Drows were a subset of the small population of elves living in the Goblin World. Dark violet-skinned with beautiful white hair, they were the only elves to worship the Moon. Their Wood Elves brethren honoured the Woods as an entity providing them with shelter and a safe home whereas the Golden Elves devoted themselves to the Sun.
Kraft was elated since he hit the jackpot with them. They would make ideal underground members simply through their reputation alone. Rumours had it that all Drows were ‘evil’ incarnate of the otherwise highly esteemed elves. He himself was aware that all these were just stereotypes used to scare unruly kids into bed and could empathise with the ostracisation they had to suffer from. Unfortunately, after a lie got repeated long enough, it had a way to become a ‘truth’ in itself.
“One thing’s for sure, they are indeed a hardy bunch of elves.” Kraft smiled watching the recovering drow warriors spark into action. Every dark elf still able to move after Kraft’s menacing display of aura, gritting their teeth and pushed forward to assist their elder in the hopes of preventing Tsu and Kai from murdering more of their members.
Though he appreciated their valiant efforts, he had other plans for them. Kraft summoned Evon out, interrupting their feeble attempt at resistance. The Frog Clan member specialising in using poisons and drugs remained in his fox form as he jumped high up by stepping onto Kiyu.
He curled his body into a ball, before stretching it to send out a burst of fog throughout his entire body. Like putting a stack of dry ice into a bucket, the greenish fog was visibly oozing out from his entire body, causing the warriors to enter a state of euphoria except for the elder who had engaged its blades with Tsu.
However, the drugged Drows were merely entering the first stage of Evon’s mysterious fog attack. Kiyu, although a bit angry at Evon for using her a stepping stool, assisted him by making use of the drug fog effects.
She initiated one of her sacred butterfly cultivation dances, the many techniques she learnt in her clan before she disappeared to assist the incriminated Panda Clan. After getting an estimation on her opponents’ level of strength, Kiyu proceeded to dance in her combat jacket.
Switching to her traditional battle dance costume would have been even more effective considering it had ancient inscriptions specifically for her dances, yet she decided it was unnecessary to bring out a relic from ancient times last used when fighting against the servants of the Jade Emperor.
The moment the Butterfly had started her dance, a music rhythm was heard in the minds of the helpless dark elves. With a swirl and twirl, Kiyu brought out a bell tied to a satin cloth and danced gracefully in the midst of the forest. Even those Drows had been wise enough to close their eyes despite their condition, fell prey to the deathly enchanting aura as it got more and more intense the longer she danced and eventually they became fully immersed by it.
When Kiyu sensed the majority of the Drows enthralled by her dance, she gently made the bell go round her own neck. As the satin cloth along with it gracefully touched her nape, every single Dark Elf who got absorbed into her allure got killed instantly seemingly due to a crushed neck. Blood sprayed, scattered throughout the forest grounds and one by one, the Drows dropped towards the ground, only to disappear before ever hitting it.
The elder saw what was happening to his people, allowing Tsu to throw in a punch which he was unable to block. “Do you really think you have time to be distracted? Looks like I’ve been way too kind to you.” Tsu berated the other as he cracked his fingers and leaned his toned body forward.
“Tsu, your hairband came off.” Kai pointed out as he took the initiative to hold onto his brother and assisted him with tying up his hair. “There. Much neater.” Kai nodded as he gave Tsu a pat on the shoulder.
“Thanks, Kai. It’s been ages taking on this form. I’m too used to our fox form.” Tsu smiled kindly at Kai before returning to a face the Drow Elder whose face was full of anger and hatred towards these intruders. Before they could resume their fight, Kraft stepped forward and stopped both siblings from toying further with the elder.
Seeing his people die from unknown, obscure circumstances he had never encountered before in the centuries he had lived, the Drow Elder had tried his best not to inhale too much of the surrounding fog. He had quickly tried to distance himself, and the foxes hadn’t hindered him.
The small amount of the drugged fog he had inhaled caused him to feel light headed, and the more he distanced himself, the worse the withdrawal symptoms inside him became. The elder felt the rising need to return into the fog, despite fearing the consequences, all to get rid of the increasing pain.
After a short while, he was already gasping for air and tried to use whatever magical energies he had to suppress the feeling. Nevertheless, he was too weak to do anything, and Kiyu walked towards him with Evon in her arms. (She had pinched the mischievous fox for its earlier action, though)
“Nasty thing that you inhaled, right? By now, you should be craving another dose… Hmm, but it is quickly dissipating into the air. So how about a little trade? We give you some more of that stuff, and you tell us where your village is
“Kiyu is as scary as ever,” Tsu mumbled and Kai nodded his head in agreement. Suddenly they both felt a cold chill down their spine and continued to remain silent.
“Why? What do you want?… Who sent you…?” The elder asked with much difficulty barely able to grasp onto his sanity.
“No one really. I just needed some members for a new group I’ve established. Our goal? Hmmm …let’s not be too greedy for now… let’s just say I wish to lead the number one underworld gang in the Orc and Goblin Kingdoms? Humans can come later.” Kraft rubbed his chin as he stated his reasons.
“I…don’t *Cough cough* I don’t understand what you’re talking about. *Cough cough* then why kill… us?” The Drow Elder looked up to Kraft as he bid his time trying his best to gather his magical energy for one final counter attack. Unbeknownst to him, the accumulation of magical energy had already been sensed by all the Foxes, though they pretend to not notice anything.
“Weren’t you the ones to have attacked us first? To be honest, we don’t really need your help that much. I merely was intrigued about the rumours of this place. Don’t worry, you soon will be seeing your friends again.” Kraft shrugged his shoulders and looked away from the elder, providing him with an opening.
Except there was a catch.
The moment the Original Bellator turned away, tens of Dark Elves appeared out of nowhere, each with a weapon pointed at one of elder’s vital spots. Any kind of sudden movement and it would be the end of the Drow Chieftain.
“Sorry, Elder. We cannot refuse their orders.” One of the Drow uttered without remorse and the rest resonated along with him.
“…But I saw you guys die! *Cough cough* You disappeared into nothingness.” The elder was speechless at what was happening. He thought it had to be the fog that made him hallucinate.
“Too bad for you, it’s no illusion.” Kiyu stood up and clapped her hands, giving the signal for their new allies to cleanly cut off the elder’s head without a hitch.
Suddenly, there was a hollow echo resonating throughout the whole forest. It was as if the Forest of Marve griefed the death of one of her important guardians while alerting the rest about it.
“Too bad for the forest. My hands are feeling rather itchy after all the waiting here and there. A Bandit Lord has got to do some robbing.” Kraft stretched his hands as he summoned the Drow Elder back out from nonexistence. The elder was back in prime health, and he felt way better than ever before. He never knew that he could feel this way at all.
“Alright, enough admiring of your own body, you narcissistic elf. I know you have nice white hair and chocolaty black skin. Go! Do your job, old man! Chop Chop!” Kraft commanded the Drow Elder and the resurrected Dark Elves, telling them to invade their very own forest village. They acknowledged with a single nod and started to move in various direction while a Dark Elf guided them straight to the village.
What followed was not a pretty sight at all.
“Good thing Jin’s not here to witness all of this. System remember put them all under my account for now. We will transfer them over to Jin at a later point in time.” Kraft smirked as he followed behind the crowd of murderous Dark Elves eager to enjoy the following show.
“It’s best to get it all over at once as I can practically see our young master screaming his head off for giving me that impromptu title he thought of.” Kraft evilly smiled to himself as he gave the order for the Drows to move forth.
“It’s unfortunate, but if you desire a ‘kind’ and powerful ruthless gang, you got to be brutally ruthless at the start.”
