The tension in the clearing didn't just break; it solidified into a wall of cold, jagged ice. Kael, the Scout Captain, stared at the weapon in Elize's hands, his eyes darting between the rotating cams, the carbon-fiber limbs, and the glowing fiber-optic sights. It looked nothing like the elegant, curved yew bows of the Elven Wood. It looked like a skeletal predator, silent and brooding.
"What... what is that monstrosity, Elize?" Kael whispered, his halberd trembling. "Is that a relic of the Ancient Wars? A cursed artifact from a dark god? Look at it—it has no soul! It's made of the same void-black material as that... that shrine behind you! Have you traded your elven spirit for human sorcery?"
Elize stepped forward, her vibrant orange hair messy and damp from her hunt, her thumb resting near the release of the Silent Widow. "It's a gift, Kael. And it's more 'soulful' than your dull wits. This man didn't kill me. He saved me. He saved the Princess. He saved the memory of the Fallen."
Ren took a slow breath, trying to lower the temperature of the room. "Listen to me," he said, his voice low and steady. "I know the history. I know the blood of my kind runs deep and bitter in your soil. I know the stories of the humans who came before—the slavers, the pillagers, the ones who saw your forests as nothing but lumber and your people as nothing but gold. But I am not them. I didn't come here to take; I came here because I was called."
"SILENCE!" another scout barked, his face twisting in a snarl. "A human 'called'? By what? By the greed in his heart? You stand there covered in marks of the flesh, surrounded by technology we don't recognize, and you expect us to believe you're a pilgrim? You are an infection!"
Elodi stepped forward then, her silver-white hair shimmering as she placed herself directly between Kael's halberd and Ren's chest. Her royal aura flared, a soft golden light that forced the scouts to instinctively lower their weapons a few inches in respect.
"Enough!" Elodi commanded, her voice ringing with the authority of the Silver Moon. "Captain Kael, look at me. Am I harmed? Am I under a spell? No. This man is a Returned Soul. He was pulled from the Great Tree itself during the Equinox. The ancestors chose him to walk among us."
The scouts shared a look of profound skepticism. Kael lowered his head slightly, speaking with the hushed, careful tone one uses with a confused child. "Your Highness... with all due respect, the Great Tree hasn't pulled a human soul in three thousand years. The records are clear. It pulls the brave, the elven-kin, perhaps a stray spirit of the forest... but a human? The Tree abhors the iron-blood of men. If a soul was pulled, it was likely an Elder Elf, and this... this creature likely intercepted the summoning or devoured the spirit before it could manifest."
"He didn't devour anything!" Elize yelled, her grip tightening on the bow. "He fought some Calamities! He stood before the spirits of my father and my brothers, and they bowed to him! Does that sound like a slaver to you?"
"It sounds like a master of illusions," Kael countered, his voice hardening as he looked back at Ren. "The more you speak, the more I realize how deep this human's poison has gone. He has turned our finest guard against her own kin and convinced our Princess of a miracle that defies our very theology. He is more dangerous than a simple bandit. He is a Soul-Thief."
The scouts began to shift into a "Star-Formation," a tactical maneuver designed to pin a high-level mage. The green mana on their halberds began to hum, vibrating the air with the scent of ozone.
"You're making a mistake you can't undo," Ren warned, his eyes narrowing as he began to highlight the weak points in their armor. "If you attack me, you're not just attacking a human. You're attacking the man who has the Princess's favor. Think about what that means for your heads when we finally get to the Capital."
"We will take our chances with the King's justice," Kael said, his eyes turning cold. "Better to be executed for a mistake than to allow a human to walk the Silver Halls. Scouts! Capture the human—dead or alive. Secure the Princess. If the Guard resists... subdue her as well."
The atmosphere turned lethal. The scouts lunged, not with a simple charge, but with a synchronized burst of speed, their halberds whistling through the air to create a cage of steel around Ren.
---
[ SYSTEM COMBAT ENGAGED ]
Enemies: 10x Silver Scouts
Objective: Subdue without killing (Princess's Order).
Warning: User, they're not listening to logic anymore. They've entered 'Zealot Mode'. You have about 0.5 seconds before that halberd tries to give you a permanent haircut. I suggest you show them why the Great Tree chose a human.
---
The clearing turned into a blur of silver plate and whistling steel. Ten halberds, driven by centuries of anti-human prejudice, lunged toward Ren's center in a perfect, suffocating cage of jade-glowing blades. The air screamed with the friction of their mana.
Ren didn't move until the tips were inches from his throat. With a single, fluid motion, he drew his black katana only halfway. The sound of steel on steel was a singular, deafening CRACK. Using the flat of the blade and the reinforced edge of the scabbard, he met all ten points simultaneously, his feet anchored into the earth like the roots of the Great Tree itself.
The Scouts gasped. The impact should have shattered a human's arms, but Ren didn't even quiver.
"You speak of human greed," Ren said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly calm bass. "But look at you. Blinded by a history you didn't even live, ready to spill blood in front of your own Princess just because you're afraid of the unknown."
With a sudden, explosive surge of physical torque, Ren twisted his hips and pushed. The ten elite warriors were thrown back as if hit by a shockwave, their boots skidding through the dirt as they struggled to maintain their balance.
Defeat them without killing? Ren thought, his eyes scanning the staggered formation. That's a taller order than just cutting them down. I'll have to settle for a few bruises... if they're lucky.
Kael roared, his face contorted in a mask of fury. "He's using forbidden reinforcement! Look at his strength! Only a demon-kin or a slave-lord would possess such violent power!"
Kael lunged again, but Ren was already inside his guard. It wasn't magic; it was pure, unadulterated speed. Ren flicked his fingers against the hilt of his katana, sending the heavy pommel slamming into Kael's jaw. The Captain's head snapped back, his helmet ringing like a bell. In the same breath, Ren kicked the katana upward. The blade spun into the air, a silver-black propeller against the morning sun.
A scout tried to take advantage of Ren's "unarmed" state, sprinting at his back with a short-sword. Without looking, Ren slammed the heavy scabbard backward, the blunt end burying itself deep into the scout's solar plexus. The elf's eyes rolled back, his breath leaving him in a single, wheezing puff as he crumpled into the moss, unconscious before he hit the ground.
"Two from the flanks," Ren muttered.
Two more scouts charged from his sides, their halberds crossing to decapitate him. Ren didn't even reach for his falling sword. He caught the scabbard mid-air and swung it like a staff, parrying both heavy shafts with a thunderous thwack. He didn't stop there. He tossed the scabbard with a spinning rotation, the heavy wood striking four more scouts in the chest and shoulders, the sheer momentum tumbling them off their feet like a row of armored pins.
"You're not even trying to see the truth," Ren said, appearing in front of Kael like a ghost as his katana fell perfectly back into his waiting hand. He didn't sheath it; he held it in a reverse grip. "You're just hunting a ghost from three thousand years ago."
Kael swung his halberd in a desperate, horizontal arc. Ren ducked, the air from the blade ruffling his hair. He stepped into Kael's personal space, his movements a masterclass in close-quarters brutality.
Tap. Jab. Two lightning-fast strikes to Kael's armored stomach dented the silver plate, folding the Captain over.
Short Uppercut. Ren's fist drove into the same spot, lifting Kael's feet off the ground.
Finally, Ren stepped in deep, his palms open. He drove both heels of his hands upward, catching Kael's chin and snapping his head back. The force sent the Captain sailing backward, his armor clattering against the stones as he slid ten feet and came to a halt, groaning in the dirt.
Ren stood in the center of the clearing, his breathing steady, his eyes cold. The remaining scouts, those still conscious, clutched their bruised limbs and stared at him with a terror that surpassed their hatred.
"I'm not a monster because I'm human," Ren said, the tip of his blade pointing at the ground. "I'm a monster because I have to be to keep people like you from ruining the peace your Princess worked so hard for."
Kael spit blood into the grass, looking up at Ren with a shaking finger. "You... you see? The way he fights... no mercy... no hesitation. He's mocking us! He's showing us that our lives are nothing to him! Princess... save yourself... this man... he is the end of our people..."
The misunderstanding had moved past simple fear. To the scouts, Ren wasn't just a threat anymore—he was a nightmare made flesh, a human who could dismantle an elite elven squad without even breaking a sweat or using a drop of mana.
The remaining scouts, fueled by desperation and bruised pride, braced their halberds for one final, suicidal charge. Elize saw the madness in their eyes. Her fingers tightened on the Silent Widow, the black cams of the compound bow rotating with a mechanical hiss as she leveled a carbon-tipped arrow at Kael's chest.
"One more step," Elize hissed, her vivid orange hair flaring like a warning fire. "One more step and I stop treating you like kin. I will put an arrow through every heart in this circle!"
"Elize, wait!" Ren shouted. He saw the twitch in her shoulder—she was actually going to fire.
Ren sprinted toward her, his speed a blur. Elize gasped, caught completely off guard as Ren reached her and shoved her backward, away from the scouts. "What are you doing, you lowly hum—!"
She never finished the sentence.
The sky above the clearing fractured. A searing bolt of white-streaked crimson flame roared down from the canopy like a falling star. It didn't hit the scouts; it aimed squarely for the "threat." Ren barely had time to cross his arms in a defensive guard before the blast connected.
BOOM.
A massive explosion rocked the forest. The shockwave flattened the bushes and sent a cloud of soot and scorched leaves into the air. Ren was launched backward, his body skipping across the ground like a stone over water until he slammed into the base of an ancient oak, a crater forming in the bark behind him.
Smoke curled from the sky as a figure slowly descended, hovering on platforms of shimmering green mana. He had shining blonde hair and eyes as blue and sharp as glacier ice. His attire was a regal fusion of high-mage robes and ivory-white armor plates, etched with intricate green filigree that hummed with immense power.
"How pathetic," the newcomer said, his voice cold and echoing with magical amplification. He landed softly on the scorched grass, his gaze landing on Elize with pure, aristocratic disdain. "How dare an Elf of the Royal Guard protect a human. You are a disgrace to our kin, Elize."
"Prince Eldric..." Elize wheezed, pushing herself up, her orange hair covered in ash.
"Brother! Stop this at once!" Elodi cried out, rushing toward the blonde mage. Her silver-white hair was disheveled, her face pale with terror. "Ren isn't an enemy! He is a Guest of the Tree! Please, Eldric, listen—"
Eldric raised a hand, a wall of wind pressure gently but firmly pushing Elodi back. "Silence, little sister. Your heart has always been too soft, easily swayed by the silver tongues of lesser creatures. Have you forgotten the history written in the blood of our ancestors? Do you not remember what happened three thousand years ago? What they did to our lineage? To our family?"
He turned his glacial gaze back to Elize, who was still clutching the black bow.
"And you," Eldric spat. "To use a weapon of such mechanical filth... to stand against your own scouts for a bipedal beast. When we return to the Capital, you will not be greeted as a hero. You will face a death sentence for high treason and racial betrayal."
"He saved her, Eldric!" Elodi screamed, tears pricking her eyes. "He saved us both!"
"He 'saved' you so he could lead you into a trap," Eldric countered, his hands beginning to glow with a terrifying, white-hot mana. "Humans do not save. They harvest. They consume. And I will burn this one to ash before he takes another step toward our sanctum."
Across the clearing, through the thick veil of smoke, a silhouette began to rise. Ren pushed himself out of the cracked oak tree, his black duster torn and smoking, his bare chest bruised but his eyes burning with a dark, predatory light.
"He's still alive," Eldric noted, his voice smooth and devoid of any warmth. He ignored Elodi's pleas, his sharp blue eyes fixed on the silhouette rising from the cratered oak. "For a human, he's a little tougher than I expected. But durability is not the same as divinity."
Eldric didn't even reach for a staff. He simply clapped his palms together once. As he drew them apart, his left hand began to sway in a gentle, rhythmic arc through the air. Each trail his fingers left behind manifested as a Crimson Magic Circle, crackling with jagged, yellow lightning that hissed like a thousand vipers.
Thwip!
An arrow, black and silent, streaked from the side. Eldric didn't dodge; he simply tilted his head a fraction of an inch. The carbon-fiber shaft grazed his cheek, leaving a thin, red bruise. He touched the blood on his face, his expression darkening as he glanced at Elize.
"You really intend to go this far, Elize?" Eldric asked, his voice dripping with icy disappointment. "You would strike your own Prince? You would stain your soul for a creature that shouldn't even exist in our era? Look at yourself. You are the daughter of a Noble House, reduced to a traitorous dog for a human's favor."
Elize stood her ground, her vibrant orange hair messy and singed, her hands trembling as she notched another arrow into the Silent Widow. "If I'm going to die either way, Prince Eldric, then I'm going to die fighting for the truth I believe in! He is not the monster here—your blind arrogance is!"
"Is that so?" Eldric sighed, a look of bored finality crossing his face. "Then... so be it."
With a flick of his two fingers toward Elize, the three Crimson Orbs orbiting his hand shot forward like heat-seeking missiles.
"NO!" Elodi screamed. She dove in front of Elize, her silver-white hair flying as she threw her hands up. "LUX SHIELD!"
A dome of shimmering golden light erupted to protect them, but the difference in prowess was staggering. The crimson orbs slammed into the barrier, the yellow lightning eating through the gold mana like acid.
BOOM.
The explosion was blinding. The shield shattered like glass, and both Elodi and Elize were sent flying backward, tumbling through the grass until they lay dazed and winded near the tent.
"Seize them," Eldric commanded the scouts, not even looking back as the armored elves rushed to pin the two women down. "Don't let them interfere. I will turn this human into nothing more than dust and a bad memory."
Eldric turned his full attention back to the smoke. "Come out, human. Show me the 'strength' that has bewitched my sister."
Through the haze, Ren stepped forward. His shirt was mostly gone, revealing the maze of bite marks and the new, glowing red burns from Eldric's strike. He wasn't reaching for his katana. Instead, he reached into the violet ripples of his [System Inventory].
"You talk a lot about history, Eldric," Ren said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. He pulled out a sleek, matte-black cylinder—a High-Grade Shock-Grenade—and a Tactical Rail-Gun Prototype. "But you clearly haven't learned anything about the future."
---
[ SYSTEM OVERRIDE: BOSS ENCOUNTER ]
Entity: Eldric (Archmage).
Condition: Extreme Hostility.
Warning: User, your allies are down and the scouts are surrounding them. I suggest we stop holding back. If he wants 'Demon-kin' power, let's give him a taste of Earth's military-industrial complex.
---
"Shall we try these weapons I built for advanced warfare?" Ren muttered, his voice barely audible over the crackle of the forest's dying embers. His fingers gripped the textured handle of the Colt Tactical Railgun Prototype, a weapon that looked like a jagged shard of midnight, humming with an electromagnetic frequency that made the very air around it vibrate with ozone.
Eldric's eyes narrowed, his blonde hair whipping in the magical gale he was generating. "So arrogant," the Prince spat, his voice echoing with the weight of a thousand years of elven superiority. "To think a hunk of cold iron can withstand the ancient fires of the Silver Throne. Perish in your delusions, human!"
With a sharp, contemptuous flick of his fingers, Eldric sent the remaining Crimson Orbs screaming through the air. They weren't just projectiles; they were compressed pockets of volatile mana, trailing yellow lightning that hissed like a nest of disturbed vipers, locking onto Ren's heat signature with predatory intent.
Ren didn't retreat. He didn't even flinch. He leaned forward into a low-profile sprint, his boots churning the scorched earth.
He raised the Railgun. The weapon didn't fire with a bang; it released a high-pitched, digital whine as the capacitors dumped a massive charge into the rails.
K-CHAK!
A series of hyper-velocity tungsten slugs, propelled by pure electromagnetic force, tore through the air. The speed was so immense that they created visible ripples in space. One by one, the slugs collided with the incoming Crimson Orbs.
There was no secondary explosion. The sheer kinetic energy of the Railgun rounds was so high that they bypassed the magical stabilization of Eldric's spells. Upon impact, the crimson spheres didn't detonate—they disintegrated. The mana was literally shredded at a molecular level, turning into harmless red mist and fading sparks mid-air before they could even get within ten feet of Ren.
Eldric's composed mask finally cracked. His eyes widened as the residue of his spells washed over his face like a cold breeze. "They were... cancelled? No, not cancelled—shattered?"
Ren skidded to a halt, the barrel of the Railgun glowing with a faint, heat-hazed orange. "In my world, we have a saying," Ren said, his eyes locking onto the Prince's. "Magic is just science we don't understand yet. And science is just a better way to kill."
Eldric let out a low, guttural snarl of fury. The air around him began to turn a sickly, luminous shade of emerald. He slammed both palms together in front of his chest, and the ground beneath him fractured. A Green Flame—the ancestral Fire of the Great Tree's Wrath—erupted between his hands, hovering and spinning with a violent, centrifugal force. It gathered more and more energy, sucking the moisture from the surrounding leaves until they crumbled into gray ash.
"You have seen nothing but a fraction of our power, human!" Eldric roared, the green flame reflected in his blue eyes like a brewing storm. "I will show you the fire that burned the world clean before your kind ever learned to crawl!".