Chapter 107 – Headhunters (5)
“If it moves, it cuts it.”
I warned the spirits who returned in a hurry and the elves at the same time. I thought it would be very annoying if they thought useless thoughts.
I turned my gaze toward the place the spirits had just swept away. Five or six trees are downed and the bushes are chopped down.
‘The firepower is stronger than I thought.’
Is that the spirit’s power?
I’ve never seen magic, but it’s probably similar to that.
“What did you do with the bolt?”
The elf’s voice trembled with anger.
“Volt?”
“The guy with the scars on his face.”
“Ah.”
I remembered.
Among the guys chasing me was an elf with burn marks on his face. He was a man with a stammer and a squeal like he was crazy.
“I don’t think he killed…”
“Killed him.”
At first, I had no intention of killing him. I was thinking of leaving him alone and chasing this elf. But they were so persistent, and I changed my mind thinking that clearing them up would ease the burden on Seris.
‘Surprisingly, I couldn’t fight.’
I couldn’t show my skills properly because I hid behind them one by one. However, it’s obvious if you don’t see that he can’t even react properly because he’s flustered by the surprise attack.
At my answer, the elf trembled and glared at me.
“This, how dare you, this damned human…! Ea, Weria! Kill this human right now!”
The elf ordered the two spirits to kill me. However, the spirits were unable to do this or that and just ran around. Because I’m sure it’ll be quicker to slit their throats than their attacks can reach me.
“Ah! Weria!”
The elf cried out earnestly, but the spirits still did not respond. It’s fortunate, but I don’t think I should imprint my situation on this elf.
“Hey, did I tell you to shut up?”
I moved the dagger on the elf’s neck little by little. She had a crack in her outer skin, followed by her red solid line. A shallow stream of her blood soaked her collarbone. The elf’s eyes began to visibly quiver, and her spirits made a fuss about her.
-Yingying!
– Weeing! Weeing!
“Shut up. Before they really stab you.”
As if they knew what they were really going to do, the spirits calmed down. I tapped the elf’s back with my knee.
“Wake up.”
“Shut up.”
Ancalzine refused.
He reluctantly stood up as he pressed his dagger gently against her uvula.
“In action.”
“…”
I put a little more pressure with my dagger. The elf started trudging along.
When I just say it, where does it add up when I listen to it?
I took the elf and walked toward her party.
* * *
“Go away! Won’t it turn off? Will you cut this guy’s neck off?”
Cried Belita, aiming her sword at the elf that lay beneath her feet. Seeing that, Alfred, the leader of the elven action, narrowed her brows as if indignant.
“Damn it, what happened…”
According to plan, this shouldn’t have happened. When he and his allies cornered the humans with threatening shots, Ariel should have finished them off with surprise.
‘What was Ariel doing that didn’t show up?’
However, even after driving him to the riverside, Ariel’s spiritism did not appear. Thanks to this, the humans went back into the forest, and when the number of flying arrows decreased, they counterattacked.
They are elves whose muscles don’t stick well due to their constitution. Of course, there is no choice but to be pushed back by the counterattack of trained humans. In addition, they were taken aback by the sudden counterattack, so it was no coincidence that the five elves were captured.
“Jenny!”
As the human sword touched my friend’s neck, an elf tugged at the bowstring.
“What, shoot? Yeah shoot it fuck! Let’s see if it’ll be faster for your baby arrow to pierce my head, or for this baby head to be cut off!”
Belita exclaimed. At the same time, Seris, Kara, and Patrick also thrust their knives into the necks of the elves they each held. Andrew and Joey blocked their way with their shields.
An imminent situation.
Alfred had a headache.
‘Yes, Ariel. It’s a problem that will all be solved if Ariel comes.’
If only she had her, if she had only her elemental magic, she would be able to easily get rid of those humans.
That’s because Ariel’s spirit art is excellent.
Spirits are things that only elves chosen by them can handle.
Ariel dealt with not one such spirit, but two by one. Even her picky spirits became pure Hanyang when they were in front of her.
It was all because of her innate talent that she accepted Ariel, who was a wanderer in her tribe.
Alfred winked at the captured hostages. Recognizing the glance, the hostages’ expressions became more stable than before.
‘Only Ariel…’
‘If only Ariel comes…’
All of this will work out. Humans will die a painful death, and elves will enjoy a banquet as usual.
They believed so
Until he arrives.
“Fist.”
A man’s voice came from somewhere.
It wasn’t from Belita’s side, nor from the elves’ side. Both humans and elves turned their eyes in the direction the voice came from.
A black-haired man is standing.
As the elves put the dagger to Ariel’s neck, who had been waiting so long.
“Mr. Yooseong..!”
“Brother!”
Seris and Kara called out to him with admiration. Yoosung smiled at them and looked at the besieging elves again with a stiff face.
“I have captured your Elemental Consul. If you don’t want to see this guy die, lower your weapon.”
The bewildered elves began to mumble.
“Ariel is caught, what is this?!”
“I don’t know, you idiot. What if he gets caught…!”
The elves, wondering what to do, soon turned their attention to Alfred. He thought it best to follow the action leader’s judgment.
Alfred bit his lip and shouted to the other elves.
“Don’t let go of your bow! Let go and you’re done!”
Things took a strange turn, and the hostage elves freaked out as the arrows were still pointed at them.
“Don’t shoot, never shoot!”
“You’re not going to shoot, are you? We might be right!”
The strength of the hands that held the bowstrings of the elves weakened at the desperate shouts of their colleagues. Alfred once again shouted at his weaklings.
“Don’t lose your strength! Do you know what will happen if you let go of the bow now and relax? They will be captured by humans and sold into slavery. You’re tired of hearing Bolt talk about elven slaves, right? If you don’t want to end up like that, never let go of your bow!”
Slave.
At that single word, the elves gulped their saliva.
Bolt, who was a slave to a human nobleman, risked his life to escape, and the tribe took him after he wandered in the woods. And Bolt told his tribesmen the details of what he had been through.
About the violence and torture that started with small physical abuse and got worse day by day.
Without leaving a single one.
Without any purification.
The elves tightened the bowstrings they had slackened again. I was sorry to see the faces of the hostages dying, but I couldn’t help it.
Because I never wanted to be a slave.
On the other hand, Yoosung sighed as he watched the bowstring tighten again. He looked at the spirits and said.
“Did you say Weria and Ea? Kill the bastard in the front over there.”
“Ha, do you think Ea and Weria will listen to you? Maybe she’d better surrender now? Then she will kill you with less pain.”
Ariel laughed at Yooseong as if it were not the same. Either way, Yoosung spoke to the spirits again.
“I don’t speak twice. Kill that bastard Or your friend will die first.”
At Yooseong’s words, the spirits shook their bodies and pondered. But when he saw the dagger on Ariel’s throat, his worries were over. A large ice pick formed around the water spirit, and the wind spirit noisily moved the wind.
It was before Ariel could say anything. The ice pick pierced Alfred’s belly. Alfred, in disbelief, tried to grab the ice pick stuck in his stomach. Even that became impossible after both arms were cut off by the wind blade.
Alfred fell to his knees helplessly and fell forward. Little by little his eyes grew cloudy, and he died in vain.
“…”
“…”
Silence prevails.
He stared at Alfred’s dead body on the floor, each lost in his own thoughts. Ariel’s cheeks twitched, then her teeth gnashed and trembled.
“Why, why did you do that… Why did you do that!”
She shouted at her spirits.
-Huh…
-Wheein…
The spirits became sullen at her screams, but they couldn’t help it just now.
For them, the first priority is Ariel.
Alfred and other elves tend to like spirits quite a bit, but not more than Ariel.
Because of this, despite Ariel’s resentful voice, she had no choice but to wait for Yooseong’s next words.
“Good job.”
Yooseong praised her spirits and then warned the elves again.
“I say again. My weapon…”
“Aww!!”
An elf man ran away into the woods with an unsightly scream. Starting with that, the other elves, who were watching, also threw themselves into the forest.
Until now, I had been relying on Ariel’s spirit magic, but suddenly became an enemy, so there was no answer.
“Those… Ea, shoot Weria.”
Three ice picks and four wind blades flew towards the elves. However, because of the trees that stood in the way, the elves couldn’t even be hurt. Yooseong frowned at her.
“What are you doing? Are you not doing it right?”
-Yingying!
– Weeing!
“What? No strength? Do you mean that?”
-Yingying!
The unfair spirits desperately explained. It is said that he had used his strength at Ariel’s request earlier. Yuseong, recalling the sight of the fallen trees, decided to convince him.
“Tsk, I should have killed them all.”
“It is far better to capture alive than to kill. They are sold to slave traders for a pretty high price. Well, since even that escaped, it’s impossible.”
Patrick came to the side before he knew it and patted Yooseong on the shoulder saying good job.
“By the way, did you just talk to the spirits?”
“Yes, I took the Elementalist hostage and he sent a voice into my head.”
Yooseong naturally spewed out lies.
“Awesome. Anyway, I didn’t know that the spirit’s power could be this strong. Judging from the size of the core, it seems to be a low-level spirit. You don’t have to worry about those spirits making a fuss, right?”
“Yes, as long as you hold the hostage well, it will be fine.”
Patrick glanced at the bewildered Ariel, nodded at her, and returned to his company. His party was in the process of restraining the elves they had taken hostage with ropes.
“Leave this! Let go!”
“Shut up, fuck you. Your face is scarred because of you.”
Despite the struggles of the elves, Belita was relentless. The elves, her arms tied behind her back, chattered loudly. It was quiet only after the sharp blade touched his skin.
After processing the captured elves, Seris and Kara approached meteor. They looked at Yooseong to see if she was okay, and only after seeing that there were no wounds, they sighed and were relieved.
“Are you really not hurt?”
“Yes, because the opponent was more foolish than I thought.”
“I was so weak!”
Ariel gritted her teeth at the harsh criticism of the Cerris sisters and glared at them. Cerys tilted her head and looked at Ariel.
“Mr. Yooseong, who is this..?”
“It’s the opposing Elementalist. Did you see the spirits attack earlier? I thought it would be the most dangerous, so I caught it first.”
“Okay.”
Celis nodded her head in agreement, and soon reached Ariel’s chest. Guessing her approximate size made her eyes quiver. Because the two peaks hidden in her white dress were bigger than hers.
Yuseong wondered why Ceris was doing that, then she dragged Ariel and walked toward Patrick’s group.
“Could you tie him up too? It’s hard to keep holding on.”
When Ariel was tied up like that, things were over.
Yooseong asked Patrick what he was going to do from now on. Patrick stroked his beard and looked at the tied-up elves.
“There was a bit of a risk, but nothing much has changed. Instead of the spirit core, we can sell the elves.”
“How much do elves sell?”
“Well, maybe slavers will beat the price, but I think I’ll get at least 1 gold.”
“1 gold..!”
Seris shuddered at her thrill. Yooseong smiled and said.
“Ceris, are you okay? Are we selling elves into slavery? Don’t you feel guilty?”
“Yes? Um… But these elves tried to kill us. Not innocent people… Besides, wouldn’t it be better for these people to live as slaves than to die?”
“What about Kara?”
“Me? Am I okay? These guys are bad guys.”
Kara pointed her sword at the bound elf. The elf who had the sword pointed at her suddenly giggled in amazement and crawled on the floor and fell off the sword.
“I’m glad. I was worried that you might feel guilty.”
“Ah, we also ate enough to drink water for adventurers. It’s not as heartbreaking as this.”
Yooseong smiled at Celis. Seris also looked at him and smiled. As the two laughed at each other, I heard Patrick’s regretful voice from behind.
“No matter how you think about it, it’s a pity. If I had caught all the guys who ran away, I would have been sitting on a cushion of money.”
Then he licked her upper lip with her tongue. Anyway, I need to know about that man’s desire for water. It was when Yooseong was about to say if this was enough.
“I-I know the location! I know where they ran off! Free me and I’ll tell you!”
A female elf who was lying down suddenly raised herself up and shouted. Ariel, who had been glaring at the meteor with a face stained with rage just before her, turned her body towards her female elf in surprise.
“What is Mariana doing?! Are you going to sell the tribesmen?”
“They abandoned us first and ran away. So I’m going to throw them away too, so what’s the problem?”
“Anyway, that’s not it. Then we are no different from humans.”
“Shut up, Ariel. Even if you hadn’t failed in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all because of you!”
“What, what?”
Ariel put on a look of disbelief and then turned her head to examine the other elves. I just wanted to see their reaction…
“…”
“…”
Everyone in her was staring at her with her cold or irritated eyes. Her mind was driven to a dead end by the fact that what Bolt had said might be done to her, that they be enslaved.
“That’s a lie…? You really think it’s because of me…”
“Shut up.”
Yooseong covered Ariel’s mouth. Right now, the words of the other elves were more important than hers.
“So, you know where the other elves have fled? And you mean you’re going to tell me about it?”
“Yes yes! Just promise to release me, and I’ll tell you right away.”
“Hey, where is that? Free us too!”
“I know where. I can explain more precisely!”
The elves clamored to explain themselves to each other. Ariel’s eyes widened, and she trembled at the sense of betrayal.
“Shut up if you don’t want to be followed.”
The elves fell silent at Belita’s bloody voice.
Yoosung asked the female elf a question earlier.
“But there’s no way we can catch them even if we chase them right now, right? It’s been a while since they ran away.”
“No! Even if you go catch it now, you can catch it enough. I will…”
“Eup, oops!”
Ariel stamped her foot as if to say no more. Yuseong frowned at her and put more strength on her arm that covered her mouth.
“Are you okay. Don’t worry, just tell me.”
“Yes, that…”
The elf opened her mouth again.
* * *
“Are you sure this is here?”
“Yes yes! That’s right here. You can go a little further.”
The elf giving directions nodded eagerly. Even so, it seems that he is happy that a bright expression will soon become a free body.
“Remember. I trusted you and went, but if we fall into danger, or if they are not there, you will sell it to the hardest place.”
Belita growled and warned. The elf replied with a pale complexion, trembling in her ears.
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
She started walking a little faster. We also followed her steps.
Even as I walked, I turned my eyes and looked around at the surrounding scenery. Trees and bushes surround the single road we walk on. I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but it seems that there is a light here and there.
‘Is it a firefly?’
While I was wondering, the elf in front stopped walking.
“Arrived.”
She said, looking behind her. Belita’s brow furrowed.
“What are you kidding me about? There is nothing around.”
As Belita said, we were still in the middle of a single road. When I and her party glared at her, wondering if she had tricked us, the elf shook her head in awe.
“Hey, you’re right here. Talk to the forest spirit and he will open the way for you.”
“A forest spirit?”
“Yes, over there…”
We turned our gaze in the direction the elf pointed. A small green light was coming toward us.
‘Fireflies?’
These are the things I said earlier that the trees shine. Wanting something, I watched quietly and the elf talked to the green light.
“What? Uh, why… No. That’s not what we broke…”
However, the story is not going well, so the expression darkens little by little.
Duduk, duduk.
Belita untied her hand. The elf freaked out.
“Now, wait a minute. Ariel, if it’s Ariel’s request, I’ll do it.”
“Ariel? Boy?”
I pointed at Ariel, who was holding onto me, with a wink. The elf vigorously nodded his head.
“Since long ago, the spirits did well with Ariel’s request. I’m sure Ariel will listen if I ask for it this time too.”
“Hmm… Really? Hey, then you do it.”
Belita looked at Ariel and nodded her head, and Ariel replied with a snort at her.
“Why should I listen to you? A request from those who want to capture my comrades?”
“Can you give me a reason to listen?”
Belita drew the sword from her waist and pointed it at the neck of the elf who was directing her. The elf said hee-ik! And pulled away from her body, but the sword was longer than she had subtracted.
“If you don’t, I will kill this guy. If you still don’t, I’ll kill the guy behind you, and if you don’t, the guy behind you. If you don’t talk until the end, everyone will die and only you will remain.”
At Belita’s threat, Ariel widened her eyes and tightly clenched her fists. Belita smiled and dismissed her murderous eyes. There was nothing Ariel could do even if she tried to stare.
“Ah, save Ariel…”
The guide elf trembled and prayed to Ariel. Ariel gritted her teeth and looked at the other captive elves one by one. He then closed his eyes as if resigned.
“Guys… Open the door.”
As if in response to her request, the green spirits of the forest escaped from the trees and flew up into the sky all at once. They gathered together and emitted an intense blue light. The trees surrounding the single road bent over and blocked our path.
The wooden wall was soon enveloped in blue light and returned to its original position after the blue light faded.
Then, what unfolded in front of us was not the dirt road from earlier, but a stone-paved road and a huge white temple that made the viewer feel intimidated.
