Elora the Bloodbath

The Elven woman's green eyes were piercing into me.

“Hey, I planned to let you all out anyway. If you want to help fight these guys, be my guest. Just don’t harm me or my two crewmates.”

“The traffickers are all elves. Are any of your crew elves?”

“Nope, I have a Dwarf and… a Pippa.”

What even is Pippa? A pink fluff ball? A human? A species I had never heard of before? I guess I would have to ask her when we have time.

“Then I will just cut down all the elves. So please, pass me the axes.” 

She nodded in a direction. There sat two battle axes sticking out of a wooden barrel in the corner of the hull. Each was worn and slightly chipped from use. I reached for an axe, but it was much heavier than I'd expected. Still, with some effort, I managed to pick them both up, mindful that other elves could come down to check on us at any moment. I passed the elven woman her axes.

“Now, do you know where the keys…?” I began to ask as she flicked her wrists and had the axe smash against the metal shackles. The clank of metal on metal reverberated around the room, and the chains shattered into tiny shards. Then, in a cross-cutting motion, she sliced through the cell bars.

I stared on, unable to say anything. I did not want to make her an enemy. But at the same time, I was now even more confident we would be able to defeat the slave traders.

She turned to the cells housing the other prisoners.

“Please go.” One of the gaunt women begged.

“Don’t you want out?” The axe-wielding elf asked.

“We do, but we are safer in here. If you can’t defeat the traffickers, we will be spared, and if you do, you can let us out then.”

“But…” The axe-wielder began before I cut her off.

“Alright, but there is one thing wrong with what you said.” I paused to take a breath. “It’s not a matter of if we can defeat them, but how long it'll take.”

I turned and gave a thumbs-up in the air as I walked towards the stairs.

“Let’s go crush these bastards.”

I walked up onto the deck, and the moment I did so, Tassarion commented. “I was beginning to get worried. How did you find the Merchandise?”

As he finished, the elven woman emerged. Tassarion saw the blood dripping from my cutlass and her axes, and the colour drained from his face.

“Everybody, attack these pirates!” he screamed.

Pippa and Túta ran over to join us as the elves all pulled out their staffs.

“I’m going to cut you all down,” I declared, pointing my blade at them.

“Sorry, but I’m going to cut down more,” the elven woman replied.

“How about this then? Whoever does the most in the fight gets to make a decision that one of the other people has to follow,” I suggested.

“That sounds fun. I’m in,” she agreed.

“Can it be anything?” Tuta asked.

“Of course!”

“Then I am in as well.”

“The great and powerful Pippa is always in,” Pippa added as she struck a pose.

Several sigils began to form on the ends of the staffs of the elves before disappearing, startling them. Despite being only able to dispel one at a time, the speed at which Pippa was dispelling them was so quick that it basically nullified every last spell.

“Our spells aren’t working…” The axe-wielder cut down the elf mid-sentence.

“See, they aren’t so tough without magic,” Túta commented.

“What was that, Dwarf? I can cut you down too if you are accusing me of being weak.”

“Túta here was commenting about the scumbags, not you.”

“That’s right, I respect elves who know how to fight,” Túta responded, slightly flustered.

As we were having this conversation, several other elves had been cut down by the three of us. I enjoyed teasing Túta, but it was true that without their magic, the elves were surprisingly easy to take down, and only getting easier as their numbers dwindled.

The axe-wielding elf had cut through several traffickers like they were butter, and blood covered the decks of the ship. Despite the violence, the elf was captivating. Each movement was like a beautiful dance as she slaughtered more slave traders.

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

She wiped some of the blood off her face.

“My name is Elora Reymaris, although most know me as Elora the Bloodbath.”

“I can see why they call you that. You are so strong.”

“Thanks.”

“Speaking of strength, did you get stronger?” I asked Túta.

“Oh, you noticed.” She swung her sword, cleaning it of the majority of blood clinging to it. “Yep, I levelled up after taking down the pirates last night.”

“I forget the rest of you constantly level up,” I added as I blocked an attack.

“I suppose it is understandable when you don’t level up yourself,” Túta responded as she cut down the elf she was fighting.

“How dare you!...” another elf went down mid-sentence.

“So what level are you up to?” I continued asking Túta as a pirate swung a blade at me. I blocked it and then swiped the elf with my hook, forcing him to recoil.

“I’m level six right now,” Túta responded as she ducked down, allowing Elora to swing an axe at the elf that had been fighting her.

“Is that good?” I asked, dodging a ball of flaming green mana that had managed to get past Pippa's near-perfect magic disruption.

“It’s a little on the weaker side. Most standard pirates or adventurers would be around level ten.”

“Stop having a discussion and take us seriously!” An elf shouted before being cut down by Elora.

“Shouldn’t you already know this? It’s pretty common knowledge,” Elora said.

“I’m from another world.”

“Oh! An Otherworlder. They are pretty rare these days.”

“So you know about people from other worlds.” I was curious now. I hadn’t really spoken much about it with people outside the Trüestrike family.

“I’ve never met one before. But past tales of Otherworlders exist in the legends. They are always great heroes, achieving great things. You must have some pretty impressive abilities if you are one.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Can you guys take us seriously?” Tassarion screamed, hiding behind more of his goons. These ones had scars on their face and looked to be built a bit more solidly than most of the others we had already cut down.

Of course, we were taking this seriously. It was just that they were much weaker than we had expected. Also, I didn’t want to humour him, a scumbag like him didn’t deserve anything.

“Sorry, can you not interrupt our meaningful conversation. I’m learning a lot here.” I responded snarkily.

“He’s a bit rude,” Pippa agreed, nodding her head.

“Rude!? We invited you aboard as guests, and this is how you treat us!?” he screamed.

“I don’t think talking about how to treat others is something a slave trader should be commenting on,” I retorted.

He didn’t have a response.

Elora cut through the last of the elves besides Tassarion and the five guarding him.

“Six to go,” she replied, swinging her axes, blood splattering on the deck.

Unlike most of the other elves, these ones had blades, and the weight behind the strikes felt more seasoned than the others. Elora single-handedly finished off three of them before coming over and assisting Túta and me with the final two.

Tassarion fell to his knees.

“Please, spare my life,” he begged.

I looked down at the pitiful man. “No, I don’t think we will.”

“Please, you must know if you kill me, then the entire Presgeiros Merchant Company will be your enemy.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to be an enemy of the Presgeiros Merchant Company,” I theatrically performed my sarcasm. Although it seems like everything else, my acting must have lacked skill because he didn’t pick up that I was being sarcastic.

“That’s right, it would be foolish to make an enemy of the Presgeiros Merchant Company.” His greasy face began to smile.

I squatted down to look him in the eyes.

“Why would I be scared of your stupid company when the System itself is already wishing death upon me? Do you think your company holds more power than the world itself?”

The tiniest bits of colour that had returned to his face vanished in that instance.

I plunged my cutlass into him.

He let out a pained scream and flailed momentarily before going limp.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 16