Although Shi set out later, their team had fewer members and moved more conveniently, so they quickly caught up with the army that had departed earlier.
After joining the army, Shadow Shurein gave them the highest-level treatment and explained to all the generals that this Witch was the reinforcement for this great war.
The Elf Race's protective Barrier and all the Elf Race's experts would be left to this Witch to handle. They only needed to be responsible for clearing out the ordinary Elf Race members.
With the guarantee of this king's proxy, the generals naturally didn't dare to doubt Shi's strength. They respected her greatly and didn't dare to offend her in the slightest.
Sophia was also in her team at this time. Although Shi really disliked this surveillance presence, she had to admit that Sophia's combat power was very useful.
So if Sophia wanted to follow, let her follow.
As long as she didn't slack off when the time came.
Now, without Wakaba-san and the Demon King's support, the combat power on this side was somewhat insufficient. Shi had even prepared to sacrifice those Reincarnators. What she needed to worry about now was how to break the Elf Race's great Barrier. Although charging up a Twilight could solve any problem, that was only the last resort. If possible, she still wanted to try to fulfill her promise to her Teacher and rescue those imprisoned Reincarnators.
Soon, the army arrived near the Elf Forest.
With the Teacher as a guide, the location of the Elf Forest couldn't be hidden. At this moment, they could see that the Elf Forest's great Barrier had been deployed, making it impossible to enter the Elf Forest through normal means. The army attempted a wave of attacks to test the Barrier's power. After a concentrated assault, the Barrier didn't budge at all, leaving all the generals in disbelief.
"No way, where did the Elf Race get so much energy?"
"They actually set up a great Barrier so extravagantly."
"It seems we can only leave this to that Witch."
At this time, Shi was observing the Barrier nearby with Eidor.
"How is it?"
"This Barrier is very simple, but there are only two ways to break it. One is to use power beyond the limit to break the Barrier from the outside, and the other is to enter the Barrier and destroy its nodes. Precisely because it's very simple, if used appropriately, it's quite troublesome. Besides these two methods, it's basically unsolvable."
Eidor's answer shattered Shi's last bit of hope.
Indeed, there was no way.
After all, that old guy from the Elf Race was very clever and had stolen so much energy. Naturally, he would use the simplest and most effective method to protect his base. It seemed there was no clever way to break this Barrier. Next, she had to consider choosing one of these two methods. Personally, she was more inclined to use Twilight to violently break it.
Although the Teacher knew of several teleportation arrays that could enter the Elf Forest in emergencies, it was obvious that if those arrays weren't sealed, they would definitely be heavily guarded by the enemy, possibly with traps waiting for them to step into.
So if the enemy didn't hold hostages, violent breaking would be the best. But now that wasn't an option. Although it was risky, she had to find a way to rescue the hostages. Even though the possibility was low, if she didn't even try, she couldn't convince herself.
She had promised the Teacher.
She didn't want to be a dishonest person.
So Shi returned to the camp, ordered the army to set up formations and beware of Elf Race ambushes, said she would handle the Barrier, and then left the camp with the Teacher.
Next, she followed the Teacher to several teleportation points and found that most had been destroyed. The remaining ones looked very suspicious, as if deliberately left by the enemy. No doubt about it—this was definitely left intentionally by the enemy. The enemy probably didn't know they had the ability to break the Barrier head-on, so whether to rescue the hostages or break the Barrier, they ultimately had to choose this method.
So it was 100% certain there was an ambush on the other side.
"Little Tsukasa, Little Sophia, are we going...?"
The Teacher also thought of this.
She nervously looked at these two students.
"Tch, now there's only this option, right!"
Sophia was very unhappy.
She felt that if this guy hadn't acted recklessly and instead waited for her master and the Demon King to arrive, this kind of Barrier could be broken in minutes. There would be no need for them to take risks.
But saying this now was useless.
And she didn't think the other party would listen to her complaints.
"Proceed according to plan. I'll make you invisible. I'll attract all the attention, and you go rescue the hostages. I'll handle the rest."
"Hmph, I'll destroy the Barrier along the way."
As soon as Shi finished speaking, Sophia proudly retorted.
Making Shi look at her for a while longer.
"If you can do that, it would naturally be excellent."
"..."
Sophia felt like she had punched cotton.
"Then I'll begin."
Seeing they had made up their minds, the Teacher didn't say anything more.
As the teleportation point activated.
The figures of the three disappeared from the spot... Inside the Elf Forest.
The situation of the Elf Race hadn't changed much. They arrogantly believed no one could break their great Barrier and weren't worried about the army outside attacking. They were even discussing when to launch an attack to kill a few humans and make those lowly species realize their mistake.
This race's pride had reached a pathological degree.
But this was intentionally cultivated by that Clan Leader.
Because only such an Elf Race was his best pawn. Mindless pawns were always easier to control than those with minds.
At this moment, in a remote corner of the Elf Forest, the Reincarnators imprisoned here watched the increasingly frequent surveillance. Knowing that the Elf Race was currently at war with someone, they cursed inwardly, hoping those damned elves would be wiped out sooner.
If they weren't mostly farmers without combat power, they might have already started thinking of ways to support the Elf Race's enemies. But they had been abducted by the Elf Race as children, and those damned elves never gave them a chance to level up. Even secretly exercising would get them punished if discovered—no opportunities for improvement at all.
As a result, even with their Reincarnator Skills, they couldn't develop.
"Do you think we still have a chance to escape?"
"We don't know where Teacher went either. If she were here, we wouldn't be in this situation..."
"Don't mention that person. If it weren't for her 'good deeds,' we wouldn't have been abducted to this damned place. Now that she's run off, she's just showing her true colors!"
"Don't say that. Teacher isn't that kind of person."
A group of Reincarnators lived in a crude wooden hut, with many farming tools scattered around the room, showing how impoverished their lives were. Those damned elves even made them fend for their own food. If not for some among them knowing how to farm, they might have starved long ago.
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