Sorcerous Dynasty Sarion.
A supreme great power regarded as the finest in the world in [magitech], and the nation of elves that held secrets even the Eastern Empire treated with caution.
In wars fought through magic alone, it stood as one of the two unmatched peaks.
At the place where [Sarion] was located—
At the very top of the so-called [World Tree], a [High Elf] was idly twisting a lock of silver hair tinged with pale green as she tipped back a glass of liquor.
"Hmm~ As expected, staying cooped up here all the time is so boring."
The name of that woman, possessed of a noble beauty, was [Ermesia El Ru Sarion].
The emperor of the elves, who ruled the thirteen royal houses of elves within [Sarion] and held the highest authority in the nation.
One of the great pillars of magic, she called herself a descendant of the gods and named herself the [Heavenly Emperor].
Having inherited the appearance of her "mother," [Sylvia El Ru], Ermesia had a face exactly identical to hers.
So identical that even those of the same bloodline would struggle to tell them apart.
"Mother really is too much~ Leaving her only daughter behind like this and running off on her own again."
At the moment, Ermesia had been robbed of her freedom.
Because Ermesia and Sylvia looked exactly alike, they had long taken turns playing the role of the Heavenly Emperor, each securing free time for herself that way.
But this time, Sylvia had suddenly run out of [Sarion], saying something "interesting" had come up, and Ermesia had abruptly lost several months of her free time.
Of course, for an elf, a few months was a very short span—barely a few days from a human perspective.
And Ermesia had already gone through this sort of behavior from Sylvia several times before, so she was used to it.
"It's too quiet here. Instead of caring only about tradition, maybe it's time we started thinking about a new kind of future too~"
Perhaps because elves lived so long, many of them still couldn't let go of the traditions of ages past.
They were excellent at advancing magitech, yet when it came to old customs tied to their foundations, they had no idea how to simplify them to suit the times.
"Having to spend thousands of years buried in work... that's just too cruel~"
Muttering that, Ermesia pouted.
In front of her subjects, she always transformed into a cold-blooded iron emperor, but in truth, her real personality was much closer to how she was now.
Like Sylvia, she was an elf who loved new things and anything fun, with a surprisingly girlish side.
That was the real Ermesia.
And then—
"I wonder if anything interesting will happen to me too~..."
Drip...
—that wish of hers was granted in the form of pure coincidence.
"...So this is the World Tree? It really is absurdly complicated in here... huh—?"
—thanks to one demon's "unauthorized intrusion."
"!!—A demon?!" "—The Heavenly Emperor...?"
A [High Elf] and a demon met at the summit of the World Tree.
Two truly bizarre beings, crossing paths through the single bond of "chance."
*
A beautiful voice rang out without warning, along with the powerful, blazing demonic aura unique to a demon.
Startled for a moment, Ermesia barely caught the wineglass she had nearly dropped and turned toward the source of the sound.
"...Who are you? How in the world did you get in here?"
Ermesia's tone had already shifted into the iron-blooded voice she used in front of her subjects.
Like an emperor who had ruled for thousands of years, she responded to the sudden intruder as calmly as she could.
'That demon... what is he? Not only did he evade the eyes of [Magius], he slipped past even my senses and made it all the way here?'
But she could not remain completely calm.
This was the most heavily guarded place in all of Sarion—the very summit of the World Tree, and among that summit, a singular place where only the Heavenly Emperor was permitted to enter.
Even [Magius], the elite force that protected the Heavenly Emperor, could never set foot here.
Not only would Ermesia, the Heavenly Emperor, never allow it, but before a High Elf who had lived for thousands of years, stealth itself was little more than a joke.
And yet—
Now an intruder had appeared here all the same.
'A top-tier demon... could he possibly be a [Demon Lord]—?'
The demon had the solid, disciplined body of a typical martial warrior, contrasted by a sharp and inhuman beauty that gave him a lofty, almost untouchable appearance.
His slightly wavy ash-gray hair gleamed with a healthy sheen, and his pale skin only made his looks stand out more.
His blue eyes, filled with magic power, called to mind the open sky, and together with the chill he seemed to give off at first glance, they lent him an overwhelming presence worthy even of royalty.
"Answer me properly. Who are you?"
As if hiding the fact that she felt overwhelmed by the demon, Ermesia asked again in a very low voice.
The ash-gray demon looked at her in silence for a moment, then opened his mouth as if he had no choice.
"...I didn't expect we'd meet like this already... but... I guess it can't be helped."
With that sigh-like remark, the demon reached for the sword at his waist.
"!!!"
For an instant, Ermesia took it as a sign of hostility and moved to draw her weapon, a chakram—
"—?! That sword... [Adventure King]...?"
But the moment she recognized the sword the demon had drawn, she was shaken enough to lose her composure.
And no wonder. That jet-black longsword was the weapon of [Adventure King] Gran Dwargo, the first emperor of the dwarves—someone she knew very well.
He was one of the very few great figures she could say she knew well enough to speak with freely.
And Gran Dwargo was one of them.
So there was no way she could remain calm when his weapon appeared in the hands of a complete stranger—let alone a demon, a monster.
"Who in the world are you..."
"—Now then, do you feel like talking, Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor?"
And so,
this was the very first meeting between the ash-gray demon and the High Elf.
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