The Wind Forest's tranquility was shattered, and smoke rose up from all directions. The demons and orcs had left a vast expanse of desolation in their wake, foreshadowing the elven race's fate.
Some elves tried to escape from the Wind Forest, but the world outside the Wind Forest was even more chaotic. The entire Norland Continent had been plunged into the flames of war. A racial war had engulfed the entire continent, and no race could stay out of it.
Just when the elves were in despair, the Elven Queen and High Priestess Helena appeared out of nowhere like saviors. The Elven Queen had great strength and military talent. She led the elven guards that were temporarily put together in every battle and forcefully blocked the orcs and demons outside the elven holy land. She even gained the recognition of the Tree of Life.
At the time, the elven queen was the goddess in the hearts of all elves, and was worshipped by all of them.
Aside from her powerful star magic, High Priestess Helena's greatest contribution was to raise the morale of all of the elves when they were in a state of panic. She encouraged more elves to become warriors in order to protect The Wind Forest, and they picked up their bows and wands to repel the invaders.
Joshua also became a warrior, and he fought to protect The Wind Forest.
He had killed orcs and demons, and he had also been wounded in battle. However, in desperate situations, he could always see hope and victory in the elven queen's command.
This long and drawn-out war between species finally came to an end 100 years ago. The elves had paid an extremely heavy price to keep most of the invading demons and orcs in the Wind Forest forever.
On that day, Mistress Helena signed a peace treaty with all of the other races in Chaos City, and the elven race legally owned The Wind Forest. When news of this reached The Wind Forest, the elven race was in an uproar, and they celebrated for half a month.
It was as if they could return to The Wind Forest. At least, that was what Joshua thought at the time, and that was what many of the elves who had fought in the war were thinking as well.
After that, High Priestess Helena returned to The Wind Forest, and began to reward the elves who had contributed to the war by giving them money and territory.
All of this seemed to be indisputable. What they had done in the war was worth all of this, and even better.
But Joshua felt that everything had changed. In the past, the Elves didn't have gold coins or official positions. Everyone was equal, had no territory, and could freely travel anywhere.
Therefore, after thinking for three days, he rejected High Priestess Helena's offer of a piece of land. Like many other elves, he chose to leave The Wind Forest and began to travel the continent. He wanted to leave this place where he had experienced war and where his comrades were buried.
Back on the Norland Continent, the war between species had just concluded, and all of the races were resting and recuperating. Aside from the territories of demons and orcs, the rest of the continent was basically unimpeded and not dangerous. Thus, the wandering elves gradually forgot about the war and began a new life.
The knot in Joshua's heart gradually unraveled during his travels. He met many people, and made friends with some of the other wandering elves. Sometimes, he would even travel with them, and his life was very carefree and relaxed.
However, those days were shattered over 20 years ago. A group of demons and orcs began to appear on the Norland Continent, targeting wandering elves like them. All of the stray elves were captured and thrown into low metal cages before being locked up in dark underground cellars. It was as if the Dark Age had descended upon the Norland Continent again, and the elves were struck by a wave of panic and fear.
There were elves who returned to The Wind Forest for help, but they were forced to stay in the forest, and were no longer allowed to leave.
The elves no longer had the right to leave the forest freely, and the major families had already divided the entire elven race.
More and more elves mysteriously disappeared, and the major families in The Wind Forest gained more and more elven slaves. All of them had been branded with magic marks, and were forbidden from leaving their territories.
Joshua discovered this 20 years ago. At the time, he went to visit a friend, but his friend's house was a complete mess. He found a line of words under a rock, and it stated that the couple had been captured by demons and orcs.
After that, he met an elf who had just escaped from the forest not long ago. He told him that he had seen the couple in a major elven family, but one of the male elf's legs had been broken, and he had been enslaved to the lowest rung of society.
This incident dealt a heavy blow to Joshua's heart. After the conclusion of the war among species, the biggest threat to the elves wasn't the other races. Instead, it was the new nobles in the forest.
The nobles among the elves were laughable and lamentable.
He didn't understand how those nobles could bear to do such a thing to the elves who had fought alongside them and sacrificed everything to protect The Wind Forest.
However, what could he do? If he returned to The Wind Forest of his own accord, he would also lose his freedom, and elves like him, who had been labeled as wanderers and outcasts, had no right to speak.
Therefore, the traveling elves continued to wander like frightened birds, enjoying the freedom that they didn't know when it would come to an end. Not compromising was their last stand for freedom.
More and more elves disappeared, and the demons and orcs hunted them all over the continent. The number of mercenary groups increased, and they were extremely arrogant.
This situation continued until six years ago. That year, Princess Irina left The Wind Forest and began to travel the continent. Then, a mercenary group set their eyes on her.
In the end, the group was wiped out.
And this was just the beginning.
One by one, the mercenary groups were wiped out by the magic staff of the elven princess. The roles of the cat and the mouse were switched at that moment. The once arrogant mercenary groups began to flee the continent, just so that they wouldn't be found by the princess.
To the traveling elves, Princess Irina was like a queen who appeared out of nowhere during the Dark Age. She appeared as a savior, destroying the evil mercenary groups and rescuing the imprisoned elves. She received the fanatical love of the traveling elves.
Under Princess Irina's attacks and deterrence, half of the mercenary groups were wiped out, and the rest disbanded and went into hiding. They didn't dare to do anything to the elves, and freedom was restored.
The first time Joshua saw Princess Irina was five years ago. He was severely injured in a battle with the demons while helping an elven couple.
Just when he was in despair, Princess Irina and the man with the heavy sword arrived and destroyed all the demons with a wave of their hands.
However, the couple had already died in the hands of the demons in order to protect their daughter, leaving behind a little elf who was less than a year old.
Irina healed his injuries, and then handed the child to him, asking him to raise her. She named the child Anna.
Princess Irina returned to The Wind Forest three years ago, and there was no news of her since then. The hibernating mercenary groups appeared again and continued to capture the wandering elves. Life became difficult again.
Joshua took Anna to many places, and they depended on each other. He tried his best to teach her to become a free and kind elf. She was his only hope, and he was willing to give up everything to protect her, including his life.
"Grandpa … Grandpa …" Joshua's soul was about to dissipate, and he suddenly heard a sorrowful cry.
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