Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1976: Saving the High-Elf

Ning arrived in the southern region of Faedria sometime after leaving Leamor behind, choosing an area where the System had indicated the surviving woman from the old Royal Family was currently located.

The land here was covered in dense forests broken up by narrow roads and scattered estates, while tall trees blocked most of the moonlight and made the entire region feel far more isolated than the cities farther north.

It did not take him long to find her.

The High-Elf girl was running through the forest as fast as she could, stumbling over roots and pushing through branches while several men followed not far behind. At first glance, she looked barely fourteen years old, with long pale hair tangled behind her and clothing that had clearly been damaged during the chase, but Ning knew High-Elves aged much more slowly than humans.

She was older than she looked.

That did not make her any less of a child.

Her breathing was ragged by the time Ning appeared several meters ahead of her, and the moment she noticed someone blocking the path, panic flashed across her face. She stopped so abruptly that she nearly fell, then immediately looked behind her as though deciding whether running back toward the men chasing her would somehow be better.

”Don’t worry,” Ning said, keeping his voice calm. ”I’m not here to hurt you. You can stop running.”

The girl backed away from him anyway.

”Stay away from me.”

Ning raised both hands slightly to show that he was not reaching for her. ”That’s fine. I don’t need to come any closer, but those men behind you are about to catch up, so it would be better if you stayed here for a moment.”

Her expression changed. Before she could take in the situation, she heard the other men.

Branches snapped somewhere behind her, followed by several voices calling out to one another as the pursuers finally closed the remaining distance. Bright light shone from the palm of one man, illuminating the midnight forest. The girl turned toward them, and whatever small amount of hope she had left disappeared from her face.

She reached beneath her clothes and pulled out a small blade.

Ning noticed that her hands were trembling.

The group of men emerged from between the trees only seconds later, slowing when they saw Ning standing beside their target. More followed behind them until nearly a dozen spread across the path and surrounding forest, leaving the girl with nowhere obvious to run.

She pressed the blade against herself.

”Don’t come any closer,” she warned, her voice shaking despite how hard she tried to sound determined. ”I mean it. If you try to take me, I’ll do it.”

The men stopped.

The one standing at the front lifted his hands carefully.

”There’s no need for that, my lady. Nobody wants you hurt, so please lower the blade and let us speak properly.”

”Don’t call me that.”

”We have been searching for you for a long time,” the man continued. ”You know why you’re important, and you know there are people willing to protect you. Running like this will only make things worse.”

The girl’s grip tightened.

”You don’t want to protect me. You want to use me. I know what you did to the others.”

The man’s expression hardened for only a moment before returning to something gentler.

”That isn’t true. Come with us peacefully, and everything can still be resolved without anyone getting hurt.”

The girl looked from him to the men standing behind him, then toward Ning, who was still an unknown stranger as far as she was concerned. Her breathing became faster as she realized she had no reason to trust anyone around her.

”I said stay back.”

The men hardly had any reason to stop. One of them barely shifted forward, and the girl saw no reason to hold back.

She drove the blade into herself, willingly taking her own life rather than living the way she would have to should she be caught.

However, the pain from the stab never came.

In fact, she didn’t even feel a prick.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked down to find Ning holding the tip of the blade, completely stopping it from going into her. With his other hand, he had grabbed the wrist of one of the High-Elves who had somehow appeared before her, ready to take the blade away.

She stared at Ning’s hand, expecting to see blood, but the blade had failed to penetrate his skin at all.

Ning gently closed his fingers around the weapon and pushed it away from her.

”I told you I’m here to help,” he said. ”You don’t need to hurt yourself just to keep them from taking you.”

The girl looked up at him, still too frightened to believe him completely.

Ning turned toward the man whose wrist he had caught. ”Who do you work for?”

The man seemed completely flabbergasted by Ning. He tried to pull his arm away, but couldn’t.

”Who... Who are you?”

Ning shifted a little so that he was no longer in the shadows. ”I’m sure you have some idea.”

The moment his face became visible to everyone, panic settled among the group. Many turned around, no longer wanting to get involved in the current situation.

But one snap from Ning caused everyone to freeze where they were.

Ning finally let go of the man’s wrist and moved around. He looked at the people, ready to say something, when he recognized two faces.

These were the men he had been looking for.

They had been there six years ago.

They were the High-Elves who had accompanied Leamor when Alya and her son were murdered.

Ning stared at them for a moment, and the memories that belonged to Valen surfaced with enough clarity that he no longer needed to ask the System whether he was mistaken.

Both men suddenly screamed.

The violent sound came so unexpectedly that the rest of the frozen people were completely caught off guard. They were able to move their eyes, so they turned their gazes toward the two men, and what they saw horrified them.