The next day, Godfrey arrived at the Pendragon Mansion and went for the woods in the mountainous region, where nature thrived. He had not been here for over a year now.
He arrived at the edge of a cliff, gazing down at the small town in the valley below. A diagram flared up beside him, and Lysander walked out.
When he saw the small town in the valley, he stiffened for a moment.
He could see his daughter chatting with another elf. Her smile was bright, and though his eyes softened sadly, a smile appeared on his face.
"Don’t you think she should know that you’re alive?" Godfrey folded his arms.
"How do I serve if I return to my people? I was their chief, they relied on me. If I return, it might pose a problem to my service."
"Why are you so loyal, Lysander? I’m just nineteen, and you’re like a thousand. I used you to fight for a cause that isn’t truly yours. So why?"
"I once worked as a servant of the most sacred place of elven land, the heart of the World Tree, and I stole its most sacred drop. The Water of Life, and it made me live longer than other wood elves. We wood elves have a lifespan of five hundred years. The extra years were a result of what I had done. This eternal life, I could have spent it chasing after strength, but I’ve always been the type to exercise caution. I am also a slave to morals."
"But I died during that battle. This man before you is a general, your general. And your battle is my battle. Let the past be the past."
After Lysander said all that, Godfrey smiled. "And I’m your king." He patted Lysander’s armoured back. "General Lysander. This is your king’s decree. Return to your past."
Lysander took a step away and faced him. "But you need me."
"I gave your daughter a promise. Even though I did not tell her, it’s already a promise long overdue. I’m also going to grant you a fief as large as your eyes can see in Pathan. Elves have been a fantasy for a long time in my world, but in the one I’ll build in Pathan, it will be different."
"But—!"
"General Lysander. Don’t deprive yourself of what you also want. I’ll take care of myself. Go down there. I’ll sit here and watch."
Godfrey sat on the floor, then looked up. "Don’t tell them I’m here."
"Will you summon me once more?" Lysander asked.
Godfrey chuckled. "Of course." Then, he smiled warmly. "Take this as another form of service."
Both of them looked at each other. Then Lysander straightened his posture, dropped his axe, and went on one knee.
"Thank you."
"Forgive me for ignoring your own needs. Now go on. I want to see how they react."
Lysander rose to his feet, then leaped off the cliff. The air rippled and exploded at the might of a Progenitor soaring into the sky, almost as if he was about to vanish into the clouds.
Then gravity pulled him down with great force, resulting in a loud tremor as he crashed right outside the town. Dust and wind merged as one, sweeping out and blinding the wood elves.
The guards saw a tall golden knight walk out of the fog with an axe in hand as his cloak was disturbed by the troubled wind.
They lowered their spears and bows, thinking it was one of Godfrey’s knights. However, they were also puzzled by the ears this knight had.
Lysander slowly removed his helmet. "Don’t you remember your chief?"
Everyone’s eyes widened.
From several hundred feet above, Godfrey watched as elves swarmed Lysander. When his daughter jumped into the embrace of her father, a smile graced Godfrey’s face.
He nodded and exhaled heavily. After what happened in Paradise, he felt firsthand the relief and joy of his parents lifting such a heavy burden off his shoulders.
They felt like heroes, shrugging off the cost of such a deed. What his parents did renewed him. It brought back a strange confidence he never knew he had lost.
Godfrey shut his eyes and opened them again. A huge door appeared in the elven town. Lysander looked up, then led the people through the gate, where they appeared before a vast mountainous region.
’As far as your eyes can see will be your fief.’ Those words echoed in Lysander’s mind as he stared at the vast expanse flooded with trees.
It would be his duty to clear all the beasts that were in this vast expanse, creating a peaceful space for the elves to build and grow while he honed his skills and grew stronger.
Indeed, it was just another service, but one that favoured his kind immeasurably.
Lysander hugged his daughter as he gazed at this vast land.
"He brought you back? How?" she finally asked, but Lysander just patted her head.
Meanwhile, Godfrey rose to his feet, took a few steps, then teleported back to the Pendragon Mansion.
He sat in a room, crossed his legs, then opened a bag he took from Paradise and poured out a good chunk of mana jades. At least three months’ worth was in here.
He couldn’t take more, or it would disrupt the process of distribution, meaning there would be an imbalance. This was a society that depended on mana jades. Once there was an imbalance, it could be chaotic because here, summons most times worked and did a lot of other things.
And most summoners had nearly forgotten how to meditate normally.
As he sat in this room, Godfrey began to absorb all the mana, and it quickly flowed into his body. Dax alone could exhaust this amount of mana in a split second, so his mage was no different from a mana black hole.
Mana was never going to be enough, and he could see this was what kept most greater powers in check. Their skills grew more powerful, but mana remained the same. In other words, Godfrey was most likely a massive construction machine that consumed way more than an average diesel generator.
Once he was done absorbing all the mana jades, Godfrey went into his soul space, straight to the next door after Dax’s chamber.
He stood before a massive door. The petrified surface had fallen away on almost every part. He could almost feel Abaddon breathing on the other side.
Godfrey touched the metal door.
’To Japan.’
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