Rose trembled.

Turning around, she saw a man wearing a black cloak with golden hems walk out of the woods. He was followed by three men. Two of the men wore the traditional edgy garbs of assassin’s while the third man looked burly and boisterous.

Lokhart Ronoa had arrived.

While Rose did not recognize the three, the prickly sensation at her neck coupled with the abyss like pit in her stomach were enough for her to know that they did not come in peace.

William, who up to this point had been oblivious to the situation, finally realized something was up. He clenched his fists to stop them from trembling. When they first arrived at this oasis in the wilderness, he had thought that the danger was passed. But now… it seems like he was wrong.

Inhaling deeply, he turned his horse away from the new arrivals. He took the seal that Faust had given them out of Rose’s hands. Pushing it out in front of him, he mustered his loudest voice, “I, William Ironborn, request the assistance of the denizens of this outpost. The Iron Forge King is honorable. He will be deeply indebted to you should we survive!”

After ten breaths passed with no response, a derisive snicker cut through the air.

Lokhart swept his gaze over his targets. He noticed that Rose was a rank eight mage but that was all there was to her. Mages, no matter the rank, were mere ants to him.

Waving his hands, he motioned for Reigar and his men to secure the targets.

Without hesitation, Reigar shot forward with saber in hand. He made a beeline for the mage!

Expression shifting, Rose’s hands moved at imperceptible speeds as she weaved hand signs and mouthed incantations.

When Reigar’s saber was about to connect with her neck, a barrier formed around her and the children. It was shattered immediately after, however.

Unperturbed, mana gathered around the young woman’s arm that was clenched into a fist. The mana then materialized into an earthen gauntlet that barreled toward the smirking Reigar.

Caught off guard, he used his free hand to put up a hasty defense. His expression changed however, when a loud crack was heard from his defending arm. Staggering backward, his lackadaisical expression took a grave shift.

A quick shake of his arm revealed that it was fractured. Embarrassed by his carelessness, he snorted coldly and circulated his internal mana to heal his arm.

On the other side, Rose’s expression was quite gloomy. She knew that she was facing a great mage and a mortality shedding warrior. While she was not afraid of the latter, the fact that she had to protect the children while fending off the adversaries was too much to bear. The odds could not be stacked any worse against her. But what truly made her heart bitter was that even at this juncture, the Elves had yet to make a move!

She was adamant in her belief that the people inside that arcane formation were Elves. They couldn’t be anyone else!

Weaving another hand sign, Rose mouthed a spell that caused the earth to tremble. Earthen spikes shot out of the ground and attempted to skewer Reigar. The spikes were humongous. At twice a man’s height and almost the girth of a tree branch, they cut through air with blinding speed and meticulous accuracy in an attempt to corner the warrior.

Nimble as a rabbit, Reigar hopped and weaved as he got closer and closer to Rose. This time, he didn’t underestimate his opponent and coated his body with a layer of protective mana. He swung his arm only for him to feel like the air had suddenly turned to sludge. His blade moved towards its target with what could only be described as a snail’s pace.

Reigar furrowed his brows as he realized that vines had suddenly sprouted out of the earthen spikes. They wrapped around his arms and legs in a constricting vice grip.

With a harrumph Reigar ignited the mana coating his body, incinerating his constraints. Just as he was about to follow through on his charge, he heard a tragic scream come from behind him.

Fearing for his young lord, Reigar spun on his heels. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his backing was still unharmed. What dumbfounded him however, was the fact that the mage he was fighting less than an instant ago had appeared in front of his young lord. She had just executed one of his subordinates with an earthen spike. The second one had managed to dodge the ambush only to also be bound by vines that shot out of the spikes he thought he had dodged.

The black clothed man tried to struggle free only for his body to be pulled apart in four different directions. With a desperate scream, the man was executed. It was death by chariot splitting.

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

Lokhart on the other hand, merely smiled. Aside from the small amount of blood that sputtered onto the barrier he had set up to block the spikes and vines that attempted to ambush him, he was as fine as a daisy.

“Tsk tsk. To think you can silently pentacast. Truly talented.” Lokhart’s voice was light and ethereal. And if one ignored the derisive smile on his face, one wouldn’t be blamed for thinking he was truly complimenting Rose.

After he finished speaking, he pressed his palm on one of the earthen spikes. A boom echoed as the spike was shattered into bits of rock.

“Gah!” Amidst the explosion, a low grunt was heard as Rose shot out like an arrow into the spike laden battlefield.

Gritting her teeth, she tried her best to use water and wind to conjure a makeshift armor. As she was off the ground, she could not conjure earth fast enough. Thus, to avoid being impaled by her own spell, she tried to weave around the pointy ends of the spikes while brute forcing through the ones that wouldn’t immediately skewer her.

By the time she fell to the ground, her attendant’s uniform was in tatters. Wounds covered her as she repeatedly coughed out blood. Circulating her mana, she cast healing spells on herself in a bid to manage her internal injuries.

Mages were not warriors. With fragile bodies, a single blow from a warrior of the same rank could severely injure if not kill them.

“So this is a great mage,” Rose muttered self-deprecatingly.

On the other side, Reigar was still dumbfounded. He still hadn’t processed how the woman he was fighting suddenly appeared tens of meters behind him. Turning back to his supposed opponent, he noticed that the ‘mage’ inside the barrier that protected the children had frozen. Cracks then begun to form all over her body as her skin turned a dark earthen brown. She looked like a sculpture going backwards in the sculpting process to turn from a complete work of art back to clay. Shortly after, the ‘mage’ crumbled into dust.

Rose looked at the children with reluctance. She knew that Will had a trump card that could likely kill the great mage but it was unlikely that he would get the chance to get close enough to use it. As for the warrior, alive or dead, it made no difference. As long as Lokhart did not die, they would be the ones to lose.

She then turned her gaze to the Elven barrier formation. Even now, there was no movement. Her reluctance turned fury. Weren’t Elves supposed to be honorable Guardians of nature? Where was their honor?

She knew of the relationship Aurelius had with the elves. The seal he had given them was definitely enough to ensure that they would be treated as honored guests of Silvestria! Even if that weren’t the case, it was enough to ensure that at least they would not be left to die outside the door!

As a mage, she held the Elves, the ones loved by magic, in high regard. Today, however, she was disillusioned.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Footsteps echoed Rose’s ears like knells heralding her departure from the land of the living.

In the distance, Will and Lena watched on with reddened eyes. They tried to shatter the protective formation they were in but it was to no avail. While it posed no problem to Reigar who watched their futile actions with an amused smile, it was a tall task for the children. With no strength of their own, they could only watch on helplessly.

Unresigned, Will grit his teeth and took hold of a foot long dagger suspended on his waist. This was the dagger that his uncle Faust had given him.

At ten years old, he wasn’t even an apprentice like his sis Lena and had no idea how to use it. But he believed in his uncle. He had told him not to use it unless it was a life and death crisis. From where he was standing, if what his auntie Rose was facing wasn’t a life and death crisis, then he truly didn’t know the meaning of the term.

Staring venomously at Reigar, he was prepared to put the man out of his misery. But just as he was about to unsheathe the blade a sigh swept over the battlefield.

“Young people need to be magnanimous.”

The voice was light and ethereal but carried no emotion in it. It sounded distant but strangely enough it imparted a sense of weariness. It seemed to soothe Will’s muscles as his muscles relaxed. His body felt lighter as his eyelids started to droop.

“No…” The young boy fought with all his might to fight the tiredness that wanted to overwhelm him.

A few tens of meters away, Rose still lay sprawled on the ground. Above her, there was a spear shaped vortex that looked like an amalgamation of wind, earth, water and a tinge of something dark and sinister within.

Sam bit his tongue to keep himself awake as he roared inwardly. He kept trying to unsheathe the dagger but his body would not listen. It just kept getting more and more sluggish.

Finally, darkness took him.

Lena held on for a few more seconds. But just like Will her body also kept getting heavier and heavier as the fists she had clenched loosened to reveal bloodied palms. Stumbling slightly, she soon followed Will into slumber.

Lokhart's expression was grave as he dispersed the spell he had cast to finish off the mage in front of him. His mana circulated rapidly as he cast the strongest protection spell he could. He also kept multiple escape spells on standby.

He looked at the humble golden yellow gate in front him with the caution and vigilance one would have when facing a deadly enemy.

He had also heard the voice. It had come from inside the elven formation. But while he could hear the voice, he could not see the accompanying person. But the voice felt exceptionally close.

Lokhart had just extended his mana sense when the formation rippled. The gate squeaked open and out stepped the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes upon.

She had Raven black hair that cascaded down to her shoulders. She wore a light purple dress that reached just above her feet, gently grazing the ground as it trailed behind her. The deep violet of her pupils was so captivating that one couldn’t help but be enthralled by her gaze. Her movements were modest yet majestic. And as she stepped out of the gate to exit the formation’s protection, Lokhart couldn’t help but gulp.

So this what they mean when they say beauty that can topple nations, He thought.