Volume 1, Chapter 10: 2 vs 5 (2)

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As the dust cleared up, Araia and I were nowhere to be seen

"...as expected...not even they could withstand that"

"It's our tribe's ultimate spell after all...it's said to be the high elves' strongest spell..."

"Mm..."

"A-Arch dragons...a-are scary..."

"Casty, they're gone. You can finally calm down now"

"Huh...? T-they're gone...?"

"Geez Casty, get a grip! That's not how a High Elf like you should act!"

"Give her a break Dalia, you know she gets easily scared"

"She can't be always like this, Eris!"

"Let her be, She'll overcome it sooner or later"

"That's what you always say..."

"I believe in Sister Eris, Sister Dalia"

"M-Me too!"

"Arisa...Blaire...fine, I get it"

The five high elves lightened up as they concluded that the battle was over...

...but it wouldn't be fun if we leave it at that, right?

"?!"

"Dalia...?"

"..."

"Sister Dalia? What's wrong?"

"This...is bad..."

"Is it an enemy?"

"It's more than just an enemy...this feeling...this aura..."

"H-Hey D-Dalia! Don't scare me more than I already am!"

"This is bad! We got to escape now!"

"Can't we just fight them? Surely the five of us can defeat whoever it is"

"You don't understand Eris! Their aura...is like of those demons! A pack of demons!"

"What?!"

"D-demons?! E-Eris!"

"Sister Eris..."

"E-Eris..."

"*Tsk!*...Can't be helped! Let's get out of here-"

"Oh! Not so fast!"

"?!"

Before they were able to escape, I erected a barrier made of my hidden needles big enough for us to have a battle inside

"What is this barrier?!"

"Its like the one we saw from that Arch Dragon Maid looking girl earlier...could it be?!"

"Hi! Missed us?"

"T...They're still alive?!"

"How's that possible?! You should've been dead from that! I've even searched the area after that!"

"You still don't realize it?"

"What...?"

"The one you've been fighting before, and the one you've just blasted earlier, were just illusions"

"I fell for an Illusion...twice...?"

"Illusions?! Dalia! Didn't you say earlier that it wasn't an illusion?!"

"I did Eris! I did! But even I don't know what they did to be undetectable in my aura search skill!"

"*Tsk!* Curses!"

The Eris girl tried to break the barrier but to no avail

"You won't be able to break this barrier, not unless you defeat me"

"Then we'll just have to fight you again!"

"We can't, Eris...we can't..."

"We've fought them already, we can do it again!"

"You don't understand! The aura that I felt earlier...it came from them! The aura that is comparable to demons! A pack of demons! We don't stand a chance against them!"

"Ho? It seems that they finally understand now, Tsuyosa"

"Hm. Now we just need them to surrender-"

"Don't screw with me!"

The girl named Eris fired a barrage of fire arrows at us suddenly

"Don't lose your cool now, aren't you the calm and collected person in your group?"

"*Tsk!* Why...just why are you in here?!"

"Why? What does she meant by that, Tsuyosa?"

"You're asking me? I don't even know myself"

"An arch dragon and a shadow weaver arachne shouldn't be even working together in the first place! Just what is going on in here?!"

"Eris..."

"Dalia! We have to fight! It's to live or die!"

"But-"

"Arisa! Blaire!"

"Yes! Sister Eris-"

"Not so fast"

"Eek?!"

Araia quickly kidnapped the two high elves from their back line, bringing them to us in captive

"W-when did she?!-"

"Arisa! Blaire!"

"Sister Eris!"

"Eris!"

"You...! Have you got no shame?!"

It's not a problem for us even if we leave these two on their backline, but these two were vital for us to win in this battle without shredding too much blood

"Look, surrender now and we'll let these two go. We're making this easy for you"

"I don't like Tsuyosa's plan here, but I have no choice but to comply. Surrender now or else"

"Or else what?! You're going to kill them?! You'll have to kill me first!"

"Eris! Stop!"

"Take this!"

*Sigh*...

Without an effort, I dodged Eris' fire arrow and quickly went up behind her

"?! Where did she-"

"Playtime's over"

I lightly hit her neck, enough for her to lose consciousness

"E-Eris!!!"

The girl named Dalia, who seemed has no will to fight, ran up desperately to where Eris was lying. In that kind of state, there's no need to be cautious around her, hence why I let her be

"Eris! Wake up! Eris!"

"I only knocked her out, she'll be like that for a while"

"..."

"*Sigh* that was a boring fight!"

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be watching over those two elves?"

"Its fine. Nobody can escape from my webs, plus I imbued it with anti magic. They won't gonna be able to escape from that"

"You really learned a lot from our training huh? I'm proud"

"I've already been doing that before I undergo training! Anyways, what should we do about that other elf?"

Araia was referring to the girl named Casty, who was traumatized the whole time

"Let her be, she's suffered enough from what I can see"

"That's rare of you to say, especially to an enemy"

"Is that so?"

While I was trying to humor Araia, Dalia whispered something to us

"...please..."

"Hm?"

"I...no...we surrender...please let us go...we won't be going near this forest ever again...we swear..."

Well...Master didn't really said about capturing them, he just gave us the order to not go too far with them...

...but...

"...no, that won't do"

"H-huh...?"

"We won't gonna let you go. Not after we found out you're High Elves"

"I-if that's the case then take my life instead! Just spare them!"

"That's not what I meant. We weren't even ordered to kill you"

"T-then...what are you going to do to us...?"

I looked at the girl named Dalia, who seemed confused and scared at the same time. I gave a slight smile as I deactivated the barrier around us

"If you try to escape, you know what's gonna happen next, right?"

"Y-yes..."

"Good. Araia, release those two elves"

"Eh? Are you sure you want to do that?"

"These elves know what'll happen to them if they try to escape. I doubt they even have the guts to do that at this point"

"Alright, but don't blame me what happens next!"

Araia released the other two elves from her web, making them able to move again

"Sister Dalia!"

"D-Dalia!!"

"It's alright, I'm here"

"I hate to ruin your sudden reunion, but we have to go now"

"Y-yes...but where exactly are we going?"

"You'll find out after we got there. You'll meet our Master as well"

"Sister Dalia, are we going to be fine?"

"...we'll just have to trust them, Arisa"

"Sister Dalia..."

"Make sure you don't leave anything behind. Especially that one elf over there who's having an existential crisis"

"Existential crisis...?"

Dalia looked over to where I was pointing at, only to found out what I was talking about

"*Sigh*...Casty, she's really useless when in that state..."

"Hurry up! Geez! Why do I have to babysit all five of you?!"

"Stop whining, Araia"

"Arisa, Blaire, you take care of Casty, I'll take care of Eris"

"Sister Dalia, is Sister Eris going to be fine?"

"She's fine, she's just unconscious"

"I see...I guess they aren't that bad then!"

"..."

The squirrels who I ordered to hide themselves earlier, showed up, making themselves want to guard the rear

"Eh?! Chibis?! No...Earth Spirits?! This many?!"

"Sister Dalia look! They're so cute!"

"Whoa! This is the first time I've seem them!"

"They said to be the guardians of the forest, Blaire. They don't show themselves to others that much. Sister Dalia! We should trust them, the earth spirits trusts them too!"

"...that's..."

"Sister Dalia...?"

"Dalia...?"

"...Let's go, Arisa, Blaire"

"..."

The five elves started to follow us home afterwards, ending the battle in our favor

"I wonder what food did Hikari sama made for lunch?"

"Huh? Did you already forgot? We already ate lunch"

"Oh yeah, I guess that battle made me go hungry again"

"You gluttonous arachne"

"I don't wanna hear that from someone like you!"

But like what Araia had mentioned, I also felt hungry after that battle...

...I wonder if Master has some leftovers?

I quietly thought of that as we go back to our place with the elves in hand

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End of Volume 1, Chapter 10