Barbarian in a Failed Game

The forest is a battlefield for the elves.

This adage that had persisted from time immemorial had been forgotten in people’s minds, as it had been over a thousand years since the elves had outwardly maintained a friendly demeanor and refrained from military engagement.

So, how could anyone be aware of the elves’ military tactics or psychological warfare? Nobody could have imagined that they would set a trap by tampering with corpses and lying in ambush to strike during the confusion.

“This is madness…!”

Ron felt goosebumps as the warning bell of his intuition rang noisily.

What was an uncomfortable feeling escalated to a danger signal just before the corpses exploded, and right after a young elf who appeared to be no more than fifteen revealed themselves, he felt a threat of death.

‘I haven’t done anything yet and it’s already this severe…?!’

The mere presence of this being was enough to be a threat of death. Despite looking like an angelic elf boy, he was surely a formidable foe, one of the few on the continent.

“You, elf─!”

However, sensing danger from the young elf was a matter concerning Ron with his exceptional intuition. The five knights who had survived the vicious ambush emitted their auras all at once. There was no stopping them.

Bang─!

Perhaps having retained their minimal sanity, the knights did not break formation. Instead, they simultaneously released their auras in the shape of a semicircle.

The aura fired by the three senior knights and two junior knights did not repel each other but almost became one, amplifying their power. It was as if they had trained for such a moment, executing a perfect combined attack.

On the other hand, the elf boy did not make any move to respond.

His youthful appearance raised doubts about whether he was just an innocent child who knew nothing. But in reality, despite his young exterior, the elf was an ancient being, one of the truly venerable old monsters who had lived over a thousand years.

“Insignificant.”

The elf who had just scoffed at the knights’ desperate combined effort casually dusted off his hands. And then an astonishing scene unfolded.

Crack.

The rapidly fired aura disappeared without a trace midway.

“What!”

It wasn’t just anyone; it was a combined attack from imperial knights. Who could dismiss it with a mere gesture?

“Be careful! Their attacks are invisible!”

Ron urgently warned the knights, spurring on the knights who seemed to lose their spirit upon seeing the power of the Elemancy they had only heard about.

Right after that…

Ron’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of his head.

Following an instinctive judgment, he rolled off the driver’s seat and onto the ground, just as the seat was ripped apart with a crunching noise. It happened so abruptly that even Ron, who had successfully evaded, was left in a daze. Just when did this happen?

“A being that drives an imperial carriage should not be of an insignificant status. Yet, you look nothing like that. In fact, a lowly slave would suit your appearance more,” the boy standing on the completely collapsed front of the carriage said, looking down at Ron’s face with disdain.

‘He was clearly more than a hundred paces away!’

Ron would usually have been insulted by the sudden derision about his appearance, but what really struck him was the elf’s absurd speed. Closing more than a hundred paces in the blink of an eye wasn’t just fast movement; it was almost like teleportation.

“So, the real deal must be inside this carriage. I wonder what short-lived human the empire has sent. It’d be nice if they have some value as a hostage.”

Despite having demonstrated an overwhelming majesty that would make everyone recoil in awe, the ancient elf seemed completely indifferent. His sole interest lay in the ‘hostage-worthy’ person from the imperial court inside the carriage, as he casually reached out towards the partition of the carriage.

And then, suddenly.

Crash—!

A head-sized hand burst through the partition and grabbed the elf’s wrist, with a crimson flame igniting atop the thick fingers gripping the elf.

As the ancient elf was about to crush the entire carriage using his elemental magic, a gray barbarian—Gordi Khan—broke through the carriage and laughed menacingly.

“You’re going to play with me.”

『Leap』

The deafening noise at such close quarters temporarily disrupted the ancient elf’s senses. Despite this, he remained acutely aware of the current situation.

He quickly realized he was being taken far away from his original position and calculated everything in an instant. Still being dragged with his wrist caught, he kicked upwards with his foot.

Slash—!

Following the trajectory of the kick, the foliage and growth behind him were completely swept away, as if an invisible blade had been unleashed.

However, Khan had already let go of his hand and retreated long before the attack. The ancient elf’s eyes slightly narrowed.

‘Quick.’

Among these short-lived humans, how many could react to his speed? The fact that Khan dodged not instinctively like the dumbstruck driver, but with precise recognition of his movements, was especially noteworthy.

“Gray skin, a race I’ve never seen before. Could you be some sort of biological weapon created by the empire?”

“Old elf, how can you be so unaware of the ways of the world?”

“It reeks of the short-lived kind’s foolishness,” the ancient elf retorted, his expression and tone devoid of any notable emotion.

“With the lifespan to observe the flow of the world and history, and the power not to be swayed by fate. Such perspectives are meaningless to those like me, as they are to all transcendent beings.”

“For someone like that, you seem to scheme quite a bit,” Khan sneered, curling his lips.

“There’s no way a figure as important as an elder of the Six Families would move alone. And since there are no dwarves here, the other elves are probably getting ready to set sail by now, right?”

“……”

“Your silence is a clear answer, thank you.”

“You must die here,” the ancient elf’s eyes changed, growing more deadly serious.

This meant that Khan had been elevated in his mind from a mere nuisance to a significant threat.

“There were two more presences inside the carriage. That should be enough to attract the empire’s attention as a trap.”

The ancient elf glanced back at the initial battle site. As if it had been prearranged, the short-lived humans had swiftly moved away, leaving Khan alone.

“But it’s curious,” he mused.

It’s not an escape. They went south to chase after the family members who were taking the dwarf with them. But from the ancient elf’s perspective, this decision was puzzling.

“What kind of confidence do you have to think you can actually hold me back?”

It wasn’t confidence, but more like stating an inevitable fact.

“If you think merely holding onto my hand gives you a chance, you will regret it,” he said.

The ancient elf began to float slowly in mid-air.

“I am Uruz, the seventh branch guarding the Tree of Memories, an elder of the Six Families, and a high spirit’s contractor.”

Lightning flickered in Uruz’s dark green eyes.

In an instant, the clear sky seemed to darken, and the sound of thunder shook the earth. The wind that followed bent the grass and trees to the ground. At the center of all this chaos was Uruz.

Khan recalled the name given to those wielding such power in Paradise.

Estimated level: 39.

Though slightly inferior compared to the continent’s strongest heroes, who are classified above level 40, the unique and daunting nature of spirit magic made facing Uruz a significant challenge.

‘The Harbinger of Storms, Uruz!’

No longer did Uruz look like an ordinary boy. He was now akin to an avatar of lightning and storms, and simultaneously a massive bull with two pairs of horns.

Khan, recognizing what this phenomenon was called, felt a deep sigh within, gripping Draupnir tightly.

‘Spirit Manifestation!’

Light erupted from Khan’s right chest and forearm, in response to the overwhelming presence before him. In the face of an overwhelming opponent, the warrior did not lose his will to fight. The marks symbolizing courage and valor bolstered Khan’s strength.

“Divine power?”

Uruz, upon identifying it, frowned slightly but then dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand.

Boom!

The shock struck Khan’s body first, followed by a belated thunderclap.

With the Mark of Valor, his agility and stamina each increased by two, and with the Scales of Courage, his current agility was now 49. While it wasn’t as high as when he had faced the Golden Dragon Areolus, it was still significant.

Yet even this was barely enough to react in real-time. But this wasn’t a real attack. Sending out lightning from his hands was Uruz’s basic deterrent pattern.

Unfortunately, despite being a spirit contractor, Uruz didn’t conform to the typical image of a long-range spirit contractor. There wasn’t even time to swing his sword before Khan’s extended fist collided with Uruz’s pale, delicate hand.

Boom!

In an instant, within the span of a single thunderous clash, several collisions occurred. Even in a world slowed down for those specialized in speed within the realm of superhumans, Uruz’s movements were astonishingly fast, akin to lightning.

In that split second, swords and fists, fists and fists collided over a dozen times with neither side gaining an advantage.

Khan, with a strength stat nearing 80, found himself evenly matched in close combat. Despite Uruz essentially possessing the brute strength of an ogre, he wasn’t backing down.

“You’re sturdy. Strong too. Are you really a short-lived species?”

The truly surprised one was Uruz. In over a thousand years, his dulled emotions were revived, as he couldn’t hide his surprise at the gray short-lived species keeping up with his speed.

“At the very least, within striking distance, even the other elders can’t match me.”

As demonstrated earlier, he wasn’t a typical spirit contractor who fought using the invisibility of spirits. His weapons were his bull-like thick and solid body and his lightning-fast speed.

‘The sword is becoming a hindrance…!’

『How impertinent. Arrogant human.』

Ignoring the trivial complaints from the vengeful spirit, Khan sheathed Draupnir. From Uruz’s perspective, this was an obvious opening. Yet, Uruz waited for Khan.

“Interesting.”

Amazingly, Uruz was smiling.

With a resolute step forward, pressing his left foot into the ground and clenching his fist, Khan made his intentions clear. He dared to engage Uruz, the elder of the Six Families renowned for his melee prowess, in close combat.

“To think I’d encounter someone this entertaining while on a mission to clean up the mess caused by a family member, at the other elders’ request.”

With a joyful smile, Uruz declared as thunderbolts and lightning crackled around him.

“Alright, I’ve decided. I’ll take you with me and preserve you alive. By doing so, I’ll have a century’s worth of amusement reminiscing about this moment.”