Chapter 200: Better Safe than Sorry
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Suzanna raised her arm and hid half of her face from the elf. Her nose and mouth were obscured by her arm, but her eyes were still visible. This seemed like a strange move, but the mercenary gasped, and looked shocked and confused.
"You-You’re…" the elf said, stumbling over his words.
Suzanna did not wait for him to finish. She raised her sword and lunged at the mercenary, slashing at his head. The mercenary stumbled away and raised his shield. Suzanna’s sword radiance broke apart as it hit the shield, and the mercenary took a few steps back. The shield was clearly not just a common shield. After blocking attacks from both Anfey and Suzanna, it was still intact.
The elf arched his back and dashed towards Suzanna. He held out his bow and displayed his expert archer skills again. He released three arrows at Suzanna in quick succession. One of the arrows flew towards Suzanna’s throat, while the other two were aimed at her shoulders.
Suzanna ducked and avoided the arrows. Then she lashed out again, her combat power bright and powerful.
Anfey dashed forward and engaged the swordsman. He liked using bows and arrows, but fighting an archer who was superior to him required him to engage his opponent in close combat.
The elf kept backing away, leaving blurred images where he had stood only moments ago. He kept attacking Suzanna and found time to shoot arrows towards Anfey as well.
Anfey kept himself calm. He knew how fast the elf could be. He did not watch the elf’s hand, and instead focused on the short, green bow. As soon as the bow changed direction, he jumped to the side. The arrows flew past him.
Suzanna was forced to stop her attack and use defensive moves after a series of attacks. She observed her enemies carefully, trying to protect herself. Since Suzanna stopped attacking, the enemies turned their focus to Anfey. He stumbled through the grass and gave up trying to engage in close combat. He then jumped up and summoned his longbow. He shot at the elf, then disappeared into the bushes again.
The elf clearly was better at attacking than he was at defending himself. Anfey’s arrow almost hit his chest. The elf countered the attack and blocked the arrow with his bow. However, this knocked him off balance.
The mercenary stumbled awkwardly. It was clear that he was untrained in this form of combat.
Anfey quickly ducked behind another bush after he landed, but did not hear the sound of arrows. He looked up and searched for the elf. He aimed his longbow at the elf and fired again.
The bush in front of the elf suddenly changed shape and turned into a large shield. The shield distracted Anfey, and the elf ducked behind a tree.
Anfey waved his hand and summoned an element arrow. He nocked the arrow and shot at the tree.
The element arrow exploded on the tree and left a large hole. The elf jumped out of the way and avoided the fate of being killed by the arrow. He jumped quicly away from the tree.
Logically, Anfey should feel frustrated that all his shots missed the target. However, he felt more relieved than frustrated. He needed to force the elf away from the fight. Suzanna was more powerful than the mercenary with the shield, and as long as there was no distraction, she could easily defeat him. If the mercenary died, the elf would not last long. Anfey swept his gaze through the forest and saw Riska hiding among the trees. Most of the students that escaped the Sacred City had some change in heart. Mages value tradition and glory, but these students stopped caring about those things. What was important to them was victory.
The elf whispered something under his breath, and his body was enveloped by vines. As
Anfey approached, the vines quickly shriveled up, and two men appeared. The two figures dashed in opposite directions.
Anfey was shocked by this sudden change. He drew his bow and fired an arrow at the figure dashing to the left. The figure was hit and dispersed into green lights. The figure to the right had already drawn his bow.
Anfey jumped aside to avoid the arrows. He could clearly hear the sound of arrows ripping through the air. Some arrows came dangerously close to him.
Anfey didn't have the time or need to turn around. He move around in the forest quickly, with the elf close behind him. There was hatred and anxiety in the elf’s eyes. It appeared that he knew well how powerful Suzanna was, and wanted to return to help his companion.
Anfey was already several hundred feet away, but the elf was still close behind him. He turned to the left and kicked on a large stone. He jumped into a tree, and jumped down, disappearing from the elf's vision.
The elf followed him and jumped into the tree, and suddenly felt magic surges from behind a small mound. He knew Anfey was about to summon an element arrow again. The elf was very worried about the length of the fight. He wasn’t sure if the other mercenary could hold Suzanna off for long. He wanted to end his fight and return to help his friend. Seeing no other options, the elf jumped off of the tree and began to shoot arrows more quickly. The arrows attacked the mound from all sides, blocking all possibilities of escape for whoever was behind it.
The elf landed, and realized the ground under his feet was not solid ground, but instead soft mud. His body began sinking.
If he was just normally walking or running, maybe he could have escaped the swamp. Instead, he had jumped down from a tree and had too much momentum. He was deep in the swamp before he even realized what had happened.
Lightning struck the elf, and Anfey jumped out from behind the mound. He held his fire sword and slashed at the elf’s neck.
"Saved your skin, didn’t I?" Riska said, appearing from among the trees. Growth was inevitable, and Riska, who would once feel nauseous at the sight of blood, no longer felt discomfort at the sight of it.
"Finally," Anfey said, sighing in relief. He had learned a lot from this fight. Not only did it help him perfect his skills, it also helped him find himself again. Now, however, the only thing he needed was rest.
Suzanna had the advantage. Every time her sword thrust out, her opponent would stumble back. Seeing that Anfey and Riska had joined Suzanna, and the elf did not reappear, the mercenary knew that he had no hope of winning. He bellowed and raised his shield, fending off Suzanna’s attack. Then he glanced at the sky, and buried his own sword in his chest. He stumbled back, then fell to the ground.
Suzanna stood there, staring at her fallen opponent, her eyes staring at the mercenary but seeing something hidden deep in her memories.
Anfey walked over and took the shield from the mercenary’s hand. Then he brought the large shield down on the man’s head, crushing his skull.
Riska jumped back, staring it Anfey. Suzanna turned and frowned, perplexed by his actions.
"Come, we need to find a place to rest," Anfey said.
Whenever Anfey saw someone who committed suicide, it always reminded him of a woman he had fought years ago. Someone had commissioned him to kill her. After an intense fight, the woman realized she was no match to him, and committed suicide by shoot herself in the chest. Anfey thought he had finished the job, but six months later she reappeared and held him at gunpoint.
Anfey could not believe what he was seeing, but the woman told him that there were places on a person’s chest that would allow a bullet to go through without killing the person. The woman, however, did not control her emotions too well. She wanted to tell Anfey about how she had lived, because she wanted to see his regret about not finishing her off. In the end, Anfey took her gun and killed her in a fight. In order not to make the same mistake again, Anfey made sure that he put enough bullets through her.
After that, whenever someone committed suicide in front of him, Anfey felt obligated to make sure his opponent was really dead. After all, life was not a play, and it was better to make sure one’s enemies did not come back from the dead.