Warhammer Divine Throne

The female Wood Elf wore a long dress made of wood elf silk with a white base and blue patterns. She held a long branch with many willow twigs, tightly entwined together. From a human aesthetic, her long horse-like face, thick lips, and small eyes were not very attractive, but they maintained the unique wildness and ferocity of the Wood Elves.

The most distinctive feature was the female Wood Elf’s hair. Her brown hair was all coiled up, tied at the back of her head into a nearly half-meter-long ponytail, and then styled into a massive braid, making her originally short stature appear tall.

”Greetings, Count Laine Macado, I am Alaros, the Divine Chosen Champion of Queen Airel. This is Female Prophet Lifer. We have come to visit you to bring you greetings from the King of the Forest Olein and Queen Airel, wishing you good health and a happy Winter Festival!” The male Wood Elf offered a gesture of equality towards Laine.

”Greetings, Lord Alaros, Lady Lifer. On behalf of all the people of Count Glamorgan, I extend holiday greetings to the Wood Elves.” Laine stood up and nodded, responding to Alaros’s greeting in fluent Elf Language: ”Please have a seat!”

The seating and light refreshments were already arranged in the hall of Wine Castle’s first floor. The two Wood Elves curiously observed the luxurious human residence. Although they were several hundred years old, their trips out of the forest were few and far between.

”Thank you.” Alaros’s demeanor was quite haughty, but fortunately, he still had basic respect for Laine. The strength of the human before him was well known, even among the reclusive Wood Elves.

To Alaros, Laine was the Divine Chosen Champion of the Lake Fairy, and he himself was the Divine Chosen Champion of Queen Airel. Their statuses were equivalent, and their strengths were not far apart, so even the proud Alaros adopted a personable manner, trying to speak to Laine in a calm tone. However, Laine’s Elf Language, leaning towards High Elf dialect, was not to his liking: ”Lord Laine, we are sorry to hear about the Lake God Witch.”

”Why did this happen? I want to know why the tree spirits left the forest, and why you didn’t notice?” Laine said with a tone less than friendly: ”I thought all the tree spirits already in frenzy were under Eslelin’s control.”

Female Prophet Lifer and Alaros exchanged a glance, and the female Elf took the initiative to speak: ”We are here to explain the incident. It was the ’Shadow Demon’ Guer, Lord Laine. Around this time last year, the Holy Sanctuary Beast King Shadow Demon Guer attacked the Aisloron Forest. As the weather was cold, most of the tree spirits were in slumber, but in that critical moment, we had to wake some Tree-man Elders to help us fend off the Beastman Army. That was when Branch Shadow Soul Deshira was also awakened. She fought alongside us, but after the war ended, she went missing.”

Alaros picked up the conversation: ”Later, in the Yadon battle, we went through great hardships to defeat Guer, at which point Deshira was gone. We thought she had gone somewhere to slumber. If not for Lord Laine’s information, we wouldn’t even know Deshira had left the forest and colluded with the Vampires to cause such a big incident.”

”So none of this is your fault?” Laine scoffed, clenching his hand into a fist, with his elbow resting on his chair’s armrest, his fist against his face: ”We in Brittania respect the non-aggression and mutual aid pact with the Wood Elves. It was under this agreement that Her Highness Mogiana went to negotiate with Elder Deshira, only to be ambushed and gravely injured. Now Eslelin tells us this has nothing to do with you?”

”We are not shirking our responsibility, Lord Laine! Please do not consider Eslelin a faithless race!” Alaros said angrily: ”Eslelin promised to provide an explanation to the humans. We have an agreement with the tree spirits, and we cannot interfere with their activities.”

As Francois had said, within the forest, the Wood Elves and tree spirits actually have a cooperative relationship. Moreover, many tree spirits have not accepted the Wood Elves even now, seeing this situation, Laine frowned.

Chaos’s corruption of the world is ongoing and long-lasting. The tree spirits of Aisloron were once a peace-loving and kind race, but after thousands of years within Chaos’s subtle corruption, most tree spirits have become ferocious and belligerent. Many of them can no longer distinguish whether outsiders are benevolent travelers or malevolent invaders. All creatures trespassing in the forest must be eliminated.

Even Dursu, the kindest and most amiable of Elders towards the Elves, has become a berserker relying solely on instinct to slaughter and eliminate foes. He no longer embraces Elf society, merely viewing the Elves as allies working together to protect the forest.

Laine knew pressing the issue further was his limit. He could not represent the entire kingdom; he could only speak for himself and the Lake Fairy. Seeing the Wood Elves elaborate on the matter, he eventually nodded: ”Well, I’ll await your explanation.”

”Queen Airel expresses her deep regret upon learning of this incident. She sent us to apologize. It is indeed the Wood Elves’ oversight. Trade allows us to benefit mutually and has solved many of our problems, so… we brought this as our Winter Festival gift.” Alaros, displeased with Laine’s attitude, knew he couldn’t burst out angrily. He felt a threat from the person before him. The Wood Elves had spent decades finding a reliable and honest trade partner outside the forest. He could not let his race’s efforts go in vain.

The two Wood Elf visitors signaled their subordinates to bring in a large wooden box. Upon opening the box, many acorn shells were revealed, sealed and wrapped in silk, appearing quite large.

Laine stood and walked to the box: ”What is this?”

”This is berry wine brewed by Queen Airel herself with the Spring of Life and the berries of the Era Oak. Drinking this berry wine will heal any injury within three minutes. Remember, any injury!” Alaros said with some pride: ”This is Queen Airel’s apology gift. The Wood Elves have never sold or gifted such an extremely precious item by any means. I believe this gift will satisfy Lord Laine and put an end to our unpleasantness.”

Berry wine brewed from the Spring of Life and Era Oak’s berries?!

Laine squinted, seeing four large acorn shells inside the wooden box, evidently containing four barrels of berry wine. In critical times, this was equivalent to four lives!

”I’ve felt Eslelin’s sincerity.” Laine nodded. Such a generous gift, he could not, and would not, ask for more.

”By the way, does the berry wine have any effect on Her Highness Mogiana’s poison by the Ancient Tree Spirit Liquid?” Laine asked his most concerning question while Alaros and Lifer were present.

If berry wine worked, Mogiana wouldn’t need recuperation any longer.

”Well… Lord Laine, the poison of the Ancient Tree Spirit Liquid… is also concocted from the Spring of Life and the Era Oak,” stammered Alaros: ”Berry wine may not counter it directly, but we can assist in finding a solution.”

Laine realized the truth in Francois’s statement. ”So it’s not your fault?” he scoffed, folding his arms, his elbow propped on his chair’s armrest: ”We in Brittania respect the pact of non-aggression and mutual aid with the wood elves, which is why Her Highness Mogiana went to negotiate with Elder Desha and ended up ambushed and severely injured by her. And now Eslelin tells us it has nothing to do with you?”

”We’re not shirking responsibility, Lord Laine. Please don’t consider Eslelin a treacherous race!” Alaros said angrily. ”Eslelin has promised a proper explanation. We have an agreement with the tree spirits, and we cannot interfere in their activities.”

It seems Francois was right: within the forest, the Wood Elves and the tree spirits have a cooperative relationship, and many tree spirits still do not accept the elves. Seeing the situation, Laine frowned.

Chaos’s corruption of the world is ongoing and long-term. The tree spirits of Aisloron were once a peaceful and kindhearted race, but after thousands of years, under Chaos’s pervasive corruption, the majority of tree spirits have become violent and belligerent. Many of them can no longer discern if a being is a well-meaning traveler or a malevolent invader. All intruders in the forest must be destroyed.

Even the kindest and most gentle Tree-man Elder, Dursu, has turned into a berserker who relies only on instinct to kill and destroy enemies. He no longer embraces the elf society, seeing elves only as allies working together to protect the forest.

”””