Rodolf's brain completely short-circuited.
The gritty yellow sand aura around his spear sputtered like a dying candle, his mouth hanging open so wide his jaw almost unhinged.
He hadn't frozen up because of her legendary elven beauty.
To Rodolf, a regular human wife could be beautiful, but they were fickle.
Elves, however, were legendary across the continent for their absolute, unbreakable loyalty.
Once an elf chose a partner, they loved them until their literal dying breath. Marrying an elf was the ultimate status symbol of a secure, perfect household.
Completely ignoring Hanjun and Jayhon, Rodolf lowered his spear and took a slow, deliberate step toward Elena.
His face twisted into a desperate, wildly eager grin.
He reached out, boldly grabbing one of her soft hands, his voice dropping into a smooth, completely inappropriate pitch.
"Hey... can you step out of the way for just a moment? I have a bit of official business to handle here,"
Rodolf said, leaning in closer.
"Oh, and by the way, how about we go out together sometime? Don't worry about the cost, sweetheart, everything will be on me. I've got a massive promotion coming up."
Elena's face instantly twisted with deep, profound annoyance.
Without a second of hesitation, she violently yanked her hand out of his grip and shoved him backward with surprising force.
"Get your hands off me,"
Elena snapped, her voice cold and sharp.
"I already have a husband."
Rodolf stumbled back a half-step, a look of immense, crushing disappointment washing over his face.
"A husband? In the slums? You've got to be kidding me..."
Elena didn't give him a chance to recover. She stepped forward firmly, spreading her arms wide to completely shield Hanjun and Jayhon behind her back.
"If you want to touch these children, you will have to go through my dead body!"
She didn't look back, but a low, quick, reassuring smile played on her lips as she glanced slightly over her shoulder.
"Don't worry, boys. Your big sister's got this."
Hanjun stared at the back of Elena's white hair, his eyes shifting slightly to Rodolf's spear.
For the first time, a faint flicker of hesitation crossed his flat expression.
He remembered the brutal, bone-shattering force of those sand attacks from yesterday.
His body still practically ached from the memory of the sheer physical gap between them.
Rodolf let out a bitter, heavy sigh, shaking his head.
"Man... marrying a loyal elf has been my dream forever. It's standing right in front of me, and I still can't get it."
His face darkened, his eyes snapping back toward the kids with absolute, frustrated rage.
"My final choice is just killing these two kids. Damn it! It's like I'm being forced into this! I have to do this!"
Rodolf slammed the butt of his spear into the floor, dropping into a low, aggressive fighting stance. He closed his eyes, attempting to pull the loose sand from the environment to coat his weapon and body for defense.
Nothing happened.
He opened one eye, looking around the room. The wooden floors were polished to a mirror shine. The corners were completely spotless.
There wasn't a single grain of dirt, grit, or sand to be found anywhere.
"Why the hell is there no sand?!"
Rodolf yelled, his face turning bright red with embarrassment.
"Because I clean my house perfectly, you ki... Killer!,"
it was hard for Elena to say harsh words because she never got to have problem with people since barn was solving all her problems without her needing to do a thing.
"Fine! Whatever!"
Rodolf roared, spinning his weapon in a furious circle.
"Sand-Zheki isn't even my actual element! It was just a trait embedded in this stupid spear's iron core!"
Suddenly, the temperature inside the cottage spiked violently.
The gritty yellow aura around Rodolf didn't return. Instead, a fierce, crackling orange-red flame erupted from his forearms, crawling up the shaft of his spear.
The air began to warp and hiss from the sheer heat.
"My true Zheki is fire,"
Rodolf said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark tone.
"I always avoided using it because it never ends well.
It destroys everything.
But my job right now is strict termination, and fire is the best choice for a cleanup.
"He took a deep breath, giving one last, genuinely sad glance at Elena's beautiful face. "Goodbye, dream wife."
"You two, run away right now!"
Elena shouted, her voice laced with sudden urgency.
"I'll hold him off!"
Rodolf lunged forward like a striking viper, his fire-clad spear whistling through the air in a brutal horizontal slash.
Elena didn't retreat.
She flooded her right hand with brilliant, glowing green Life-Zheki, the dense energy forming a solid, shimmering barrier over her skin.
CLANG!
She blocked the heated iron blade with her bare, energy-coated palm, sparks flying wildly across the kitchen. Seizing a split-second opening while Rodolf's stance was locked, Elena used her free left hand to grab both Hanjun and Jayhon by their linen shirts, violently throwing them behind Rodolf's back toward the broken doorway.
"Get out, fast!"
Elena yelled.
"Go find Barn!"
Hanjun and Jayhon scrambled to their feet, rushing for the exit, but the two heavily armored Iron Vanguard guards instantly stepped into the shattered doorway, crossing their massive iron swords to block the path.
"Don't even think about it, rats,"
one of the guards growled from behind his visor.
"Watch your beautiful elf die until your turn comes."
Behind them, Rodolf was growing entirely unhinged.
He twisted his spear, driving the heated tip straight against Elena's palms.
He expected her flesh to melt, but her Life-Zheki was incredibly potent—the cells in her hands were regenerating and knitting together faster than the fire could burn them.
"Why won't you just burn?!"
Rodolf screamed in pure fury.
The fire Zheki exploding from his body doubled in size.
He began mixing his raw, internal energy directly into the very tip of the spear, compressing the heat until the iron glowed white. He lunged with a piercing stab.
STAB.
This time, the hyper-dense heat tore right through her green barrier, piercing cleanly through her palm.
Elena gasped, but she immediately forced more Life-Zheki into the wound, the flesh visibly stitching back together around the hot iron.
STAB. STAB. STAB.