Chapter 584: Fighting the dark elves
Chapter 584: Fighting the dark elves
Michael initially thought of just getting a few stripes of flesh and a piece of bone as samples. However, he changed his mind after seeing the dark elves bombarding him and Gaya with arrows. What surprised him more was he didn't detect anyone in his Environmental Scanning. The distance between the cemetery and the forest was at least nine hundred meters. Still, a dark elf managed to hit Gaya with deadly accuracy. Michael wanted to see that dark elf. It was no brainer that the dark elf who fired the shot didn't go for the kill but rather had given Gaya a warning.
Holding the shield around them, Gaya could see at least hundreds of arrows soaring toward her. She used every bit of arch energy in her body, strengthening the shield. Like droplets of water hitting the puddle and creating ripples, the arrows created countless ripples on the shield when they hit.
Without wasting any more time, Michael broke the casket with his bare hand and pulled out the decayed body of the dark elf burning within. He put the halfly decayed body on his shoulder and jumped out of the grave he dug.
"Let's go," Michael said as Gaya slowly stepped backward, preparing to fly away from the graveyard. However, just when they were about to fly, a golden arrow shattered the shield and sent Gaya flying into Michael.
Michael quickly caught Gaya in one hand while holding the decayed body in the other. Gaya gritted her teeth, holding the bubbling anger within her. Every fiber in her body told her to go berserk on the dark elves but she managed to control her anger so they could escape the place without revealing themselves.
"Make a move if you want to meet your makers," out of the blue, a chiming bell-like voice traveled in the wind and breezed through them.
The voice made Michael look upwards to see a dark elf carrying a golden bow and arrow descending from the sky. The dark elf's glistening bow brightened his sharp features. He could be described as black-skinned and dark-haired in appearance.
The most distinguishing feature was his brownish skin due to living under the shade of the forest. Like all elves, he too had pointed ears almost as long as the normal elves Michael met in Mazeroth. However, his facial features were visibly sharper than those of other elves. They had a more angry brow curve, which coupled with their sharp, carnivorous teeth, gave them a rather savage and predatory appearance.
As the dark elf's feet touched the ground, several others landed around Michael out of nowhere as though they sprouted from the ground. They all raised their bows taking aim at Michael and Gaya. Although they weren't muscular as the human warriors, Nonetheless, every single dark elf had at least one tattoo ranging from icons of a deity to runes with actual magical enchantments. Because symbolism and tattoos played an important role in dark elven culture, tattoos and piercings were highly abundant. For example, the dark elf who appeared in the sky had an eagle tattooed on his neck as well as an arrow pointing towards the sky on his forehead, right between his brows.
"You have desecrated a sacred ground," the dark elf spoke in a cold murderous tone. Since Michael paid the system to mask his actual cultivation level, the dark elves thought he was only at the Core Formation stage. As a result, the dark elves felt superior and didn't bother to call for backup.
The dark elf who threatened Michael and Gaya was the strongest who stood at Soul Refining stage level 4.
"Put him down," the dark elf said, looking at the decayed body hanging on Michael's shoulder like a piece of cloth.
"No one has to get hurt. Just lower your bows and let us go," Gaya calmly said, but the dark elves didn't even budge. Except, their stars intensified more.
"Leave," Michael growled at the dark elf before them a few meters away. However, he didn't direct the word to him. In reality, he ordered Nightmare, not the dark elves.
"You will pay for your crime at the first light," the dark life coldly said without reacting to Michael's words. But, unknown to Michael, today was an auspicious day in the dark elves' calendar. Thus, they were prohibited from taking life unless facing a calamity.
Since both Michael and Gaya had no weapons and didn't pose a threat to them, the dark elves had no need to kill them. But it was only temporary. As soon as the first light appeared on the horizon, the dark elves would send an arrow through their heads, ending their lives.
"I'll take the body and return it in a few days," Michael calmly said to the dark elf. To be honest, Michael didn't want to fight the dark elves because he had desecrated their holy ground. They had all the right to kill them.
If someone had done the same to a place Michael held holy, he would have killed them in a blink of an eye. That was why Michael didn't raise his hand to kill the dark elves.
Whoosh!
Instead of speaking with words, the dark elf chose to talk with an arrow. The dark elf sent an arrow straight into the ground a few inches before Michael in a blink of an eye.
"I'll take that as a no," Michael put the body down, cracking his neck.
"Remember, I gave you a choice," Michael slowly took a step forward,
"Stay put. It won't take too long," Michael said to Gaya and turned his gaze back towards the dark elf. Michael completely ignored the other dark elves because they were all only at the Core strengthening stage.
Not that Michael underestimated the dark elves, but rather, he was simply too strong to be concerned. Except for the Soul Refining stage dark elf who seemed to possess superior archery skills, the others didn't pose any threat to Michael.
Considering the Soul Refining stage dark elf was the strongest, Michael targeted him.
Seeing Michael readying for a battle, the dark elves tensed. Then, they slowly pulled back the bowstring as they were only inches away from releasing the arrows they nocked.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Michael dashed at the leading dark elf as fast as a lightning bolt. His speed startled the dark elves. Still, they managed to release the arrows as Gaya quickly cast the shield spell around her. Since she only concentrated the arch energy around her, the shield formed around her was stronger than before which covered an area several times larger.
The dark elf leaped back, firing a golden arrow. But Michael simply caught the arrow in mid-air, startling the dark elf. It shouldn't have been possible for a measly Core Formation stage warrior. Despite his shock and the fact Michael caught the first arrow, the dark elf fired again. This time, the arrow soared towards Michael faster than the previous one, almost at the speed of a bullet. Yet, the result was the same.
At that time, Michael had a golden arrow in each hand.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The dark elf rapidly fired arrow after arrow, and so did the others, only to see Michael using the arrows as steps to climb higher into the air. In a few blinks of an eye, Michael reached the dark elf leader using the arrows as steps in mid-air. Except for a few, the dark elves targeted Michael. Because Michael was too close to their leader, they were forced to move around to adjust their aims.
Gaya saw Michael move as swiftly as a feather in the wind, evading the arrows and fighting the dark elf. Surprisingly, the dark elf was just good in hand-to-hand combat as he was in archery. Thus, the dark elf managed to block and dodge Michael's punches.
The way the dark elf dodged and blocked his punches surprised Michael. Usually, an archer wouldn't be as proficient in close combat as the dark elf. The dark elf blocked Michael's punches with the bow and arrow. If Michael lost his concentration even for a second, the dark elf would break his mask and stab him in the chest with the arrow.
Obviously, the dark elf was a good fighter, but Michael was better. The more he fought with the dark elf, the more he learned about the dark elf's fighting style. Hence, Michael was able to predict his moves before even he could make them. As a result, when the dark elf tried to block Michael's left hook, Michael quickly plunged his knee into the dark elf's gut.
"Argh," the dark elf groaned and missed to notice the fist coming towards him in pain.
Bang!
The dark elf surprised Michael again by grabbing Michael's fist.
Michael did not expect the dark elf to recover so soon. Luckily, Michael still had the arrow in his hand. Without delaying, Michael pulled out his fist, stabbing the dark elf with the arrow in his other hand. He plunged the arrow's head straight into the dark elf's rib cage without cutting any of his major organs.
"Commander!"
The dark elves shouted, looking at Michael stabbing the dark elf again and again. The dark elf was lucky Michael didn't go for the kill. Instead, he rapidly stabbed the dark elf to make him bleed and weaker.
"Drop your bows, or I'll slit his throat right now," Michael moved behind the dark elf, who had blood leaking out of his side, and put the bloody arrow against the dark elf's throat.
"You should listen to him," Gaya coldly snarled at the dark elves. Then, seeing their commander's life in danger, the dark elves hesitated but eventually lowered their bows.
"You have become our enemy," the dark elf whispered, gritting his teeth.
"It won't take long to slit your throat and kill your friends. Know that I didn't want to kill you but save you. You will understand soon enough," Michael whispered into the dark elf's ear as the dark elves stared at him with eyes full of anger and murderous intent.
If stares could kill a person, Michael would have died several times by now.