Chapter 265: Shameless!
None of the mages and fighters around him dared to approach Elion, and it was not even a conscious, discussed decision, but rather something that had settled over the battlefield naturally.
As if every single person present had silently agreed that stepping within his vicinity was a line not to be crossed, because what they had just witnessed was not something they could comprehend.
Even after a full minute had passed since the demons had retreated, the clearing around him remained untouched, a wide empty space where no one dared to step, as though the ground itself had been marked by something dangerous and untouchable.
The soldiers on the front lines, those who had been closest to him during the slaughter, did not even entertain the thought of approaching, because they were the ones who had seen it most clearly, had felt the pressure most intensely.
They knew better than anyone else that whatever that young man was, he was not someone they could casually walk up to and question, and even among the slightly stronger individuals further back, there was hesitation
Their minds raced to make sense of what they had seen, some of them arriving at the conclusion that perhaps he was some powerful individual who had somehow offended the wrong higher-up and had been sent to the front lines as punishment.
Otherwise, there was simply no reasonable explanation for why someone of that level would be here among fodder soldiers.
However, such an abnormality was never going to remain unnoticed for long, because the sudden halt in the coalition’s advance was far too obvious.
The higher command stationed not too far from the battlefield had already begun to question why their forces had suddenly stopped pushing forward.
As the reports began to trickle in, though fragmented and disbelieving, it did not take long for them to piece together that something unusual had occurred, especially since some of them had already caught glimpses of Elion’s final moments of slaughter from a distance using some expert scouts with spells capable of such.
The image of demons fleeing in terror and a single figure standing amidst a sea of corpses impossible to ignore.
As Elion stood there, appearing to casually catch his breath to any onlooker, though in reality he was struggling internally to pull himself out of the suffocating clarity of his enhanced cognition state, three powerful auras descended from above, their presence immediately noticeable to everyone in the vicinity as the air seemed to grow heavier with their arrival.
Soon enough, a large flying creature came into view. Its massive shell and slow, steady wingbeats made it resemble nothing short of a colossal airborne turtle, upon whose back stood three figures.
Two young women and a single young man, all of them radiating strength that clearly set them apart from the rest of the soldiers present.
The moment the creature descended and touched the ground with a heavy thud, the three of them stepped forward in unison, their positioning instinctive, their stances ready.
It was immediately clear from the way they carried themselves that they were not ordinary fighters, the young man in the center especially, whose aura was noticeably stronger than the other two, and whose posture and tone made it obvious that he was the one in charge.
"Who are you!" he shouted, his voice carrying across the clearing with authority as his sharo and cautious eyes locked onto Elion, "State your name and your affiliation, or we will attack immediately!"
A wave of confusion spread through the coalition soldiers at those words, and several of them could not help but react instinctively.
One lanky elf with a bow stepped forward slightly as he raised his voice in protest, "He was killing demons! Of course, he’s on our side!" and his words were quickly echoed by others.
Murmurs of agreement spread through the ranks as they struggled to understand why this newcomer was being treated as a potential enemy if he was fighting on their side.
However, the young man did not even spare them a glance, his focus remaining entirely on Elion as he repeated himself, his tone even more forceful this time, "State your name and your affiliation!"
The flying turtle shifted slightly behind them as the three stepped forward together, aligning themselves side by side, their bodies tensed, their mana already circulating as they prepared for the possibility of combat.
All three sets of eyes never left Elion for even a moment, watching for the slightest hint of movement, the faintest trace of hostility.
Elion, who had been standing there with his head slightly lowered, finally turned his gaze toward them. His movements were slow and almost lazy, as if none of this warranted any urgency from him.
Booom!
When his cold blue eyes settled on the three of them, the effect was immediate and overwhelming.
In that instant, it felt as though the temperature had dropped drastically, as though an invisible weight had descended upon their shoulders, pressing down on them with suffocating intensity.
"!!!"
All three of them reacted at once, their bodies stiffening, their breaths catching as a sharp hiss escaped their lips.
In that moment, they felt it clearly, unmistakably, the overwhelming sense of being prey locked in the gaze of a predator far beyond their level, a chilling instinct that screamed at them that they were in danger.
’An enemy.’
The thought formed simultaneously in all their minds.
There was no way they would not have heard of someone like this if he was truly one of their own, no way someone so young, so powerful, could exist within their ranks without their knowledge, and the sheer pressure radiating from him made it impossible to think otherwise.
The thought was further reaffirmed by the fact that all three of them could see that this guy was only an advanced mage like them! And yet, his presence was already so suffocating!
’Who is he!?’
Was he perhaps a demon general who was hiding his true strength to get behind enemy lines? But then, why slaughter his own soldiers?
Well, that was not exactly beneath demonkind to stage such a thing by sacrificing their own.
"F-form a perimeter around him..." the young man managed to say, though his voice lacked the firmness it had earlier.
A slight tremor in his tone betrayed the fear he was trying so desperately to suppress, because despite everything, he knew that he could not afford to show weakness, not here, not when so many were watching, and not when the stakes were this high.
Elion, however, did not react to the command, his gaze slowly moving from one figure to the next, studying them in silence.
His expression was still blank, and his presence still suffocating, pressing down on everyone in the vicinity like an invisible tide, until his eyes finally landed on the third member of the group, who was standing on the left side.
The extremely beautiful purple-haired catgirl with lightly tanned skin. She was also wearing a loose black robe over a tight-fitting black bodysuit that clung to her voluptuous figure like a second skin.
’A beauty?’
In that instant, everything in his aura and his posture changed.
The crushing pressure vanished completely, as if it had never been there in the first place; it all but dissipated into nothingness, and Elion’s expression shifted just as abruptly.
The cold detachment in his eyes melted away as a soft, almost innocent smile appeared on his lips, his entire demeanor changing so drastically that it left everyone present momentarily stunned.
"Sorry about that," he said casually, his tone light, almost apologetic, as if he had not just terrified them moments ago, "I was still a bit on edge."
His gaze remained fixed on her as he turned his body fully toward the group.
Without the slightest hesitation, he began walking forward, with relaxed and unhurried steps, as if the tension that had just filled the air no longer existed, while the three of them remained rooted in place, still trying to process the abrupt shift in atmosphere.
The young man, Aeron, finally snapped out of it as Elion approached, instinctively stepping forward to intercept him, because that was the logical course of action, to position himself between this unknown individual and his companions and take control of the situation as he was supposed to.
But before he could even say a word, Elion walked right past him without so much as acknowledging his presence and stopped directly in front of the catgirl.
Aeron froze mid-step, his mind going blank for a split second as he tried to comprehend what had just happened, his eyes widening slightly as he turned his head, while the others looked on in equal disbelief.
[Objective complete]
[Bonus awarded for outstanding performance!]
’Shut up, stupid trial!’
[...]
"Hello, beautiful," Elion said shamelessly.
His voice was smooth, and his smile widened slightly as he looked at her with clear interest, "How I wish this was more than just a trial, the heavens are truly blind to let such beauty be forgotten to the winds of time."
He held that familiar heartthrob smile effortlessly, as if the battlefield, the corpses, the tension, all of it had ceased to exist the moment he laid eyes on her.
"Huh?"
Aeron’s voice came out before he could stop it, his expression completely dumbfounded as he stared at the scene in front of him, his mind struggling to catch up with the sheer absurdity of what he was witnessing.
’Is this bastard... flirting in this situation?’
The thought echoed through the minds of everyone present almost at once.
’Shameless!’
Zenovia’s expression twisted instantly when she understood what had happened; the shift was so abrupt it was almost jarring. Her brows furrowed deeply, and her lips curled in disgust as she stared at Elion like he was something filthy that had crawled out of the ground.
Without wasting even a single word, she pivoted sharply on her left foot, her body moving with practiced precision as her right leg whipped up in a fast, clean arc aimed straight for his face.
The motion cut through the air with a sharp whoosh, but Elion had already moved before the kick could connect.
His body dipped low in a smooth crouch as he leaned just enough to let the strike pass over him, "Whoops!" he said lightly in a playful tone.
From his lowered position, his eyes flicked upward for a brief moment, taking in the exquisite view of her thicc thighs and the curved view of her ass that he had created for himself.
’Wow, what a nice body!’ He gave it a nice, long, appreciative look and nodded in approval.
The kick didn’t end there though.
Aeron, who had still been half frozen, stood just close enough and just unprepared enough that he became the unintended target, and in the next instant, Zenovia’s heel smashed straight into his face with a heavy impact.
Smash!
His head snapped violently to the side, his eyes shutting on instinct as spit and a faint spray of blood burst from his mouth.
Wham!
His body lifted clean off the ground from the force as he was sent flying backwards in an uncontrolled arc.
Boom!
He crashed into the ground several meters away, rolling once before going completely still.
Everyone froze.
The surrounding people, the other woman who had been beside Aeron, even Zenovia herself, all stared at the scene with stunned expressions.
"???"
The area was now hanging in a strange silence, broken only by the distant crackling of fire and the fading echoes of impact.
Zenovia slowly turned her head, her raised leg still hanging mid-air as realization hit her, her expression shifting from fury to a flicker of guilt as her eyes landed on Aeron’s unmoving figure in a heap, but she didn’t get the chance to react any further than that.
Elion was still crouched beneath her and still looking at her assets in concentrated earnest.
"Real nice." He gave continuous small nods, completely unfazed by what had just happened, his gaze lingering just long enough to be unmistakable before he spoke casually.
"Not bad... very fit and tight." His tone was thoughtful, like he was evaluating something extraordinary, "Your thighs must feel pretty thick under that tight suit."
The silence broke.
"Shameless bastard!" someone finally shouted from the side, and just like that, the tension snapped again, but this time it wasn’t confusion or fear; it was a mix of disbelief and outrage as every single person present struggled to process how someone so powerful could be so shameless at the same time!