NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 39 - Amidst The Battle

"No! I-, uh, Red is the one who-," Wolf tried explaining his situation, but failed to do so because of the sudden flare we heard.

He flailed his hands, hoping to attract La Finta's attention. However, La Finta had original plans. The long-eared elf launched another arrow at him with a wicked grin forming on her face. She did not plan to listen to what Wolf was about to say. Her only goal was to kill him once and for all.

"Keep your explanation to yourself. I heard you talking with Red about this obelisk, and you can't have it." La Finta expressed.

The arrow destroyed the other part of the gate, creating more craters and crevices on the walls and floor. Thousands of lily pads flew everywhere, leaving the battlefield filled with cut leaves and charcoaled dust. Wolf lunged to the border and avoiding getting hit by the reed once again.

Those specs were the same beanstalk found inside the room.

La Finta was uncontended despite seeing the aftermath of her arrows. Her hand went towards her quiver and took an invisible arrow. After a few seconds, the bolt materialised from her hand. It was not just an ordinary arrow from before. La Finta imbued her arcane on the shaft, which turned green and menacing to look at from afar.

The reed travelled at the speed of sound. There was a whistle when the Grandmother discharged the bolt and directed it towards Wolf.

Wolf tried repeating his moves before tumbling to the sides and bypassing the assault, but the occurrence differed from last time. His eyes enlarged when he noticed the quarrel followed his movements and bent towards the flank. (Note: quarrel also means arrow)

Wolf's reaction time was superb among the other players I saw. Within breadth's length, he churned his body, rolling to the corner and stopped his momentum. His inhumane speed allowed him to get out from the place, eluding the tip of the arrow.

However, the attack did not end there. The aftershock of the crash landing arrow pulsated through our surroundings, sending disrupted arcane all over the area. I, who was standing far off the battleground, got pushed back by the pulse.

Wolf had it worse.

There was a pool of blood surrounding him. The smell of mineral lingered in our environment, splattering anything inside the chamber. Wolf's bloodshot and sinister aura persisted in his eyes, but he did not move.

Thanks to what he did earlier, Wolf avoided critical injuries from the blast. If he were a second late, his body would become a bubble, splashing his vermillion goo all over the room.

Wolf slipped something from his cloak-a flask that had red liquid inside. He drank the potion and glared at the two of us.

"That was rude of you," Wolf expressed, and slowly got up from the floor.

His body was like noodles, wiggling every time Wolf forced himself to move. After a few moments, he stood on his two feet and prepared his dagger in his hands.

The sliced wounds he had before slowly healed themselves and closed his wounds. All the blood staining his shirt vanished like air, as if it was not even there. His body also stopped squirming, and within a matter of seconds, Wolf was ready for another set of battles.

"You only caught me off guard. I did not expect a homing missile of an arrow." Wolf said, and curved up a grin.

La Finta and I did not know what he meant about the homing missile part since it was an unfamiliar word dissented from our knowledge. But it was not cardinal to know Wolf's terminologies. All that mattered now was to slay him. I also need to remember to kill La Finta during this match if an opportunity arises.

I schemed to hit two birds with one stone; kill both of them at once. I need to take the obelisk away from La Finta's name, even if it was the last thing that I would do. But before I could accomplish that, I must do something about Wolf.

The two continued butting heads against each other, exchanging blows and arrows from parallel sides. But for now, I did not want to mess with the two and hid inside the shadows. I stepped back and entered the room that La Finta had entered from before. It was a good thing that the two of them occupied themselves with each other. They noticed nothing, especially me waltzing on the sides.

My eyes wandered around and addressed the enchanted arsenal and treasures inside the vault. The room smelled of nothing but carved woods and other metallic materials. It even had various kinds of ancient chests covered with unidentified moss.

Windows kept appearing before me, scanning and informing me of the details of the weapons. I did not need to understand them for now, since I would exit this place soon. So I swiped all those azure boxes obscuring my vision and continued wandering inside.

This place was not a part of the map that I have, so my system charted the area. It was a cramped room used to store the weapons for the royal elves inside the citadel.

"So that's why La Finta went here," I murmured, and continued scrutinising the place.

However, I needed to leave this site right now before getting spotted by the two. La Finta might know my absence and feel dubious about me being here inside. I could always use an excuse and tell her I got lost during the fight, but I knew it would not work for the old elf.

Before leaving the storage room, I stumbled upon two weapons that caught my eyes. The first one was a glistening short elvish bow and a simple stave lying on the ground. It was not a weapon that I was fond of wielding, but it attracted me.

I tossed the two weapons inside my [astral space] for the time being, hoping I could use them soon. I stole two things inside the storage room. Nobody would suspect anything since we were in the middle of a war, fighting against those players, including Wolf obstructing our way.

I headed outside and pushed the door behind me with utmost precaution. I did not want to generate unnecessary sounds since the two were still clashing with each other. So I crept towards the sides and remained under the dark silhouette, waiting for any instructions that La Finta would give me.

Wolf did not have any arcane projectile that could attack La Finta from a distance. Until now, that player had cast no other spells besides his extreme speeding of walking in the shadows that had similarities with my ability. However, that alone allowed him to move faster than the soaring arrows in his direction, dodging the shafts with intense speed and precision.

Thanks to my system, I could observe his figure dashing through the panels. Without my system and my sudden boosts in status points, I would never follow their speed and happenings during this battle. But I still had a lot to learn despite this information.

One moment I thought Wolf was going to get hit by the arrow. But Wolf kept surprising me as he glided through the panels and used his momentum to increase his pace.

Every time he went near La Finta, the long-eared elf would push herself backwards. She would reposition herself and create some space between him. As an archer, La Finta knew Wolf tried forcing his luck forward. He could only attack her if Wolf gets close to her.

That was the problem.

No matter what Wolf had in his sleeves, he could not close the distance between him and the elf. Wolf got stuck in a defensive state, continuing to avoid the arrows hovering in his direction. After getting hit by that bolt from before, Wolf avoided all of her attacks. He drifted in the air as if he knew where and when La Finta would attack him.

Each arrow thrown at Wolf had various abilities but related to the wind and earth attribute. Since elves have a close relationship with nature, the forest grants them strength and amplifies their magical prowess. Wolf should not stand a chance against La Finta, given that we were inside the citadel of Nirvana.

Wolf, being a level five-player, did not help him during this battle. However, he could keep up with the crowned ruler of elves and fight La Finta with his dagger gripped in his hands.

"Can you fight, Red?" La Finta finally called my presence. "Since you saved Guinevere and Even, you must have something in your sleeves."

I did not have a choice but to heed her summons. My body emerged from the shadows and revealed my patience's dagger in my hand. I locked my eyes with Wolf and kept a tranquil expression.

My body shivered every time I trundled closer to the battlefield. I was not an experienced fighter, yet I killed two prominent people already. I was a murderer, an assassin that knew nothing but taking advantage of the situation.

I can neither fight Wolf nor La Finta. But I had to do it.

But there was one thing that I could do during this clash; a sly move to kill and betray La Finta.