One More Time: Rebirth

Chapter 94: Side Chapter: The Elves

Under a tree of enormous magnitude was a pond that was so clean and clear it looked like a sparkling crystal. In the middle of the clear pond floating above the water was a being of unimaginable beauty. She was a high elf, one of the oldest in her race, as well as the Queen of all the elves, Elanor. 

As she floated on top of the pond those that witness the scene would see that it was like she was one with nature itself. Elenor was wearing a long one-piece gown that doesn't seem to be affected by the water. 

The beautiful elf continued to float serenely on top of the water when she suddenly opened her eyes. She stood up and her beautiful ash-colored hair cascaded down her back. As she arrived at the edge of the pond her deep blue eyes that could pierce through one's soul were looking at a certain direction.

After being silent for a while the elf suddenly sighed. She then walked forward and murmured to herself. 

"Another one of his reincarnations is heading here. How long has it been since the last time?..." The elven queen sighed again as she remembered the first confrontation the elves had with the strongest mortal soul. 

At that time Elanor wasn't the queen but a haughty elven princess. During those days the elves weren't only living in the forest, they were also living outside in the plains in the mountains and in many different places. The elves of that time had a large piece of land and were of equal footing with the humans and the demons. 

Even though the elves had fewer numbers compared to the two other races, they made up for it with their mastery of mana. It was said because of their mastery in mana that one elven warrior was equivalent to twenty human warriors. That wasn't even counting the ability of a high elf whose mana capacity was ten times more than a normal elf. So the elves had the quality while the human and demons had quantity. 

Seeing as it was believed that the elves were long-lived because of nature's blessing, the elves loved nature. They treat the trees and the animals as if they were part of their family. So it wasn't surprising that the elves hated the two other races for destructive tendencies towards nature.

The elves who loved nature and lived with nature didn't like how humans destroy it and claim that it is for a better tomorrow. The demons weren't any better as they too do the same and claim it is for their well being. 

At the height of their power no longer able to tolerate the two other races the Elven Queen of the time that is to say Elenor's mother declared war on the two races. 

...

The war lasted for a few years and the humans were the ones having the worst of it. When the Elves declared war on the two races, the humans proposed an alliance with the demons, but the demons coldly rejected them, saying that they do not need nor want to help the greedy humans. 

This, of course, infuriated the human kings who never spoke about making an alliance again. In the beginning, the humans thought with their superior numbers and more powerful equipment, fighting against the elves wouldn't be that much of a problem. Yet that proved to be nothing more than a naive thought. 

Once the war started it was clear that the elves were overwhelmingly more powerful than the humans. One spell from a high elf was enough to reduce a small fortress into rubble. The only reason humanity could somehow continue to fight in this war and not lose so miserable was because of their superior numbers. The high elves might be strong but once they used a single large spell it takes some time for them to be able to attack again. Among the elven race, the high elves were a rare sight and there were only thirty living high elves, and among those thirty only nineteen were combat-ready. 

So the humans used their first wave as sacrificial pawns forcing the high elf in a brigade to use their grand magic. Once the high elf unleashes her spell, the second wave of humans would overwhelm the elven army with their superior numbers. So for a period of time, the humans were somehow able to win. 

But of course, using such a tactic continuously could not be done. The humans had sacrificed too much and finally lost their only advantage which was their numbers. The humans were then forced to retreat over and over again. 

Seeing as the humans were no longer a threat the elves no longer pushed too much at that front for now. They now needed to focus their attention on the demons who were a bit more powerful than they expected. 

...

Once the elves shifted most of their focus on the demons the power balance tilted and the situation drastically changed. Even though the demons were much harder to handle than the humans, in the end, the elves proved once again to be the stronger force. 

...

When the elves could see that victory was almost within their grasp something unexpected happened. The forces they left to finish off the last remaining human kingdom were killed. 

The elves grew confused by this sudden development weren't the humans on the brink of extinction. How were they able to muster enough forces to win? The elven queen then sent the elves' strongest brigade to deal with the humans. This Brigade had ten high elves present and a thousand of their finest warriors. 

No matter what the humans had they shouldn't be able to defeat this brigade. That's what all of the elves thought but after a single day, only one member of the brigade returned. She was a high elf from the brigade. 

"What happened?" The Elven Queen asked but despite asking the question the high elf girl could only continue to shiver in fear.

"I asked you what happened?!" The Elven Queen's tone turned ice-cold as she once again asked. The shivering high elf looked at the Elven Queen with unfocused eyes and answered. 

"I... I... It was a human, one human male... H-h-he killed everyone and he did it with a vicious smile on his face. He... At first, he asked us if we really were going to fight him to the death. We thought the human was joking around as there was no one else there aside from him. Yet the moment the commander jokingly responded by saying, of course, we'll fight, the massacre began. His movements were as fast as lightning as he he hacked through our front lines. Even after using grand level magic he only stood there, took it head-on and he crushed it. He crushed our ultimate spell with the combined might of the ten high elves... The moment I saw that I started running, we couldn't win... No one could win against that..." 

When the Elven Queen heard the report she couldn't believe her ears. How can one human or any other being have that much power? Of course, the other elves who had listened to the report thought that the high elf must have been brainwashed by the humans to make a false report. Elenor also thought that it wasn't possible for there to be someone that powerful especially not a human.

Yet a few days after hearing the report all of them would be proven wrong. The human male in question had arrived at the capital of the Elven Kingdom and he challenged everyone to battle. The elven army stationed at the capital confronted the lone human male and were massacred. 

...

Elenor remembered that sight as if it were yesterday. After that battle, if it wasn't for her late mother the former queen, it was entirely possible that the elven race would've gone extinct. Her mother at the time had made some sort of deal with that human. As long as the elves promise to never leave the forest he would stop killing them. It has been a few millennia since then and even now she couldn't forget the radiance and power of his soul. 

After that encounter, the elves had learned many secrets about that human who was at the time called Jiro. The more they learned the more grateful they were for their survival. A few thousand years later they met another human with the same soul as Jiro and knew that person was a reincarnation of that man. This time they treated Jiro's reincarnation as an ally and helped him on his journey. 

'I wonder what this current reincarnation wants with us? Since the last reincarnation, as well as the one before, had similar personalities, I'm sure this current reincarnation will definitely challenge me to battle.' When Elenor thought about that she couldn't help but sigh again. 

Last time the reincarnation of Jiro, called Sigmund came to the elven village, he quickly challenged her to a fight. Despite her becoming stronger than her mother, Sigmund was able to beat her with relative ease.

'Will this reincarnation be stronger than the last?... Well, it doesn't matter at this point, but I better warn the others of his coming. Especially the young ones who have no idea how frightening he is.'

Elenor remembered the young elves born a few centuries ago, they have become a bit arrogant after journeying outside for a while. They witnessed with their own eyes how much weaker the demons and humans were compared to them. So they started to think that the elves shouldn't be hiding in this forest and should show the world their splendor. 

'If they mess with his reincarnation...' Elenor couldn't help but tremble at the thought.