Races: Online

People could say one thing and still do the exact opposite of what they said. That was a problem that emerged when her gaze fixed as several men came onto her at once and Iolanthe Sargon reflexively froze, her jaw tightened and she prepared for the worst—an Archer had one arrow nocked in their bow.

One wrong move really did spell out her end, until a voice spoke up amidst the traitorous crowd. 

"Hah… Humans really are disgusting." 

The voice had a touch of scorn and before she could figure out where the voice emerged—fire exploded from the back of the group along with a bright searing light. Another female voice emerged with a touch of tiredness. "Did you really have to announce our presence—Blindness!"

"Regroup, regroup!"

Swords clattered and clanged amongst the people. Different flashes of magic emerged and attacked one another.

"They're not humans!"

"Finish them off—"

"They're elites!"

A wave of panic had emerged in the crowd of men, and Iolathne felt the force of magic around her vanish. She immediately kicked the man trying to remove the ring in her hand and she stood up—and felt someone tug her backwards to run off with her. No. The person tugged off her Lamia's cloak. 

Iolanthe spun around to confront them, but they were gone.

Her invisibility with them.

The Princess' gaze darted around the forest—she needed to escape amidst the trouble shaking up the entire group, but where? Did Iola need to head back to the city? It wasn't actually that far and so she darted in the right direction.

Until a decapitated head rolled over in front of her. The man's expression still stuck moments before he died. She looked up and realized she had missed this Assassin. Their features were slightly hidden, and it was already late at night but the darkness in their eyes and even skin could have been darker than the night.

It revealed who or what they were. 

A Shadow Elf.

A thread of lightning struck in the Elf's direction and pierced her vision with a burst of light. Right before it stopped, the Princess began to run past it until she felt her entire body connect with the ground. 

The Elf was stepping down onto her back.

She was once again captured, and this time her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. The Princess had already ignored it before with her intentions only to escape, but the reality of things began to dawn itself on her. Her gaze flitted behind her and she quickly identified a fire-variant race with horns and a demon-like appearance and then a woman with glowing elven features.

The people who had captured her were scattered—some lay dead on the ground, but she was sure that others managed to escape and retreat than face this trio that they encountered. Was this supposed to be some elite scout or hunter group?

She tried to squirm and twitched her finger.

Another aim in the proper direction would help her, wouldn't she? The ring she had recharged far too quickly than normal even with the stupendous mana cost. But the Elf's gaze was already on her hand, and her body shuddered involuntarily. The effect of his piercing look and possibly a Skill ran through her and inflicted her a status of fear and paralysis.

If this person wanted to crush her hand, then he would.

Had they figured out her identity, or were they simply here by chance? She felt her body become even more intimate with the dirt as the Elf's foot continued to dig on her back. A silent punishment for even trying to think of an escape.

The Princess let out a wheeze, and her fingers clawed through the dirt. "If you're going to kill me… be quick with it."

Yes, these were the words that she said instead of trying to plead with her life.

It was a ridiculous notion.

Until she heard the same woman who spoke up first, and it was the ferocious demon, no, not a Demon, but a Tiefling who was the owner of the voice. "Can you be careful with that one, Bleu? Are you trying to kill her or what? Humans are weak and she'd get crushed with that pressure."

The Princess felt the weight on her back lessen enough that she could actually breathe and lift her body slightly, but she was still trapped underneath the Elf. 

What exactly did they want?

"We're done here, let her go~" The Light Elf spoke up.

At the exact moment that the Shadow Elf's foot was removed from her back—she threw dirt into his face and immediately stood up. The Princess mustered her loudest and every inch of her authority in her voice, "Stop, you trespassers!" She blasted her aura on all three of them and felt it somewhat hold them in place.

But it was because they weren't actively trying to resist it.

"Ah—she got you good, didn't she?" the Tiefling cracked up a laugh and shook her head. But then gave her a calm look. "If you know what's good for you, Your Highness. Better be grateful for our intervention than letting those scumbags touch you."

Iolanthe frowned at those words and glared. "If you had that in your intention then you should have finished off everyone, but you let some of them go away."

"Well, our intention was to save you right now, and we did it." the Light Elf gave her a smile.

The Tiefling snorted and waved a hand. "We're not actually here to get involved with whatever it is that you humans are fighting about. Consider yourself indebted to us."

So this was what it was about? A debt of gratitude for saving a Princess' life. Iolanthe Sargon folded her hands together and eyed the three of them. Haven't they recognized the idea that she was a Princess far away from her Castle? "How did the three of you get here? Did you wish to enter here and gain legal entry and recognition in the kingdom of Yegarian in spite of your Races?"

Her words elicited laughter amongst one of them—particularly the Light Elf, who wiped one of her eyes. "Ah… was that rude? I thought it was genuinely funny."

The Tiefling gave her a look. "We're not interested in that sort of thing. We have our own lands that are far larger and grander than yours."

"Are you sure about that, Tierra?"

"Shut up."

Iola's own memory of geographies beyond the Endless Passes was still a little lacking, but if she had to base her knowledge now. The Tieflings were a Race that were mostly nomadic than having their own land. It was a far harsher battle for land beyond that of the mountain ranges.

The Princess still stayed silent and awaited for them to respond to her. And then she noticed that the Shadow Elf had disappeared out of nowhere. Her concentration had broken off, didn't it—her gaze flickered around the trees and she gritted her teeth. "Where is your other friend now? I did not think that meeting a Princess would be such a trivial matter for the three of you visitors from faraway lands."

"Oh yeah, where did he go?"

"Hmm… he's just going to come back."

The two of them were relaxed and uncaring of the situation. The Princess' gaze flickered at their surroundings and she covered her mouth and fought back a lurch. Burn marks on bodies and some looked… vaporized? Then there were those decapitated quickly. Their nonchalant nature made her sick, yet she looked at them and asked, "Couldn't you have spared them?"

"Why so?"

"I don't think it would end quietly if we attempted to capture them."

"Well, the others escaped, so this isn't the end of it."

Were they not capable of giving mercy?

The Princess understood that what might have happened if it weren't for their intervention—it might have ended with her death or at least put the Yegarian Kingdom in a politically bad position. She had no other way of identifying whoever had caused this incident besides the heads of the people.

They might also just be hired men without any affiliation, identification or knowledge either. However, the people knew she was a Princess. Such information wouldn't be just provided to anybody, couldn't they? 

"But most important of all—it was a chance to gain experience. It had been such a hard time trying to educate those up-and-coming kids in the city of Gloria." the Light Elf fanned her face. "How many did you earn, Tierra?"

"... Do you really think we should be discussing this?" The Tiefling frowned. "But not much, they were low-leveled."

"Hmm, if my assessment was correct, they were around mid-twenties. At least some of them. The Mages were actually good, and the boss escaped?"

"Not really impressive. The man stole a near-relic class artifact."

The Princess stared at them in silence—perhaps she should have just started running right now. But the information they were talking about was quickly taken note of by her… they thought that someone in their mid-twenties in terms of leveling and such was weak? It was already a considerable feat for people who did not know how to level up properly.

What kind of insane monsters were they?

Why did they come here? 

A body flew out of nowhere and landed in front of her. The body convulsed and shook… a young man's face looked at her in fear and pain. She immediately took a step back and felt her throat tighten. The Princess's gaze then lifted up in time to see the Shadow Elf emerging from the tree lines and he held out the Lamia's cloak. 

He finally spoke up, "This is yours?"

She could have laughed or cried by now.