Bastards Ascension: A Playground of Gods
Chapter 79: Don’t Let Her Fight

Chapter 79: Don’t Let Her Fight

Karin studied the elf carefully, her sharp gaze full of calculation.

’So this realm... it belongs to the elves? Then the god candidate is probably one of them. That’s going to be a problem,’ she thought, her mind racing.

The elf stepped forward with calm confidence, the monkey perched on her shoulder like a silent sentinel. Her piercing eyes never left Karin’s.

"You intruders," the elf said evenly, her voice laced with authority. "Lay down your weapons, and you’ll be taken to the castle to explain how you got here."

’Castle?’ Karin caught the word and froze. ’We’ve been dropped right into an entire elven civilization?’ A flicker of shock crossed her face before she masked it again.

"Lay down our weapons?" Noah repeated, arching an eyebrow. His tone was dripping with disbelief.

They weren’t fools. Everyone knew how territorial elves were. The moment they set foot somewhere, they wanted dominance—absolute control. It was in their nature.

And their arrogance? Legendary. To them, every other race was beneath them.

Humans hadn’t had many dealings with elves, but the few encounters in history told enough. There was no room for peace, no chance of cooperation.

The elves wanted to rule. To put humans under their heel.

And humans? They couldn’t allow that. Not ever.

The last time the two races clashed over control, it had ended in bloodshed. The fall of an elven ruler... and a brutal reminder that some things could never coexist.

They all knew what it meant—dropping their weapons was as good as handing over their lives to a race they barely understood.

And Karin? She wasn’t about to gamble her life—or her teammates’—on blind trust.

"I’m sorry, but that’s not possible," she said firmly, fingers brushing the hilt of her blade as she started to draw it.

But before steel could leave the sheath, Noah’s hand caught hers. His grip was steady, his eyes full of quiet concern.

"My lady, please... save your strength. This isn’t your fight. We’ll handle it."

"Yeah, Princess Karin!" the others chimed in immediately, voices tinged with urgency. Their faces... they looked terrified.

Karin froze for a moment, her chest tightening at the sight. What were they so afraid of? For her?

"But... it’s an elf," she shot back, her voice dropping with unease. "She’s going to be too strong for you guys!"

Noah just shook his head, a faint, wry smile tugging at his lips.

"You underestimate us. We’re not completely useless, you know. We can hold our own."

His words hung in the air for a moment as Karin’s gaze swept over the four of them—her team, her responsibility. The only ones their clan had chosen for the Tower Trial.

Each of them came from noble bloodlines, warriors in their own right. She didn’t want anything to happen to them.

But from the way they were looking at her—like porcelain about to shatter—she realized they felt the same way. They were protecting her, shielding her like she was a child.

And she hated that.

Because at the end of the day, she wasn’t weak. She was the strongest among them.

’Why won’t they just let me fight?’ Karin thought, a flicker of irritation crossing her mind. But she pushed the feeling aside.

’Besides... I can tell this elf isn’t weak. Judging by her aura alone, she’s plenty strong. It won’t be easy for them to win.’ Her gaze shifted back to Mira and the monkey perched on her shoulder.

She glanced at Noah again. His sickly pale face didn’t look worried at all—in fact, there was something reassuring about it. Almost... confident.

Karin exhaled softly.

’Maybe he’s right. Maybe I really am underestimating them.’

"Alright," she said finally, her voice calm but firm. "You can try... but if things get out of hand, I’m stepping in."

With that, she released her grip on the hilt of her sword and lowered herself back onto the smooth stone, sitting cross-legged. Her eyes slipped shut as if in meditation, her expression serene.

Her team let out a collective sigh of relief, shoulders easing now that she had backed down.

Across from them, Mira’s lips curled slightly as she stared at Karin.

’This is their leader? And she’s not even fighting? Is she weak? Why would they make someone like that the leader?’ Mira wondered, disgust flickering in her thoughts. But she shoved the question aside.

Her expression hardened as she looked at the group standing before her. Honestly, she would’ve been disappointed if they’d surrendered without a fight. This... this was better.

Among elves, honor was everything. To fall in battle was far more respectable than giving up.

Unknowingly, they had earned a sliver of her respect.

"Very well then," Mira said, her voice low but commanding as her hand reached for the whip coiled at her hip. "Since you’ve chosen to fight... I won’t hold back."

The whip lashed out with a sharp crack, cutting through the air like lightning.

Noah’s eyes narrowed, his focus snapping to Mira. He exhaled slowly, steadying his breathing as the other three readied themselves behind him.

Around them, the trees rustled with movement—dozens of monkeys perched on the branches, stones clutched in their tiny fists, waiting to rain chaos on the group.

"There’s only one real monkey," Noah warned, his voice calm but firm. "The others are clones. Focus on the one sitting on her shoulder—that’s the real deal. Take care of the monkeys. I’ll handle the elf."

The three nodded without hesitation and sprang into action, splitting off to keep the swarm of illusions at bay.

Noah’s grip tightened on his blade as he looked at Mira, then flicked a glance toward Karin, who sat cross-legged, eyes shut in meditation as if this chaos wasn’t happening.

"You’re strong," Noah said evenly, his tone carrying a weight of resolve. "But I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure... she doesn’t have to get involved."

Mira’s brows lifted, then furrowed, a flicker of insult flashing across her face.

"So what you’re saying," she scoffed, her voice dripping with disdain, "is that little girl over there is stronger than me?"

"For a bunch of intruders," she continued, her tone sharp as steel, "you’re awfully confident in yourselves."

Her whip snapped forward again with a vicious crack, tearing through the air toward Noah. It moved like a living serpent, twisting and coiling as if it had a mind of its own.

Noah smirked faintly, though his eyes stayed cold and sharp. "Don’t get me wrong," he said, raising his blade. "But if she joins this fight... it won’t end well for either of us."

Steel met leather with a clang as Noah swung his blade—but the whip didn’t break. It bent and writhed unnaturally, sliding around his sword like water.

Before he could react, it split mid-air into two separate strands—one striking straight for his head, the other coiling toward his arm to lock it in place.

’A living weapon?’ Noah’s thoughts sharpened like a blade, his muscles tensing as the whip came at him with deadly precision.

"This is the special ability of the beast elves... We don’t just tame beasts; every beast we tame becomes a weapon. Each weapon is alive—and carries the beast’s abilities as well," Mira explained, expecting a stunned look from him.

But Noah didn’t flinch. His expression stayed calm, almost unreadable.

He took a deep breath as his sickly green eyes began to glow with an otherworldly light. His gaze locked on hers.

In the next instant, Noah’s body vanished, dissolving into a swirl of green dust that rose into the air.

A heartbeat later, he reappeared right in front of her—his sword already raised high, slashing down toward her shoulder with full force.

’My shoulder—’

Mira’s eyes widened in shock, but her reflexes didn’t fail her. Her whip snapped back to life, recoiling like a fired bullet. It whipped toward Noah from behind, wrapping tightly around his blade to stop the strike.

"Do you think I won’t—" Mira’s words cut off mid-sentence as a deep gash opened across her shoulder, crimson staining her armor.

’Wha—what just happened?’ The thought slammed into her mind, her face twisting in disbelief as she stared at the blood dripping from the wound.

She hadn’t even realized his strike had landed.

Mira didn’t waste time thinking about it. She countered instantly.

The whip had already coiled around Noah’s leg. With a sharp yank, she slammed him into the ground with such force that his body bounced off the earth before crashing down again.

Noah rolled across the dirt, pain tearing through his body like wildfire.

’She’s a Lord-class being... My abilities might work, but the gap between us is still too big,’ he thought, blood filling his mouth.

He spat out the blood from his mouth and planted his hand on the ground to steady himself.

He had barely pushed himself up when a shadow loomed over him—the whip, now bristling with thorn-like edges, came slicing down toward his head.

But that wasn’t what froze him.

What truly sent a chill through his spine was the figure that had been sitting calmly on the stone a moment ago.

She had disappeared.... And was on the move.