One elf used magic to spawn plants to stop the two knights hot on their tails. The thorny vines lashed out into buildings, slowing down and then stopping the two knights. Surprisingly, there were no civilians around anymore.

But that was not important, the important thing was that they, the four elves, got through the humans. To their surprise and lack of understanding, the knights behind them unleashed a burst of light in the sky.

Elivar glanced behind him, wondering what they were for. It was not the first one they saw. The group of elves entered a building, as expected, it was empty.

“Accursed humans!” Elivar roared. “And that fool Arnaut!”

They stopped, about to collect their thoughts. It was hard to think of what to do collectively while they were in the middle of a sudden fight.

“Alright, let’s do the most important thing. There is no escaping this.” Elivar said. “You know what we have to do.”

The elves looked at each other and nodded. Elivar then faced two particular elves. “Does Arnaut know what you did with the Dust?”

“No, he didn’t even probe.”

“He trusted us completely with it.”

“Good. Even if we fall today, Wisteria will follow not soon after.”

Even if they interrogate Arnaut and the others, they wouldn’t know what happened to the Dust. Everything was secured. Even Elivar had no idea what these two did with it.

“You two, do what must be done to keep the humans from learning about it.”

“You need not say. Do it.”

Elivar and one other elf gathered magic in their hands, but at that moment, an oversized spear suddenly crashed into their building, going in between them. At the same time, humans, knights in particular, one with normal civilian outfit, and one with a full set of armor, breached through the building. A slash of light shot towards Elivar, forcing him to take a step back.

No!

This paltry interruption must not succeed for the greater good. He shifted his gaze towards the two particular elves, they were engaging a man in a dark robe. The human wrapped a chain around one elf while he fired a bolt of light at the other.

I will not let you!

He had to prevent the elf from being taken. As fellow elves, he knew that even if one of them were captured, they would not spill out information that would hinder their mission. However, there was no way of knowing how far the humans would go. Thus, to ensure to keep everything from leaking out, they must take their own, or their comrade’s life.

It was for the greater good and the survival of their people.

The knight in armor was going after Elivar, so the latter fired wind magic at him. However, the knight met it with a slash of light, and he got close to Elivar. The elf met the knight’s sword with his own. And the two glared at each other.

“You intend to capture us? Don’t waste your time.”

“My sister had different orders for you, don’t worry.”

Sister?

“However, I will give you a chance. Surrender.”

“Don’t insult me.”

They swung their blades, with each swing, magic flew all around, damaging their surroundings. Elivar gathered mana in his hand, however, the knight would use a spell that unleashes a bludgeoning force that would stagger him, disrupting his magic.

Elivar glanced at the other elves stuck in a fight. He had to at least stop this knight for a moment and he’ll get the opportunity. Elivar fired a small wind which served only to push the knight back a little, thus there was no need to gather a lot of mana, it was almost similar to the spell that the knight was using.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

At that small moment, he manipulated the wind, engulfing the knight. The wind formed a wall of wind, obstructing the knight’s actions.

“This is familiar.” the knight said.

Elivar then aimed at the one free elf that was supposed to die, then a second later, just as the knight broke through the wind barrier, a small projectile of wind flew from Elivar’s hand. The knight was unable to stop the wind in time, and thus the wind struck, shattering the head of the elf.

The knight watched with bewilderment. “You really are insane.” he muttered.

Just then, the one wrapped in chains suddenly had his head cut off by a slash of wind, fired by the other elf while fighting another human. Feeling proud, Elivar grinned, and the human glared angrily at him through his visor.

“We are not, as you call it, insane…” said Elivar. “We are noble.”

There was nothing more noble than doing what it takes for the sake of their own people. They will stain their hands with the blood of their own friends and even sacrifice their own life and happiness. No matter how much they miss their families, their friends and their home, if they have to suffer themselves, then so be it.

These humans could never understand.

Perhaps they might, but they do not possess the will to achieve what was completely necessary.

Elivar straightened his posture, poise, his sword in one hand, wind magic on the other. Now that the two elves were now dead, there was no need to divide his focus and attention anymore. Time to slay this human in front of him, and carry out the next phase.

To slay the beastmen.

They could not allow them to fall into the humans’ hands. Even if Elivar dies, at least he died trying. In short, this was a suicide, but he would not be going alone.

The knight held his sword with both hands and intensely glared at Elivar.

The first to act was the knight, bringing down his sword swiftly, firing an arc of light towards the elf. Elivar quickly swept his magic-filled hand forward, sending a slashing wind to intercept the speeding arc. The moment those two magic clashed, the two were already right next to each other, and both their swords collided violently.

Slash and thrust, clanging and sparks, the knight fired his armament magic with each swing, making it difficult for the elf to meet his attacks. The elf’s sword would have shattered if not for the magic he coated it with.

Being pushed back, Elivar while at the same time meeting the knight’s blade with his own, held out his hand to fire multiple slashing winds. Instantly noticing this, the knight let free his one hand and held out his palm. A translucent barrier appeared, shielding him from harm. However, those attacks caused the barrier to crack all over.

Elivar took this chance and thrust his sword forward, shattering the barrier, piercing through the knight’s defense. The tip of his sword made contact with the knight’s armor, but before he could pierce through, the knight leaped back. All he did was make a scratch.

Of course, as one could expect, a knight’s armor was not easy to break through. Elivar could have at least reached the human’s flesh easily if not for the armor’s hardness. But at least now, he had a measure of how much strength he should exert.

Thus, even if the knight stepped away, Elivar charged forward relentlessly and kept unleashing his attacks. He attacked using his sword with impressive swiftness, and often used his other hand to fire magic. The knight was being pressed, but annoyingly was able to defend well.

It wouldn’t last long, however, as Elivar was getting used to the knight’s attack pattern and manners. He swung his sword coated with magic, slashing through the knight’s armor, rending flesh. Droplets of blood flew, and the knight quickly jumped back. His blood spilled to the floor as he groaned.

With no relent, Elivar was about to finish it, however, the man in the dark robe that was fighting the other elf jumped between them and met Elivar’s sword with his own made up of golden light. He must have seen that the knight was in a precarious situation and immediately switched targets, leaving the other knight to face the other elf.

Elivar was, of course, annoyed by this. In the back of the robed man, he saw the knight pointing his hand on the wound, and green light emitting from his palm. Healing magic. However, the light was faint.

As Elivar was clashing with the robed man, the knight slowly stood up, but was still bleeding a little. He must not be proficient in healing magic.

Elivar resisted the urge to click his tongue, this was going nowhere. He wanted to kill them, but there was no longer any time to spare. Also in that moment, he saw multiple humans in the far back running towards them, it was the ones chasing them from earlier.

We need to move.

Elivar jumped back and swiftly sheathed his sword before holding out both his hands together. Mana began gathering within his palms.

The knight saw this, and he shouted. “Defend!”

Then, a blast of wind exploded in the area, sending all objects around it flying. The humans had barely managed to use their defensive magic, but were still blown away by the sheer force of the wind from the elf.

When everything quieted down and the dust settled, the humans looked around, but the elves were nowhere to be found.

The knight lowered his sword before checking if everyone was alright. With a sigh, he walked towards the street where there were no obstacles above him. He pulled out a small cylinder, a blue gemstone on top of it.

He pointed it up and poured a little mana. Then a ball of light then emerged, rising into the sky, before being followed by another from beside him.