From afar, Neil squatted on the branch of a large tree.
His slender bare feet arched into a beautiful curve as he stood slightly on his tiptoes, his clean, fair, and tender toes clamping firmly onto the coarse bark.
Utilizing the leaves to conceal his fair body, he had originally thought there wouldn’t be any opportunities today, but Neil suddenly noticed some movement in the deep forest ahead.
Focusing his gaze, with his eyesight that rivaled a pure-blood elf, he could indistinctly see a squad of naked, robust men riding crimson spiritual deer, holding bows and arrows as they nimbly ran and leaped through the rugged terrain of the woodland.
Deep Forest Knights!
This was a patrol squad from the elven city-state; the closer one got to the position of the Ancient Tree of Life, the easier it was to encounter them.
Watching that squad of Deep Forest Knights charge straight toward the mysterious figures’ group, it was completely obvious that they had already discovered the tracks of the mysterious faction.
After all, the tracks they left behind were entirely too conspicuous.
To the Deep Forest Knights, who possessed natural affinity and patrolled the forest year-round, these tracks were as dazzlingly bright as a beacon in the dark of night.
Unsurprisingly, just as they approached the boundary line of the Deep Forest Knights’ patrol zone, the mysterious figures’ group was discovered on the spot.
The elves rushing along the tracks were very quickly spotted by the mysterious figures’ group as well.
The human guards were highly trained; they quickly drew their shields, bows, and crossbows to form a circular phalanx, protecting the young noble and several mysterious figures in black hooded robes right in the center within a mere moment.
The rapidly charging elves did not shout to demand the origins of their group as Neil had imagined; instead, taking advantage of the fact that the humans’ crossbows were not yet cocked, they launched an attack with absolute decisiveness.
The crimson spiritual deer nimbly leaped around the circular phalanx as arrows flashing with lightning shot fiercely toward the human guards.
In an instant, the pinpoint arrows pierced straight into the eye sockets of seven or eight armored guards where there was no visor protection.
With a succession of popping thuds, electric light exploded, splattering red and white matter everywhere.
Astonishing combat power!
Neil couldn’t help but have this thought cross his mind. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
If it had been the original Neil, he was afraid he would have been killed upon the very first contact; however, it could no longer bring too much of a threat to the current Neil.
When a Jedi Knight held a lightsaber, they could even deflect blaster bolts.
This did not rely on reaction speed, but rather on the perception and intervention of the Force.
If Neil were holding an iron sword right now, he had full confidence that he could kill a Deep Forest Knight in single combat.
Even without a handy weapon, the Deep Forest Knights would be completely unable to harm him, because Neil could sense exactly where an arrow would strike before it even left the bowstring!
What’s more, the Force could also intervene in the trajectory of the arrow, causing it to swerve aside.
Therefore, even when facing a divine knight whose arrows never missed in single combat, the current Neil already occupied an invincible position.
However, if a dozen Deep Forest Knights launched a coordinated assault, Neil could only swallow his grievances and fall; after all, the effects of a Padawan-level Force were ultimately limited.
Returning to the battlefield, even though a quarter of the guards had been ambushed and slain out of nowhere, the remaining human guards were not shaken at all.
It had to be said that they were indeed elite warriors.
With a series of crisp snaps, the human guards’ counterattack arrived.
Crossbow bolts gleaming with sharp light swiftly left their strings.
The Deep Forest Knights seemed to have anticipated this long ago, as their spiritual deer split apart at high speed and leaped behind tree trunks.
But simultaneously with the human guards’ counterattack, the mysterious figures in black hooded robes also made their move.
They tilted their necks back and made bizarre gestures as pitch-black spheres of light appeared in their hands, which subsequently transformed into monster beasts with tattered fleshy wings that resembled giant bats.
The speed of those monster beasts was unexpectedly and incredibly astonishing.
In the whistling wind, they arrived before the leaping Deep Forest Knights in the blink of an eye. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Yet their target was not the Deep Forest Knights, but rather the crimson spiritual deer beneath them.
In a flash of flint and steel, nothing but mournful deer cries and the trembling sound of crossbow strings releasing could be heard.
Immediately after, the sound of crossbow bolts sinking into flesh resounded consecutively.
Four or five robust Deep Forest Knights were hit by the crossbow bolts because their mounts were injured, preventing them from dodging in time.
The human guards’ archery was far inferior to that of the Deep Forest Knights; however, even so, two elves still had their skulls pierced through, their brains spraying out, while another two were shot in the abdomen and thigh, and yet another Deep Forest Knight was shot in the chest.
In the turn of an eye, the ten-elf deep forest squad had three dead and two heavily injured.
Their combat effectiveness was cut in half.
Neil was shocked that the so highly powerful Deep Forest Knights would be so utterly devoid of resistance under the joint forces of the humans and the mysterious spellcasters.
It was very clear that as a long-lived race, elves possessed countless more times the lifespan of humans to hone their combat skills.
Without a doubt, comparing pure technical and tactical skills, no matter how highly trained, calm, and collected the human guards were, they could never defeat the Deep Forest Knights who held the advantages of both the home field and magic.
However, once the spellcasters from the human side joined, a qualitative change immediately occurred: the deep forest squad, which should have been completely unscathed, lost over half its numbers upon the very first clash.
Although this was partly due to the elves underestimating the enemy, the humans relied on this single hand to indeed heavily cripple the elite deep forest squad.
Neil sighed in his heart; the decline of the elves was truly not without reason.
When the magic they took pride in was also mastered by their opponents, their disadvantage in armor was infinitely magnified.
If they were similarly clad in iron armor, it would be completely impossible for five elves to be dead or injured.
But there were absolutely no “ifs” in this world; there was no flawless race.
The elves were noble as a long-lived race, even naturally possessing magic, yet with the slightest carelessness, they would still be killed by humans whose short lifespans were like insects in their eyes.