Leap Off the Cliff

Facing the four black-clad Orcs, Andy felt a jolt of alarm.

Although these four Orcs did not look particularly muscular, they exerted a pressure that no ordinary Orc could match. As they blocked his path, they began to emit rhythmic guttural roars; only Andy realized they were chanting incantations.

Wisps of green light emerged from their outstretched fingers, drifting and swirling in mid-air like silken threads. This green, thread-like energy gathered and thickened until it formed a green rope as thick as a wrist, which then descended to envelop Andy and his companions.

Larsen and his men were, after all, from the Sentinel Unit; there was a reason they were known as the elves' most elite force. With a roar, Larsen and his men darted rapidly to the side. Andy was no slouch either; the moment the green energy rope descended, he retreated a few steps, rolled on the ground, and dodged to the side.

Agmar curled his lips into a cold, cruel smile and hissed, "Do you think you can escape?"

Andy's heart tightened as he watched the energy rope extend toward him with terrifying speed, as if it would not rest until it had captured him.

"Retreat!" Larsen shouted, drawing the curved blade at his waist while backing away rapidly, all the while keeping a wary eye on the male Naga lurking nearby.

Andy scrambled to his feet, pulled an arrow from his back, and fired it off in a flash, turning to run without even checking if it hit. Larsen converged with Andy as they ran, shouting angrily, "You idiot, what do we do now!"

Andy frowned; he truly had no good plan. They were all warriors, and against the enemy's magic, they would be lucky just to survive.

The Orcs' energy rope did not last long; after pursuing them for a short distance, it gradually dissipated. Agmar gestured, and the four Orcs raised their heads, chanting a series of harsh, grating incantations. First, several large fireballs rained down from the sky behind Andy and his group, the heat radiating through the air causing the withered grass on the ground to ignite instantly.

Andy stole a glance behind him and broke into a cold sweat. He lunged forward with all his might, rolled several times, and scrambled back to his feet. Larsen was in a wretched state as well; the hem of his tunic had been clipped by a landing fireball and caught fire, which he only managed to extinguish by rolling on the ground.

"Run into the woods!" Larsen roared. "Quick, split up! We can't all be captured; someone has to make it back!"

Andy fired two more arrows with a "whoosh" at the pursuing black-clad Orcs before turning and sprinting into the forest. Larsen and his subordinates had already crossed the tree line, their figures flickering through the woods. Andy pushed off with his feet and dove into the dense forest as well.

The four Orcs glanced back at Agmar, who said coldly, "Except for that little elf, kill the rest..." As he spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

The four black-clad Orcs split into two groups. One pair chased after Andy, flickering rapidly before vanishing into the dense thicket. The other two followed the tracks Larsen had left behind.

Agmar cast a glance at the Naga nearby and said, "Guard the altar. If anything goes wrong, don't think I won't skin you alive when I return!" With that, Agmar muttered an incantation, his body lifted into the air, and he vanished with a sinister laugh in the direction Andy had fled.

Once Andy entered the woods, he could no longer find a trace of Larsen. In his desperation, he simply picked a direction and ran. The two black-clad Orcs tasked with pursuing him stayed hot on his heels, but the forest was so dense that they struggled to pick up speed.

Agmar flew above, unhindered by the dense forest, making him far faster than the two Orcs. Watching Andy's figure weaving through the trees below, he couldn't help but laugh—a laugh that looked cruel.

Andy ran for his life, so panicked he lost his sense of direction. After an hour of running, he suddenly burst out of the dense forest and onto the edge of the woods. Looking at the overgrown terrain ahead, his heart sank. Without the cover of the forest, he had no advantage left; he could even see the shadows of the two black-clad Orcs through the gaps in the trees.

There was no time to turn back and find a new path, not with the two Orcs behind him and Agmar in the sky. Despite the lack of cover, Andy could not stop; he had to keep running. His only thought now was to ensure they did not catch him, for if they did, a living hell awaited him.

Andy ran for a while longer before suddenly slamming on the brakes, his body dropping back sharply. Several clods of dirt loosened and tumbled down the cliff in front of him. Andy stood up and looked at the vast ocean below the cliff, his heart filled with despair. It was truly a case of it never raining but pouring; was this really fate?

"Run, why don't you run anymore?" A cold laugh echoed as Agmar floated in mid-air, looking down at Andy with a sinister grin.

Andy instantly raised his bow, and an arrow glowing with a sickly green light pierced the air toward Agmar. Agmar remained unperturbed, raising his hand to emit a flash of light from his palm, causing Andy's arrow to fall limply from the sky.

"Throw away these useless trinkets; you cannot escape," Agmar said. "You will become the catalyst for Lord Gul'dan's spell!"

"You won't succeed!" Andy glanced at the two black-clad Orcs emerging from the forest. At that moment, he seemed to have an epiphany: his life in this world was destined to end prematurely. He hoped that if he ever met that old Creator again, he would demand a better fate.

Andy smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking it absurd that he was pondering such nonsense before death. He raised a middle finger at Agmar and said, "I won't let you capture me, you Orcish scum!"

Andy stepped back twice, leaped, and his body vanished over the edge of the cliff. Agmar's expression turned hideous; he hadn't managed to stop him in the end.

"Big Brother, from this height, he'll either be smashed to pieces or drown," one of the black-clad Orcs said.

Agmar nodded, took a deep breath, and said, "You two head back; the plan is about to begin, and there can be no mistakes this time! I will fly down to take a look and confirm whether that brat is dead. We must be absolutely certain."

The two black-clad Orcs nodded and ran back the way they came.

Agmar's body lifted into the air, and he whispered, "You'd better be dead, brat, or I'll show you what it means to wish for death." With that, he spread his form and drifted down toward the bottom of the cliff.