The elf leader's eyes narrowed, suspicion flickering across his face. He was a stern figure, his sharp features frad by silver hair that marked him as one of the elder elves, though not the oldest I had seen. His gaze flickered to the queen, lingering a mont longer than was comfortable, before returning to .
"And who are you to make such claims, stranger?" he asked, his voice cold but asured. "You appear suddenly, uninvited, alongside this... woman." His eyes settled on Aurelia the Queen, who stood tall, her gaze piercing and unbothered, as if the entire situation was beneath her.
Aurelia, of course, caught the insult imdiately, her lips curling into a dangerous smile. "Woman?" she repeated, her voice dripping with venom. "You have the nerve to speak to like that? You—"
"Enough," I cut in sharply, my hand brushing the hilt of my blade. We didn't have ti for a pointless argunt. "We're not here to make enemies. There's sothing far more dangerous at play, and if we don't act quickly, it won't matter what allegiances we hold."
The elf leader stared at , and for a mont, I wondered if I had pushed too far. Elves, especially those with his kind of authority, didn't take kindly to being told what to do. But before he could respond, the ground beneath us began to hum, a strange energy radiating from the earth. The other elves exchanged nervous glances, their hands instinctively going to their weapons.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light. It wasn't an explosion, but sothing more ethereal, like ti itself had rippled. The trees around us shimred, their shapes distorting as if reality had been stretched thin. And then, out of the shimring haze, more figures appeared.
Elves. Dozens of them.
They erged from the shadows of the forest, their forms solidifying as they approached, so draped in ancient armor, others in strange garb that didn't match any era I recognized.
It clearly differs from the one we just saw.
At that mont, I realize.
Ti convergence..
It was as though ti itself had splintered, bringing together elves from different periods, each group looking just as bewildered as the last.
The elf leader who had been interrogating us stiffened, his eyes widening in shock. "This is impossible..." he whispered.
The new arrivals were just as surprised, so of them looking around in confusion, while others imdiately drew their weapons. One of the elder elves—a woman with silver streaks in her dark hair, her robe embroidered with intricate symbols—stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as they settled on and the queen.
"You!" she hissed, pointing a gnarled finger at us. "Humans? Here? You have no right to walk these lands! You bring corruption with you!"
Aurelia sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. "Oh, fantastic," she muttered. "More self-righteous elves who think they own the place."
I could feel the tension rising, the air thick with hostility as the newly arrived elves began to fan out, surrounding us. So of them seed more curious than angry, but others were openly hostile, their hands gripping their bows and blades.
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One of the younger elves, his armor gleaming as though freshly forged, stepped forward, his eyes blazing with fury. "You dare stand before us after what you've done to our people? The betrayal... the bloodshed?"
I clenched my jaw. This wasn't going to end well. I could already see the elves from different ti periods turning on each other, their confusion and mistrust bubbling to the surface. So seed to regard us as allies—perhaps from a future where humans and elves had worked together. Others, however, clearly saw us as enemies, their expressions dark with rage and hatred.
The queen, of course, couldn't help herself. "Oh, please," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "As if any of this is our fault. If you lot would just focus on the actual threat instead of playing your little bla ga, maybe we'd all survive the next ten minutes."
I shot her a look, silently warning her to keep quiet, but she only shrugged, as if the entire situation was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
Before I could respond, the young elf lunged toward us, his blade drawn. His eyes were wild with fury, and it was clear he had no intention of listening to reason. I moved swiftly, drawing one of my twin blades and parrying his strike with a tallic clang.
"You're making a mistake," I growled, holding him at bay with the force of my blade. "We're not your enemy."
"LIAR!" he spat, his strength surprising as he pushed against my blade.
Chaos erupted in the clearing as more elves drew their weapons. So of them turned on each other, old grudges flaring up as the strange convergence of ti-periods pushed them past the breaking point. It was a chaotic, bloody skirmish that threatened to spiral out of control.
I had no choice.
I have to protect the queen.
I felt the elf's blade grinding against mine, the raw fury in his eyes telling that no amount of logic or reason would sway him. He was lost in the heat of the mont, driven by emotion and old grudges. I held firm, the weight of his attack pressing down on as I shifted my stance, ready to counter if necessary.
But before I could make my next move, there was a crackle of energy in the air—a sudden surge of raw magic that sent a shiver down my spine. I didn't need to look to know where it was coming from. The unmistakable power of Aurelia, Queen of Regaria, filled the clearing, forcing everyone to freeze in place.
"Enough," Aurelia said, her voice cutting through the chaos like a blade through flesh. She didn't yell, didn't scream, but the command in her voice was absolute. Her eyes blazed with a dangerous intensity, and the air around her shimred with the raw magic she held in check. The queen wasn't playing anymore.
The elf in front of hesitated, his body trembling with the effort of resisting the overwhelming force of Aurelia's presence. Slowly, I lowered my blade, my eyes locked on him. He was still angry, still wild, but the sheer power radiating from the queen was impossible to ignore.
"You dare raise your weapons against ?" Aurelia continued, stepping forward with a slow, deliberate grace. "You accuse us of betrayal, of bloodshed? When it is your kind who fail to see the bigger picture?"
Her words hung in the air, and even the most hostile elves among the group flinched under her gaze. The younger elf who had attacked slowly lowered his sword, his expression caught between confusion and anger.
As expected of the queen.
In the ga, she's also the crucial factor of whether the world reaches a better situation for the humans or not.
Aurelia's lips curled into a wicked smile, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Now," she said, her voice taking on a mockingly sweet tone, "if you're done trying to kill the only people who are here to save your miserable hides, I suggest we get back to the matter at hand."
The clearing was silent. The elves exchanged uneasy glances, their tension palpable, but no one dared speak. Aurelia's grip on the situation was absolute. She had asserted her dominance, and now it was ti to drive the point ho.
I stepped forward, sheathing my blade as I addressed the group. "The queen is right. This infighting is pointless. We don't have ti to squabble over old grudges or misplaced accusations." My voice was cold, efficient, every word calculated to cut through the tension like a scalpel. "There's a greater threat at play here. One that none of you are prepared for."
The elder elf woman, the one who had first spoken against us, narrowed her eyes at , but there was a flicker of hesitation in her expression. "And what threat would that be, human?" she spat, though her voice lacked the venom it had held before.
I gestured toward the bodies of the demons and elves strewn across the forest floor. "Look at the corpses. Study the wounds. They weren't killed by demons. The cuts are too clean, too precise. This was a deliberate, calculated attack,"
A murmur ran through the elves, and several of them glanced uneasily at the bodies. They could see it now—the sa thing I had noticed earlier. These deaths didn't add up. It wasn't the chaotic slaughter of a typical demon raid. This was sothing else.
"The question you should be asking," I continued, my voice growing colder, "is not why we're here, but who or what killed these demons and your people. And more importantly, why."
A tense silence fell over the group as my words sank in. The elves, who had been so quick to turn on us, were now forced to confront the reality of the situation. They didn't have all the answers, and their enemy was sothing far more dangerous than they had realized.
Aurelia crossed her arms, a bored expression on her face as she glanced at the elder elf. "I'd suggest you listen to him," she said, her voice dripping with condescension. "Dravis may be many things, but he doesn't waste ti on nonsense. And if he says there's a greater threat, then you'd do well to believe him."
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