On a vast, dark landscape, two groups were racing across the terrain — one pursuing, the other fleeing.
Ahead, there was only a single figure, hovering eerily several meters above the ground. A pair of translucent white wings spread behind his back, and each beat carried him forward a great distance.
Behind him came a group of knights!
These knights rode atop enormous spiders — eight brown, bristled legs extending beneath them, ice-blue stripes running across their bodies, compound eyes brimming with bloodlust and the desire to kill.
These were Cave Frost Spiders — the mounts of the elite among the dark elves.
And riding these Cave Frost Spiders were clearly no humans. Their skin was fair and delicate, their builds tall and slender. Whether male or female, all possessed exquisitely androgynous features, slightly pointed ears, and eyes that gleamed with pure silver — allowing them to see freely in the darkness.
"Bang!" Suddenly, the fleeing figure whipped around, revealing a handsome face with pointed ears. He began chanting rapidly, flinging his hand backward.
Five crimson fireballs shot from his fingers and exploded — dodged by the Cave Frost Spider Knights — blasting enormous craters into the ground.
The one fleeing was also a dark elf!
"They've even deployed the Cave Frost Spider Knight Corps — they really think highly of me!" The figure kept running, but couldn't shake the spider knights behind him.
Cave Frost Spiders were not only incredibly fast but perfectly suited for underground travel. Mountains, plains, even steep gorges — none could impede their advance.
"
The lead knight wore armor that resembled delicate crafted plates, and the Cave Frost Spider beneath him was noticeably larger than the rest, its body adorned with golden stripes.
He took a deep breath, and his mount surged forward with a burst of speed.
Then he bent his bow and nocked an arrow — the motion fluid as flowing water. Mysterious runes on the arrowhead pulsed to life, one after another.
Whoosh!
A streak of black light shot from his hands, the arrow cleaving through the air. It reached Memphis's back in an instant!
"Ahh!"
A membrane of fire-red light materialized behind Memphis, but under the black arrow's assault, it shattered in less than a second.
The black arrow, its momentum undiminished, pierced deep into Memphis's back, the arrowhead emerging from his chest.
Memphis screamed. The light wings on his back vanished instantly, and he plummeted to the ground — a pool of blood, crimson laced with hints of silver-white, spreading beneath him.
"Hssss!"
Numerous Cave Frost Spider Knights closed in, surrounding him.
"Take his head!" The lead knight waved his hand with a cold expression, and two Cave Frost Spider Knights stepped forward.
But just then, the leader's face changed: "No good! Fall back!" — but it was already too late.
Boom!
A tremendous wave of energy erupted from Memphis's body. He had unfurled a scroll.
Two massive spheres of energy shot outward, accompanied by a woman's sigh, instantly blowing the two knights to shreds. A towering cloud of dust and debris rose into the air.
When the blast subsided, the leader strode forward with a grim expression — but Memphis was nowhere to be found on the ground.
"Search for him!"
The leader's face twisted. "He's been hit by my curse — there's no way he's gotten far!"
……
Wilin nocked his arrow, took aim, and let it fly with a sharp whoosh. It struck the wild boar monster dead center.
The great boar roared, blood pouring from its body, while Wilin drew his Cross Sword and charged forward.
"Ha ha! Uncle Wilin's gift is secured!"
After a tense battle, Wilin gazed at the massive boar on the ground, a grin splitting his face.
Just then, the dirt to one side had been swept away by the commotion of the fight, revealing a figure.
"Hm? What's this?"
Wilin approached and curiously turned the figure over, revealing a pale, handsome face…
Two hours later, Jenny stared at the dark elf Wilin had brought home. She slapped her forehead and let out a groan of despair: "You idiot! We've gotten ourselves into serious trouble…"
Facing Jenny's accusation, Wilin scratched his head innocently: "I couldn't just leave him there — he looked so pitiful…"
"Pitiful? Do you have any idea what he is? A dark elf! A pureblooded dark elf!"
Jenny flushed red.
"This is the border region! If you do something like this, you could bring enormous trouble to the whole town!"
Over the past three years, the
Jenny hadn't thought that far ahead. Seeing the dark elf's luxurious attire on the ground, the only thought that had crossed her mind was whether this elf, like herself, belonged to a great noble house — perhaps hunted after losing a power struggle.
But as soon as she made that connection, cold sweat began streaming down her back.
She now truly understood the brutality of power struggles. She knew that no matter where this elf hid, relentless pursuit would follow — and all of them would be caught in the crossfire!
At that thought, a flash of steel crossed the woman's eyes, but looking at the flustered Wilin beside her, she sighed and softened her tone.
"Regardless, we need to move him out of here quickly. You don't want to bring trouble on Uncle Viya and Auntie, do you?"
Wilin scratched his head. "Alright then!"
……
At the spot where Wilin had been hunting earlier, a group of Cave Frost Spider Knights surrounded the hole where the dark elf Memphis had been hiding.
A smaller Cave Frost Spider — though still as large as a dog — stepped forward and thrust one of its jointed legs into the hole, then let out a series of squeaks.
"It says it found Memphis's scent in there, along with traces of a human!"
"A human?" The knight leader's face darkened instantly, then twisted into a savage grin. "So Memphis was a pacifist back home — turns out he'd already been colluding with the humans!"
He swept his arm forward.
"After them! No matter which human dares to shelter him, I will personally take their head as an offering!"
"As you command!"
The Cave Frost Spider Knights responded in unison. The Dark Elf Empire's relationship with the humans of the Dark Apex Domain had never been good. With a new war about to erupt, a minor border crossing was nothing — they could even kill a few more humans and plunder food and female slaves!
At that thought, red light flickered in the eyes of every Cave Frost Spider Knight.
One hour later, on the road, a flatbed cart pulled by an old horse trundled slowly forward.
Wilin drove the horse from the front while Jenny sat on the flatbed. Beside her, on a bed of straw, lay the dark elf Wilin had just rescued.
At this point, the elf's chest clothing had been cut away, revealing a lean but exquisitely smooth chest.
However, there was a bloody wound in the center, and around it, tendrils of dark energy spread continuously, forming the shape of a black spider.
"How is he?" Wilin turned back to ask.
"I've treated most of the external wounds, but he's been hit by some kind of curse — there's nothing I can do!" Jenny spread her hands.
Though the wound was terrifying, what shocked Jenny even more was this elf's vitality — able to endure so long under the combined burden of a grievous injury and a curse.
"I'm more and more convinced this was a bad idea. This curse was clearly cast by a fully-ranked
Jenny's expression was grim.
"A fully-ranked Wizard — someone like Lord Leilin?" Wilin shuddered at the words, an instinctive reaction years in the making.
"Yes! Now you realize the trouble you've brought us?" Jenny rolled her eyes.
"But we've already saved him," Wilin said with a bitter smile. "What else can we do?"
Suddenly, a glow of firelight in the distance caught Wilin's attention.
Against the surrounding darkness, the blaze was all the more conspicuous, staining a patch of the sky red.
"That's… our town!!!"
Wilin brought the horse to a halt, his face stricken with alarm.
"What happened? How could a fire suddenly break out?"
Jenny's heart went cold — a terrible premonition forming. And in that moment, Wilin turned the horse around and charged back the way they'd come.
"Have you lost your mind?" Jenny cried out.
"Uncle Viya and the others are still in there — I have to go save them!"
"You can't save them! Can't you be more mature about this?" Jenny's voice carried a spark of anger.
"What? How can you say that? Don't you remember how kind Auntie Viya was to you?" Wilin's chest burned with frustration.
"That's not…"
"Cough, cough…"
While the two were still arguing, the dark elf on the cart suddenly coughed and stirred awake.
"Humans!" he blurted out — speaking the Dark Apex tongue.
Jenny's heart sank. The dark elves naturally had their own languages, different from those of humans. And the fact that this dark elf spoke this language so fluently made her even more uneasy.
In the underground, knowledge was the mark of nobility — and command of foreign tongues was the tradition of great noble houses especially.
Back when she was still with her family, Jenny had been taught dark elf language, goblin tongue, and even the grey dwarves' language by hired tutors. Due to physiological differences, learning them had been an absolute nightmare!
But now, this dark elf's Dark Apex tongue was remarkably fluent — genuinely impressive.
"Where am I?"
The dark elf half-propped himself up and looked at the still-dazed Wilin and Jenny.
"This is the Dark Apex Domain. Who are you?"
"My name is Memphis. I need to leave now — I've brought you trouble, and I'm truly sorry!"
A hint of apology appeared on the dark elf Memphis's face.