** Dark Elf Village **

The hundredman chief was greatly perplexed.

The main warriors were not present in the dark elf village. Especially the over two meters tall warrior—Knock—who has plagued the underground troops.

The hundredman chief led the early summer birds to the village while the main force was away.

(W-We can’t win..)

The early summer birds were thrashing the dark elves. The hundredman chief hid with Punta at the root of a large tree and held his breath.

(Damnit! If this goes on, the dark elves will be wiped out! I’ve never heard of such a ridiculous monster!)

He cursed his bad luck endlessly.

Honestly, he doesn’t care whether the dark elf race survives or perishes.

Although the dark elves get in the way of obtaining skill orbs, they both have been living at a distance from each other for decades.

(Why the hell is this happening!? All this started because we suddenly found skill orbs.. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have to deal with these damn elves.)

Skill orbs were discovered just at the middle point between the dark elf village and the underground city. It was treated as a life-changing event and considered extremely valuable in the underground city.

(Skill orbs don’t matter if you’re not alive to use it!)

When an early summer bird’s cry echoed nearby, the hundred chief reflexively ducked into the shadows.

As a decorated soldier of the underground city, the hundredman chief can manage if it was one bird. But if it’s a flock of them, even he has to pray for the storm to pass.

However, the cry of the early summer bird he heard was not a threatening cry but a painful shriek.

Looking up, he saw a dark elf stabbing a knife into the eyes of an early summer bird in the sky.

(W-What the hell?)

The female dark elf was trying to kill the early summer bird while her body was being burned–she was trying to take down the bird with her.

The hundredman chief’s heart screamed.

(That is a real warrior. That is true courage.)

He felt pathetic hiding in the shadows.

「Ah.」

The dark elf dropped from the early summer bird and fell onto a tree. Strangely, it was the same tree where the hundredman chief was hiding. He thought she would fall down, but she didn’t.

「She must be stuck on a branch somewhere.」

Although she escaped the worst case scenario of falling straight to the ground, her body should still be seriously burned. She will need immediate medical care.

「I have to help her..」

Before he noticed, his body was already moving. He was climbing up the large tree. It was a tree without a dark elf hut, so there was no climbing support installed.

But climbing a tree wasn’t a big deal for the hundredman chief who prides himself with his physical strength and reflexes. In his pocket was a special-made medicine given to the soldiers of the Underground city. He climbed up the tree, thinking that applying this medicine might help.

**

The Dark Elf chief’s left leg was broken, but he dexterously fired arrows while leaning on a tree trunk for support.

But he was running out of arrows, and the number of companions who were able to fight was steadily decreasing.

The worst part was that Nicky, who was entrusted with defending Anastasia, was grabbed and taken to the sky by an early summer bird. He hasn’t seen her since then, but the chieftain can’t allow Anastasia to be defenseless. So he dragged his broken leg and tried to approach Anastasia.

At that moment, a sudden wave of energy made his entire body tremble.

「I am Anastasia.」

Tremendously dense mana emitted from the revered High Elf. Her body was shining.

Her smooth long hair floated in the air. A torrent of flames appeared around her.

The High Elf’s flame was different from the red flame of the early summer bird—it was platinum, like her beautiful hair.

「A High Elf royal, the leader of all elves!!」

Those words pierced the chieftain’s heart. He was completely enthralled.

How should he express the event that took place next? He would have been happy if he died at that moment.

As Anastasia raised her right hand, guillotine blade-like flashes of flames launched into the sky at the swirling flock of early summer birds.

The flashes of flames shattered in the sky. The early summer birds which touched Anastasia’s flames detonated one after another.

There was chaos in the sky.

Anastasia continued to shoot second and third shots of flame blades.

Right then, early summer birds swooped down from all directions towards Anastasia.

Anastasia didn’t panic in the slightest. She stuck out both palms of her hand into the air.

And a circle of flame of about 10 meters manifested around her. The flames created a terrifying updraft, causing the early summer birds to lose balance and crash around her. The impact of the collision kicked up dust and soil into the air.

The circle of fire evolved into a tall pillar of flames that reached the sky. The early summer birds in the sky that touched the pillar burst into high flames and became fuel for the pillar of fire.

In the sky, the flock had already been reduced to half. The birds were screaming.

There seemed to be confusion within the flock.

They, who were single-mindedly concentrated on attacking, were now faltering.

「........」

Anastasia silently looked up at the sky. She put her wrists together and pointed her arms to the sky.

「Become an arrow that pierces mine enemies!」

A large amount of mana flowed from Anastasia’s body to her palms. And then, a beam of flames that can hardly be called an “arrow” was launched from her hand.

Everything the flames touched was instantly carbonized; the trees, the branches, the hut.

The flame exploded in the center of the flock in the sky.

The explosion brightened the surroundings as if the sun was just starting to set. Immediately after that, the light faded.

A chorus of death wails was heard from the sky. The early summer birds scattered in every direction as if escaping for their lives.

It was no longer possible to chase the scattered early summer birds. And the birds no longer seemed intent to fight.