Holy Arrow
It was pitch black, only the lamp’s soft glow lit the path in front.
The man walked along with one step heavy and one step light (1), cursing his bad luck.
If only he had a few more days, then he would be able to leave this cursed place with his rewards. Only to have some Queen’s Officer to appear and mess up his plans at this time.
The officer himself was fine, he was just a dozy(2), what does the Queen see in him? He probably used his good looks to get his position.
The mage student was still young, still inexperienced, and even though the dwarf looks like he’s easy to fool, he’s surprisingly clever.
As for the knight… for some reason, every time that person’s eyes meets his, he would feel a shiver down his back.
–It is said that a Paladin can see through magic disguises, he hasn’t been found out has he?
He should have moved sooner. Even if there’s a chance for him to be found out, as long as he gets his hands on the black crystals everything is insignificant.
But there’s no point in regretting now, he should have done it himself if he wanted it done right ages ago.
A slope covered with thick vegetation appeared in sight. It should be around here.
The man searched the ground near his feet, very soon he found the mouth of the burrow.
Quickly he tipped out the poison bomb he had prepared earlier, throwing it into the hole.
Then the surroundings suddenly became bright, the man raised a hand to block out the light.
After his sight returned, he found himself standing in an empty field. The gnome burrow had disappeared, replaced by an empty bucket, the poisoned gas leaked out continuously, shocking him into a coughing fit.
“The night air is quite cold, Mr.Village Chief,” the green eyes of the elf official looked at him, “why, it seems that your old bones are suddenly able to tolerate it?”
The man stepped fearfully, and immediately felt something against his back.
“Careful not to hit the sword,” the knight’s voice appeared from behind, “it hasn’t been sharpened in a while, it wouldn’t be too clean when cutting through flesh.”(3)
The man could only stiffen, looking at the elf’s eyes, he walked forward a few steps.
“I was blinded by anger, please forgive me Lord Official. I felt that these gnomes should be punished, so…” he tried show an expression of indignation.
But the elf was unmoved, looking back at him without expression, “to punish them for using black crystals to trade for food?”
They knew about the black crystals. Could it be…
The man’s knees weakened, he fell to the ground kneeling.
“Lord Official… My Lord… I was just… just blinded by greed. Seeing as I have done no harm could you… please overlook this?”
“Even if you had really killed a hundred or more gnomes, it’s considered ‘having done no harm’,” the elf replied coldly, “since magical creatures aren’t protected by the law”
“I didn’t really want to kill them… what… whatever compensation you want or the black crystal vein, it’s all yours to do with… please let me go, I’ll leave immediately.”
“Why?” the elf asked calmly, “If I kill you here, those would still become mine.” (4)
The man whimpered, “No, please… have mercy… I still have some very valuable magic texts with me, if you agree to let me live… I haven’t committed any atrocities…”
“Last question. – Where have you hidden the real chief’s body?”
The man’s eyes narrowed, he raised his ‘cane’ stabbing it into the ground, in a moment he was already ten yards away. Then he waved his hand, a wave of fire as tall as a person rushed towards the elf.
The knight rushed forward to block the attack, in that moment of distraction, the man quickly cast two to three speed magic on himself, immediately running in the direction of the dense forest.
The sound of an arrow cutting the air came from behind him, the man waved his hand again, and a Chaos Shield spell surrounded him. The arrow shifted away from its original target, curving away along the shield.
The man laughed coldly in his mind.
Before the Chaos Shield disappears, all physical attacks are negated. By the time the shield disappears, he would be out of the range of the bow.
“Cain!” the elf had already nocked the second arrow through, calling the knight’s name.
Understanding his meaning, the knight touched his shoulder, a faint light flowed down the elf’s fingers gathering onto the arrow before it was released.
Hearing the sound of the second arrow, it felt weak and powerless.
The man had trouble holding back his laughter.
–What beautiful double strafe(5), but what is the use, even if he could shoot out a hundred arrows in a moment it would still be pointless.
Further away, the sound of the third arrow reached him.
The man finally laughed mockingly.
Outperforming yourself, elf, too bad –
Too bad—
Too bad what?
His brain stopped thinking without permission. His legs were still moving forward like a machine, but it had already lost its direction.
His breathing became difficult, something hot and wet seeped into the fabric of his shirt.
The man’s eyes widened, wanting to cry out, but he could only release a short sound.
The man fell.
The third arrow pierced the back of his neck, completely pa.s.sing through his throat.
“Let’s go, take a look.” The elf said calmly, putting down his bow..
“Julian, let’s go.” The siren appeared from his hidden position, pulling on the dazed dwarf.
“That’s… a real fight?” the dwarf stood up, his body wavering, “G.o.d… that was way too cool.”
“That could only be considered a real escape.” The knight grinned, “The type that almost succeeded.”
“Teleportation, then a Fireball?” the dwarf scratched his head, “I couldn’t see the ones after too clearly, probably a Speed and Flotation spell, all without incantation, that’s…”
“Hey hey, when you said cool, you meant the opponent?” the knight interrupted, a little disgruntled.
“That’s Julian’s field of expertise,” the elf took over the conversation, “if you want to hear praise then leave it to me? Hmm… since I don’t really understand a Paladin’s powers, I could only rely on you to break through the mage’s protections. – It worked out perfectly in the end, you are indeed worthy of being my knight.”
“The ‘Holy Grip’(6). This is the first time I’ve tried to use it on other weapons,” the knight squinted, “by the way, that was also the first time I’ve seen a triple strife on a moving target, very beautifully done.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, ‘My Knight’,” the siren turned his back, saying low enough that only he could hear(6), “only touching the shoulder is being too careful, feel up some other places too occasionally …”
“Sh.e.l.ly? Don’t look if you’re scared.” The elf had already reached the fallen man’s side, looking back to see that the siren had turned around, he immediately asked concernedly.
“Don’t worry,” the siren shook his head replying, “Whether it’s illusions or bodies, I’ve seen a lot.”
Hearing this, the dwarf was the one that reacted, his face became white.
“Julian as well,” the elf knelt down, confirming the man’s death, “move further away, so you won’t smell the blood.”
“No…. don-don’t worry Mr.Ellen,” the dwarf said gritting his teeth, “thi-this-this type of thing, we will encounter it a lot in the future, I should learn to get used… urg…”
After taking a look at the body, he finally couldn’t hold back, running to the side and started vomiting.
The knight sighed, going over to pat his back, casting a calming spell on him at the same time.
“Sorry, Mr.Frank.” the dwarf said coughing, “I’m too weak.”
“That’s not a show of weakness,” the knight replied, “no one likes to see dead bodies.”
“Does Mr.Frank also feel bad…”
“If I could face this sort of scene without emotion, then I would start questioning my own conscious.” The knight shook his head, “To take a life is truly a cruel thing, but sometimes it must be done. I hope you understand.”
“I do,” the dwarf lifted his sleeve, wiping the corner of his mouth(8), “… ‘G.o.d asks us to love all people, but that’s not possible. Because to impose false kindness on enemies, is to hurt your own allies; to flood the perpetrator with sympathy, is the cruelest thing to do to the victim.’ ”
“Although that’s a little disrespectful,” the knight said a little astonished, “but that’s a really unusual declaration. Did you think of that yourself?”
“Something Mr.Todd wrote in his journal,” the dwarf stood up supporting himself, “in the Legendary Era, the ‘Unicorn Legion’s’ –“
His eyes suddenly widened, “elven archer with the record of triple strife without miss – ‘The Most Dazzling Morning Star’ Dawntracker said it…”
“Mr.Ellen… Mr.Ellen · Dawntracker.”