Martial Elf

I saw a girl in a battle stance, looking extremely tense.

Following the aura I had just chased, the girl emerged from the shadows.

It seemed she was using some strange trick to move through the shadows.

Just a moment ago, while returning to the accommodation with Kyle and Duberv, I felt a gaze upon me as if someone was watching.

The problem was that this gaze turned out to be just one of the large shadows cast by the sun beginning to set.

What’s more, it seemed like the aura was densely concentrated with a very familiar and unpleasant feeling.

In nature, there are places where auras naturally gather, like a dragon vein, but in the shadow of a building on a main street in a city that was otherwise intact?

Furthermore, the feeling of the aura bore similarities to the suspicious energy I had felt when emerging from the forest in the east.

Feeling something odd, I glanced toward the gathering of the aura, contemplating how to handle it when suddenly the energy in the shadows began to recede at an incredible speed.

‘This world really has everything.’

In the central plains, I would need to measure it in li (里), and there was the absurd existence of the Mother El Phragion, a gigantic tree that even created beings like elves.

A massive wolf standing 8 Elte (8m) tall and 20 Elte (20m) long, along with various wild gods of similar stature.

In the river, a huge flat lizard like Rudolf would swoop down and eat large deer in one bite.

An 8 Elte (8m) giant.

It was at least somewhat alive, but now even the shadows in front of me were alive and moving.

Even moving between the shadows at such a fast speed that while I had left a message for Kyle for a moment, the energy was diminishing as it receded far away.

Since it was something not detectable by sight, I immediately used air motion to follow it.

And at the end of the energy I tracked, the girl who had sprung from the shadows was right in front of me.

She looked around fourteen or fifteen years old, perhaps?

With black hair, red eyes, and pale skin.

Dressed in a garment that barely covered her suggestively attractive body, she didn’t seem to be embarrassed at all, even though she still had a youthful appearance.

It was true that compared to the central plains, the women’s clothing in this city lacked modesty, but it was still a striking outfit.

Moreover, while she had seemed secretive while in the shadows, the dark and somewhat creepy energy emanating from her without any attempt to hide it would likely get her labeled as a seductress in the central plains.

“I’ll ask you first, are you human?”

“Actually, I want to ask you. What is your true identity?”

“Responding to a question with a question isn’t a particularly good attitude, but alright… To introduce myself, I am Araya, an elf from the west.”

“Elf…? And west? Not east?”

I pointed at the girl.

“The aura you possess inside you is similar to the one that occasionally drifts in from the east. For us elves, it isn’t a friendly or familiar aura. I came out of the forest to seek out its origin.”

“Then—”

“I’ve answered your question, so shouldn’t you answer mine for fairness?”

“I am Lamia, who crossed the sea from the eastern continent.”

“That answer is somewhat lacking.”

“What do you mean?”

“I also asked if you are human, didn’t I?”

“…Well, what if I say I am not?”

“Then I would have more questions for you.”

Lamia was searching with an air of hostility as she spoke.

While curiosity could be satisfied through conversation, I didn’t particularly dislike the idea of knocking down an enemy that was about to strike.

After that conversation, as I had nothing more to say, the tension between us, particularly on Lamia’s side, began to escalate.

“Lia—Jin!”

Amid the tension, it was Lamia who couldn’t bear the fatigue and took the first offensive.

With a shout, sharp shadow spears sprang up from her shadow and rushed toward me.

I dodged the spears targeting my face, solar plexus, and legs, taking a step closer to Lamia.

Suddenly, something erupted from Lamia’s shadow, looking startled as I appeared before her, as if smoke was trying to envelop me.

Judging that there was no need to gamble against an unknown entity, I kicked off into the air and created some distance again.

“Gyaah!”

‘Wasn’t it supposed to be a spell used by projecting from the mouth? The caster seems unable to react.’

I thought while looking at the shadow that had lunged at me late in response compared to Lamia.

Was it a different method of targeting by recognizing the caster?

“O…Oh… Great Spirit… How terrible this could be.”

The shape that jumped out from Lamia’s shadow, unlike the initial shadow spear that had crumbled upon failing the attack, scattered like smoke and kept coalescing while emitting a grotesque and mournful sound.

“Extraordinary! Does it have intelligence?”

“Lamia… What is that terrifying being? How is there such a multitude of spirit traces?”

“Spirit traces? I don’t know, it suddenly appeared and is causing a commotion.”

“…I don’t think it’s a good idea to be talking back to those exuding ominous energy.”

I let out a hollow laugh and pointed at the swirling smoke around Lamia.

“What is that as well?”

“The dark spirit, Jin. Is this your first time seeing a spirit?”

“I don’t recall having seen a spirit itself.”

“Don’t lie, you murderer. Spirit traces left behind by primal spirits are all over your body.”

“I don’t know what you’re basing that on, but I haven’t seen anything like you.”

It seemed meaningless to prolong the conversation as it would only lead to more pointless exchanges, so I concluded it would be faster to subdue and question her.

“It’s coming!”

As soon as I moved, the spirit named Jin swelled into a smoky body like a pufferfish and dispersed throughout the surrounding area.

I tried to send out the essence of my body to perceive, but the mist created by the dark spirit Jin didn’t allow for clear visibility.

Araya Technique.

I instantly spun my body like a top, and a small storm of essence surged upward, blasting away the domain of the mist created by Jin.

“Ugh! What!”

It didn’t seem to have a proper form, so was it shocked?

While I stored the new information in the back of my mind, I turned around at the presence behind me.

The backdraft from the Rushing Heaven Whirlpool had left Lamia looking slightly disheveled as she stared at me with an awkward gaze, as if she hadn’t expected me to turn.

“Lamia!”

Along with her call that seemed to still be scattered, shadows surged up around us as if trying to trap me like bars.

In tandem, Lamia swung her hands, her crimson eyes flashing.

Originally, her claw strikes should have come from trained fingers, but somehow they had become sharp and long, resembling a beast’s claws.

A portion of my inner energy suddenly unraveled and surged through my body.

“…Ah!”

Had she suddenly felt an increase in aura?

Lamia, who had been rushing in, let out a sound of exclamation.

As I cast a mirage and slipped through the bars of shadows trying to bind me, I crashed into Lamia at full speed.

Before she could even strike down with her claws, my shoulder was met with the ground techniques and launched her upward.

“Kh…!”

As Lamia flew up, spewing blood, she suddenly began to slow down, hovering in the air.

“With bat wings on a human body… And there’s a tail along with horns.”

“Ugh… ugh… you bastard!”

From Lamia’s body, a wing the size of her torso sprouted and flapped behind her, while small goat-like horns grew on either side of her head, and a sleek black tail reminiscent of a cow’s emerged.

Moreover, the atmosphere itself grew more intense, as if it had a sweet scent.

In the air, Lamia’s eyes began to radiate a mischievous red light under the moonlight.

‘Charm spell?’

As soon as I saw that gaze, my mind felt slightly clouded.

However, it didn’t feel overpoweringly strong, so breaking free from it wasn’t difficult.

“My allure has worked this quickly?”

Lamia panicked as the charm attempt failed at the onset, and Jin hurriedly advised her.

“Run, Lamia! We can’t handle this monster!”

“Ugh… okay!”

Then she quickly flapped her wings and attempted to escape, causing me to click my tongue.

Flying in the air was troublesome.

Kicking off into the air would consume more internal energy the longer I stayed suspended.

In contrast, that bat girl was ascending easily using her wings, which seemed capable of flight without expending energy, effortlessly gaining altitude as she flew away.

It was a clear racial difference.

I could pursue, but it didn’t seem necessary to waste time and energy chasing after unknown enemies.

I looked around.

Among them, one thing stood out.

I found a broom that seemed to have been left behind for cleaning the rooftop.

As I reached for the broom, it was pulled into my grasp.

I elevated the broom even higher and aimed for Lamia, who was hundreds of Elte (hundreds of m) above.

I launched it with strength.

At the same moment, I leaped off the ground, taking flight atop the broom.

I soon felt a strong resistance from the air, but I adeptly maintained my balance in the broom’s narrow space.

“Ah!”

Lamia suddenly sensed a presence from above in the sky, turning around to see me riding the broom, clearly startled.

“Get down!”

Perhaps due to the lack of a shadow, Jin felt smaller and dashed in to intercept but the broom I was riding began to shimmer with a blue aura and dodged deftly, changing its trajectory as if performing a stunt.

Sword flight.

While it was a bit disappointing that I conjured it with a broom instead of a sword, it was still effective.

The moment the broom faced Lamia, I lightly leaped off it.

The broom shot toward her like a ray of light, tearing through her right shoulder and wing, causing her to crash.

“Kyaah!”

As Lamia began to plummet to the ground, I retrieved the broom, lightened my body with a technique, and slowly followed her descent.

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