Chapter 32: Deadlock

All the watching elves gasped in unison as they saw Asa struck down from midair by an arrow. Only Ruya reacted quickly, turning to shout at the female patroller, "You made a mistake!"

"Mistake? What mistake?" Kaylin froze, her eyes wide, clearly not understanding what had happened.

"Damn it! Where the hell were you aiming, you dumb woman?" Hilton jumped up in fury. If not for the surrounding elves, he would have already rushed over to strangle the female elf on the spot.

Asa, lying on the ground, stirred slightly, barely managing to lift his body before collapsing again. The power of that arrow rivaled the force of Hilika's dual-wielded greatsword infused with combat energy. If Asa hadn't instinctively used his blade to deflect some of the force, his head would have exploded like an egg under a heavy blow. The impact transferred through the blade still left him dizzy, his head spinning, as he heard Hilika's maniacal laughter and the increasingly loud whooshing sound of the greatsword cutting through the air.

Old Bill hastily raised his staff, pointing at Hilika with a desperate shout, but Hilika didn't even flinch. Instead, Bill himself shuddered and collapsed to the ground. Comparing the two in terms of mental strength and willpower, the disparity was obvious.

Hilton and Jessica tried to rush forward, but the thick, viscous air held them back, preventing them from catching up.

"Cocoon of Vines," Ruya suddenly commanded, raising the World Tree Leaf and pointing at Asa.

The dark magical aura surrounding Asa abruptly dissipated, creating a patch of green earth. In an instant, countless vines and thorns sprouted from the ground, swiftly entwining around him. In the blink of an eye, he was encased in a large ball of vines.

Hilika hesitated briefly, but his greatsword didn't stop, slamming down on the vine cocoon with a loud thud.

Vines scattered everywhere, but the greatsword only penetrated a few inches, cutting through dozens of vines before being deflected upward. Even granite of the same size would have been pulverized under that strike, but these vines weren't rigid—they were extraordinarily tough and elastic, absorbing the overwhelming force of the blow. The greatsword, which relied on weight and blunt force rather than sharpness, was almost useless against the vines' resilience.

With a roar, Hilika raised his sword again, channeling all his combat energy into it, aiming at the dent he had created earlier. He was determined to turn both the cocoon and the person inside into a bloody pulp.

Unfortunately for Hilika, in the time he took to recover and raise his sword, the vines continued growing at a frenetic pace. They wrapped and twisted even more, not only healing the dent but also increasing the size of the cocoon. His second strike, though forceful enough to send vines flying, barely made a dent before the cocoon regenerated again.

"Don't go over there! He's fine!" Ruya called out to Hilton and Jessica, who had rushed closer. The elf's protective magic, though somewhat rigid in nature, was incredibly effective. As long as the target remained stationary, it provided unparalleled protection, capable of withstanding all but the most devastating spells.

Hilton and Jessica reluctantly retreated. Hilton gave Ruya an astonished and admiring look before grinning and saying loudly, "You're amazing, little elf sister. And so pretty too!" But Ruya ignored him entirely.

"Burn this thing for me!" Hilika screamed at Esis, his tone near-madness.

"I'm already struggling just to hold on," Esis replied weakly, slumped on the ground and clutching an unrolled magic scroll. Several thieves nearby were hurriedly tending to his wounds.

Ruya, still holding the World Tree Leaf, slowly advanced. As she approached the dark magical area, the black energy receded like retreating tides. She glared at Hilika, her face full of fury and disgust, and shouted, "Stop resisting! Surrender now, you vile invader!"

Hilika glared at the girl as the dark energy around him gradually dissipated under her approach. "What the hell is going on?" he roared at Esis.

"T-that… that thing…" Esis stammered, his wide eyes fixed on the approaching elf girl. "The item in her hand… that's what we're looking for…"

The World Tree Leaf in Ruya's hand radiated a power that cleared away all the dark energy within a radius of ten meters. Grass that had withered under the black magic began to recover and stand tall once again. Unicorns emerged, drawn toward Ruya, and began gathering around her.

Dozens of elf mages had assembled by now, chanting elven spells in unison. Deadwood Guardians stepped forward to stand beside Ruya, and vividly colored insects crawled out of the earth, growing larger by the second. Within the ten-meter radius surrounding her, the area became crowded with all manner of protective creatures. Seeing the advancing elf girl and her formidable escorts, fear crept into the faces of the thieves. They didn't need to engage in battle—just getting near her would be certain death.

"Stop right there!" Hilika roared suddenly, placing his greatsword against the head of an elf mage prisoner.

Ruya hesitated slightly. Hilika moved his sword, and the sound of a skull being crushed echoed loudly as the mage's head turned into a gory mess. The surrounding elves cried out in shock and horror. Hilika then placed his blade on the head of another elf.

"What are you doing? I'm telling you, we elves will never bow to the likes of you!" Ruya shouted, glaring at Hilika with gritted teeth. Yet her attempt at intimidation paled compared to Hilika's calm, sinister smile.

"I don't threaten people," Hilika said, looking at Ruya. "I merely inform them of the consequences of not obeying me." He grinned, his crimson tongue flicking out mockingly toward Ruya. Slowly, he began pressing his blade down, drawing anguished cries from the elf below. A sickening crack echoed as the sword crushed another skull.

"Now, let me ask you again. Do you want to make a deal?" Hilika's voice was cold, his bloody greatsword already resting on the next prisoner's head. With over a hundred elf captives at his disposal, he could keep up this gruesome performance for a long time.

Ruya's expression twisted with suppressed rage. Through clenched teeth, she asked, "What kind of deal?"

Satisfied, Hilika nodded. His method was simple but effective: show his enemies how ruthless, powerful, and relentless he was. Once their will was broken, all that remained was to lead them like lambs to slaughter. If even his band of thieves lived under his thumb, what chance did these naive elves have?

"If we can't escape, we'll make sure every single one of these elves dies before we're killed. But we're willing to spare most of them and only take ten or so with us," Hilika said, gesturing toward Ruya and the vine cocoon. "In exchange, hand over the thing in your hand and the man inside that cocoon."

"That's impossible! That is a sacred artifact of our people—" Ruya began to protest but was interrupted by the anguished cries of another elf under Hilika's sword.

Hilika's precision was masterful, his sadistic execution an art form. He struck just hard enough to elicit the most gut-wrenching screams before delivering a fatal blow. Watching the elves' faces twist with grief and terror, Hilika knew he had achieved the desired effect.

"Listen, beautiful elf girl. This is my bottom line," Hilika said, his leering gaze crawling across Ruya's face and body like a slimy tendril. With a lascivious chuckle, he added, "Honestly, I'd planned to take you with us, too. Selling you to one of the western kingdoms would probably earn me a general's title." He glanced at Esis. "Anyway, my friend here isn't in the best condition, so our time is limited."

Hilika turned to his men and issued a loud order: "Starting now, kill one every ten minutes until she agrees to the deal. Let's move." He ignored Ruya entirely, waving his hand for the thieves to begin their retreat. As they lifted the weakened Esis and started moving, the black magical area shifted with them. The surrounding elves could only watch in despair, forced to step aside.

Hilika didn't look back. He was confident in his victory. Whether or not the elf girl handed over the World Tree Leaf, he had gained what he wanted: close to a hundred elf captives.

Although the old necromancer's assigned mission was to retrieve that strange leaf, Hilika suddenly felt that it might not be so essential after all. The rewards promised by the necromancer were certainly tempting, but ever since he realized the situation here wasn't what he had imagined, a strange feeling had crept over him. He couldn't quite describe it, but something definitely felt off.

Perhaps simply taking these elves would suffice. For the first time in his life, Hilika found himself not being so greedy, and he nearly blurted out that he didn't want the item anymore.

As Ruya was distracted, the vine sphere enclosing Asa began to wither in the darkened area. The withered vines trembled a few times before breaking apart, and Asa emerged with a knife in hand. The thieves carried Esis away, and the darkened area, along with the circle of elves, began to shift outward. Asa now found himself surrounded by the elves. Hilton and a few others rushed over and gathered around him.

"Boss, are you okay?" Hilton asked, both shocked and overjoyed.

Forcing a smile, Asa nodded his still-dizzy head. "I'm fine. Thanks, everyone."

Although he couldn't see anything while inside the vine sphere, he had been able to hear and understand what was happening around him. He was somewhat surprised by Hilton and the others' anxious reactions. While it was true that without him, their situation in this elf-dominated forest would have been precarious, he didn't expect them to care so much about his well-being. It left him feeling both surprised and slightly touched. Especially Hilton—his straightforward nature made him terrible at pretending, and the genuine worry on his face was not something that could be faked.

Ruya and most of the elves were still fixated on the retreating thieves. Only about a dozen elves nearby were watching Asa, who still looked a bit dazed. In their eyes, however, there was a mixture of fear and disgust, and some even subconsciously backed away. Clearly, that earlier strike, filled with bloodlust, had left them with a lasting impression. Elves' sensitivity to auras far exceeded that of humans, and their interpretations were also much simpler.

Among them, the female patrol soldier holding the black longbow—Kaylin—looked at him with particular disdain. Asa glared back fiercely before casting another healing spell on himself.

As the light of the healing spell enveloped him, Kaylin's expression of disdain immediately transformed into one of utter astonishment. This was pure white magic, and within it, she even sensed a faint, comforting aura. It was incomprehensible to her that someone wielding such a bloodthirsty and malevolent weapon could also use white magic, especially magic imbued with a hint of life energy reminiscent of sacred artifacts. It was as absurd as a rotting zombie suddenly reciting holy scripture.

The expressions of astonishment on Hilton and the others' faces were no less intense than the elves'. It was only now that they began to realize that this seemingly haphazard leader of theirs might be far more unfathomable than they had imagined.

Asa, however, had no time to address the elves' shock, nor to explain anything to his newly acquired subordinates. His attention was fully on the situation at hand.

The elves would never willingly hand over the World Tree leaf. In fact, Asa and Theodorus had never expected these thieves to be capable of taking it from the elves; it was merely a ruse, a trap. But letting the situation drag on like this was far from ideal. Beyond the fate of the hundred elves at stake, the real concern was the people who were supposed to appear but hadn't shown up yet. Those individuals were the core of the plan—and also the greatest danger.

According to the plan, they needed the necromancers to sense the presence of the World Tree leaf. But if it was left out in the open like this and those necromancers managed to snatch it in one swift move, it would be a catastrophic failure, not just losing the chicken but smashing the entire coop.

Asa reached into his pocket and touched a small shard of stardust. This was a special tool meant to notify Theodorus in an emergency. It didn't require magic power; simply crushing it would trigger a reaction in the identical shard Theodorus carried, prompting him and Grutt to arrive immediately. With those two involved, the current situation would be effortlessly resolved. While Hilika was certainly a formidable opponent, he was nothing compared to Grutt. After all, nothing ever seemed to be a challenge for Grutt.

Looking at the corpses of the elves and those who had been taken captive, Asa's fingers tightened around the shard, but in the end, he refrained from crushing it. If he acted prematurely and spooked the ever-watchful necromancers, causing them to remain hidden, the entire plan would fall apart.

As he hesitated, a group of elves escorted an elderly elven elder to the scene.

Asa frowned. It was strange that, amidst all the commotion, none of the other elven elders had shown up—not even the one who had allowed Asa and his group entry earlier. Only Ruya, the youngest elder, had been left to manage the situation alone. However, Asa couldn't bring this up, as his knowledge of the elves' circumstances came from Theodorus, and speaking carelessly could expose him.

One of the elves addressed the elder, saying, "Elder Lloyd, the current situation with these intruders—"

"I understand," replied the elder, nodding before bowing slightly toward Asa and his group. "Thank you for your assistance, friends of Mr. Theodorus. Rest assured, we will never hand you over to these people."

"Of course not. We're here to help you," Hilton said, glaring.

Asa frowned and signaled Hilton with a look, then nodded to the elder. "No need to thank us. This situation arose because we didn't handle things well."

"You're being too modest, boss. It's all because of that woman's recklessness. Otherwise, you'd have cut that big guy in half ages ago. This is all her fault." Hilton pointed at Kaylin, who responded with a sharp glare.

"I deeply apologize for Patrol Soldier Kaylin's rashness. But now is not the time to dwell on such matters," Elder Lloyd said softly before turning to Asa. "May I ask, are these thieves all the forces they have? We've detected about ten more individuals approaching the barrier. Their auras are incredibly strong. The other elders are preparing to fully reinforce the barrier, but I doubt we'll be able to hold them back."

"Ten more?" Asa's face instantly betrayed his shock.

"Do you know who they might be?" Lloyd asked, his gaze fixed on Asa.

"I'm not entirely sure, but they probably aren't with these thieves," Asa replied, masking his expression as best he could, though his inner turmoil was far from settled. Ten more... Could it really be the entire Necromancer Guild mobilizing? If that were true...

"They aren't, you say…" Lloyd's eyes scrutinized Asa for a moment before nodding slightly and turning his attention back to the retreating thieves. "It seems we must resolve this as quickly as possible."

"Yes, resolve it quickly…" Asa muttered absentmindedly, reaching into his pocket and crushing the shard. He had already sensed the strange vibrations in the air from afar but hadn't noticed the cold sweat forming on his forehead.