Chapter 187 Dark Elf Commander
"That was too close, how did we not hear any of them?" Shaman fell on the floor upon entering as she ended up diving in trying to not get hit by the arrows.
"Wish I knew, but we need to get moving." Elysia was on her knees as she also jumped in and didn't quite land properly.
"Ambush the ambush?" Clara figured they could traverse to behind the elves while in Shaman's stardust.
"Sounds good to me, I think the main elf that called the shots was this way." Shaman looked over to a church where the voice came from and assumed it was a commander of some kind.
Getting up from the ground, they all ran to the church and, as they got close, Shaman made an ice staircase to the top of the church's roof.
Opening up a portal, they all quickly jumped out and found themselves behind a line of archers. Without saying a word, Elysia saw the opportunity for battle and activated her hybrid fox form, dashing at the elves.
Grabbing one by the back of the head, she crushed his skull and set the body on fire. She then moved on to the other elves who did not have any short-range weapons and could only retaliate with their arrows, but Elysia was too close. Setting a few more on fire, the vitality in her fire was being refilled, allowing her to heal again.
Clara also made a move and, taking advantage of her blade whips range, swung them at a couple of elves wrapping the whips around their necks. Pulling the whips back, she decapitated them without issue and moved on to some other elven archers.
'Damn didn't realise Elysia was able to combine her hybrid form with her fire.' Shaman, seeing Elysia's form for the first time, was rather amazed at how strong it was.
'I wonder If I could do something like that.' Shaman liked the sound of having her own hybrid form, but she knew it had to do with Elysia's bloodline, making it impossible for Shaman to get.
There was also the system, but she found it unlikely it would be possible.
[It is, but it will require a ritual and you already have the ingredients.] Rea spoke, finally having something she could answer.
'Oh Rea…. Sorry, forgot about you.' Shaman was a bit startled to hear Rea and it also reminded her of how she completely forgot about Rea's existence.
[Yeah I know, anyway the next skill select you get you can choose to take Elysia's skill, just need to clear the first floor and you will get a reward.] Rea spoke, sounding rather depressed. Soon after a quest pop-up appeared which was something Shaman hadn't seen in a while.
[Clear the first level of the dungeon.]
[Skill select x 4]
'Oh thank you, I'll try to make sure to talk to you more.' Shaman was getting distracted and could tell the elves now realised they were up on the roof.
[...] Rea stayed silent, not hopeful, but it did lighten her mood knowing that there might be a chance.
Shaman felt bad, but she needed to get to the commanding elf before another barrage of arrows descended on them.
Sprinting off the roof, she noticed a dark elf in a rather grand armour which seemed more detailed as well as embroidered with a lot more gold.
"Let's see how strong you are." Kotetsu in hand, Shaman started off imbuing it with her ice and upon landing she also activated her domain, giving her a much needed boost.
Silver had also joined Shaman and hid in her shadow just as she started sprinting. He also let out his own domain spread through the flowers providing a rather nice cover.
"Little intruders, you shall die here." The dark elf being a tier 6 leader had the ability to speak, unlike the intelligible groans of hate from the normal elves.
"Sorry, but I'm digging your grave, not mine." Shaman dashed forward towards the commander elf while creating her ice stardust sword.
The commander pulled out a sword that was completely black and had dark purple energy around it, similar to Silver's scythe.
'Do demons have something to do with the dungeons?' Shaman was surprised to see another weapon like Silver's and wondered if the reason for the dungeons to appear could have been because of the demons.
Shaman wanted to investigate more, but she didn't have time to think as she was just about to reach the elf.
However, just before she reached the commander, shadow spikes emerged from the ground trapping the elf. Shaman realised that Silver was nearby and so she took the advantage he just gave her.
"Weak." The elf muttered these words as Shaman went to decapitate him.
Suddenly the spikes were absorbed into the sword, which in one quick motion parried Shaman's strike. Using his free hand he struck Shaman with his palm right in the stomach and sent her flying.
Silver got agitated by this and came out from underneath the commander alongside a bunch of shadow scythes.
The commander used his sword again to absorb the shadows while also using wind to push himself away from Silver's attack.
*cough* *cough* Shaman was coughing heavily as she landed on the wall of the church, winded from the blow.
"This bastard." Shaman wiped away the blood that came out of her mouth and pulled herself out of the wall.
'I don't know if I can beat him.' Shaman did not like her odds as the commander was greatly skilled and much faster than her.
'Could do with a special form like Elysia about now.' Shaman tried thinking of a way to approach the commander, but was too late as once he dodged Silver, he went directly for Shaman.
"Die!" Spinning in the air, the commander used his wind to make himself faster, turning himself into a blur.
"Shit!" Shaman knew she couldn't block it so she quickly opened a stardust portal under her feet and fell through.
The commander hit the church, shaking the entire building to its very foundations.
Shaman coming out a bit further back, Shaman used what little stardust remained near the commander to apply an illusion.
The commander noticed the stardust and tried to use his sword to suck it up, but it was completely unaffected, putting him under the illusion.
Shaman tried making as many clones as she could without completely draining her mana and sent them all towards the commander. Hiding amongst them, she hoped that the commander would choose to ignore her clones as her illusion actually did physical harm.
A burst of wind came out in front of the commander, halting the movement of both the clones and Shaman. During that moment, the commander vanished from the spot, followed by the sudden destruction of the unprepared clones. Trying to retaliate, Shaman created more just behind the commander and switched places with one.
Slashing down at him, she waited for the last possible moment to coat her sword with fire and, just as she hoped, the commander tried using wind to stop her attack. The flames on the sword exploded and became more violent, creating a makeshift version of her flamescion skill.
The back of the commander's armour was cut like butter as Shaman landed a deep slash on his back.
"ARGGHH!" Screaming out in pain he turned around to strike at Shaman, but she quickly switched with a clone and went for another slash. This time the commander did not make the same mistake of using his wind. However, since he was expecting it he was still able to pivot on his feet and parry Shaman.
This left the commander open to the clones as they all went on the attack, no longer getting stopped by the wind which the commander dispelled. Silver also jumped back into the fight and striked at his back, giving up on using his shadows as it was completely useless against the commander.
However, before the attack could reach him, dark purple energy began to surround the commander. Shortly after he bent backwards and screamed into the air, causing the dark energy to spew out pushing everything back.
"No way, he has a transformation!" Shaman, using her rift, quickly moved away while also opening up a portal next to Silver to help him get away.
Shaman opened up a portal at the edge of her domain and Silver came out followed by Shaman shortly after.
"It's like the skeleton knight." Silver remembered the knight having a sort of transformation and it seemed to have something to do with the weapon.
"Wouldn't have expected that to be the case, but now we need to be extra careful." Shaman dispelled both her clones and the illusion as this fight was going to take much longer.
"It seems like Clara and Elysia are about to finish up the archers and should be here soon." Silver looked around and noticed the fire trail Elysia left, which by now formed about half of a circle.
"We need to hold out until they get here as I don't think we'll be able to kill it like this with just us two." Shaman knew she could try using all her elements while enhancing herself, but she didn't want to take the risk of going on the offensive.
"I agree." Silver was feeling anxious, his heart pounding as he could only hope they would be okay.
The elf commander stopped screaming, the dark purple energy now completely engulfing his body. Slamming his sword down on the ground the energy dispersed, revealing the new armour it obtained. Looking the complete opposite of what it was before, the silver changed to black and the gold was now purple. There were also demonic traits on the armour, fake horns growing from the helmet and spikes from its shoulders.
"Haaaa~." Breathing out, the commander locked eyes with Shaman, which reminded her of the trauma she had faced before. Trembling a little bit she shook her head, trying not to think about it as she was long over it.
"Prepare yourself Silver, if you want, hide in the shadows." Shaman preferred if he stayed out of the fight until the others returned as it would be much safer for him.
"But I want to help." Silver was seriously thinking about hiding, but he did not want to let his mother down.
"Please! if you can't handle it, go straight in and don't come out until Elysia and Clara arrive." Shaman didn't want to force him away as she couldn't shelter him, but she couldn't leave him without a warning.
"Mhm." Silver nodded and gripped his scythe, building up the courage to face whatever being was in front of him.
"Get ready." Shaman saw the elf starting to make its move and began to prepare for whatever was to come.