Chapter 74：Infiltrating the Fortress

"There. It's those two."

Ren pointed at the two Dark Elves patrolling the surrounding area. 

Now that I see two in the flesh, one male and one female, they're like those depicted in fantasy books, dark skin, dark hair, long ears and beauty that's probably inherent to every one of them be it male or female. And just how they were described, even if they're out on patrol, the way they moved was covert. They might spot someone else but neither of them will shout and call out to them. No. They will silently creep to whoever it is and slit his throat without him knowing why he deserved that

Because of the Orb of Concealment, scouring the area became possible. The purpose for it was to acquire faces and identities we will be using to infiltrate the fortress.

After that night where I activated the Flux Energy State, I told Yumiko the change in my current strength and about the Orbs which became usable. So we revised the plan to include the use of these Orbs. By putting in my suggestions after hearing the plan she made, I wouldn't say it became perfect but the risk lowered significantly and we still left it open for further revisions if the situation suddenly changes.

Gaining experience for the system is pretty useless now but as their only support, I'll still do my job.

Closing the distance between us, I took out another orb. The Orb of Ailment. After acquiring it from that competition, this will finally be put to use for the first time. Filling the orb with Flux Energy, I activated it's Aura of Ailment and directed it to them.

A purple-coloured aura seeped out from the orb and traveled towards the two unsuspecting Dark Elves.

As soon as the Aura took effect, the female Dark Elf fell down to the ground, shivering intensely from cold while the male Dark Elf started coughing non-stop. Hitting them at the back of their head immediately made them unconscious.

This. The side effects mentioned were too severe than I expected. They were instantly immobilized. Is it because I maximized the effect? These two seem only stronger than a Natal Spirit by a small margin. So, is the strength of the target affects how severe the side effects will be?

Dragging along the two unconscious Dark Elves, Ren and I went back to where we camped.

These two Dark Elves were patrols sent out from that Fortress, by using their identity we will then have a legitimate pass to enter the said Fortress.

Upon seeing them, Rei who was waiting for us used an ability that stemmed from her transformation. Though Ren and Rei have the same transformation, their abilities were different, Rei was more on mental attacks while Ren was on physical attacks.

I watched on as the transformation took place, her silvery-white hair glowed and turned gold as it shined brightly, her clothes were also replaced by something like a gold cloth which draped over her body, her skin then exuded out a gold-like aura. They called this form as Golden Sprite.

I also asked Jayna about her transformation and she told me she called it as Nature Nymph. Yumiko's form was called Earthly Angel which explained her wings. When I become a Transformed Spirit, what kind of transformation will happen to me? With my paths being synchronized, everything will be related to each other I guess, I might transform into an Energy-based lifeform. A wisp, maybe?

Ah. I'm overthinking again. Let's stop and watch.

Rei waved her hand and a golden aura enveloped the two, once the aura seeped into their bodies, their mouths opened as information about themselves started to be uttered out by them.

The female Dark Elf is called Naian, she's a newly ascended 2-leaf Dark Elf that was given the job to patrol the area.

The male Dark Elf is called Romil, also a 2-leaf Dark Elf but he already had this job for a year.

The two were a couple and because of that, the male Dark Elf accompanied her since she's new at the job. Unfortunately, they're the ones we saw and captured.

Looks like their power level was scaled slightly similar to the Dark Beastmasters, changing the star to leaf. Maybe that's how the Dark Soldiers rank themselves as well. Who knows?

According to the information spewed out by the both of them, the task of opening the breach was an important mission for them that's why two peak 4-leaf Dark Elves were helming the fortress.

Peak 4-leaf sounds like at the same level as that Dark Beastmaster who I shot with Dispelling Arrow and was smashed to death by Raiden.

But with this information, we could infer that there's still no 5-leaf Dark Elf existing here. The Spirit King is still the strongest existence being a Ruler Spirit.

After getting the necessary information and the personal belongings of the two which could prove their identity when we go in using their faces, Rei and Ren dragged the two somewhere.

Everyone knew what fate will befall the two so we went on to start applying the disguises.

Jayna transformed into her somewhat sexy Nature Nymph form. Waving her hands in front me, I was once again enveloped with the same greenish-aura. After working on it for a few minutes, Jayna wore a satisfied smile as she gave me a mirror to look at the disguise she made. With dark hair, dark skin and a beautiful face of an elf, I really became identical to the Dark Elf Romil. I even reached for the long ears and surprisingly, both have a sense of touch.

I used Spirit Boost on her to refresh the Spirit Energy she used, cutting the time she needed to rest before making her own disguise.

Yumiko was there at our side, watching our interaction as well as looking out at the sky. The Spirit King was surprisingly well-informed so whenever Yumiko showed up, he would always have the information about her possible whereabouts.

"Those two were lovers, so, Jayna, can you do it?"

"It's just an act. I can do it!"

Looking at her saying that with the voice and appearance of a dark elf. I guess, she could really act.

"What about you Daisuke?"

Yumiko then turned to me.

"No problem. I had practice."

Should I call it practice? But yeah, there might be a slight difference to how a Dark Elf acts around their lovers so we'll just do it minimally.

"What?"

But upon hearing my answer, Jayna raised a question as if she's curious about my answer.

"Huh? Why what?"

"You had practice. So you already did this before?"

Ah. So that's what she's curious about. Should I have not answered like that?

"No Jayna, he has someone special back in our world."

Yumiko answered her before I could open my mouth.

"Oh! I see…"

Ah. Let's hope she's just curious about it.

A few minutes after that, we're now on our way to the fortress, bearing the identity of the two unfortunate Dark Elves.

Putting on everything we had at the moment. We polished the plan further before going in. Since I have the Orbs, these three will play a major role. Not only it will save us if we ever get found out, but it will also lead us further inside.

As for erasing the breach. There should be a piece of equipment that deals with space there which they are using to widen it. Since it's the Invading Forces, that equipment might be otherworldly, what we needed to do is just to stop it from running if destroying it will be proven impossible.

Once it stops, the world itself will start repairing that breach, however, the trace which was the reason why it got breached in the first place will be left behind.

Yumiko already gave us the remedy that will completely erase the trace of the portal that was once used there and through that, I learned from her that she was also in contact with the World's Will.

Well, she's the Hero so it's understandable that the World's Will was watching over her. Probably most of her buffs came from the World's Will itself.

Arriving in front of the gate to the fortress, we were stopped by the Dark Elf manning it.

"Any findings?"

The Dark Elf looked up to us. He treated us normally and even when we provided no findings, he let us in without any hassle.

With this, I could say I'm impressed with Jayna's disguise or is that guy just too lazy for his job? In any case, this is good for us.

Upon entering the fortress, we were immediately met with a somewhat dark atmosphere. It's too silent and only a few Dark Elves walked around. Apart from those at the top of the wall, everyone seems to be resting inside their makeshift houses or they just really don't want to be seen. Are these Dark Elves natural shut-ins?

I looked at Jayna beside me and saw her eyes glittering brightly once again.

Ah. Her curiosity never chooses the time and place. Her eyes were already drawn to what we were seeing.

The architecture of the Dark Elves was a bit crude, even the fortress they built was something that looks like it would crumble if a Berserker Thornhog from the World of Barbarians rams into it. Everything was built from some kind of dark lumber that further darkens the mood. Well, it kinda fits their nature.

Err. Will this fortress be fine? The Spiritas or Spirit Beasts just need to pour oil over their walls or better yet, just light it up because everything's made from wood anyway.

Why am I worrying over our enemies?

Grabbing Jayna's hand who's still admiring the new scenery in front of her, I dragged her with me and quietly walked along the narrow path towards the makeshift house that's allocated for the two Dark Elves whose identities were stolen by us.

Upon entering, I don't know if I would feel sad for them but it's too dark and narrow, there's only a small bed on the corner which the two shared. 

Err... It could be that this is according to their preference but really, how could they live their life like this?

"Romil, Naian? Did you just come back from patrol? Here's your ration for the day."

From one corner of the room, a small window was suddenly opened and well, what lies beyond it was another small room, maybe smaller than this one which was shared by the two.

What the hell? So there's also no privacy for them? The guy in the other room can open the window by himself.

I grabbed what he's handing out from his room and without saying thanks, I pulled the window down. It's better not to talk to anyone since even if we have information, we don't know how the two interacted with their neighbor.

Now that we're here. The first thing to do is to gather more information before locating the breach.

"Jayna. I'll go and gather information, will you be fine here?"

I went next to her and whispered in her ears to prevent a leak even if someone was eavesdropping on us.

She's still standing in place looking around the room. This girl is quite hopeless when it comes to this, eh?

When she heard my voice, she flinched before looking back at me. I could see her face reddened, she probably realized that she was out of focus because of her curiosity

"Y-yes. Don't worry, I'll follow the plan."

She nodded and blinked her eyes until the curiosity in it died down.

"Alright. I'll be back in 10 minutes."

Clutching the Orb of Concealment in my hand, I filled it with Flux Energy before enveloping myself with its aura. Before leaving the room I looked back at Jayna first who was sitting on the bed quietly as she stared at the place I disappeared from.

It's just 10 minutes, I need to gather sufficient information about this fortress as well as make sure not to be caught.