The dark elven forest, home to one of the largest dark elf cities on the continent, has a secret that many in the continent are not privy to. That secret is the location of the city, which resides several hundred meters below ground within a vast chasm where tens of thousands of dark elves live.

And just like any city, a ruler is present to lead the residents towards a goal. This ruler is currently king Folvion Maneiro, eldest son of the late king Relamyn Maneiro, who currently resides within his underground castle.

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“Llarain, what news do you have of the Chancellor?” King Folvion asks as he looks down from his throne, eyes gazing at the hooded assassin before him.

With a swipe of her hand, the hood quickly rears back, revealing a lithe and feminine face, ears filled with multiple piercings of jewelry; all enchanted as would be expected of an elite assassin.

“My king, I bring grave news,” she answers aloud, her head looking at the floor, her station not allowing her to make direct eye contact.

Leaning forward, Folvion looks towards the assassin, admiring her curvaceous body, one he would have loved to taste if not for the ugly scar running down her face. A scar given to her by an abusive priest from the holy kingdom when she was a child.

“The chancellor has notified me that the holy kingdom has sent troops to invade the forest and take prisoners.” She continues, ignorant of the eyes roaming her body.

Losing interest, Folvion rests his back into the chair again, upset at the information being given to him.

“I would suggest taking a force to intercept the invaders. If need be, I can have the assassins ambush and kill their supply lines.” she exclaims fervently, all but ready to protect the kingdom which had taken her in.

*Sigh* “ You will do no such thing,” Folvion says aloud, cold eyes staring down at the woman,” The villages in the forest outskirts are a mixture of species and not part of my kingdom. I will not waste time and resources to protect those that refuse to accept my rule. Let the light elves remove the parasites from my kingdom. It will not affect our kind.”

Llarain lowers her head further, hiding her expression of fury from the king's lazy gaze. A gaze so unlike his father, who would have gone himself to protect those who inhabit the forest.

“The light elves will grow stronger,” she quickly exclaims, hoping to persuade her king.

With an amused chuckle, the king rolls his eyes.” Ahhh yes, those blood paladins that the holy kingdom is so proud of. Pathetic if you ask me. With only a few soldiers and assassins, we were able to kill one of them.”

Llarain shudders internally, her fury barely under control as she grinds her teeth.

“My teacher… a master assassin, the right hand of your father… was killed because you sent a paltry force to subdue the blood paladin!” She yells internally, hand twitching to grab one of the many hidden knives in her possession.

*Nock nock* a sound reverberates through the audience chambers, interrupting her musings of gutting her king.

“Enter!” Folvion yells, watching as the hardwood door squeals open. The head of the palace guards enters his chambers. The guard quickly runs next to Llorain, getting on one knee, head looking downward.

“My king, your brother has taken a number of soldiers outside. He plans to attack the invading holy nation forces.”

Folvion’s face changes to a glowering one as he looks towards the guard captain. “ I did not give permission for soldiers to be taken. He will be punished for this!” Folvion snarls, disliking his brother and his attempt to usurp his power.

Folvian’s eyes quickly turn to the assassin, finding that she has yet to move. “Llorain, find my brother and tell him his king orders him to return at once.” He orders angrily.

Llorain nods. She flicks her hood back on her face, then proceeds to stand and turn, silently walking out of the audience hall, a dagger held in her hand, expertly spinning between her fingers… hidden only from the kings view.

************************

Valen takes another bite out of the meat, fatty juices dripping into his mouth, delicately massaging his tongue. Never in his life had he felt so… complete… the food giving an extremely satisfying fill that seems to revitalize the body. I will probably not sleep tonight. Valen thinks internally, taking another bite while he listens to Gang and Arjun talk.

“So your village was attacked and you escaped. Seems rather weird that such a large force was able to sneak up on you.”

*crunch crunch*

“gmmmgm,”

*Gulp*

“Yes… dam that was quite good. I really should slow down,” Arjun replies after attempting to swallow a large piece of meat.

“You Gang, need to first understand is that this forest is not traveled in small groups. I’m not sure of what you were informed, but the forest is an extremely dangerous shortcut and is only done with very large caravans.” He explains, eyes looking towards another piece of meat on the picnic table.

“The reasoning is that the monsters here… they roam in packs, and many of them are at the rank of C in strength. This allows them to take on groups of travelers with ease. Only the residents of this forest are trained in the various ways to fight and counteract them.” He moves his hand slowly past the candles and grabs a greasy cut of cooked meat, moving it to his plate.

“So these dangerous predators protect us from invaders. Thus, we just need a few guards to make sure that no beasts sneak into the village.” Arjun takes the meat and moves it to his mouth… and stops.” We did not expect such strength and determination from the holy kingdom,” he shakes his head sadly, remembering the coordinated attack.

“Why would they not attack?” Gang asks aloud.

Squinting quickly, Arjun turns his head towards Gang “The Holy Kingdom borders this forest, and about thirty years ago, a purge happened, which wiped out an entire city and the entire Holy Kingdom army… which should have weakened them significantly” Arjun lowers his meat back on the plate, a solemn look passing over the light elf's face.

“Who… how?” Gang asks, his extensive schooling had notified him of the holy kingdoms loss of military power, but the reason was never mentioned.

“The Amazons wiped out the city.”

Gangs and Valens eyes quickly turn to the sleeping Amazon, as she lays on a massive queen size bed. Diva rests peacefully under the sheets, even if about twenty minutes ago she was pushing her body beyond her limits… passing out from the exhaustion.

“I'm not talking about your average amazon.” He exclaims dryly, eyes surveying the dark forest. “I am talking about those Amazon elders and their experienced warriors.” A sad smile donns his face as memories resurface… painful memories.

Arjun pushes his plate away and sets his hands on the table, eyes turning towards his daughter… watching her brush Lin’s hair… trying to remove the spider eggs that were laid recently.

“Thirty-eight years ago, my father, a paladin of the holy kingdom, sent me to Gargantuan university to become an enchanter… *chuckle* It was kinda funny. I thought I was being sent to become a powerful mage, but in actuality, my father was embarrassed by me.” Arjun shakes his head, “I was the pathetic son of one of the most powerful people in the kingdom. Always distracted, never being able to focus on swordplay and magic. The instructors would always laugh. It was a horrible experience when the instructors would tell my father of my lacking talent… even worse was that my brothers were full of talent.”

“So how exactly does your life explain the destruction of a city?” Gang interrupts the elf, getting annoyed at Arjun's ramblings.

Annoyed with the interruption, Arjun quickly looks towards the trees, squinting slowly, and then turns to Gang. “ The same day of the attack, I was coming home from Gargantuan university, having graduated as a successful enchanter. When I arrived, I found out that the army had left to combat the Amazonian forces sieging a city. So I ran, doing my best to catch up to the army where my father and brothers march.”

“Heh… I ran fast, wanting to prove to my father and brothers that I wasn’t a total failure. Me… an enchanter that barely passed combat training, wanted to join a war.”

Arjun stops talking and takes a deep breath, memories resurfacing from that day.

“What happened next?” Galen asks, captivated by the story.

Taking a quick look towards the darkness of the trees, he bites his lip.

“When I caught up to the army… the entrances to the city was covered in earth walls, the Amazons having already entered… already slaughtering the inhabitants.”

“I watched the army slow down as they approached, an Amazon elder was standing in the way.” Arjun pauses, gathering his thoughts,” I never joined up with the army. I only saw what happened next.”

Gang solemnly waits for the elf to speak, knowing exactly the strength and power an elder Amazon possesses.

“The first thing I noticed that something was wrong is the air. It was filled with mana. The army noticed too, and that's why they completely stopped, staring at the sole woman guarding an entire city”

“When I looked at her, the first thing I noticed was brown light on her head. Amazon horns grow with age, allowing them to utilize more mana… and this specific one had a large double helix on her head. In the center of the helix was mana, so compressed that it was visible.”

“At first there was just silence, the army gauging one women… until she spread her hands, and the earth trembled. Immediately through the center of the army, the earth split, forming a massing fissure… engulfing all of the soldier, plunging them deep into the depths. It continued to expand until the whole army of ten thousand had fallen within. Then she clapped her hands together and the fissure slammed shut. I...I remember the loud crunching of bone that reverberated from the fissure. Over ten thousand people had died in a matter of seconds.”

Tears start to fall from Arjun's face,” I lost my entire family in that moment. All I did was stare at the ground where they were buried… for hours on end I just stared. I couldn’t do anything. I only survived because I was late to join the army.”

He wipes tears across his face, finding that everyone is watching him.

“Asmodeus of the earth burial.” Gang announced sadly, the 9 great elders and their powers are already known throughout the world.

Arjun just nods, trying to refocus the mana he had momentarily lost control of.

“Why?” Lin asks, having lost her own parents as well. “Why do people always kill?” She asks again, tears wanting to pour out of her own eyes.

Aisha drops the comb and quickly hugs her friend, trying her best to comfort the saddened tiger-kin.

Arjun looks towards his daughter and smiles through the tears, happy to see Aisha comforting her friend. His eyes then turn towards the sleeping amazon, hoping that she would wake up as soon as possible.

“The Holy Kingdom is racist in it's religious practises, believing elves to be the descendants of gods or primordials as many are led to believe, with the light elves considered the most pure of the three elven races.”

Arjun shakes his head with a frown. “That same nonsensical belief caused the massacre. Apparently, the city captured a young Amazon who had just left for her pilgrimage and was only passing through the city, getting supplies. They captured her on alleged charges and did something that no city would ever do. They made her into a public execution. An execution that involved a slow tortured death.” he explains, remembering the explanations of the children that remembered.

“Amazons must die with honor. A slow death without the ability to fight back is the equivalent to taking away that honor. That city unknowingly waged war against the entire Amazonian race that day… and paid for it with their lives.”

Silence spreads throughout the clearing as everyone digests his words. An entire city, wiped out over honor.

“I thought Amazons don't kill children?” Valen asks, remembering Lin telling him that they refuse to harm kids.

Arjun scoffs “Ha, they wouldn't knowingly harm kids, but they are more than willing to destroy a building in the process of killing a mother that's huddled with her kids. Amazons are a cruel and ruthless race tha--Damn, they’re finally moving.” He exclaims quickly, eyes turning towards the darkness, his strings of mana vibrating, sensing the intruders as they finally approach.

____

Valen quickly looks towards the forest, a feeling of danger and dread strikes him as he slowly gets out of his seat

“I hear a lot of people,” Lin announces, her ears flickering wildly. She jumps out of her seat and runs to Valen, hiding behind his leg, Aisha copying Lin as she runs to her father, who is slowly standing up as well.

Valen gives Lin no mind as his mind attempts to assess the threat that is slowly approaching.

“Be ready,” Arjun calls out, his mana enhanced eyes staring into the darkness with slightly better vision… but not much.

Shadow figures slowly start to move towards their location, many of them seeming to hold something in their hands.

Deciding to prepare, Valen releases a large swath of his Mana, engulfing the surrounding area around him.