Chapter 234: End Of The Line

Luca, who was having certain thoughts as he stared at the corpse suddenly stood up and turned toward Julius, walking straight toward him.

Julius looked absolutely horrified, convinced that Luca was coming to deal with him next.

He opened his mouth to protest that he had nothing to do with this, that those two had acted completely on their own, and that he had given no orders.

But to his surprise, Luca did not attack.

Instead, he simply came over and began wiping his bloody hands on Julius’s fine robe like it was nothing more than a washcloth.

The worst part was that Julius did not even dare to get angry. He simply stood there and let Luca do whatever he wanted. Just being in the Hero’s presence made it hard for him to breathe.

Finally Luca looked up at him with a small smile.

“Don’t worry, Julius. I’m not going to do anything against you. I already know that you wouldn’t wouldn’t have ordered them to do something so foolish.”

For some reason those words made Julius feel an overwhelming wave of relief, as if a king had just granted him a royal pardon.

But then Luca glanced back at the corpse and added casually.

“But still, I want you to clean up all this mess and make sure there’s not even a trace of blood here. This is your daughter’s favorite place after all. I don’t want to make it a mess.”

He paused, then continued “Also, take care of your disciples’ corpses as well. I made quite a mess there.”

He chuckled lightly before narrowing his eyes, the look full of clear intent.

“You don’t mind, right? You don’t mind the fact that I killed your disciple?”

Shockingly, Julius just shook his head and answered in a quiet, submissive voice, “No, not at all.” while not even daring to meet Luca’s gaze.

Luca chuckled again, as if he were looking at something truly pathetic.

He then turned and began walking back toward the village. Seeing him leave, the female elves saw no reason to stay either and quickly followed after him.

The moment they were gone, the male elves collapsed.

Some fell to their knees. Others dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. They had been holding themselves together through sheer will, and now that will had shattered.

“Thank the gods. Thank the gods he left.”

“I thought it was over. I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

“Me too. I almost shit myself.”

One elf stared at Rufus’s corpse, his voice trembling.

“Did you see that? Did you see how he killed him? I never liked Rufus—he was arrogant, always thought he was better than everyone. But even he didn’t deserve to die like that.”

Another nodded. “Who even thinks of killing someone that way? If you’re going to kill someone, just kill them. Why do all that? He’s trying to frighten us.”

The first elf let out a bitter laugh. “If that’s what he’s trying to do, then I’ll tell you the truth: I’m terrified. Absolutely terrified. I want nothing to do with him.”

“Me neither. I just want to go back to my house and never come out.”

“I’m leaving this village. I’m not staying here anymore.”

“Same. I’m done. I’m leaving tonight.”

“Fuck this village! We don’t need this anymore!”

Everyone started to truly fear Luca in that moment. They could only imagine what he would do to them in the future if they stayed here any longer.

But just as they were all murmuring about running away, Julius suddenly turned around, gritting his teeth.

“YOU IDIOTS! YOU ABSOLUTE DUMB SHITS!”

Everyone stared at him.

“Do you even understand what you’re saying?!” His voice cracked with rage. “If you run away right now, do you really think he’ll let you go? Do you think any of us can escape his pursuit?”

One elf ventured. “We could try—”

“SHUT UP!” Julius’s roar silenced him. “He killed every corrupt noble on the human continent in a matter of weeks. He shattered armies. He broke through defenses that had stood for centuries.”

“And you think YOU can run from him? With no magic? With nothing?!”

The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. The male elves exchanged glances, their earlier confidence crumbling.

Even Julius, despite his harsh words, felt the same fear gnawing at his gut.

He had thought he could handle Luca. He had thought he could outmaneuver him, use his position, his knowledge, his leverage.

But after watching what happened to Rufus and Isaac, after seeing the brutal, creative cruelty of Luca’s vengeance, he knew he had made a terrible mistake.

He had played with fire, thinking he could control it.

Now the fire was spreading, and it was going to burn him alive.

He hated himself for ever making an enemy of the hero. His pride, his dignity, his carefully constructed plans—none of it mattered anymore.

All he wanted was to escape.

But he knew he couldn’t.

After everything he had done, Luca would never let him go. Running would only delay the inevitable.

One of the elves spoke up hesitantly. “Julius…what are you going to do? Leaving us aside, think about yourself.”

Julius glanced at him.

The elf continued, his voice barely above a whisper.

“If he killed Rufus and Isaac like that for what they did…imagine what he’ll do to you. You’re the reason all of this happened in the first place.”

Julius lunged at him. “ARE YOU BLAMING ME?! ARE YOU SAYING THIS IS ALL MY FAULT?! DID I FORCE YOU TO FOLLOW ME?!”

The elf shrank back. The others looked away.

They couldn’t blame Julius entirely—they had all been complicit, all been part of the same schemes, the same power structures.

But they also knew that Julius would bear the brunt of the hero’s wrath. He was the leader. The mastermind. The one who had set everything in motion.

And that knowledge was eating him alive.

But still he forced himself to stand straight, to calm his breathing, to put on a mask of confidence.

“Don’t worry.” He said, his voice steadier than he felt. “Nothing will happen. I still have my trump card. As long as we have that, Luca won’t dare touch any of us.”

One of the elves perked up. “Then why don’t we just use it against him? Why don’t we just kill him?”

Julius sneered. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not something that can kill him. It’s a suppression, something that will take down the entire village.”

“The moment I activate it, Luca will take us all out too. It’s a last resort. A mutual destruction.”

He looked around at the assembled elves.

“But as long as we have it, we’re safe. We’ll be fine.”

Another voice, hesitant, “But what if your wife tells the Hero? What if she reveals whatever it is you’re hiding?”

“She doesn’t know anything.” Julius scoffed. “I made sure of that. None of the truth has ever slipped out to her.”

“Even if she tells the Hero everything she knows, it’s useless. Absolutely useless.”

The male elves seemed to relax slightly. A pillar of hope in the darkness. A reason to keep going.

But Julius himself wasn’t comforted.

Even as he spoke the words, even as he reassured his followers, a heavy gloom settled over him. He felt like the end was coming.

Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but very soon. A showdown was approaching, something that would decide everything.

It didn’t make sense. Luca wouldn’t destroy the village. He wouldn’t harm innocent people.

So why did Julius feel like his world was about to collapse?

He shook the thought away and turned to the corpse.

“Clean this up. And Isaac’s body too. I don’t want to even see the corpses off those dogs anymore.”

Then he walked into the forest, alone, his mind churning with dark thoughts and darker premonitions.

—

Meanwhile, Luca made his way back to Esme’s treehouse, his steps light and unhurried despite the chaos he had left behind.

But the moment he stepped into her bedroom, he did not see Esme waiting for him with open arms.

Instead, a bunch of worried elves, the same kind-hearted ones who had been helping care for her, rushed toward him with anxious, concerned gazes.

“H-Hero! Hero, please help us!” One of them cried, voice trembling. “No matter how much we try to comfort her, Esme isn’t calming down at all! She’s still shaking so badly right now!”

Another elf nodded frantically. “I gave her water. I gave her medicine, the kind that normally calms nerves. Nothing works. It’s like she can’t even feel it.”

A third chimed in, her voice trembling. “She’s terrified. Completely terrified. It’s like she’s breaking apart right in front of us!”

Luca moved past them, his gaze settling on the bed.

Esme was curled there, her knees drawn up to her chest, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm. Her eyes darted around the room—wary, frightened, unable to settle on anything. She looked like a wounded animal, waiting for the next blow.

But when she saw Luca, everything changed.

Her eyes went wide. A light flickered in them—recognition, relief, desperate hope.

Despite her weakness, despite the trembling that still wracked her body, she launched herself at him.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs around his waist, her body pressed against his like she was trying to fuse herself to him.

“Luca!” Her voice cracked. “You’re here! You’re finally here! Please stay by my side. Don’t go anywhere. I need you. I-I need you right now!”

She rubbed her face against his chest, his neck, his shoulders like she was trying to cover herself in his scent, to surround herself with his presence, to drown out the memory of what had almost happened.

The other elves moved to pull her back. “Esme, you need to calm down. You can’t just—”

Luca held up his hand. “It’s alright.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, and began to stroke her back in slow, gentle circles. His touch was warm, steady, grounding.

“I know exactly what she needs.”

The elves exchanged confused glances. They had tried everything—water, medicine, gentle words, firm words, every comfort they could think of.

Nothing had worked. What could the hero possibly do that they hadn’t already tried?

Just as one of the elves opened her mouth to ask, Luca tilted Esme’s chin up with tender fingers and looked at her for a quiet moment.

Then, without another word, he leaned in and captured her lips in a deep, passionate kiss.

“Mmm!♡~ Mmm!♡~ Kiss!♡~ Mmm!♡~ Slurp!♡~”

The elves gasped in shock, their faces instantly flushing bright red. They were about to protest, but then they noticed that Esme did not pull away at all.

Instead, the moment their lips touched, she pressed even closer, eagerly taking his lips into hers.

“Kiss!♡~ Kiss!♡~ Mwah!♡~ Kiss!♡~ Nibble!♡~”

They started kissing quite passionately, Esme’s pale face slowly regaining color as her body grew less rigid.

Soft moans and whimpers escaped her as she even used her tongue against his lips, as if his kiss was the only thing she wanted in the entire world right now.

Seeing the dreamy, blissful look spreading across her face, the other elves stopped themselves.

They realized this was the solution Luca had been talking about—and to their utter shock, it was working perfectly.

Esme now wore an absolutely dreamy expression, almost as if the nightmare she had lived through only moments ago had completely vanished and she had been transported to a beautiful dreamland.

The elves could not help but feel flustered watching such a romantic, intimate moment unfold right in front of them.

Meanwhile, Luca already knew exactly what Esme needed. She required something warm and loving to cover up the horrible memories from earlier—something passionate, something that would make her forget everything else.

A kiss was a good start, but he knew it would not be enough.

So, suddenly and without warning, he threw Esme back onto the bed. She landed with a soft bounce and, far from protesting, looked up at him with eyes full of love and excitement.

Both of them began moving against each other, making passionate love right there.

Esme’s hands roamed all over Luca’s back, scraping against his shirt as if she desperately wanted him to take it off.

He did so immediately, revealing his chiseled, powerful back. The elves who saw it could not help but stare in awe.

Luca’s hands were far from idle. They roamed everywhere—stroking her back, holding her neck gently, slapping her ass with just enough playful force to make her gasp.

Then he could not hold back any longer and stripped her clothes off as well.

Her beautiful, naked body was revealed to everyone’s dismay and fluster. Unlike the plump, curvaceous figures of the Silverleaf family, Esme was extremely slender and petite.

Yet she was still a breathtaking beauty, with small, tiny, perky breasts that had a wonderful, delicate shape and a small, tight cunt that looked like it badly needed to be filled.

Her fragile, weak appearance only made her more tempting, the kind of figure that made anyone want to bully her gently.

And right now, Luca was the one bullying her in the most delicious way.

His hands explored every inch—scraping along the insides of her ass, pinching her sensitive nipples, and teasingly touching her pussy. His mouth joined in, sucking on her nipples with hungry affection.

He made love to her thoroughly, and Esme could not hold back her whimpers and moans.

“So good!♡~ Why does this feel so good!?♡~ More…More…I want more!♡~”

She gasped, voice trembling with pleasure.

Meanwhile, the elves watching this passionate lovemaking were absolutely shocked.

Most of them were completely inexperienced, having no partner in their lives, so it felt as if they had stepped into an entirely different world.

Their throats went dry, their bodies heated up to unimaginable levels, and they felt their own pussies leaking love juice uncontrollably.

One elf who actually had a husband was even more stunned. Intimacy with him had always been nonexistent or pathetic, she would simply lie there staring out the window, waiting for it to end after maybe thirty seconds of dull, unsatisfying movement.

She had never felt anything, never reacted, and it had always been the most boring and painful experience.

But what she was seeing now was completely different.

The way Luca kissed Esme, held her, touched her everywhere, and the way Esme moaned like she was having the time of her life made the elf’s body feel soft and weak all over.

She had to lean on another elf for support because her legs—along with everyone else’s, felt ready to give out.

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