Chapter 308: Killian’s Crisis

The sound of desperate cries and frantic prayers echoed throughout the village, accompanied by the ever-thickening scent of blood.

A crimson mist seemed to be forming over the village from the sheer number of elves being slaughtered.

"Oh, Mother Tree, please save us!"

Spurt— Thack— Thud—

"Mom! Where are yo—"

An elven child’s head tumbled onto the ground.

"Run! Everyone, run!"

Slash— Crunch—

"Aghhhh!"

"W-Why is this happening?!"

"Please! Please spare my daughter!"

Stab— Spurt—

"M-My husband... How could you do this to our daughter!?"

The elven woman cried out as she cradled her daughter’s headless body in her arms, her trembling gaze fixed upon the familiar figure standing before her.

Shock. Anger. Hatred. Confusion.

Countless emotions churned within her heart.

"Why!? Why!?"

Her voice rose into a screech as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Despite this, the elven man standing before her with a knife in hand showed no change in expression.

His crimson eyes glowed strangely beneath the moonlight as he lunged toward her with a ferocious expression.

"Ah!"

The elven woman gasped as she instinctively hugged her daughter’s body, unconsciously trying to protect her despite knowing her daughter was already dead.

Killian witnessed this from afar as he gritted his teeth, yellow sparks manifesting all over his body.

’More than a thousand meters... will my aura be enough? Argh, fuck it!’

Crackle— Crackle—

His hesitation lasted merely for a moment before his body sped up.

"Killian!"

A feminine voice called out to him from behind, but he paid it no heed.

The world slowed down in Killian’s perspective.

It was like everyone— everything was moving in slow motion.

No matter whether it was his teammates, the demonic elves, or even the drops of dew falling from the leaves of the ancient trees, everything seemed to slow down.

This was Killian using his aura with the utmost efficiency, without relying on any aura arts.

He was currently showcasing the lightning element’s most prominent power: speed.

The blonde young man covered in yellow lightning blitzed through everything in his path.

1200 meters.

1100 meters.

1000 meters.

Demonic elves who fell one right after the other.

750 meters.

500 meters.

The lightning crackling around Killian’s body was no longer as intense as before.

400 meters.

300 meters.

"Hah... Hah... Huhp!"

Killian breathed hard, clearly exerting more effort with his physical body as the lightning surrounding him gradually dimmed.

Despite this, he ran.

200 meters.

100 meters.

The demonic elves’ numbers were overwhelming, to the point that they resembled a sea stretching across the battlefield.

His steel longsword was already riddled with chips, yet he continued to persevere.

Even the bracelet Alexis had given him that could form an aura sword had been deactivated, as he was conserving his aura.

90 meters.

80 meters.

70 meters.

Everything had happened in less than three seconds.

Killian’s piercing blue eyes brightened as his gaze was locked on the demonic elf who was about to kill the woman in front of him.

’I can reach them in time!’

Amid the seemingly endless slaughter surrounding him, his thoughts remained optimistic.

His earlier hesitation had cost the elven child her life.

Thus, he did not want to hesitate again, not even for a moment.

However, caught up in his emotions, he failed to notice that some of the streaks of lightning surrounding him had begun to flicker.

40 meters.

30 meters.

20 meters.

10 meters.

Bzzzt— Poof!

"Huh?"

Killian’s confused voice rang out as the lightning around him vanished.

In an instant, the demonic elves surrounded him, launching attacks from all directions with a variety of weapons.

Numerous arrows also filled the air, shooting toward him from every side.

However, despite the danger around him, Killian’s gaze remained locked in a single direction.

Without the power of his lightning aura, the world returned to its normal state.

And with it came the return of the countless desperate cries of agony echoing all around him.

Yet what caught his attention was the mother of the dead child, who had already been slain by her husband.

As if killing her once had not been enough, the elven man continued stabbing her corpse with a crazed expression.

Killian even saw him tear at her remains in a frenzy, blood staining the corner of his mouth as he did so.

"No!"

His eyes shook as he whispered under his breath.

"No!"

His powerless cry rang out as the demonic elves’ hands clawed through his body.

The demonic elves’ claws soon reached his face, covering most of his vision and leaving only a narrow gap through which he could see.

Yet his gaze remained fixed on the mother and daughter barely ten meters away.

He was so close, yet impossibly far.

Killian witnessed everything, but was unable to reach them in time.

And soon enough, his figure was swallowed by the tide of demonic elves, their bodies piling atop one another until they formed a grotesque mound where he had once stood.

Everything happened in the span of five seconds.

"Killian!"

Aurelia could not react in time, as all she could do was yell as she fended off the demonic elves that tried to attack her.

Woong— Woong— Woong—

Without fail, demonic elves turned into golden statues left and right at the touch of her hand.

It was none other than her gift: Hand of the Greedy King.

Behind her, Pandora remained silent, already conjuring a white sphere of light before her.

One hand was extended forward, palm facing outward, while the other gripped her staff, both arms stretched in front of her as she focused her mana through it.

Sweat trickled down her temple, yet her ruby-red gaze never wavered.

’He’s too far...’

Thoughts and calculations overlapped in her mind as instinct and cold logic worked in unison, her control over mana remaining precise and absolute.

Mist slipped from Pandora’s lips as she whispered a chant.

[High Rank Magic: Starpiercer]

Woong—!

The white sphere before her ruptured, releasing a beam that tore through the air toward Killian’s position.

Specifically, toward the demonic elves pinning him down.

Killian had traversed more than a kilometer in just three seconds.

Aurelia reacted two seconds later.

But Pandora moved the instant she saw the yellow sparks flicker around Killian.

In those three seconds, she did not hesitate.

She measured distance, pressure, trajectory, and the distance Killian would reach before he ran out of aura in a single breath of judgment, her instinct filling the gaps where calculation alone would lag.

There was only one conclusion.

A spell capable of reaching that far, that fast, with that level of force—

It had to be at least High-rank.

And she acted on that conclusion immediately.

Starpiercer erupted the moment the demonic elves formed a towering mass over Killian’s body.

Aurelia, still fending off incoming attacks, was just turning her head, her voice strained with urgency.

"Killian’s been surrounded! What should we—"

BOOM—!

Before she could finish, a white beam tore past her face, exploding with pinpoint precision at the exact location where Killian had been overwhelmed.