Veilbreaker! Oops I Bleed Again
Chapter 38: The Elves

Chapter 38: The Elves

"Oh, it talks," Draven muttered, tilting his head.

Then, he glanced at Gil.

"Is this normal?"

Gil’s expression remained tense.

"No. No beast has ever spoken."

Draven’s gaze flicked back to the Lycan.

Naisha’s dagger remained firmly pressed against its throat.

"What are you?" She asked coldly.

The remaining Lycans tensed, their muscles ready to strike.

But they hesitated because one of their own was a hostage.

The Lycan under Naisha’s blade lowered its gaze to the ground.

Then, in a quiet voice, it spoke.

"We are Lycans. But we are not."

Draven’s eyes narrowed.

He took a step forward, studying the creature.

"What do you mean?"

The Lycan did not answer.

Then another Lycan moved.

Gil and Naisha tensed, ready to strike.

But to their surprise, the Lycan moved not to attack.

Instead, it kneeled.

It lowered itself to the ground, its sharp claws sinking into the dirt with its head bowed.

"Please... spare her."

Draven, Naisha, and Gil all froze.

This was not how beasts acted.

Beast doesn’t care about their kind.

And of course, they will not kneel and beg.

Something was very, very wrong.

"You didn’t answer the question," Draven said. "What are you, and why can you talk? "

Naisha pressed her dagger in deeper, just enough for the blade to graze the Lycan’s skin.

Lycans did attack first, so there was no empathy for her, even though one of them kneeled.

A thin line of blood trickled down its throat.

Draven smirked and crossed his arms.

"Don’t make her mad."

His smirk didn’t match the cold warning in his tone.

"Her patience is short."

He tilted his head slightly.

"If I were you, I’d answer quickly."

The Lycans glanced at each other.

Their bodies were tense, unsure.

One of them gritted its teeth.

"Tch..."

Draven could see it.

The internal struggle.

They wanted to speak.

But something was holding them back.

After some time, one finally gave in.

"We are..."

"Stop!"

The Lycan under Naisha’s dagger cut them off, snarling.

"We can’t say anything. It’s better to die than be a traitor."

But before Draven could push further, another Lycan’s gaze locked onto him.

Its nostrils flared.

"...I can smell it."

Draven’s expression remained unreadable.

"Smell what?"

The Lycan’s eyes narrowed.

"They... are with us."

Its gaze flicked to Naisha and Gil.

"Only that guy is not."

It was referring to Draven.

Draven’s smirk widened slightly.

Before he could speak, the Lycan under Naisha snarled back.

"No! They are still humans!"

’Smell that they’re with them? And they’re still humans?’

Draven’s thoughts raced.

Then, he smirked.

"You guys are elves?"

The Lycans’ eyes widened.

Their bodies tensed, ears twitching in pure shock.

"H-How did you find out?" one of them stammered.

Draven’s smirk widened.

"Just a guess."

He watched their expressions closely before he added.

"But judging by your reaction... looks like I was right."

One of the Lycans snarled.

"You!"

Draven had put it together the moment they said they could ’smell’ Naisha and Gil as being one of them.

That meant they weren’t smelling humans.

And if they weren’t fully beasts, then what else could they be?

He knew for a fact that he was 100% human.

But Naisha?

Half-elf.

Gil?

Demi-human.

The Lycans weren’t just beasts.

They were something else.

And now that Draven had exposed them, the real answers were about to unfold.

Clearly pissed, the other Lycan tried to attack.

"Benji, stop it," the Lycan held at Naisha’s blade, warned to stop the attack.

Then, after a moment of hesitation, it turned to Draven.

"Yes. We are elves."

Naisha’s brows furrowed.

"What is an elf? I’ve been wondering about it since I saw it in my status screen," she asked.

Draven’s smirk faded slightly.

He blinked, processing her words.

’She doesn’t know?’

Of the three of them, Naisha was usually the most knowledgeable.

Yet she had no idea what elves were?

Draven shifted his gaze to Gil.

"Don’t tell me you don’t know either?"

Gil shook his head.

"Never heard of them."

Draven exhaled, running a hand through his hair.

’Seriously? Of all things?’

He wasn’t an expert, but he at least knew what elves were.

He’d seen them in movies before.

But for Naisha, a half-elf herself, to not even recognize the term?

Draven thought.

’They’ve been hiding their race for so long... even these two don’t know who they are.’

That meant the truth about elves had been erased.

Draven exhaled.

"Anyway... Is that your real appearance?"

The Lycan lowered its head slightly, ashamed.

"No... we lost a battle."

Its voice held a bitter weight.

"And every one of us was cursed by a Lich who conquered our land."

Draven reached out, looking as if he were about to choke the Lycan, who was still pinned under Naisha’s dagger.

But before he could, the other Lycans reacted.

They sprang to their feet, muscles tensed, claws bared.

"What are you doing?!"

But Draven snubbed them.

A screen flashed before his eyes.

[1 Curse detected. Do you want to remove it right now?]

’So it really is a curse.’

If it was like the Verdant’s curse, then removing it might make him bleed again.

Draven hesitated.

His body was still numb.

But his curiosity was piqued.

"Let’s see what will happen."

"Are you sure about this?" Naisha asked, realizing what Draven was about to do.

"You already lifted Gil’s curse earlier."

Draven grinned.

"Let’s just see what happens to a non-Verdant."

Draven glanced back at the other Lycan, unfazed.

"I will try to remove her curse."

The Lycans froze.

"Impossible. The Lich is too strong. You’d have to be stronger than him to even attempt it."

Another one snarled.

"Even our elders couldn’t break this curse!"

Draven didn’t bother responding.

Instead, he placed his hand back on the cursed Lycan.

And he chose.

"Yes."

At that moment, the curse removal process began.

Draven watched as the black mist finally dissipated.

The Lycan’s body trembled before collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily.

Then its form began to shift.

The fur receded.

Claws faded into slender fingers.

And when the transformation was complete, a beautiful elf with striking blue eyes lay before them.

Draven checked his body to see if anything would change and if he would cough up blood.

For a moment, nothing happened.

He felt nothing.

His condition remained the same.

At the same time, everyone was shocked when the female Lycan returned to her original form.

Even Naisha and Gil were shocked to see that she now looked human, with only her ears remaining changed.

"Well... that’s new," Draven smirked.

"Now the seeds have been planted."