Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"Hey! How can you say that!" Nicola jumped up angrily when she heard this, pointing at the little girl and shouting furiously, "I've never done anything to you before!"

"I believe Lady Nicola! This kid was originally her prisoner, it's already very merciful that she didn't kill her, even if Lady Nicola really wanted to do something it would be completely fine." Selene was the first to unconditionally support her. She ran to Nicola's side like a dog, holding her arm with a look of disdain at the dark elf girl, "Besides, we're all girls here so nothing could really happen anyway."

What she said made a lot of sense, Everyone unanimously expressed their agreement.

But there was still one blind spot - while the others didn't know, I did know Nicola's background. The former Reilly was famously a playboy, and he had been with all kinds of girls. So hearing this, I was very suspicious that this fellow had just acted on impulse and taken advantage of the little girl.

Even if Nicola doesn't have the tools to commit a crime now, I still couldn't stop questioning her morals. My previous experience was a living lesson.

"You all..." Seeing that we didn't believe her words, the dark elf girl was so anxious she was almost crying. There were tears in her eyes and she looked utterly pitiful. "You really are in cahoots with her! You humans really are despicable, shameless, unscrupulous creatures!"

"Hey hey! Don't talk nonsense!" Brennan was a little unhappy that it had escalated to insulting all humans.

"That's right, this could be a conspiracy by the dark forces to divide us." Selene was also very dissatisfied and immediately pinned a label on her.

Seeing how wronged the girl looked, Vivianne, who always had a soft spot for cute things, suddenly softened. "Could there be some hidden meaning or misunderstanding?"

"I think there are many suspicious points here." Adrian, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke up. "You have to know, whether we heard about them or encountered them personally, the magical beasts we've come across are basically the low IQ types. And dark elves are dark creatures specialized in assassination, they wouldn't normally appear in this kind of large-scale battlefield."

"That's right!" Brennan was reminded and immediately realized it was off. With his rich experience fighting dark creatures, he was very clear about the enemy's methods.

"Also, with her being underage, the clan wouldn't normally allow her to wander around outside, let alone come here to assassinate someone." This was also why he was so shocked when he first saw her. After all, young dark elves like her were so rare.

"Since you're saying she tarnished your reputation, tell us everything that happened, including why you appeared here and why you wanted to assassinate Nicola." Since it involved a potential conspiracy, Adrian also started being prudent. He gently asked the little girl, trying to get her to relax her guard and explain the true situation.

The little girl sniffled a few times after crying, struggled for a good while, then finally slowly explained the whole story...

...

"So you ran out on your own to try to assassinate Nicola?" After a good half day, we had roughly figured out what happened.

According to what the elf girl said, most of her clan members had died in the various big and small battles earlier. So after losing their protection, she had to gain achievements on the enemy side in order to survive as a young child. But there were actually no real assassination targets in the forest battles this time, so she had just been benched the whole time. Later, she heard from many magical beasts who escaped back to base that a lone angel was chasing them everywhere and killing them. So, driven by her eager desire to accomplish something, she sneaked out at night to try to assassinate Nicola. But her plan backfired and she got caught instead.

Facing Brennan's question, the dark elf was very reluctant but nodded.

"Then why did you say she tarnished your reputation? I still haven't heard the key part." I turned my gaze back to Nicola. "Could she have done something else to you?"

"I really didn't do anything! She ran over to assassinate me while I was sleeping in a tree at night. In my panic I didn't even have time to take out my condensed air sword, I could only fight her bare-handed. At that time she was much stronger than now, I had to use a lot of effort just to subdue her. It's just..."

Nicola looked at me and immediately denied it repeatedly. But she seemed to suddenly think of something wrong, her expression changed and she hesitated to continue.

"It's just that after subduing her, I didn't expect her to be such a cute little elf child. I was very annoyed that my rest was disturbed, so I wanted to get my worth. I couldn't help sneaking a few... a few pats on her head, and a few pinches on her cheeks..."

I knew it!

Hearing this, I couldn't help holding my forehead. It was just as I expected, indeed her usual style. She wouldn't miss a cheap thrill.

"You didn't do anything else right?" I asked again just to make sure.

"Really nothing else!" Nicola immediately raised her right hand, standing upright as if pledging, "I swear to heaven, I just touched her head a few times! And she ran away very quickly after that."

"That still doesn't prove she tarnished her reputation." Selene still firmly stood by Nicola's side.

It did make sense. Surely just touching someone's head a few times was acceptable right? I didn't think dark elves looked that conservative anyway. So I turned my gaze back to the little girl's side. She was still glaring fiercely at Nicola, as if she wished she could swallow her alive.

"Wait! Lady Nicola, you're sure she was much stronger than now before?" Selene looked at the little girl carefully, seeming to have noticed something.

"Of course I'm sure! I was caught off guard and almost lost to her!" Nicola seemed to still recall the dangerous situation with lingering fear. "I only managed to gain a slight advantage at the last moment by using my wings to knock away her weapon."

"Were you using the power of light elements when you caught her and touched... stroked her head?" After hearing this, Selene sighed and looked at the state of the dark elf, seeming surer now.

"How did you know?" Nicola was a little surprised Selene could see this. She thought back carefully to the situation at the time, "Because I discovered I could very effectively restrain her abilities using the light elements in my own body, so I expended a considerable amount when suppressing her. And later... because she was struggling so intensely, I added a bit more...

"If not for this action causing me to be even more tired and unable to concentrate, I wouldn't have given her the chance to escape."

Speaking of her prey escaping, Nicola still seemed rather annoyed.

"Then it can be confirmed what happened." After hearing this, Selene sighed and looked at everyone, drawing a conclusion. "It's light pollution. There's still a lot of light element residue in her body. This is also why she's so weak now."

"What's light pollution?" I couldn't help asking, this was the first time hearing this term.

After Selene's long and complex explanation, I finally understood what it was all about after much difficulty.

In short, dark elves and other dark creatures rely on the dark elements to become so powerful. For example, although this dark elf was young, her normal abilities shouldn't be below that minotaur. And some dark creatures even rely on the dark elements to survive, so the opposing light elements are like poison to them. Although dark elves don't need the dark elements to survive like demons and vampires, if light elements invade their bodies it will still cause great and even permanent damage. The most obvious effect is a drop in strength, and if the quantity is too large, it could even affect the whole body...

This also explains from another perspective why light and dark are irreconcilable to the end.

"So she just needs to slowly recuperate and replenish herself in a place with strong dark elements like hell, and she should be fine right?" Vivianne raised a solution in puzzlement.

"It's true in theory, but judging from the amount of light element residue on her..." Selene frowned and sensed the state of the other party again carefully.

"Everyone rejected me after I escaped back, they hated me and said I must have had indecent dealings with the angel to have so much of that disgusting aura on me!" The little girl cried and told about how she was abandoned by her comrades.

"So I have to kill that stinky angel to prove my innocence."

"Alright, so that's what happened." Now that the truth was out, Adrian also had a speechless look. It was confirmed to just be a misunderstanding in the end. "But what to do with this dark elf, do you all have the heart to kill her?"

He raised the most crucial, and also most thorny issue. Almost everyone present didn't know how to answer.

"Or should we let her go back? But no guarantee she won't run out to assassinate again."

"Actually I don't think she can go back..." Selene had a helpless expression, stating her opinion.

"Judging from the amount of light element residue on her body, I guess no dark creature could accept her already. In the end, she will probably transform into a light elf. This situation can't be resolved just by replenishing dark elements now."

"Huh? Light elf?" I couldn't help asking curiously.

"That's right, light elf." Selene nodded and explained, "Actually at the start there were only dark elves, but later some dark elves got purified by light elements, becoming more inclined towards the light. They could even bear offspring, so the light elf race formed. They usually live in forests and other natural environments and rarely appear. Light elves look almost the same as humans except for their ears, only they have stronger elemental senses. Conversely, if light elves are eroded by dark elements, they will gradually become dark elves."