Chapter 237 - Reality (1)

From above, Luke had a perfect view of the area ahead. He found the remains of a destroyed town and several cultivation fields around. All of those had been burned down as well, but that was something that happened years prior… Instead of ashes and fire, the area was surrounded by blood and pieces of monsters. There was a small camp of dark elves ahead being attacked by a massive army of mantis-like monsters. They were putting a good fight with their elemental attacks, but they couldn't advance due to the sheer amount of enemies. Not to mention, they were quite strong and had a few tricks up their sleeves. The perfect enemy for mages.

"I can feel numerous Crystals around this area… most likely, the same overlord wants to wipe out this camp," Rina said.

Assassin Mantis - Lv 269

HP: 1555/ 1555

MP: 539/ 539

SP: 878/ 878

STR: 555

SPE: 350

INT: 180

END: 240

RES: 320

FOC: 550

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 00

Active Skills: Charge Lv 07, Sonic Blade Lv 07, Dash Lv 07

Spells: Magic Enhancement Lv 05, 

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 08, Cold Resistance Lv 08, Swordsmanship Lv 09, Pain Immunity Lv 05

After checking the status of those, Luke began to think that it was quite a harsh tactic. The dark elves weren't that numerous, and while the monsters were as big as them and had two blades in the place of their arms, they were losing those pretty quickly against wind blades… Still, the issue was the fact that the dark elves were all below level 220, and the lowest was 210.

"Their level is quite high… but they still don't have the advantage," Luke said. "They have been here for a while, and that is why they have such high levels."

Subjugating them will be a lot harder than Shalia had expected. She knew that those who stayed behind were nut jobs, but she didn't think that they would put their whole species in danger just to raise a few stronger soldiers among their ranks. Nevertheless, they were too busy dealing with the dark elves, so Luke had the opportunity to look for the crystals, but before that, he looked for those two dumbasses. Shalia assumed that Sylah would try first to free the region of his homeland from the clutches of monsters. Still, they didn't find any force aside from those fighting the mantis.

"I give up. Trying to understand the movements of morons is impossible. They don't follow any sense of logic, after all," Luke said.

Luke began to look for the crystals, but he didn't find them. However, the area around the ruins of the destroyed town had many monsters around.

"The mana in that place seems weird," Shalia said. "I am not sure, but I have a feeling that the crystals are inside the houses that are still standing."

Most of those houses didn't have even a ceiling, but Luke could see where Shalia was coming from. Besides, the entrances were big enough for the mantis to pass… Luke grabbed his longbow and then prepared to shoot. He didn't know which houses were the correct ones, so he had to destroy them all.

Like a machine gun, Luke fired his arrows, the houses exploded due to the sheer power of his arrows. However, despite their speed, he still saw some of those exploding from within, and then dozen of mantis appeared and surrounded the Crystals. Luke's luck was bad. He didn't destroy a single crystal, but thanks to his attacks, the enemy was forced to show their hands, and five crystals could be seen in the village. 

The mantis used Sonic Blade, but Luke was two hundred meters away from them. Their attacks only reached the halfway point. He immediately tried to hit the crystals, but the enemies Sonic Blades worked to repel the arrows…

"This is troublesome…" Luke said.

"The monsters in the area are approaching. Things will get even more troublesome," Rina said.

Firing from far away won't do it. The barrage of the enemies' attacks could decimate his arrows. Getting close was suicide, too, since the enemies couldn't use long-ranged attacks and their numbers were already over ten thousand.

Luke jumped from the ice platform, and then he landed. Thanks to that, some monsters dashed toward him. As one would expect, they thought of using Sonic Blade when they got close enough, but Luke exploded their heads with his arrows.

You obtained 275 experience points.

You obtained 275 gold coins.

You obtained 275 experience points.

You obtained 275 gold coins.

…

At that distance, the arrows could reach them before the mantis could even swing their blades, so those creatures began to die in droves. The mantis began to dash toward Luke while using their skill even outside the range in hopes to decrease the power of the projectiles, and while that worked, it didn't work enough. Their numbers were small, so Luke quickly wiped them out.

Two other groups of fifty mantis came to attack Luke, but they failed in reaching him. So, they stopped sending their soldiers. Their chances would be better if they stayed in their base and created a wall to protect the crystals. Their numbers were still growing, after all.

"Annoying pests…" Luke said and then clicked his tongue.

"We have a problem, Luke," Rina said while she was looking behind them.

Luke also could feel that problem, he could feel the ground trembling a little, and when he turned, he saw the dark elves approaching him, ready to fight. Luke waited for a while, but then when he saw the first one preparing to fire some fireballs, he fired an arrow toward his feet.. It was a warning shot… it was clear that he could have hit him, but Luke decided not to. Shalia also stepped forward to show herself and the fact that they weren't enemies, and that made some of the dark elves hesitate, but not half of them…