Indeed, the deer-hawk riders in the sky swiftly passed overhead and sped forward in pursuit.

Gery and Lotte also whizzed by Rody's side without a glance below, making Rody feel as if he had narrowly escaped from the jaws of death. However, the cavalry on the mountain road was not so easily deceived; they dismounted near Rody, drew their swords, and searched around with magical fireworks illuminating the sky intermittently.

Rody saw two men approaching his location, standing under a tree, seemingly searching for something.

"There seem to be traces here..." One of the warriors appeared to have discovered the traces Rody had left behind, though very faint, with only wet leaves and broken branches, yet these did not escape his keen eyes. Hearing this, Rody nearly fell from the tree in fright. He clung tightly to the wet tree trunk, not daring to move or breathe loudly.

"It seems like the heavy footprints of ordinary humans, not the light steps of elves!" Rody heard a familiar voice below, Ace, which was even more alarming.

In recent years, Ace's martial skills had greatly improved, now surpassing the five-star great swordsman Good and advancing to the sixth rank of Sword Master, becoming a distinguished Earth Warrior marked by the iron fist. He was now a key general of the Oga Fortress, one of his ruthless father's right-hand men.

If an Earth Warrior like him, seasoned in numerous battles, were to scrutinize carefully, Rody would surely not escape unscathed.

As Rody grew increasingly anxious, he suddenly heard Ace say, "There's a whistle in the distance, an enemy spotted! Everyone mount up, quickly surround and capture that audacious elven thief!"

"At your command, Lord Ace." The warriors, led by Ace, immediately abandoned their search at the command.

Seeing Ace leading the cavalry away, Rody felt his heart, which had been in his throat, return to its place. That was close; if they had stayed a minute longer, they would have discovered his tree-climbing traces, making his escape impossible. Fortunately, Ace left in time, or he would have been doomed.

Rody, feeling his limbs go weak from the relief and the weight of his mother on his back, could no longer hold onto the tree trunk.

Fearing he might fall unconscious to the ground, Rody slowly slid down, trying to use his mental power to control Marcus and Emma, who were far away, to catch him. However, they were beyond his usual control range. Rody's mental control only extended to about ten meters, while Marcus was thirty meters away in a thicket, unresponsive.

In his anxiety, Rody was shocked to sense a shadow above his head.

This shadow had no human presence, not even a physical body; it was completely transparent, like air.

Yet under Rody's mental perception, it was definitely there, hanging upside down above his head. Rody couldn't see the shadow with his eyes, but he felt it holding a curved knife, quietly dangling above him, silently observing him.

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The shadow exuded a murderous aura, but it was calm.

Extremely eerie, Rody felt a deep fear as if a knife were piercing his soul, yet his eyes saw nothing.

"Close call, finally safe... I thought it was after me, that was really too close!" Rody felt the transparent shadow with the curved knife slowly approaching his head, as slow as the growth of a plant. His hairs stood on end, his spine tingled, but he smiled and said to the air above, "I'm sure you must think so too, right?"

"How did you notice me?" The tree branch above gradually revealed a slender shadow with large eyes emitting a faint blue glow.

"Before asking questions, shouldn't you first say 'thank you' to me? If I had given Uncle Ace a little hint just now, I believe you would soon have a free cell to live in," Rody said, seemingly unaware of the cold blade against his neck, chuckling.

"The human male you spoke of, his strength is only a bit better than mine. In the forest, he absolutely can't beat me. If you had made a sound just now, I could have killed you and then left calmly." The shadow snorted, then said: "You're in danger yourself, yet dare to be so proud? A kid who stole undead magic, if the people just now knew, you'd be waiting for the burning devil's fire execution, right?"

"I'm not afraid, I am the son of Lord Koro, at most confined for a few years." Rody's tone was as if Lord Warren still doted on him like before.

"You, why do you want to learn the evil undead magic?" The shadow was hanging upside down, but very naturally, as natural as humans standing on the ground, glanced at Rody's mother behind him, and snorted: "Who is this woman behind you?"

"My mother, she's beautiful, isn't she?" Rody said proudly.

"No matter how beautiful a human woman is, she can't compare to elves!" The shadow, unable to stand Rody's smug look, sneered.

"Vain! I think although elf faces are so-so, their ears are too long, I find them a bit deformed. Besides, elf women are all flat-chested and without curves, nothing to see there!" Before Rody could finish, he was punched by the shadow, stars in his eyes, tumbling down the tree. But as he recovered from the dizziness, he saw the tall and slender shadow holding his mother's bundle, standing in front of him, immediately rolled over and lunged to snatch it back: "Don't touch my mother!"

"Your mother is not beautiful at all, she's far inferior to our elf high priestess!" The shadow, seeing Rody so anxious about his mother, couldn't help but verbally attack him.

"Ah ha, the farts of your high priestess must smell sweet, you especially love them, I just know." Before Rody could finish, he was kicked down by the shadow.

"If you dare say another bad word about our high priestess, I will kill you!" threatened the shadow.

"If you dare say another bad word about my mother, then I too will kill you!" Rody countered fiercely, glaring at the shadow, completely ignoring the sharp curved blade in the latter's hand. The shadow was taken aback by his words, then suddenly burst into laughter, covering his mouth silently, shoulders shaking, as if hearing the funniest joke in the world.

"Why? You're just a human child! How can you kill me?" The shadow laughed for a while before stopping to ask.

"There's a skeleton behind you!" Rody suddenly changed the topic.

"I know... in the forest, nothing can be hidden from me!" The shadow sneered, saying: "You think a broken skeleton can ambush me? Although I don't know what you mean by this, if you want to tell me that this ragged skeleton can deal with me, then you will soon see a disappointing answer. With such slow-moving skeletons, I can wander among hundreds without letting them touch a hair."

"Then let's try!" Rody commanded to attack.

Nicolas immediately raised his dagger, thrusting towards the shadow's back. The shadow's curved blade flashed, cutting off Nicolas's bony arm, the whole thing along with the dagger falling to the ground, as Rody summoned Marcus and Emma in the distance, flinging his curved blade, spinning like lightning, cutting Marcus on the shin.

Marcus fell with a crash, along with Emma beside him, both tumbling to the ground.

The shadow smugly beckoned Rody, signaling him to display his skills as he pleased. Suddenly feeling Rody's eyes flash strangely, the shadow, whose eyes could see in the dark as if it were daylight, suddenly felt pitch black. He had been blinded, hit by a blindness spell. The shadow was slightly startled, then quickly reacted, concentrating on listening to the opponent's movements. Although not as good as eyes, an elf's ears and senses were enough to avoid a human swordsman's attack, let alone a human child's.

The shadow felt inexplicably that, apart from the sound of the skeleton's movement, the crawling of zombies in the distance, the breathing of the human mother on the ground, and the whisper of the breeze in the woods, there was no other sound.

The strange human child, as if he had disappeared right in front of him, became invisible.

Even more bizarre was that the elf's keen spiritual perception also failed to detect his presence. He was clearly standing right in front, he must be right in front, but his movements could not be felt at all.

How did he manage that?

As the shadow was marveling in astonishment, it suddenly felt the other's hand grabbing its chest, even giving it a squeeze, immediately provoking great fury.