"Dark elves?" Sigmund Krieg repeated. I noticed a subtle change in his features, such as the crease in his brow, but the most prominent of all was the sudden flare of killing intent as he reached for the hilt of his sword.
"That's right," the elf chief said, glancing at him in a bit of a panic. Sigmund took a deep breath and calmed down, allowing the elf chief to exhale in relief and elaborate. "Our watchers have spotted their raiding parties. There's at least three hundred of them."
"Let's go," Sigmund said, and we followed his lead. By right, he should be the leader because he was the strongest among us, but he hadn't been very active on that front, usually allowing us to make the decisions. But we had no complaints about him taking the lead this time. In fact, we were far more comfortable with him forming the vanguard.
"You seem to have a history with the dark elves?" I asked cautiously as I followed him, with Sylvie and Silvia on either side of me. Myria and Morten were ahead of us, keeping up with Sigmund, which made sense because they were more comfortable with close combat. Eliza made up the rearguard, but Wesley's party of three had veered off and taken another route there. Apparently, they were forming a pincer maneuver, or they didn't take orders from Sigmund.
"That's right," Sigmund replied softly, his eyes narrowed. "Do you remember that I was pursuing another Earth ranked target? She is a dark elf."
"Oh." That explained a lot, and we finally had the opportunity to meet this enemy that Sigmund was so elusive about. One who might be the mastermind, even if he wasn't as strong as Ricowen. I couldn't help but feel apprehensive.
Would we only get in the way of Sigmund?
It didn't take us long to get to the battlefield. The dark elves were already on the outskirts of Viridian Village, riding on Dire Wolves and trying to rein in the bloodthirsty spirit beasts that were loping toward the hapless line of elves in ravenous strides.
The Dire Wolves were massive beasts, about the heights of horses but three times bulkier. Rippling with sheer muscle, they were covered in dark gray fur and had blood-red eyes. Fangs the size of daggers protruded from slavering jaws, and scythe-like claws dug deeply into the bark of the World Tree branch. They covered the long distance in quick bounds, closing in on the defenders' line quickly.
The elves weren't that weak, though. They were already firing arrows and spells from their trench-like formations, the projectiles screaming toward the racing Dire Wolves and their dark elven riders. A few fell, arrows sticking out of their heads or chests, only to be trampled upon by the ruthless Dire Wolves and their equally merciless riders who jeered at their dead brethren. Spells exploded amidst the phalanx, hurling both Dire Wolves and dark elves into the air, and sending charred carcasses toppling back down. Otherwise, wind blades sliced off limbs, and one Dire Wolf had its head cut off, its body skidding to a stop as blood pumped out of the stump of its neck. Its rider snarled and hurriedly freed himself of his restraints, only to be electrocuted by lightning.
Heedless of their losses, the dark elves continued charging. A few of them raised their staffs, the mage-class among their number casting shadowy spells. Icy barriers formed up above them, deflecting the arrows and elemental spells that the elven defenders continued to hurl at them. A score of them even had the luxury to counterattack, launching volleys of icicles into the elven lines. The elven defenders swiftly erected wind barriers and wooden walls to block the freezing barrage, but these quickly collapsed after repeated bombardments.
Fortunately, none of the elves had fallen. Yet.
I took up position near the rear, drawing my bow and studying the foe. Unlike the huge Dire Wolves, the dark elves were slender and tall, almost like withered trees. Their delicate features spoke of a connection with their beautiful brethren, but where the latter displayed pale skin, theirs were an unnatural ashen gray that was almost blue. They also had red eyes, probably because of their pacts with demonic powers. Their silver hair was long, yet sleek and styled back, and they cackled with cruel expressions as they urged their ravenous mounts forward. They were mostly dressed in black armor that were adorned with spikes, skulls and other macabre trophies.
"Dark elves are those of our brethren who have embraced demonic powers and become demonic mages or warriors themselves," Eliza explained grimly as she caught up and took up position beside her fellow elves. Wind billowed about her before she shaped them into sickle-shaped blades that she hurled furiously at the dark elves charging toward us. "Show no mercy to them, for they will give us none."
"They…look monstrous." Sylvie gulped, but she and Silvia steeled themselves and began setting spirit arrays. Carving runes into the ground and tapping into the latent mana that coursed through the veins of Yggdrasil, they created overlapping barriers that glowed defensively around the nervous elves. Even though they had reaped quite the tally on the attackers, there were still so many raiders who survived the initial exchange.
"They are cruel, wicked and…monsters in elven form," Eliza almost spat, her voice a vicious hiss. "Do not be fooled by their still elven appearances. Look at their armor – the spikes aren't just decorations. They thrive in pain and revel in the suffering of others. It can be said that it's the only way they survive. Through their pacts with Chaos…ahem, I mean demons, they are required to offer up agony of their victims as tribute. Sometimes, when they cannot find other civilizations to raid and torture, they fight amongst themselves just to produce pain and suffering. For if they do not, they cannot survive."
"What kind of demons do they make pacts with? A demonic god named She Who Thirsts?" I rolled my eyes, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. Everyone ignored me because they didn't get the obscure references. Nonetheless, I didn't have time to explain to them the glory and wonder of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Speaking of which, I should get a game when I returned to Xia Hai.
Instead, I focused on firing more arrows at them. A few of my azure arrows broke through the glacial shields that the magical dark elves shaped above them, raining through the breaches and scything down a few. That might sound impressive, and a few of the elven defenders glanced at me in amazement, but that was simply because I was a peak Mystic ranked cultivator, and most of the enemy were Yellow ranked. There was a significant number of Mystic ranked dark elves, but by and large, the majority of them were Yellow ranked.
What? This wasn't some cultivation story where you had map changes and suddenly the once rare Mystic ranked was the most common standard for everyone in whatever new "heavenly continent" you were now in. Of course you would have more Yellow ranked combatants than Mystic ranked warriors. That was only natural.
"Be careful," Sigmund warned. "There's more to them than meets the eye. A raiding party doesn't just consist of dark elves and their Dire Wolves. They should have more forces at their disposal. And I still haven't seen…her yet."
I knew who Sigmund was referring to. The Earth ranked target he had pursued to Yggdrasil. That didn't bode well. Most likely, she was hiding somewhere and gauging the situation.
"Well, I'll just have to force her out." Sigmund stepped forward and unsheathed his sword. Blue aura crept around his huge blade and he swung the legendary weapon with a bellow. "Balmung!"
The azure aura leaped out of his blade, taking the form of a gargantuan dragon that roared silently before descending upon the milling ranks of the astonished dark elves. For some reason, they had corralled their Dire Wolves close together, making them clumped up and vulnerable to a single area of effect attack. Perhaps they were confident of their mages' ability to protect them, but the blue dragon smashed through the giant ice shield that hovered above them in a single strike before crashing down on their massed formation and annihilating an entire section.
"Oh!"
The elves were buoyed by the display of power, their jaws dropping at the scene of devastation. Many of dark elves had been decimated by that blow alone, and the survivors were picking themselves up, desperately untangling themselves from their dead steeds. A good number of them were trampled upon by the still living Dire Wolves, while the majority of them were half-dead, having missing limbs or scorched horribly by the destructive mana.
Not to be outdone, I summoned Azure Frost and fired it. The glacial shield, recognizing the icy aura from my spirit sword turned arrow, failed to keep it out, and the freezing nova ended up entombing another company of dark elves and their Dire Wolf mounts in a monument of ice before shattering, the fragments of the foe scattering across the wide span of the World Tree branch.
"Nice!"
"Way to go!"
"We'll win this!"
The elves had witnessed our abilities when we fought against the insect horde yesterday, but they were reminded once more of our power when they saw us fighting alongside them up close. Their morale was boosted and they began to surge forward to meet the decimated enemy, confident in their victory.
But, as Sigmund said, the enemy had yet to reveal their true strength.
"They are coming," Sigmund said simply. Myria, Morten and I glanced at him, while Sylvie and Silvia continued to set up more spirit arrays to both cover the defenders and provide more ranged offense support. I followed the direction of his gaze and saw more creatures coming out of the fog that shrouded the early morning in Yggdrasil. Their massive, lupine forms towered over three meters, and their claws gripped weapons. Despite their skinny frames, the newcomers were dressed in bulky armor.
Kobolds.
Humanoid spirit beasts that looked like a cross between wolves and lizards, they stood on two hind legs while wielding weapons. They had a modicum of intelligence and cunning similar to dark elves, often gathering in large packs and making use of tactics. It wasn't surprising that they had allied themselves with the dark elves, for they loved to hunt humans. And the regular elves, it seemed.
The dark elves, though, differed from what I had imagined. The gray, almost blue skin gave me creeps, and their red eyes were almost intimidating. They really seemed more demonic than dark. I would later learn that dark elves weren't used to refer to elves with dark skin. It wasn't a term used to differentiate race – in fact, elves didn't distinguish between race and skin color. There were dark-skinned elves who I would meet later, with silver hair as opposed to the golden hair of their brethren, but they were still considered elves as opposed to dark elves.
Nope, the dark was used to denote that these were elves who had literally fallen over to the dark side by embracing demonic powers.
And the Kobolds weren't their only trump card. Out of the skies descended wickedly shaped prows that bristled with thorns and spikes. Black iron hulls with a layer of rust cut through the gradually dissipating mist, and flying ships sailed over the village of Viridian.
"Raiders," Sigmund whispered, a ghost of a smile flitting over his lips. "They finally deigned to send out their elites."
Clicking on my glasses, I magnified the view on my lenses and zoomed in on the teeming squads riding on the black ships that Sigmund had called Raiders. There were more black armored dark elf warriors aboard them, but unlike their brethren on Dire Wolves, these were encased in full body armor that was a lot thicker and larger. They also wielded dual scythe-like blades that extended from thick gauntlets, or two-handed glaives. A few of them even sported rifles.
And that wasn't the only type. On another Raider, I saw a squad of less armored dark elves. These female looking warriors had foregone protection for what seemed like speed and agility, dressed in little more than soft leather. But they carried an assortment of weapons, ranging from combat knives to whips and nets. Their red hair blazed behind them in long, fancy ponytails, and a few of them leaned on the ledges, licking their lips.
"Cabal Knights and Gladiatrixes," Sigmund said softly, his eyes flickering up to the lead ship. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on a flamboyantly armored figure who was at the helm. A beautiful dark elf with red hair, she sneered at the elves below, snickering when she caught sight of Sigmund. He scowled. "Led by the Archoness herself. Of course."
"Archoness?" I repeated. He nodded solemnly, his gauntleted hands curling to grip the hilt of his sword, Balmung, tighter.
"My target, Lelith Maledictx. Be careful of her. She may not be as powerful as Ricowen, but she's still an Earth ranked warrior…and she's much more cunning."