Parallel Memory

"I warned you! Such reckless actions could have dire consequences!"

One of the Elven Guard scolded the person. The person didn't know what to say to them as they were emitting Rank-S Aura while he was measly Rank-B.

( I WAS DYING!!! WHAT COULD I DO? )

He wanted to shout those words but under their pressure, he couldn't.

The group of geniuses also noticed that and were not happy with the Elven Guard attitude. Yes, he might have destroyed some trees and grass, but it was not intentional.

For them, their lives were more important than some trees or grass. Moreover, it was not how one would treat their guest.

"Stop it!"

Aranic was the one who stopped his colleague.

"But Aranic! He destroyed a part of our forest. He shouldn't-"

"It is our fault to begin with! If we didn't involve them in the fight, this could have been prevented."

Aranic said.

Although they were still angry that a human destroyed a part of their forest, they didn't saything further.

The Elven Guards glared at the person who destroyed the surroundings before looking away. As Aranic was their leader, they had to listen to him.

"They couldn't even fight with such monsters. I don't know whether they are truly geniuses or just some weaklings sent by the humans."

He said it loud enough for other geniuses to hear.

The group of geniuses immediately became angry at his words.

Nock Fletcher stepped forward, his voice firm yet calm. "You should watch your words, my friend. They are a lot stronger and talented than you can imagine."

Nock Fletcher, although a calm and rational person, couldn't just let the Elven guard insult the geniuses who worked hard.

He knows that one of them had made a mistake and destroyed their forest but that didn't give them the right to insult them.

He already gave a leeway to them by not doing anything while they scolded the person but insulting everyone there was a bit too much for him.

"Humph!"

The Elven guard didn't say anything as he didn't want to fight with Nock who is Rank-SS. Moreover, Aranic was also staring at him.

The atmosphere between the humans and the Elves became somewhat tense. The geniuses felt a sense of resentment toward the Elves' strict rules and their words, while the Elves were exasperated by the humans' lack of consideration for nature.

They continued their journey, their mood soured. However, they didn't have time to be angry at each other as a loud and powerful roar was heard.

ROARRRRR!

A mighty roar echoed through the forest, sending tremors through the ground and instilling fear in the hearts of all who heard it.

The geniuses couldn't even sense the strength behind the roar but knew that it was stronger than anything that they had faced or seen. It was so much that it made them helpless before even knowing whose roar it was.

But they were not the only ones. Even the Elven Guards were sweating from the roar and they also couldn't muster their courage to fight.

Nock was also on the alert. He could sense that the beast who roared was even stronger than him.

( Is it Rank-SS + or something stronger? )

Nock thought worriedly. He was sure that it was something stronger than him. The thought of encountering such a monster sends shivers down his spine.

If it was indeed Rank-SS +, he might be able to win with the help of the Rank-S Elven guards and the agents. However, Rank-SSS was a different story. They were legendary monsters who had lived for thousands of years.

Though Nock didn't think that the monster was Rank-SSS as they are very rare but just in case of worst case, he thought of ways to safeguard the geniuses.

Aranic, on the other hand, was much calmer than Nock.

"Why is it awake now?"

Aranic muttered to himself as he looked at the direction of the roar.

At the end of the roar, only three people were in their normal minds. Nock, Aranic and then there was Zero.

Although Zero also felt the roar powerful, he wasn't scared. However, his heart was pumping at a rapid rate which was more akin to excitement than fear.

-ROOOAAARRR!

There was another roar which was even stronger than the last. However, after that roar, there was an eerie silence in the forest like everything had stopped.

The group of geniuses couldn't help but be worried. Some of them seemed to have passed out from fear. Others were also not in a very good state as they thought about running away.

"Calm down everyone! There is nothing to be scared of!"

Aranic said. His words made others calm down a bit as they thought that maybe Aranic could take on the monster who roared.

"Aranic, what was that?"

Nock asked. Since Aranic seem to know something, he asked. He felt that it was the right time to feel scared. That monster was something beyond his strength, that was for sure.

"... It is something like a guardian deity of Elves!"

Aranic answered.

"Guardian Deity?"

"They have something like this? And it seems to be very powerful!"

"Will it really not attack us? What should we do if it decides to attack us?" ….

After hearing Aranic answer, they discussed over the roar that they just heard.

Elven Guard seems to have realized what that roar was. They wiped their sweat off their face.

Although they knew the existence of the guardian seity, they never had the chance to see him. It is only something that he heard from elders and even its existence was questioned as he had never shown himself.

However, a person like Aranic seemed to have seen him. Or perhaps have more information than them regarding their guardian deity.

"Guardian Deity? It would attack us, right?"

Nock asked. He was worried that although it might not attack Elves, it might show hostilities to humans. Otherwise, what was the reason for his roar?

"Don't worry, our Guardian Deity is a wise being. He also doesn't attack as long as we are not in his territory."

Aranic reassured Nock.

"Then what was that roar? Why did it roar?"

Nock asked, still not convinced.

"That- That I don't know!"

Aranic replied while wondering the same thing. Their guardian deity had been asleep and not showed any sign for 300 years. Why was it suddenly roaring?

While he was thinking about that, he heard something in his mind.

[ "Are you the Elve leading this group?" ]