Frozen in Fear

Elan looked at the goblin, "You! What did you do to him?" He could not explain what is happening around him and the only thing he could do is blame. Blaming something that he could not provide an explanation is they say is human but more of a mortal way to try to comfort oneself if he finds himself in a middle of crisis. Because Elan realized that having a great warrior of elves like Galvalen and betraying them is something unimaginable.

Alistair looked at the prince and frowned. It was understandable that Prince Elan is scared. Even though the prince looked as an adolescent boy equivalent to a seventeen-year-old human, he was still considered as a kid.

Elves biologically grew the same time as humans but once they hit adolescence, the elves' growth starts to slow down. Basically, bringing the prince of elves here is equivalent to bringing a ten-year-old human child and hunting on their own. If an elf ages into adolescence, it does not equate that they are full grown adults. For elves, concepts such as fighting are defending themselves. For a person who has no experience with an actual battle, it is pretty hard to learn using theoretical information but the longer they spend formulating things, the wiser they become as they slowly incorporate their theories into practical use. Sending an 'adolescent' elf who does not understand concepts of life and death to this mission is equal to a death sentence. They don't tend to think that if only the elf princess has not gone missing a year ago, they would not be in this kind of situation.

Alistair noticed that the four other elven warriors are also missing up until now. They should have heard this ruckus. Alistair momentarily was stunned as he realized. He left the other warriors with Galvalen to patrol the area. He looked at his son who wore an eerie smile.

Ryuji looked at the elven prince with contempt which made the later flinch. He snorted. He would deal with this child later.

Galvalen looked at Takehiko who was now supported by the two elven mages. He smiled and quickly attacked the elven child.

"Oh no, you don't…" Ryuji muttered. 'Not now or ever.' He continued in his thoughts. He was someone who was a family to that kid that everyone is referring and lost him once. He will never lose his brother again. He instinctively casted <earth wall> creating obstacles in the path of the attacking warrior with the golden light. it was the first thing that came up in his mind. Break his momentum.

At the same time, the two other mages along with Takehiko started to chant casting shield magic surrounding them to repel the attack. They are confused about what is happening, but one thing is clear, they need to protect themselves from the sword. They conjured the wind and water respectively to act as their shield.

"From the gods and goddesses of the wind hear the echoes of your child and guard us from danger…"

"By the flows of the life that sustains this land. Heed to the mana that summons and provides us a tempest of protection…"

Takehiko himself conjured <Water Shield> surrounding them without any chants.

Galvalen smiled showing his amusement. His target was the small black elven child who seemed to be rich in mana as the golden light flickered in excitement. It was just a few steps and blood will be absorbed by the seed.

Suddenly, slabs of earth emerged upwards blocking his path. This caused him to move sideways and jump. He instinctively jumped over, but it seems another slab appears and another covering the trio of magicians.

"Fuji!" Ryuji called out. Out of nowhere, a light accompanied by a crackling noise appeared and hit the elven warrior which stopped his momentum from leaping onto the three elves who were shielding themselves.

The mist started to dissipate from the battle area and a silhouette of a wolf appeared. The light permeated the now ground. Alistair and Elan looked at the rock formation that was produced from magic. It was slabs of earth that formed in irregular heights between them and the black saint with the elven mages.

"Are you alright Saint Takei?" Alistair called out. He was supporting Prince Elan who is clearly stunned with the series of events that just had transpired.

"Aside from bruises, we are alright Sir Alistair." Takehiko answered back.

Alistair felt a relief hearing his voice. However, the next line confused him.

"DO NOT ATTACK THE GOBLIN!" Takehiko snarled. He wasn't just saying this to Alistair and the naïve Prince but even to the mages who flinched beside him. For the first time he wanted to scold these elves. He has a lot of questions with his brother, the goblin, and he needs to prevent them from attacking him at all costs.

Alistair was stunned but now is not the time to ask the questions. He hit Prince Elan's shoulders to knock him off from his dazed horrified expression. Elan regained his senses as the mist cleared the area.

"Master!" The wolf called and sprinted toward the goblin.

Alistair and Elan were astonished with the sight. A thunder spell that they never had seen and a goblin manipulating the earth. They were more surprised as what it looked like a South Onorian Wolf appeared as the mist cleared and ran towards the goblin. Alistair felt that this does not bode well with the situation. He quickly searched for his son who got hit by lightning. Then he heard the sound that he would not like to hear.

He was laughing. Galvalen's expressionless eyes and laughing mouth as he stood nearby the prince. He was clearly hit by lightning and got burned but based on his laugh, it sounded like that nothing happened to him.

"My master cherishes your blood… so you must bleed." Galvalen casually spoke.

Elan shivered in fear. He felt his hair rise as he heard it. He also felt that he heard those words nearer as it should be and looked to Alistair. He fell backwards.

Alistair groaned. He felt a sharp pain as something pierced his back.

"B-B-Blood." Elan stuttered. He was petrified. He saw a silver thing pierced Sir Alistair and a red viscous liquid dripping. Then a shadow loomed over him as the mist cleared light permeated the area. He felt helpless and a sense of incoming doom.

"What…" Alistair mumbled. He felt something warm trickling and felt a damp sensation. He instinctively looked down and saw a blade out of his stomach. 'Shit. Why did I not notice?' He could only think since he had his guard down. He looked to the prince and muttered, "Your Highness… Run…". Suddenly he felt hard to breathe as if he was drowning. He mustered his strength, but he could feel a great wave weakness creeping in as his vision dimmed.

"Your blood is a wonderful offering to the great master!" Galvalen drew his sword out from the body slowly.

"F*ck." Ryuji cursed as the scene quickly unfolded. The middle-aged elven warrior beside the prince got ambushed by the one with the golden light, stabbing the former at the back. This is becoming a headache… there goes my quest.' This crazy elf is surely something.' He inwardly cursed. After getting burnt by the <Thunderbeam> this crazy elf quickly stood up and attacked as if nothing hit him. Since they cannot delay given the close proximity of the prince and the assailant, Ryuji quickly went to the "Call Raiji and Pyun-Pyun to come immediately!"

"Understood!" Fuji quickly left the area and headed toward the woods.

Ryuji did accept the quest given by Hades and someone dying would really mess up his promise. He felt that he was probably too hasty accepting the quest since they tried to use his brother as a bait but then again, he had no choice.

'First thing to do is to disable this bastard.' Ryuji breathed in as he carefully analyzed the situation. The elven prince is in shock and more or less in distress. A controlled elf who kills everyone but as required by the quest not to be killed. A bleeding elf and probably dying. Then there are elven magicians and one of them is a target not to mention his brother. He needs to stop the threat first then he can see if he can still save the stab victim.

"Time… I need more time…" Ryuji could only mutter because starting from this moment it was a race against time as he realized the situation. His heart was beating loudly.

Prince Elan who was frozen in fear could only feel another thing at this moment, dread. He saw the sword raised as the mist continued to disperse from the area. "I want to live…" He muttered but internally, he is screaming in his mind to get away.

"You should be honored to be an offering to our great master…" Galvalen said while maintaining his emotionless eyes. He raised his sword which had fresh blood of an elf, he looked down at the paralyze elf and wore a sinister smile.