"The bandits have enslaved us for decades, and to this day, no one has come to help us yet," an elf muttered to herself.
She sat on the ground, her knees pulled to her chest, rocking back and forth in tears as she continued to speak in her thoughts. "It all started eighty years ago..."
*Flashback*
In the heart of the ancient forest of Eldertree, there thrived a village of elves, known for their wisdom, grace, and deep connection to nature. This village, hidden from the eyes of the outside world, was a sanctuary of peace and harmony, where the elves lived symbiotically with the towering, centuries-old trees that cradled their homes high above the forest floor.
Elara, a young elf with emerald eyes and hair like spun silver, was the village healer. She had always felt a profound bond with the forest, her magic intertwined with the very roots and leaves of Eldertree. Life was serene, filled with laughter, song, and the gentle hum of nature's magic.
But as the first light of dawn filtered through the dense canopy one fateful morning, a strange darkness began to creep through the forest. The once vibrant foliage began to wither, and a heavy, oppressive silence fell over the village. Elara awoke to an unsettling stillness, her heart pounding with a sense of impending doom.
Venturing outside her tree-top dwelling, Elara found the village elders gathered in a somber circle. At the center stood an unfamiliar figure cloaked in dark, shimmering robes. His eyes gleamed with malevolence, and a sinister smile curled his lips as he addressed the elves.
"I am Zareth, the Dark Sorcerer," he proclaimed. "Your village, this haven of tranquility, shall be your prison. You have lived in isolation for too long, untouched by the world's suffering. It is time you shared in its pain."
With a wave of his hand, Zareth summoned dark vines that coiled around the trees, binding them together with unbreakable magic. Immediately, the warriors of the elves sprang into action, drawing their swords and bows as they tried to attack Zareth.
Zareth maintained his malicious grin as vines crawled out of the ground. The elves tried their best to avoid them, but while some were caught, others managed to reach Zareth. In a desperate struggle, the elves succeeded in slicing off Zareth's head.
Zilece, the head cutter, stood as the village elders fell. More humans emerged from the wilderness, outnumbering the elves as they charged with deadly precision, armed with well-crafted weapons.
Retreating to their village, Elara worked frantically to heal the injured warriors, but it was too late. The humans breached the village, their malevolent strength overwhelming.
"What are we going to do!?" Elara cried, her tears mixing with desperation. Zilece, her older brother, answered, "Don't worry, dear. I'll protect you with my life."
The humans' laughter echoed through the forest as they captured one elf after another. The boys were slaughtered, and the womens were subjected to rape. Elara was thrown to the ground, a victim of a Sexual Assault.
As she endured the agonizing rape, she witnessed the suffering of her fellow elves, their cries blending with hers in the once peaceful Eldertree, now transformed into a scene of carnage.
The one assaulting her taunted, "My, my, it feels so good inside. I didn't know raping an elf would be this satisfying."
"Is this really the end? Is this how I'm going to die?" Elara thought, consumed by despair as she endured the relentless agony, her moans a symphony of hopelessness as she was being rape.
"I'm going to cum, yes, yes... I'm going to cum inside!" the human exclaimed.
"Am I really going to get impregnated by a human? I can't believe this is how I'll lose my virginity," Elara cried in despair.
But before the human could ejaculate inside her, Zilece, her older brother, severed the man's head from his body. He pulled Elara away from the D*ck of Elera's rapist, cradling her in his arms as she wept.
"I've got you. Don't cry now," Zilece comforted her, but his words were cut short as Zareth beheaded him. Despite the mortal wound, Zilece's body remained alive for a moment longer his head has tangled back to his body.
"Did I ruin your fun? Hahaha," Zareth laughed maniacally, sending chills down Elara's spine.
Pinning Elara to the ground, Zareth began to rape her, inflicting upon her the same violation she had just endured. She moaned in agony as her brother's lifeless body lay beside her. Zareth groped her boobs mercilessly, her body gripped by trauma as she continued to moan in torment.
"This got her pregnant, and she gave birth to a half-elf, half-human child after two years."
*Present*
"Until this day, she hasn't come back yet," Elara exclaimed as she continued to rock back and forth in despair.
A human entered her cell, grinning sadistically. "My, my, will you look at this girl? She's depressed," he mocked, his laughter echoing in the dismal room.
Enraged, Elara attempted to slap him, but before her hand could connect, the human grabbed her wrist, halting her action.
The human attempted to punch Elara in the face but failed miserably as he realized his hand was gone. His comrades in the back had lost their heads. Elara, confused by what was happening, snapped back to her senses and kicked the human in the neck, making him fall to the ground.
As the man fell unconscious, Elara changed her gaze outside the prison cell and saw her daughter holding a blade sharper than a hundred samurais.
"Mom, I'm back," Lily said.
"Lily... Is that y-you?" Elara struggled to speak, trembling as she fell to the ground in tears.
"Mother!" Lily ran towards Elara, hugging her as they both cried.
More bandits realized what was going on and called for backup before charging at Elara and Lily, who were comforting each other.
"You little rat!" But before the bandit could get close to Lily, the rooftop was broken through by a huge bird, which crushed the bandit alive.
Apparently, when Lily was born, a few years later when she was ten, she was about to be raped by her own father Zereth in front of Elara. But before Zereth could act, a bird as big as a house burst into their cell and took lily away.
Seeing her daughter now still breathing filled Elara with shock and happiness at the same time.
"This suffering is finally going to end," Elara muttered to herself as tears began to fall from her eyes once again.
One by one, Lily broke open cell after cell, freeing her kind as bandits fell to her blade. Though as she was about to break the last one, Zereth appeared.
Zereth grinned at her, showing no anger as Lily and he stared each other down.
"My, my, what a wonderful reunion we're having," Zereth exclaimed with a giggle.
"You clown," Lily spat, pulling out her sword and pointing it directly at Zereth. He continued to grin maniacally.
"Anyway, goodnight, Dad," she said, charging directly at him.
Immediately, dark vines grew from the surface, trying to entangle Lily. She dodged each one with ease, slicing through the ones she couldn't avoid. Though her progress slowed, it was still relentless. Zereth remained calm as dark cacti, about ten meters tall, sprouted instantly, sending thorns four to six inches long directly at her.
Lily struggled as she continued her charge, dodging and blocking Zereth's attacks. Finally, she reached him and slashed with her sword, but Zereth dodged.
"Missed," Zereth taunted with a grin.
Zereth could teleport. As Lily was still in the air, a plant as sharp as a sword grew from the ground beneath her and pierced through her shoulder.
Lily dropped her sword, seeing a glimpse of her father's true face. He was an elf-half human, just like her. His hood had been swept back by the air created from his dodge, revealing his features. Lily shifted her eyes to her bleeding shoulder and grunted in pain. Despite the injury, she continued to hold her sword and sliced through the plant that had pierced her.
"My, my, aren't you dissatisfied with your own strength?" Zereth teased.
"Father, you know I can never forgive you, but I didn't know we have the same magic," Lily exclaimed.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Zereth asked, confused.
"Sparrow!" Lily yelled.
Immediately, the bird that had burst through her mother's rooftop cell appeared, flying directly beside Lily.
"Hehe, this is gonna be fun," Zereth blurted out.
More of Zereth's men showed up, surrounding Lily and Sparrow. "If I die, at least I will die in justice," Lily declared. The rumble began.
Zereth's men charged at Sparrow, who feasted on them. Arrows were shot from above, but Sparrow flapped his wings, sending the arrows back into Zereth's men.
Meanwhile, Lily and Zereth resumed their duel. Lily burst through Zereth's defenses and attacked with ease, forcing him to struggle and dodge. As Zereth grew tired, he summoned plants with mouths that tried to feast on Lily. She dodged them as they continued to follow her steps.
Lily zigzagged, with the carnivorous plants trailing her every move. She maneuvered in circles until the plants tangled onto each other. With a powerful leap, she jumped onto one of the plant's heads and, from midair, charged at Zereth, who was now struggling to breathe due to an asthma attack. He stared up at Lily in desperation.
"It's over!" Lily yelled as she descended upon Zereth, but he teleported ten feet away, causing Lily to slice through the air.
"*Huff puff* You really like slicing that thing, huh?" Zereth taunted, still struggling to breathe.
But Lily didn't hesitate. In a blink of an eye, Zereth felt his head fall before his body, beheaded by none other than his daughter.
"It wasn't nice meeting you, Dad," Lily exclaimed.
She then turned back and saw that Sparrow had already killed all of Zereth's men. Feeling relief, she slowly walked back to Sparrow, her legs giving out as she fell to the ground.
Sparrow picked her up as she remained conscious, carrying her back to her mother where all the elves had gathered. Sparrow gently dropped her beside Elara.
Lily could hear her own kind complimenting her as she grinned in satisfaction. "Dear, it's been so long," her mother hugged her tightly, and Lily hugged her back.
The entire elven race in the village felt a sense of relief as they were finally set free. The village elders approached her, led by the chief elder.
"It's nice to meet you, Lily. If you don't mind, will you tell us how you killed Zereth? Since in some part, you think you might have killed him but actually haven't," the village elder spoke.
"Don't worry, Elder. I cut off his head. He won't be surviving it," she exclaimed with a smile.
However, when she revealed this to the elven race, their faces changed back to fear.
In a blink of an eye, half of her kin were decapitated, including Sparrow, who fell to the ground.
"What? What's going on?!" Lily was shocked and confused as she turned back to her mother.
"Zereth only dies to fire..." her mother blurted out in fear and despair.
As the elves lost hope, they comforted each other, one by one losing their heads until only Elara and Lily were left.
"No, no, no! WHY? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?" Lily snapped as she faced the grim reality.
Tears streamed from her eyes as her mother tried to calm her down.
"Goddess Fillia, is this how you treat your own believers? Maybe she isn't real, right? No, that can't be right!" Lily struggled to speak, teetering on the edge of insanity.
Then Elara and Lily heard a familiar voice, a voice that spelled terror. "Isn't that a prophecy?"
Turning their gaze to the right, they saw Zereth standing there menacingly, his ordinary grin spread across his face.
"You're going insane, Lily. Did you really think I'd die that easily?" Zereth revealed himself from the shadows, continuing, "I could kill both of you in a flash if I wanted to. But I remembered, having fun with you first might be more enjoyable."
"You see, the way I killed your kind and that bird so easily is because I summoned those carnivorous green plants inside their bodies. They feasted on their heads in a flash before disappearing."
"Cool trick, huh?" Though the two remained silent, he sighed and continued, "Well, here's a better question. Are you ready to meet your fate? Because right now, your end is finally here." Zereth exclaimed and concluded.
Sharp plants burst from the surface, piercing through Elara and Lily's hearts. "Well then, let's start," Zereth said as he approached them to strip them. But before he could proceed, his head was split from his body once again.
A ring of fire surrounded them as Xialdre appeared on the scene, kicking Zereth's body into the flames while holding Zereth's head.
"What the f*ck! Wait, don't kill me!" Zereth pleaded, but before he could finish, Xialdre threw him into the ring of fire. Zereth grinned, thinking he had made Xialdre act out of anger.
But as his head burned, Zereth caught a glimpse of Xialdre's face—dead eyes revealing no emotion. Zereth died in fear.
Lily fainted while Elara remained conscious, both slowly dying. Natalia then appeared and healed them with ease. Lily saw Xialdre helping them before falling unconscious.
Xialdre shifted his eyes to Elara and questioned, "Do you want to live?"
"If that's an option, but please help my daughter" Elara pleaded but Xialdre remained constant.
"I said do you want to live!?" Xialdre exclaimed.
Elara looked into Xialdre's eyes, filled with fear. He looked like someone who could hurt anyone, his face cold and his demeanor even colder. Trembling, Elara answered, "Y-yes, if it's possible, I at least want to be with my daughter for much longer..."
With that, Xialdre grabbed Elara's wrist and placed a force slave contract on the back of her neck. He then moved to Lily, and Elara watched in fear as he also placed a slave contract on her daughter, but on her palm.
Xialdre then addressed Elara, "Both of you, come with me on my journey. For the first time, I'll show you peace."
Hearing this, Elara looked back into Xialdre's eyes and saw something different—he seemed harmless, kind even, despite his cold exterior. Just then, Asabe, in her dragon form, landed nearby. It was the first time in a hundred years that Elara had seen a dragon.
Natalia climbed onto Asabe, along with the other girls in Xialdre's group. Xialdre gently lifted Lily, who was still unconscious, and carried her up. "What are you waiting for? Come on," he said to Elara.
Elara snapped back to reality and climbed onto Asabe. Xialdre helped her up as the girls remained silent. They flew away from the village, which was now in ruins despite their victory.
As they soared through the sky, which began to darken, conversations slowly began among the girls.
"So, Tailin, aren't you afraid of heights?" Isayao questioned, breaking the silence.
"Eh, what are you talking about, hehe," Tailin pretended to be brave as she whistled nervously attempting to hide her fear.
"Well, tell me, if I push you off this dragon and Asabe will catch you afterwards, will you agree?" Isayao suggested.
"Eh... Why do we have to do that?" Tailin asked, trembling.
"Fear test," Isayao answered.
"I'm not catching her, Isayao. I don't want to do more work than I have to," Asabe commented.
"Whatever," Isayao blurted out.
Tailin sighed in relief as Clementine spoke up. "Anyways, have you two ever heard of the Night Knight?"
"Huh, what's that?" Tailin asked, confused.
"Clementine, you really do like telling stories, don't you?" Isayao commented, then smiled at her. "And I don't mind. You're quite the storyteller, I must say."
"That's quite my thing, after all," Clementine revealed.
Meanwhile, Furina and Natalia looked at the night sky, admiring the cold and beautiful sparkle of the stars. A cold breeze passed along with some leaves, swaying the girls hair.
Rain slept as Xyrene poked her cheeks, giggling at her sleeping face. Alisha, Yuri, and Emiko talked about the different races and how they were enslaved.
"I'm really sorry for what my brother did to you girls," Alisha pleaded, as her younger brother Satra was the main source of enslavement on the Satalias Continent.
"We told you, it's not your fault. Besides, he's dead anyway," Yuri commented.
Alixian slept in Arisawa's lap as Arisawa gently patted her head. Arisawa noticed Alixian's bangs starting to annoy her as she slept, so Arisawa gently moved them aside.
Xialdre sat, muttering to himself, "Isayao, Clementine, Natalia, Asabe, Alisha, Tailin, Arisawa, Rain, Xyrene, Yuri, Alixian, Emiko, and these two elves are my slaves. Except for one... and that is Furina."
"Though she is not yet my slave, she has tangled in my strings."
"A small commotion directly towards her might turn her into my slave.
"Though this will probably only happen if I pull my strings right."
"For now, I'll stick my focus on these two elves," Xialdre concluded."
"Umm, so, where are you bringing us?" Elara questioned Xialdre, trembling.
Xialdre shifted his eyes towards her and got close as he replied, "Well, it depends."
"Why?" Elara pressed.
"It's a big world out there, and it is still a mystery where it's gonna end. Though note this: I'll bring you all with me, and I swear I'll show the two of you the outside world—the world that your people have been hiding from," Xialdre responded.
"I'm sorry for your kind, but understand that this is the best option currently available. And I'm forcing you two to follow it," Xialdre concluded.
"If this is the case, we might die on our travel. Journeys only lead to death. That's the truth. My husband came back to our race dead without even leaving me a child. Instead, he left me to be raped by a man I do not desire to be with!" Elara blurted out as tears began to fall from her cheeks, landing on Lily's forehead as she slept in Elara's lap.
"Elara, do you think you're going to die? Did you really think I asked you that question—if you want to live or not—for nothing?" Xialdre exclaimed.
"No, because the moment you became my slave, that was also the time you signed your contract of immortality. If you don't know, I'm not going to let you escape my grasp or die in my grasp. I'll protect you and all of these girls until the moment I find Adonai!" Xialdre revealed.
The word Adonai caught Arisawa, Asabe, Xyrene, and Natalia's attention as they shifted their eyes to the two talking.
"Adonai? What are you talking about... You mean the Alpha Omega?" Elara questioned.
"Don't worry. Just trust me. You're going to find joy for the first time again since the last time for decades," Xialdre exclaimed as he offered his hand to her.
Elara saw Xialdre's face and felt a gust of comfort rushing and flooding through her veins—a consolation and sign of relief more powerful than the blessings she ever received from the goddess Fillia.
Elara wiped her tears and smiled before taking Xialdre's hand as he commented, "I'll show you and your daughter. The outside of the Elven race."
"Right," Elara responded, blushing as she fell into Xialdre's words, feeling the stirrings of love for the first time in a hundred years.