"Godfrey—!" Isolde's voice barely registered as she blitzed forward, appearing behind the elf girl with her ice spear fully manifested, but this one had longer blades, almost like short swords attached to both ends.

The blades were jagged, like they were carved from rock. One side, clearly the main blade, was longer than the other, but the violet ice that made the spear blades was eye-catching.

The moment Isolde appeared behind the elf girl, she swung her spear upward. Sparks lit up in a millisecond as her spear clashed with an arrow, but it was quickly incinerated by the violet ice.

Isolde made a semicircle with one leg, planting that foot to the ground for balance as she spun the blade, deflecting several arrows. Godfrey couldn't see them coming; it was like Isolde fought against the darkness, but the sparks and sound of collision were as clear as day.

'Grand… Prince?' Tempest tilted his head toward him.

'You have my permission. Go ahead, both of you,' Godfrey replied inwardly, and both knights swiftly entered Black-Out State.

Tempest soared as his lightning tendril wings brightened the place, reaching far beyond what the fire was capable of.

True to his title, Light in the Darkness, Tempest's wings unleashed a bright light that allowed Godfrey and Isolde to catch a glimpse of elves on distant tree branches.

These elves had tall, graceful ears that went above the top of their heads and eyebrows. Godfrey had no clue how their eyebrows could extend that long. It was like a horizontal antenna, if he were to put the feature into proper words.

It wasn't like the elf girl crawling for her life looked any different. However, her hair was gray, while these other elves had snow-white hair and wore black leather armor with matching cloaks.

All of them held ornate wooden bows designed with gemstones.

"Vskehsi hevahaks, eoshsi!" the elf girl said with pleading eyes. Godfrey was certain she was begging them to save her. They were elf factions here?

These ones in black looked like true ice elves. Their skin was awfully white, unlike this elf girl whose skin was like a normal human's.

The stare-off between both sides ended when Mountain lifted up his spear, took some powerful steps, and flung the spear at the enemy!

It flew over four hundred feet with great, air-ripping speed and pierced through an elf, but the elf burst into black smoke and rematerialized beside the spear that plunged halfway through the thick tree.

The elf held the spear's shaft with a mocking smirk.

"They're King/Queen Tiers," Isolde said solemnly as they faced over two dozen of these snow elves. That ability alone proved it wouldn't be easy killing them.

A diagram flared up behind her, and Grace brought her head and one claw out. The white hornless dragon, possessing astonishing elegance for a dragon, unleashed a thunderous roar.

"I don't know if you can understand me, but you won't die. At least not by their hands," Godfrey said as he walked up to the elf girl, who was staring at the dragon with shocked eyes.

She lifted her head and looked at the young man standing beside her. He looked odd, with short ears, but those ocean-blue eyes were calming.

The elves vanished one after the other until not one remained.

Isolde stabbed her spear into the snow and held it with one hand as she turned to face the elf girl. Grace, on the other hand, unflured her wings and flew, causing the leaves on the trees to cling tightly to their branches in fear of being blown away.

Tempest flew straight while Mountain moved below the treetops. All three of them scoured the area to ensure the elves had indeed left.

"Thkage egsoegek," the elf girl said.

Isolde and Godfrey looked at each other. Clearly, they needed information, but everything this elf said was gibberish to their ears.

"I'll be back." Isolde went to the tent and came back with a slim pack of sweets. Inside the pack, each oval-shaped sweet was wrapped with nylon.

"What's this?" Godfrey asked.

"It's made from some ingredients found in dungeons and Multilingual Parrot abilities. Once you take it, you'll be able to understand and also speak the languages of other races," Isolde explained.

"Sounds expensive."

"What I'm holding costs three hundred thousand, and there are just twelve inside. It's made from a summon that can extract the abilities of specific creatures and turn them into this candy sweet."

Isolde's response made Godfrey raise an eyebrow. 'That's one smart way to use an ability. It's a terrifying ability too. Thank God he's using it for business purposes. Too bad for the Multilingual Parrots, though,' Godfrey mused inwardly.

Isolde squatted and stretched a Multilingual candy sweet toward the elf. She was quite wary, but after seeing them eat it, she also ate.

These people also had two strong-looking knights and a dragon; she couldn't do anything against them.

The moment the elf tasted the candy sweet, her eyes widened. Watching her chew it, Godfrey chuckled softly while Isolde smiled.

"So…" The moment Godfrey said that, the elf's eyes widened. She could understand them.

"Who are you, and what's going on here?"

"I'm Tindra, daughter of the Town head. Those rangers are from the Snow Elves faction, and their assignment is to kill or take me hostage." What Tindra said carried more weight when she led Godfrey and Isolde to the scene.

Godfrey's eyebrows almost came together as he looked at over twenty Wood Elves in similar armor to Tindra's, lying in pools of blood along with their mounts.

Judging from the scene, they had made sure to sacrifice themselves so Tindra could get away, but she would have died had it not been for them.

"Do you know where those elves come from?" Godfrey asked.

Tindra shook her head. "I don't, but my father should. Please, follow me. I would also like to repay you for saving my life." Tindra clasped her hands.

Godfrey looked at Isolde and found her looking back at him. Going to the elf town would allow them to find the Snow Elves, and apart from that, this was the first time Godfrey and Isolde had met a non-hostile dungeon native.

It was a surreal experience. Now that he thought about it, the bosses of green gate dungeons usually had dungeon cores. It was like they were sent for the purpose of strengthening humans.

But that led to the deaths of many before a powerful summoner would defeat the boss and emerge even stronger.

"Let's go," Isolde said.

***

A pale-skinned elf lady clad in black armor walked through a narrow hallway with tall walls, pushed open a door, and entered a throne room where an elf clad in leather armor with light steel plates at his chest and shoulders sat on a stone throne.

A black eagle perched on the armrest, and he caressed its head.

"So? Has she been taken care of?" the Elvin Commander asked without looking at the ranger.

"We failed," the ranger said and went on one knee.

"You what?" The Elvin Commander turned toward the ranger. His voice wasn't loud, as it was still calm.

"Her guards were taken care of, but we met two humans. Both were summoners."

"So they're here again. Those pesky short-lived men. We've long retreated from the forefront. The wolves should have multiplied enough to keep them busy, but they came this deep? This race might have received their second blessing." The commander entwined his fingers as he straightened his back and leaned on the throne's backrest.

"What should we do?" the ranger asked.

"Describe them for me. How dangerous are they?" he asked calmly.

"The girl isn't weak. She's definitely at or above Throne Tier to be able to block the arrows of a dozen Queen Tier rangers all firing at the same time. She also has a dragon. I believe the boy has two knights, but I can't sense much from him. His knights are not weak, but they're only two and of a lower tier than the dragon. He's far weaker than the girl," the ranger responded reverently.

"I see. Prepare our forces, then. I believe the Lysander's daughter is leading them to her small town as we speak."

***

Tindra watched with amazement as Godfrey and Isolde brought down their tent and put everything into their backpacks, yet it remained flat.

It was new to her. She only knew of blue sapphire pendants being able to store things, which is what she used to store the corpses of the honorable men that died protecting her.

"Lead the way," Godfrey said. Just as he said that, all three of them noticed the rustling in the woods.

Huge white bears came out, and their leader stood on its two feet with blue markings on its powerful arms and shoulders. It also had elongated ice claws, and its eyes gleamed ferociously.

"It's the bear lord!" Tindra's eyes widened. She was just a hundred years old and was supposed to start learning how to fight and use mana efficiently, but the town she was sent to had been destroyed by the Snow Elves, and they had laid an ambush for her.

She, without means to protect herself, had lost all her guards, and now there was a bear lord with an army of Lord Tier bears.

"Leave this one to me," Godfrey said while facing Isolde. Mountain suddenly burst out from the woods with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

The bears charged but were blasted away as Mountain swung his shield with a loud war cry. Snow blasted upward while Tempest descended from above, spinning like a beyblade right on the bear lord.

In Black-Out State, he rose from a 9.9 peak-level Lord Tier to a 10.9 King Tier, but facing the 11.5 bear lord, his Double-Bladed Greatsword spinning at such great velocity was blocked by its claws.

It roared and swung its other hand. Three of Tempest's tendril-wings wrapped around that arm, scorching it as Tempest distanced himself.

The bear lord didn't hold back for one moment. It moved, swinging its claws once more. Tempest blocked with his sword. Sparks flew as both of them clashed heavily, snow fog rising up.

'I… I cannot lose!' Tempest said inwardly as the bear lord overpowered him with brute strength. It swung its hand with a great roar, slamming Tempest's Double-Bladed Greatsword down and biting into his shoulder.

Its teeth pierced through the golden plate. Tempest let go of his sword and slammed his fist into the bear lord's face, freeing himself, but he would have to wait for that arm to heal. Before then, he could only use one arm.

His prince was watching!

Tempest heaved, looking at his one useless arm as he picked up his weapon. For some reason, his eyes went to his wings.

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