time, watching Lucius execute exactly the plan they had anticipated together.
He began to teleport all the spheres, sending them to the castle entrance.

Now, Riveria looked at her father, who displayed a frightened and enraged expression.

"Well... Looks like it's just the two of us again, father-in-law. Now, let’s have a real conversation," Lucius said, flashing a confident smile.