In A Noble Magic Academy, The Only Spell I Know Is Scan

The light of the next day revealed the dark elves standing in front of the cradle square, in front of the great tree and armed with only a few real weapons and a couple of hastily put together basic ones. They stood in pure defiance as they approached the cradle. In response, the great elven army filed out of the nearby homes and from within the Tree Cradle. They stood with much more weapons and armor, with greater quality and clearly more composed as they stood in a defensive formation in front of the great tree. The two sides stared down each other from across the sides of the square, the dark elves were more unnerved by the attack they would have to preform, the harm they would inflict than the elven soldiers who stood...a bit confused and unsure but ultimately strong in defense of their king and land. A king that still had not appeared to the battlefield in front of his very doorstep.

At the very back of the dark elves' army was Lycoris who was armed with a stick that was half the size of a normal staff. It was a good size for a child her age but it was really more for appearances than it was going to be effective. But whenever or not she'll be able to fight was not on her mind. Instead, she clutched her weapon close to her chest, trying to take deep breaths that came too quickly after the last to be effective.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Marigold..." Lycoris looked up as her old bully patted her on the back, "We have to do this."

"Right." Marigold offered a smile and a nod, "No one else is going to fight for us. So we have to do it ourselves."

"I know. I just...how are you so calm?"

"I always wanted to fight. For a weakling like you, it might be hard to attack someone but look at our opponents. They're here to defend what they believe in. We're here to fight for a world that we know is just. Something worth fighting for. Don't you think so too?"

"I do...I do but..."

"Haha. You always did seem like a bit of a wimp. Still, we wouldn't have gotten this far without your help so don't flake out on us now. You're practically the leader."

Marigold patted Lycoris on the back again and made her way to the frontlines, leaving Lycoris in the rearguard.

"But...are we really doing the right thing?" Lycoris muttered, "For us...and for the world?"

"You are. Don't worry. A world that accepts so many sacrifices isn't one worth fighting for. You're doing good, Lycoris."

"Hyacinth?!" Lycoris turned around but whatever voice had spoken to her from behind was gone in a gust of wind.

"Aaaahhhh." Hyacinth sat down on the edge of a rooftop overlooking the brewing war, "This looks bad."

"Are you not going to join them?" Zinnia asked as he joined her on the roof.

"Who, the dark elves? Nah. I'm not on either side, remember?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Borage asked as he approached the two from behind, "Release some monsters in the middle of all the chaos?"

"The spatial field around the cradle has already been tweaked." Hyacinth explained, "It's too late to change it now. The monsters are coming whenever we want them or not. All thanks to Zinnia."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Borage asked the only normal elf among them, "This goes directly against the king's vision."

"..."

"I'm surprised too." Hyacinth leaned back to look at Zinnia, "All you had to do was say no and my plan would've been for nothing. Why'd you help us?"

"...I have some questions for the king."

"Then why didn't you ask them?" Hyacinth grinned, "He was right there, remember."

"You never were good at expressing yourself." Borage chuckled.

"Hmhmm. Maybe you just follow orders blindly?"

Zinnia glared at Hyacinth.

"Whoa! Scary!" Hyacinth raised her hands up playfully, "You're a funny guy, Zinnia."

"Whatever." Zinnia sighed.

"No Zinnia, I mean it." Hyacinth turned her saddened eyes back to the battlefield, "I wish we got to spend more time together."

"..."

The tension between the two yet to be warring factions were coming to a boil, the parties were getting anxious waiting for some sort of signal to start the war that they weren't sure was ever going to come. And when both sides were starting to question why they were there, Marigold stepped forward in front of the dark elves and shouted,

"We are elves who have been shunned and damned by forces out of our control! Treated in unethical manners by those who have not been chosen to join this fate we never asked for! Our demands are as follows: The surrender of the Elven King who we believe is responsible for our condition first and foremost. A reversion or cure for our condition! And reparations to be made for the distress we have been subjected to! Failure to comply will leave us no choice but to storm the Tree Cradle and take it over in order to search for a remedy ourselves!"

"A trivial set of demands."

Everyone looked up as a light suddenly appeared in the middle of the tree's crescent and a lone ray shot down from it to the grounds and landed in front of the elven army, the king appearing from its radiance, dressed in battle regalia.

"If you seek a cure then there is none for you have been chosen for a new role. Instead of lamenting your condition, you should see beyond your hesitation at the purpose you have all been given."

"A purpose given without consent is nothing but tyranny, king!" One of the dark elves said with particular disdain when saying 'king'.

"A war threatens to take the lives of this world and her people and you speak of choice like we have any choice but to fight back. Those who've seen the chaotic war front understand the place of order and organization is in a desperate resistance. While the other races way quibble and quarrel with each other, the elves remain as the world's first line of defense. And now we must become the vanguard if we ever hope to win, nay, see the end of this ages long war. If you cannot see that then you are a threat to the world itself and must be brought in line."

The king raised his arm and the elves all shouted, raising their arms and swords in the air as the frontline tapped the butt of their spears on the ground and levels them at the rebelling dark elves.

"If you seek to change anything then you will have to wrench control of this cradle away from me. As a man who has seen the war firsthand and returned from it many times, we shall see if your invasion can match up to the threat to the world!"

And with that, the elves charged and the war began. The cradle erupted in chaotic noise as weapons clashed against armor and tore against flesh. Elves on both sides were already dropping and much to everyone's surprise, the fallen bodies of the normal elves quickly dissipated as the same elf reemerged from inside the cradle, their lives revived instantaneously. And it became clear to everyone that there was no possible way to defeat the constantly reviving elves.

"Hyacinth, where are the monsters?!" Borage cried.

"Ask Zinnia."

"Zinnia?!"

"They're coming." Zinnia replied calmly, "I had to make a flaw in the spatial foundation and draw their attention to it but they're busting through the meager defense I put up as a ruse just fine."

"Can you make them invade faster?!"

"Well I could but I don't want to scare them off."

"Relax Borage." Hyacinth said, "It'll be fine."

"How are you so calm?! Don't you want to stop this war?"

"Of course I do." Hyacinth frowned as she watched her warring comrades, "But they have to understand the horror of war in order to want to avoid it in the future."

Borage wasn't convinced by her words but was convinced by Hyacinth's shaking hand, gripping the edge of the roof she was sitting on with intense restraint. So Borage stayed silent as the war continued.

"Okay so before we go any further. Ah, feel free to keep the memory rolling." Helena spoke up, "So...we all know what's going to happen here right?"

"The dark elves will lose?" Roland asked, "I mean, given what we know of the present, I can't imagine they actually win."

"No, something simpler than that."

"The monsters will attack them both?" Corissa suggested.

"Close. You all know what kind of monsters they're talking about right?"

"The ones from the beginning of the memory." Enlil said, "The ones that tried invading after the king arrived."

"Right. They're going to show up, see US and then-"

"Attack us right?" Momo nodded, "I'm well aware and well prepared."

"Okay good. Cause I felt like some of us might've forgotten."

"I didn't forget." Roland mumbled as he and Corissa looked away in shame.

"So!" Helena clapped her hands, "With that in mind, I want to make sure someone sees what's going to happen with the memory elves. And that person will be-"

"Roko." Everyone answered.

"But why?" Roko sighed, "Isn't it YOUR thesis, Helena?"

"I mean, I'm going to be too busy making sure Roland doesn't die." Helena smiled, "Besides, if there's anybody I would trust with looking after the truth, it's you."

"Not Roland?"

"Bro, I wouldn't trust me with watching the fight either." Roland scoffed.

"And you don't see that as a problem?"

"You want to make me care then?"

"Whatever." Roko sighed, "You just want me to watch without fighting?"

"Great, thanks, Roko! We'll try to keep the monsters off of you so make sure to get everything you can!"

"Just make sure you don't die."

"That's the plan. Don't worry, we're used to fighting against an infinite amount of swampy toothy creatures now anyway."

"Speaking of, here they come."

Enlil's warning drew everyone's attention to the sky as even the memory's elves began to look up in confusion as the sky began to crack. Even from the first moment, every elf seemed to understand what was happening but before anybody could do anything, the sky burst and a lion like creature fell from the sky. A lion like creature with a body shaped from a crystalline tree, skeletal legs framed with vines and branches and filled by squirming black liquid. With a mane of swirling tentacles and the skin of a lion stretched over its face and paws. It roared with an unearthly sound that shook the cradle over and over again as more and more of these creatures fell into the sealed space. And then these monsters began to immediately attack everyone around them.

"Oh no, I forgot we were dealing with these weird mixed monsters..." Helena said awkwardly.

"How'd you forget that?" Momo frowned.

"Regardless, we have to go help them!" Corissa cried.

"Uuhh, Corissa? These are memory people. They've been long dead. They're not actually dying."

"Oh...I forgot that for a moment..."

"How'd you forget that?" Kaguya sighed.

"Still, we have to defend ourselves." Momo drew her sword, "The royal guards on the side of the dark elves are starting to join in as well so we better get down there ourselves."

"Not me." Helena sighed, "I'm staying up here for sniper duties."

"You know, you don't have to listen to Roko." Roland rolled his eyes.

"Yeah but I think he's onto something."

"Well I don't know what he's on. Whatever, I'll stay back and make sure no one interrupts you."

"You don't need to. I can use my new Drone spell to keep an eye on my back. That's all it's really good for right now." Helena said, summoning her ghostly companion to her side.

"What am I supposed to do then?!" Roland frowned.

"Go fight in the battlefield." Helena replied, "I'll be fine here and I know you love to prove yourself in the battlefield. So go do exactly that. I'll be watching."

"I..." Roland looked conflicted.

"If you need to get back real quick, I'll lend you a strong quickening spell." Momo patted Roland on the shoulder, "Trust in Helena for now."

Roland struggled with this problem for a moment more before finally turning his back to Helena, "Don't overdo it."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not a Roko."

"Have I mentioned how much I hate that my name has just become a descriptive noun?"

"Well Roko, you are real character all right."

"Screw you, I'm going to go see if the lions will be friends with me."

"I'll come too!" Corissa said as Roko jumped down from the roof they were on.

"Uh, Corissa you should probably stay with Helena." Kaguya said.

"What? Why? If it's these monsters I can fight them too!"

"Yeah but we're in a magical dimension room right now. Your holy might destroy the space we're in. We discussed this, remember?"

"Oh...I forgot."

"How'd you forget that?"

Roko found he had a fair bit of room to move in the middle of the messy melee. The lions were so preoccupied with the elves that most didn't even really seem to notice him. That is not to say none of the monsters attacked him. He did end up getting intercepted by a lion or three but his companions quickly showed up to take them off him. Roko could see Hyacinth and Borage had long joined the fight with Borage leading any elves he saved towards the exit and Hyacinth swooping around in the air and dive bombing any monsters before they could harm anybody. But Roko's attention was on the king or where the king was supposed to be. He had ordered a quick retreat into the Tree Cradle in order to form a defensive front but his men had been too scattered to properly rejoin. After that, the king had disappeared like he's done many times before. Roko assumed he had just joined the fighting but wasn't sure on where the king had moved to. So he instead moved towards the front of the cradle to try and retrace the king's movements. Little did he know that he wasn't the only one moving forward.

Roko figured that the spells that were flying over his head were from frantic fights but as he drew closer to the cradle the could see that some of the normal elves were not actually retreating and successfully regrouping in front of the cradle like the king ordered. And the ones to have helped them reorganize were standing right in front of him. And it wasn't long before Borage burst through the enemy ranks and Hyacinth joined him on the ground.

"Good to see you two again." Scabius said, "Though you've certainly changed quite a bit."

"It's only a cosmetic change, I assure you." Hyacinth smiled.

"Are you sure? The Hyacinth I know wouldn't have come up with such a chaotic plan."

"And what about you? What have you two decided?"

"That all depends." Nasturtium replied, "If you're getting the dark elves to retreat out of the cradle we won't stop you but I see some of you haven't given up on that quite yet."

"So long as the Core Gem exists, the lives of the dark elves will be intrinsically tied to the normal elves." Hyacinth replied, "We need to stop that. And that means-"

"Destroying the Great Tree." Borage rumbled.

"Certainly, that's your only hope now that the gem's been fused with the tree." Nasturtium rubbed her chin, "But if that's the case, then we can't let you do that."

"I figured." Hyacinth crossed her arms, "I...really hoped that wouldn't be the case but..."

"Yeah...I did too."

The two groups of once friends looked across at each other, the grim reality of what had to happen unsettling their nerves.

"Is...there no other way?" Borage asked.

"Hey big guy, I wish there was." Scabius sighed.

"Can you at least tell me why you decided to side with the king?" Hyacinth asked.

"The king never condoned the treatment of the dark elves. And his points about the war and sacrifice are valid. We may not quite agree with the methodology but it is a path forward for us and the world nonetheless. And as his royal guards...as his last royal guards, we have a duty to protect his ideals."

"..."

"..."

"So...do we fight now?" Borage asked.

"...Yeah." Scabius drew his knife, "We do."

Hyacinth lifted her blade and rested it against the palm of her hand.

Nasturtium tapped her staff on the ground and summoned a waiting salvo of ice spells.

And Borage lifted his broadsword onto his shoulder, forcing the look of pained sadness on his face away as he steeled his resolve.

And with Roko watching intently, the two began their fights.