The Elves

At the edge of the forest not far from where the forces of Midgard and Alfheim were fighting, two horsemen were observing the ongoing battle.

They both took shelter under a big tree with lush leaves. One of them was an old-looking male elf, while the other was a female elf. The female elf was wearing silver armor with a blue robe. From under the hood, there were a few strands of golden hair.

"The results of the battle this time are already showing, Princess Kestrel," said the old elf.

"Alwyn, how many times have I told you not to call me 'princess' when it's just the two of us," Kestrel replied. Alwyn just nodded.

Alwyn's eyes narrowed. "No, I think Alfheim has won the battle this time."

"And the battles that follow," Kestrel added. Her lips curled up as she said that. Kestrel was full of confidence, she had won consecutive battles, and all thanks to her strategy.

"Hopefully so." Alwyn's voice was low and pessimistic. Kestrel, who heard Alwyn's answer, was not happy.

"Your tone sounds uncertain. I've managed to withstand the Midgard army's attacks twice, and this will be my third. What are you worried about, Alwyn? Tell me!" Kestrel's eyes stared at Alwyn.

"This is just an old man's opinion that is out of date. Just 10 years ago, the continent we lived in had the Seven Kingdoms. Now there are only five left. Midgard, the kingdom located in the far east, considered the weakest among the Seven Kingdoms, suddenly rose up then launched an invasion of other kingdoms.

The once-powerful kingdom, Uruk, fell in 5 years. They must have had a strong army to be able to overthrow Uruk. Plus, after swallowing Camelot, their resources must have increased. It is hard to believe that their troop strength is only this much.

It's been six months since Midgard has attacked us. During that time, they attacked three times with such poor troops. They are strong individually. But they lack the discipline, synergy, and morale of fighting. Not even one of them seemed to have mastered Aura. They're more like a bunch of thugs sent to the battlefield."

Hearing Alwyn's long answer, Kestrel was silent for a moment.

"What exactly do you want to say?" asked Kestrel.

"I suspect Midgard has hidden plans. They're hard to predict. It's rash to fight Midgard alone. It's good that we have lots of comrades. It's time for Alfheim to establish a relationship with a human kingdom, such as the kingdom of our ally, Nidavellir. Join an alliance, for example."

"Huh?" A cynical tone escaped Kestrel's mouth. "Our allies do have a relationship with them. But not that we should also have a relationship with them. Humans, they are vile and despicable creatures."

Alwyn sighed. In his heart, he felt sadness.

'Ironically, what we are doing now is not much different from humans. Even worse.'

Kestrel used the prisoners of war from the previous battle as bait. She bewitched their minds and changed their appearance and then they were sent to the battlefield as a sacrifice. Alwyn was very much against Kestrel's plans. But unfortunately, the plan had the support of the Elf King. The elves' hatred for humans was deep-rooted.

"Alfheim will remain to stand, even if the entire kingdom is on fire," added Kestrel. Then she turned with her horse.

'Hopefully,' Alwyn thought to himself.

"You want to go back already? What's the next order?"

"Make sure no one is alive. Hurry up and kill those who run away. We won't be using the same strategy again." replied Kestrel.

"Even though it's raining like this?" Alwyn's eyebrows rose.

"Yes. After the rain is over, burn all their corpses. Then throw the remaining ashes into the sea. Don't let their ashes pollute our land."

'But their blood has merged with our land,' Alwyn whispered to himself.

"Maybe it won't rain until tomorrow morning..." Before Alwyn could finish his sentence, Kestrel had walked away.

'Good grief.'

Alwyn turned, his gaze now fixed on the battle in the meadow over there. Alwyn cast a spell, at his fingertips appeared a magic circle.

[Telepathy - Magic Ability Tier F]

'General Lark. Kill all of Midgard's soldiers right now. Make sure no one survives.'

The thought voice message connected to the long silver-haired Elf, who was in the middle of the battlefield.

'Understood'

"A brave army of elves! Kill all enemies. Leave no one alive!" cried Lark.

"Aye!" said the elven army in a loud voice.

And so they followed the Great General's orders, the elves brutally massacred the entire Midgard army. At first, they fought regularly with only their weapons but now they turned more aggressively, and hunted every enemy soldier like a predator chasing its prey. They cast Magic. Fireballs were shot. Lightning fell down from the skies. Their blade-shaped winds slashed and cut.

But the most terrible of all was General Lark's Magic.

[Ice Spike - Magic Ability Tier C]

Ice crystals emerged from the ground, piercing and finishing off Midgard's warriors like insects. Fresh blood spurted out, turning the blue ice crystals red. The troop's body shattered into pieces.

Midgard's army dwindled in the face of the elven army's growing ferocity. Their bodies trembled from the cold and fear. Those who were still fighting now didn't know what else to do. Some decided to put down their weapons and surrender. But in the end, they got killed anyway.

Within 45 minutes, Midgard's army had been leveled.

~~~

It was still raining heavily. The sky seemed darker as the sun was setting. White flashes of lightning struck more and more frequently, and broken swords were stuck to the ground. Horse carcasses were splattered all over the place. The grassy fields that were green as far as the eye could see, were now filled with piles of corpses.

The elven army led by Lark had finally won. Some were sent to hunt down the escaped Midgard warriors. Some were sent to comb through former battlefields, ordered to pierce the heart of every corpse that lay, making sure that no enemy soldiers pretended to be dead.

Among the piles of corpses, several elven warriors wore dark brown robes and carried their spears. Their faces were pale, their lips blue from the temperature and their fingertips laced together. But despite the cold, they still carried out orders.

"Isn't this too much?" asked one of the soldiers.

"What's too much?" replied another elf warrior as he stabbed through the corpses.

"Killing them all. Isn't this too cruel? Even the prisoners of war we captured yesterday were just bait for the next troop's death."

The second elven warrior turned his head towards his comrade in arms.

"Listen, throw away your pity. Disgusting creatures like them don't deserve mercy. Have you forgotten their betrayal? Our ancestors were captured, sold, and then enslaved."

"We don't live in the past," replied the first elven warrior.

"The past lets us learn! Don't repeat the same mistakes."

The first elven warrior finally fell silent. He couldn't refute his partner's answer.

'If we continue like this, only hatred will remain within us,' whispered the first elf warrior in his heart.

Seeing that his comrade fell silent, the second elf warrior asked, "Is something bothering you?"

"Nothing, just sorry that our horses died for bait," lied the first elf warrior. The cavalry elf warrior nodded in agreement. Then they went back to combing through the dead. Before long, their existence disappeared.

There was no longer any sign of life on this former battlefield.

A horse carcass lay among dozens of human corpses. There was a large tear in the horse's belly, but it wasn't very visible because of the heavy rain. From the tear emerged a palm. Then, slowly, a figure covered in blood crawled out.

That figure was Willy!

His whole body was covered in blood. Thanks to the rainwater, blood started to wash away from his body. He panted heavily because it was difficult to breathe in the horse's stomach. It was a miracle he survived. Then he looked around, his eyes intensely searching for something.

'There he is!'

Willy dashed towards another horse carcass. He opened the tear in the horse's belly. Suddenly a sword swing came out. Luckily, Willy reflexively dodged.

"Calm down! It's me!" Willy snapped but in a whisper.

"Damn it, Willy! I thought I was caught." A familiar voice came out of the horse's belly.

Braun crawled out. He was in the same condition as Willy when he came out of the horse's belly.

"I didn't think I'd be hiding in a horse's belly to survive. I almost ran out of time burying the innards of this damn horse." Braun kicked the horse he was hiding in.

"Now, where are we going?" Willy asked.

Braun smirked. "Home."