I’ve Reincarnated into an Elf - Ch 13

Chapter 13

Seeing Atir tilt his head in confusion, Keris bit her lip.

“That’s….”

“Found you.”

In that moment, Keris felt a surge of fur rise all over her body. Her tail puffed up, and her ears stood straight.

The beastfolk’s girls screamed in her mind: run away!

“Little kittens, huh?”

The War Hammer, a terrifying monster, grinned with a chilling smile.

Run away!!

With that shout, the fire spirit Atir charged at the War Hammer. Flames the likes of which they had never seen wrapped him, a sparking crimson colour appeared that seemed ready to burn down the entire forest.

Atir shouted again at the frozen beastfolk sisters.

Run, you dumb kids!!

“Kuwoooor!”

Flames erupted, and the War Hammer let out a pained scream. But soon, that scream turned into laughter, and then into mockery.

“Ha ha ha! How warm, little raccoon! You’ve never sacrificed a spirit to Ka Haran, have you? I can’t wait to offer you as a sacrifice!!”

The four beastfolk sisters began to flee. Esrin hesitated, casting a worried glance at Atir, but he just kicked the air, urging them to get away.

Keris pulled Esrin along as they ran, and Atir turned to face the War Hammer, who was swinging a massive double-headed axe and laughing menacingly.

Thanks for waiting, but I’ve got to say this.

Atir bared his teeth and growled fiercely.

Shut up, you beastly monster. Who’s being offered as a sacrifice? I’ll roast you alive.

It sounded more like Eldmir’s style than Atir’s, but he didn’t care. He just thought it would be more effective to provoke the enemy with Eldmir’s words.

The War Hammer chuckled.

“Looks like the prey has multiplied.”

‘Crap… I should be worried about my own life, not his.’ Atir thought of the stubborn elf who was probably in a fierce battle right now.

Your hunt ends here.

As soon as he finished speaking, the monster and the spirit clashed violently.

“Phew… phew…”

“Not bad, little elf,” the War Hammer chuckled, licking the blood off his axe.

“I thought you’d last a bit longer, but I didn’t expect you to put up this much of a fight.”

He grinned, spinning his axe in his hand.

“C’mon, brother, don’t drag this out. Let’s finish it already. It’s taking too long!”

“Heh, Martikan, if you’re a warrior, you should feel it just by watching. Don’t ruin this great battle.”

“Well, I see there are some of us more interested in enjoying the fight than fulfilling their destiny.”

“…Damn it, then you fight him! That elf isn’t going down easy!”

These crazy battle maniacs were chatting right in front of me. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

The eight of them, who seemed ready to pounce on me at any moment, had now settled into a one-on-one fight as soon as the battle began.

Something about a “noble sacrificial ceremony” for Ka Haran or whatever. It seemed like a duel, and the rule was one-on-one.

But even though it was supposed to be one-on-one, the ones sitting back started saying they wanted to jump in too, wanting to tag in.

As I was trying my best to gain the upper hand, it felt like a lightning bolt hit me when the War Hammer I was fighting started spouting nonsense like,

“This little elf is an unexpectedly great warrior. You should give it a shot; you’ll definitely be satisfied.”

These idiots were treating the duel like a tag match! I didn’t remember goblins having such a custom when I played. What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this?

Of course, I protested, but all I got back was that if I could hold out against all eight of them, they’d spare my life.

If I refused, they’d all jump me at once.

It was frustrating, but what could I do? Fighting all eight of them would definitely mean certain death.

My goal was just to survive, and their plan somewhat aligned with that.

Grumbling under my breath, I had no choice but to accept their twisted offer.

“Phew… who’s next?”

Trying to catch my breath, I asked, hoping to move on. Martikan, the War Hammer, lit up at my question.

“Next is me.”

The War Hammer I was facing frowned.

“I haven’t had enough of a fight yet.”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you just tell me to fight? You seem satisfied enough, so you should let me take my turn. Right?”

“Damn it.”

Martikan laughed, swinging his hammer through the air, making a loud whoosh.

The War Hammer who had been facing me stepped back, saying,

“Take it easy. He’s already tired, and it looks like dodging my axe will be tough for him. You’ll let the next brothers have their turn, right?”

“Well, if he’s lucky, he’ll survive my hammer. If not, well, he won’t.”

Listening to that, I felt my insides churn again. I had to force my stomach to settle down and tighten my muscles to keep everything in.

“Yeah… you should’ve been wielding an axe or a hammer instead of a bow. You’re a true warrior.”

The War Hammers watching me were impressed. The ones who had only spoken in short sentences were now chatting with me like friends.

Their admiration was honestly annoying.

“…I’m not unaware of that.”

Swords and fists, axes and hammers, spears.

The intense battles and brutal clashes, a feast of blood and flesh. I had always admired their style.

But I could only do all this because it was a game. If I tried something like this in real life, I’d probably drop dead from a heart attack.

More than anything, I was an elf, and with all the racial bonuses, archery was definitely my thing.

“No matter how I think about it, I’m better off with a bow.”

If I loosened my grip on my muscles for even a second, I felt like my insides would spill out again.

But if I kept tensing up, my body would stiffen, making it hard to fight. The pain coursing through my body and all the bleeding from my injuries were just extra challenges.

I could feel blood dripping down my forehead and chin, and I had cuts from axes and swords all over my back, arms, thighs, and calves.

My pinkies were crushed from the hammer, and I was worried they might not work again.

Still, I could move, I could hold my bow, and I could draw the string. As long as I could still fight, that meant I was okay, right?

If it had been an axe or a sword, I might have been in real trouble.

“Heh heh heh.”

Suddenly, I found it all absurd and let out a laugh. As I started laughing, the War Hammers joined in one by one.

Their random laughter was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing even harder.

“Hahaha!”

Look at me! Covered in blood, facing eight monsters, and I’m still thinking about continuing the fight without a hint of fear.

Holding my bow, with a quiver on my back, ready for battle.

A life-or-death battle!

“I am!!” I shouted, feeling a mix of rage at not wanting to accept this situation and the urge to shoot the monsters in front of me.

“I am Eldmir Arhithea!!”

The clash of emotions inside me crumbled, and both feelings swelled up, looking for an outlet. Tears welled up. Why?

That question had long been buried in a rotten ditch. The “why” didn’t matter.

Yeah, it wasn’t an important question. Why did I have to go through this? That question had rusted away to nothing long ago.

What mattered was… I just had to survive.

I had to live. I would live, and I would make it through. I wanted to live.

In this crazy world. Even in this damn game world. In this pathetic reality that still felt like a game.

“Come on!!”

When death is looming, there’s always a thought that crosses your mind. At first, it’s the “why?” question.

After getting through that crisis, I buried that “why” deep in my heart.

Then I thought about my family, not my current one, but my past life’s family.

I couldn’t bear to think about them, so I shoved those thoughts into a corner of my mind.

Next came thoughts about my current life: elves, the forest, the World Tree. Me, Eldmir Arhithea.

Once I let go of all those questions and memories of my past life, a desire to live surged up.

“I’ll kill you all!!”

I didn’t want to die. I knew that meant I had to get stronger, so I kept pushing myself to become stronger. That’s how I survived.

I was no longer a 30-year-old loser stuck in a game. I was an elf, clinging to life, fighting tooth and nail to survive.

Covered in blood, I casually dealt with my insides spilling out and didn’t care about killing.

“You monsters!!”

I had become just like the beasts in front of me.

“Raaaaar!!”

The War Hammer charged at me with a roar. It was like the forest itself was pushing him forward, a bizarre sight.

It felt like the forest was bowing down to his ferocity.

“Hmph.”

I held my breath, gritting my teeth in pain as I knocked an arrow. At the same time, the world around me began to slow down.

This wasn’t some skill; it was pure elf characteristic I had polished over time. In this slow-motion world, that monster kept charging at me without slowing down.

The sheer force of it was enough to throw me off, but my hands steadily pulled back the bowstring, and I released the arrow aimed right at him.

The War Hammer swatted away my arrow with his hammer like it was nothing, and I forced my aching joints to move as I leaped onto a branch.

From my high vantage point, I started firing down at him. It was a solid strategy for an elf fighting in the forest, but they had already adapted to my fighting style.

“Raaaargh!”

The War Hammer smashed the tree I was on with his hammer.

This tree had been alive for over a thousand years, drawing energy from the World Tree, and was as thick as ten adult men standing side by side.

And just like that, with one swing, it screamed and began to die.

Before the tree could fully collapse, I jumped to another one. As I leaped, I saw my arrow bounce off his hammer, and I cursed under my breath.

They were already used to fighting me.

Jumping from branch to branch was something I had practiced countless times, but shooting arrows while doing it was a whole different level.

As I landed on a branch, I felt a wave of nausea and grimaced. I spat out a mouthful of blood and chunks of flesh that had come up with it.

“Is that my insides?”

Not a pretty sight, but I didn’t have time to admire my own guts.

I shouted again as Martikan charged toward the tree I was on, and I kept moving from branch to branch, firing arrows.

Arrows rained down from all angles and at different timings. I kept picking up the pace, making sure Martikan couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the tree I was on, so he wouldn’t have time to react to my shots!

Before long, the air was thick with the whistling of arrows. At first, Martikan had been focused on chasing me, but now he was too busy trying to block my arrows.

He seemed flustered, deflecting the arrows raining down on him.

“Grrr, I didn’t know you still had this much left in you…!”

Left in me? That’s a joke. I was burning through my last breaths. Martikan wiped the blood off his face, but it wasn’t from my arrows; it was from the blood dripping down from me.

“This is a deadly game of tag! How long do you think you can keep this up?”

“Until you die!”

“So, you’re saying you won’t come down until I’m dead!”

An arrow struck his shoulder, but the battle-hardened warrior didn’t care about his wounds. He just laughed and swung his hammer again.

Thud! Thud!

As arrows lodged into his shoulder and back, he smashed two more trees to pieces.

“Fine then. If the one running away is risking his life, I’ll have to risk mine as the one chasing!”

He started smashing trees, ignoring my arrows while just trying to block the ones aimed at his vital spots.

I shot arrows faster, but he just kept charging forward like a madman.

“This crazy monster?!”

Just as I was about to jump and land again, the tree I was aiming for exploded with a deafening crash.

Despite my attempts to keep him at bay with arrows, he had blocked them with one arm and smashed the tree I was about to land on with the other.