The elven race believed in the G.o.ddess of Life and cultivated nature magic.They had a great affinity with nature, and that was why they"d been able to guard the Wind Forest for so long. In the Wind Forest, nature itself would lend them its a.s.sistance.
As one of the 12 major deities, the G.o.ddess of Life had bestowed upon the elven race beauty and lengthy lifespans, allowing them to become a force to be reckoned with on the Norland Continent.
The Tree of Life that had stood for over 10,000 years along with the Spring of Life that flowed from the tree were both miraculous gifts from the G.o.ddess of Life.
The elves would dab the water from the Spring of Life onto their glabellas in order to wash away the impurities they"d acc.u.mulated during the past year, as well as to accept the blessings of the G.o.ddess of Life.
This was the most important annual ceremony of the elven race. All elves had once been able to attend, but elven slaves had since been excluded.
All of the elven attendees dressed up in lavish clothes in preparation to partic.i.p.ate in this grand ceremony.
Tens of thousands of elves gathered in the plaza in front of the cave that housed the Tree of Life. There was a circular well paved with white jade stone in the plaza. Within it the Spring of Life was s.h.i.+mmering faintly, attracting the attention of all of the elves.
All of the elves stood according to their social rank, and even though the formation was quite orderly, it also gave off an air of oppression and discrimination.
The members of the eight major families were at the forefront of the group. All of them held their heads high as they wore their lavish clothing, basking in the envious eyes directed toward them.
There were still elves arriving on the scene, and the leaders of the major families weren"t all that eager to begin lining up, so most of them hadn"t appeared yet.
"Did you hear? Her Majesty has gone into seclusion, and won"t be hosting this ceremony."
"Really? Why is Her Majesty suddenly going into seclusion? Who"s hosting the ceremony, then? Princess Irina?"
"Even if Her Majesty really has gone into seclusion, it should be Mistress Helena hosting the ceremony rather than Princess Irina."
"Small families like yours don"t have the right to know about this information, but the ceremony is about to commence, so it can"t hurt to tell you all."
Thus, a piece of news quickly spread through the crowd. The public announcement the elven queen had made the night before had been suppressed for an entire night, but it was finally being revealed now, and it naturally created quite a ma.s.sive stir.
In the past, the elven queen had always been the one to host the ceremonies, and never had she taken a break from this role. Furthermore, the fact that she stipulated that she was only to be roused when the elven race was under dire threat made everyone quite concerned for her health.
During these past years, the elven queen very rarely took care of any matters in the elven race, and most of her time was spent in seclusion. It was said that she was recovering from the chronic injuries she"d sustained during the war among species, but no one had ever seen her in action since that war, so her current condition was a mystery to everyone.
Now that she was going into seclusion the night before the ceremony and releasing such a concerning announcement, everyone naturally couldn"t help but fear for the worst.
At this point, most of the elves in the Wind Forest had gathered, and all of the elders and leaders of the major families were also beginning to arrive.
Elliot and Vincent exchanged a cursory glance from afar before looking away in a calm and collected manner, and then proceeding with smiles on their faces to greet the elves they were familiar with.
The Brewster Family and the Baibilly Family were both part of the eight major families, so as the leaders of those families, Elliot and Vincent were naturally permitted to stand in the front row.
After all of the leaders of the eight major families had arrived, the entire venue gradually fell silent.
Right at this moment, a loud voice announced from outside, "The panel of elders is here!"
All of the elves immediately parted to create a path, and then extended respectful salutes.
11 elderly white-robed elves strode slowly through the path that had been opened up, using their staves as canes as they hobbled along. They arrived at the very front of the group where 13 chairs had already been prepared in a curved formation. The elderly elves sat down with solemn expressions on their faces, but the third seat counting from the left remained empty.
Right at this moment, another loud announcement sounded. "Master Borg and Mistress Helena are here!"
Immediately thereafter, the tall and broad Borg with his hands clasped behind his back arrived alongside Helena.
The elves on both sides bowed in a respectful manner, and even the elders who had just sat down also rose to their feet. They didn"t extend bows like the other elves did, but this was already a gesture of their respect.
Among these two, Helena had once been labeled as one of the two brightest rising stars of the elven race. She established a stable and powerful base for the elven race, thereby facilitating their retaliation during the war among species.
As for Borg, he was renowned as the War G.o.d of the elven race. He was the elven queen"s right-hand man, and he had slain countless enemies of the elven race, thereby forging a resounding reputation for himself.
In the face of these two elves, who possessed extremely lofty status and reputation in the elven race, even the panel of elders had to extend gestures of respect.
Borg and Helena made their way calmly along the path opened up by the elves before stopping on the tall platform above the panel of elders.
Borg turned to appraise all of the elves present as he announced, "My brethren, Her Majesty released an announcement yesterday that she will be going into seclusion for some time. From this day forth, all of the matters in our race will be decided by the panel of elders, and today"s ceremony will be held by High Priestess Helena."
Even though all of the elves had already heard this news, it was still quite unsettling to hear it confirmed by Borg.
The elven race had become quite powerful, but everyone was already accustomed to being protected by their elven queen. Now that she was suddenly going into indefinite seclusion, everyone couldn"t help but fear for the worst.
Borg swept his gaze across all of the elves present before continuing, "There"s no need to panic, everyone. Her Majesty is only going into seclusion in order to ascend to the next tier. During this time, I will be protecting all of my elven brethren in the Wind Forest. No enemy will be able to infiltrate our forest on my watch!"
All of the elves gradually calmed down upon hearing this, and expressions of scorching reverence appeared in their eyes as they all turned toward him.
Helena"s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Borg, but her expression remained completely unchanged.
The smile on Borg"s face faded, and he adopted a serious expression as he said in a heavy voice, "However, prior to the commencement of the ceremony, I have to do something. This will impact every single elf in our elven race, and the operation of our current social system and elven law hinges on this. What I"m about to do next will play a major role in shaping the future of our entire race!"
"What is it?"
All of the elves were rather confused to hear this.
Just what could it be that was making Master Borg adopt such a serious demeanor?
Helena"s brows furrowed slightly as she cast her gaze toward the nearby cave. Faint green light was s.h.i.+mmering within the cave, but aside from that, nothing seemed to be happening in there.
"Two months ago, Schubert of the Krol Family was horrifically slain for no reason. Our elven race lost a 10th-tier great magic caster on that day! Five days ago, the leader of the elven guard squad and 8th-tier wood-type magic caster, Cobil, was killed while attempting to detain a group of traitors. To further add insult to injury, all of those traitors were released!" A hint of sorrow appeared on Borg"s solemn face.
"And the one responsible for all this, is none other than Princess Irina!"
All of the elves" expressions gradually changed upon hearing this. There had been many different stories about how Schubert and Cobil had died, but all of them were linked to Irina in one way or another. However, Irina had always held an extremely high status in the elven race, so most elves were of the opinion that the fault had to lie with Schubert and Cobil for the two to have been killed.
But now, it appeared that Master Borg was offering an explanation to the contrary.
"I think Princess Irina has already been infected by dark magic, and has become a traitor! As such, she is no longer fit to be the elven princess! I hereby strongly request that the panel of elders strip Irina of her position as the elven princess!" Borg"s voice rang out across the entire Wind Forest.