Chapter 40

Chapter 40

―You scoundrel! You turned yourself into a Dark Elf and even let your heart be stained black!

Blazing flames erupted from the sword of the Gigantes that Elradian was riding.

―Using an Aura Blade with such a piece of junk Gigantes, I don’t know how long it will last, but let’s see.

From Nemitz’s two daggers, blazing Aura Blades also surged out.

―Aura Blades from daggers!

The Elven Knights widened their eyes in astonishment as they witnessed Aura Blades emitted from daggers for the first time.

Nemitz was the only one on the Arkandor Continent who had reached the rank of Sword Master with daggers.

From the swords of all the Elven Knights standing behind Elradian, blue Aura Swords also erupted.

―Elradian, we are ready to die.

With a resolute statement from a disciple, all the remaining disciples prepared themselves for death.

―We will fight until we die!

―We will not die so easily. Just watch.

Feeling their determination, Elradian gripped his sword more firmly.

―Do not die. Let’s make sure to meet again alive.

―Yes, Elradian!

As the ferocity between the two groups intensified, thousands of surrounding enemies and Elves began to flee in haste.

They couldn’t risk being crushed to death in the fight of these giants, each standing eight meters tall.

―Let me ask you one thing, Nemitz.

―What is it?

―Why did you wait until we boarded the Gigantes? You could have easily dealt with us before we got on.

―Huhu, if you kill a worthy opponent so easily, where’s the fun in that? A Sword Master and a high-performance Gigantes are not toys you come by every day.

Elradian and the Elven Knights felt a fiery anger once again at Nemitz’s words, treating them as mere toys.

―I curse the childhood we spent together, Nemitz.

―That’s what I wanted to hear. Thank you…

There was sincerity in Nemitz’s words, and with those words, the intense battle between the two groups began, shaking the ground.

When Lasaeon blew the war horn to signal the attack, countless Ents, numbering in the thousands, engaged the enemies.

From the hidden Elven Rangers in the forest, twenty thousand arrows flew into the sky and rained down on the Green Elves.

Though many Green Elves fell bleeding under the arrow rain, they had sturdy shields crafted by Green Blacksmiths, as skilled as Dwarves.

Shielded, they began to advance slowly.

However, a second volley of arrows did not follow.

Screams echoed from the forest where the Rangers were hiding.

The Green Elves smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

By now, the forest would be drenched in Elven blood.

Just as the Green Elves had planned, the Elven Rangers fell into chaos.

Dark Elf assassins hidden in the trees suddenly sprang out and launched a surprise attack.

Their ambush was so swift that even the veteran Rangers couldn’t avoid it.

Most of the Rangers were beheaded on the spot, their bodies plunging down from the trees.

The Elven Rangers who fell to the ground with wide, disbelieving eyes couldn’t accept they were dying so meaninglessly.

Those who survived were also in a dire situation.

‘Where did all these assassins come from without any sign of their presence?’

The forest, now a battlefield, became a chaotic mix of allies and enemies.

The Elven Rangers drew their daggers and fought back against the attackers.

But it was impossible to win against them in close combat, which the assassins specialized in.

The number of Elven Ranger corpses increased exponentially, falling from the trees like leaves.

Racion, too, fought back against the sudden attack of the Dark Elf assassins, screaming.

“Damn it! They knew we would use this spot as our attack point and were lying in ambush!”

As Racion drew back five arrows on her bowstring, Aura imbued them, shining brightly.

The five arrows left her delicate hands, each flying in a different direction, blowing off the heads of the Dark Elf assassins targeting her fellow Rangers.

Grabbing another handful of arrows, Racion shot at the enemies, causing more Dark Elf assassins to fall.

However, no matter how many she killed, their numbers did not decrease.

The situation was rapidly becoming desperate.

Her hands never stopped.

She had to kill as many as possible to save her dying comrades.

But her quiver was empty.

Her haste in using multiple arrows had cost her.

‘Damn!’

Her bow, her specialty, was useless without arrows. She descended to a fallen comrade’s corpse to retrieve more arrows.

Three assassins, wielding strange weapons, charged at her from behind.

Thinking she was an easy target, they wore confident expressions.

But Racion was not as easy as they thought.

She leaped in an entirely different direction, seemingly stepping on air, and drew her bowstring even without arrows.

Then, an intangible arrow formed from her bow and shot out at the speed of light, instantly piercing through the three Dark Elves.

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

‘As expected, using Aura Arrows without actual arrows consumes too much mana… I need to gather arrows quickly.’

As Racion dealt with the assassins, she hurriedly descended to the ground to retrieve arrows from her fallen fellow Rangers.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Suddenly, the sound of applause echoed through the forest.

Startled by the applause, Racion aimed her arrow precisely in the direction of the sound.

“Who’s there?”

“As expected, you live up to your reputation, Racion of the Elven Bow.”

With the waning moonlight at her back, a Dark Elf woman was perched on a tree branch.

“Identify yourself!”

“I am Yara, the head of the Blackrion family of assassins.”

“You wretch! How dare you, a cursed being, trespass into the Elven forest! You must have some nerve!”

“Hahaha! A cursed being? Is that not just what you call us to belittle us? From our perspective, it seems you are the cursed ones. A filthy race filled with hypocrisy and arrogance.”

“Shut up! How dare you, with your tainted black skin, insult us Elves!”

“Tainted, you say? I was born with this black skin. Are you saying I was cursed and tainted from birth?”

“Blame your parents for that! Dark Elf.”

“Hmm, I’ve heard that even among humans, some are born with black skin. Does that mean they are tainted and cursed from birth as well? I also heard that those humans with white skin enslave the black-skinned ones, treating them as less than human. While that may seem slightly more humane than killing on sight, as you do, it’s still despicable.”

“So what’s your point?”

“What I’m saying is, you and those humans are the same. Judging people solely by their skin color… Isn’t such stupidity the real curse? Am I wrong?”

“Are you trying to say that you’re just like us Elves?”

“Similar, but not quite. While we are the same race, I do not wish to be associated with you. Your filthy hypocrisy and arrogance are disgusting. So, I wish you would disappear from this land today. I do not want to live under the same sky as you.”

“Watch your mouth!”

As Racion released her arrow, filled with mana, it shot through the air towards Yara.

But Yara did not dodge. She threw a dagger to meet Racion’s arrow.

The arrow and the dagger collided in mid-air with precision.

A massive explosion occurred at the moment of impact.

In the brilliant light of the explosion, Racion’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The arrow she had just shot was one of her strongest, yet it was blocked by a mere hand-thrown dagger.

Her bow could easily pierce through steel.

Without equal strength, it was impossible to stop her arrow.

“Unbelievable… How could a mere dagger…?”

“The history of daggers dates back much further than that of bows. So, I’d appreciate it if you refrained from calling them ‘mere daggers.’”

As the Dark Elf woman slowly stood on the tree, her cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing numerous daggers that glinted in the moonlight.

They looked like snake scales.

“First, I’ll correct your blind arrogance about your bow.”

Racion nocked another arrow on her bowstring.

She swallowed dryly.

The Dark Elf standing before her was not an easy opponent.

* * *

Unaware of what was happening in the forest, Arteon grew increasingly anxious as there was no support fire from Racion’s Ranger unit.

With nearly a thousand giant Ents and the continent’s best archery unit, she believed that they could swiftly defeat the enemy in front of them.

But since the initial volley, there had been no further shots from the continent’s best archery unit, which worried Arteon.

She wanted to rush to Racion immediately, but with the Ents engaged in battle, she couldn’t withdraw.

No matter how numerous the Ents were, the enemy had an army of one hundred thousand and hundreds of giant centipedes.

Moreover, the giant centipedes were astonishingly strong, and no one but Arteon could kill them.

With their powerful shells, strong mandibles, and countless blade-like legs, they tore through Ents as if they were rotten wood.

Troll Green Elves finished off the Ents that the giant centipedes had pruned, chopping them down like firewood.

In an instant, many Ents were reduced to kindling.

When the Ents tried to swarm the giant centipedes, the centipedes sprayed powerful acidic fluid.

The Ents caught in the acid screamed lowly as they burned with black smoke.

Despite hundreds of Ents being destroyed in the battle with the giant centipedes, not a single centipede had died.