[Bonus chapter]33 Truth behind the Ashen Elves

"This seems to be the missing piece of the Flame Origin Essence! I thought, this one is on the surface? Why did you bring it here?" Cremorgon asked with a frown as it examined the crystal.

"It was damaged when Granicus attacked the Black Volcano and the Corrupted World Ashen Tree was summoned. We already replenished the energy inside the ruins of the Ashen Elves." Urie explained.

"Ruins? Are you sure? Did you know that the blessed altar won't work unless an Ashen Elf is around the area?" Cremorgon doubtfully told them.

"Uh, brother? How come I can understand it now?" Arie confusedly asked.

"It was because of the Blessings of Flame that I gave you! You belong to the Elf Clan, right?" Cremorgon asked towards Arie.

"Yes, I belong to the Forest Elf Clan!" Arie replied, still with a confused look on his face.

"Then you just gained the requirements to become an Ashen Elf! The protector of the Flames of Life!" Cremorgon smiled as he looked back at Urie.

Arie was left stunned when an interface appeared congratulating him for being an Ashen Elf and gained the ability to tame Fire Class beasts.

"Young man, I'll ask you one more time! Are you really sure that the town where the Ashen Elves are in ruins?" Cremorgon asked Urie once again.

"I'm pretty sure that the place is in ruins and Arie isn't an Ashen Elf yet when we reach that place!" Urie placed his hand below his chin and thought.

"I think you already knew the answer to this mystery, young man!" Cremorgon smirked as it placed its index finger on the crystal and etched something to it.

"Ashen Elves were attacked, but some of them successfully survived and escaped? Am I right?" Urie asked.

"Quite close! But, no! They aren't attacked, more like a natural cause!" Cremorgon replied without looking, as it was busy dealing with the crystal.

"Natural cause? Is it some sort of disaster?" Urie asked.

"Yes, we all know that Ashen Elves are the protector of Flames. What if for decades, flames aren't coming for them?" Cremorgon asked back.

"Then their purpose is void! They have nothing left!" Urie answered, as if he received some sort of enlightenment.

"Yes, the very foundation of their town was the flames that were coming from the Black Volcano. They were born when the volcano existed, so to say, they live together with the eruptions of it."

"Then, their lives depend on the volcano, even their source of energy! So saying, the flames are the foundation of their town and without the foundation, it will crumble down into ruins!" Urie exclaimed as he started thinking even deeper than before.

"Exactly as what I've said!" Cremorgon grimaced and handed the crystal to him.

"I added a few inscriptions on it. Use it wisely and if you can, please save both the humans and the Ashen Elves!" Cremorgon asked.

"I will! I'll somehow find some way!" Urie agreed and nodded as he accepted the crystal back.

"Thank you! Let me send you up!" Cremorgon smiled and waved his hand.

"Brother? I can tame Fire Class beast now, right?" Arie asked, as if he was out of himself.

"Yes, young man! You can!" Cremorgon replied instead as warm brilliant flames covered the two and when it faded, they found themselves in front of the volcano.

[The Flames of Life]

[Description: The Embers of Life has been restored to its peak state with the help of Cremorgon. The Flame Guardian requests to save the town of the Ashen Elves.

Deliver the Embers of Life: 1/1

Cremorgon found: 1/1

Warning: Your choice will decide the fate of either of the towns

Rewards:??? (Based on the outcome of the event)]

"What kind of sorcery is this!" Urie exclaimed inside his head because the continuation of the quest was too absurd to be understood by him.

"Are you okay, brother?" Arie worriedly asked as he looked at his brother's complicated expression.

"I'm fine! Let's just finish this quest quickly and get out of here!" Urie replied when something happened to the ground where they were standing.

There was a weak vibration coming from the Volcano as if at any moment it will cause an earthquake and an eruption.

"Can we make it?" Arie asked as he worriedly looked at his brother.

"We can make it!" Urie assured as he swiped his hand in the air and an interface appeared in front of him with numbers [1:16:43] and still counting down. "We still have more than an hour to climb the mountain." He informed his younger brother while looking at the top of the volcano in front of them.

"It will take us more than that time to reach the top! Alpagon can't also climb the volcano because of these vibrations it will lose its grip!" Arie worriedly told his brother.

"Why do we need to climb if we could fly to the top, right?" Urie smirked as he took out a card from his compendium and a large green bird with a pink mane appeared in front of them.

"If we can ride Angin, why do we need to waste energy before climbing up this volcano?" Arie asked while looking at Angin.

"Angin can take us up the volcano, but that's it! Angin's Transporting Energy is way below what Alpagon has. It has five times more than Angin has, so I want to keep its Transporting Energy in case of emergency." Urie explained while caressing Angin's leafy feathers.

"I see! Let's hurry before the time runs out!" Arie excitedly called out as he ran and hopped behind Angin's back.

"Okay then! Up we go, Angin!" Urie shouted as the bird beast flapped its gigantic wings and flew, then Urie grabbed the bird's claw as they quickly ascended at the top of the mountain that was about to erupt.

As soon as they reached the top, Angin dropped the two and turned back into a card.

"What? It only brought us up, and it was already exhausted?" Arie commented with disappointment.