For a person who prided himself as an engineer who could solve any problem, facing a problem with no good solution was literally the worst feeling in the world.

Every tactic from the annals of Wikipedia was considered. But not a single one that could decisively tip the scale in my favor due to the massive disparity in power. Every battle plan I could think of relied on the Witches heavily dropping their guard in the middle of this forest, which I just couldn’t see happening based on the skill and professionalism they’d shown thus far.

In the end, I decided that since I had no viable way to rescue the prisoner, and I refused to simply walk away from it all like a little bitch, I would attempt a third option, one that would require the prisoner’s consent.

Around noon, I managed to catch up to the Witches as they began their lunch break. After making some preparations, I climbed up on a tree about 10 meters tall and 200 meters from the prisoner Elf. With my <>, I was able to see the enemies in great detail. The one detail that I was most interested in was a bracelet adorned with a black crystal that every Witch wore. So that’s the space elemental crystal, huh. Who knows how much good stuff they’ve got in there… The thought of killing them all and taking their loot did come up in my mind, but even my greed knew that this was an unwinnable fight.

The fighters appeared to be relaxing in the shade. One of the archers was attempting to feed the prisoner with the mage. The other archer was on the lookout. She appeared to have some sort of primitive spyglass on her hand, so I can’t even say I had a vision advantage in this mismatched fight. Fuck, so I was down to “the element of surprise” as the only thing going for me. And that was only good on my first shot~

As far as looks go, the Witches looked like they definitely belong to an Imperial harem. Each and every one of them were at least a 8 outta 10 in my book. The archers have red and purple hair. The fighters have blonde and pink hair, and the mage has brunette hair with prominent black streaks.

I carefully hid my Ranger cloak and armor in the brushes and wore the Elven ones I looted from the village. In addition, I ripped a decent length of cloth from my cloak to serve as a makeshift facemask underneath the cloak, covering my ears in 2 layers of cloth. Ok, now even if they were to see me, they would assume that I was a lone survivor Elf, and not a Ranger stationed in Carnwennan.

The archer gave up on feeding the prisoner and slapped the Elf in frustration. The prisoner, who was collared and chained, fell helplessly on the ground. The mage tried to push the archer away. There appeared to be some sort of argument going on. Perfect, this was my chance! I focused my <> on the Elf, hoping to catch her attention. The Elf, feeling that she was watched, sat up and looked at my general vicinity. She quickly located me on the tree with her <>. We established eye contact for the first time through mutual <>.

Time stood still for a moment. I know how cliche it is, but her Elven beauty was simply breathtaking [insert Keanu joke here]. This Elf was the most beautiful person I’ve seen in this fucked-up world. I loved everything about her features- her emerald-like eyes that shone so brightly and proudly, her shoulder-length platinum blonde hair that contrasts so well with her moderately tanned complexion, her delicate features and slender figure, and her fierce eyes of determination.

For that moment in time, I saw an alternate reality where I killed the Witches and saved her. We would fall in love and build a life in this death jungle with the Witch’s loot. But I quickly snapped to reality and realized that this isn’t some poorly-written novel with a plot-armored MC who could afford to let his penis make the tactical decisions. I had no such luxury here.

She looked at me with expectation. The hope in her eyes blinded my soul and crushed my spirit. I wanted to so badly be that Knight in shiny armor for her. But instead all I could do for her is to give her a choice between two horrific options. This was truly the shame of the weak…

I shook my head at her and showed her an Elvish arrow coated in Nightshade extract. Understanding what I mean, the light in her eyes dimmed. Her disappointment flashed at me for a brief moment, but it was quickly replaced by a look of acceptance. With a determined look in her eyes, she subtly nodded at me, accepting the “lesser” of two evils. I began to nock my arrow, maintaining eye contact with her the entire time. The Elf then mouthed something at me.

“Aurelia”

I closed my eyes for a split second, then opened them as I aimed for her heart. I also began to silently spin up an <>.

With all of the regret in the world, I loosed the arrow at Aurelia.

My recurve bow had a maximum effective range of 100 meters, and with <>, an accurate hit from 200 meters was barely possible. Because of this, I had to aim for her center mass, and not her head. These Witches probably had some healing capability, so I would have to distract them long enough for Aurelia to die in peace.

The poisoned arrow pierced Aurelia right near her heart. Her emerald-green eyes gazed into mine for one more lingering moment before closing forevermore. A small sad smile emerged from her lips as she fell limp on the ground.

I nocked another arrow. By now, the Witches had noticed their dying prisoner. The brunette mage instantly summoned a green mana crystal from a black blob into her hands and rushed to Aurelia, probably to heal her.

I loosed my 2nd shot right at her hands. As the arrow was about to hit her, a blonde fighter suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched it out of the air, grabbing the poisoned tip. Holy fuck! Did she just teleport?!? These people were freaking monsters! I overcharged my 3rd shot and loosed it at the center mass of the fighter.

*BOOM!*

Teleporting in front of the blonde fighter, her comrade with the pink hair tries to grab at it. She misses and the arrow smashes squarely into the chest of the blonde fighter. The arrow shattered into pieces as she stumbled backwards and landed on the mage behind her, disrupting her healing spell and causing her to fumble the fist-sized green mana crystal. Sensing an opportunity, I overcharged my 4th shot and loosed it at the green mana crystal.

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*BOOM!*

As I loosed the arrow, a return shot (also an overcharged shot) barely missed me and utterly wrecked the oak tree behind me. Tsk. Looks like they’d found me. Even though my 4th shot missed the target by quite a bit, the resulting shock wave pushed the green mana crystal out of her reach. A cloud of dust got blasted up, obscuring her vision. That should buy Aurelia enough time. Having accomplished my mission, it was time for me to exit stage left.

I nocked and loosed my parting shot at the 2 archers who barely missed me. They had an ingenious setup- the archer with purple hair is holding the spyglass for her red-haired comrade. That way, they could counter my sniping despite not having <>. My final shot, which was not overcharged due to my mana limits, fell woefully short. But it did the job in distracting them while I began to retreat. As they prepared to return fire, I rappelled down from my sniper’s perch with my grappling hook already secured.

*BOOM!*

All of a sudden, the tree branch holding my hook violently exploded into pieces. A cloud of wooden debris rained upon me from high up. A couple of these wood shrapnels gouged my shoulders and the upper back area uncovered by armor. Luckily, I was only 2 meters in the air when I lost my anchor and fell. The fall knocked the wind out of me, but I could still keep going. I discarded the tattered Elvish cloak and bloodied body armor in the remains of the tree and jumped into a narrow pre-dug hole next to the tree.

That was the reason I could only fire 2 overcharged shots instead of my usual 3- I’ve already spent the rest of my mana on digging an escape tunnel 2 meters under with the Adept-level earth elemental spell <>. Once I got down, I used <> again to collapse the hole and the head of the tunnel. With the brushes above ground, I should be safe. Not that I had much time to ponder my odds of survival- I crawled and crawled, only stopping once in a while to collapse part of the tunnel with <>. My strength slowly faded as my adrenaline crash began in earnest. The mana expenditure finally caught up to me, and my body felt hollowed out. Even so, I crawled forward, one step at a time.

I reminded myself that I had to crawl in the dirt today simply because I was weaker than my enemies. On that day, I resolved to properly avenge Aurelia with superior firepower in the future.

After crawling for about 30 meters, I found a natural cavern about the size of a public restroom. I sealed up the tunnel behind me and sat against the walls of the cavern. I was utterly spent. All I could do now is to rely on luck that they didn’t realize that I was hiding right under their noses.

I was just about to drift into sleep when I heard a booming command. “Spread out! That fucking Elf has gotta be nearby! His armor and cloak were bloodied. He can’t be that far away!” Oh wow, this cavern must have some ventilation that allowed me to hear their voices from above.

“Ruby, the Elf’s dead.” One of them reported.

“FUCK!!! WE WERE SO CLOSE!!! This could’ve been our ticket to the Inner Harem!” Ruby screamed in frustration.

“It’ll be alright. We’ve still got tons of higher elemental crystals and Elf corpses to offer up!” Another one chimed in.

“No, it won’t be enough. Definitely not enough to stand out. And if we’re unlucky, we might get kicked out of the Harem altogether!” The panic in her voice was evident.

“Well, it has been months since he summoned us to his chambers. He might have a new favorite. It’s not impossible… that...”

No one disputed her description of the worst case scenario. Looks like this Emperor had a system set up where his Harem members competed to please him. And those who disappointed him were discarded like yesterday’s leftovers. I hadn't met the man, but I sure know a manipulative bastard when I see one~

“Sapphire, use <> on an air mana crystal! We’re gonna find the bastard who fucked us over and torture him to death! I swear on my last bottle of milk that filthy Elf wished he was never born!”

A graceful but stern voice responds. “No. I’m starting to run low on mana and we’re still in the middle of the Wilds. Quite frankly, I’ve had enough killing and maiming for the day. Besides, we don’t have time for this pointless tantrum. Need I remind you that Caliburn is still months away by horse?”

“I’m with her, boss.” Another voice joined in. “The Emperor’s name day moves for no one, and certainly for no Witch.”

“FUCK! It’s not fair!” Ruby cried in frustration. “It’s just not fair…”

“Get it together, Decanus Ruby! You are our commanding officer until this mission is over, and this mission is not over yet.”

“Sapphy’s right, boss. Let’s get outta here. I’d hate to spend another night in this gods-forsaken forest.”

“Fuck this place…” Ruby murmured in defeat as she walked away.

On that point, Miss Ruby, I completely agree with you.

They’ve rained all of this death and destruction on an innocent village just for a birthday present?!? What kind of fucked-up joke is this?!?

Field Inventory

Primary Weapon

Recurve bow made from Champion mana-beast sinew/Quiver with arrows

Secondary Weapon

2x Short throwing spear

Armor

Champion mana-beast leather body armor, bracers, and greaves; Leather boots lined with bear fur

Mana Crystals

1x Adept-level air elemental mana crystal

1x Adept-level fire elemental mana crystal

1x Adept-level earth elemental mana crystal

Stash of various mana crystals

Misc.

Utility belt, grappling hook [Lost], rope [Lost], dark green cloak, field satchel, waterskin, rations, boarskin map and steel knife

Elven leather body armor [Lost], cloak [Lost], arrows, and Nightshade