Somewhere within this same forest where the Divine Eagle was trying to protect someone precious to him, a lovely quaint cottage made out of wood and red bricks, surrounded by compound walls, its beauty seemingly straight out of a fairytale book, glowed under the blessings of the soft moonlight. Two wild beasts were resting on the porch of that beautiful cottage, looking like they were pets rather than guards of their master.

Although from the outside these beasts looked like dangerous and wild oversized tigers, they were rather more intelligent animals. Being the pets of a powerful being, they had some special abilities and one of them was being sensitive to magic. Magic of nature, like one of their owner’s, would merely alert them that a supernatural being was nearby, but at this moment, they noticed a foul smell that made them raise their hackles.

The presence of black magic growing thicker in the air made them aware of the presence of dangerous beings. Black magic was inherently created for the sake of destruction and harming others. Regardless of intentions, practitioners of black magic were hostile threats to their owner.

The tigers turned restless and stood up from their resting positions. Both creatures simultaneously looked in a particular direction within that dense forest. Thick thunderstorm clouds gathered above a certain area of trees, letting out a flash of lightning in a warning.

Roar!

The large tigers roared together, forcing their master to come out with a lazy yawn.

“I know! I know! I have sensed it already. Must you two be so noisy and disturb my sleep?”

Their master, a long silver-haired elf, stepped out of the cottage and looked towards where his pets were staring at. With them feeling restless and defensive, he found it impossible to continue resting inside his newly built residence.

“Such strong black magic? Hmm, not just one? Feels like a group of troublesome beings are doing some shady business nearby,” the elf mumbled to himself. “If it’s those guys…They seldom show themselves nowadays. I wonder who is being targeted there. To use such strong black magic that would leave traces of their activity, the opponent they are fighting must be someone extraordinary.”

He looked at his pets. “Shall we go and check? After so long, I do feel like stretching my limbs. It’s nice to mess up their schemes. We don’t have bad blood but they’re not likable people anyway.”

The pets simply looked at their master and he grinned at them. “Fine, let’s go then.”

The silver-haired elf disappeared from his doorsteps while the two tigers followed him with a speed that made them not visible to ordinary eyes. The way they moved like the wind, the long distance was not difficult to cover in an instant.

The elf landed on top of a huge boulder from where he could see what was going on inside that open glade in the middle of the forest. From the ruined land, overturned rocks and broken trees, it appeared like it wasn’t a naturally formed circular space but rather an outcome of the ravaging black magic that formed the shape of a dome.

Though the black magic made it difficult for humans to see what was happening inside, the elf merely needed to apply magic to enhance his eyes to penetrate that wall of black magic. Inside, a group of black-hooded figures reeking of black magic were on the ground, while a young man with golden wings was flying above them,  holding a frail figure of a woman in his arms.

The two parties were neither attacking nor defending, seemingly in a standoff.

The elf’s sharp gaze noticed the reddish-gold hair of the woman in his arms and it didn’t take him a time to understand who she was. ‘What is she doing with these people?’

It was easy to guess things based on the expression of the winged man but the elf continued to observe the situation with narrowed eyes.

‘A shapeshifter from the Divine Eagle Clan, that mysterious purple-eyed woman’– he then looked at that hooded woman with staff in her hand– ‘and that group of supernatural beings and humans headed by a powerful black witch.’

Through the raging wind surrounding them, the elf barely heard the conversation going on between the two parties, but still, he had a general idea of what was going on. These people in black hooded robes were abducting that Divine Eagle and the woman in his arms.

When the two tigers were about to reach their master, the elf gestured for them to tread slowly as they approached. Though he was quite a distance away from the glade, he wanted to be careful. It would be problematic if his pets gave away his presence to the black witch.

“Shall we help them or remain a bystander?” asked the silver-haired elf.

Just like their master, the two tigers recognized Seren and immediately their tails started wagging like dogs.

The silver-haired elf frowned. “Don’t forget I am your master or both of you won’t have those tails on you anymore.”

The two tigers immediately stopped wagging their tails and looked at their master, their eyes seemingly silently asking him to help the purple-eyed woman.

“I was going to anyway,” the elf commented. “Until I get to know that woman, she can go nowhere.” The elf then looked at the group of hooded figures as he thought of the best way to meddle in this fight. “I haven’t fought in a long time, and I have no intentions to start one with those troublesome beings. That black witch’s magic core is no less than mine, maybe even stronger, and among those with her, there seemed to be combatants like me. Even if that Divine Eagle fights, it’s impossible for us to deal with them but…they are not expecting a variable like me. I can create opportunities for those two to escape from here.”

The silver-haired elf studied the raging black winds shaped like a dome that imprisoned both parties within that circular glade.

pᴀ-ɴ0ᴠᴇʟ、ᴄᴏᴍ “This black magic barrier is what stops those two from escaping. If I forcefully break this barrier, an all-out fight will happen and it will be disadvantageous to me and that Divine Eagle. The most I can do is weaken it for a few seconds.” He patted the heads of both his pets. “I will deal with that witch, you guys go distract the rest. The moment I shoot my arrow, the barrier will become unstable. Be sure you are in their vicinity. Attract their attention but do not engage in combat. Run away the moment they start attacking.”

The two tigers left after accepting his instruction, while an elegant black long bow and a handful of strange runed arrows appeared in the silver-haired elf’s hands. The arrow seemed to be created from a piece of wood, yet it glowed with soft light, surrounded with some kind of enchantment that gave it an ability to pierce even steel.

The silver-haired elf held that bow and arrow and pointed the shaft towards his target— the woman with staff, the powerful black witch. As he aimed at her head, the flickering energy surrounding that arrow turned more solid as his eyes remained on the witch.

‘She probably won’t die with this but I am sure it will weaken the spell for a while.’

The elf remained in that position like a statue as he waited for the best opportunity. After a while, he saw where his pets were prowling. Seeing them ready, he didn’t wait to shoot the first arrow.

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