The Necromancer's Servant

Several hundred elven archers stood just a few dozen meters ahead, their bows drawn, arrows gleaming in their fingers.

The five invaders dared not move an inch. The elven magic barrier behind them had completely concealed the elves, hiding even their killing intent. This volley of arrows not only showcased the elves' exceptional archery skills but also revealed their lack of practical combat experience. In fact, just ten or so arrows would have been enough to make the opponents dodge in panic, and in mid-air, a second round of arrows would easily turn anyone into a pincushion. None of the invaders wanted the elves to discover this sniping tactic, so they stayed still.

The man did not move either. Even though his body was briefly protected by a layer of battle aura, it was only for a short period of time, and his eyes could not be shielded by battle aura. To the elven archers, shooting the eyes was no harder than shooting an elephant.

Perhaps they were too stunned to move. As the magic barrier was scorched, a few seemingly ordinary dead trees started to stir. Huge figures, ten meters tall, slowly began to move, their withered arms swinging as they stepped forward. Some vines on the ground also began to wriggle like snakes, growing sharp thorns along the way.

Behind the elves, there were more than a dozen towering unicorns, their sharp horns glowing with magical light. Despite their herbivorous nature, no one dared doubt the danger and lethality of these creatures.

A massive buzzing sound filled the air, and large hornets, bigger than sparrows, began swarming, making the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. Though the stingers on the hornets' tails were much smaller than the arrows in the elves' hands, even a single sting could be deadly.

"Are we supposed to fight these things? Damn it, Hilika the mother fucker," Hilton muttered, staring at the giant tree creatures. He could barely hold onto his sword. He knew that even if he stabbed a thousand times, it wouldn't do much, while a single kick from the tree could crush him like a rat.

This confirmed that the combination of such strange magic and the elves' arrows would make even an army struggle.

"Please, stop! We are friends!" The man raised both hands and shouted again. This time, he shifted from surrender to a claim of friendship.

"Friends? Nonsense. We have no friends like you," an elf with a distinctive appearance, likely an elder, shouted as he raised his hand. "This man reeks of dark energy. Kill him first..."

"I'm here at the behest of Theodorus," the man shouted hoarsely. The elf elder paused mid-motion.

Hilton and Jessica, with their sharp eyes, could see the muscles in the elves' arms tightening as they were about to release their arrows, but quickly stopped themselves. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of arrows were loosed.

"Theodorus? Do you have proof? We've never heard him mention you," the elf elder hesitated, his eyes still gleaming with cold light. "I warn you, this is a critical time. We'd rather kill someone by mistake than delay time. You have one chance to prove your identity."

The massive hornets hovering overhead descended, and more hornets from the forest flew in, gathering into a dark cloud above the man's head. The rumbling sound from the growing swarm sounded like thunderclouds gathering a storm. Although the killing power of these hornets might not match a real thunderstorm, anyone underneath them would die in a far worse manner than being struck by lightning.

The man thought for a moment, sighed, and then removed the mask from his face, saying softly, "Is Ruya still here? She should remember, it was I who brought her out of the Whispering Forest."

The elves gasped in surprise. The face revealed was the man they had relentlessly pursued, and whom, despite the worldwide manhunt by both the Church and the nations, the Elders' Council had strangely abandoned.

Even more shocked were Hilton, Old Bill, and the Druid. The Druid remained composed, while Old Bill's rat-like eyes grew wide, making him look like an eyeglass-wearing monkey. Hilton stood frozen, his jaw slack, his throat producing strange sounds like a goose, his trembling finger pointing at the revealed face. They had seen this face in dreams, up close, many times, often laughing as they dreamed of capturing him.

The elf elder, however, showed no great surprise. He nodded slightly and waved his hand, signaling the huge hornets above the man to disperse and fly back into the forest. He turned to look at the stunned Hilton trio and furrowed his brow. "Are these also Theodorus' people?"

"No, they are mine," the man turned and smiled at the three, his smile warm and friendly, a stark contrast to the deadpan one on his mask. "You see, don't you?"

Hilton exchanged a look with Old Bill, and though the elves' bows had lowered, the tension was still palpable. They both sighed and looked back at the man. "Of course, you're the boss."

The Druid's expression of surprise had vanished, replaced by his usual earnest demeanor. Jessica blinked her large dark eyes, silently observing the man.

"I heard there were thieves planning to raid the Turaleone Forest, so I came to check it out. These friends joined me on the way. The magic scroll was just a little misunderstanding," the man said with a smile, approaching the elven elder. "We accidentally infiltrated the thieves' group on the way, and they are likely preparing to attack now. We came to warn you first..."

A massive explosion suddenly rang out from the distance in the forest, and the birds in the trees flew up in a panic. The elf elder turned around, horrified, "Impossible! They arrived so quickly? Did they bypass the barrier?"

"It must be the thieves. Let's hurry and check it out," the man gestured to Hilton and the others, and together with the elves, they rushed toward the source of the explosion.

Hilton, dazed, ran a few steps before looking up at the towering tree guardians beside him. He turned to the others, confused and disoriented, and asked, "Don't you feel... like we were suddenly dragged onto a pirate ship... damn it..."

"We... we are the pirates, aren't we?" Old Bill, puffing and panting at the back, replied. The Druid, who had transformed into a werewolf, pulled him along, placing him on his shoulder.

"No... I feel... damn... this doesn't make any sense..." Hilton muttered.

At the edge of the elves' residence, a massive fire blazed, consuming the area. Three damaged tree guardians wriggled like dying old women trying to dance before collapsing and shattering on the ground.

On the ground, there were more burning fragments of deadwood guardians and a dozen or so charred elf corpses. This "Hellfire" scroll was used perfectly. The range and power of this high-level fire magic were immense; with a single strike, it had taken out the six deadwood guardians summoned by the elf mages.

However, there was no smug expression on Esis' face; instead, his expression was one of sorrow. This "Hellfire" scroll was something he had painstakingly taken from the Magic Academy when fleeing from Einfast. He had kept it as a life-saving talisman, using it only when absolutely necessary. Seeing the deadwood guardians, summoned by the elf mages, crushing the front-row thieves one by one, while the thieves could do nothing against them or the elves' archers, he had no choice but to use it.

"Damn it..." a thief guarding Esis peeked his head from behind a shield, witnessing the power of this magic. Just as he excitedly shouted half a sentence, he immediately fell backward like chopped wood, an arrow piercing his eye and protruding from the back of his head.

Another thief rushed over, grabbed the still breathing companion's large shield, and stood beside Esis. The shield was large and heavy, their task was to protect the only magic user in their group—the vice leader.

Thieves kept falling to the ground without a sound, dropping silently. The elf archers typically aimed for the eyes or the throat, places where screams couldn't escape. Many thieves had their heads and throats protected, but arrows still pierced through their chests, passing through ribs to strike the lungs and heart. Even if they didn't die immediately, they couldn't scream, only making faint groaning and twitching noises like pigs bleeding out.

Though the elf bows were simple wooden ones and their strength wasn't particularly great, none of the thieves were injured; they were all dead with a single arrow. This was the result of the elves' incredible accuracy. The thieves numbered four hundred, and they couldn't always cover their eyes and throats. The elves never lacked targets.

But this Hellfire spell had finally turned the tide. It killed over a dozen elves and boosted the thieves' morale. Hilika raised his great sword and shouted, "Brothers, charge! They don't have many left. These are gold coins! Capture as many as you can!"

The thieves roared and rushed forward.

However, Hilika didn't move. He stepped beside Esis and quietly asked, "How many elves do you think are left?"

"How should I know?" Esis answered with a long face. Though they had broken the barrier and entered the outskirts of the elf stronghold as planned, not all the elves had been drawn away. Instead, a number of elves, including a dozen or so elf mages, had come toward their direction. Though the elves seemed surprised to see the intruders, they quickly regrouped to attack.

The elves' combat ability was even more surprising. The archers' nearly deadly arrows were expected, but when Hilika commanded the thieves to charge in, the elf mages immediately began casting spells. The trees, once ordinary, turned into moving monsters.

Hilika had completely abandoned the idea of capturing Turaleone. He was willing to bet that upon returning, he would tear apart the fools who reported that this was just a small village. Those idiots hadn't described the elves' battle capabilities at all. If they had three or four hundred more elves like this, they would be forced to flee with their tails between their legs.

An arrow storm answered Hilika's question, and dozens of thieves fell. This time, many thieves screamed in agony as the arrows came from elves who had just arrived from other places after hearing the explosion. Due to the long distance or their running shots, their aim was slightly off.

Hilika glanced at the hundreds of elves appearing in the forest, his face turning ashen. Esis' face was even worse, his sharp scream like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on: "Damn it, how many elves are there?"

In just the brief seconds of their conversation, over a hundred more elves appeared in their line of sight. And not just elves—tall unicorns charged out of the forest, slamming into the front-line thieves, tossing them aside, while a burst of dazzling white light from their horns blinded the surrounding thieves. The unicorns' horns, harder and sharper than any longsword, pierced through the thieves, flinging them through the air, often with blood and even entrails spraying out.

The elf mages recited their incantations, and thieves who were almost at the elf archers were immediately entangled by vines that sprouted from the ground. The vines had sharp thorns, and some even strangled thieves to death.

With the elf mages' spells, huge yellow hornets, snake-like centipedes, and bright-colored spiders even larger than crabs appeared.

The thieves' charge became a desperate retreat after just three seconds, leaving nearly half of their number behind.

The once-beautiful, slender figures and lovely faces of the elves, once seen by Hilika and Esis as charming and adorable, now seemed no different from a swarm of cockroaches. If they had to make a distinction, it would be that cockroaches weren't nearly as terrifying. Every second, dozens of elves appeared.

"Damn that old bastard! He actually brought us here?" Hilika roared, swinging his sword at a charging unicorn. The unicorn let out a sorrowful cry and cracked bones as it flew off under the force of his strike. He shouted at Esis, "Get that damn scroll the old bastard gave us and use it!"