RISE OF EROS

When Andrew saw their anxious expressions he couldn't blame them and when he told them what had happened at the meeting with the council of elf elders, their faces turned white with panic.

That was a normal reaction, as they were practically in enemy territory and many experts outnumbered them in strength. Oliver was the most worried, since he is the most powerful guardian and in charge of everything, so he could not help but worry about what Andrew was telling them.

Andrew, noticing his companions' expressions of anguish and concern, smiled and said, "Don't worry, inside the village, they won't attack us, I'm sure of that. The elders Vilmon and Afilis were sincere about that."

Pausing Andrew continued, "The problem will be once we get out of the village, but even with that, there is nothing to worry about because I have a way to deal with them if they still dare to attack us."

Oliver and the others were surprised at Andrew's words of confidence, but not knowing where this confidence came from, they couldn't hold back and asked, "Why are you so confident you can deal with them?"

Again, Andrew plastered on a smile and said, "Let's just say my divine beast made sure." Andrew's words only confused them more because while they knew of Andrew's divine beast, they were unaware of its power and abilities, so they still didn't feel confident.

Oliver who was the most experienced continued to ask as he seemed to have dazzled something, "Is the young master's divine beast your protector?", to which Andrew replied, "Well, it's more my guide, but it has its abilities."

Seeing that their words didn't convince them Andrew added, "Believe me, he wouldn't lie to me with something as delicate as this. His fate and mine are linked, so don't worry, if he said he could protect me, then he can."

Andrew's trust in Fluffy was not something that could be measured. Certainly, his divine beast has his quirks and hides many things from him, but he trusts him completely when it comes to his well-being.

Seeing the confidence Andrew showed, the other three relaxed. Regardless, they had no choice because, in the eyes of the elven experts, they were no different than a fish on a cutting board.

After that, they continued talking about their plan to leave the elven village the next morning, until they were called by Ifiris for dinner. As usual, the meal was exquisite and they soon returned to their rooms.

Since they were all tense about how the relationship with the elven council of elves had ended, none of them was in the mood to have fun at night, so the four of them slept little that night.

The next morning, Andrew and the others arranged to leave. They didn't even accept Ifiris' good intentions of inviting them to breakfast and before the sun was fully up they were gone.

All the elves were early risers, so the village was active, by the time Andrew and the others left. Many were curious about them, but orders had been issued not to approach them, so for the two days that Andrew and the others were in Evergreen, they spoke only to Ifiris.

As Andrew and the others wandered away from the elven village, deep in the village in a plain tree house, the elder Vilmon opened his eyes and sighed, saying, "I guess the young man was right. At least there is only one idiot among us."

Beside him, there was no one, he was just talking to himself as he noticed that the presence of one of the council elders had disappeared. After Andrew's threat and release of aura in front of them, these elders suppressed their intentions to attack him.

They were reaching the limit of their lifespan, but they could still live a few decades, so they did not want to risk their lives, however, among them one of these elven elders was in a more precarious situation.

Long ago this elder was considered a genius and was expected to be the third demigod of Evergreen, however, as the years passed he reached a bottleneck that he could not overcome.

Because of this, his strength stagnated to within a step of reaching the demigod level. Normally, this is not a problem, but this old man, unlike the rest, only has a decade of useful life at most, so his death was near.

He had only two options. He could either make his way and become a demigod, thus extending his lifespan, or survive on elixirs and rare life-prolonging materials.

The first option was unlikely to happen, as he had been in this situation for many years the second was not a long-term solution, so when he learned that Andrew and his companions, could use divinity without being demigods, he wanted to know how.

Unfortunately, Andrew refused to tell them the method and Elder Vilmon had refused to press him. He was also scared when Andrew showed them his aura and he wasn't stupid, he knew he couldn't beat Andrew, but he still had to attack.

At first, the old man wanted to negotiate with Andrew, but after getting to know him, he knew that no matter what he offered, Andrew wouldn't budge, so he could only approach him hostilely and force him.

However, he knew he could not defeat Andrew, so he decided to take him by surprise and capture his wife. He was sure that if he managed to capture Aki, Andrew would compromise himself for her safety.

With that plan in mind, he left the village before Andrew and the others left, intending to set a trap for them. Andrew and the others ran through the forest at full speed because they wanted to get out of the elves' control in the shortest possible time.

However, when they had advanced halfway, a shadow came out of some bushes, and before any of them could react, the shadow approached Aki and in seconds moved several meters away.

Andrew noticing this immediately felt his heart fall into a void, as he thought that Aki had been attacked and that he could lose her, but when he was on the verge of a nervous collapse, Fluffy's voice was heard, "Master, calm down, your wife is fine. It's just one of those elders who didn't seem to take your message."

Listening to Fluffy, Andrew regained his composure and looked toward where the shadow had fled with Aki. They weren't far away, only about ten meters. There stood an old man with white hair, slightly droopy pointed ears, and a face full of wrinkles.

He held Aki by the back of the neck and used her body to protect himself. His face was barely visible behind Aki. For her part, Aki couldn't feel even the slightest strength to move, she was completely helpless.

"It seems you didn't understand me when we met," Andrew said trying to act calm. He didn't want to reveal to the old elf his weakness, but the old man was no fool and knew that Andrew was desperate.

"I commend you for keeping your cool, but I will not be fooled. The situation is simple, you give me the method to obtain divinity and I give you back your wife or you can kill me, but your wife goes with me", the old man said in a deep and scathing voice.

The words of the old man worried everyone because it was obvious that the old man was not afraid of death and those were the most dangerous enemies. Seeing this, Andrew immediately began to talk to Fluffy.

"Are you able to save her unharmed?", to which Fluffy replied, "It won't be a problem, but...". Seeing that Fluffy was not finished speaking, Andrew asked, "But what?".

"Master, I must inform you of what you will suffer, for letting me deal with the matter," said Fluffy in a serious voice. Andrew understood that this would bring consequences, but at that moment he only cared about Aki's safety.

Despite everything, he tried to remain calm and asked, "What?", then Fluffy started to explain. It turns out that what Fluffy was proposing was to take control of Andrew's body with his power.

This was one of the advantages he gained after releasing the first seal, however, it could only be done at the cost of consuming points. The longer Fluffy took over his body, the more points would be consumed, the problem was that Andrew currently had no points.

Andrew was worried when he found out because that was a big problem, but Fluffy offered him another solution. Fluffy would take over Andrew's body, but depending on how long this state lasted, Andrew would lose access to his system and divinity for a while.

Although Fluffy assured him that he could deal with the situation in 5 seconds, that would be equivalent to losing his qualities as a god candidate for a minimum of 1 month, which would leave him extremely vulnerable, but Andrew didn't even hesitate, "Do it".

After those words, Andrew felt his consciousness fade and he lost control of his body. It was as if he had become a passenger in his own body.

The old elf immediately felt how a strange aura surrounded Andrew and acted wanting to kill Aki because he knew that the negotiations had failed, but when he raised his hand to take the life of his hostage, he realized that the girl was no longer in his hands and Andrew's arm had pierced his chest.

The old man was incredulous. He hadn't even noticed when he was pierced, he could only see Andrew standing in front of him with cold golden eyes and before he lost his last breath he heard Andrew say, "I warned you."