Chapter 234: Division of Labor.

"What was that sound?"

The roar startled Budno so badly that he nearly dropped the flatbread in his hand.

"A magical beast?" Shu Li's ears twitched. He sprang to his feet, snatched up his magic staff, and shouted, "Everyone, on guard!"

The Light Squad immediately abandoned their meal, gripped their weapons, and prepared for battle.

"Waaah!"

Two scrawny boys came scrambling out from behind a massive boulder. The moment they spotted Shu Li and the others, they shouted in the Continental Common Language, "Run! Get away!"

Clouds of dust billowed behind them. Amid deafening roars and the thunder of countless footsteps, enormous, hideous monsters suddenly burst into view.

Shu Li's eyes widened in shock.

The monsters were hulking creatures with powerful muscles and bodies covered in black scales. Their faces were grotesquely ugly, with bright red fleshy growths protruding from their heads. They opened their cavernous mouths, revealing razor-sharp fangs and bloodred tongues. An evil gleam flickered in their beastlike eyes, and their entire bodies radiated a chilling aura of darkness.

Seventeen or eighteen of them appeared at once, charging forward with terrifying aggression and lightning speed. They were about to catch the two fleeing boys.

"Are those magical beasts?" Hector asked, his body rigid with fear and his face deathly pale.

Never in his life had he seen magical beasts so revolting.

Nasha and Siti looked little better. As the monsters drew closer, the overwhelming aura of darkness surrounding them became almost suffocating.

Without hesitation, Shu Li raised his magic staff and silently invoked a wood-element binding spell.

Roots buried deep underground instantly burst through the soil and wrapped around the monsters' feet.

Immediately afterward, he chanted a wind magic spell, sweeping the two boys off their feet and drawing them toward him.

The entire sequence took only seven or eight seconds. To the others, it looked as though the monsters had suddenly stopped in their tracks, allowing Shu Li to seize the opportunity and rescue the boys with wind magic.

While Shu Li was saving them, Kumandi, Dixio, Ace, and Seriu unleashed their own spells.

Wind blades, fireballs, and fiery serpents shot toward the monsters in a coordinated assault.

The monsters roared and met the spells head-on. The wind blades and fireballs left only shallow marks on their dark scales. Although the fiery serpents inflicted considerable damage on the leading monster, they failed to kill it.

Enraged, the monsters struggled violently, snapping the roots around their ankles. They dropped onto all fours and charged forward in a fury.

Seriu frowned, swiftly put away his magic staff, and drew the silver sword at his waist. Sword energy erupted from the blade.

Cross Slash!

The sword energy formed a brilliant white cross that swept toward a monster.

With a shriek, the creature was sliced into four pieces. Its body crashed to the ground, spraying thick, green blood everywhere.

By killing one of their number with a single strike, Seriu instantly drew the attention of every remaining monster.

They temporarily abandoned their pursuit of the two boys and fixed their predatory gazes on him, growling threateningly as they spread into a semicircle around him.

Wary of the human who had killed their companion, they studied him with cold eyes. The slightest opening would send them rushing forward to tear him apart.

Seriu stood with his silver sword in hand, facing the monsters without a trace of fear.

"These aren't magical beasts!" Ace said gravely. "The power of darkness inside them is extremely concentrated. Ordinary magical attacks barely affect them."

"Then what do we do?" Hector asked in horror.

Apart from Seriu, they were all supposedly Mage Apprentices. Could they really defeat such terrifying monsters?

"Defend first!"

Shu Li chanted a high-level light-element defensive spell, enveloping everyone except Seriu in a protective barrier, including the two rescued boys.

Once his companions were safe, he lowered his head to look at the boys huddled silently nearby.

"Are you two all right? Are you hurt?"

The boys shook their heads in unison, using their gloved hands to tug their hoods farther forward until their faces were completely concealed.

Seeing that they were unharmed, Shu Li turned his attention back to the monsters.

With his strength as an Intermediate Great Swordsman, Seriu had temporarily intimidated the creatures. But there were too many of them, and he probably couldn't hold out alone for long.

It was true that attacks from Mage Apprentices did negligible damage, but spells cast by Senior Magic Instructors and Grand Mages would certainly be effective.

These monsters might look formidable, but none of them was as powerful as a sixth-rank magical beast.

Shu Li calmly began issuing orders.

"Hector, use earth magic to separate the monsters!"

"Angel, Amanda, attack with light magic!"

"Kumandi, Nasha, Siti, combine your wind and fire magic and concentrate your attacks on a single monster!"

"Dixio, Ace, you two do the same!"

"I'll support everyone from all sides! Don't hold anything back. Give it everything you've got and wipe them out!"

Any creature corrupted by the power of darkness would lose its reason and descend into a violent frenzy. They absolutely could not allow these monsters to enter human territory, slaughter people indiscriminately, and cause a catastrophe.

Besides, these creatures were entirely different from magical beasts.

They looked remarkably like the monsters of hell he had once seen depicted in an ancient book.

There were monsters from hell in Woba Grand Canyon?

He had never heard of such a thing!

The Mages' Guild hadn't issued any warnings to adventurers, either.

Suppressing his doubts, Shu Li raised his magic staff and joined his companions in chanting light-element attack spells.

He had deliberately emphasized that nobody should hold back. It was his way of telling the Little Fairies and the young dragon that they no longer needed to suppress their ranks.

Destroying the monsters took priority over everything else.

Although Seriu remained outside the defensive barrier, fighting the monsters at close range, his entire body was protected by sword energy. Equally capable of attacking and defending, he moved calmly between the creatures.

Once his companions joined the assault, the monsters' attention was divided, creating even more opportunities for him to strike.

Hector worked hard to conjure earthen spikes, placing obstacles in the monsters' paths to prevent them from surrounding Seriu.

Angel and Amanda struck the monsters with spheres of light, immediately drawing ear-piercing screams from them.

Light magic was the natural enemy of dark creatures. Wherever a sphere of light touched, bluish smoke rose as though the flesh beneath were burning. Even their sturdy scales couldn't prevent the light elements from penetrating.

Kumandi, a Junior Grand Mage, led two genuine Mage Apprentices in concentrating their attacks on a single monster.

Wind blades and fireballs battered the creature from every direction, leaving it staggering and horribly mangled.

Roaring, the monster attempted to charge at the defensive barrier, only for Kumandi to immobilize it with a wind-binding spell.

Nasha and Siti seized the opportunity to pelt it with fireballs.

The damage wasn't particularly impressive, but the humiliation was considerable.

Dixio and Ace worked together even more seamlessly.

Combining wind-binding magic with a fiery serpent, they trapped a monster and burned it relentlessly. In an instant, the creature became a gigantic ball of fire, letting out bloodcurdling screams.

Each time Shu Li prepared to chant a light-element spell, he first silently invoked a wood-element binding spell in his mind.

Roots emerged soundlessly from beneath the ground, wrapping around every monster's feet and drastically restricting their movements.

Brilliant spheres of light rained down from the sky like a shower of scattered blossoms, striking every monster in a relentless barrage.

Their scales were ruthlessly torn apart, leaving bloody holes across their bodies.

In effect, Shu Li was casting wood magic and light magic simultaneously, greatly increasing the efficiency of his attacks.

If he hadn't needed to conceal his strength, he could have unleashed wood, light, and fire magic all at once.

The seventeen monsters were thoroughly suppressed by the Light Squad.

Lanno and Luka, who had spent so long desperately fleeing from them, watched in stunned disbelief.

"They're... amazing!" Luka whispered to Lanno in Elven.

"They're stronger than that other group we encountered," Lanno replied.

He raised his head slightly and examined the magical badges pinned to the mages' chests.

Mage Apprentices?

Apart from the swordsman, everyone inside the defensive barrier was actually a Mage Apprentice!

How was that possible?

The adventuring party they had encountered earlier included several high-ranking mages and swordsmen. Not only had those adventurers been helpless against the monsters, but several had also been killed in the ensuing fight.

Seeing how badly things were going, Lanno and Luka had turned and fled.

Half the monsters had broken away from the battle to pursue them relentlessly.

In their panic, they had run blindly and completely lost their bearings. They hadn't encountered another adventuring party or mercenary group along the way.

Just as the monsters were about to catch them, they had stumbled upon this party, which seemed to consist almost entirely of Mage Apprentices.

Yet, against all expectations, these people were utterly dominating the monsters, leaving them virtually powerless to fight back.

Could it be... that the monsters had grown weaker after their bodies swelled up?

The two Dark Elf boys were speaking in extremely low voices, but their conversation couldn't escape the Little Fairies' keen hearing.

Elven?

The five Little Fairies exchanged discreet glances while continuing their attacks, each seeing the same confusion in the others' eyes.

Among humans, only mages studied Elven.

Because it was the most difficult language in the world to learn, most mages studied only the parts relevant to spellcasting. Very few could actually converse in it.

Yet these two young boys spoke fluent, impeccable Elven without the slightest accent.

If not for the circumstances, Shu Li would have seriously suspected they were Fairy cubs.

But that was obviously impossible. Their ages didn't match.

The youngest Fairies were currently only eight years old, and no adult Fairy would ever allow an eight-year-old Fairy cub to leave the Faerie Forest.

Shu Li's gaze settled on the boys' hoods and gloves.

He suddenly remembered the Dark Elf named Moresy.

Then... these two are Dark Elf cubs!

Shu Li's pupils contracted as he recalled something the Mother Tree had told him.

Efit had left Wanaku to search for Lanno and Luka, who had secretly run away.

Throughout the past week, whenever Shu Li visited Wanaku to purify the Mother Tree's branches and fruit, he hadn't seen Efit.

Instead, another Dark Elf cub had been counting the fruit in his place.

Shu Li had met that cub before. He was about the same age as Lanno and Luka, and his name was Yagli.

Whenever Efit had to leave Wanaku, Yagli would stand beneath the Mother Tree with a notebook, solemnly counting the fruit.

For seven consecutive days, Yagli had been recording the figures.

Clearly, Efit still hadn't found Lanno and Luka.

These two little troublemakers!

Not only had they run away without permission, but they'd somehow managed to provoke an entire pack of powerful monsters.

If they hadn't been lucky enough to encounter the Light Squad, their lives would have been in grave danger.

Lanno and Luka had no idea that Shu Li had already seen through their disguises. They continued watching the battle anxiously.

"Should we warn them about the bigger monster behind these ones?" Luka whispered.

"The big monster hasn't shown itself all this time. Maybe that adventuring party killed it," Lanno replied. "Once these monsters are dead, let's tell them to leave the canyon as quickly as possible!"

Luka sighed.

"If we'd known so many disgusting monsters would emerge from the depths of Woba Grand Canyon, we never would've sneaked out here to gather medicinal herbs and crystal ore."

Lanno puffed out his cheeks.

"It's too late to say that now. I just hope Efit doesn't spank us when we get back."

Hearing this, Shu Li paused his spellcasting and turned toward the two little ones.

Speaking in Elven, he said, "I think you're going to be disappointed. When cubs refuse to behave, a spanking is the best punishment."

Lanno and Luka were so startled that they jerked their heads up and stared at Shu Li in disbelief.

This human... understands Elven?

Shu Li broke into a wide grin, revealing a full set of gleaming white teeth.

The Dark Elf cubs were even more terrified by the sight. They instinctively huddled together, clinging to each other.

Shu Li shrugged and stopped frightening them, returning to his spellcasting.

Efit was undoubtedly already on his way here.

Once they had dealt with these monsters, Shu Li absolutely couldn't let the two Dark Elf cubs wander off again.

Meanwhile, Lanno and Luka were in complete turmoil, so nervous they could hardly sit still.

They had spent the past week traveling from Wanaku to Woba Grand Canyon, and their disguises had worked perfectly. Not a single human had discovered their true identities.

Gradually, they had let down their guard.

Confident that humans couldn't understand Elven, they had started speaking it freely whenever they wanted to talk privately.

Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that an ordinary conversation, just like the countless others they'd had before, would be overheard by a human Mage Apprentice.

When Kumandi heard Shu Li mention "cubs," he frowned deeply.

To confirm his suspicions, he deliberately cast a low-level wind spell inside the defensive barrier.

A powerful gust swept through, lifting everyone's robes.

As expected, the Dark Elves' hoods were blown straight off, revealing silvery-white hair, bluish-gray skin, and pairs of long, pointed ears.

"Sorry, I made a mistake," Kumandi apologized to his companions without the slightest change in expression.

Before anyone could respond, he turned his head and studied the two bewildered boys with a piercing gaze.

"Dark Elf cubs!"

The moment he spoke, everyone else turned to stare at Lanno and Luka in astonishment.

"Light God above! I can't believe I've encountered Dark Elf cubs here!" Hector exclaimed, his eyes widening.

With their appearances exposed, Lanno and Luka were visibly horrified. Their delicate little faces were filled with panic as they tightened their grips on their weapons and pointed them at the humans with trembling hands.

Shu Li rubbed his forehead and tried to reassure them.

"Don't be afraid. We don't mean you any harm."

Sweat poured down Lanno's and Luka's faces.

They clearly didn't believe him.

Humans had always been driven by greed. They frequently infiltrated Wanaku to abduct Dark Elf cubs, then sold them to depraved nobles for exorbitant prices.

But ever since Efit had received special permission from the King to establish proper rules for educating the cubs, humans had no longer been able to exploit such opportunities.

Before leaving home this time, the boys had prepared thoroughly.

They had taken potions to alter their Dark Elf features.

Unfortunately, after being chased by monsters for two consecutive days, the potions had worn off. With no chance to take another dose, their true appearances had been revealed.

In the end, they were still inexperienced children. Now that their identities had been exposed, they were terrified and had no idea what to do.

"ROAR!"

The Mage Apprentices had stopped attacking, drastically increasing the pressure on Seriu, who was now being besieged by three monsters.

"Deal with the monsters first!" Shu Li immediately ordered.

The others no longer dared let themselves become distracted and resumed casting spells.

They had already reduced the seventeen monsters to just six.

One final push, and victory would be theirs.

The two Dark Elf cubs exchanged uneasy glances.

Once these humans finished killing the monsters, they would turn their attention to the boys, wouldn't they?

What should we do?

Will we be able to escape when that happens?

Or should we take advantage of the situation and attack them from behind right now?

No, no!

Efit had taught them that being a Dark Elf didn't make someone evil.

As long as they controlled the power of darkness within them, they could live openly and honorably, just like anyone else.

The Light Squad intensified their attacks, hurling spells at the monsters as though magical power cost nothing.

Combined with Seriu's formidable swordsmanship, their relentless assault whittled the remaining monsters down until only two were left.

These two were the largest of the group.

Although both were covered in wounds, they could still move freely and attack with terrifying ferocity.

When the Light Squad concentrated every attack on them, the creatures threw back their heads and released long, mournful howls that echoed across the sky.

Seriu frowned and cautiously retreated several meters.

"ROOOAAAR!"

After a series of deafening roars, the two monsters slammed their bodies together.

And then, unbelievably—

They merged into one!