Chapter 12
...Silence.
A deafening silence suffused the camp after Raine knocked one of the black-clothed assailants unconscious.
Even the fight between the ogres and the other black-clothed assailant completely stopped.
It was as if the whole world stopped at that moment.
Why was it?
Was it because Raine won the fight using strange skills and techniques no one seen before?
...Or was it because a boy of ten was able to fight a well-skilled and battle-hardened opponent on equal ground, even clenching a victory at the end?
No one really knows the answer but either way, Raine's performance left everyone in shock.
Raine ignored everyone's strange look and started searching his unconscious opponent. Curious, Silvia approached Raine with the intent to thank him for saving her life, and to ask him some questions as well.
"Raine, thanks for saving me. I really appreciate it…." Silvia started.
"There's no reason to thank me. We're friends so it's only natural." Raine answered without looking back.
Silvia smiled sweetly at the boy's answer and squat beside him while everyone watches the two children in silence.
"Why are you searching him?" Silvia asked curiously.
"I'm looking for anything that would identify him." Raine answered.
What!?
Hearing the boy's respond, the other black-clothed assailant quickly woke up from their reverie, and tries to attack the boy in order to stop him.
Their mission is a secret and they would usually not bring anything that could reveal their identity or that of their master. As such searching them won't usually yield any result.
Usually that is....
But after witnessing what Raine was capable of; the companions of the black-clothed assailant don't want to take any chances. After all, the boy is abnormal no matter how you look at it.
Yet as the assailant tries to approach the boy they were intercepted by the ogres who too, woke up from their shock after seeing the assailants' sudden action.
The two teachers from the academy did not stay idle either. After being freed by Cless and the other students, one of them went to Raine and Silvia's side to protect them while the other teacher started freeing the remaining students.
Raine's closest friends in the academy, Cless and Galeon also went to Raine's side with the intent of protecting him from the assailants.
And after being freed from their cages, Raine's other classmates and teacher also went towards Raine instead of running away. Everyone was fully aware that escaping towards the dark forest would be very dangerous. Aside from the monsters that only comes out during the night, there's a possibility that another group of assailant was waiting for them outside of the camp so as to prevent their escape.
None of the people present is a fool. Even the students are innately aware of the dangers that potentially lurk in the dark.
The intense standoff between the ogres and the assailants continues as the black-clothed assailants desperately fought the ogres in an attempt to approach Raine. Unfortunately for the assailants, the ogres would not let them anywhere near the boy.
Knowing that they're not facing off with the daemon king's agent, the ogres stopped holding back and fought the assailants with the intent to kill. And despite the assailants' greater numbers they could not gain the advantage against the ogre.
The ogres' greater physical strength and unique abilities made the assailants' greater numbers void. Noticing that the odds were against them, some of the assailants' grew increasingly impatient. A few of them started cursing.
"Damn it! We'll be overwhelmed at this rate. Leader, we should use that 'thing'!" One of the assailants shouted in frustration.
One of the assailants fighting Duncan was momentarily startled after hearing the other assailant's words. He is the "leader" assigned by their master to lead this group of assailant. So when one of the assailant suddenly called out to him while he's fighting Duncan, the suddenness of the call stunned him for a moment.
And Duncan, seeing one of his opponents being momentarily stunned, took full advantage of the situation to quickly release a punch towards the said opponent.
The punch that Duncan released was no ordinary punch but a punch containing unknown power from the strange, vein-like runes which now covers Duncan's two arms. Coupled with an ogre's monstrous physical strength, the punch would most likely injure, if not outright kill the receiver of that punch once it hits.
The "leader" of the assailants was fully aware that he should not receive that punch head on. He could try dodging the attack but decided against since there's not enough time. Instead the "leader" of the assailants covered his head and chest by crossing his arms. At the same time he uses a talisman that can be activated with single word chant.
The talisman releases a soft bluish light indicating that it was successfully activated. All of this took a long time to describe but in reality everything happened almost instantly.
Duncan's rune-covered fist meet the "leader" of the assailant's crossed arms, and loud sound of explosion could be heard along with the sound of bones breaking.
"Gah!"
The "leader" of the assailants releases a groan of pain as his arms---mangled and broken---hangs uselessly to the sides. Nonetheless, the "leader's" action was not useless as he managed to keep his life by sacrificing his arms. And although his injuries were terrifying to look at, a hundred gold of donation to the Temple of Healers would fix it in no time.
Seeing their "leader" seriously injured, several of the black-clothed assailants abandoned their ogre opponents in order to protect him. The other ogres too, quickly ran towards Duncan to aid him in facing the assailants.
Despite this though, the assailants seemed to be more concern on keeping their "leader" safe rather than continuing the fight.
The "leader", seeing that the odds are against them gave the order to retreat. Having received their order, the black-clothed assailant quickly dashes towards the dark forest.
Tohran and the other ogres wanted to give pursuit after seeing the black-clothed assailants but were stopped by Duncan since he's wary that the enemies could counter attack using the darkness and the greeneries as camouflaged.
While all of this was happening, Raine who had finished inspecting the unconscious assailants since a while ago, was sitting on the ground looking quite relax. And as for the unconscious assailant, he was "safely” and tightly bound using a strong, and flexible string that Raine discovered among the said assailant's hidden belongings.
To make sure that the assailant could not escape even when he wakes up, Raine uses a very complicated method of tying him. To be doubly sure, Raine also uses a gimmick that would cause the assailant sharp, and intense pain if he try to struggle. And to prevent the assailant from killing himself by biting his tongue, Raine also chooses to gag him.
Raine was so thorough that the teachers could not help but be impressed. At the same time, they also feel slightly sorry for the black-clothed assailant after seeing how Raine tied him up. They might not be familiar with Raine's method but they could at least tell that it'll cause the assailant untold pain after waking up.
Also, for everyone's safety, Raine also removed the anti-magic chokers on his teachers, and his classmates’ neck. Since he had done it several times already, the process of removing the chokers was a lot easier and faster.
After doing all of that, Raine and the rest simply waited for the confrontation between the ogres, and the remaining black-clothed assailants to conclude. Judging from how the battle was turning up, everyone concluded that the battle would be over soon in favor of the ogres.
The reason why Raine and the others chooses to wait rather than escape the ogres was because they have many questions for the ogres, and wanted to negotiate with them. Not to mention that it's too dangerous roam the forest aimlessly during the night.
Not long after the conclusion of the battle between the ogres and the group black-clothed assailants, Duncan and his kin walked towards the now liberated hostages. And seeing how relax their "captives" were as they approached them, the ogres were quite taken aback.
"How surprising, I thought you lot would have escaped by now." Duncan said while eyeing the Raine and the other "captives".
One of the teachers, a handsome human male with black hair stepped forward, and responded:
"We did not ran away because we wanted to negotiate with you lot." The teacher answered.
The black-haired man was Raine's homeroom teacher, a reputed teacher that specializes in close-quarter magic combat that goes by the name Clark.
Mister Clark, as his students fondly calls him, is a very powerful combatant that would not lose out even against an ogre in a straight fight. And the only reason he was even captured in the first place was because he prioritized the safety of the children rather than his own.
Duncan raises one of his eyebrows after hearing the black-haired man's response. He stared straight into Clark's eyes as if to intimidate the man but Clark did not cower but instead looked straight back at him.
The intense staring contest between an ogre and a human lasted for a short while but eventually ended after Duncan let out a long sigh.
"Very well, let's hear what you have to say!"
Seeing that Clark won’t back down even with his intimidation, Duncan finally relented and agreed to negotiate with their former captives.
Honestly, the fight with the black-clothed assailants has exhausted not only him but his companions as well. He and his companions no longer have the desire to fight with the children and their teachers.
Besides, the whole purpose of the abduction is to get the daemon' king's attention. And with his daughter among the captives, the daemon king would not act so recklessly.
So maybe, just maybe, they could still achieve their original goal....
Chapter 13
Once the leader of the ogre tribe agreed to sit down for a negotiation the atmosphere in the camp became less intense.
The ones negotiating on the ogre tribe's side are Duncan and two other ogres who seem to hold high status in their tribe. On the academy's side, are the two teachers, Clark, and Dylan.
Dylan, a teacher from the daemon race was one of teachers assigned to oversee the school activity in the unnamed forest just like Clark. He has blond hair, fierce looking eyes, and a single long and pointed black horn on his forehead.
He is a good looking man but is not as popular as Clark inside the academy because of his fierce-looking eyes. Nonetheless, he too, has secret female fans, teachers and students alike that dig his piercing good looks.
Since the two teachers are the only adults from the academy side that are currently present, it was a given that they would be the ones doing the negotiating. That said two students, Raine and Silvia respectively, were also added to the mix.
Raine find his and Silvia's inclusion rather baffling. He could still accept Silvia being added to the negotiating team since she's a princess, and the kidnapping incident had a lot to do with her.
But then, what about him?
No matter how you look it, he's just some kid from the boonies. He's neither a royal nor a noble. Heck, he's not even an adult yet!
Sure, he might have been reincarnated and have the mind of an adult but his current body is that of a 10-year old child!
Since, Raine could not understand the situation no matter how much he thinks he decided to give up thinking and simply ask his teacher, Clark.
"Why am I being included in the negotiation, teacher Clark?" He asked.
"Hm? What do you mean by why you're being included? Isn't it because you're needed?"
Clark answered Raine's question with his own questions in a tone that indicates that it's only natural for him to be there.
"No no no! Why do you sounded like it’s only natural for me to be here!?" Raine exclaimed loudly.
"Now, now, Raine, there's no reason to raise your voice. And you Clark, don't just answer his question with more questions, you're just going to confuse the boy." Dylan interjected.
Dylan's response manages to calm the Raine but his next words ruffled the boy's feather again.
"Anyway, just give up and accept your fate, Raine." The fierce looking teacher added.
"You're not helping either! And what do you mean to just accept my fate? Since when did my being included in the negotiating team became my fate!?" Raine roared.
Seeing Raine feathers being ruffled again, Silvia finally decided to intervene.
"Raine, there must be a reason why you're being included so just accept it,okay? Besides, I'm also included right? Are you saying that it's okay for me to be here but not you?"
Silvia assured Raine that there must be a reason why he was being included in the negotiation. She also mentioned that she too was being included despite being a kid herself.
Raine wanted to retort to Silvia's reasoning but after seeing her pleading eyes, he decided to simply swallow his words and begrudgingly agreed.
Putting his two hands atop his legs, Raine looked straight at the leader of the ogres, and spoke.
"Is it really okay for me to be here?" Raine asked.
Duncan nodded his head and assured the boy that his presence is needed. And although he didn't explain the reasoning behind his words, Raine simply nodded his head and no longer spoke.
Seeing that there's no longer any issue, the two sides started their negotiations.
While the members of the academy and the ogres were negotiating, something else was happening at another camp several kilometers away from the ogre's camp.
"How was it?"
A sitted masked man dressed in black asked a kneeling man dressed in black, tight fitting clothes. The man in tight fitting clothes seems to be a scout and had come to report to the masked man.
"They've tightened up their defenses. Not only did they re-activate the magic traps deactivated during the earlier attacks, they've actually added more sophisticated traps. It'll be difficult to attack them right now." The scout in black, tight fitting clothes reported nervously.
"Hmph! How useless! Bring those fools over!"
The masked man cursed at the scout with displeasure, and gave an order to bring a group of people to him.
Several men in black clothes walked towards the masked man and kneeled almost at the same time.
"My lord!" The black clothed man greeted with trepidation.
The group of black clothed men was the very same group that suddenly attacked the ogres earlier. Most of the men could be seen with varying degree of injuries which they received during the battles with the ogres. One of the men, the man in the very front of the group has injuries more severe than the others.
He's the same man that fought Duncan, and was seriously injured by one of ogre chief's strongest attack; the one that the other black-clothed assailant called their "leader".
Although he's been given medical aid, the man could still be seen sweating profusely because of the pain. Nonetheless, the man dare not let out a single word of complaint in front of the masked man.
"I will give you all another chance to right your earlier mistakes. Go attack the ogres again, and wipe everyone out except for the princess. I don't care what method you use but i want it done before the sun rises. And in case of another failure, then consider your lives forfeit. We don't need useless fools like you lot."
The masked man gave a chilling order to the black-clothed assailants in a cold voice. He even went as far as to give an ultimatum, stating that mores failures would no longer be tolerated.
His words causes the black-clothed assailants to shudder, forcing them simply answer "yes". They knew how cruel the masked man was, and those who fall into his hands would be given a fate worse than death.
As the group of black-clothed assailants is about to get up and leave, a pleasant but out of place voice of a woman could be heard out of nowhere.
"My, my, how cruel. Not even a shred of mercy to your injured compatriot
The masked man and the group of assailants were greatly surprised by the sudden appearance of a woman's voice. Their whole group was composed mainly of men without a single woman in sight. So how could there suddenly be a woman amongst them?
The answer to that was simple, someone was able to find their location, and despite the how friendly the voice sounded, everyone knew that they're facing an enemy.
"Who's there!? Show yourself!" The masked ordered.
Hehehehe!
Hearing the masked man's order, the mysterious woman simply let out a giggled as if finding the masked man’s order very amusing. Nonetheless, the mysterious woman still decided to humor the masked man, and slowly walked towards the group.
Everyone's eyes widened after seeing their uninvited guests. But not only they did not lower their vigilance, it grew more intense instead!
The mysterious woman was very beautiful and youthful-looking with long silver hair, pointed ears, seductive red eyes, and bluish-grey skin!
A dark elf!
Yes, their uninvited guest was a rare female dark elf!
The female dark elf was wearing very tight fitting clothes that covered her entire body. And despite being fully clothed, her outfit was so tight that they fully accentuated her beautiful figure. She's also not carrying anything except for two daggers hoisted at the leader belt on her waist.
Her looks were beautiful and alluring, and would easily awaken any man's desires. But despite her allure, the masked man and the black-clothed assailants were bewitched. Instead they stared at her with warily with weapons drawn.
"Oh my, what a cold welcome…. How could you draw your weapons against a helpless woman? I am sooooo disappointed!"
The female dark elf covered her eyes with her two dainty hands as if crying after being bullied. But no one was fooled by her acting.
"Stop pretending! Name yourself, elf!"
Unable to stand the mysterious female dark elf anymore, the masked man spoke and ordered the woman to state her name.
Haaaah
"You men are no fun. You could at least play along, you know?" The female dark elf complained after letting out a long sigh.
Crossing her arms under her bountiful breast, the female dark elf looked disinterestedly at the masked man and the black-clothed assailants.
Although she still look as alluring as ever, her flirty attitude from earlier completely vanished---replaced by intense bloodlust that made everyone's blood run cold.
"You can all call me Noire. And as for why I am here? I don't think I need to explain it, do I?"
The mysterious dark elf, Noire smiled seductively at the masked man and the group of assailants. She raises one of her fingers and beckons everyone towards her.
"Kill her!"
The masked man was the first one to lose his patience, and ordered his subordinates to attack the female dark elf, Noire.
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