Chapter 25: A Pitiful Resistance/ The Cries Of Saints

The words on the documents that the Dark Elven Queen’s servants brought were confusing to Rosa, as one who would one day rule in her mother’s place she was struggling to understand what any of this meant. Excluding Crinae who was the youngest amongst the five of them she had called upon her other four sisters who would help her understand the things which were written here. She put the document down and began to think back to the throne room, at that moment she had wallowed in self pity and despair. It wasn’t uncommon for anyone in either of their positions to react like that however when the Dark Elven Queen, Yukiyo Sinoharl had made her way to the room itself she felt like they had met with an irregular being of unfathomable darkness. One could say she couldn’t say anything because they were entranced by both fear and awe of how such a being could exist in this world, only after when her mother accepted her hand and agreed to begin their cooperation as nations that never did such from their very birth did Rosa start to see that something abnormal had just occurred. 

“Excluding today we have four days before the wedding can take place, what good can the dark elves do for us?Was it a really good decision to take the hand of evil incarnate like that?Mother I wish to ask you this.”

She uttered out in the empty room with only her thoughts being the answer to her questions. But they had been saved by someone rather incredible, had her mother not accepted her offer the future of the elves would always be in the hands of the humans. They would be able to toy with them whenever they pleased because they had defiled the one whose at the top, the sacred royal family’s women. This was the ultimate disrespect and for that she wanted to see them suffer for insulting them to such an extent. The door opens and her other sisters enter the room, given the urgency of the matter they were all serious and were wearing faces that showed concerned for both her and Crinae’s situation. 

“I heard the news from the servants and was about to fall in despair over my powerlessness that I could not help you in your hour of need. How are you faring?”

The second born, Clyne sat down first before the others, right next to Rosa to be exact. She caressed her hand in a loving way and stared at her with eyes that were about to shed tears, Clyne had the red hair of her father and his strong and powerful green eyes. She wore magical glasses that aided her in daily life, at heart Clyne was a researcher and her life’s work was to aid the kingdom in the best possible way. Her clothing reflected this as well as she wore a black and green magical robe that would enhance her magical attack and defense, She wanted to become the court magician once her mother stepped down from being queen.

“Thank you Clyne”

“The bastards, just what the fuck were they thinking?!Do they wish to be slaughtered by us?!”

“I do not think so, please calm down Seratta.”

“You think I can just fucking lay down as some human swine strolls into the palace and demand that he wants our eldest sister and youngest sister as his pleasure tools?!Well you have another thing comin’ to ya then!I am going to absolutely splatter his nut sack all over the ground and show him who’s boss around here!”

“Please calm down Seratta, we have much to talk about. I and Crinae are not going to meet that fate any time soon.”

Seratta, the one who had been shouting violently just now was the fourth born out of the five and the one who spoke before her was Hortus calming her down so they could talk more in a civil and understanding way. Seratta was more rough mannered than the rest, it could be said that she carried the violent traits of her warrior father who died in battle. She had scars all over her body particularly her arms and her exposed finely built abdomen, some were healing and some remained as trophies of battle. Her dark blue hair was tied into a short ponytail, as her similarly colored eyes stared in frustration as she sat down in silence. The metal noises of her armor soon accompanying the action of her sitting down.

Her elder sister, Hortus was more reserved and less wilder than Seratta. She sighed as the very act of her fighting to calm down the beast beside her which was going to take hours on end to solve if Rosa didn’t step in. Her mint green braided hair as well as her electric blue eyes were things that were very prominent in her, she had an intellectual look about her, wearing a floral designed dress that emphasized ease of movement. If one saw Rosa, her and Crinae they would think all of them had their mother’s traits but this was purposefully done so no one knew of the appearance of the other two: namely Seratta and Clyne because they were the trump cards of the royal family. Hence why this event hit them so hard, her mother’s plan was to have children with different fathers so they could have their talents carried over into them. 

The plan succeeded and all of them were what made the Elven Kingdom what it was. They would develop the nation after their mother retired and went on a journey to see the world, like the ones before her. However this had happened and scared them, more importantly it showed one fact: despite being raised differently from each other Queen Amaryl Gainevia, who was the single thing that was common about them cared and loved them just as equally. This warmed Hortus’ cold heart a bit looking at Rosa with a sad gaze as to what was going to happen to her. 

“Now then we must know what mother decided to do in order to prevent such a terrible fate that you and Crinae were going to face.

“Alright. Seratta are you calm now?”

“Yeah yeah carry on. I wanna hear what mom’s done to save you two”

“Alright then. Firstly I would like you to read the documents that are going to be spread out to you at this very moment. Once you have done so please speak your thoughts I would like your insight on it.”

Rosa quickly handed the documents that were right in front of her and gave them all a copy to read through, a moment of silence overrode the room as they were comprehending the contents of the documents that would concern the future of the elven race. They all completed the document nearly at the same time, the same thoughts that Rosa had before they coming were now circling their minds.

“They want us to dissolve our Council of Elders completely and allocate those positions to the people who have essentially replaced them. Giving them new duties to follow that would provide even more growth to our nation”

Hortus spoke out with a keen understanding of what that meant. The Council of Elders who were their beacon of light were going to be dismantled completely and forced to fade into the fog of obscurity. Those who were young and under them would be provided a greater future as they would be able to do what they wanted to do. 

“Not only that but read this part it says ‘We shall cooperate as two separate states under the name of The Elven Federation. The strengths of either nation shall cover for the weaknesses of the other, in this case the Xagreas Kingdom must fall within the time limit of four days or seven days depending on how they resist.’ WHO WROTE THIS?!”

Serrata read out in an unusual calm voice before bursting out in pure surprise. This meant they had military power to save them from this crisis, rather they had enough of it to actually raze the nation that caused them so many problems beforehand down to nothingness. Where was this unfounded confidence coming from?!

“The Dark Elven Queen”

The Queen of a nation shouldn’t be writing such nonsense was something Hortus wanted to say but Rosa’s face was very serious. There was hope in her eyes at the same time a mysterious fear was riding in the winds of her heart.

“You were in the throne room with the Dark Elven Queen weren’t you?”

Hortus was too late to speak up, instead Clyne said what was already on her mind. Not wanting to be outdone by the magic idiot Hortus was next to throw a question at her.

“What was the Dark Elven Queen like?And is she the reason why you have such hopeful eyes?”

Rosa receded backwards and let out a sigh before closing her eyes, it was as if she was reimagining the reactions and emotions she felt at that time.

“If Strength became a person, it would be a beautiful being. Graceful, powerful, confident, and filled with knowledge. At the same time a being so unreasonably out of place in this world I could say she is the Abyss of Chaos itself, surrounded by an aura of indifference to what we call common sense in our world. She is power incarnate itself and for that reason alone the Xagreas Kingdom would fall by her hand, she came to protect us in our hour of need and for that I have to thank her. You know both Crinae and I couldn’t talk to her at all yet Mother spoke to her without fear. That woman certainly is the ruler of our nation, she spoke with an Evil Goddess and lived to tell the tale.”

The room fell quiet as Rosa spoke out what she felt within that throne room earlier today, it was something that would be very common from now on. The documents started to make sense at this point, why they were written in such a way because the person behind them was so out of touch with their common sense that she could do whatever and it would work. Seratta smiled and tossed the documents on the table.

“We have nothing to worry about then”

“What do you mean Seratta?”

“Explain yourself Seratta.”

Hortus and Clyne simultaneously said that to her but it didn’t stop her grinning. She folded her arms and placed her dirt graced boots on the table, she was all smug that she had reached the conclusion faster than these smart types.

“Fate has granted us a fair hand, it’s blessed us with Strength herself. All we have to do is obey, these are all simple stuff that she can do. My gut feeling is telling me that she even has strong allies as well.”

Like a switch finally turning in their heads the others all understood it including Rosa who was initially confused by all of it. Because she didn’t belong to the realm of common sense they didn’t need to act with her the same way they would with ordinary beings. Any doubts before had been erased and now they could accurately deal with the situation that they could not previously handle.

“So then Rosa your seal of approval is needed here, I can already see mother’s.”

“Yes we will become the Elven Federation, from today onwards. Let us learn from the new Dark Elven Queen and her subjects to give new insight”

Hortus had checked the end of the documents to see that their mother, the Queen had already stamped the papers necessary for this union. Each sister held a certain amount of authority excluding Crinae who was still too young for such. Rosa folds her hands and looks at everyone.

“I am glad I have you guys with me, the truth is I don’t know how I would have handled this if I was alone. You are my sisters and mother thinks so too, this is for our future. Please continue to aid me even when I become queen of the elves”

“Sure thing big sis!I will always help ya out!”

“We will always be with you, always remember that”

“Don’t worry about it Rosa, I your little sister will always be a supporting pillar for you”

Seratta, Hortus and Clyne said comforting words which made her smile, almost tearing up as a result. But she had to hold it in together.

“We are going to be holding a meeting with the Dark Elven Queen and her subjects within an hour or so. Please be at your best behaviors, mother will be there as well”

And just like that major changes within the nation were going to happen within a day.

 

☆

The Ethos of the World Tree, the most important room within the entire nation even greater than the throne room itself. This was where the conversation of the future of the Gainevia Kingdom would be discussed and planned and then executed right away. Located inside of the World Tree itself it was all naturally decorated with the magic of the elves and given the utmost respect in its care, the room had the natural lighting of the sun and moon with the wind gently blowing in their direction. The queen sat with her daughters, all of them including the youngest. The Council of Elders were here as well. A select few were in the room also but it was not clear why they were there. 

“I take it you’ve come to a conclusion?”

“Yes mother we have. We agree to everything they wish for us to do.”

Amaryl and her daughter Rosa spoke within an invisible soundproof barrier, it was made by Clyne who didn’t want the Council of Elders to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

“I will make a comment about that right now. Although I did admit to have their help I didn’t expect them to respond so quickly to it. Nonetheless create an empire ruled by two people as one. I now understand the idea behind us being a federation and I would have to say its a genius idea”

Amaryl began to continue her talk with her daughters as it was rather valuable for them to know what this would entail for the elves.

“This allows us to not turn on each other and instead cooperate based solely on our trust in each other. Peaceful coexistence. That girl is young, about the same  age as you Rosa but she planned ahead. Maybe even after her time, I am not sure if she can even die or not.”

“Is that why you wanted us to gather in this room with the candidates who would become the new governmental department heads after we dissolve the Council of Elders?”

Hortus asked that immediately because it had been bugging her for a while, why had she brought all of them here?She could just conduct the meeting all on her own.

“I simply wanted to show off my beautiful daughters who are going to make new friends in a foreign country. Well that’s part of the reason and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you its only that wouldn’t you?”

“Hahaha”

Hortus laughed uncomfortably as she started to loosen up a bit causing a ripple effect with her sisters as well.

“This meeting is to further understand what kind of allies does the new Dark Elven Queen have. It’s to see what kind of people they are and whether I can believe her claims or not. If she really did liberate the beastkin in the city states and gave the Beastkin Kingdom the opportunity to become an empire then we have a greater ally than I would ever imagine. To that end if it means the greater benefit of the elven race, throwing these old men away wouldn’t be so daunting. Also one more thing.”

She gave a glance at each and every one of them, smiling gently as she did so. Their mother had a warm aura around her which made them feel safe around her.

“You are all my prided daughters, I love all of you equally and I wish the very best for you. I know I raised each of you differently but that doesn’t mean that I do not adore you. It just means I want the best for us as a family.”

As if something having touched their hearts they each almost tear up but hold it in to save face in front of the people who are going to come. Amaryl knew she said this too soon but she wanted to say it from the bottom of her heart. It was heart felt and reassured her daughters that she had faith in them as individuals, even as the footsteps of those who were to come started to make an audible mark to them Amaryl believed this was the right thing to do.

“Now then let us create a new future for ourselves”

The soundproof barrier was destroyed as the door was opening. First was the Dark Elven Queen whom Amaryl was getting used to seeing but following right after her were a dragonborn with beautiful sea blue scales, twins who didn’t seem human nor elf yet had pointed ears as well as crimson eyes making her think they were vampires of the night, right after the twins was the helmeted knight who gave off a chilling aura as if dead ,then three figures she had heard about: The Demon King’s daughter, the Beastkin’s princess, and the Sage of legend. What a lineup of races. This was a massive display of power, just how and when did she meet all of these people?The old men were mumbling amongst themselves and there was good reason to. The Dark Elven Queen or as she was called by her subjects Queen Yukiyo sat down along with her servants.

“Alright then the meeting can begin. You may act as you please”

“My Queen what is the meaning of this?!”

“Bringing in the demons!!”

“Its completely treacherous!”

“Please reconsider their offer they obviously want us to sell our souls to them!”

“Noted”

“Thank goodness”

They all each breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing the following events that would occur.

“So then have you read the documents?”

“Yes we have, I and my daughters completely trust you that we will be able to advance forwards as a race.”

“Good. I even brought Wynter over just to show you that I meant what I said”

“May our nations cooperate perfectly in the future”

“Likewise”

Amaryl was convinced enough and nodded to herself, glancing over to her children who did the same. It was now time, these old men had been simply quiet because she gave a gesture of obedience but now was the time to be rebellious. She wanted to do this for a very long time but instead calmed down when she went on her journey and when she had her children.

“Council of Elders”

Their faces lit up because she was going to respond to their many questions.

“I thank you for the many services you have done for us as a nation. For this royal family. There were many times where you have saved us. You are certainly a pillar of the nation.”

It was inspirational that she was admiring their honest work over the years, one would feel happy and appreciated that they were being praised like this.

“Hence as the Queen of this nation as one of the agreement conditions for our new alliance with our sister nation, I am disbanding you as a government board. Your powers will be handed to the wonderful elves over there who are far more capable of doing such.”

They all stood up to shout at her but her gaze was cold as if influenced by the Dark Elven Queen over there and yet her smile was just as evil. She was very smug about this, they knew she was a rebellious one who wanted them to taste shit for all she cared. There wasn’t even time to introduce themselves to the people on the Dark Elven Queen’s side.

“It is time you acted as the aged elders you are. For the Glory of the Elven Federation you shall become obsolete for the grander future”

“You cannot do this!”

“I can and it was already decided before you came into this room. Everyone in this kingdom although I met some opposition from the ones below you they wish for the same thing, especially after seeing the technology they have received from the Arbacoss Empire. Retire in peace else I will slaughter all of you and hang your bodies to be displayed outside the royal capital walls”

The sudden bloodlust they felt was terrifying and made the Dark Elven Queen chuckle, if they didn’t ask her what was wrong with her now the future of the elves would be doomed. The elves would become something else entirely.

“W-Wait my queen, calm down. I do not know why you are so bloodthirsty but we can talk about it….”

“What is there to talk about?You are the same people who would allow my daughters whom I love to their doom without a single thought and now an opportunity to save has come every word coming out of your mouths has become obsolete.”

They could say nothing as they knew what she was talking about, refusing this was akin to choosing death and thus walked out disgraced. The selected elves now understanding the situation was prompted by the Queen to sit where the former Council of Elders had been sitting in. Yukiyo folded her legs and rested her cheek on her hand in a gesture of pride.

“I am really fascinated by how you handled that to be honest”

“I’ve always wanted to do that to be frank, several of my husbands were sacrificed in order to please those old fools”

“I can see why you were happy to murder them”

“I would like to ask why didn’t you bring the Fenrirs?”

“I did. They are sleeping outside actually, they’ve been training relentlessly as of late inside of the dungeons of the Demon King.”

Yukiyo had the same aura as her mother and Amaryl felt like she saw the ghosty image of her right behind her as she joyfully spoke about the people here.

“Before I forget, this is my wife Shen”

“Quit it already, but yes I am Shen. I am the daughter of the Dragon King who I am yet to dethrone”

“Ambitious are we?I believe in your dream”

“These are my adorable daughters Kuro and Shiro”

“Pleased to meet you”

“Hi!!”

“Mine name is Odin, knight under my lord and creator tis a pleasure to meet you”

She was surprised that Odin was an undead but he had a reserved human-like calm about him.

“I am Wynter Grimsvile, princess of the Beastkin Empire”

“I am Notte Dämmerungskill, the current Demon Lord I shall aid the allies of my master”

“I am Severn Magnolia the Sage, may we cooperate well”

“I am honored to be having your aid in this time of need, thank you very much”

Amaryl bowed her head for a moment before lifting it up in a proud way and staring at her daughters as they were next to be introduced by her. Her prided daughters.

“These wonderful women beside and all around me are my daughters I am sure you’ve seen one or two”

“Oh yes I have”

“Starting from the first, please say out your name and the role you have in the kingdom my beautiful and talented daughters ”

Rosa was the first and she perked up upon hearing the role she had in the kingdom, strengthening her resolve she had to lead by example.

“My name is Rosa Gainevia, my role in the kingdom is to inherit the throne of my mother. I hope our relationship grow to great heights like this very World Tree”

“I-I am C-Clyne Gainevia, I am a court mage in training and planning to learn more so please teach me all you can Lady Severn!”

“Heh. You certainly do have talent.”

“The name is Hortus Gainevia, a strategist for our nation. Please cooperate with us as long as the stars are in the sky we will have a wonderful future together”

“Yo, name’s Seratta Gainevia. I am the Knight Captain of this nation, I can see that there’s plenty of strong people in your group and so I want to grow even stronger from training with you, especially you Wynter”

Wynter smiled as she stood up and walked up to her with Seratta doing the same. Seratta was a bit taller than Wynter who stared from top to bottom, noticing the scars she had all over her body, she closed her eyes and nodded. A powerful strong armed handshake took place right then and there.

“Aye I wish to train with you as well!Comrade nay, sister!”

“Likewise sis!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

They both laughed together as they were certainly kindred spirits. Similar beings who found great joy in knowing they existed in the same world. Everyone here had to watch them continue laughing, the last daughter slowly hid behind her mother.

“Oh this little one is my youngest daughter Crinae. She is still learning how to be a proper princess for now she is enjoying her youth, I hope she relates well with your daughters.”

“Same here as well. I have a gift for the fourth princess however.”

“Oh?”

“In order to celebrate our union together as a nation, I crafted the gift myself so they should be arriving near the afternoon”

“I see, thank you very much. Might I ask what kind of gift it is?”

“Power armor”

“Power armor?Is it an armor that grants you strength?”

“Sort of but you’ll see. She’ll love it”

Yukiyo smiled mischievously as she folded her hands on her lap. This was the beginning of an abnormal relationship between the two.

💀TWO DAYS AFTER THE INVASION

The border in its great entirety fell. There’s nothing more terrifying than those words, it brings about a certain level of fear within the human heart. And the ones who are committing such acts of genocide are the elves. The elves in their desperation threw away the faith they had in the kind powers of the World Tree and sought after the destructive potential of the evil gods whom the demons worshipped, and so their march of death continues even at this very hour. The Elven Federation as what they were now called seemed to not care, they were ruthless and this was very clear when they even used the corpses of those who attacked them. With limited information gathering one thing was clear: The Dark Elven Kingdom of Sinoharl and the Elven Kingdom of Gainevia set aside their cultural differences to become something more. No one knows whether this happened before or after the prince’s messenger came, but only thing left to do now was to fight. 

“We are doomed……I should have never been so cocky towards them!I know I am the one who got sent over there but I didn’t know they would act so desperately!”

The messenger, Alberto Holland a noble close to the prince groaned as he touched his stomach. He had been having literal stomachaches ever since he heard the news of the elves’ anguish that led them to invading the Xagreas Kingdom. Normally it would be the obvious thing to do, a country has been provoked by its neighbor to give up its future for momentary pleasure. This was expected but not from the elves. No, the elves couldn’t pull something like this off, why hadn’t they done so at the very beginning of their advances on them, why didn’t they retaliate when the time was given to do it. No amount of oppression could lead the elves to make a move, their Council of Elders were rigid and they made sure to make it that they wouldn’t budge even if their princess who was soon to be queen was taken away and married off to the prince. This was why they thought of doing such in the first place, one of the faction nobles told the prince that if he were to do this then the elves will always be under his thumb and that would normally be the case however this happened and now all eyes were darted towards him. Lives had been lost and now it was time to get answers.

“It must be the Dark Elven Kingdom!Those evil bastards convinced the elves to ally themselves with them!The question is how did they get such an overwhelming army!In no less than a day!Monster summoning is something only the Demon Ki-?!”

The door was knocked just as he was thinking about the possible events that could have happened. His train of thoughts stopped entirely and he kept quiet before the door was knocked upon again.

“W-WHO IS IT?!”

“It is Graves my master”

“What is it?!I CAN’T YOU SEE I AM IN PAIN RIGHT NOW?!”

“I apologize for this insolence but the neighboring nobles want to have a long distance meeting with you. It is the utmost importance. They say and I quote “If you do not respond to this, just know you will not be sleeping well tonight” end quote. So I implore you to head to the meeting immediately, I shall make my leave”

Damned bitch brought him even more bad news, his stomach roared in pure distress. He wasn’t ready for this at all but he had to do it otherwise the consequences would be more dire than before that knock came on his door. He quickly wore his own clothes because there was no time for him to be dressed by the maids, he looked disheveled and unorganized but a few fixes here and there would make him look quite reasonable. Alberto got out of the room and ran down to the room where he would communicate with many other nobles in the local vicinity. It was a large room with a round table in the center of it, there were one chair for it however. The reason for this was because the magic 【Assembly Imagery】would show off the other users of the magic in their own rooms hence eliminating the need to travel to a single location when they could do it at the comfort of their own home, this was especially great for on the fly meetings that needed to take place right then and there. 

Alberto activated the magic orb that contained the spell and quickly sat down once more. One by one the other nobles began to appear, each wearing grim expressions on their faces. He knew why they were so despair filled, their daily comfy lives were ruined in no less than two days by the invasion and now they were questioning how things really went down. Alberto could have ignored all of them, rather didn’t bother looking at most except for one: General Irving Starkweather. He was a man who earned his position by bloodshed and violence, he used to have blonde hair when he was younger but now he had a crowning of grey in his hair cutting it short to maintain a strict look, his steel blue eyes stared him down searching for the answers before he could even speak them out, even in his formal wear the man seemed to be in full armor, that is how intimidating General Starkweather was. The other nobles didn’t dare talk before him and so the meeting was begun with a small prayer to their patron god. Upon finishing their hostile eyes were directed at him and he could feel his stomach throwing up a riot, he had to steel himself and drink the medicine for such immediately otherwise this room would be smelling of explosive waste for a while.

“Now then, I would like to know what did Prince Heinrich send you over to the elves for. What was the message that was so provocative that they decided to throw away their almost religious values to the World Tree to go to war with us. I’ll be patient.”

The room was filled with a death filled silence, Alberto couldn’t speak. He could feel the stranglehold of the grip of this man’s words, he gulped and stared at the table for the next brief minute.

“I will relay what he said in short”

“No, there is no need for that. We want to hear word for word of what the prince told you specifically to Gainevia. I have all the time in the world.”

Sweat drops were running down his face as if it were rain, he couldn’t tell them that Prince Heinrich wanted to turn the soon to be queen princess of Gainevia into his slave bitch!It would be suicide!And yet here he was about to do it because he had no choice.

“Th-The first and fifth princesses are ex-expected to marry Prince Heinrich Xagreas…..in the following 5 days, yo-you do not have a choice in the ma-matter that is his wi-wish and his wish is the Xagreas Kingdom’s will.”

“That is not all is it?I am sure he told you to say something in the event they were about to refuse.”

This bastard was going to make him say the most humiliating part of all, the part that would certainly seal his fate. As if feeling the cold touch of a blade on his throat he began to say the words that would determine his fate from this moment forwards.

“It……….It doesn’t matter to him. Do….Do the right thing and just give them up, you do not want the World Tree to be burned down, you can make plenty……of more daughters and we will be sure to send their…..grandkids over. They’ll………They’ll be both great birthing tools and pleasure devices for his…..needs”

General Starkweather greatly sighed covering his face with his left hand, taking the wine bottle into his right hand he poured in the glass and downed it in one go, in fact he threw away the glass completely and almost drowned in the alcohol itself casting it aside to shatter into pieces. Taking a moment to breathe in and out whilst closing his eyes.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!”

He bursted out into a powerful laughter that was filled with frenzied madness, one could hear the insanity inside of it. It felt like the room would shake and break completely because of it. And then he stopped before sighing once more.

“What a foolish boy. Of all the greatly stupid things that pig has done this is the most offending, it is insulting to all of us that the elves chose to become evil for that reason alone. I cannot blame them either, for years we have been pushing their limits, slowly pushing them towards the edge and now we have achieved that. We’ve finally done it ladies and gentlemen. We’ve pushed them into the abyss and there is no return.”

If the stares before were filled with hostility, they were now filled with malice that wanted him to die cruelly and without mercy. A slow death that would go on as long as it took.

“Neither of you deserve to live. You deserve to die like the filthy animals of lust you are. You have cast the word: doom on the nation and thought nothing of it. If that is the will of the Xagreas Kingdom then so be it, I will overthrow the king and appease the elves to stop their madness. All of you are with me on this?We must slaughter the royal family before the elves get to us, for the future of the Xagreas Kingdom!And you.”

He pointed at Alberto, his gaze filled with extreme joy as if this was what he was waiting for all his life. The opportunity to take the king’s head had finally come, this man had always thought of the royal family as unworthy of his might, if the situation presented itself he would be the first to take their heads. Why?He believed that the royal family was the source of the degeneracy of the nation and that if he were to remove it, all of the sins of the nation would be washed clean with their blood. So the question would be why didn’t they kill him when the time was right?The answer would be they couldn’t. If he died then he would be proven right that they were the source of the issues of the nation, as well as something simple which could be explained in the following words were once again: They couldn’t.

“I must thank you for the opportunity. I promised to not take your head if you came to the meeting and I will uphold to my word. That I will leave to the bloodthirsty elves. A new age is dawning on us. Goodbye O Messenger of A Foolish Prince And A Burning Kingdom.”

With a scorching laughter coming from all of the nobles present the room fell into silence once more as Alberto got up and threw the orb towards the wall. Of course it could break through normal means but it did leave a dent in the wall, he slowly got out of the room passing by Graves who stood near the door with her stoic face and all. He locked his bedroom door and covered himself in blankets silently crying as he knew very well the end was coming. Had he noticed the smirk on Graves’ face then he would know it was already here.

☆

Pray to the gods whether you were having the best time of your life or you were facing the greatest trials you have ever seen in this world. This was how it was for those who believed in the gods of this world, for the humans however it went like this: The gods have given you everything but that has been taken away from you by the filthy races outside of your own. This was the old dogma of the Zeolus religion, which has been since abandoned by the sub-churches outside of the main one because of how difficult it makes communication with other races such as elves and dwarves. The Cornelia Empire fervently believed in this hence why it sent heroes against the demons without ever employing diplomacy at all. As such the Cornelia Empire made a mandate that a select few of the diverse societies of their ally nations were to have their very own groups of saints who hunted the heathen savages of this world, this also applied to Xagreas Kingdom. 

The Wings of Light were the saints chosen by the Xagreas Kingdom to hunt down elves and such for the exclusive purposes of the kingdom. In light of the recent events they were tasked with protecting the city of Misdral at all costs, even if it meant summoning an angel or two. The Wings of Light were led by the Paladin, Saint Wilson Hendricks, a man committed to the clergy and its good works. He was rising up the ranks because of his commitment, often found with a bald head and honey brown eyes wearing the holy armor which was colored respectively in white and gold, his sword kept in a similarly colored scabbard. Right after him was the Battle Cleric, Cedric Halloway who was obviously the youngest of the bunch stood proudly in the front of them, he was essentially the Wings of Light’s mascot. His adorable youthful features made others want to protect him, his soft blonde hair that was lengthened making him appear girly, his deep sea blue eyes which inspired parental and older sibling feelings within people. His uniform were robes that were fashioned to resemble that of regular monks.

Next to Cedric was the Templar, Matthews adorned in full plate armor and a great sword on his back. This was the man who would leap forwards into the battlefield to protect the innocence of the people. He was respected with and without the helmet, a handsome lad with red short hair and lime colored eyes with a gorgeous smile, rumors being that he used to flirt with all sorts of races before being saved by the hands of the Creator. And finally the War Priest Luke Xaviers, an elderly man well talented in both holy and elemental magic. His age showing in his white hair and beard, but one wouldn’t underestimate him because of his age as his body was just as built up as a healthy young man in his prime. His silver colored eyes showed their vast knowledge of the world and gave hope to those who looked into them. These were the four that would protect the city and prove their worth as saints and even if they failed to protect the city they would at least come back with information that would help the people of this nation, they had to know just how strong the armies of the elves were. 

“Why aren’t they sending us to the frontlines where we are needed the most?I am pretty sure we can send back tons of enemies back to the elves and call it a day”

“It is not always that simple lad. This is no ordinary monster raid that we can push back by our own power, its an invasion and the enemy can just decide to avoid us whilst sacrificing a few of their members to do so”

The two who were having his discussion were Cedric and Luke, the eldest and the youngest were having this kind of talk. The other wanted them to end the invasion single handedly using their power whilst the elderly one simply gave out the reality of the situation, that they would be avoided and the invasion would simply continue as they are fighting the monsters who were being sacrificed for a greater cause.

“Then we can just summon an angel to aid us!

“……….I know where you are coming from but we will be using our trump card on a foe who can easily be defeated by an arrow to the head, we’ll have nothing left when we face the real commander of these armies”

“Ugh……”

“Think Cedric for once. I am getting tired of your thoughtless rashness”

The Wings of Light had arrived in the morning via a teleportation spell used for moments like these. Right now their activity was patrolling around the city of any anomalies before being stationed near the gates where they would protect this city with their lives. Wilson and Matthews sighed in unison at the idiocy of Cedric, deciding to go on a completely different matter entirely.

“What do you think made those holy elves who worship the Mother of Nature Tanis to fall so low into the pits of despair that they require the help of the demons.”

“Ahem. I believe our nation pushed them so far that their belief in the goodness of our gods is not enough, nor is it concrete to aid them in their time of need. And so they chose a more visible power, one they can use to do whatever to mankind”

“Does that not make them just as evil as the dark elves?”

“Maybe. However it could likely be that the dark elves suggested this like the devils they are and enticed them to become the Elven Federation. I do not know much about the details but so far there hasn’t been any sightings of elves, just monsters and demons.”

“I see. You are insightful as always Wilson”

“I have to be, before being a saint I am a man who wishes to live.”

All of it was strange even to them, they all wished to live and most importantly above all else they had to protect the church that was in this city. It was an unspoken pact between them all that this was what they were going to do no matter what, silently direct the people into the church where they would be safe. The sounds of the soldiers walking beside them soon silenced them, they could see the people head into their homes. Their eyes filled with quiet fear, shops were closing early because of the invasion, stalls abandoned in the meantime. The life of the city was slowly being strangled by the atmosphere, the slaves were locked behind strong fort like prisons with magic collars on their necks that would kill them should the slave merchants see the invasion with their eyes. This was the decision of the people to treat them lower than humans, like beasts. The Wings of Light knew that this was a city worth not protecting but the church that existed here was the only beacon of light left for any form of salvation. They each went their separate ways nodding to each other in silence, they had ways to communicate. 

Luke in the Northern Gate, Cedric in the south, Wilson in the east and Matthews in the west. This was to protect the people, to save them even if it meant making them into prisoners. Board up your doors, place magic seals on them, prepare a certain amount of food that would last three or four days. These were the instructions the citizens were given. Upon arriving Wilson slowly makes his way up the stairs to the walls where he would view the outside, the afternoon sun was slowly going down watching it with fascinated eyes. The magic tool to communicate was in the shape of a cross began shining and he poured a little mana inside of it to hear what the other end had to say.

“You seem to be watching the sunset as well”

“I am, Luke. Its beautiful.”

“The sunset and the sunrise are the symbols of our Lord’s grace. They exist to remind us of his glory and kindness, I feel sorry for the heathens who still do not know his benevolence.”

The reason why Luke decided to check up on Wilson was a complete mystery to him but it was something they did a long time back whenever the mood was right. Luke had a lot of insight and that was needed to survive nowadays. The two had issued commands to the soldiers on what to do when the chaotic waves of invasion hit them. These two as well as the others were well versed in monster sieges that they saw in their time. And yet at this time they continued to talk about the serene beauty of the slow sunset instead of preparing themselves for the night that is to come.

“But the dusk in its evil light is often beautiful as well”

“I see that you have noticed as well.”

“There is a charm to it.”

“Have you ever seen a fully red dusk before?”

“Rarely. I normally don’t pay attention to these kinds of things.”

“Well then allow me to share my age old knowledge with you. The red dusk is an omen of things to come, adventurers of long ago would often choose to not go out at night when they saw a red dusk. It was foreboding, it meant that the forces of evil are plotting something.”

Something in his heart was disturbed as if the old man was tugging at the very strings of his soul. Elderly people had eyes that saw into the future, that is why many prophets and oracles were old, even if Wilson couldn’t see it Luke could.

“Why did you bring that up then?”

“More often than not. As the sunset’s orange aura starts to fade into a blood red color when evil is near. That is the law of the world.”

Wilson’s gaze was frozen in the beauty of the sunset sky as it was slowly fading into the foreboding crimson color. In all of its brilliant evil its majestic beauty was glorious even more than the previous setting sun. Wilson’s heart could feel that evil had truly made its way here and there was nothing he could do to even halt its progress.

💀

The moon was rather large, and to top it off full. Its light were their only source of illumination, there was a deafening silence that perpetuated throughout the city, not even a single bird could make a noise. They stood waiting for a sign, any sign of the enemy approaching them. Still nothing. As if being mocked for being too prepared, they all stood ready for any sign of an outward force coming to kill them all. They were not ready for what was to come. The sounds of war drums were being played somewhere but no one could locate from where and then silence once more. And what they’ve been waiting for had come but not in the way they expected, the archers on the rooftops were bewildered at what they saw. Swarms of rats were coming from somewhere and it made them confused until they all gathered together in a uniform formation. Upon seeing this their fears heightened as the rats began to transform into Murder Vermin. They used their claws to break through the doors of the citizens and begin their relentless slaughter. The screams of the people were the signal they were waiting for to act, like a flood of murder the soldiers were forced to fight the horde of monsters that appeared inside of the city. Wilson abandons his station completely to rush to meet up with the others, the city is already knee deep in chaos as the Murder Vermin who were normally an enemy that had no intelligence started to pick up the weapons of the soldiers and using them against the soldiers and knights. The terrifying aspect to this resounded in their deaths, they dropped like flies and it was their sorrowful despair ridden faces that made the eyes of the Murder Vermin shine in joy. 

Wilson was slaughtering them en masse to go from the eastern gate to the northern gate, he tried to attempt to communicate with his comrades but this failed and the only thing left to do was get there so they could make a on the fly plan on what to do. The resounding fates of the people could be heard very clearly: heads torn off, limbs ripped apart, organs ripped out of bodies, muffled masticated screams, brutal whippings, impalement, eyes being gouged out and being forced fed them. Wilson could do nothing to stop any of this from happening as he was just but one man, if he killed thirty of them hundreds of them would appear next. There was no end to this mindless murder that was going on, what kind of being did the elves turn to?Blood was filling the streets in an unnatural way as if to repent for the suffering of the elves of this city. Wilson’s eyes shifted to the rooftops and he saw the nimble figure of Cedric heading towards his direction, using the force of his fall he shifts his kick to the ground and creates a wide range explosion that kills the Murder Vermin within Wilson’s vicinity.

“Wilson we have to hurry!”

“Right!”

But wasn’t the boy in the southern gate?How did he reach here so quickly?There was no time to ask questions, they continued to kill the Murder Vermin as quickly as possible abandoning the people they couldn’t protect. Like an infection the city was slowly falling from the inside and it was starting to show rapidly, their destination was the church where they could use teleportation magic and relay the information they had seen here, it was unfortunate that they were ultimately unable to save these people but it had to be done. For one city to fall an entire nation would be saved. A wave of them were sent flying by a sword slash of great prowess and they knew they had found Matthews who had seen that this was a hopeless situation, with wordless intent they all headed to the church. 

The three of them started their own efficient slaughter of the Murder Vermin, time was of the essence here. Saving people would be the last option as they could hear the screams coming from the edges of the city, bright flashes of light could be seen in the direction they were going: the north. The old man was fighting hard as well to slay the almost endless number of Murder Vermin, Luke was flying towards the church that they were going to. Arriving mere moments from each other they all immediately went into their positions to cover each other’s weaknesses. 

“It looks like we are surrounded”

“Old man did you prophesy this to come?”

“Maybe, maybe not. All that matters is we enter the church as soon as the sun rises”

“W-Wait!WHAT IS THAT IN THE SKY?!”

“?!”

Something bright like a star of its own came crashing down on the plaza where the church was located as the numbers of the Murder Vermin were decreasing and the gaps allowing the soldiers and knights to enter the plaza so they could help them defeat them all. All the Murder Vermin paused in unison as if in the presence of a greater being, it was covered in jet black armor that had metallic wings attached to its back that were now slowly receding inwards. In its right hand was a great sword of similar color, placing it on its shoulder with the visor’s eyes were glowing red as if in delight, looking towards the Murder Vermin and ignoring them completely as it searched for the leader.

“You there. Status on the elves inside of the prison of this city.”

“They have been secured and immediately sent back to the royal capital Myrthel”

“And the collars on their necks?The ones that will kill them upon the deaths of the merchants?”

“Removed by Her Majesty’s servants”

“Good. What about the children?”

“Sent to facilities where they are going to be brainwashed.”

“Splendid”

What the fuck were they talking about?And since when did Murder Vermin have enough intelligence to speak?!It seemed there was a greater and much more evil power at hand here than what was thought possible. This was a part of its plan, Luke did see a little bit into the future when he saw the red dusk but this was more than just ordinary evil. The abyss itself was now involved and he could feel himself peering at its infinite darkness.

“WHO ARE YOU?!WHY MUST YOU DO THIS?!”

“Why should we not?After all you were going so far that you would kill my people because you didn’t want to admit you were wrong.”

The truth stung and yet it applied to them who were the priests of their Lord and savior. The more burning question was at hand here, who was this black armored knight?

“………..You demon we will not stand for this!”

Matthews shouted out in a great voice that would intimidate some of the most foolhardy of Murder Vermin.

“Who said I was a demon?I am an elf”

The voice of the black knight sounded feminine for some reason and as it was walking towards them, the demonic visor like dust to the wind was vanishing revealing the face of a beautiful elven maiden with dark blue hair and glowing red eyes. Her wild smile gave all who were present instant unease filled anxiety. 

“The fourth princess to be exact. I am going to kill all of you. The name’s Seratta not like that will matter since all of you are going to die anyways. If you survive my attacks I will spare you but you will not come out as the same person.”

“O KNIGHTS AND SOLDIERS SHIELD US AS WE PREPARE THE ANGEL!”

The knights and soldiers shouted in unison as hope was on the horizon, they just needed to push a bit more to reach for it.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY MOTHERFUCKERS!!”

The visor appeared back on after her insanity filled laughter, the soldiers and knights did not expect the massacre that was to come. She swung her sword forwards and cut into half the first group of knights, before changing the direction of the sword with an immediate thrust into the cores of tens of knights. Despite in armor that appeared to be heavy she was very nimble and as such heads and body parts were sent flying, the deaths of the knights was something that could be traumatizing as their screams were far much more harsh than the ones who died to the Murder Vermin. The great sword didn’t stop swinging as if she had become a golem that was designed for mass slaughter, if one listened closely to their screams it was a symphony of death. Knights and soldiers in full plate armor were being turned into minced meat, they didn’t have enough time to even summon an angel and had to abandon their action to kill the monster that wanted less than to slaughter them all.

“WE MUST STOP AT NOTHING TO KILL HER!!USE EVERYTHING YOU GOT AND THROW IT AT HER!!”

As if dimming down the eyes were now more focused than ever as the elven princess leapt up into the air with her great sword in her hand. It splits into many daggers that make short work of Matthews who falls down to the ground motionless and without life. Upon reaching the earth she grabs Luke’s garb and throws him into the air shooting at his body with something that comes out of her armor making his body go into the dance of death before it falls to the ground, Wilson roars in anger as he sprints towards her. Along with Cedric who is crying tears because of the death of his comrades they are ready to face this demon together, stabbing her sword into the ground kicking one up into the air and shooting it towards them using a magic beam that tears a hole inside of Wilson and ripping Cedric’s right arm completely off as the sword was making its way back to the princess. The Wings of Light had barely even managed to survive, Cedric was powerless against the monster that was before him.

“I didn’t expect that. I am sure I directed it to hit your heart, wait…….”

Cedric was laying on the floor with Seratta walking towards him, for some reason he couldn’t move and he simply stared at her with an anger filled gaze. She crouched to take a look at his body.

“Well I’ll be damned”

“What are you going to do to me you foul bitch!”

“Nothing, its what the humans did to you”

“Wha……….what do you mean?”

“You have the blessing of a fairy, and normally humans are rejected by fairies with the few exceptions. You have an overwhelming amount of them following you, kid you’re an elf”

“…….no”

“Yup”

“NO WAY I CAN’T BE?!”

“Then explain how you survived. Explain why you need to wear this filthy thing”

She tore off the necklace that was around his neck and burned it with magic, making his body get covered in a pale blue light. Cedric still stared at Seratta with eyes filled to the brim with hatred.

“Cur……Curse you that is the treasured necklace of my father!”

“How horrible. They’ve even brainwashed you to think you are human and a male at that”

“What?”

“Listen to your voice for a second”

Now that he started thinking about it, Cedric’s voice sounded awfully feminine, his body felt weird as if it was foreign to him. It started to dawn on him that something was very wrong with the way he was living all of this time.

“…….no…..it can’t be……..NO I CAN’T BE AN ELF”

“There, there. Let the fairies heal you up and mend you as time passes”

Cedric began to see the fairies that were floating in the air near her body, she was breaking down mentally. The one thing her body could do at this point was very obvious: pass out.

“Well then I guess I got surprised by that”

Seratta could see the life signs inside of the church and grinned upon seeing what they did to this poor elf who thought of herself as human. They were going to suffer, ordering the Murder Vermin to head inside and tie them to the pillars of the church, Seratta burnt the church to the ground. The screams of the priests marking the end of the night with the cheers of the Murder Vermin being the only thing heard afterwards.