Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

  ———————————————————————————


  "My lord, would it not be more prudent to seek out the enemy and intercept them?" Suggested Bell, struggling to hide her impatience.

  "I have to agree with her, Lord Laus, if we simply wait for them to come to us, we will likely suffer more casualties," Chimed in Maie, the Fire Sage.

  Giddur, the Earth Sage, grunted in agreement, as they all looked to Sant expectantly.

  "No, we will not be the first to strike……if Belia truly does attack us, then we will respond in kind, but until then, we will remain as we have been," He replied firmly.

  Seriously? That's kinda dumb for someone who's been around for one and a half thousand years, how can he be so passive?

  "My lord, forgive me for saying so, but……I think that would be a fatal mistake. We need to be more proactive or Belia is sure to take advantage of our inaction," I spoke up, before adding, "Don't forget, I fought against and spoke with Belia recently, she seems to be the type that enjoys scheming and causing mayhem."

  "Enough……I have made my decision," Stated Sant curtly, clearly having no intention of changing his mind, "Now, give me silence, I shall need to concentrate as I check in with each of the fortresses."

  He was using his telepathy to contact someone from each of the fortresses we built to see if there were any sightings of the enemy……nothing yet though. Also, from the look of it, it doesn't matter how good an argument I make, he won't listen. The other three had already given up on trying to convince him to take some action.

  How much longer do we have to wait? And just how much were we playing into Belia's hands? I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this, something isn't right……surely we should have gotten reports of Belia's forces approaching by now……

  No, wait, something doesn't add up……Silvland is pretty far from the fortress nearest to it, it would take several days for an army to make it there, let alone all the way out here……I'm fairly certain that Belia wasn't lying or bluffing, so then……what am I missing here-?

  Suddenly, we heard a small commotion coming from outside the gates, the guards arguing with someone. And then, silence……before the gates opened, and the guards let someone in, an Elf……I vaguely recognized him, but I don't know his name.

  Though in my defense, there's a lot of Elves, like well over a million, there's no way I could ever remember all of their names. I mean, in my old world, I could barely even remember the names of all the students in my class. Except for the one I banged. Definitely remember her name.

  "Lord Laus, forgive me for showing up unannounced like this, however……there is a grave matter that I must report to you!" Exclaimed the Elf, clearly panicked.

  He was sweating and out of breath……he must have run here.

  "Very well, what is it?" Inquired Sant.

  "I was returning to the Elf village following a visit to the Dwarves, but……I was unable to do so, there is a barrier surrounding our forest, it is difficult to perceive, it felt as though I came into contact with an invisible wall," Explained the Elf.

  Oh, no, don't tell me……

  "My lord, I request permission to go and investigate this barrier!" I implored immediately.

  "I request the same, Lord Laus!" Exclaimed Bell, as the other two also followed suit.

  Looks like I'm not the only one who's feeling uneasy about this whole thing……

  "Very well, you may all go," He replied, after mulling it over for what felt like an excruciatingly long moment.

  "Thank you, my lord!" We all responded in unison, before quickly heading out the gates and in the direction of the Elf forest.

  "We should hurry," Remarked Bell with a frown, before halting, "Let us teleport there, grab hold of me, I shall take us there."

  "Good thinking, let's not waste any time," I agreed, as I placed my hand on her shoulder……

  "What are you waiting for, why are not activating the teleportation spell?" Inquired Maie, as a few seconds passed by and nothing happened.

  "I do not understand……it is not working," Frowned Bell, before her eyes widened in realization, "Wait, I see now……the barrier around the Elf forest must be preventing teleportation into it……I shall instead try to take us as close as possible."

  After a couple of seconds, we teleported away, appearing in the outskirts of the forest which doubled as the Elf village. It doesn't look like there's any barrier around it……but Bell's teleportation failing was more than enough proof that there definitely was one.

  I extended my arm out in front of myself and cautiously stepped forward, walking towards the forest……when suddenly, my hand hit something. It felt like a smooth wall……this is it, this is the barrier.

  "I found the boundary of the barrier!" I called out to the others, "Let's break through it and……!"

  I trailed off in horror as a portal opened behind the others……and Belia walked out through it, a smirk on her face. The other three quickly sprang away in alarm as she stepped out of her portal with an amused expression.

  "How about this, four of the five Elemental Sages, what a tasty prospect this is," She remarked in a malicious tone, "Wanna fight me?"

  "Belia……looks like I was right, you used our inaction against us……," I growled in frustration.

  "Heh, yeah, Sant's always been such a pussy-ass pacifist that it's not even funny, it's an absolute joke how easy he makes things sometimes," She replied with a laugh.

  "How dare you insult Lord Laus!?" Snapped Bell furiously.

  "Indeed, we shall not allow you to get away with such disrespect," Chimed in Giddur with a grimace, taking his large metal club into his hands.

  "Even one such as you cannot defeat all four of us at the same time," Added Maie.

  Belia looked completely unfazed, in fact, she looked perfectly calm, and a little bit amused. Her quiet confidence was chilling, and send shivers down my spine……

  "Sure, you might be able to overwhelm me if you all gang up on me……but then, while that's happening, who's going to subdue my forces that are currently wreaking havoc inside of the Elf forest, huh?" She wondered in an innocent tone, before her expression shifted to a malevolent smirk.

  Damn it, she's right……what do we do!? At this rate……my thoughts were interrupted as Giddur then slammed his fist onto the barrier with a crushing impact, shattering a large hole through it, which then began to slowly repair itself.

  "Syvlar, Bell, the two of you go into the forest, Maie and I shall keep this one occupied……no, rather, we shall eliminate her," He remarked, nodding at the opening to gesture us to go in, "She has fought the two of you before and is therefore aware of your capabilities, the two of us have a better chance of defeating her. We do not have time to debate this, go!"

  He's right……we can't waste any time here.

  "Hurry up, we do not have any time to waste," Urged Maie, as flames began sprouting around her.

  "Thanks, Giddur, Maie……you two better not die, got that!?" I exclaimed, as I headed into the barrier, Bell following me reluctantly.

  Damn it……I can't afford to look back, I have to find and defeat the enemies in here, and save the other Elves from Belia's forces.

  "We should split up," Suggested Bell with a frustrated look on her face.

  "Yeah……," I replied with a grimace, before the two of us headed in different directions, as I flew through the tree branches using my Wind Magic, keeping my eyes peeled.

  I could hear it……the faint echoes of screams and explosions all around me, and a mild scent of blood in the air. My bad feeling was only getting worse with every passing second……

  ———————————————————————————


  Point-of-View: Gela Sorr

  ———————————————————————————


  This……is……amazing! Elves' skin and flesh are a bit tougher than humans, and that makes them so much more satisfying to slice and tear apart! My talons and metal claws were slick and dripping heavily with blood, and waves of pleasure were coursing through my body, my breathing heavy and labored.

  I was sitting atop a pile of Elf corpses, which was in the middle of a large puddle of blood and entrails, a truly beautiful sight. What made this especially satisfying is that Elves put up a much better fight than normal humans do, I'd sustained quite a bit a damage during my massacres, but Belia made me a spell that both heals injuries and restores stamina.

  The only problem was that it was in a Spell Scroll instead of a Spell Card, which was a lot more annoying to carry around, but if it lets me enjoy myself more and for longer, then it's more than worth the inconvenience. Now, then……I should really be getting back to the hunt, I'm still far from satisfied, after all.

  As I flew off of the pile of corpses and landed outside the puddle of blood, I looked around, trying to decide which direction to go in. Let's see, I think I came to this spot from the left……so should I go right? Or maybe a different direction? Maybe I could just……I then froze as I felt a bloodthirsty sensation, directed at me……

  Someone's here! I quickly began to fly up, when suddenly, a wave of drowsiness hit me, my vision blurring and my body sluggish. I fell back down, collapsing onto my knees as I hit the ground. A sleeping spell? Damn it, I need to resist……I could hear footsteps all around me……am I surrounded?

  It's hard to tell when my body and mind are screaming at me to go to sleep……but I can't afford to do that. I'm fucked if I lose consciousness. Resist……damn it, resist!

  A pair of feet then appeared in my vision, right in front of me.

  "We must kill her, she has slain so many of our brethren," He remarked, a cold fury in his voice.

  "No, I understand your feelings, however it would be wiser to restrain her and take her to Lord Laus, perhaps we can gain information about the enemy from her," Argued another Elf.

  "But……after all those that she killed-!" Began the other one, before he was interrupted as I snapped out of the spell, and swiftly sprang to my feet, slashing through his neck and decapitating him with a swing of my arm, chills of pleasure running down my spine as a wave of euphoria went through me.

  "Now, who's next-!?" I started to exclaim, before stumbling back dizzily as several sleeping spells hit me simultaneously, followed by a paralysis spell, my body freezing and collapsing to the ground.

  N-not good, I need to get up quickly, or I'm fu-!

  "You have done enough damage, you fiend. Go to sleep now," Remarked the Elf, stepping over me and firing a wind blast at my face, as everything went black……

  _____________________________________________

  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

  Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

  Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

  https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP