CHAPTER 39: BATTLE IN THE FOREST

"Tap," Ard and Eva landed in front of the Asura Orc, who was surrounded by demon soldiers and dire wolves. Without delay, Ard and Eva immediately dashed forward, slashing everything in front of them with their swords, never stopping, and moving with incredible speed. Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, and Rosalind, seeing Ard and Eva arrive, instantly smiled.

They immediately charged forward again, pushing back the demon troops in front of them while shouting loudly, rallying the spirit of the A and B Class teams to fight back.

"Clang... slash,"

Ard cut down everything in his path, shattering the weapons of enemies who tried to parry his slash using Exgrandal. Then he leaped, and a magic circle opened around him. The magic circle instantly fired dozens of beams of black, sword-shaped light toward the demon troops and dire wolves.

Eva, not wanting to be outdone, also raised her arm. A magic circle opened around her as she ran, and dozens of beams of white, spear-shaped light immediately shot toward the demon troops and dire wolves surrounding their leader.

"Boom," the impact of dozens of dozens of black sword-light beams and white spear-light beams instantly wiped out the enemies in a flash. Then Ard and Eva leaped. "Clang," their swords were parried by the Asura Orc, who raised his own greatsword.

"Thwack," one of his massive fists swung out, sending Ard and Eva flying. They immediately landed back on the ground in front of him. The Asura Orc pulled out his axe.

"Groaaaaar,"

He immediately let out a loud, booming roar that echoed through the forest. Then the Orc glared furiously at Ard and Eva in front of him. He instantly ran forward and attacked both of them using his greatsword. "Blaam," Ard and Eva leaped to the side, causing the greatsword to cut through empty space before slamming hard into the ground.

The Orc spun his body around, slashing with his axe. "Clang," Ard immediately parried the blow, but he was thrown far back toward a tree. "Tap," Ard landed on the tree, then immediately shot forward again toward the Orc. Eva, on the ground, kept parrying the Orc’s relentless, continuous attacks with his greatsword, axe, and two massive fists.

"Eva, jump!" Ard yelled as he charged.

"Got it!" Eva replied.

Eva immediately leaped high into the air and prepared, raising her sword. Exelion began to glow with white light, enveloping Eva’s entire body as she hovered in the air. Ard flew, darting toward the Orc with his sword thrust out in front of him. His entire body was shrouded in black light, then he began to spin fiercely like a sharp, black tornado, slicing sideways toward the Orc.

"Clang," the Orc crossed his sword and axe to block the black tornado and was pushed back. Then, "Clang," the greatsword and axe shattered. "Blaze," the Orc’s body was pierced by the black tornado, which shot out from behind his back. Before the Orc could react, "Swoosh," Eva descended, slashing the Orc’s body from top to bottom, making him immobile and freezing him in a standing position.

When Eva landed, the Asura Orc’s body instantly split in two—to the left and to the right—and before it fell to the ground, its body crumbled into light ash that floated up into the sky and vanished. Ard, who had pushed off the tree, leaped again, then landed next to Eva. "Clang," Ard and Eva then high-fived with their swords, smiles adorning their faces. The entire demon army, along with the dire wolves, immediately scrambled and fled into the forest once they saw their leader perish.

"We woooooon!" Geoffrey shouted, raising his greatsword over his head.

"Uooooooh!" yelled the other students.

Ard and Eva put Exgrandal and Exelion back into their dimensional storage. Then they began helping their injured friends and trying to save the A-Class and B-Class students who were lying on the ground. Ard used his white healing magic to heal the students’ wounds, and Eva also walked around, helping to heal wounds with her magic.

Geoffrey and the others helped lift the students who had died and become casualties in the recent battle. They covered the bodies with cloths and paid their respects. The total number they lined up at the edge of the campsite was five people: three from B-Class and two from A-Class. After finishing treating the wounded, Ard and Eva approached Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, and Rosalind, who were still standing in front of the deceased students.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Ard asked, placing a hand on Geoffrey’s shoulder.

"We’re fine, but... they couldn’t be saved," Geoffrey replied sadly.

"Yeah, we did our best, but there were still casualties," Rosalind added.

Ainsley didn’t say anything. He just stood silently, holding his glasses, but his face looked incredibly sad, and his other hand was clenched into a fist. The atmosphere fell silent again; only the crackling sound of the fire could be heard. Then Eva stepped forward.

"You all fought as hard as you could and gave your best in an emergency. Please don’t blame yourselves," Eva replied.

"Thank you, Princess," Irwin replied.

"I think we need to head back to the academy right away tomorrow," Ainsley muttered.

"That attack was clearly organized," Eva added.

"Exactly. Someone wanted to hurt us... or lure the two of us here," Ard replied.

Ard and Eva immediately looked at each other, their faces becoming tense. Then they looked at Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, and Rosalind in front of them.

"You guys stay here. Eva and I have to leave," Ard said.

"Alright, leave things here to us, bro," Geoffrey replied.

Without another thought, Ard and Eva immediately sped off toward their own campsite, which wasn’t too far away.

***

Meanwhile, at Ard and Eva’s campsite, "Ssshhk," a sword was pulled out of the body of a Raven Corps man, and the man fell to the ground. The one who stabbed him was a female Dark Elf with an expressionless face. In front of her, Alicia, Milia, the injured Pyria, and Beatrice were standing guard in their combat stances. Behind them, Brylee led the A-Class team, and Nathan led the B-Class team.

The Dark Elf troops, numbering about 20 people, stood alert in front of them. Around them, five Fredonia Raven Corps men lay sprawled in their own blood, whether alive or dead. But suddenly, the Dark Elf troops parted. The bulky figure of Julius walked forward, passing through them. He stared at Alicia, Milia, the injured Pyria, and Beatrice with a cynical and arrogant smile.

Then he glanced at Milia, who seemed to shiver when she saw him, and immediately patted his hair proudly.

"Now there’s no one to protect you, Milia. If you come with me without a fight, all of you will be safe," Julius said, a lecherous and arrogant look on his face as he stared at Milia.

"Huh... go with you? Milia? Don’t dream, Prince Pig. You think I don’t know who you are, huh?" Beatrice shouted angrily, pointing her sword at Julius.

"Princess Beatrice of the Rellios Kingdom, this is none of your business. Stay out of it," Julius countered.

"So you’re the Pig Prince from Durnhill. Looks like you’re starting trouble with the Fredonia Kingdom," Alicia added.

"Woah, woah... don’t misunderstand. I’m just here to meet my fiancée and take her back to the kingdom so I can marry her right away," Julius said casually, smiling.

"Milia is your fiancée? Hahaha... no way. I’m sure she’d rather die than be with you," teased Pyria, or Patricia.

Julius looked at Pyria, who was an Elf and more beautiful than the others. Then he noticed Pyria’s injured arm, even though she was ready to attack. With a cynical smile, he walked closer to Pyria, accompanied by two Dark Elf soldiers beside him. "Tap," he grabbed both of Pyria’s cheeks, causing her to immediately struggle to pull away.

"Hmm... I like this Elf. Take her," Julius yelled to the two Dark Elf soldiers next to him.

"Yes, Your Highness," the two Dark Elf men replied.

But just as the two men were about to move forward, "Ssshhk," sudden ice thorns shot up from the ground, attacking the two men, who were quick to jump back and create an ice wall in front of Julius. Alicia, Beatrice, and Pyria turned to see Milia raising her hand. Her face looked incredibly angry and cold, and she glared at Julius with pure hatred.

"Don’t touch my friends. I’ve told you repeatedly, I will not be engaged to a man like you. If you keep forcing me, don’t blame me for finishing you here," Milia said in a low, slow, and firm voice.

Seeing Milia’s furious face in front of him, Julius stammered slightly, but he forced himself to smile arrogantly at Milia as if to say he couldn’t be touched by anyone. Then he turned to look behind him.

"Hey, capture all of them and kill all the men," Julius ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness," all the Dark Elf troops replied.

But before they could move, "Tap," Ard and Eva suddenly stood right in the middle of them, causing them to immediately scatter and surround the couple. The faces of Alicia, Beatrice, and Pyria, seeing Ard and Eva arrive, immediately relaxed and smiled, as did Milia, who breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her hand.

Brylee, the entire A-Class, Nathan, and the entire B-Class team also looked relieved. Ard turned to look around him. He saw his Raven Corps men sprawled on the ground. After that, he looked at Julius, who was staring at him with a fearful face, and offered a teasing smile.

"Well, well, looks like we have a visitor: the Pig Prince. And he brought a secret army from his kingdom. Nice, nice," Ard said, looking at Julius in front of him with a smile, although his eyes were narrowed and showed clear anger.