บท 20: Chapter 20: Past memories (1)

Troll was already anxious, when he saw his friend leapt over the rocks. He had to be quick to reinforce and fight together. He sprung over the rock and thought the situation would still be cat and mouse chase. He was completely wrong. As soon as he jumped, he saw his buddy troll kneeling on the ground without any movement and the calm female elf with her bow aiming straight at him. He saw her released arrows and it was four. He was sure he was dead. With only two hands to block the arrows was near impossibility. Not to mention his state was in mid-air.

Every living thing would breakthrough their shackles when they faced life or death. The troll now to saved his life, swung his weapons to parry these arrows. Miraculously, he managed to block three arrows but he couldn't help laugh at himself because the last arrow pierced through his heart. Even then he still wasn't completely dead except for being unable to move. Any trolls couldn't be killed as long as they weren't slaughtered in one shot. They recovered back to normal quickly as long as the time was on their side. No matter the level of wounds it healed, which was the benefits only troll enjoyed; it was only a matter of time for them but time wasn't on his side.

In front of him, the elf woman took out her dagger and walked step by step toward him. Each step brought huge tremor to his heart because each pace of her meant his countdown to the underworld. He wasn't even sure it existed. He was very reluctant to die. No matter how much he slaughtered other elves, he always liked watching them trampled in fear and their eyes silently praying for mercy. Yet, when he suffered the same fate, he was no different from his victims. He still cowered in the face of upcoming death. His eyes begged for a way of life.

Unfortunately, the elf woman didn't even change her expression. She half-knelt beside him and slitted his throats deep. He felt his temperature drop and his vision went soon went dark. Lireesa got up and swung the dagger to the other side, washing off the blood in the process. She sheathed her dagger back and quietly listened to the surrounding for a while. Except for some rustle of the leaves and wind chants, nothing existed around her. Her eyes and ears detecting any slight movement and after confirming there weren't any dangers anymore, she quickly recovered the arrows she had shot from the bodies of the two trolls and withdrew from the scenes. The whole forest was so silent yet peaceful as if a life-and-death battle didn't exist.

Lireesa now must quickly regrouped with her comrades. As a captain of her group, she was required to be present in front of her subordinates to maintain the troop's morale. She wasn't too worried about their safety, because all the high-level opponents were drawn to her so the combat power of the trolls wouldn't be too threatening. Not to mention, her other two childhood friends who came alongside and served as her deputies, weren't to be messed with. They were also high-level ranger albeit weaker when compared with her high-level peak.

It had to be said, amongst her three opponents, one was also high-level peak while the other two were at high-level advance. With their levels if she hadn't drawn them toward her, her troops would surely collapse and be massacred. Now, she singled out the three of them and every one of their actions were calculated by her. The first one died due to underestimating Lireesa. The second one had the same level as her but was blinded by anger and agitation. The last one died due to his carelessness. However, she predicted he would at most block two of her arrows and her other two would finish him. Unexpectantly, she still needed her dagger to truly end his life. Even within her plans and calculations, so many anomalies occurred from the axe thrown to the last guy's extraordinary luck. If she only used three arrows instead of four, she would be entangled in the battle. She was sure to win but it would waste unnecessary energy. Fortunately, her thoroughness had prompted her to use four arrows.

A quarter of hour passed since she killed the last troll, she arrived at the rally point where all her subordinates would withdraw. She raised her eyebrows, surprised why not one had come on time. She stood on the solid rock, protruding on the ridge line of the hill, overlooking the whole view. Behind her laid a waterfall, serene streams of water flowed downward; its sound washing away negative energy around. Lireesa felt calm and her mind at peace. She didn't have to wait for long, a minute later, she found a group of 25 rangers led by someone she was very familiar with. Sena's face showed elation as soon as she discovered Lireesa was there. Despite exhaustion, she quickly ran toward Lireesa.

"Sister Lireesa," Sena shouted while putting her hands on her waist and bending over, panting to catch her breath. "How long have you been waiting for us?"

"Not long," Lireesa replied scratching her hands. "At least 5 minutes before you girls. How're you girls doing?" Looking behind Sena, she found most of them had their clothes torn and appeared disheveled. Luckily, no one was injured. To confirmed, she asked, "Nobody's hurt, right?"

Sena shook her head implying not one inside her group suffered. Lireesa remembered they divided into 4 groups fleeing in separate directions toward the same destination. Sena led one of them and had arrived. Her friend Ella and two other fellow officers might be slowed down by something.

"I almost forgot. You led the three away," Sena said strangely recalling how dangerous for Lireesa to single against three. "How come you are the first here? Is it danger that makes you run fast?"

Lireesa rolled her eyes at Sena's bad jokes and nonchalantly retorted, "No danger. No big deal. They are waste, so they cannot follow."

"Oh! Com'on," Sena grasped Lireesa's arm and waved around, almost shaking her brain out of the body. "How do you leave them. You know they are the strongest among the trolls we faced. How'd you deal it? Say, say it, please." The last syllable was voiced over a long duration and cringed Lireesa to the point where she wanted to slam Sena's head to the ground and rubbed her across the dirt.

Patient, patient, she told herself.

The other fellows went quiet, their ears raised to hear the event. They were also curious about Lireesa's performance. Lireesa glanced at Sena, whose eyes looked just like a child begging for a candy.

"Use some brain and tricks. Not so hard. Just one at a time. I killed them all." Lireesa expressionless face told, she didn't regard her kills as something she should be happy of. She wasn't proud of her achievement, but told herself not to be complacent and underestimate the enemy even if she's sure of winning.

Her subordinates fell down, some even slipped their footing and staggered. Sena's mouth went wide opened and her eyes almost popped out of their place. Was there something wrong with their judgement. She felt these trolls weren't weak. One might take her fight wholeheartedly and her focus completely. Three meant surely, she would be rounded around.

Suspicious, she babbled around non-stop when Lireesa seemed to not wanting to describe the scenes. She used all she could from pulling the robe to scratching the ears. She also slapped the ass hard sometimes. Sena continued to the point where Lireesa exploded and threw her away, when Sena tried to hug and hang around like a koala. Lireesa exhaled heavily and couldn't concentrate planning out their further actions. She decided to satisfy her comrades' vanity. Lireesa still noticed the others paying attention to what she would say.

If not being their captain, she really had already escaped by herself. These girls were never serious even in wartime and still coveted the story. So, she described every event from the beginning, including how she schemed during exciting combat and won the battle. Sena fell to the ground like a dead log. Lireesa still heard her murmurs: "The same high-level, why are you a freak."

Lireesa smiled and bent down toward Sena, rubbing her hair lovingly and said, "That's why I'm always the eldest. And don't compare too much because my situation had a bit of luck."

She asked Sena, puzzled about their situations, "Now tell me about yours. Why you girls are all embarrassed?"

Each of them accounted their own experiences and Sena would fill in once in a while when the troops couldn't tell the important details due to their lower level of strength, which was only noticed by high-level like Sena. According to their accounts, the fight wasn't hard for them at all. With cooperation they managed to halve the size of trolls without their sides suffering. Using hit-and-run technique, they abolished the trolls combat power. As soon as trolls got closer, either they received concuss shot and later all arrows like hedgehogs or elven rangers used entanglement spell to immobilize the trolls and was soon shot.

Fear of being overrun, they rarely had time to finish off the trolls who were still alive due to their near immortal physique. Numerous entanglements were used to buy time when they discovered they were nearly surrounded. Fortunately, Sena had a foresight and breakthrough before being completely encircled. Trolls weren't eager to end the fight probably because they were waiting for the return of their leaders who chased Lireesa. In contrast to their expectations, Lireesa slaughtered them all.

Lireesa's ears twitched after hearing movement and signal the others to be ready. The wait didn't last too long, they found Ella's group but they appeared to be in panic. She ordered the others to prepare for ambush and jumped down the hill.