The Barren Land was cold and dark.
The land cursed by the Evil God could not nurture any form of life. To survive there, one had to endure harsh cold and hunger.
All creatures in the Coniferous Forest followed the rules of Evil God Omelos.
The strong prey on the weak, the weak deceive the strong, and violence and struggle do not cease in order to sustain life.
In this merciless law of survival, there was no room for morality or law.
Those who could not adapt to the ways of the North perished, and their corpses became another meal for life.
In that endless cycle, exceptions did not exist.
When the Northern conqueror Yuridina Clan arrived in the North, they embodied the laws of the North.
That was how humanity had dominated the continent.
They were a race with adaptability and potential surpassing any other species.
After a long war, the Elves had no choice but to acknowledge humanity’s superiority.
They were cruel and evil, but they were strong.
To survive, they did not hesitate to abandon even their beliefs and traditions.
Pushed to the steep cliffs of life, the Elves eventually had to make a choice.
Would they be eliminated like this, or would they emulate the humanity they despised so much?
In truth, there was only one choice they could make.
Those who chose the former would die, and only those who chose the latter would survive.
It was the privilege of the living to carve out their own destiny.
And it was also the duty of the living to bear the weight of their harsh life.
Torches stood in a row in the middle of the Coniferous Forest.
The expressions of those illuminating the surroundings like a torch were all grim. Each time the reddish flames flickered, their gloomy gazes scattered into the void.
All of them had pointy ears.
They were Elves driven to the North.
In the place they surrounded stood a man. An impressive figure with hideously melted scars.
His skin was so stuck together that his age was impossible to guess.
The man forced his half-melted eyelids open and shouted.
“O, everyone… Thank you for participating in this painful ritual today as well. Unfortunately, we are trapped in the prison of our flesh. The soul granted to us by the Heavenly Deity is free, but bound by the shell of the body, we suffer so much pain and torment.”
He delivered his speech in a sad tone.
His old, tattered priest’s robes fluttered in the night breeze. The biting wind of the North seemed harsh, yet the man showed no sign of discomfort.
No, perhaps it was the opposite.
The burns and melted skin all over his body always made him appear pained. Since he was always in agony, he might not even show signs when he felt new pain.
His voice best represented his feelings.
His burned flesh and skin were not functioning properly.
He continued in a voice soaked in despair.
“We are criminals! We sinned, trapped in our flesh, and we suffer to pay the price… The reason we cling to life is to be forgiven for the sins we’ve committed against the Heavenly Deity. Only after we clear all those sins can we regain the true freedom of our souls!”
As the man’s speech continued, the gazes of the Elves lowered further.
The sight of the bowed Elves resembled tombstones in a graveyard. A sad and solemn ritual unfolded amidst the blizzard.
It was then that the man raised the torch in his hand high.
As if to offer a prayer.
Tears streamed down from his eyes.
“However, sometimes the order of the Heavenly Deity is like a blade, bringing us painful trials… It’s alright. Pain is short, and happiness is eternal. If we endure all the pain we experience in life, if that leads to greater happiness, then we must save our brothers!”
With that final statement, he directed the torch somewhere.
Then another figure, hidden in the darkness, was revealed.
An Elf trembling in fear.
Unlike the usually beautiful appearances of her kin, her hunchback and deformities made her look quite pitiful. At a glance, she seemed unable to move easily.
Behind her was another Elf, presumably her mother, who was weeping with her eyes closed.
The hunchbacked Elf was so deficient in intelligence that she could not even utter proper words.
“Ugh, ah… ah, mother. I’m, I’m scared…”
Ultimately, the female Elf could not endure and collapsed.
Unable to hold back the tears flowing freely, she clutched her chest and sobbed. The expressions of the watching Elves were utterly bleak.
The man also fell silent for a while, his heart heavy.
He merely patted the shoulder of the female Elf, offering his apologies and comfort.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… But your child has lived such a painful life until now. He will have to continue living like this for another 400 years. Compared to that long time, the few minutes to come are but a moment.”
“Please…”
The female Elf grasped the man’s clothing tightly, her voice choked with emotion.
“Please, don’t let our son suffer.”
It was unclear whether it was a plea or a resignation.
However, it was evident the man deeply empathized with her words.
Tears constantly flowed from his heated eyelids.
A few Elves could no longer hold back and began to whimper softly.
The man spoke firmly.
“……I will finish as quickly as possible.”
Then he walked steadily toward the hunchbacked Elf. The hunchbacked Elf instinctively lowered her head and made a frightened noise.
The man looked down at her with sad eyes.
“Here.”
He rummaged through his garments and handed her a piece of bread.
Grains do not grow in the North. There were many Elves who couldn’t even secure a proper meal, let alone grain.
It went without saying that the hunchbacked Elf could not sustain herself.
The hunchbacked Elf, weary from long starvation, had a faint light of longing in her eyes. Even so, she hesitated, afraid of the man, but he patiently offered a kind smile.
Ultimately, the hunchbacked Elf could not resist her instincts.
She hurriedly devoured the bread. It was so long since she last ate that she could have choked, yet her meal ended in an instant.
And at that moment, when the hunchbacked Elf looked up at the man with eyes full of expectation.
Whack, the hunchbacked Elf’s jaw was turned.
She didn’t comprehend the situation at first, showing a foolish expression. It wasn’t until she fell to the cold ground that she felt the searing pain.
An unfortunate Elf screamed.
“Ugh, ah… aah, aaahhh!”
The surrounding Elves turned their heads at the scream. The hunchbacked Elf’s mother was almost melted to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
The man, who had struck the hunchbacked Elf, simply drew a calming cross over himself.
“Lord, forgive me…”
What followed was unrelenting violence.
He punched, he kicked.
Blood and flesh splattered with desperate wails. However, the disabled Elf could not resist the strange strength of the man.
In just a few short minutes, the hunchbacked Elf was reduced to a pulp.
Only the faint groans testified to her existence. Tears of pain streamed from her distant, glaring eyes.
Only then did the man stop his assault.
Bloodstains splattered on his priest’s robes, sending up white steam. Yet, his breathing remained perfectly steady.
He gazed at her with sorrowful eyes and put his hand in his robe.
From where he had just pulled out the bread, a dagger emerged.
“That should suffice. The Heavenly Deity will surely forgive you… May you find happiness, young soul.”
Then, with a soft thrust, the dagger sank into the hunchbacked Elf’s nape.
The hunchbacked Elf reacted violently, clutching her neck. However, there was no way to stem the flowing blood.
Gagging and choking, her life ebbed away.
That was the end.
The hunchbacked Elf, who had convulsed violently, lost her head.
It was a sign of death.
And from that point, a miraculous phenomenon began to unfold.
Into the pooled blood of the hunchbacked Elf, a crimson vapor began to seep in. Soon enough, the vapor shaped itself, growing into a tree.
Crack, crack.
The hunchbacked Elf’s corpse twisted and crumbled into nutrients. And it was like a bell tolling, prompting several Elves to urgently lift their heads.
Within mere seconds, a small tree had sprouted rapidly, looking grotesque.
It appeared as if a human body had been twisted into a hideous piece of art. Yet, no Elf present cared about that fact.
They were solely fixated on the flesh clumps hanging from the tree.
After watching the tree with sunken eyes for a while, the man finally let out a long sigh and said.
“……You may eat.”
And with that, he walked away steadily.
At first, the Elves hesitated a little. No matter what, it would be hard to recklessly reach for a tree grown from a kin’s corpse.
However, the moment someone’s stomach growled.
The Elves turned into a pack of starving beasts, rushing towards the tree. They didn’t care about the chaos that ensued.
Even the hunchbacked Elf’s mother, wiping her tears, managed to rise.
Leaving the nighttime commotion behind, the man shed another drop of tear.
“Emmanuel…”
The night in the North was still long from over.
On the night I interrogated Abiyang, I received a letter from Senior Delphine.
The content was short and straightforward.
“Help me.”
I stared at those words silently before stepping out of the room again.
The tearful plea from Abiyang lingered in my heart.
The Elf Girl had cried out in desperation.
“Our Elves, we Elves are going crazy… If you don’t send money, they’ll even kill my little brother! They sacrifice the most useless Elves first…”
Did Abiyang also have a younger sibling?
For no reason, Ned’s image overlapped, making me feel uneasy. It was truly a pointless sympathy.
Abiyang was an Elf and an enemy of the Empire.
Therefore, she would inevitably also be my enemy. I should not harbor compassion for her hastily.
I knew.
I knew, but I couldn’t help but be troubled.
Eventually, I decided to clear my mind and swing my sword.
I had been repeating hard training since childhood.
Naturally, the only method I knew to alleviate my mood was through movement. To me, swinging a sword was both training and a hobby.
However, upon leaving the room, I encountered an unexpected guest.
“……Senior Ian.”
It was a girl still bandaged in various places.
I could recognize her identity merely by seeing her gray hair. She was Ceria, my beloved junior and one of the daughters of the Yuridina Clan.
Before I could even greet her with concern.
“Can I ask you for one lesson?”
Ceria politely bowed her head and asked, leaving me with no choice but to hesitate momentarily.
Determination was reflected in her aquamarine-like eyes.
Looking back, it had been a while since I last crossed swords with her.
I recalled the memory of having been thoroughly defeated last time. Though I managed to land a hit at the end, my overall performance was an overwhelming loss.
So how would it be now?
I couldn’t suppress a fierce smile that was blooming slyly.
It wasn’t a fitting expression to show in front of an injured junior, but I replied in a youthful voice.
“……Alright, let’s have a match.”
It seemed like a good opportunity as I was feeling restless.
There was no better way to cleanse a swordsman’s mind than through battle.
