The Land of Elves, Albresia.
The forest that had been protected by the mist barrier was eerily silent today, with not a single bug chirping.
Instead, the sound of hard boots trampling the grass echoed chaotically.
“Subdue everyone. If they resist, it’s fine to break an arm or a leg, but make sure it’s adjustable enough not to leave permanent disabilities.”
Loss of body parts leads to a decrease in market value.
A middle-aged man, presumed to be the commander of the Bertica Kingdom army, emphasized this sternly as he commanded his subordinates.
As if enraged by the man’s words, a fierce gust of wind surged through the forest.
However, what the wind carried wasn’t a refreshing scent of grass but rather swirling ash and suffocating heat.
It seemed like the wind lamented the tragic future awaiting the defeated elves. Yet, at least on this occasion, even nature’s wrath couldn’t extinguish human determination.
The wind had no power to lift the fallen elves.
“It seems we’re almost done here. Knight, you’ve worked hard.”
The middle-aged man approached a quiet man staring intently at the crackling flames and lightly bowed his head.
At first glance, it was quite an unusual sight.
The man with fiery red and stiff hair, as well as sharp eyes, appeared at least twenty years younger than the commander of the Bertica Kingdom army.
A subordinate lowering himself excessively could risk lowering the morale of the soldiers.
However, the soldiers of the Bertica Kingdom busily patrolled the area without questioning the sight of their general bowing.
“It was nothing special.”
The red-haired man responded blankly.
Jeref Parvian.
One of the knights dispatched as reinforcements from the Luminous Kingdom for the Albresia conquest operation.
Among the two-digit number of knights sent to this location, he was the one with the highest rank. Yet, just two words were enough to describe him.
“The strongest knight.”
The symbol of the Luminous Kingdom’s military might.
An indomitable warrior who never falls.
Appointed as an official knight at the age of 18, Jeref had served to protect the kingdom for nearly 20 years. He used to hold the record for the youngest knight until the emergence of the promising girl, Plona Moonlight.
Her execution for treason against humanity three years ago led to common belief that no knight would surpass him for at least the next 30 years.
And that was precisely why the middle-aged commander could willingly bow his head to a foreign warrior in his mid-thirties.
The term “strongest knight” was practically synonymous with “the strongest man of humanity” at this point.
“Nothing special… huh.”
On the surface, it sounds like a revelation of his strength.
In reality, Jeref’s power displayed in battles against elves was indeed overwhelming, so whether it came off as understated arrogance or humility, no one would have dared to point it out.
But what concerned the commander of Bertica was not that.
“Indeed… it was more lackluster than expected.”
It wasn’t a slight on the elves.
After the Progenitor of Vampires, who made waves around the world three years ago, met his end at the hands of the Inquisition after a few months of fleeing in this forest, the Mist Labyrinth had rapidly emerged as a potential source of turmoil.
When they caught their breath, they decided to dispose of it.
That was the common sentiment among humans regarding Albresia, and now, three years later, mages even from the Bertica Kingdom and the Greysia Empire, along with the Armes Kingdom, who were capable of illusion magic, had finally gathered to devise a method to breach the elven barrier.
Ultimately, the method proved effective, but the process of breaching the barrier was anything but simple.
If they struggled this much right at the entrance, the war against the elves wouldn’t end easily—they would have to prepare for the long haul. That was the shared view among the troops on site.
“Yes, oddly enough.”
But the invading humans only felt that to a certain degree.
Once they broke through the barrier, the elven warriors who came to resist were disappointingly trivial compared to the notorious legends from their racial wars.
It was enough to make one doubt whether this was a trap.
However, a trap that required them to forfeit their territory and even their lives and freedom simply couldn’t exist by common sense.
“Commander! I have something to report!”
The urgent shout of a young officer drew the eyes of two pairs in the room.
The commander, alongside a knight from the Church, raised an eyebrow as if questioning the commotion, but considering his open-mindedness for his age, he quickly pondered that there might be a reason for the disturbance.
And his intuition proved correct. It was much worse than he anticipated, and in a direction none had desired.
“We’ve secured testimony from the elves that confirms the Progenitor of Vampires did indeed escape from the forest three years ago! There are claims that the death three years ago was a deception!”
In an instant, Jeref’s previously indifferent gaze filled with a chilling intensity.
“Is it certain?”
“W-we haven’t verified its authenticity yet! However, we’ve received similar statements from multiple isolated elves, so we deemed it necessary to report…”
The complicated gazes of Jeref and the commander crossed. They both stood up with tense expressions.
“Knight.”
“Please.”
It was possible that the captured elf had spoken out of deception during interrogation, yet it was clear that direct confirmation was necessary.
After cross-verifying multiple elven prisoners and examining the existing operational records from three years ago, the humans reached a horrifying conclusion.
“My God.”
No one knew whether the Progenitor had died somewhere in the past three years or was still alive.
But one thing was certain.
“…The fourth Progenitor did not die on that day three years ago.”
*
“Sis, Stella says she’s going to step out for a moment.”
Returning slightly early from hunting, Plona came to find me as soon as she spotted my face, skipping her usual spoiling and immediately delivering such news.
“Suddenly? How long?”
After hearing that, I sensed Stella’s life force nearby. It was clear that she wasn’t in the underground city; she probably hadn’t even returned with Plona.
Quite a sudden occurrence.
Though it wasn’t unheard of for Stella to take a bit longer when hunting to acquire materials ordered by Bolton, she had never left without saying a word before.
Still, the urgency with which she must have departed without coming back suggested it was indeed a pressing matter.
“The duration is uncertain. I just got wind that Albresia has caught fire. It seems there are some odd things happening in succession, so she went to investigate the situation.”
“What? Albresia… is on fire?”
“I heard the humans broke the barrier. The forest is burning, and half of the surviving elves have been captured! Beyond that, I don’t have much information.”
Clunk; the sound of something hitting the floor naturally drew attention.
Ravina dropped an empty vial she was holding, her eyes widening as she stood at the door.
She must have heard Plona’s words while fetching something.
“Wait, she’s an elf too.”
If she’s an elf, she must be from Albresia, unless she was a wandering expatriate.
In other words, Ravina just learned that her home, which had existed for thousands of years, was on fire.
“Is that true? The humans burned Albresia?!”
“Yes, from what I hear, that part is certain.”
“Oh no… has the inevitable finally arrived?”
Despite hearing that her homeland was burning, surprisingly, Ravina didn’t seem overly shocked.
Though she sighed, she didn’t appear incredibly distressed, instead wearing a look that seemed almost predictably fed up.
‘Now that I think about it…’
Why is this woman living in a place like this?
I heard she had stayed in Iron Grave for over 40 years. She’s the only elf here, so is there a reason behind how she ended up living so far from her kin while exhibiting the attitude she does now?
‘I have no idea.’
Ravina and I mutually benefit from each other.
I provide her with blood supplements and help her create new dark magic, while she satisfies her thirst for knowledge.
Ravina realized that I was the Progenitor of Vampires through the increasing dark spirit affinity I developed due to various situational factors, yet neither of us had been disposed of. It’s simply that we both utilize one another enough to fit our needs.
Of course, it also mattered that she had been vouched for by Bolton and never left the underground city, so even if something happened, I always kept watch on her closely, and she never showed any signs of exposing my identity.
The point is, just as Ravina doesn’t delve too deeply into my identity and past, I too have never pried into her history.
So I don’t know much about her.
Under normal circumstances, I would have chosen to pretend to be oblivious right about now, but regretfully, this time I was eager for any scrap of information I could find.
“Do you happen to know anything about this incident?”
“No, not really, I just… wait, did I not mention this?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Why I was expelled from Albresia?”
Her emerald eyes blinked.
You were expelled? Well, it makes sense since you’d have to live in a foreign land for 40 years… but you aren’t even hiding it.
“I didn’t.”
“Oh, I see.”
As I replied, Ravina nodded, as if she understood why I was asking about the outside world despite being imprisoned in the underground city.
Her gaze seemed to drift off into the past as she recalled something, and there was a bittersweet trace lingering in her eyes.
“I don’t know much about this incident. I only had a feeling that the barrier would break soon.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because I peeked at the barrier and was expelled from Albresia?”
???
Is this girl out of her mind?
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