The elves couldn’t comprehend how everything had spiraled so quickly.
One mont, they had been laughing and chatting, excitedly discussing who would hit the most bullseyes tomorrow.
So were already giving their new bows nas, treating them like cherished companions.
But the next mont, they turned around and found their forr healer pointing a weapon of mass destruction directly at the hero.
It was like falling from heaven straight into hell.
Or rather the very person who had brought them this heaven was now being threatened, and none of them would stand for it.
Outrage exploded from every direction.
"JULIUS! DROP THAT GUN RIGHT NOW!"
"This isn’t a joke! You have no right to point that at the hero!"
"Put it down before soone gets hurt!"
"ARE YOU INSANE?!"
The loudest voice of course ca from Lulu.
She stepped forward, eyes blazing with fury, pointing an accusing finger at her own father.
"YOU OLD BASTARD!"
"You better drop that gun right now! I swear, if you do anything—ANYTHING—to Luca, I’ll feed you to my chickens! I’ll drop you into boiling oil myself and turn you into fried chicken!"
She ant every word. This man might be her father by blood, but he had never been a father to her.
And Luca?
Luca had given her more kindness and attention in one day than Julius had in her entire life.
The thought of him threatening Luca made her see red.
But despite the threats, Julius didn’t flinch.
He didn’t even glance her way. His eyes remained fixed on Luca, that sa vicious grin plastered across his face.
"What are you all getting so worked up about?"
His voice was casual, almost playful.
"Who said anything about shooting the hero? I just got curious after seeing you shoot such intriguing weapons and I want to try it out myself."
Lulu’s eye twitched.
"Then why in hell are you pointing a gun at him?! There are actual targets right there! Use those if you want to practice!"
Julius chuckled, the sound sending chills down every spine.
"Oh, you misunderstand, my dear daughter."
He tilted his head, still not looking away from Luca.
"I’m not pointing at the hero at all. I’m pointing at that tree behind him."
He gestured vaguely with his chin.
"See it? Perfect target. The Hero just happens to be...in the way."
The sheer audacity of the excuse left the elves montarily speechless.
"That’s absolute garbage and you know it!"
"Stop making excuses, old man!"
"Put the gun down now!"
But Julius ignored them all.
His mind was elsewhere, replaying the events that had led him to this mont.
After being humiliated, he had been moving away with the other male elves, his pride in tatters.
He had racked his brain for so way, any way, to strike back at Luca.
To salvage his reputation. To make the hero pay.
But nothing ca to mind. Luca seed untouchable.
Then he heard the sounds.
Loud, thunderous noises echoing through the forest. Curious, he had crept back to observe from a distance. And what he saw changed everything.
Guns. Weapons of unimaginable power. Weapons that could tear through wood like paper, that could kill from impossibly far away, that put godlike power in the hands of anyone who held them.
And in that mont, Julius saw his path to victory.
With a gun like that, he could do anything. Create an army. Conquer villages. Perhaps even approach the human nobles and trade such a weapon for wealth and status.
The possibilities were endless.
But more than any of that—he could have his revenge.
So while the elves were distracted, he had crept forward and grabbed the Tommy gun. The sa one Luca had demonstrated. The most destructive weapon he had seen.
And now it was in his hands, aid at the Hero’s chest.
At first, he had only intended to threaten. To make Luca tremble.
To destroy his reputation by showing that even the great hero could be brought low by a simple weapon.
But as he stood there, feeling the weight of the gun, feeling its power thrumming through his hands, a darker thought erged.
’Why stop at threatening?’
’Why not just...end it?’
Luca was strong, yes. He could crush things with his bare hands and leap incredible heights.
But Julius had seen sothing when he was helping the other elves cut down the tree—a mont when Luca had splintered his hand on a particularly tough piece of wood, drawing blood.
Luna had bandaged it quickly, but the image had stuck with Julius.
The hero wasn’t invulnerable.
He could be hurt.
And if wood could hurt him, what would this gun do?
This weapon that could tear apart entire trees in seconds?
If he pulled the trigger, the Hero would be shredded. Obliterated. Dead.
The thought was like lightning striking his brain.
All fear vanished. All hesitation dissolved.
In that mont, Julius felt more powerful than he had ever felt in his life.
And when he looked at Luca’s face, he saw exactly what he wanted to see.
Fear.
Oh, Luca was trying to hide it. Putting on that calm, collected facade.
But Julius was a master of deception himself.
He could see the signs—the slight tremor in Luca’s hands, the way his jaw tightened and shifted, the flicker in his eyes that betrayed inner turmoil.
Julius knew that look. He had worn it himself countless tis over the past few days, trying to appear brave while inside he was crumbling.
So yes, Luca was scared. Terrified, even. And that realization was intoxicating.
This weapon was truly sothing special. It had actually made the Hero afraid.
And now Julius had the perfect opportunity.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
One squeeze. That’s all it would take. One squeeze, and the hero would be gone forever.
But just as Julius was lost in his fantasies of power and revenge, savoring the mont—
—a voice cut through his reverie.
A voice he never expected to hear in that tone.
"Julius."
The word was ice. Absolute. Commanding.
"I demand you to put that gun down right now."
"Don’t you dare point it at Luca."
Julius froze.
That voice. He knew that voice intimately. Had controlled it for decades. Had shaped it, molded it, bent it to his will.
But never had it spoken to him like this.
His head slowly turned, disbelief written across his features.
It was Leona.
She stood several paces away, her posture rigid, her face carved from ice.
But it was her eyes that truly caught his attention—they blazed with an anger he had never seen in her before.
Pure, unbridled fury that seed to burn through the air between them.
This shocked him as for decades, Leona had been under his control.
Afraid of him. Obedient to him.
Of course, she had argued occasionally, pushed back in small ways, always cautiously, always with that underlying fear that kept her in line.
But this? This was different.
This was open defiance. This was rage.
Leona herself was surprised by the words that had left her mouth.
In the past, she would never have dared to speak to him like this.
The fear was too deep, the consequences too severe.
But this situation was different.
The gun was pointed at Luca.
Luca, who had brought hope to the village.
Luca, who had given them new bows, new skills, new purpose.
Luca, who had protected them, taught them, cared for them.
And there was sothing else. Sothing deeper. Sothing she couldn’t quite na.
The thought of him being hurt—of him being killed ignited a rage in her chest that she had never felt before.
It was as if Luca had beco precious to her in ways she hadn’t fully recognized until this mont.
And the idea of Julius taking that away...
She couldn’t allow it. Wouldn’t allow it.
Consequences be damned.
But Julius recovered quickly. His shock morphed into sothing far more sinister—a cold, mocking amusent.
"You...demand ?" He chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. "You demand , Leona? Haha."
He shook his head slowly, as if witnessing a child throw a tantrum.
"Let remind you of your position. You’re not the matriarch anymore. Your villagers have abandoned you. No one considers you their leader."
He gestured at the crowd with his free hand.
"So how, exactly, can you of all people demand anything from anyone?"
Leona faltered.
The words struck true. She had no authority. No power. No right to command anything.
But even as that reality crashed over her, she found she didn’t care.
Even as a simple villager, she would fight for Luca.
She opened her mouth to speak—
But she froze.
Julius’s eyes had changed.
There was sothing in them now—a darkness, a silent threat that needed no words.
It was a look she knew intimately. A look that promised pain, suffering, consequences.
A look that said rember what happens when you defy .
mories flooded back. Years of carefully constructed fear. Lessons taught in pain and isolation.
The knowledge that defiance ca with a price—one that was always paid, one way or another.
Her bravado crumbled.
She looked down, despair washing over her. The words died in her throat. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t.
Nyx, standing nearby, noticed everything.
Her jaw tightened with fury, but she held herself back. She knew there was sothing between Leona and Julius—sothing dark, sothing hidden.
Now wasn’t the ti to unravel it.
Julius, satisfied with Leona’s submission, turned back to Luca. His confidence swelled even further.
But it also reminded him of a growing problem.
Leona was changing. She had actually tried to defy him.
And if Luca remained, if he continued to give her courage, she might eventually find the strength to speak the truth.
To reveal everything that had been happening over the years.
He couldn’t allow that—especially since he couldn’t really showcase the consequences around Luca in case he found out.
The only solution was to eliminate the source of her courage.
So, his finger tightened on the trigger—
—but then his eye caught movent.
He glanced to the side and saw Luna.
She was crouched near one of the open gun cases, her hand reaching inside, her eyes darting between the weapon within and her father.
"Luna..."
Julius’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"...You better not be doing what I think you’re doing."
Every head turned.
Luna froze, caught in the act. Her face went pale.
The gun case beside her was open—one of the few that hadn’t been fully packed away.
She had been trying to sneak a weapon, to threaten her own father, to protect Luca.
But it had failed.
Julius laughed, but there was no humor in it as he said,
"What is this? I raised you your whole life. My blood flows through your veins. And here you are, trying to assassinate your own father?"
He shook his head slowly.
"You don’t care about at all, do you?"
Luna knew she was defeated. With Julius’s finger already on the trigger, any move she made could set him off.
So, slowly, carefully, she rose to her feet.
But when she looked at him, there was no fear in her eyes.
Only cold, burning hatred.
"I’m glad I tried." She said quietly, her voice steady. "And I’ll do it again if I can."
For a mont, even Julius was taken aback.
That look—it was Leona’s look.
The cold, fierce expression that made others tremble.
Luna had inherited it perfectly.
His daughter had changed. In fact, all of the villagers changed.
All of them influenced by the hero.
Behind him, the other male elves had gathered, drawn by the commotion. They watched with eager expressions, silently urging him on.
’Do it.’
’End it.’
’Finish the Hero.’
Seeing this, Julius made his decision.
He turned back to Luca, finger curling on the trigger.
"You did this..."
He said, his voice low and venomous.
"You made my wife forget her place."
"You made my daughter try to kill ."
"You’ve poisoned everything."
He raised the gun slightly, aiming dead center at Luca’s chest.
"So I’m going to end it. Right here. Right now."
The male elves smiled.
The female elves scread.
And Julius’s finger tightened on the trigger.
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