Chapter 33: Turning Point

"Stop!" A clear, commanding shout cut through the heavy air with piercing clarity and authority.

Hilika halted in his tracks, turning around in some surprise to look at the elven maiden who had shouted.

"Surround them!" Ruya ordered, gesturing decisively as the elves, who had just stepped aside to allow the thieves to retreat, now closed in around them again beyond the boundaries of the blackened area.

Hilika said nothing, but he reached out and grabbed one of the elven captives from a nearby thief. His massive hand clamped down on the elf's head, and the pitiful cries of the captive mingled with the ominous creaking of their skull under pressure.

"It's useless," Ruya said, her voice and expression filled with righteous fury rather than the panic and hesitation from earlier. She glared steadfastly at Hilika, whose violent demeanor was as menacing as a raging bear. Yet, despite her frail appearance, Ruya did not falter, her spirit burning bright with anger and determination. "You won't get the sacred relic, and you won't leave this forest alive," she declared.

"Oh?" Hilika's muscles twitched, and the elven captive's head exploded in a grotesque burst of force. It wasn't intentional—his loss of control was due to a sudden surge of rage.

From the maiden's eyes, Hilika realized that his bloody intimidation was no longer effective. People's emotions have limits, and once they surpass those limits, they gain the strength to rise above their fear instead of being ruled by it. Over the years, Hilika had occasionally encountered such people—those who started terrified but ended defiant. They were rare, as most people lacked the courage to confront emotions like fear, sorrow, and pain head-on. Yet here stood this seemingly fragile elven girl, radiating an unyielding will akin to a battle-hardened warrior.

"If we let you leave here alive, you'll return, bringing even more death and suffering to our kin. And if we allow you to take them away," she gestured to the captives, "they will only become slaves and playthings for humans, living lives worse than death, stripped of all dignity as elves."

Despite the gruesome murder of her fellow elf, Ruya's resolve did not waver. On the contrary, her anger and righteous fervor burned even brighter. She began walking steadily toward the thieves, the blackened region dissipating like smoke before her. Her voice and imposing presence stirred the emotions of every elf around her, even reviving the spirits of the groggy captives in the thieves' grasp. "If they die here, they will have sacrificed their lives to protect their homeland. Their souls will remain here, united with this land. But you—" her eyes locked onto Hilika's, "you will pay for their deaths."

Elder Lloyd, who had been observing from the sidelines, nodded slightly in approval. A trace of surprise flickered in his expression, but it was quickly replaced by admiration.

Hilika's facial muscles twitched. His opponents were no longer under his control, and they had made up their minds to eradicate him and his men. This left him with no choice but to fight head-on, the only path forward. But a direct confrontation meant he would fail to capture even a single elf. Escaping the forest alive would become the thieves' sole priority, and the grand plan he had painstakingly devised would turn to ash. Worse still, the entire Shamusi Bandit Gang might meet its end here.

If looks could kill, Ruya would have been stabbed, slashed, and torn to shreds by Hilika's bloodshot glare. Rage and murderous intent boiled within him like molten lava, his aura and bloodlust growing heavier by the second. Finally, like a feral beast of the underworld that feasts on flesh and blood, Hilika burst into laughter, his voice echoing with a twisted glee. "Hahaha… Interesting. Let's see how high a price you're willing to pay. I promise you won't be disappointed."

Raising his voice, he roared to his subordinates, "Prepare yourselves! The moment I give the order, cut off these elves' heads and fight your way out of here! Kill every one of these forest-loving bastards!"

But to his dismay, his rallying cry was met with little enthusiasm. Few of the thieves responded, and many looked pale and uneasy. Unlike their leader, they lacked his unbridled bloodlust and bravado. Fear etched deep lines into their faces as they glanced at Ruya and the magical guardians surrounding her, steadily advancing toward them.

A faint sound, like something cracking, came from the distance, followed by a subtle tremor in the air. Most of those present were too focused on the immediate tension to notice, but Asa's attention was drawn to it. It didn't feel like the aftermath of a magical explosion, and there was no overwhelming surge of magic approaching. Yet he could sense the elves' magical barrier shuddering ever so slightly. It seemed as though someone had forcibly broken through it.

The dizziness in Asa's head had subsided, and his body was fully recovered. He sharpened his focus, heightening his senses to their peak readiness. Though the current standoff felt like a powder keg about to ignite, Asa knew it was insignificant compared to what was coming. The real storm was yet to arrive, and it would dwarf the present conflict.

The elven teleportation array remained inactive. Theodorus and Grutt, for reasons unknown, had not yet arrived. Although Asa knew staying here was likely more dangerous than leaving, he couldn't bring himself to abandon the scene. The World Tree's Leaf was still here, and if he left, there would be no one capable of protecting Ruya.

Elder Lloyd, too, must have noticed the disturbance in the barrier. However, his expression betrayed no concern, and his gaze remained fixed on the battlefield ahead. He suddenly raised his voice and declared, "Ruya is right. By the great name of Fahma, I swear we will not allow a single murderous villain to leave the forest of Turaleone alive. They will all meet their end under the might of nature's magic."

The elder's voice was deep and resonant, carrying an immense weight that reverberated in the hearts of all who heard it. The sheer authority of his words left many thieves pale with fear. Even clerics, when swearing by the name of their deity, were bound to honor their vows. For elves, a race known for their unwavering principles, a vow made in the name of their god was unbreakable.

Surrounded by nearly a hundred elven mages, the thieves knew the elder's words were no idle threat. The grim reality of their situation began to sink in.

But Elder Lloyd's tone shifted suddenly: "However, anyone who repents for their crimes can receive forgiveness from Fahma. I swear in the name of Fahma, whoever releases the elf hostages will be allowed to leave here safely. All you need to do is step out of the blackened magic zone."

These words caused a stir among the thieves. Following the weight and menace of his earlier statement, this promise was both a relief and an enticing offer. Some thieves at the outskirts of the group suddenly grabbed their elf captives and bolted for the edge of the blackened region, shouting, "I surrender!"

"You old fox! Damn you and your ancestors!" Hilika roared furiously, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Elder Lloyd. He hadn't noticed when this elven elder had arrived, but with just two or three words, the old man had shattered the thieves' resolve, causing them to flee without a fight. Hilika had intended to rely on the combined strength of all the thieves present to force their way out.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of thieves carried their captives out of the blackened zone. The elves immediately untied their freed companions and, without missing a beat, used the ropes to bind the surrendering thieves instead.

"Don't you dare run!" Hilika screamed in rage, swinging his massive sword and cutting down a thief and the elf captive on his shoulder in one violent motion, reducing them to a mangled mess of flesh. But it was too late—more thieves began fleeing toward the edges of the zone. Some even turned their weapons on one another, fighting over elf captives as bargaining chips. Those who couldn't secure captives simply ran out, yelling their surrender.

Asa, though thrown to the ground by a few thieves, clenched his scroll tightly. He knew that, as the deputy leader of the group, he would never be forgiven by the elves—especially since he had killed over a dozen of them earlier using the Hellfire scroll.

A sharp crack, followed by a loud rumble, drew nearer. Many elves turned their gazes toward the sound's source, where faint white light seemed to flicker. The noise grew more frequent and intense, resembling the sound of someone hacking away at something relentlessly.

"Thorn Prison!" Ruya raised the World Tree's Leaf and directed her magic at Hilika. Instantly, countless thick, arm-like thorns sprouted from the ground around him, coiling like living serpents and converging on him.

Hilika abandoned his pursuit of the fleeing thieves and began hacking at the thorny vines with his enormous sword. But under Ruya's spell, the thorns grew thicker and more numerous, sprouting rapidly from the ground and winding around his body. Despite his struggles, within moments, Hilika was entangled by the thick vines, their sharp, steel-like thorns incapable of piercing his iron-hard muscles.

Hilika roared and thrashed, snapping the vines that could have easily restrained a rhinoceros. But as soon as he broke free, new thorns grew and wrapped around him again. This spell, which other elven mages had used earlier with limited effect, was now exponentially more powerful when wielded by Ruya with the World Tree's Leaf.

The delay caused by the spell allowed the remaining elf captives to be carried out of the blackened zone.

Left inside the zone, aside from Hilika and Asa, were nearly a hundred thieves. These were the ones who had either killed elves earlier with their own hands or failed to capture a hostage to surrender with. Their only remaining option was to fight their way out alongside their two leaders. They immediately raised their weapons and began hacking at the vines binding Hilika.

"Oh great Fahma, grant your servant boundless life and strength…" Unlike her earlier spells, which were cast instantly, Ruya now clasped the World Tree's Leaf in both hands and chanted a long incantation with her eyes closed. When she finished, she waved the leaf at a group of venomous creatures nearby.

The creatures included two scorpions and three centipedes that had already been magically enlarged by other elven mages. Under Ruya's spell, their small bodies began to tremble, swelling rapidly as if filled with air. In just a few breaths, the scorpions grew to the size of oxen, their massive pincers capable of snapping a person in half. Their tails, over a meter long, seemed deadly enough to serve as weapons themselves. The centipedes grew as large as pythons, their sheer size and appearance enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

Once her spell was complete, Ruya led the creatures and the other elven guardians in advancing on the remaining thieves. The thieves' cries grew increasingly panicked and shrill, more akin to screams of terror.

"What the hell is this? Some kind of magic trick? This chick is insane!" shouted Hilton, one of the thieves, who stared in wide-eyed shock along with a few of his companions.

The Druid Anderson, now back in his human form, frowned and muttered, "This seems like Dragonforce… the pinnacle of natural magic…"

"Dragonforce? How would you even know? Boss, what's really going on here?" Hilton, distrustful of the quiet and unassuming Anderson, tugged on Asa's sleeve for answers. In Hilton's mind, Asa's status as their leader had risen considerably.

But Asa ignored him, his attention fully focused on the growing commotion in another direction. Although he was aware of everything happening here, his mind was preoccupied with the increasingly loud and ominous sounds approaching from afar.

The cracks and crashes grew closer, louder, and more deafening, until even the ground began to tremble slightly. Many elves, believing the immediate battle was under control, began running toward the source of the noise.

Asa furrowed his brow but did not stop the elves from heading in that direction. He, too, felt something was amiss. The sound was unlike anything caused by magic. It was more grounded, ferocious, and direct, like a mighty giant wielding an axe to carve a path through the forest. Such a sound was entirely out of character for the Necromancers' Guild.

Leaping onto a tree, Asa finally caught sight of a group of more than ten figures rapidly approaching.

They were not necromancers. Though surrounded by glowing light, it was not the blazing, chaotic energy of fire or magic, but the pure and radiant aura of holy magic—like the sacred light radiating from the female knight's presence earlier.

The elves' magical barrier had been breached, and the elven elders within were likely pouring all their efforts into maintaining its power to prevent further incursions. Around the intruders, trees, plants, and animals warped and mutated under the influence of the barrier's magic. Trees twisted into massive withered guardians, their giant limbs attacking the intruders. Vines grew uncontrollably, surging toward them like waves, while countless venomous creatures rushed in—spiders the size of crabs, scorpions as large as wildcats, centipedes as long as snakes, and snakes as thick as anacondas.

Despite this chaotic and deadly onslaught, the intruders advanced steadily. Their movement was not hurried, nor was their path diverted. Their speed, direction, and posture all conveyed a single message: dignity, composure, and fearlessness. In mere moments of observing them, Asa felt himself slightly shaken by their commanding presence.

At the front of the group was a tall man with shoulder-length brown hair. His rugged face bore numerous scars, which, far from being disfiguring, added to his aura of courage and valor. His glory armor glowed with a soft but powerful light that seemed to scorch and repel all venomous creatures and magical vines near him.

Beside him walked another man in a red bishop's robe, exuding an air of authority so overwhelming that it was clear he was the true leader of the group. His pace was calm and unhurried, yet his posture and demeanor carried the majestic presence of a lion on a leisurely stroll. Much of the group's formidable aura seemed to emanate from him.

The bishop wore a gentle and elegant smile, his refined face appearing even more radiant with his expression. With a casual wave of his hand, vast waves of white holy magic purified the surroundings, instantly transforming giant venomous creatures and mutated plants back into harmless insects and greenery.

Following these two were four temple knights, including the female knight from earlier. However, it was clear that the other three knights were of a much higher rank than her. Their shining radiance was second only to that of the leading warrior. The relentless sounds of breaking and crashing emanated from their unyielding march forward.

Each time a Deadwood guard approached, the knights would leap forward, their weapons—whether lances or massive two-handed swords—radiating an intense white light. The towering guardians, several times larger than the knights, would instantly collapse and disintegrate under a single strike, as if they were nothing more than decayed, brittle wood. To the thieves, these monstrous guardians seemed nearly invincible, yet in the hands of the knights, they were no more durable than paper.

Following behind the knights were ten swordsmen. Whenever a stray venomous creature or vine managed to slip through, they would be immediately cut into pieces by the swordsmen's blades. Although their opportunities to strike were fewer, Asa could tell from their skill that their combat abilities were not far from his own.

Sensing Asa's gaze, the lead knight suddenly lifted his head and locked eyes with him.

Asa's body froze under the weight of that gaze. The distance between them was still vast—so far that even the finer details of their appearance were barely discernible—but the knight's eyes were indelibly seared into Asa's mind. Almost instinctively, Asa thought of someone else: Grutt.

If Grutt's deep, black eyes were like an unfathomable ocean that could engulf everything, then this man's brown eyes were like a towering mountain, making everyone who looked upon them feel insignificant in comparison.

"Under the command of His Majesty Gravin Magnus, I, Bishop Adra, accompanied by the Knight Commander of the Temple, Sir Lancelote, along with four temple knights and ten holy warriors, have come to the Turaleone Forest to assist our elven friends in purging bandits and capturing criminals."

The man's voice was not a deliberate shout but rather sounded casual, as if he were merely speaking in passing. Yet his words resounded through the entire forest like rolling thunder, reverberating in the air above.