Chapter 103: Dark Elves

"What?!"

The attack caught the Dark Elves completely off guard, sharp stone spikes erupted from the walls and floor, surging upward in relentless waves.

The Dark Elves scrambled to block, but the onslaught was too fierce.

"Argh!"

One by one, they were impaled by the spikes and collapsed to the ground.

Ethan noticed that one of them had shattered every spike aimed at him, he stood unscathed amid the rubble, not a scratch on him.

’Is this one the leader?’ If so, he should have a Fragment of Chaos on him.

Ethan withdrew the Scythe of Gaia and slowly drew the Holy Sword. "Do you have a Fragment of Chaos on you?"

"What if I do?"

"Hand it over, and I can spare your life."

"Wishful thinking." The Dark Elf sneered, his body blurring into an afterimage as he vanished from the spot, the next instant, he appeared right beside Ethan, dagger thrusting straight for his throat.

Ethan was well prepared, he dodged the strike with ease.

The Dark Elf was fast, but compared to the enemies he had fought in the Ascendant Tower, he was still lacking.

"How is that possible?!" Seeing his attack miss, the Dark Elf was visibly shaken, but he was a veteran warrior — he adjusted his stance in a heartbeat and attacked again, cold light flashed as the dagger turned into streaks of silver, enveloping Ethan from multiple angles.

Ethan weaved through the attacks without breaking a sweat. Then he spotted an opening and swung.

"Argh!" The dagger flew from the Dark Elf’s grip, blood opened along his wrist.

He let out a grunt of pain and was about to grit his teeth for a counterattack — only to find the Holy Sword already resting against his neck.

Gulp...

The Dark Elf swallowed hard, resignation and fury mingled in his eyes as he slumped weakly to his knees, he didn’t even have the chance to utter a final word before perishing.

Ethan sheathed the Holy Sword and turned to the dumbfounded Elara. "Are you alright?"

"Ah, I-I’m fine." She hadn’t yet recovered from the shock, her eyes were glazed over, her body trembling slightly, whether it was the corpses littering the floor or the display of overwhelming swordsmanship that had done it, Ethan couldn’t tell.

He was about to offer a few words of comfort when hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor.

"Mr. Ethan."

"Are you alright, meow?"

It was Leon and Pearl, behind them marched a group of fully armed elves — the auction house guards, most likely.

"Th-this is..." Seeing the floor covered in bodies, the elves were stunned. Their faces drained of color when they recognized the Dark Elves among the dead.

Leon went white and sank against the wall. "What exactly happened here?"

"I, I..." Elara was still dazed, her words came out broken and disjointed, she couldn’t string a sentence together, Leon looked helplessly at Ethan.

Ethan said calmly: "He said he had a Fragment of Chaos on him."

Finding that fragment was what mattered right now, without further explanation, Ethan began searching the Dark Elf leader’s corpse.

"It’s right here, meow~"

"What is this?" Hearing Pearl’s voice, Ethan picked up a black stone fragment.

Pearl hopped over to his side, examined it closely, and said, "This is a shard of a Chaos Fragment, meow~"

"It looks ordinary, I thought it would emit some kind of aura."

"That’s because it’s only an incomplete shard, meow, a complete Fragment of Chaos will emit the aura of Chaos, meow~"

"So I still have to keep collecting shards." A note of disappointment crept into his voice, Pearl patted his thigh to comfort him.

"As long as we gather enough incomplete shards, we can synthesize a complete Fragment of Chaos, meow, this is very simple for me, so don’t worry, meow~"

"Does that mean killing a few more Children of Chaos will get me more shards?"

"That should work, meow."

’I need to learn more about the Children of Chaos.’ Ethan searched the other Dark Elves’ bodies but came up empty. It seemed only those who reached a certain level of strength possessed Fragments of Chaos.

Regrettable, but there was nothing to be done about it now. He consoled himself that opportunities would come later.

Leon was watching him with a serious expression, Ethan straightened up. "I’ll leave the aftermath to you."

The elves set about cleaning up the scene and handling the bodies. Ethan sat down with Leon and relayed the full sequence of events. After listening, Leon furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought.

"Who exactly are those Dark Elves? They called themselves the Children of Chaos."

"They are Dark Elves — the mortal enemies of our elven race, we elves believe in harmony, they believe in Chaos."

"I can understand monsters believing in Chaos, but why would elves?"

"Because they were born from Chaos itself."

"Is that why they call themselves the Children of Chaos?" It clicked, Ethan was about to ask more when—

Knock, knock.

"May I come in?"

Elara’s voice, compared to before, it carried a bit more life, Ethan opened the door, and she walked in at once. "I’ve come to thank you."

"You’re welcome. It was nothing." Ethan had attacked the Dark Elves for two reasons, they showed hostility toward him, and he wanted to obtain Fragments of Chaos from them.

But Elara shook her head after hearing his explanation. "Even so, you still saved my life. I will definitely repay this favor!"

"You’re too polite, I—"

"Oh hahaha, I will remember this favor."

"You seem quite happy about it..." Leon cut in.

"By the way, why did those people attack this place?" He figured Elara might know something, having fought the Dark Elves for a while.

She sat down calmly. "Hmm... I asked the auction house manager earlier. He said those Dark Elves might have come to snatch the auction items."

"Snatch the auction items? Why?"

"I’m not too sure about that myself."

"Then the monsters that attacked this place earlier — they were controlled by the Dark Elves too?"

"Highly likely, Dark Elves are Children of Chaos — they can control monsters."

"The question is how they broke through the barrier..." This area was protected by powerful wards, so monsters shouldn’t have been able to approach easily, Leon sighed deeply and stood up.

"It seems there is a mole for the Dark Elves within the elven race."

"How could there be a mole?"

"Regrettably, that is indeed a possibility. Some nobles wouldn’t hesitate to collude with Dark Elves for the sake of power and strength." For example, instigating Dark Elf attacks on rival territories, or employing their curses and assassination techniques to eliminate political enemies.

If such dealings were exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable — which was why no one dared discuss it openly, but within noble circles, it was already an open secret.

"Word has it that Marquis Karloitz is colluding with the Dark Elves," Elara stated flatly.

"Who is Marquis Karloitz?"

"He is the most powerful noble in the Elven Kingdom, not only does he produce elven silk, but he also crafts various magical items, he possesses immense wealth and influence." Leon paused, then added.

"Furthermore, he also owns a large amount of land blessed by Gaia."