Chapter 46: Lightning Bolt
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 46: Lightning Bolt
Fwoom—!
White smoke filled the room. Yohan flinched, wrapping his arms around himself. He’d thought a bomb had gone off, but that wasn’t it.
As the smoke cleared, Yohan realized the elf who had been in front of him had vanished.
“…What the hell? Where’d she go?”
He shot up from his seat and approached the spot where the village chief had been. He found a single stuffed doll where she had been sitting and picked it up.
It was a plush doll that a three-year-old might play with. Looking closer, he saw that it perfectly mirrored the features of the village chief he had just seen.
Long ears, a mature face, large breasts…
Yohan realized the elf who had been sitting before him was a fake. And there was only one person who could do something like this.
‘…A witch?’
This was the other side of the Great Mountain Range, a place even his teacher had warned was too dangerous to approach. Yohan had always wondered why she was so reluctant, but now he was starting to understand.
If this mountain range was the territory of another witch, his teacher, who hated fighting, would have had no reason to target it.
And—it went without saying—witches were dangerous. The ones he had met all possessed the ability to kill at least one person without a second thought.
“I have to get out of here…”
Realizing this place was a miniature garden created by a witch, Yohan began to formulate a plan to escape. First, he’d take down the guard standing outside, and before the other elves could figure out what was happening—
Creeak—!
“What? Where is the Chief…?”
Just then, an elf opened the door, his eyes landing on the doll in Yohan’s hand. His expression hardened. He reacted with the passion of someone who had just discovered a forbidden secret that must never be revealed.
But before Yohan could use that reaction to his advantage, the elf immediately blew a whistle. It was an emergency signal, a high-frequency sound inaudible to human ears.
In the next moment, elves from all over the city began to gather to hunt Yohan down.
Swoosh—!
An arrow flew toward him. There was a space to dodge. But he couldn’t.
“Ugh—!”
He tried to snatch the arrow out of the air but failed, and the skin on his hand was torn to shreds. Wincing in pain, he glanced around. Dozens of arrows flew in and struck the very space he could have dodged into.
By staying put, he had avoided those arrows, but another volley immediately followed, flying at a random, unpredictable rhythm.
‘Fucking bastards—!’
Cursing inwardly, he searched for cover. He ducked behind a house, creating a momentary lull, but it didn’t last long.
Swoosh—!
Thwack!
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Seeing an arrow drop from the sky like an artillery shell, I pressed myself flat against the wall. Immediately after, arrows began to rain down from above.
Realizing there was no escape outside, I smashed through the wall and burst inside the house. An elf family, who had apparently been waiting for me, charged at me with kitchen knives.
This was actually easier. I parried the incoming knives and lightly activated my magic. One of the elves turned into a doll.
Seeing this, a young elf trembled as she aimed her weapon at me.
“…D-Die—!”
“Sorry, but you can’t beat me. Put that down.”
“No—! You murderer!”
“Who are you calling a murderer… you’re just a doll.”
I scratched the back of my head and took a step closer. The young elf swung her weapon wildly.
I easily dodged, knocked the weapon from her hand, and subdued her.
“Kyaaaaaah—!”
“Stop screaming. Anyone would think I’m trying to kill you.”
“B-But—! You just killed my dad—! You human—!”
“Yeah, yeah, for a doll. Don’t struggle, let’s make this easy on both of us, okay?”
With those words, I took the girl hostage and went up to the second floor of the house. I memorized the positions of the windows and furniture, then hid in a spot where the arrows couldn’t reach.
Then I thought about how to get out of here.
‘Instructor, you should have taught me this kind of thing. Shit…’
I was somehow holding on thanks to the martial arts, tactics, tracking, and escape skills Ludwig had taught me, but my opponents were the worst possible match.
Elves, known as the hunters of the forest. Masters of the bow, experts in the hunt. I didn’t know if that held true in this world, but judging by their archery and the way they were cornering me, my guess probably wasn’t far off.
Above all, the numerical disadvantage was the biggest problem. They seemed determined to kill me no matter what, and it looked like they didn’t care about sacrificing one or two elves in the process…
Fwoosh—!
“What the fuck.”
Suddenly, the surroundings were engulfed by a demon of fire. It didn’t take long for me to realize why. I scowled, picturing the elves outside setting the building ablaze.
‘Crazy bastards.’
They had a hostage in here, but they clearly didn’t give a damn. The flames grew stronger. I moved the furniture I’d used to block the way and prepared to jump out the window.
Since there were only two ways out, I fully expected to be turned into a pincushion by arrows the moment I left.
“Hey, you. You’re going to die if you stay here. You okay with that?”
“My people will avenge me!”
“What are you talking about? They’re the ones trying to kill you…”
I let out a hollow laugh of disbelief, then stood up, holding the girl. Tensing my legs, I prepared to spring and charged straight for the window.
The moment I shattered the window with my back and leaped outside, arrows began flying from all directions, just as I’d expected.
Seeing the girl’s face pale with fear at the arrows heading for her, I patted her head as if to reassure her.
Fwoom—!
Just as the arrows were about to pierce my body, I used my magic on the girl in my arms. Her body turned back into a doll, causing a faint explosion.
It wasn’t very powerful, but it was enough to momentarily divert the arrows’ trajectories. The smoke that billowed out afterward concealed my position.
I saw the elves, having momentarily lost sight of me, begin a calm and composed retreat, but it was too late.
‘Within sight.’
Using Ludwig’s secret technique, Super Acceleration, I appeared before the elves in an instant. They spotted me, their eyes widening in shock.
They reacted quickly, raising their bows to aim at me, but it was too late.
“That’s one.”
Poof—!
Death by a single touch. Realizing this, the elves began to tremble in fear. The death of one or two elves was an acceptable sacrifice, but they couldn’t pretend the deaths of this many were unavoidable.
After turning two more elves into dolls, I charged toward the terrified survivors.
Like a lion dropped among a flock of sheep, the elves scattered in every direction in a panic.
In a room filled with dolls, a room that looked like it was made for a little girl, a young witch frowned as she felt the threads connecting her to her dolls snap one by one.
If the link to the teddy bear she had sent out recently had been severed, she could have deduced that a very powerful being had appeared and killed the vampire.
But the threads breaking now weren’t from the teddy bear. They were the threads of the elves who served her, threads she had created a very long time ago.
“Why are these suddenly breaking?”
Oh, my lady. It means the elves are under attack.
“What? Really!?”
Yes, this is terrible. If you don’t hurry, all the ones who make your meals might die too~
“Th-That would be a disaster!”
The young witch, who was talking to her doll using ventriloquism, immediately threw on her cloak and headed for the elf village.
With her short legs and small steps, she sprinted as fast as she could toward the village.
A massacre. There was no other way to describe it.
“Die—!”
The distance was too close. The elves who thrust their spears at the monster who could dodge arrows just by seeing them had their weapons helplessly snatched away before they even realized what he had done.
After taking their spears, the monster casually swung the weapons, turning the elves into dolls one by one.
He was a serial killer, a psychopath who had already sacrificed dozens of villagers. With tears in their eyes, the elves swung their weapons to protect their families and their lives.
‘Amateurish.’
Yohan effortlessly disarmed them and swung the polearms back at the elves. Normally, they would have collapsed, bleeding profusely, but the magic imbued in the blades simply turned them into dolls.
As he turned dozens of elves into dolls, Yohan’s skills were being honed, growing sharper.
He’d seen so many arrows now that he could knock them aside with his eyes. Even if dozens flew at him, it was no great concern. If he could deflect one, he could deflect dozens.
“Please, just get out of our village—!”
“Just die, you monster!”
The fakes, given life by a witch’s magic, vented their rage at a true living being. Yohan felt nothing as he watched them scream.
They were dolls. He finally understood why they had the appearance of elves. Elves never aged, and they could all be beautiful.
Just like dolls—.
“Ramiel—!”
Just then, an angel rose high into the sky. It was at an altitude so high his magic couldn’t reach.
Yohan glanced at the young witch who had appeared, wearing a cloak and a pointed hat.
She pointed a finger at Yohan and shouted.
“Get rid of him—!”
“This is my first time fighting a witch alone.”
“…Huh?”
The witch was startled to hear Yohan speak, but the angel’s chariot wheels turned faster.
A bolt of lightning struck the ground.