Elsword – Time Trouble
Chapter 10
0. I won’t let it end like this
Flames burn the world.
Dry silence and blood, dark warrior standing majestically amidst the smoke.
Her appearance, with tight clothes and a giant sword leaning on her shoulder looked
overwhelmingly proud, lonely…… and beautiful.
Black Panther who broke out of her cage and regained her freedom. She was a dangerous beast
where you couldn’t tell which direction her fangs were going to target next. But you couldn’t deny
that she was beautiful.
Add was so overwhelmed by her appearance that he couldn’t even move a finger or avert his gaze.
“Ren……”
Words couldn’t leave his mouth. Shouting to confirm if Rena was alive or not in this situation was
the worst thing he could do right now. If that dark warrior started to move, she’d get to Rena much
faster than they could.
They should obviously abandon Rena and retreat while preserving their remaining forces.
While suppressing anger, shock and fear welling up from within….. Add made his conclusion. This
was the only way.
But the other person didn’t think the same.
“Ms.Rena!!”
White clothes rushed in swiftly like the wind. She didn’t show any hint of hesitation despite how she
was running into a dark warrior who had just displayed terrifying strength. She rushed forwards
straightly without wavering while everyone else was frozen from fear and disbelief.
Ara threw off her hairpin and thrust her spear towards Elesis with all the strength she could muster.
“Hah?”
Elesis swung her sword lightly with one arm to deflect the spear as if Ara’s attack was laughable.
Ara’s stance as she held onto her spear shook heavily from just Elesis’ single swing.
Elesis had deflected the spear containing full force of Ara’s two arms and broke her stance. She did
this without even looking properly towards Ara and only with a one armed sword swing. Even
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someone who wasn’t experienced in close quarters combat could quickly tell that the gap between
two of their skills was incomparably large.
As a martial artist, Ara who had witnessed this personally should know this better than anyone else.
“Mr.Add!! Quickly! To Ms.Rena!!”
But Ara didn’t back out despite clearly knowing the skill difference between her and the enemy.
Ara’s white hair waved as she ceaselessly thrust her spear with a display of fighting spirit that she
won’t back off no matter what.
“You’re no good.”
Elesis let out a half-amused laugh then swung her sword to match Ara’s attacks as if she was going
to play along with her for a bit. With each blow, each strike that was exchanged, Ara’s body got
pushed back and you could see her suppressing her pain.
Add watched this confrontation between white spear and dark-red sword then he finally came to his
senses.
Ara was literally staking her life in order to buy him time right now!!
“I’m joining in!”
Eve who came running also realized the situation right away and fired a missile at Elesis. But Elesis
swung her sword widely to push back Ara and then seamlessly made an exquisite turn to even
deflect the missile that flew in towards her.
Booom!!
Sound of an explosion rang out in mid air. Add who had been standing frozen also made his
decision. This was a battlefield, although he didn’t want to, the battle had already started.
“Elsword!!”
Add hastily called Elsword beside him. Ara and Eve were fighting their best but they were
overwhelmingly outmatched. They couldn’t hope to face Elesis by themselves.
Each and every helping hand was precious right now.
“…..”
But Elsword only blinked vacantly and wasn’t holding up his sword. There was no life in his eyes.
He was completely out of it.
“Don’t lose your mind right now!”
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“….Big Sister.”
Like a broken doll, Elsword didn’t move no matter how urgently Add pinched his cheeks and shook
his shoulders.
It seemed his mental shock was so great that he couldn’t accept the scene in front of him as the
truth.
“Dammit!!”
Add who was in the middle of shaking Elsword grabbing him by the collar gave up and quickly got
on his Dynamos. He wasted too much time. Even people that could have been saved will die in this
much time.
Add was able to safely arrive in front of Rena because Ara and Eve were keeping Elesis occupied.
Rena’s condition as she lay collapsed on the ground was critical. Wound that cut across from her
chest to abdomen was very deep.
There wasn’t too much blood but it wasn’t something to be glad about. The reason for this deep
wound but almost no blood…..was because Elesis’s fire had evaporated the blood. It was to an
extent where Add had to withstand the heat when he put his hands on Rena’s wound …. It wouldn’t
be wrong to say that her insides got roasted.
Still, judging by how her chest moved up and down, she was still alive.
“Rena!! Hang in there!!”
Add called her name then looked through his clothes to pull out a recovery potion. But these types
of potions that were used to heal wounds didn’t act immediately and acted over time. Also, all they
did was boost natural recovery. This was at best an emergency measure to keep her alive…. But he
had to do whatever he could.
When Add poured the potion, Rena’s breathing became slightly steadier. Add quickly looked back
after at least applying an emergency treatment. Ara was somehow exchanging spears and swords
with Elesis thanks to Eve’s a.s.sistance but the situation was way too precarious.
“Ugh!”
More small wounds formed on Ara’s body as she swallowed a scream like groan each time they
exchanged attacks. It was definitely not a situation where they could hold out for long. He had to
somehow gather everyone and evacuate….. But how?
There was no way Elesis will stand by idly as the El Search Party retreated.
“Add……”
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While pondering, Add looked down after hearing a dim voice. Rena was making small coughs while
trying to hold up her hand.
“It’s fine. I stopped the wound for now.”
He had sprayed a potion so this wasn’t a lie. But….the problem was that this wound was something
she’ll die from. It was actually more surprising that she didn’t die instantly considering how she got
consumed by flames that were overwhelming enough to evaporate blood.
Even Add who wasn’t a doctor could tell that Rena being alive right now and how she could move
her hand was a miracle.
“Don’t move and try to stay conscious. We’ll take you and retreat right away.”
“How….the others?”
It was hard to make out Rena’s voice because it was so small and spa.r.s.e.
It also didn’t help that he could hear Ara, Eve and Elesis’s mixed shouts from his back, and a storm
of shouts and screams from the far away battlefield. Despite this, Add focused so that he wouldn’t
miss each and every single word that Rena spoke.
“It’s fine. Everyone is okay.”
They were still fine for now. But won’t they all get annihilated after 5 minutes, no 2 minutes?
“I, I see….. Cough.”
“Don’t speak!”
Despite Add trying to stop her, Rena moved her lips while still panting. Rena held up her shaking
hand as if she wanted to press out her words before she lost consciousness. Add quickly grabbed her
hand. It seemed she couldn’t even see properly.
“You….promised right? Please…. take care of…..the other kids.”
“……”
Her last words had to be something this lame?
“Please…..”
“Okay! I got it so don’t speak!!”
Add went numb for a moment then answered hastily. It looked like his words had reached Rena
because she made a faint smile while exhaling deeply.
Strength was leaving from her hand that Add was grabbing onto.
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“…….Ah.”
She was still alive but her life was very thin. Add bit his lips after sensing that Rena didn’t have long
to live. This was nonsense.
“….At least beg for your own life. Why…even till the end….”
She wouldn’t have ended up like this if she hadn’t tried to save Add. But she wasn’t resentful at all
and didn’t show any signs of regret.
“Even till the end, worrying about those kids….”
Add grabbed his fists tightly at the sudden surge of powerful emotion. Add bit his lips so hard to the
point where they bled. He felt like he wouldn’t be able to hold in this emotion anymore if he spoke,
because he’d recall his past memories.
He then tightly grabbed Rena’s weak hand that was about to fall. So that he wouldn’t lose her.
“Don’t make me laugh…..”
He couldn’t accept this outcome. No. He couldn’t let this be. At least, it couldn’t and shouldn’t end
this way.
“You want me to end up babysitting those kids? Don’t make me laugh…..”
Add transformed his boiling emotions into harsh words as he stood up.
Add took a deep breath then looked up towards the sky. Sky was dyed in red from the flames.
He absolutely hated this kind of sky.
“Ara!!”
“Yes!!”
Scream like answer came from far away and the sound of spear and sword clashing continued. He
could tell that it was a critical situation even without turning back.
“Come here! Eun!”
“If boy wishes.”
Ara’s eyes seemed to narrow then her spear skills suddenly changed. If her spear skills were precise
and swift before, now it was heavy and held weight. Elesis paused when the attribute of her enemy’s
spear skills changed. Eun used this chance to make a large thrust with her spear then distanced
herself quickly with continuous somersaults.
Eun landed behind Add’s back then spoke with a smile.
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“Well, what will you do now, boy?”
“Shut up.”
Add replied with a frightening voice then manipulated the Dynamos to create a Time Stream
Wormhole.
“I’m time traveling.”
“But isn’t Eve still safe?”
That’s why he wasn’t looking back. He didn’t have to look. Eve was probably using this chance to
go check on Elsword’s condition. Also, they could probably use this chance of Elesis pausing to
escape.
While leaving Rena to die.
“I know that already without you having to telling me….. But you must have wanted this kind of
stupid situation.”
Did Eun already know that Rena would end up like this? He couldn’t tell if Eun knew or not.
But….she wouldn’t have told him even if she knew.
“I’ll comply if that’s what boy wishes. Now, tell me the time you want. It looks like Elly will charge
in for an attack at any moment.”
“I’m going back to…. Before the battle started.”
Add only looked forwards and didn’t look back in order to collect his heart.
Eve was still safe. So he didn’t have any reason to time travel. He knew that already.
He knew…. But he didn’t like this.
“I’ll fight properly this time.”
“Huhu, fine. Then go ahead, boy.”
Eun’s hand started to shine brightly with white light.
Crash!!
His face smashed into the ground. Add spat out the dirt that got into his mouth then brought his
body up. Eun must have played a mean trick as she sent him.
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“That d.a.m.ned fox…..”
Anyways, confirming that he had time traveled correctly came first. Just when Add was about to
stand up by pushing the ground, he realized that he had time traveled correctly.
Rena was in front of his eyes and judging from the surrounding structure, this was inside one of the
personal tents. The fact that the Velder Liberation Army suffering from lack of supplies even lent
personal tents to the El Search Party was a proof that the party was being treated as a very important
ally.
“……Add?”
The problem here was…why was Rena in the middle of changing her clothes?
Rena’s voluminous body as she was taking off her El Officer uniform and her well-rounded b.r.e.a.s.t.s
came directly into his view. But Add’s face didn’t heat up and he instead let out a troubled sigh. No,
his face did actually heat up, but that was a physiological reaction and his head was actually cool.
I’m going to go crazy, seriously.
If I ever get the chance, I’m going to hang that d.a.m.ned fox upside down and torture her. I’m going
to make her beg for her life as I pull out every hair from her tail one by one.
When Rena slowly covered her body with her hands, Add let out an extremely deep sigh then waved
his hand.
“I’m sorry, finish changing for now.”
“……Oh, okay.”
While covering his face with both of his hands, Add came to his senses and turned around. He
could hear Rena changing from behind him….. He wanted to even cover up his ears but he didn’t
have enough hands so he just activated the Dynamo’s mute mode.
Even through all this, Add’s head coldly a.n.a.lyzed the situation. Eun had played a mean trick but he
did come back to the past. Judging by the time, this was right before the battle started in the middle
of Rena refusing Add’s suggestion to attack with fire.
Rena had probably just come back from raising the solders’ morale according to Vanessa’s request.
She was probably changing clothes to meet with Add now.
Just when Add was finishing his situational a.n.a.lysis, his shoulders were tapped. After recalling that
Rena was behind him, Add turned off the mute mode and turned back.
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Rena had finished changing and was now staring at him with a helpless expression. Her face was
looked like she was pondering about how she should punish him.
“I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose. I came here by mistake while experimenting with s.p.a.ce warp.”
“……Oh? Really?”
Rena looked puzzled when Add apologized. Well, there was also the bath case so this wasn’t Add’s
first offense. Wouldn’t it be obvious for her to suspect if he was a habitual offender?
Well any other person would be livid at Add by now, but you could tell how magnanimous Rena
was by seeing how she wasn’t.
“I’m really sorry. I’ll be careful from now on. Of course, I don’t plan to just end this with words. I’ll
take any punishment you give me. But later.”
“….”
He was forced to learn how to apologize from Ara so it wasn’t difficult to bring these words out of
his mouth.
When Add, even changing the tone of his voice apologized calmly while bowing, Rena nodded as
she sighed. It meant that she’ll postpone the issue for now. After being successful in postponing the
issue, Add brought up the main topic.
“There’s a problem with the plan. I got something urgent to discuss with you.”
“I see, so what’s the problem?”
Rena also calmly accepted when Add apologized seriously and showed an att.i.tude of wanting to
discuss something important. Not calling into question what happened just now because Add
wanted to discuss something, this was so like Rena.
Add admired her att.i.tude quite a lot internally as he spoke stiffly without showing his emotions.
“There’s an enemy that’s difficult to face. So division won’t work.”
“…..You won’t do the divisionary tactic?”
“No we won’t. We’ll get annihilated if we aren’t careful.”
Even when Ara and Eve went after Elesis together, never mind defeating her, they got pushed back
instead. If you exaggerated it a bit, Elesis was toying with them.
A powerful enemy, she was an enemy that was really difficult to face. They had to clash with full
preparations.
“Hmm, even so that’s a bit…..”
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“Please trust me.”
Rena looked troubled when Add asked seriously. This war was a large fight that included not only
the El Search Party but the Velder Liberation Army as well. She couldn’t change their plan just from
hearing Add’s baseless words.
“Demon army that weren’t moving before will start to move soon. Can you trust me a bit more with
this information?”
“Then….”
Booom!! They heard the sound of an explosion from far away. Rena instinctively grabbed her bow
and was about to dash out of the tent. Then she stopped to look back at Add who wasn’t moving.
Look of confirmation.
“…. So it’s true.”
Rena looked at Add seriously then nodded. She admitted that the current situation was serious and
that Add had some kind of plan.
“Then what should we do now?”
“I have a plan to break through this.”
After leaving the tent after telling Rena his plan, Add sat on the supply crate as he caught his breath.
The sky was still blue.
“It looks like boy isn’t feeling too well.”
“Don’t speak to me.”
Add replied with a low voice. There was a continued sound of light footsteps then he heard
someone standing beside him.
Add didn’t even give a look at Eun standing beside him and looked only forwards.
“So, what changed this time?”
“I wonder what did.”
He thought that something drastic like Elsword growing again or something similar had happened
but Eun’s response was indifferent. It looked like nothing significant had changed from this time
travel.
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“Anyways, time traveling for Rena’s sake. That was quite surprising. Did that beautiful Elf capture
the boy’s heart?”
“Don’t say something ridiculous.”
Add gave a tired response. He actually had so many things to question Eun about like why did she
set the time s.p.a.ce coordinates to that place, or why she didn’t say anything if she knew this was
going to happen. But he didn’t feel like talking to her right now.
For Add, it was right after he saw how Rena had fallen. It would be stranger for him to be able to
converse normally.
“We need Rena.”
“Yes, because she’s beautiful. She’s a perfect feast for the eyes. I’ve lived for a long time but this is
the first time I’ve seen such a beautiful Elf. Of course, beside her is the master of blades…..”
“We need her for future fights against the demons.”
Add cut off Eun’s words and replied bluntly.
That’s right. Rena was an important fighting force. Especially for fighting such a powerful enemy
like Elesis. She could attack from the furthest amongst the group, possessed leadership and most of
all, her battlefield performance was exceptional.
Things went wrong because they started with Elesis’s ambush and Rena getting a critical injury from
trying to save Add. It was originally a fight that was worth trying.
It was such a waste to lose such an important combatant because of a single mistake.
“There were no other alternatives in that timeline. We can’t take on Elesis without Rena. It’s natural
to come back.”
“Did you really come back for that reason?”
“What else is there?”
Add spoke coldly as he stood up. The time to fight had almost approached.
“Boy still hadn’t noticed.”
“Shut up.”
Add ignored as he moved his step forwards. There was no wavering or flaw in his reasoning. They’ll
hit Elesis this time with Rena included in their forces. They’ll go into the fight with full preparations
and come out victorious.
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Rena was just needed for that purpose. It wasn’t like he made a venture of rewinding time just to
save her.
“Kukukukuk.”
Add headed to the battlefield while making a vague smile.
He hated the sky that was dyed in red after all.