Chapter 161: Salvation (1)

With King Theron absent, the responsibility of the Royal Palace had fallen to Lord Cedric.

He was served as a presence and protection to the palace, ensuring everything ran smoothly. He was just on his way to inspect the cells, when a flash of movement caught his eye.

Two guards were moving with unusual speed out of the hallway, and behind them lay several unconscious guards.

A closer look was all it took for Cedric to confirm his dreadful suspicion: the second ’guard’, the frail figure clutched in the first’s arms, was his daughter, or rather, the being that had taken Serena’s form.

Upon discovering Cedric’s presence, Karl was startled. But he didn’t panic.

He carefully lowered Serena to the ground before quickly pulling out his spear. With a surge of mana, the spear glowed faintly, and he spun it in his hand, moving with practiced speed.

He aimed a swift, powerful hit directly at Cedric’s head with its shaft.

~CLANG!~

The spear connected squarely,. But to Karl’s utter shock, it did absolutely nothing. His mind raced, processing the impossible.

He had delivered the strike with enough power to incapacitate a normal Mage. There were only two possible scenarios for its failure: His opponent was either a higher ranked Knight, or a high-ranked Mage.

Karl knew that Knights weren’t the only ones whose bodies strengthened as they climbed the ranks.

Mages, too, experienced a degree of physical enhancement, though it was not on par with a true Knight’s.



A 1-Star Mage, for instance, possessed a significantly more resilient body than an average human. This man, however, had absorbed his 4-Star blow without even flinching.

Dismissing his internal musings, Karl went for another attack.

The man seemed strangely uninterested in engaging, a passive demeanor that Karl found infuriating.

He wanted to punish that indifference. But this time, just as he was about to strike with his spear, a quick chant flowed through his ears.

What followed was a scorching ball of flame, erupting from Cedric’s outstretched hand and smashing directly into Karl with astonishing speed.

~BOOM!~

The impact threw Karl several meters away and his body slammed against the cold stone wall.

The intense heat of the spell dealt him severe burns, leaving his uniform scorched and his skin blistering.

The sheer force of the blow left him disoriented and winded and his limbs became unresponsive.

It was obvious. He was in no condition to do anything again.

Lord Cedric looked down at the crumpled figure of Karl with cold anger in his eyes.

For a moment, he entertained the thought of ending the intruder’s life on the spot. But then, a more pragmatic thought crossed his mind.

"He could be one of them," Cedric mused aloud. "It’s better I leave him alive for the King."

With a series of chants, Cedric cast a spell over Karl, a curse designed to inflict constant, agonizing torture, much like King Theron had used on Varyn.

Once the spell was complete, Cedric instructed the dazed and recovering guards to secure both Karl and Serena, locking them deep within the dungeon.

He then set about immediately increasing the security at the palace, doubling patrols and making more plans, determined to prevent any further breaches.

***

Meanwhile, behind the magical barrier that protected Zarion, a certain group of Elves waited.

Formerly, when the grand strategy to repel the human invasion was well underway, Vamir had proposed an audacious counter-plan:

"Why don’t we treat this invasion as an opportunity?"

Vamir had suggested during a council meeting. "With most, if not all, of their strong powers away at the front lines, we could organize a small, elite strike force to capture the human kingdom. We would be able to easily infiltrate and slowly claim their territory."

The High Elves had weighed his words carefully. Perhaps, they reasoned, if they emerged as the victor of this unexpected encounter, they wouldn’t have to endure the prolonged stress and bloodshed of seeking revenge.

Another significant advantage they considered was the possibility that if the Elves performed well enough in this covert operation, they could use the captured human kingdom as leverage, a powerful bargaining chip to demand an immediate end to the war.

And so, this audacious plan had led to this group of Elves, a vanguard of their true might, standing poised before a specific, predetermined point in the barrier, ready to strike.

They were led by a figure of immense power and royal lineage: Princess Nyra, the daughter of the deceased queen and the only 9-Star Elf besides the High Elves.



The rest of the team consisted of five formidable 8-Star Elves and four 7-Star Elves, each chosen for their unique skills and unwavering loyalty.

They all moved back, creating a wide berth as Princess Nyra approached the barrier.

She raised her hands and said some chants, and a torrent of mana surged forth, coalescing into brilliant arcs of magical energy.

It took several agonizing minutes, and multiple powerful spells, but with the last devastating lightning chain attack, the barrier finally shattered.

It wasn’t the entire barrier that broke, of course, but a section that was large enough for their entire group to pass through.

A commotion erupted on the other side the moment they stepped through the shimmering remnants of the barrier.

The human outpost, caught entirely by surprise, immediately began to attack, unleashing a barrage of spells.

But Princess Nyra didn’t even need to move. Before the spells could reach them, one of the 8-Star Elves, moving with incredible speed and grace, effortlessly neutralized the incoming magic, then retaliated with a swift, devastating counter-spell that silenced the human opposition.

Princess Nyra looked ahead, surveying the landscape.

"This must be a town," she remarked to her second-in-command, a lithe 8-Star Elf named Falon. "Aside from that building on our right, most of these structures are quite small."

Their plan was simple, yet effective: kidnap all the humans in each town, gather them into the largest building, and use a powerful binding spell to ensure they couldn’t leave while the Elves continued their advance.

The Adventurer’s Association building seemed like the perfect initial target. "Let’s clear there first," she commanded calmly.

Upon their arrival at the Adventurer’s Association, they faced barely any resistance.

There were only a few people present, and the strongest they encountered was a 6-Star Mage.

The Elves, vastly superior in power easily handled them without any stress, quickly subduing them.

What followed next was a methodical sweep, a precise and relentless harvesting of humans.

The Elves moved from house to house, capturing every individual they found. Some people tried to flee, driven by panic and a desperate hope for escape. While a few managed to run from the immediate vicinity of the village, but the vast majority were eventually caught.

When they were done with the first town, they moved on to the next, which, to their surprise, was completely empty.

It puzzled them for a moment, but they didn’t dwell on it. They simply continued their systematic process, moving from one deserted town to another, continuing their mission.

By the second day, their efficiency was undeniable. They had captured most of the rural areas in the Kingdom.

News of their group was already spreading like wildfire across the towns. Many tried to run, driven by primal fear, but increasingly, they found they had nowhere left to go. The net was closing in.

It was the same case when they arrived at a small town nestled within a vast desert landscape.

Princess Nyra surveyed the desolate streets with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"There’s barely anyone here," she observed, looking at Falon.

One of the Elves nodded, confirming her observation. "They must have escaped to a neighboring town, or something."

Unbeknownst to the Elves, a certain household in that seemingly abandoned desert town had access to a Communicator.



Their friends from another town, having witnessed the Elves’ rampage firsthand, had managed to inform them of the impending danger before the Elves’ arrival.

Immediately, the message had been relayed to the rest of the village, and they had collectively made the desperate decision to flee.

But they couldn’t flee to another town; the Elves would inevitably come there too.

That grim realization had led one of them to propose a daring, almost unthinkable, idea:

"We could hide in the river beneath the bridge. They can’t come there."

And so, after a long and arduous journey through the harsh desert, they finally reached their destination.

But what they saw before them was nothing short of astonishing.

The familiar, imposing mountain, was no longer just a mountain. It was now a functional well designed structure.

They hesitated on what to do next, because it was common knowledge that beyond the mountains laid the dreaded Corrupted Lands.

The decision weighed heavily on them, the choice between certain capture and an uncertain, terrifying leap into the unknown.

But eventually, driven by the desperate hope for survival, they decided to cross the bridge, to venture into whatever mysteries lay beyond.

"Hopefully, we can find salvation there."