All MILFs are Mine Chapter 287: Snow Elf

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

The beast remained motionless, decayed muscles trembling beneath its coat as it glared at Leon. The emerald flames flickering within its eye sockets blazed with renewed intensity, appearing almost sentient as they reacted to his presence.

<Inspect>

Out of instinct, Leon activated the skill, anticipating the usual flow of data to manifest before him, but...

Nothing occurred.

Not even a spark.

’What the fuck is happening?’ he wondered, his expression darkening.

<Inspect>

He attempted to trigger the skill once more, pushing harder this time as if he could force it to function through sheer will.

Still nothing. The silence felt like a taunt.

<Instant Kill>

<Adrenaline rush>

<Blind Spot>

...

He cycled through every ability—any skill at all—yet the outcome remained the same. Empty. Lifeless.

’Okay... System, this isn't the fucking time to be playing around. Wake the fuck up and let me use some ski—’

The thought died in his mind as frustration collided with a growing sense of dread. A slight, uncertain twitch crossed his features.

The hound noticed the opening immediately.

Its maw curled open, baring fangs that dripped with starvation and lethal intent. Sensing his momentary lapse, the creature lunged.

Woof!!

*Step-step-step-step-step*

"Oh shit... OH SHIT—!" Leon pivoted violently to his right, his physical reflexes outstripping his conscious thought. The beast's teeth snapped shut on the empty air where his shoulder had been positioned just a moment prior.

There was no respite.

No delay.

The monster pulled back and sprang forward once more.

Leon threw himself into a desperate roll, feeling the grit of the earth against his skin as he barely evaded another lethal strike.

"Grawwwhhhh..."

The hound refused to back down. It began to prowl around him with slow, calculated steps, its green fire fixed solely on him. Leon scrambled to his feet, forcing his breathing to level out as his face hardened with resolve.

"You’re a good dog, and you don’t—"

His sentence was cut short when the hound charged again, refusing to grant him even a second of peace.

"Fine, that’s it..." Leon growled. His hand blurred, pulling the nyxter from its sheath.

As the steel cleared the scabbard...

a primal, instinctive power erupted within his soul.

"LAST RISE... FULL MOON!"

Leon hoisted the sword upward, his grip tightening as he swept it through a flawless clockwise circle.

The movement left behind a wake of shimmering, spectral afterimages that drew the hound's gaze.

The beast's momentum died instantly. Its eyes stretched wide.

Its entire frame became paralyzed as the hypnotic rhythm of the blade ensnared its senses.

The sword continued its arc, nearly reaching the point of completion. However, before the circle could close... the stance shattered.

The hound broke free from the trance.

But by that point... it was irrelevant, for the blade had already carved halfway through the monster's neck.

*Swish*

*Thud*

The decapitated head struck the dirt, rolling once before coming to a stop, its lifeless eyes still glowing with a faint light.

"Fucking hell..." Leon panted, snapping the sword to clear the dark blood before returning it to its sheath.

’I can trigger the Last Rise skill... but none of the others. Why?’ The question plagued him as he looked down at the nyxter.

*Creak*

A soft noise drifted from the shadows behind him.

Leon spun around instantly, his survival instincts on high alert.

Peering out from the treeline was a small figure. Initially just a dark shape, the features soon became clear: light blue skin, elongated pointed ears, and a diminutive stature.

"What the fuck...?" Leon whispered to himself, squinting at the small, elf-like child.

"Hey, kid... who are you?" he shouted.

The youth offered no reply. Instead, he retreated further behind the tree trunk, attempting to vanish into the bark.

Leon moved forward cautiously, his hand remaining firmly on the hilt of Nyxter.

"Oi... do you understand what I'm saying?" He stepped around to the back of the tree, only for his eyes to widen in bewilderment. No one was there. The space was vacant.

"What the—"

*Swish*

The air hissed behind his head.

Leon reacted with a burst of speed, swinging the nyxter backward in a protective sweep.

*Thud*

Upon turning, Leon discovered the child dangling upside-down from a sturdy branch, gripping a heavy black wooden staff like a crude weapon.

"Your strike is too slow and far too noisy..." Leon remarked, his gaze sharpening. Terror immediately washed over the boy's face.

The child dropped the staff and struggled, trying to haul himself up the branch using only his legs, but Leon seized his cloak and hauled him down as easily as if he were a feather.

"Let me go! Let me go! I will kill you! I’ll really kill you!" the boy shrieked, his fingernails scratching at Leon’s hand in a frantic bid for freedom.

Leon didn't even flinch.

"What kind of elf are you...? I've never seen anything like you in video games or comics," he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, the boy twisted his torso and yanked hard—unfastening the knot of his cloak. He slipped out of the garment and sprinted away.

His legs moved with desperate speed, but to Leon’s eyes, the movement appeared sluggish—nearly in slow motion.

"I’m not finished with you, little prick." Leon took a single stride, erasing the gap between them, and caught him by the neck this time.

"Release me! Release me!" the child thrashed once more.

Leon unsheathed the nyxter and pressed the freezing edge of the blade against the boy's small throat.

"Shhh. If you utter another sound, I’ll take your fucking head off. Do you understand?"

Nod-nod-nod.

Tears welled up and ran down the child's cheeks as absolute fear took hold of him.

"Good. I’ll be the one asking questions. You provide the answers. If you try to be clever, you die. Understood?" Leon asked, applying a bit of pressure with the blade.

Nod-nod.

"Excellent. What are you?"

"S-Snow Elf..." the boy whispered.

’Snow elf? What the hell is that?’ Leon scowled but pressed on.

"Are you out here alone?"

"I—I’m by myself."

"What is your purpose here? And what is this location?"

"This is the Forest of Death... I was with my father until we were separated..."

"What were you doing here?"

"H-Hunting the ghost hounds for their cores..."

Leon gestured toward the carcass behind him. "That thing, is it a ghost hound?"

"Yes..."

"You were spying on me from behind that tree while I fought it. Why?"

"I-I wanted to kill you and take the core... for myself..."

Leon’s jaw tightened.

"What is the purpose of the cores?"

"They are food... w-we consume the cores to survive..."

Leon lapsed into silence, looking first at the dead hound and then at the shivering child.

’I still don’t get it... what the fuck am I supposed to be doing in this trial?’