Chapter 517 - Anna… Don’t Cry
The peace and serenity of the Wind Forest were destroyed. Devastating wars erupted, and the demons and orcs left a trail of bleak nothingness in their wake, heralding the fall of the elven race.
Some elves tried to flee the Wind Forest, but the world outside the forest was also in utter chaos. The entire Norland Continent had been swept into a massive war that no race could detach itself from.
At the height of the elven race’s crisis, the elven queen and High Priestess Helena arrived like godsent saviors. They had extraordinary combat and military prowess, and they always led the troops in the very front in every single battle. The elves rallied under them, and were able to prevent the orcs and demons from encroaching upon the elven holy land, receiving the approval of the tree of life in the process.
At that time, the elven queen became the goddess of all elves, and was revered like a deity.
At the same time, High Priestess Helena’s contributions were also not to be overlooked. Aside from her powerful star magic, her greatest contribution was that she instilled courage and confidence into the hearts of her brethren when fear and despair were running rampant among them. She encouraged all elves to become warriors in order to protect the Wind Forest. She urged them to pick up bows and arrows, as well as wands, to ward off the invaders.
Joshua had also become one of those warriors who fought to protect the Wind Forest.
He had slain orcs and demons, and had also been wounded in battle before. However, even in the most desperate of times, he could always find warmth in his own brethren. He fought under the queen’s commands, and it always felt as if hope and victory were lying just ahead.
This epic war among species finally drew to a conclusion after a century. The elven race had suffered extremely severe losses, but they were also able to make most of the orc and demon invaders stay in the Wind Forest forever.
On that day, Mistress Helena signed the peace treaty with all of the other races in Chaos City. The elven race had full legal ownership of the Wind Forest; a celebration lasting half a month ensued when the elves heard this news.
They could live free and leisurely lives in the Wind Forest again. Or at least, that was what Joshua and his fellow elven warriors had thought.
After that, High Priestess Helena returned to the Wind Forest, and began to issue rewards in the form of riches and land to the elves who had made contributions in the war among species.
No one had any objections to this. The elves that were rewarded deserved everything that they received.
However, at the time, Joshua could sense that something was off. Back then, there were no gold coins or official occupations in the elven race. Everyone was equal, and no one had any territory, so all elves had free passage rights anywhere in the Wind Forest.
After contemplating the offer for three days, he turned down the rewards promised to him by High Priestess Helena, and chose to leave the Wind Forest — just as many other elves had. They began to travel the continent, leaving behind the place that was filled with memories of the war.
Back then, the war among species had just concluded, and all of the races on the Norland Continent were recovering from its aftermath. Aside from the demon and orc territories, which were off-limits, he could travel virtually anywhere else without fear of danger. Thus, the wandering elves slowly began to forget about the war, and began their new lives.
Joshua’s heart also began to gradually heal during his travels. He made many acquaintances and friends, some of whom were also wandering elves. At times, he would travel with them for a stretch, and he lived a carefree life.
However, all of that changed over 20 years ago. A bunch of hunting parties consisting of demons and orcs suddenly appeared on the Norland Continent, and the prey they targeted was none other than wandering elves like him. Many elves were captured and thrown into cramped cages before being forced into dark underground cellars. Darkness seemed to have descended once again, and all of the elves were petrified.
Some elves returned to the Wind Forest for protection, only to be held captive there and prohibited from leaving again.
Elves no longer had the right to leave the forest as they pleased, while the major families had taken ownership of the entire elven race.
More and more elves began to mysteriously disappear, following which more and more elven servants began to appear in the major families of the Wind Forest. They had been branded with magic seals, thereby preventing them from leaving their respective territory.
Joshua discovered this 20 years ago. At the time, he had gone to visit a friend, only to find that their home was in ruins. He discovered a string of text carved onto a rock, stating that the couple had been captured by demons and orcs.
After that, he encountered an elf who had only just escaped not long ago from the Wind Forest. He told Joshua that he had seen that couple in one of the major families, but the male elf was missing a leg, and had been reduced to the lowliest of servants.
That had dealt a massive blow to Joshua. Following the conclusion of the war among species, the biggest threat posed to the elven race wasn’t from other races, but the newly ascended nobles in the Wind Forest instead.
The nobles of the elven race—what a laughable yet pitiful existence.
He couldn’t understand how those elves could be so cruel, nor how they could do such things to the elves whom they had battled alongside and had given everything they had to protect the Wind Forest.
But what could he do? If he returned to the Wind Forest of his own accord, he would also lose his freedom.
Thus, the wandering elves continued to travel the continent like startled birds. They clung on stubbornly to their freedom, which could be stripped from them at any moment.
More and more elves began to disappear. At the same time, more and more demon and orc hunting parties appeared.
That situation lasted until six years ago. That year, Princess Irina left the Wind Forest and began to travel the continent, only for one of those hunting parties to set their sights on her.
The result was that the entire hunting party was demolished.
Furthermore, that was only the beginning.
One hunting party after another was vanquished by the elven princess. The roles of the hunter and the prey were reversed, and the arrogant hunting parties became the ones that had to run for their lives.
To the wandering elves, Princess Irina was their savior, just as their queen had been during the dark ages. She destroyed countless hunting parties, rescued hordes of imprisoned elves, and was revered fanatically by the wandering elves.
Around half of all of the hunting parties were destroyed by Princess Irina, and the remaining half disbanded. No one dared to capture elves anymore, and freedom was restored.
The first time Joshua saw Princess Irina was five years ago. At the time, he had been severely wounded in a battle while assisting an elven couple in their escape from a group of demons.
Right as he was plunged into the depths of despair, Princess Irina descended along with a man wielding a claymore, and they destroyed all of the demons with ease.
However, that couple had already been slain during their attempt to protect their daughter, leaving behind a little elf girl who was less than a year old.
Irina healed him before entrusting him with that child. She named the child Anna, and asked him to look after her.
Princess Irina returned to the Wind Forest three years ago, and no news about her had been heard since then. The disbanded hunting parties began to hunt down elves again, thus plunging all of the wandering elves into another nightmare.
Joshua had traveled to many places with Anna. He tried his best to teach her to become a free and kind-hearted elf, and she was his only hope. For her sake, he was willing to give up everything, including his life.
“Grandpa… Grandpa…” Joshua’s soul was just about to dissipate when he heard a series of heart-wrenching sobs.
“An.. na…” Joshua forced his eyes open, and slowly placed his right hand on Anna’s cheek as he said, “Don’t cry.”