Chapter 284: Superhero Landing! She’s Gonna Do a Superhero Landing!

On the outskirts of a small elven town, recently built along the border of unclaimed territories, a boy and a girl played, oblivious to the rest of the world.

The pair of siblings, with pointed ears and light hair, ran through the tall grass, laughing nonstop as they chased each other around the trees.

They had been playing tag for so long that they’d already forgotten who was chasing whom.

To them, it was an afternoon like any other.

Until the girl, in the middle of trying to dodge her brother, went completely still.

"...What’s that?" she murmured, her eyes fixed on the horizon.

Her brother followed her gaze.

And the smile vanished from his face instantly.

In the distance, advancing from the edge of the nearby forest, a dark mass approached.

At first it was nothing more than a blurry smudge in the distance, but as it drew closer, the details became sharper.

It was an immense army of demi-humans.

There was a bit of everything.

War trolls marched at the front, enormous clubs slung over their shoulders.

Swarms of humanoid ants and other creatures they couldn’t identify advanced behind them, while lamias made their way slithering across the ground.

And above them all, dozens of winged creatures flew over the horde, filling the air with unsettling shrieks.

There were hundreds of them, maybe even thousands.

An endless tide of monsters advancing straight toward them.

The siblings froze for barely a second, but quickly reacted and ran with everything they had.

"Dad! Mom!" they screamed as they burst through the town gates at full speed. "Monsters are coming! A lot of them! So many!"

But by the time they got there, it was already too late.

The horde had broken through the other flank and chaos had taken over the streets.

Screams filled the air, mixed with the sound of metal, fire, and the roar of magic.

Elven warriors, swords in hand, fought fiercely against the demi-humans, trying to stop their advance.

And while it was true that, one against one, the elves were clearly superior.

It didn’t matter.

Because for every demi-human that fell, three more took their place.

The horde kept coming in endless waves, gradually overwhelming them through sheer numbers.

It was a battle the elves simply couldn’t win.

And sooner or later, their defenses would begin to give way.

The two siblings ran through the chaos, dodging bodies and flames, hearts in their throats, until they reached their house.

"Dad! Mom!" the girl screamed, throwing the door open.

But luckily for them, their parents were there, safe and sound.

Seeing her come in with her brother, both turned toward them, relief and fear reflected on their faces.

"Thank the gods you’re both alright!" their mother exclaimed, running to hug them.

Their father immediately came over and knelt in front of them, gripping their shoulders firmly.

"Listen to me carefully," the elf said, looking at his children. "We have to get out of here and get as far away as possible, understood? We can escape through the forest—"

But he was interrupted by a loud crash as a demi-human blew the door open.

It was a creature covered in bony spikes jutting from its entire body, and it lunged straight at the father with a roar.

"NO!" the mother screamed.

The father reacted on pure instinct and threw himself at the creature, putting himself between it and his family.

Both crashed to the ground and began struggling among the wrecked furniture, rolling from side to side as the beast tried to overpower him.

Its spikes tore into his skin with every movement, but the man refused to give in.

Gathering what little strength he had left, he managed to grip the creature’s head and twisted it in a quick motion, killing it instantly.

But he too ended up collapsing to the ground, gasping while blood poured from the numerous cuts covering his body.

Not even a minute passed before more silhouettes began appearing through the gap where the door used to be.

The demi-humans had smelled fresh blood and were now crowding around the house, blocking any possible way out.

There was no escape.

But then, something dropped from the sky like a meteor, slamming into the ground right between the family and the horde.

As the dust began to settle, the family could make out a silhouette within the cloud.

It was a human woman with dark blue hair falling over her shoulders.

She wore gleaming white armor with golden details, and on her hands she wore a pair of massive gauntlets glowing intensely.

The woman slowly straightened up in the doorway, her back to the four elves, facing the horde of demi-humans crowding outside.

The monsters, after a moment’s hesitation, lunged at her all at once.

It was a mistake.

Because with a single punch she cleanly punched through the skull of the closest demi-human.

Then she landed another punch on the next one, caving in its chest and sending it flying into three more coming from behind.

Every one of her blows carried the force of a battering ram, and the demi-humans, who a moment before had seemed an unstoppable threat, fell before her one by one.

And within just a few seconds, not a single demi-human remained standing around the house.

After a few moments of calm, the family dared to step outside cautiously, stepping over the remains of the door, and once they set foot outside they could take in the full scene.

The ground was covered in corpses and entrails.

And in the middle of it all, the woman in white armor straightened up, shaking the viscera off her gauntlets with indifference.

It was then that the elves looked up and saw a hippogriff above them.

On its saddle stood an emblem that couldn’t be mistaken for any other.

It was the emblem of the elven royal house.

The hippogriff descended with a sharp cry, landing on the ground a few meters from them.

And then a second figure climbed down from its back.

She was also a human woman, though shorter, with blonde hair tied into two pigtails that swayed with every step.

She approached the first woman with a carefree smile, as if a massacre hadn’t just taken place around her.

"Good work, Alice!" she said cheerfully. "You wiped them out in no time."

Alice shot her a sideways glance.

"Aria, quit fooling around and cast me a shield spell before the next wave gets here," she replied, annoyed. "I don’t want to end up soaked in blood... at least not in front of My Lord."

"Ay, what an attitude," Aria said with a pout, though she was already raising her hands as golden energy began gathering in them. "And here I was coming to congratulate you from the bottom of my heart."

"Thanks, Aria," Alice replied, rolling her eyes. "Now, get to work."

"That’s more like it!"

The elven family watched all of it, understanding absolutely nothing.

The father, still on the ground, opened his mouth to try to say something, to ask who they were, what was happening.

But before he could get a word out, a new presence made itself known.

Behind the family, without any of them having heard him approach, a tall silhouette materialized, covered from head to toe in a dark robe.

"Sorry for coming in without warning," a calm male voice said from beneath the hood. "Is everyone alright?"