Chapter 155: The Stalker

"It’s her?!" Just as Ron recognized the woman, so did the others. "Are the people from Carolina still trying to ambush us?!"

"No, it’s just her," Victoria said, hastily raising her shield to parry the Elf’s whirlwind of twin blades. "The Holy Emblem isn’t burning hot anymore!"

Without a doubt, this Elf was the pursuer who had been so difficult to detect—the one who had been pressuring Victoria this entire time!

"Aive, how are things in the back?" Ron waved his hand, unleashing a volley of Magic Missiles to force the woman back. Two Night Howling Hounds, which were blocking the entire passage, launched a pincer attack from the left and right. This barely managed to hold back the Elf, giving the three at the front a chance to check on the situation behind them.

"Not good—get back!" Aive forcefully swung her tower shield, knocking back a "Wilson" that had pounced on her shield, along with a crowd of its kin behind it. "There are too many of them! They’re trying to overwhelm us with sheer numbers!"

"Then they’re in for a—disappointment!" Sera let out a furious roar, the colossal Grip of the Vast Wave looking like a toy in her hands. After striking an enemy down, Sera smoothly swung the greatsword up again. These creatures wore nothing but their undergarments; a mere touch from the Grip of the Vast Wave would wound them, and a full swing meant death!

The Goblin Hunter was also wreaking havoc. His arrowheads carried an Enchantment from a Strong Acid Gemstone, making nearly every shot a killing blow. As the creatures started to cluster, he could even occasionally pierce two with a single arrow.

But soon, when Delaford reached back again, his hand came up empty. "Shit, my quiver’s empty!"

"I have spares!" Victoria fell back. While Silvia held her Walking Stick in one hand and blocked the Elf with a dagger in the other, Victoria pulled a quiver from her luggage and threw it to Delaford.

The goblin caught it and flew into a rage. "These are fucking Crossbow Arrows!"

"Be glad you have any!" Victoria retorted, immediately rejoining the fight.

After Silvia and the Elf had exchanged a few blows, the Elf finally spoke.

"A slave from Carolina? It’s a complete waste for Richthofen’s Walking Stick to have fallen into your hands."

"Tch. What’s a lapdog like you barking about?" Silvia sneered, but she didn’t get entangled with her. Instead, she immediately fell back to a safe distance and continued directing the Night Howling Hounds to swarm the Elf. "Why don’t you try beating them first!"

The Elf’s weapons were merely Standard Curved Sabers, bearing no Enchantment and not made of silver. Her counterattacks were completely ineffective against the Night Howling Hounds. The cloak she wore, however, was tricky; the hounds couldn’t inflict any real damage on her either. This allowed her to constantly push toward Ron, preventing the three of them from sparing any attention for the pursuers at their back.

"Tsk!" Delaford, infuriated, used a Crossbow Arrow as a melee weapon and viciously jammed it into a creature’s eye socket. "Victoria, don’t you have those guardians of yours? You deal with them!"

"I’ll handle this Elf!"

"Spiritual Guardians!" Victoria understood at once. Entrusting her back to her companions, she turned and held Heim’s Holy Emblem high. Several ethereal, Angel-like Spirit Bodies immediately began to circle her. At once, the creatures pouring endlessly from the depths of the cave—the ones resembling the members of Wilson’s team—burst into golden and silver flames!

The group had been caught off guard by the ambush; otherwise, they never would have ended up in such a wretched state. As the situation stabilized for a moment, Sera seized the chance to disengage and face forward. With just two swings of her sword, she sent the Elf flying away from Ron. Ron, in turn, faced the rear, the Lightning Gemstone in his hand glowing with a blinding electrical light.

BOOM—

A torrent of terrifying energy flooded the cavern, forcibly blasting a clear zone into the sea of bodies in the depths. On the other side, the Elf was clearly no match for the barbarian. She crossed her twin blades to block but was utterly unable to withstand Sera’s all-out strike. One of her curved sabers was shattered to pieces, and the other was riddled with cracks.

Strangely, however, the Elf wasn’t flustered in the slightest. She simply dropped her weapons. As a Night Howling Hound seized the opening to pounce, a light flashed in her hand. She had summoned a curved saber out of thin air and, with a backhand swing, slashed at the hound’s neck!

YOWL!

The hound let out a pained cry. ’It didn’t understand. This prey couldn’t even scratch it before, so how could she suddenly wound it?!’

"A Magic Weapon!" Silvia’s pupils shrank. ’In that case, why didn’t she just use this one from the beginning?’

"I see. So you’re merely immune to ordinary weapons," the Elf sneered. "And here I thought you possessed an undying body!"

"In that case, prepare to die!"

"You’re the one who’s going to die!" Sera’s eyes were wide with fury. Her terrifying presence sent a shiver even through her companions. The Elf didn’t dare to confront her directly, focusing only on evasion while looking for an opening to ambush Ron from behind.

Sera’s ferocious assault was clearly unsustainable. The Elf had seen this, which was why she refused to engage directly. If they continued to wear her down like this, Sera would likely become exhausted, and the Elf would exploit the opening.

"Richthofen’s Dark Magic!" Seeing the turn of events, Silvia immediately used her Walking Stick to release a swirling cloud of dark mist. It enveloped the Elf, restricting her space to maneuver.

"Fool," the Elf’s taunt came from within the Dark Magic. Her curved saber began to glow faintly, illuminating her surroundings. "You have no idea who you’re up against—"

The Elf suddenly felt a chill on the back of her neck. Before she could react, Silvia—who had used her Walking Stick to transform into mist and merge with the Dark Magic—appeared behind her. The Vampire Descendant reached out, tore off the Elf’s hood, bared a pair of sharp fangs, and went straight for that slender, pale neck!

’Wait... something’s wrong!’

In the instant Silvia froze, the Elf’s curved saber had already slashed a cut across her abdomen. The Dark Magic immediately dissipated, leaving only Silvia, who collapsed from the shock and her wound, and the Elf, whose lips were curled into a cold sneer.

This Elf, forced to reveal her true face, was nothing like others of her race. While her features were as lovely as Liya’s, her skin was a ghastly grayish-white, making her look neither living nor dead.

"You... you..." Silvia clutched her wound with one hand, her other hand trembling as she pointed at the Elf’s face. "You’re not an Elf at all!"