A few minutes before Elise helped Aurora, just as Aurora went to fight against one of the saber-toothed tigers. The elves already managed to surround the other wolf, effectively blocking it from running away to help the one fighting Aurora.
Due to the severe lack of physical fighters among the elves, it was very difficult to hold the tiger off. There were only five fighters capable of blocking the tiger in its path, and the rest were mages and agility-focused hunters. Not to mention that due to the tiger's speed, these mages and hunters could hardly do anything. Because of this, both offense and defense were lacking.
In the middle of the circle formed by the elves, the main battle was already surging on. Rejoke, who was the main fighter on the side of the elves, was doing his best to hold the tiger in place, making full use of his absurdly high strength. Of course, Rejoke wasn't fighting alone; otherwise, he would have died right from the start.
Elijah, who was the strongest among the elves and was also an agility-focused hunter, was covering for Rejoke's blind spots as well as he could. Anytime the tiger would attack from an angle at which Rejoke had no time to defend, Elijah would cover for him from the backlines.
If there was one thing Aurora would applaud Elijah for, then it would be his aim. Every single one of the elf's shots was aimed precisely. Every arrow fired from his bow would force the tiger to cease its attack and dodge, giving Rejoke time to keep the pressure on. It was only thanks to these two that the elven squad was still holding their ground.
But even if they were holding on, this state wouldn't last for long. Rejoke's strength-boosting skill had a duration, and once it would run out, it would be the end for the elves. Besides, the tiger still hasn't unleashed its full strength as it wasn't using its mana.
Elijah seemed to realize this, as he was quite desperate to finish as soon as possible. Unfortunately, his attacks were close to useless in this battle. Even if his aim was excellent, the tiger moved simply way too fast, and all of its movements were unpredictable. Unless the elf's attacks would be able to track their target, he wouldn't be able to hit the tiger.
Just as Elijah was doing his best to figure out a way to land a hit, the flow of the battle changed. The tiger dodged Elijah's shot and moved behind Rejoke once more. Elijah's shot still bought him enough time, so thanks to it, Rejoke was able to complete his turn by the time the tiger was behind him.
But just as Rejoke was slashing forward with one of his front paws, the tiger made an unexpected move. Instead of also using its claw or simply dodging the attack as usual, the tiger moved its head, its front fangs aiming at Rejoke's outstretched claw.
*Cling* *Puff*
As the two atracks met with a metallic sound, a thick cloud of white mist got released from the tiger's fang.
'A magical attack!?' Elijah exclaimed internally, releasing the grip on the arrow placed on his bow.
The arrow shot out towards the tiger, and the beast dodged it with swift movement, disappearing from its previous position.
Elijah's eyes contracted to the size of needles as he narrowly avoided the tiger's strike.
'Shit! He got close. That attack definitely had a freezing effect, so Sir Rejoke most probably can't move!' Elijah immediately realized what the problem was, but it was far too late by then.
The tiger's claws were like two blades moving at sonic speeds. They gave Elijah barely any time and room to dodge, slowly scraping his skin.
Elijah wasn't able to dodge for too long, as soon, one of the beast's claws was closing in on the elf's face. He knew that he couldn't dodge this one. He was still in the middle of his previous motion, and it wouldn't take even a second for the tiger to put a hole inside his head.
'I guess that's as far as I go...' Knowing there was nothing he could do, Elijah merely closed his eyes and accepted his fate. However, it seemed like life wasn't ready to let him rest just yet.
*Slash* *Roooar!*
Hearing the tiger's loud cry of pain, Elijah's eyes shot open, only for him to see the current situation. The tiger's claw that was just about to pierce his head was flying through the air together with the rest of the limb, leaving a trail of blood in the air behind it.
The tiger had already jumped back, roaring in pain as blood gushed out uncontrollably out of its severed front limb. As for the culprit? Well, it was quite obviously Rejoke, who was just coming out from Elijah's shadow.
The darkness around the wolf's body returned to the elf's shadow, but Rejoke wasted no time. While Elijah stood stunned at what had happened, Rejoke was already rushing towards the tiger once again.
'W-what just happened?' Elijah's brain simply wasn't able to process what was happening. One moment, he thought he was about to die, and the next moment, the beast that was about to kill him was without its entire front paw.
If that wasn't surprising enough, the one who cut off the tiger's paw was Rejoke, who Elijah had thought was frozen under the effects of the tiger's previous attack.
'Just was he able to move? I clearly saw the attack connect, and I'm sure that attack had enough magic packed into it to freeze even me.' Although he really wanted to think deeply about it, Elijah had no time to do so.
Rejoke was already locked in the battle against the tiger once again, and he would definitely need Elijah's assistance. Even though by cutting off the tiger's leg it was much easier for Rejoke to keep up with it, the tiger was still clearly faster.
'Focus, Elijah. We first need to win, then you can stop to think!' Giving himself an internal slap, Elijah once again pulled back the string of his bow and aimed at the tiger, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.
However, seeing that the things were more manageable than before, his mind couldn't help but wander back to Rejoke's surprising move.
'Even if I ignore that the previous freezing attack somehow had no effect on him, just how was he able to simply appear just like that? With his speed, he shouldn't have been able to close the distance between us so quickly, not to mention he appeared seemingly out of nowhere.' His brain worked at max speeds, managing to both focus on the battle and think about something else.
Someone as old as Elijah had his fair share of experience, so simple multitasking like this wasn't anything challenging. He simply didn't want to do so because the current battle would require his full attention. But now that the tiger's astounding speed went down by a huge chunk, the elf had a chance to take it easy for a bit.
'Probably some kind of skill... Sir Rejoke seems to be somehow related to a Shadow Wolf, so his skill has probably something to do with darkness.' He thought, and seeing the tiger was about to strike Rejoke's back, Elijah had already released the grip on his arrow.
'If that skill somehow allows him to move through shadows, then he could have used the tiger's shadow to keep up with our speed. Wait-!!' Something suddenly clicked in his brain, almost making him release the new arrow he was drawing.
'He knew that the attack would have no attack on him, so he faked getting hit, used the mist to block our vision, and jumped inside the tiger's shadow. Then, he just waited for the right moment and used it to take the tiger by surprise!' It was only then that Elijah realized what had previously happened.
'B-but how? How could a first-rank beast figure out such a tactic? I could understand if it were Lady Aurora, but Sir Rejoke, while already very smart, isn't on her level yet. He shouldn't be able to come up with such a strategy.' Elijah shook his head internally.
It was simply impossible for him to accept that Rejoke's intelligence had reached a level where he could think of such cunning strategies. Such tactics required human-level intelligence, and Elijah was sure the wolf hadn't reached that level yet.
'No, it isn't about intelligence. It's his experience. He didn't need to think to realize the attack wouldn't be effective. As a beast, his instincts are sharp enough for that. Besides, his intelligence is probably high enough for him to judge when it's the right time to strike.' Elijah's logical reasoning finally took over his emotions, and he was able to realize the truth.
'He simply saw the moment of the tiger's carelessness as an opening, so he jumped into its shadow, and when he judged the moment to be right, he jumped out of the shadow. J-just what kind of fights was he through to have such sharp battle instinct?' He couldn't help but question as he released the arrow he was holding.
The tiger quickly avoided the strike, but due to its missing leg, it wasn't fast enough to attack Rejoke again, so the wolf had plenty of time to defend and even counter.
Seeing the two beasts locked in a deadly exchange of blows, Elijah couldn't help but take a second to glance behind him. There, a few hundred meters away from them, a similar fight was raging on. The difference was that the other fight seemed to be even fiercer.
'Maybe it's not experience from his own battles, but rather from the battles of that anomaly...' Elijah shook his head, clearing his mind of the stray thoughts.
'Enough thinking. Sir Rejoke's skill will probably soon run out, so we need to finish this as soon as possible.' His eyes flashed with seriousness as he returned to his full battle mode.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Aurora's battle with the other saber-toothed tiger was still raging on.
After Elise joined the battle and provided Aurora with a bunch of buffs, the battle had only picked up in magnitude. Now that Aurora's agility was only a few points lower than the tigers, she had a much easier time both dodging and attacking.
Still, even with all the support Elise provided her, the battle was far from an easy one. The tiger was very elusive, using its absurd speed to avoid just about any attack.
"That fang attack is dangerous. Just from the sheer amount of magic packed into it, you can feel just how powerful the freezing effect must be." Yuki commented in the middle of the battle.
In fact, the attack she was talking about was causing Aurora some severe issues. That white mist released from the tiger's fangs was crazy powerful. Even with all her resistance against ice, Aurora could simply feel that the mist would freeze her on the spot.
'A flash-freeze effect. The power of it is unmatched; if it can completely freeze even me, then it can freeze just about anything. In turn, it probably sacrifices a lot of duration, so the freeze probably lasts for just a second.' Such were Aurora's thoughts.
Honestly, the tiger was more annoying than anything. Yes, it was dangerous, but with its pathetic strength, it could hardly wound her. The problem was that freezing effect. If she got hit by it, she would be left completely unguarded and at the tiger's mercy. Even if the beast was weak, that single second where she couldn't do anything would probably allow it to hit her with its full power.
'There's no way my defense can tank that. Better not get hit by the freeze or I'm done for.' Gritting her teeth, Aurora parried the tiger's claw and used the moment to jump back.
The tiger obviously wouldn't let her get away that easily. A mere second was enough time for the beast to close the distance between them. Yet, just as the tiger was slashing away at Aurora, it froze and quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding an ice spike rising from the ground.
'Tsk, the most annoying part is this bastard's mana sensitivity. Not even the slightest movement can escape its eyes.' Aurora complained inwardly, dashing forward to continue her attack on the tiger.
That was just about how the entire battle was. The two would fight at close range, neither able to really hit the other. Sometimes, when it felt cornered, the tiger would use its fang attack, forcing Aurora to retreat. Aurora would also throw a spell or two from time to time, but she saved most of her mana for later.
Even if it was incredibly fast and explosive, the battle was very stale at the same time. Despite all the buffs Elise provided her, Aurora was still unable to properly damage the tiger.
'This isn't working. If only I had a skill like Rejoke. Wait-' Suddenly, as she blocked the tiger's strike, Aurora jumped back, shooting a fireball towards the tiger, forcing it to also jump.
'Who says I need a skill? If I don't have one, I'll just create it on my own.' The fox snickered internally as she released her mana.
The freezing energy burst out of her body, lashing out wildly. Seeing the sheer amount of mana flowing, the tiger hesitated to get close to the fox, allowing her to do what she was doing.
Soon, Aurora's mana settled down, covering the snow in a thin layer of pure ice. However, despite being so thin, the ice was packed with Aurora's magic, so it was far sturdier than any normal ice.
'I was never one to play by someone else's rules. So now, we'll be playing by my rules!'