Fleeing

Seeing that the elf before him was injured and unable to escape, cliff gave the order.

“Chase them! Don’t let any of the other elves go, either!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Doluka shouted towards the outside.

“You can’t save me, hurry and run, that’s an order!”

After her shout rang out, there was silence outside at first, then a flurry of hurried footsteps. It seemed they obeyed Doluka’s order and fled into the distance.

Sure enough, after a short while, a soldier returned.

“Report, those elves ran too quickly — by the time we went out, they had already disappeared…”

“What? Useless fools!”

Cliff cursed, and upon hearing this, that soldier lowered his head. After taking a deep breath, cliff fixed his gaze upon Doluka.

“Tie her up first!”

“Yes, sir!” x3

Several soldiers stepped forward, about to restrain Doluka, but just at that moment, a burst of fire shot through the air.

Flame Thrust!

A silver-haired girl appeared, wielding a long spear, which shimmered with a bloody enhancement magic circle.

Weapon Blood Blessing!

With a single thrust, it was as if the girl’s hands grabbed onto a lava fire dragon. The moment she struck out, the flames instantly engulfed the three soldiers attempting to approach Doluka.

“Ahhh!”

The fire blasted the three of them away. One was even pierced by the spear, but because he wore armor, he didn’t suffer much physical harm. However, the searing heat of the flames injured the three badly, rendering them unable to fight.

Seeing this, cliff was astonished. This strike had actually been delivered by a girl who looked only eleven or twelve years old.

Silver hair, pointed ears, dark gold eyes!

“Dorulu!”

Seeing his little sister rush over to save him, Doluka shouted out.

“Run—quickly!”

“No, I’m taking you with me, sister!”

As Dorulu spoke, he supported Doluka and prepared to escape. At the same time, he once again activated ‘Weapon Blood Blessing,’ the magic circle glowing on the spear, which then floated in midair and followed behind Dorulu.

“Haah!”

Flame Thrust! A layer of fire enveloped the spear.

“Yaaah!”

Hemolysis Shield! A mage’s shield made from Blood Spring encircled Dorulu.

Seeing the series of spells used by the opponent, the mage Flosa was stunned. The opponent’s unique fighting style and the instant-cast enchantments all left him truly amazed.

“A mage—archers, take aim!”

The archers surrounded them, each drawing their bows.

“Sister, hold on to me!”

Dorulu said, preparing to force his way out with Doluka. With the Hemolysis Shield, he could completely block the enemy’s ranged attacks.

The floating spear readied to thrust. So long as Dorulu charged into the enemy ranks, the enchanted spear would inflict massive burn damage on the enemy.

But at that moment, cliff let out a cold laugh.

“Flosa!”

At his words, mage Flosa showed a look of internal struggle. But pressured by the order, he gritted his teeth in the end.

“I’m sorry…”

Mana Disruption!

With his skill, flosa, who was level 20, targeted Dorulu, who was only level 11. In an instant, Dorulu’s Hemolysis Shield fell out of his control and shattered.

“What!”

Dorulu hadn’t expected his Hemolysis Shield to be forcibly interrupted.

“Do you still think you can hold out now?”

The archer’s bowstrings tightened. Without the Hemolysis Shield, they would almost certainly die to a volley of arrows. Perhaps he could escape alone, but his sister, whose leg was injured…

“And if you don’t surrender, we’ll kill her first.”

“You—!!!”

“Dorulu, don’t worry about me! Run!”

Doluka still tried to urge Dorulu to leave, but hearing this, cliff spoke again.

“If you run, then she’ll be dead for sure.”

Cliff sneered. Hearing this, Dorulu looked around, seeing the archers’ taut bowstrings, knowing that if they released, a hail of arrows would fly at Doluka.

“I’ll count to three. If you don’t surrender, we release the arrows.”

Saying this, cliff raised three fingers.

“Three, two…”

“Hmph, you better not regret this. When Lord Little Black returns, its bone blades will pierce your throats and gouge out your eyes!”

Dorulu threatened, cheeks puffed. But at this moment, he was powerless to resist.

As he relinquished his control over the spear, it lost power and fell to the ground.

“Hahaha, Little Black? That’s a ridiculous name! Alright, I’ll remember it. When you bring him here, tell him to wash his neck—I’ll dismantle his bones, piece by piece, right in front of you.”

Against this sharp-tongued girl, cliff retorted, and then ordered soldiers to bind Dorulu and Doluka with rope.

Seeing this, flosa was filled with deep guilt. As a mage experiencing the army for the first time, he was inexplicably disappointed, even though he’d always dreamed of this profession…

Yet, no one noticed that after Dorulu’s burst of anger, a hint of a cold smile also appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, the spear he had thrown still shimmered with a faint bloody glow…

“You, come with me. Let’s search for the ‘Spring of Life’ you mentioned.”

Cliff called Flosa, and when Flosa heard, he looked apologetically at Doluka and Dorulu before following Cliff into the village.

Hearing that they were after the Spring of Life, Doluka instinctively wanted to stop them, but with a blade at his throat, he was powerless.

Following Cliff around the small village, they soon noticed the area behind the elf settlement, encircled by the Elf Tree. There stood an enormous stone structure.

Cliff led Flosa over. When they saw the immense stone structure, both Cliff and Flosa were stunned. Within the three-tiered, spring-like stone construction, red water filled it to the brim. Upon seeing this, cliff asked,

“Spring water? Is this the Spring of Life?”

He questioned the mage beside him. Flosa looked at the spring. Though he had never seen the true Spring of Life before, sensing the abundant vitality within, he was certain this was it.

Flosa nodded, remaining silent, still tormented by guilt for having told Cliff about the elves.

Seeing him silent, cliff didn’t care. He casually called over a soldier infected by the plague.

“Try it.”

At the order, the soldier obeyed, cupping some water in his hands and drinking it; he immediately felt a wave of comfort.

A doctor nearby came forward to diagnose him and then said,

“Sir, it’s a miracle! The plague’s toxins are gradually losing effect!”

“Excellent!”

Cliff was delighted, gazing at the pool before him, full of this Spring of Life.

He had just witnessed its effects—one sip eliminated the plague. Now, there was a vast amount of Spring of Life here!

“Without elven royalty, the Spring of Life will cease to flow. You’ve harmed the elves—they will never help humans again.”

Flosa said dejectedly, but Cliff was unconcerned.

“Help? We don’t need help from such foreign races. The spring here is more than enough. Once we repair this camp, it’ll become our frontline outpost.”

Just think—a frontline outpost with the Spring of Life; the plague would never threaten them again.

And with himself having captured such an outpost, what great reward awaited him?

Cliff didn’t know, but he knew it would be immense, in both material and reputation—he would become a hero, remembered by all!

He had also caught elves; Mage Annika needed elves for magic research, and as luck would have it, one of the two was even a mage—truly a stroke of fortune!

At this thought, cliff couldn’t restrain his excitement.

He would bring back the elves and this “good news.”

The army and Mage Annika would reward him for sure—so be it!

Cliff gathered the soldiers, preparing to repair the camp.

But at the same time, he had to ensure the area’s safety. To prevent zombies from ruining ‘his’ precious Spring of Life, he needed some help from colleagues.

Thus, a signaling flare shot up into the sky.

(To be continued…)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep