Chapter 44
Our boats quietly traveled on the water to the shore. The mage types with water blessings were using water to put out the fire and drive away the still-burning oil using the waves.
There was peace in the boats. No one spoke a word. Reality had started to set in. Even now they could smell the charred smell given by the now nonexistent bodies. Some burned down to the bones while some drowned in the sea after their seals burned as well.
The reality that more than three hundred lives were taken so cruelly was a fact hard to swallow for these greenhorns who only speak of honor and bull.
The truth is this, what is in front of them now. Death and only death. The only way to win in a war is to kill whoever or whatever.
We shortly landed on the shore and the soldiers got into position. We quietly traveled to the orcs camp taking a detour because of the still burning forest behind the beach and by the moment, the fire was spreading so we were somewhat short on time.
"Take the mages and snuff out of the forest fire, it will take a day or two but it's doable. Go." I ordered a lieutenant who was next to Stepashin. I didn't send Stepashin because I needed him at the camp.
They were in my team sure but I didn't trust any of them. Not even Alicia and Asmara, at least not yet.
It didn't take long and we were in the orc camp in a few hours. The camp was completely desolate, devoid of any signs of life. It seems that all the orcs were at the beach.
Weird, no matter what novel I have read or game I have played, every time you encounter an orc camp, squad, or whatever, there is no female or child orc among them.
Maybe they aren't shown in the background but then, are they downloaded?
[Like that's important right now]
It is important. What if orcs have a mystical way of coming into existence out of thin air or male on m___ Ugh!!!
Regretted that the moment it came into my mind.
[Then don't think]
Yeah, I will do that now.
Anyway, the camp was empty and when we entered deep enough, we came across a tent bigger than others. The chief's camp.
When we entered the chief's tent, there it was, shining on the top of the chief's chair. The medallion that would end our test and I could say it confidently, to this date, no one would have cleared this test as soon as I have or would have if I had taken that medallion out.
Unfortunately, my goal was something else.
"Is that the medallion that would take us out?" A boy whose name I didn't bother to ask, asked. I'm gonna name him SC1.
[SC1?]
'Side character 1.'
"Do not touch the medallion." I stopped him before he could touch it. once he touches that medallion, we would be teleported back but like I said, I need to do something before that.
"Why not?" Another one spoke from the side. I wasn't interested in any explanation but they were the candidates for a perfect practical explanation.
"Just because we nominated you the leader for this mission doesn't mean you can do whatever you want," SC1 spoke before he extended his hand to touch the medallion again.
"Captain," I spoke and garnered all the attention in the tent, even SC1 stopped to see what I was about to do.
"Yes, sir," Stepashin spoke, awaiting my command. The one good thing about this test was that although these men were remnants of the past, right now, they were as real as the word real could be.
"These men have been charged with mutiny as of now. Since we are far away from the mainland, we have no time to deal with proper procedures. Do what is necessary in that situation." I gave a simple and slow cryptic command which confused many of my teammates since I doubt they even knew what mutiny meant.
"Yes, sir." Stepashin simply spoke before he disappeared from his spot and before anyone could figure out what was happening, SC1's shout was heard throughout the tent and his body fell limp shortly after.
Shortly after that, another shout was heard and when everyone turned to that, they saw Stepashin with a sword in his hand standing over the body of the 'another one'.
Oh yeah, I might have forgotten to mention it, but Stepashin here is an A-rank awakened. These E and d rank brats are nothing in front of him. The only logical reason why he is listening to my commands is because I am assuming the role of the original commander.
Besides, this artifact is programmed so that when we fight as in we the students, the other party gets limited but when the Npc from this artifact fights other Npc, their strength remains the same.
In other words, if I were to fight the orc leader, his strength would drop down to my level but if Stepashin were to fight him, their strengths would remain the same.
That was why I was planning to fight the elves by myself even though in ranks, they might be way higher than me.
Anyway, "Anyone else?" I asked with a smile to my leftover comrades. Asmara looked like she wanted to say something but she seemed to have left it for private later.
"Answer!" I loudly said when there was no answer from my teammates.
The rest of my teammates collectively shook their heads and spoke a collective, "No."
I also nodded with a smile in return and turned to Asmara, "Guard this medallion. Make sure no one touches it." Then, without waiting for her to reply, I turned to Stepashin and said, "Start building the base but don't bring the ships over, use the boats."
The water was still enchanted; our ships would sink if they passed that point so that was a no-go.
He nodded and left while Asmara, seeing that there was no other choice, nodded as well. "You," I turned to address Alicia, "You're coming with me."
Alicia nodded and we both walked out of the tent. "Where are we going?" Alicia asked when she saw where we were heading.
"Why? Are you afraid of being alone with me?" I teased Alicia but her face turned red at my question.
[It seems she is thinking some naughty stuff]
'Well, that will have to wait.'
All jokes aside, if I remember correctly, which I no doubt do, there are about twenty elves deeper in the forest. The only reason I am not taking anyone from the army is simple, I don't want the rank limitation to be removed from the elves.
=====
"What do you think about those explosions earlier?" An ethereal beauty with long pointy ears and long blonde hair asked another similar-looking person only of the opposite gender next to her.
"I don't know but it is worrying. There are no sounds of battle since earlier and the fire is periodically going out." The male version of the female replied.
"Whatever it is, we don't have much time. Just assume the worst and be prepared." Another female with long blonde hair and pointy ears said before all of the people with the same descriptions focused back on work.
These people were generally known to the world as elves. Descendants of the high elves and generally known as simply elves or more specifically, wood elves.
They are well versed in magic and mostly life magic and wood magic. There are many types of elves but wood elves are mostly representatives of the elves since they are the most acceptable.
It is like how humans have holy powers but the dark powers are hidden because they are outcasts.
Today, these elves are here to retrieve something. Something old of the high elves, the ancestors they came from. They were here in search of a library which was hidden for almost a hundred years.
This all wouldn't have been a problem but as soon as they got a hint in a hundred years of a more accurate location of the library, the humans attacked this island.
They knew that once this island fell into the control of the humans, they wouldn't ever give up what treasure was in that library.
"We must hurry and find the book of immortality before it is too late." The female elf who seemed to be in charge of these elves spoke.
"Oh, it is already too late." They all heard an equally ethereal voice but with hints of amusement and at the same time, a barrage of glowing balls fell on them.
Some were quick enough to conjure shields to protect themselves but those who failed to react in time died at the spot.
"NO!!!" the elf in charge exclaimed when she saw many of her comrades falling dead. She moved to her fallen companions but another barrage of beads from before halted her attempt.
"Now, now, let us talk peacefully." A white-haired boy emerged from the trees with the most charming smile there ever could have been.
"Attack!!!" the elven chief ordered her companions and they ran to comply. They ran to surround their assailant but another barrage of shots was fired at them.
Although they were able to conjure a shield to prevent damage, they were all surprised to see the magic spell that was being fired at them.
"How is this possible?" One of the elven males asked while dodging and blocking what he could.
"I don't know but whatever it is, we are in trouble if it goes like this." The chief remarked and increased her speed while drawing her bow and arrow to aim mid-jump.
The problem they were currently facing was their opponent's mana. At the speed and quantity their opponent was shooting at them, their own mana would soon run out.
"Excellent skills." The figure in white praised seeing the skills of the elven chieftain.
Alas, it was of no use. As soon as the arrow was fired at the figure, a shield with hints of white light appeared in front of him and the arrow was easily blocked.
The other elves also started to shoot arrows at the white-haired boy while some conjured up spells to shoot at him. Another female elf conjured a magical spell that controlled the trees.
The trees wriggled and their branches elongated and shot themselves at the boy in the shield. But it was a pity, there was no damage being done to the shield of the boy. Whenever a crack would appear in the shield of the boy, it would repair itself just as quickly.
"This isn't working." The elven chieftess shouted but before she could plan their next step, she spotted a figure just next to her throwing a punch at her.
It was too late to dodge it and too late to avoid it or block it so all she could do was get struck by it and get struck by it she did.
A black-haired, cream-skinned girl appeared at the spot from where the elven chieftess went flying. Everyone made a mistake and turned to look at her which proved to be fatal for everyone.
A storm of magic bullets unlike before fell on the distracted elves and killed them on the spot. The only one remaining now was the elven chieftess.
"NO!!!" she exclaimed again seeing that all her companions were slaughtered but before she could feel sorrow for their deaths, the handsome white-haired boy appeared in her vision and said, "I'm sorry but they have been dead for centuries."
Then he turned to the black-haired girl who appeared to be his companion and said, "And so is she so finish her."
The words had barely left the boy's mouth when a strong punch landed on the elven chieftess which shattered her skull and killed her on the spot.
"Well, that's done." The white-haired boy spoke with a sweet smile that contained no hints of empathy for what he had just done.