Chapter 218 Radiant Forest (V) (Edited)
The dark night had fallen. The light of the full moon illuminated the forest with its gentle silver glow, bringing life to the towering giant trees. The leaves of the trees seemed to glow as if they had their own inner light.
Moving in the shadows, Klaus and his crew walked silently without making a sound. They moved with caution, avoiding dry leaves that could produce unwanted noise.
Currently, they were in the elves' territory. They were attempting to infiltrate the elven village without being detected.
"Quiet!"
Klaus suddenly stopped, raising one hand. His three crew members quickly halted. As Olivia was about to ask what was going on, Klaus hissed while touching his finger to his lips.
The leaves rustled, and two elves appeared on top of a tree. They perched on a branch, armed with bows and arrows. Klaus immediately gestured with his hand, signaling his crew to lower their heads.
One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Those elves didn't move from their spot. In the bushes, Klaus calmly waited for them to leave. However, his crew members weren't as patient as him. Michael was anxious in his silence, while Olivia breathed heavily. Gavin was fine but impatient to take them down.
"Damn, how long are they going to stay there?" Olivia muttered.
Michael hissed. "Lower your voice."
"Let's just kill them," Gavin muttered. He couldn't stand to get his hands dirty.
But Klaus remained silent. His breath was calm, and his eyes were focused. He patiently waited for them to leave. One small mistake could cause trouble.
And his patience paid off. The two elves finally gone.
"Phew," Olivia sighed in relief, wiping sweat from her forehead. "I never thought sneaking around quietly would be so tense."
"Yeah," Michael replied. "It would have been easier to just take them down."
While they released their tension, Klaus remained vigilant. His eyes were still on the leaves in the trees above.
"So, are we going to move again?" Gavin asked.
Instead of answering, Klaus raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. Gavin squinted, seeing that Klaus was still on high alert. Michael and Olivia grew worried.
"Hey, what's wrong, Klaus?" Olivia asked.
Suddenly, Klaus heard the wind whistle.
Swish!
He caught an arrow just before it hit Olivia's face. Naturally, Olivia was startled. She almost got killed. But before she could wrap her head around it, the wind whistled again.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three more arrows flew from the darkness, aiming at Gavin and Michael, but Klaus quickly caught all of them before his three crew members had a chance to react. Even Gavin, who thought he was the fastest among them, didn't react as the arrows came.
"We've been spotted!" Klaus exclaimed.
At the same time, two elves leaped out of the trees. Floating in the air, they were ready to launch more arrows. However, Klaus's crew was better prepared this time.
"Leave it to me!" Michael shouted.
Using his skill, [Taunt], Michael triggered those two elves' anger, causing them to target one target.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Six arrows flew at lightning speed at Michael.
Tack! Tack! Tack!
They broke into two as they hit the armor attached to Michael. Without hesitation, Gavin dashed like lightning towards one of the elves, landing a hard punch to his face.
Bam!
"Urggh!"
The elf was thrown to the ground before losing consciousness. Meanwhile, his companion was surprised to find himself alone. He then shot an arrow and quickly jumped back into the tree.
As the last elf tried to escape, his body suddenly stopped. He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried. Then, his body was pulled backward.
"Where are you running, you bastard!" Olivia shouted.
She used [Psychokinesis] to pull the elf back. When he was within Olivia's reach, she delivered a hard punch to his face.
Bam!
The last elf lost consciousness as he slumped to the ground.
"Damn it. I almost died because of you," cursed Olivia. She kicked the unconscious elf.
"Are you okay, Olivia?" Michael asked with concern.
Olivia nodded her head.
Michael then looked at Gavin, and Gavin shook his head, indicating that he was okay.
As they all breathed a sigh of relief for escaping the ambush, Klaus looked at the two unconscious elves. Olivia drew close to him, wanting to thank him for saving her life.
"Klaus, I—"
Slap!
Suddenly, she got a slap on her face. Her eyes widened, wondering why she deserved this.
Seeing his close friend being slapped, Michael grew furious.
"Hey! What—"
However, Klaus slapped Michael before he could voice his protest. The man fell silent, confusion was written all over his face. As he was about to ask why, Klaus walked to Gavin. Just like the others, Gavin got a slap too.
"Do you all know why I slapped you?" Klaus gave his crew an intense stare.
As Michael was about to speak, suddenly his spine went shiver. He felt a terrifying aura coming from Klaus. His animal instinct screamed, and he lowered his head immediately.
"I'm asking you," Klaus continued. "Do you know why I slapped you?"
"Because we made a mistake," Gavin said, trembling.
Even someone as strong as Gavin felt an extraordinary pressure from Klaus. But he tried to muster the courage. It was different for the other two. Olivia and Michael were genuinely scared.
"Yeah, I told you to be quiet, but you kept making noise. Elves have sharp ears for a reason. They have keen hearing. Do I need to spell that out for you?"
Olivia and Michael lowered their heads. They didn't dare to say anything. Only Gavin had the courage to raise his head.
"But at least no one got hurt," Gavin replied.
"Nobody got hurt?" Klaus narrowed his eyes.
Gavin bit his lip, realizing he had given the wrong answer.
"Do you know why I told you to sneak around even though they are easy to beat? It's because we're preparing a route for Justin and the others, so they can safely cross the elf territory. If even only one elf doesn't return, they'll realize their territory is being infiltrated. Do you know what that means?"
"They'll tighten security," Michael answered.
"And Justin and others are fucked up," Klaus added.
Michael fell silent. He realized the gravity of his mistake and that of his companions. Klaus had told them to be silent and not to make a sound, but they couldn't stop talking, leading the two elves to discover their location.
Taking a deep breath, Klaus tried to calm himself. He turned his gaze to the two unconscious elves. Then, he took an arrow and pierced it through their hearts.
"Hide their bodies. Do it quickly, then we'll move."
"Yes, boss," Gavin replied.
Thanks to Michael's earth element, they were able to dig a hole quickly and bury the elves in the ground.
After that, they continued their journey towards the elven village. This time, they didn't make any mistakes. Gavin, Olivia, and Michael kept silent as they ventured deeper into the forest and passed by elven patrols.
As they crawled through the bushes, Klaus heard beautiful singing and smelled fragrant flowers. He pushed aside the bushes, and light shone on his face.
They had finally arrived at the elven village.
In the treetops, houses made of ancient wood sparkled in the moonlight. Each house had a unique shape and was adorned with colorful flowers and dangling orange leaves. Dim candlelight shone from within.
In the center of the village, there was an open stage surrounded by colorful flowers and glowing plants. On the stage, young elves gathered, wearing shimmering clothes made of golden leaves and natural silk. They danced gracefully and sang with beautiful voices, creating music that seemed to blend with the surrounding nature.
"It's already night, but they're still doing their shit. Don't they need rest?" Olivia muttered.
"Elves live long lives, and time feels slow to them," Gavin replied.
Michael hissed, interrupting their conversation. He signaled with his eyes, telling them not to upset Klaus's mood again. They immediately kept their mouths shut.
"Klaus, what are we going to do now? We've reached the elven village," Michael asked cautiously. He tried not to anger Klaus again.
"Contact Justin. Tell him the plan has changed. We'll execute it tomorrow morning. I'm sure the elves have realized that two of their crew members haven't returned."
Michael nodded and began to contact Justin using his SmartLink. Suddenly, Michael's face changed. His eyes widened, and confusion could be heard in his voice as he spoke through his device.
Klaus immediately sensed that something was amiss in Michael's reaction. "What's going on?" Klaus whispered with curiosity. "Did Justin answer your call?"
But Michael swallowed hard. "You better hear it by yourself."
Klaus grew even more curious. Then, Michael redirected his call channel to Klaus's SmartLink.
As Klaus received the call, he realized that the voice on the other end was not the familiar voice of Justin.
"Hello, Klaus. Where are you now? If you don't tell me, I'm going to kill your friends."
It was Jacob's voice.
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