Elva continued to stare at the shriveled portion of her arm laying lifelessly on the dusty ground. It blended quite well with those dead hedges.

The elf's voice turned an octave lower, his low, prolonged laughs reverberating across the silent clearing. "This is my power. One touch from me will start to consume your being--until what's left of you merges with the dust."

Brushing away the dirt, the elf stepped forward, closing the distance when he heard no response. He waved his hand to the side, impatient. "Now look, human. Your fellow kind has deserted you; such loyal companions, aren't they? This is why it is useless to spend your good will on others."

Elva's tousled, long bangs cast a shadow over her face, concealing the look in her eyes.

"Now that you foolishly helped them get away, there is no point in resisting anymore, hm?"

She finally looked up, eyes blank. "Right, there is no point..." she slowly nodded, and her grip loosened over the handle of the kitchen knife.

"Good. Now throw away that blade..." the elf's voice became soft and alluring, as if to comfort her, "...and I will aid you in removing your sorrows."

Elva's knees dropped to the ground, mana dissipating. The blade tumbled and threw up a final puff of dust at a distance.

"Wonderful." The elf lunged toward the woman with no hesitation.

Right before the creature could get within one foot of Elva, the last thing the elf saw was a cloud of dust obscuring his vision.

"AHH! How dare you!" He screamed and frantically covered his chest as he leapt away from her. His other hand delicately touched his closed eyes pressed tightly together.

Elva also leapt away. She blinked toward him, surprised. "That was a cheap trick. How could you have fallen for such a classic move?"

"Don't compare my tactics with the ways of lowly beings as you!" The elf let out a roar, and a sudden large of influx of blue mana enveloped his skin. "I will show you the might of a hundred lives powering mine!" Under the untrained, naked eye, the elf became only a flickering shadow that rapidly scored the clearing.

"It will only be a matter of time until I find you."

In a blink of an eye, he was right in front of Elva once more as she was reaching for her weapon. "Your mere kitchen knife is futile against me now, human," he hissed. "My body can be likened to a thick iron wall."

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She reacted quickly enough to lean her upper body back and start leaping away. But it was too late.

An itching, painful feeling encased her left ankle.

"No!" Elva cried out, attempting to struggle out of his grasp. Wincing, she desperately increased the flow of power of her core. Harsh wrinkles that spread like fire on paper from his touch suddenly slowed into a crawl up her leg.

Cackles and screams of delight filled the air, stinging her ears. "Yes, yes, YES! Give me more mana! You may slow the process, but I will in turn receive MORE! Who knew I would find such a great source of mana in this run-down place!"

His wrinkled hands visibly turned into the skin of a pampered youth, smooth and supple.

He eagerly increased the pressure on her leg and landed his other hand on her other lower limb. His pitch grew more deranged. "This is my real, first step, towards consuming this world! Then, I will consume my world! Since both rejects me!"

The elf leaned his white, twisted face toward Elva. "Tell me, how does it feel to be accepted by the one who will destroy your world?"

Elva gradually leaned her upper body closer, until there was only an inch between them. She whispered in his ear. "Quite good."

Suddenly, she quenched the flow of her mana.

Her kitchen knife stabbed his chest, into his core. In fact, it stabbed so deep that her hand went into his body, blue blood spurting out.

The elf opened his eyes in shock, the dust scattered across his sclera and blue irises like dead stars. "How could... a mere human blade used to prepare food..."

Elva offered a smile, blood flowing from her lips and down her chin as she watched his body quickly wither and turn into a pile of dust. "It turns out to be quite handy in these cases, doesn't it?"

The wind caressed the wilted branches of the surrounding hedges, answering her.

Her knife and another shriveled arm joined the great mound of debris as she fell backwards, sending up the elf's remains as grey smoke, which a breeze soon swept away.

"...Shoot, I forgot my neck."

Her back itched, and she tried to scratch it, only to see an invisible arm in the air.

"So much for a painless passing." Elva could detect the flow of blood from her ruptured blood vessels travel toward her lungs as she spoke. She felt no trepidation, only a faint sense of a hole in her heart filling up--and missing the mark.

"Mother, father, did I make you proud... you both would have loved this grave destination for your daughter." She faintly smiled in irony.

Elva slowly closed her eyes, listening to the faint clattering of twigs and her ragged breath.

A small, warm hand touched her side.

Hm? She opened her eyes and turned her head weakly to see a small, blurry figure weeping. Elva squinted her eyes for a clearer view.

Ah, it's the boy I saved. He still looked beautiful despite the desolate backdrop, the natural light of the moon causing his originally dark, golden hair to transform into that of a pure, flaxen-blonde field of wheat. His tears were like small reflective jewels in the moonlight.

No no no. Like the shining, pure liquor of vodka preciously running down...

At least the gods above blessed me with a good view...

She opened her mouth to reassure the beautiful child. “My dear—”

“Don’t die.”

The child’s body began to glow like his hair, emitting large waves of pure-white mana.

Ah?

His desperate small voice resounded loud in her ear before she was consumed by a bright light.

“I need you.”