Ball of Nothing

Chapter 560 - Meeting Spriggan Alex

After Zero entered the barrier, Truen and King Sharo fought. Truen shot the elf king with Seraph’s Command and a paralysing spell for interrogation. Zero might not like the idea of forcing the enemy to confess, but this method of information gathering has proven most effective time and again for the wood elf. It would take Zero a while to find the Weeping Willow, and if Truen understood his friend well enough, there was going to be a long bonding session. He wasn’t going to waste this opportunity to milk the prideful elf of information, especially regarding the Weeping Willow’s secrets and her spriggan.

King Sharo was enraged at the trickery, but there wasn’t much he could do. Without Zero around, he was completely at Truen’s mercy. The wood elf didn’t seem to care if he was a high elf or the consequences of his actions.

"Answer me. What is Altear planning to do about Smargdas?"

Under the effect of the spell, King Sharo spilt Altear’s secrets. Truen wasn’t surprised when the proud elven king admitted to wanting to sign the contract only to betray it after the elves gathered their arms to rebel and take over Smargdas now that the Holy Magician’s Alliance has broken down.

"I’m going to do what my father failed to do and conquer the dwarves!"

Truen snorted and rolled his eyes. "Just you and the miserable number of elves? I think you forget that the dwarves and giants are allies. Now that Zero has united the undead, dwarves, giants and humans into a friendly agreement with Endow Hill, do you think you would be able to succeed?"

King Sharo didn’t answer. His news was so outdated in the last few months that it no longer mattered. The chosen one would reunite the divided continent, and suddenly, King Sharo didn’t know what to do. For the longest time, he had been preparing to take on the dwarves as part of his father’s unfulfilled wish. He worked hard to become the next king while suppressing those who didn’t follow the doctrine of elven perfection. Yet, everything amounted to nothing with Zero’s appearance.

Truen shook his head at the pathetic sight of a king who didn’t know what he was doing. King Sharo looked like a small child who didn’t know right from wrong after Truen told him the changes to the outside world. Being shut in the forest for so many years, it wasn’t strange for King Sharo to be ignorant.

"Instead of fighting, why don’t you consider joining the alliance? There is much to gain from joining hands with Half Moon Village. The elves are lacking or ores and minerals. You also do not have advanced technology that the gnomes use. There was only so much a bow and arrow can do compared to the ballista towers when it comes to war. Even a group of just six gnomes would be able to hold their own against an army of a few hundred elves at this rate. Are you truly willing to put the elven race through suffering to complete the wish of your foolish father?"

King Sharo gnashed his teeth and glared at the impudent wood elf. "What do you know about my father?!"

Truen didn’t say anything. He only let King Sharo rant about how perfect his father was and how he probably meant well for the elven race. However, the more he talked about it, the less convinced he was. Truen sensed that behind that prideful facade, King Sharo still had a lot of growing up to do. Without his father and the lacking presence of good a.d.u.l.t influences in his life, it was a miracle he wasn’t more messed up in the head.

"Whatever," he told the king who fell silent. "Zero’s back. You can judge the kind of person Zero is for yourself. A word of advice from someone who was once condemned to the void, nothing in this world is fixed in stone when Zero is involved. Instead of calling him the chosen one, you should start seeing him as the one who rewrites fate. Whatever grievances you had in the past, you should let it go and seize the opportunity to start anew now that Zero is around."

The spell was released, and King Sharo could finally move again. Zero didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary and apologised for taking longer than he expected, passing through the barrier casually. With a quick appearance change, Zero saddled up and thanked King Sharo for the patience.

"I spoke with the Weeping Willow. She told me that she wanted to speak to Spriggan Alex again. King Sharo, could you please lead us to see Sprigan Alex now that I’ve proven my identity as the one from the prophecy?"

King Sharo made a strange expression before agreeing. "Be warned that it wouldn’t be a nice sight. You should also tell this stinky wood elf of a bodyguard to exercise restraint. The place that Spriggan Alex resides in is a foul one. Even I don’t visit unless necessary."

Zero looked at Truen confusedly, and his friend shrugged it off as they followed King Sharo’s horse. This time, they were finally heading in the right direction. Truen didn’t understand why the Weeping Willow and the king’s private property’s location would be at opposite ends of the forest. He asked Zero to explain what happened when he met the Weeping Willow via the party call, but Zero only told him to observe King Sharo a little closer.

"If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to obtain the Moss Giant Orb and convince Spriggan Alex to bury the hatchet with the Weeping Willow. It’s very complicated, but you could say this is a family matter. Again, I don’t want to deal with any more royalties, but I don’t think we have a say in it. King Gaon and Queen Leah are two huge obstacles I have to overcome if I want to conclude my business here on Earth."

Truen agreed silently but also worried about what Zero planned to do while looking like that. Although he wasn’t a biological female with a lack of genitals, Truen still couldn’t allow the dirty spriggan to take advantage of his doctor friend. It felt morally wrong, and he hoped that Zero didn’t give Alex that chance. He would hate to kill a useful pawn in front of Zero.