The arrow's speed and force were so great that even Lin Ran had trouble reacting in time.
Panicked, he activated his Room domain immediately, but it seemed a bit too late.
Divine Power!
Just then, the Divine Power that Lin Ran had previously inscribed into Luo Qingyan's right eye with the Transcription Seal was suddenly triggered, transforming into a vortex of space and time that pulled Luo Qingyan into the Divine Power space.
The arrow naturally missed.
With a *ding*, the arrow pierced the city wall, embedding itself halfway through.
How vicious!
Lin Ran cast a grim gaze in the direction the arrow came from.
Damn it! If Luo Qingyan, with her depleted magic, had taken that arrow, she would have been in critical condition immediately.
Who was ambushing them?!
In Lin Ran's line of sight stood a dark elf with a cold expression.
He was mounted on a Gryphon significantly larger than the others, wielding a longbow intricately carved with complex patterns.
Furthermore, the patterns on his clothing were vastly different from the plainer attire of the other dark elves, exuding a distinct sense of luxury.
Is this a major threat?
Lin Ran quickly took another sip from the Ring of Souls, restoring his magic to 100% (he had taken two sips earlier during their chat), and prepared for battle.
Sensing Lin Ran's killing intent, the dark elf smiled faintly and spoke:
"Kaidan Kailin, I request your guidance."
Kaidan?!
Hearing the name he announced, Lin Ran's expression grew even heavier.
When he had used Magic Mirror Reversal to counter the dark elf's illusion array and then Tsukuyomi to interrogate the dark elves, he had learned about this.
The main commander of this dark elf operation was a person named Kaidan.
It seemed this was undoubtedly the person before him...
Kaidan glanced at the silent Lin Ran and suddenly chuckled:
"Heh heh, don't think you can defeat me with mere schemes and tricks..."
"That skill that made the young lady disappear just now, it must be an illusion, right?"
"Actually, there was no one there in the first place."
"I must admit, your mastery of illusions is profound indeed, not only able to break my dark elf race's illusion array but even to deceive me."
"It's a pity, though, that illusions are ultimately ephemeral and cannot be considered part of one's true strength."
"Today, the ownership of this armed fortress is no longer important."
"What's important is that you must die here!"
Kaidan had initially intended to remain a behind-the-scenes planner and not engage in direct combat.
He felt that with the dark elf troops' surprise attack and the stampede of ferocious beasts on the ground, capturing the armed fortress and slaughtering its human inhabitants would be effortless.
They would even have enough time and resources to retreat without being caught by the reinforcements that would inevitably arrive.
However, he hadn't anticipated Lin Ran and Luo Qingyan suddenly appearing as unexpected obstacles, completely disrupting his plan.
Yet, Kaidan felt no trace of displeasure.
His heart was filled only with excitement.
After all, even slaughtering thousands of human soldiers and awakened individuals was a mere fraction of the thrill he'd get from hunting down a human prodigy.
In future wars, these high-tier combatants would undoubtedly play a decisive role.
If he could eliminate these two potential threats today, his contribution would far exceed that of conquering the armed fortress.
It was a shame, however, that Luo Qingyan had been disoriented by Lin Ran's illusion and vanished somewhere.
Now, only Lin Ran stood before him.
In that case, he would deal with this person first!
Inside the city, countless soldiers and awakened individuals were also greatly startled by this sudden turn of events:
"Holy crap? That dark elf has incredible arm strength!"
"Our city walls, which are unbreakable against the ferocious beasts, and he managed to shoot an arrow this far into them?!"
"That was vicious... the arrow aimed at Miss Luo, it felt like any one of us would have been dead by now."
"But it's also strange that Miss Luo disappeared after dodging that arrow."
"Who cares, as long as she's safe..."
"Yeah, Miss Luo's magic is almost depleted, it's good she's hiding for now."
"But, are we letting Brother Lin Ran face that powerful dark elf alone? It feels like too much pressure!"
"Don't panic, believe in Lin Ran, Lin Ran can create miracles!"
"Look, Brother Lin Ran's magic is surging now! He's fully recovered!"
"My god! This recovery speed! It's too unbelievable!"
"This is the strength of the strongest top scholar in the history of the Dragon Kingdom! It's a blessing for our Dragon Kingdom!"
"..."
Chu Yunfei's heart was also stirred by a tempest.
Looking at Lin Ran's resolute back, Chu Yunfei felt as if he saw a mountain that could support the Dragon Kingdom's destiny for a thousand years to come.
Once this person matured, he might very well lead the Dragon Kingdom towards revival single-handedly!
Chu Yunfei gritted his teeth:
"Pass my order! All soldiers, maintain a strict formation!"
"If Lin Ran's life is in danger during his fight with that dark elf, the entire unit will charge out together to buy Lin Ran brother recovery time!"
"At that time, I will lead the charge!"
"..."
On the city wall, Lin Ran had already secretly locked onto Kaidan with his left Mangekyo Sharingan, Divine Power poised for activation.
He was waiting for an opportunity to strike.
As for Luo Qingyan, he would let her recover in the Divine Power space for now.
Kaidan, with a cruel smile of excitement, raised his longbow again:
"Do you know?"
"Within the first level of the Black Dragon Abyss, this bow of mine has claimed the lives of at least one hundred human awakened individuals."
"All of them, a fatal shot with a single arrow."
"Therefore, I am very eager to see how long this so-called human prodigy, who can instantly kill hundreds of my clansmen with a single skill..."
"Can last before my second arrow is loosed!"
After hearing Kaidan's words, Lin Ran's gaze grew even colder.
Although he had rushed back to report the news immediately upon discovering the dark elf's plot.
Chu Yunfei had also promptly sent emails to all registered awakened individuals in the Black Dragon Abyss armed fortress, reminding them to retreat.
However, due to some people likely being deeper within the Black Dragon Abyss, they had failed to return to the armed fortress before the beast tide broke out.
Clearly, their chances of survival were slim.
And Kaidan before him, based on his strength, was at least a Tier 4 awakened-level alien, and possibly more.
That large Gryphon was likely comparable to him as well.
After all, as a minor commander among the dark elves, Kaidan's martial arts and skills were certainly not something an ordinary dark elf could possess.
This might be a bit troublesome...