Who’s the Best at Drawing Aggro?

Seeing the situation, Doluka wanted to turn back immediately, but soldiers were already surrounding them from all directions, trapping the three of them in the center.

“So late at night, where do you all think you’re going?”

Cliff emerged from behind the soldiers. Seeing the three attempting to escape, his words carried a hint of mockery.

When he saw the newcomer was Cliff, flosa was dumbfounded; he hadn’t expected Cliff to be so prepared.

Looking around, he saw that the soldiers had already surrounded the Elf Tree grove, so Doluka had no choice but to press her sword closer to Flosa’s neck.

“Don’t come any closer, or this human will die.”

As Doluka spoke, flosa cooperated.

“Captain Cliff, save me, for Annika the mage’s sake. I will remember your kindness forever.”

Flosa, relying on the fact that he was the prospective grand-disciple of Desertwind the great mage, believed Cliff would have scruples.

But he was wrong…

“Heh, sorry, but I think you should explain to me why you delivered food to those long-eared tribe members, and why you slipped a certain ‘little something’ into the food.”

With a single sentence, cliff caused Flosa’s body to freeze instantly.

Just as Cliff had said, he had put an ‘enchanted gem’ into the food for the elves, and the enchantment’s effect was his specialty: magic interference. That kind of magic could disrupt the magic-suppressing shackles’ isolation of magic, and he had already set the activation time of the enchanted gem, so he could release the elves without being present.

And once the ‘enchanted gem’ was activated, it would disappear. At that time, no one would know it was his doing. That was why he dared to help the elves.

But now, cliff had discovered his maneuver, and the enchanted gem had not yet been activated. If Cliff searched now, he would surely find the gem.

“Y-you… I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”

“Hmph, it doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it. I wasn’t planning on having you confess anyway.”

Cliff spoke, and the surrounding archers raised their longbows.

“Mage Flosa, it’s a pity. As an outstanding mage of the Empire, you actually betrayed us. Everyone present is a witness, so please complete this last journey with your noble mage’s faith. As for Lord Annika’s commemoration, I’ll collect it on your behalf when I present the elves to him.”

For a long time, cliff had been dissatisfied with Flosa. As long as Flosa was around, he would never have a chance to stand out. Annika the mage would only remember the merits of his apprentice, including these operations to capture elves. With Flosa there, he would always be overshadowed.

But now it was different. Flosa had betrayed them and he had evidence. The Empire hated traitors most. Moreover, he now had the elven mage that Lord Annika longed for.

So—

If he eliminated the eyesore Flosa now, he could enjoy all the credit alone!

At Cliff’s command, the archers drew their bowstrings. Seeing this, Doluka and Dorulu assumed defensive stances.

“Human, seems like your reputation isn’t that useful after all.”

“I… I am terribly sorry…”

Flosa spoke. With things developing to this point, he felt some regret—regret for risking his neck for some foolish mage’s ideology to save the elves. Likewise, he regretted telling Cliff information about the elves in the first place.

“So, are you still planning on resisting?”

“Of course,”

Dorulu replied.

Saying this, Dorulu caught a thrown spear in his hands, and Doluka gave up threatening Flosa. With the ‘armored soldier’ covering, Doluka had some assurance of safety.

Seeing the ‘Hemolysis Shield’ and ‘armored soldier’ protecting Dorulu and Doluka, cliff felt a headache coming on. The opponent, being an elven mage, was simply too difficult to deal with.

Of course, if life and death didn’t matter, it would be fine. But these two elves were the key to currying favor with Annika the mage—so he had to capture them unscathed.

That made things difficult. But no matter what, he could not let these two elves escape—they held his future. So he could only…

“Looks like we’ll have to take them by force. Except for that elven mage, who must be captured at all costs, the rest are expendable.”

Hearing this, flosa was startled because he realized the archers around him had their arrows aimed at him too.

So, why did he come to rescue the elves? If he hadn’t, maybe the elves would have already escaped. Because he came, he exposed himself and even alerted Cliff.

How stupid…

At the moment, Dorulu could only choose to force a breakout, commanding the revived ‘armored soldiers’ to protect Doluka. Dorulu gripped the spear tightly, preparing to fight.

“Sis, their main target is me. In a moment, I’ll open a path for you—break out first.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry. The power granted to me by the Queen is enough to handle them. I have a chance to escape.”

As Dorulu spoke, her spear flared with firelight, and the Hemolysis Shield and armored soldiers around her protected Doluka, making it much harder for the enemy’s arrows to threaten her.

A battle was about to break out, with almost no chance of escape. But Dorulu had to try.

Just then, Doluka caught a familiar scent. She sniffed the air and looked around. She didn’t see anything, but the scent confirmed—

It was the Lord of the Undead!

Just as she thought this, a familiar voice rang out.

“I’ll guarantee your safety, but hold these humans off for now—the Queen has her plans.”

The voice sounded in Dorulu’s ear. When Dorulu heard it, she perked up.

The Lord of the Undead was right beside her, using that sturdy body to protect her.

At that moment, Little Black, who was in charge of gathering intelligence, activated ‘Phantom Veil’ and went into stealth. No one present noticed him. His original plan was to ‘sneak’ into the camp, ‘ensure safety,’ and then rescue Dorulu and Doluka.

But at the moment, he couldn’t act rashly, for fear of spoiling hard-won ‘materials.’

Because… the blood slave was transforming!

“Heh heh heh.”

Knowing that the Lord of the Undead was right beside her, Dorulu couldn’t help but let out a mischievous laugh.

Seeing the smirk on Dorulu’s face, cliff felt something was off.

“Really can’t figure you out—you’re still able to laugh in this situation?”

“I can’t help it, uncle. What you said earlier was just too funny.”

Dorulu replied, stalling for time.

“Hm? Funny?”

“Uncle, you really are forgetful. I distinctly remember warning you that if you dared to touch us, my Lord Little Black would get mad at you.”

Hearing this, cliff recalled—the brazen elf really had threatened him before with someone called ‘Little Black’.

He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, Little Black—what, is that the name of someone’s mutt?”

As soon as Cliff said this, the torches in the soldiers’ hands flickered all at once, as if a chill wind had swept over them.

That was killing intent! But it was well disguised.

“Don’t talk like that about my Lord of the Undead!”

Dorulu pretended to be angered. Seeing this, cliff became even more spirited.

“Ha? Am I wrong? Little Black—tsk, what a ridiculous name. Whoever came up with that must be an idiot.”

“How dare you insult our Queen!”

“Your Queen? No wonder. Only a moronic Queen would come up with such a dumb name. Let me guess—are there also Little White, little Red, and the like? Huh? Hahahaha!”

Cliff burst out laughing, and his men, upon hearing what seemed to be a hilarious joke, also laughed uproariously.

For a moment, an air of merriment filled the camp.

But beneath this surface, four differently colored soul flames had already locked onto Cliff.

(To be continued…)

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