Chapter 44 : The King meets the Elves (2) "..." "..." Two people were facing each other. One was a tall silver-haired elf, wearing leather pants and a nicely embroidered shirt. He wore no armor, but two curved swords were hanging in their scabbards on his waist and a fine lance was strapped on his back. His visage had a rough aspect than made him look different than the usual fine and refined elves. The other one was a bulky human clad in a majestic golden armour, on which an imposing Lion head was sculpted on both shoulder plates. His helmet was hiding his face, however, from the small opening of the visor one could notice a sharp and dominating gaze. The heavy plate armor he was wearing was of high quality, it was so nicely crafted that even after being stained by the crimson Volcanic Wolves' blood from the previous combats, it still kept its golden glow. "I thought my conditions were clear, elf." "I also thought you understood my concerns about letting you and your people enter our territory." These two seemingly important people were negotiating with each other, accompanied by ten of their best guards standing still just behind them. "It seems like peaceful talks won't lead us to anywhere. I really wanted to avoid this, but you let me no choice." "Be honest, human ! Sending a swordmaster to request a meeting ? Ha ! Your intentions were clear since the beginning !" It has now been an hour since the humans and elves were trying to find a compromise without having to kill each other, but after many talks, it was about to fail. Both sides didn't want to fight a violent battle, but they also didn't want to submit to the other side's unreasonable demands. The human group, led by their King himself, wanted to traverse the elves' territory to reach the Protector Spirit's place. Through the negotiations, the King confirmed that the Protector Spirit was further inside the forest. He didn't know where, but he was ready to destroy every elves' village and torture each of them by himself if this could lead him and his men to the Protector Spirit. Charles le Sage, the wise Lyssandra's King, was no fool. He knew how important was the duty that has been bestowed upon him by his father and all his ancestors since the Founder King. Like Ron, the vice-commander of his Royal Guards, the King was not the kind of man to spill the blood of innocents without any reason. However, he was not naive enough to spare these arrogant elves if they keep opposing his will by refusing to let them enter their territory just because they are humans. The future of his Kingdom is at stake ; he shall not be stopped on his path to the Protector Spirit by some puny seed-eaters. Unfortunately for him the middle-aged-looking elf facing him, who was the First Village chief, was even more stubborn in his beliefs. While the humans wanted to enter the elves' territory to find the Protector Spirit, the First Village chief categorically refused to let the same King who tasked his knight to threaten his children and elders enter the Oracle's domain. Who knows what those greedy and unpredictable humans would do once they came close to the villages. Even if these elves were considered as a Renegade Clan by their own Kingdom, it didn't mean that they would side with humans on the first occasion. Both races have always been at odds with each other, no matter where they are on the Continent. Among the numerous racial conflicts on Lunaris, the ever-lasting war between elves and humans is without a doubt one of the most horrifying, cruelest, and bloodiest of all. They have fought each other since immemorial times, as even in their most ancient writings these two races were at war. None knew the reason why or how this infinite circle of hate started, even the best scholars and historians of the continent have considered it one of the biggest mysteries of Lunaris. During their feud, the elves kept a major advantage over the short-lived humans for a long time, and so they started to believe that their race was greatly superior to these evolved apes. Indeed, elves are blessed compared to humans. They live longer, they can sense mana better, their bloodline allows them to feel spirits, their body's agility is without equal and their dexterity with ranged weapons, daggers, and curved swords has always been among the best on the Continent. However, their birth rate is extremely low and their gene pool is so specialized that they can not reproduce themselves with any other race...except for the most versatile one : the humans themselves. This led to an uncountable number of atrocities being committed on both sides, both during and after wartime. Females of both races, no matter their ages, would be kidnapped and either used as breeding machines by the elves, or as pleasure slaves by human nobles. Even up to this day, these horrible habits didn't change. Almost all elves clans have a bunch of trapped human females giving birth non-stop until death. This process makes it possible to produce, nurture and train whole legions of half-bloods in just a few decades, which is infinitely cheaper and faster than forming a legion of pure-blood elves. These actions are not so different than the Scyllas subduing different species through the universe to use them as cannon fodders. For the pure-blood elves, the half-bloods serve the same purpose as the Void Rifters did for the Scyllas. It is also common for human nobles to always have a few elves slaves under their hands. In the Central Continent, there is even a saying for this : 'to judge a noble's power and influence, count the pointy ears he owns'. While elves look down on humans and arrogantly call them evolved-apes, they aren't far from the truth. However, they do not seem to realize that calling them evolved apes is everything but an insult to them. Humans are indeed evolved apes ; they are the perfect product of evolution. Be it those formerly living on Earth or the ones still alive on Lunaris, they both are what natural evolution produced the best. Humans on Lunaris are not as strong as beastmen, as specialized as elves, or as rough as subterranean races like dwarfs and gnomes. And yet, they are the ones who dominate the continent. This is mainly due to their extreme adaptability. They can live and develop themselves in any kind of environment, and thanks to their good birthrate second only to fast proliferating races such as goblins or some beast-folks tribes, they do not fear being outnumbered when facing another species. Humans' versatility allowed them to be masters in both Blade-Arts and Magic, and compared to the elves, their higher birthrate gave them many more newborns blessed with a mana-heart every passing year. Their civilization progressively improved throughout the millenniums, and their militaristic might grew to the point that for every elf who achieved enlightenment, there were already five humans at the same level. For each of these so-called elven Heroes, five humans possessed the same fame and power. Even the haughty elves had to take a step back and consider a serious approach to keep them in check, as they feared the humans would soon dominate the world. And they almost did. If the many elven clans spread throughout the continent hadn't set their race-superiority ideology aside to form The Federation and join forces with beast-folk, fairies, and harpies...They'd all been ruthlessly exterminated by now. "The only reason why we didn't attack you from the beginning is because of your claim to have been called by the Oracle herself, and the fact the Oracle did let you enter her domain without exterminatig you like she did for other invaders." "Then isn't this a sufficient reason to let us pass and guide us to her ?" "While I do respect her decision, I still have to wait for the other Village Chiefs to come before taking a decision. We trust the Oracle's judgment, but we also have to confirm ourselves if what you said is true. You may have lied, or used a special way to enter the forest without the Oracle's approval." The village chief did not want to break the stalemate at this stage of the negotiations, as he feared he would not be able to contain the humans before the other village send reinforcements. Yet, he was ready to pull the trigger if needed. He may not be able to win, but he could harm them enough so they could be taken care of later by the other villages. Both the King and the First Village chief were facing each other with a lot of hostility in their gazes. They were just a step from drawing their weapons and ordering their men to charge. When the King was about to order Duke Eddington and his men hidden not far away to charge, a bright flash coming from the sky blinded everyone. A few seconds later, a huge explosion sound broke out. The noise of this explosion was so loud that the whole region has been shaken by it. Animals were disoriented and fled desperately in all directions and swarms of small insects instantly died from the powerful sound waves being emitted. Even the elves and humans couldn't help but crouch on the ground in utter pain. Their instinct also kicked in, and both races felt their body completely paralyzed by fear. They never heard such a powerful explosion, the noise was as loud as thousands of volcanos erupting at the same time ; it was as if reality itself was being torn apart. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, ELF ??" "I SHOULD BE THE ONE ASKING !! DID YOU ASKED MAGES TO ATTACK FROM AFAR, HUMAN ??" When they regained their composure, they instantly drew their weapons and were ready to fight against each other before one of the elves guarding the First Village chief fell to the ground, visibly shaken by fear. "W-what is this..." All of those who noticed the strange behavior of this elf turned their head in the direction he was looking at, high in the sky. "By Zenon's beard..." Even the King himself couldn't help but swear in disbelief after looking at the sky. "The Chosen One's arrival..." The village chief muttered these words, moved by the scene that was taking place above his head. "What is this elf ? Do you have a hidden 6-circles archmage in your ranks who summoned a meteor to fall ?" From afar, it seemed like a giant melting comet was plunging straight in their direction. "How ignorant are you, human ? Did you really come all the way here to meet the Oracle without knowing the Prophecy ?" "Is it perhaps about an otherworldly being coming to this world ?" The king recalled his ancestors' words, and deducted this was the same prophecy the elf was talking about. "Yes...it is. It seems like the reason of your presence today has truly been decided by Fate. If the Oracle did let you pass through her domain, it means that you all have a role to play in the Prophecy. Now is not the time to kill each other, but to prepare for what is coming next." The King was surprised by the sudden turn of events and how fast the village chief changed his behavior toward him. He guessed that the reason why the elves were so protective of the Protector Spirit and his domain was because of this 'prophecy'. While believing in Zenon, the King has never been truly faithful to the main gods ; his faith has never been directed at gods, but instead at his own people. He is the kind of man that relies on his peers before trusting any superior being or concept such as gods, religion or any kind of predestined Fate. The only exception was his late father's words, the duty bestowed upon him by his ancestors. 'Any of us who would see this otherworldly being arrive in this world during our lifetime must above all never provoke him, and never antagonize the Protector Spirit' These were the words of the Founder King himself on his dying bed. The words that have been passed on to his descendants. After the King remembered these words engraved in his heart since his late father gave him the Throne, he steeled his resolve. No matter who is this being, or the real identity of the Protector Spirit, he should not allow the kingdom of Aliomeri to get a hand on them. He knew from his chief of intelligence, One-Eyed Derek, that the elves of Aliomeri were preparing for another invasion of the Forest of Truth but this time with a much larger force. They also planned to bring their beastmen allies into the forest, which means that they really want to go all out for their next invasion. The King doubted that all of this was just to kill a lowly renegade clan hiding here. It could be for the resources hiding in the Hydra mountains but even then, it wouldn't be worth sacrificing thousands of soldiers, especially for the elves that were so protective of their kind. Even if they were to sacrifice all of their half-blood legions to preserve their pure-blood warriors, it wouldn't be worth the losses and they would become vulnerable to the surrounding countries for at least a few decades. The King could only find one reason that made sense for the Aliomeri Queen to prepare so much for another invasion : if they could get their hand on something worth the sacrifices, be it an otherwordly hero or a relic weapon, then it was worth the gamble. "Tell me, elf. This prophecy of yours, does it come from your own clan or your former Kingdom ?" "It came from our ancestors, but when our Ravaleth clan fall into demise, some of our ancestors left and founded different clans a long time ago. A few of them are still alive up to this day, in Aliomeri and other elven kingdoms." "I see. Let me ask you another question then : do you consider the elves of Aliomeri as friends or foes ?" "Why these sudden questions, humans ? Do you not see the Chosen One's vessel about to land ? We need to evacuate our villages and prepare for his arrival !" "Answer me." The King didn't seem bothered by the giant comet that was penetrating the atmosphere at high speed, about to crash and devastate the whole forest. "Isn't it obvious that they are our enemies ? We might be of the same race, but the atrocities they did to our clan will never be forgiven." "Good. Then listen carefully to my proposal, as your answer will decide the future of your clan." The King smiled under his helmet and for some reason, the First Village chief felt shivers passing through his entire body.