Starting with the goblin extermination

The smoke was still thick, and countless sounds of bodies colliding reached Elsa's ears. She held Lily's hand tightly, unwilling to let go.

She was in a hurry, but she didn't walk fast.

Lily was weaker than expected, perhaps because she had been imprisoned for too long, or perhaps because she was frightened by the fighting crowd around her. The girl's legs were weak, forcing Elsa to slow down.

Darkness, thick fog, and raging fire drove everyone mad.

An escaped orc slave mistook Elsa for a henchman and charged at her, only to have his throat slashed by Elsa.

Lily's face twitched, and she bit her lip, making no sound.

This wasn't the first enemy Elsa dealt with on her journey. The knife-wielding thugs slashed at anyone they saw in the smoke, forcing Elsa to fight alongside them while protecting Lily. In the end, she beheaded several people who died with their eyes wide open in disbelief.

This might be the last one, because the exit is right in front of us.

They arrived at the exit, where there was no light; the thick fog and the raging fire were left behind.

Elsa took Lily's little hand and walked out.

Sweat-dampened skin could feel the night wind outside; the area outside the outpost was pitch black and deserted.

Elsa looked at Lily, her two blue eyes blinking, both revealing the joy of surviving a disaster.

They escaped.

Elsa pulled Lily into the darkness, eager to leave the lumberyard behind them.

A voice broke the silence, making their hearts stop beating.

"That won't do."

Then they saw light, flickering, bright flames dancing.

Elsa released Lily's hand, her mind reeling from fear, both of their palms sweating profusely.

Damn it...

Four burly thugs stood in a semicircle, each fully armed and gripping a long knife.

A bald, middle-aged man in dark green light armor stood on a tree not far away. The bowstring in his hand was fully drawn, and the arrow was casually moving between Elsa and Lily, as if he was deciding what to have for dinner.

Elsa's heart sank to the bottom.

Professional.

The bald man looked down at Elsa, his gaze lingering on her exposed pointed ears.

"Are you really alone?"

He seemed somewhat surprised.

"I thought it was a small team sent by the guild, but it turns out to be just a little rat like you. Looks like we don't need to retreat then," the bald man gestured with his chin toward the fire-scorched lumberyard. "It cost a lot of money, didn't it? Well done."

He stared at Elsa's beautiful face, stained with blood, and paused for a moment.

"You've cost us dozens of slaves; that's no small matter." The bald man flicked his wrist, and an arrow was locked onto Elsa's heart. "Surrender. I'll have my brothers treat you well for a few nights, and once they're done, you and the little one next to you will be sent away as slaves."

The bald man spoke calmly, as if he were talking about something insignificant, while the thugs below let out nauseating, lewd laughs.

Elsa didn't answer, but simply turned her head slightly and said to Lily, "Run east."

As soon as he finished speaking, the bald man in the tree released his fingers from the bowstring.

Whoosh!

The arrow, glowing with a faint green light, shot towards Elsa. Elsa had already moved, but the arrow was too fast, and the sharp arrowhead still grazed Elsa's left shoulder, leaving a trail of blood.

The bald man gave a meaningful smile.

The moment Elsa dodged, the fuse was lit, and the milky white sphere and the red bottle were released almost simultaneously. Smoke exploded between the thugs, accompanied by a loud thud.

The thugs were instantly stunned by the explosion, and then their sight was taken away.

Elsa's forehead veins bulged, her eyes widened, and she grabbed Lily as they ran through the smoke.

Thanks to her combat skills, the smoke couldn't affect her.

Unable to find their target, the two thugs turned away. One, with his back to her, easily sliced ​​through her armor with his enchanted dagger. The second turned around upon hearing the sound, but it was too late; the blue-glowing blade grazed his neck.

These thugs aren't the key; the key is the professional lurking in the tree.

She had assumed the smoke would obstruct the vision of professionals.

But the two arrows, one after the other, pierced through the thick smoke and struck Elsa precisely, as if the smoke didn't exist for the bald man at all!

Elsa swung her hand to knock one down, her hand going numb from the impact. Then another arrow arrived, giving her no chance to catch her breath. She forcefully twisted her body, dodging the trajectory of the second arrow.

Unexpectedly, the arrow slightly changed direction in mid-air and instantly pierced her left shoulder. She felt as if she had been hit hard with a hammer, and her lip was so painful that she bit it until it bled.

"Ah!" Lily cried out in terror.

But Elsa didn't have time to comfort her sister.

"run!"

She let out a low growl and grabbed the arrow shaft, pulling it out! Blood gushed out instantly, and then a bottle of [Basic Healing Potion] was poured down her throat, stopping the bleeding immediately.

We must take the initiative and attack!

Elsa pushed Lily aside and charged toward the bald man's location.

The bald man leaped down from the tree, and the two moved at high speed through the forest.

Elsa was incredibly fast; using Shadow Step, the blade appeared instantly before the bald man's eyes.

But the man laughed.

His feet suddenly glowed with a faint green light, and with a stomp on the ground, he eerily leaped into the air, retreating several meters backward.

He felt a sense of cat-and-mouse fun. In mid-air as he retreated, he casually drew his arrow, not even glancing at Elsa, but aiming directly at Lily, who was scrambling and crawling through the bushes in the distance.

"No!"

Elsa frantically changed direction and pounced forward in a disheveled manner.

when!

The dagger barely managed to cut off the arrow, but the enormous recoil tore her hand apart, and blood instantly stained the hilt of the dagger.

The remaining two thugs tried to flank them, but Elsa, in the instant she rolled to her feet, threw two throwing knives that slit their throats.

But the second arrow had already arrived, and it was aimed at her.

*Thud!* The arrow pierced her thigh.

Elsa knelt on the ground and gritted her teeth to drink the second vial of medicine. But this time the effect was noticeably weaker, and the deep tearing sensation still made her break out in a cold sweat.

Must get close...

Elsa unleashed the full power of Shadow Step, her body flashing through the shadows of the forest before launching a surprise attack on Karu from a cunning blind spot.

But it was no use; her location had already been discovered.

"The marks on your body stink like a rat in a sewer," the bald man sneered.

He didn't even move much, just slightly turned his head, and fired a series of shots with his longbow.

*Thud!* An arrow pierced Elsa's right arm, and the dagger slipped from her hand.

*Thud!* Another arrow grazed her cheek, tearing open a bloody gash that instantly smeared her left cheek with blood.

*Thud!* The third arrow pierced her stomach, and Elsa coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Her vision was completely black, and she instinctively threw the throwing knife forward with her left hand, cutting a shallow gash on the bald man's face.

The bald man stopped in his tracks.

He dabbed the blood seeping from his face with his finger, put it in his mouth and licked it, his eyes instantly turning cold.

"You're very good."

The bald man, carrying a longbow, walked towards Elsa.

"Night vision potion, speed potion, and maybe even a toughness potion? You've prepared well for that little bastard, but..."

With those cold words, Karu slammed his right leg into Elsa's abdomen.

boom!

Elsa flew backward like a rag doll, her back slamming hard against a tree, shaking down a shower of gray-green leaves.

She slowly slid to the ground, vomiting mouthfuls of blood mixed with pieces of internal organs, and could no longer get up.

"Unemployed trash will never know how strong professionals are."

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the logging camp; it was three thugs who had chased after them as the commotion subsided.

The bald man straightened up, not even glancing at Elsa on the ground.

He gestured with his chin in the direction Lily had disappeared, and ordered the three who had arrived, "Go, bring that little bastard back to me, alive."

The three thugs grinned maliciously, drew their weapons, and rushed into the darkness.

Elsa's face turned limply toward the direction Lily had fled. She coughed up blood clots, feeling as if all the bones in her body were broken, and she didn't have the strength to move a single finger.

She can't outrun them. How could Lily possibly outrun those adult men?

Lily, I'm sorry.

Despair and resentment overwhelmed her like a tidal wave. Memories flashed through her mind: childhood memories with her sister, memories of being taken away by the court, memories of being found by her sister after regaining her memories and escaping, and memories with Logan.

Logan.

That blond northern man.

Perhaps we'll never see each other again.

Thinking of this, she choked up.

"die!"

A sudden, violent red light shone in the darkness.

In the direction Lily fled, two warm corpses were kicked away like trash, their throats shattered by the brutal force, not even having time to scream.

It was too fast, faster than the third thug's reaction, even faster than the bald man's eyes.

boom!

A towering figure emerged from the shadows like a giant dragon, crushing everything in its path!

[Wolf Attack]!

A red light flashed, and the person glided across the distance of dozens of meters in an instant.

[Thrust]!

A broad, greyish-white longsword, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, fiercely attacked the bald man's chest!

The bald man's eyelids twitched wildly. Years of combat instincts allowed him to unleash his maximum speed. Green light appeared under his feet, and he performed a backflip, narrowly avoiding the fatal sword strike.

Along the path that the red light had just passed, the third thug who had been chasing him stood frozen in place, his chest riddled with a gaping hole, and he slowly collapsed, seemingly incredulously.

The heavy steel ring armor emitted a cold, grinding sound.

Logan stood firmly in front of Elsa. His back was to the girl lying in a pool of blood, his sword tip dripping blood, pointing at the bald man before him.

"Your sister?"

Elsa stared blankly at the suddenly appearing figure, her tense nerves finally relaxing, and tears mixed with blood gushed out like a burst dam.

"Mmm." Her voice was trembling with tears.

"She's alright."

Logan refocused his gaze on the bald man in front of him.

"Leave the rest to me."