"Heeaa!!"
My swordsmanship might suck, but I've got full confidence in my riding skills—at least I've practiced "riding" way more than swinging a sword. Like a gust of wind, I shot past my guards. In that instant, I caught a figure blasted out of the roadside trees in a spray of blood, crashing to the ground and struggling desperately to stay alive.
Don't let the chapter title fool you. I saw it clear as day—the half-dead thing on the ground was an elf. Sure, she was covered in blood and gore, but from the curves alone, my seasoned eye could bet my balls she was 100% female. Definitely not some old geezer.
Just as I was about to reach her, a thick, blinding bolt of lightning shot from the direction she'd flown, aiming straight for the elf on the ground.
Lightning magic?!
One look and you know a pro when you see one. That fat, seasoned bolt screamed serious power—way above my level, no question.
Basic earth magic—Earth Wall!
No time to fuck around. I threw up my best defensive spell. A massive wall over twenty feet tall erupted from the ground beside the female elf, perfectly blocking the lightning and shunting the current into the earth.
Five figures strolled out of the forest like they owned the place, and my heart skipped a beat.
All five were elves—dark elves. Regular elves have all kinds of pure-colored hair, but dark elves are easy to spot: pitch-black hair, darker skin.
Leading them was a man and a woman. I'd already clocked how strong they were, but what really floored me was the female dark elf. I've seen my share of beauties, met plenty of elves too. I've even banged dark elf stunners on her level. But that weird, unique vibe she gave off? First time in my life.
She wasn't just drop-dead gorgeous—she carried this mismatched aura. Elves are usually all natural and chill, but this chick radiated pure noble arrogance, like she was some walking miracle.
Plus, her skin was noticeably lighter than her buddies, making her stand out even more. Gut feeling: she's got deep human blood or ties.
"What the fuck are you staring at?!"
She must've caught me eyeballing her face. With a pissed-off shout, the tall hottie suddenly slashed her sword at me. A blade of lightning-laced sword energy shot straight for my eyes.
I was too busy gawking to react—this leggy beauty was actually a swordswoman?! All I could do was tumble off my horse like an idiot. The sword energy whooshed past. Before I even hit the dirt, my horse's head was already gone, blood spraying everywhere.
Steel rang out as longswords were drawn. My thirty-plus knights caught up, forming a fan-shaped line behind me, staring down the five elves.
"Human, this is elf business. If you don't wanna die for nothing, piss off right now."
The guy next to her spoke all soft and polite, but he didn't even look at us. His tone dripped pure contempt—like we weren't worth the dirt on his boots.
Elven magic already outclasses human stuff by miles. Add the pressure rolling off that pair, and it was obvious they were dual magic-martial badasses. No wonder they weren't scared of my elite knights.
I threw my head back and laughed loud, stood up nice and slow, brushed the dust off like I didn't have a care, then casually flipped them the middle finger.
All five dark elves went pale.
Not because of the finger—the real reason was the black-glowing, priceless Magilight Ring on it.
Darkness and light are the rarest, weirdest elements on the continent. Artifacts with either? Less than fifty in the whole world, each one scary as hell.
These elf elites knew exactly how fucked they'd be if I popped the compressed dark element inside. Nobody could guess the blast radius.
"Listen up—I don't give a shit if you're elves or perverts. You're fighting, killing, and now attacking me on my turf? You're way too fucking full of yourselves."
The smoking-hot female elf's face turned ice-cold, murderous intent thick enough to choke on. But the male elf finally looked me in the eye and started thinking.
"Rose, calm down."
Rose—that's this gorgeous babe's name.
"We gotta be scared of this loser? I don't buy that a wimp like him has the balls to trigger that cursed ring."
"Hah! Spot on! I didn't have the guts before, but now that I've got a pair of world-class tits like yours to die with, suddenly I'm not scared anymore. Knights—you all get a good look at these dark elves?"
My men roared back in unison.
"Trespassing on human land and attempting to murder the local lord—proof the dark elves just declared war on the Empire!"
The five elves flinched, but I didn't give them time to think. I started feeding magic slowly into the Magilight Ring. Black light exploded around me, swallowing my outline. At the same time I signaled—my men began pulling back, ready to bolt.
Sure, we couldn't take them head-on. But if we ran, they couldn't stop us all. If my knights made it back to Febenli and swore I died to dark elf assassins, the whole dark elf race would face imperial wrath. At minimum, my old man and brothers would send the 100,000-strong Black Dragon Legion to fuck them up.
Pinned by my ballsy move, surprise and respect flickered in the male elf's eyes.
"You are Lord Sorola Rubia of Febenli County?"
"In the flesh."
"Your fame is well-earned—meeting you exceeds every rumor. We were rude earlier. Please accept our apologies, my lord…"
His tone suddenly turned all polite and flowery. But I caught the sneer in Rose's eyes. Alarm bells rang. I glanced at the dying elf on the ground and mentally cursed the bastard—he was stalling so she'd bleed out.
"I'm counting to three. Still here? You're fucked. One… Two…"
The guy shrugged, flicked his black cloak, turned with a cold smirk, and walked off with his crew.
"Worthy of Sorola. I am Longevity, supreme commander of the dark elf forces. We will definitely meet again."
I ignored the prick, walked over to the injured elf. My knights formed a big protective ring around me.
Just like I thought—pure female. Face smeared with blood, but you could still see she was originally top-tier gorgeous.
Jackpot. If she'd been ugly, I'd have been screwed big time.
"Young Master, let her go peacefully."
Alice stepped in from outside the circle, checked the wounds: left arm hacked off, right eye stabbed through, ears bleeding nonstop—probably busted eardrums. Plus massive internal damage. Saving her would be near impossible; even if we did, she'd be a cripple for her long elven life. That's why Alice suggested mercy.
For a split second, an old memory I hated flashed through my mind.
"Ice Coffin."
I didn't answer her—just said those two words quietly. Two mid-rank mages stepped up and, without another word, cast water-element Ice Coffin, freezing the elf's broken body and severed arm in suspended animation.
"Alice, contact Knight Commander Riando, the mercenary groups in the territory, and the Black Dragon Cavalry."
Being a lord is a pain in the ass.
After last night's mess, I hadn't even slept properly, yet here I was under the blazing sun, out hunting for a guy.
To avoid attention, I came alone in plain clothes and cloak to an old, rundown house in the southeast corner of Febenli City—right next to a public toilet.
The faded sign read "Muscle Bro vs Mature Sister Hut." Building looked like shit, but the owner was anything but ordinary. Guy's got a legendary nickname: "Perverted Old Man."
From secret records, he's been running this shop since the Empire was founded over 1,600 years ago. Meaning the geezer's at least that old. How he's still kicking? Even a genius like me can't figure it out. Thought maybe he's some elf-type creature, but nah—he looks like the most average, boring old fart imaginable.
"Perverted Old Man" fits him like a glove.
I double-checked no one was tailing me before pushing the door open. Dude's super paranoid—one reason he built next to the toilet was to stay low-key.
The other reason… it's right beside the women's restroom.
Weirdly, no one at the counter—just some suspicious rustling from the back room.
"Oi, old perv! Customer!!"
I kicked the counter hard—BANG.
"Waa!! Don't—don't kick! Coming… coming…"
A doddering old coot bolted out, frantically yanking up his pants, looking like a total mess. But his steps were silent and quick. Something else was off today too.
"Yo, old man, what's that mark on your right eye?"
"Mark?! N-no… nothing… I swear I didn't peep on the fish-girl taking a piss… swear it!"
"..."
"..."
No intro needed—this is the one and only Perverted Old Man we all know and… tolerate.
But don't let looks fool you. I'd bet anything he's the Empire's top black-market dealer and info broker. Probably because he's ancient, he sometimes has lost artifacts, divine relics, forbidden spells—you name it.
I once glimpsed a long-lost god-tier manual under his counter: the "Alpha Male Codex." He claims that, with his tiny brain, he mastered the ultimate technique while shitting:
Furious… Breast-Grabbing Dragon Claw!!
You dead yet?
I still remember his smug face—trying to look all cool, licking his finger… man, it was cringe enough to kill.
Thank fuck he only mastered the hand version. If he ever gets the foot technique…
You dead yet again?
"So, my lord… what brings you here today?"
The old perv's eyes lit up with that familiar sleazy glint.
I grinned and leaned in.
"Cut the bullshit, you old lech. That half-dead elf hottie from last night—the one with the killer tits and legs for days. I want her fixed. Completely. Arms, eyes, ears, everything back to perfect. Because at this year's Harvest Festival, I'm dragging her out naked, collared, and making her scream to the whole damn city that she's my personal cock-sleeve and Big Bird bitch."
The old man's wrinkled face broke into a huge, drooling leer.
"Heh heh heh… so the Young Master's legendary Big Bird is starving again, eh? Fine, fine… but fixing an elf that mangled ain't cheap. And I'll need… a little something up front."
His eyes drifted south, no mistake what he meant.
I laughed. Same old perverted bastard.
"Name your price, geezer. Long as she wakes up dripping wet and begging for my dick, I'll pay whatever."