The library was vast, but there was a part that was not open to the public. Still, Many understood the purpose of his visit today. Clutching the badge in his hand, he walked to a corner of the public library area. The librarian in green robes saw it, and stood up quickly as if he had seen Marfala himself, bowing deeply as if he was facing the elven goddess.
"I need to see something."
"No problem, my lord."
The librarian was a plainly dressed female elf with lavender hair hanging down. Unlike the elves Many had seen, the elf before them had flesh-colored skin like humans, and not the usual lavender that elves usually had.
But that did not raise too many questions. Usually, the appearance of such a situation meant that the elf before them was a mixed-blood … and most likely a 'half-elf', a race of mixed human and elven blood.
As a librarian, the elf did not say much, and as if she knew what Many wanted to see, she opened a simple wooden door. The door was located in the most inconspicuous part of the public library, looking like an antique piece of furniture that no one would open for centuries. The reason for that was because its design was so ancient that it did not look like a door at all.
"Creak —"
There were naturally many destinations behind the door, but the librarian bowed slightly in a gesture of invitation and turned to enter.
Stepping over the threshold, Many could deeply feel how different the area behind the door was. The power in his body shuddered as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, and while it did not affect him much, he was extremely uncomfortable. It was like a warning signal that even a demigod's power would be restricted in this room.
The world was so vast, and how many mysteries would there be?
Many people were not surprised that there was an area in the ancient city of the elves that could block the power of a demigod. He did not stop and looked at the librarian who was walking forward without any resistance. The librarian did not look back from the beginning to the end, just like a competent staff member.
Never underestimate an inconspicuous person. Many who had walked the mortal world had long since understood this principle.
The area with high-level reading clearance was not smaller than the public area, and was even larger. But the bookshelves here were clearly different from the ordinary shelves outside. The thick shelves were filled with heavy tomes, and the ancient elven language on the spines of the books was mixed with some extremely rare words that were daunting.
"Ka."
A soft sound drew everyone's attention back to the front.
Unknowingly, they left the bookshelves and entered a long and narrow corridor. At the end of the corridor was another door. The librarian had already turned around and gently pointed to a dent on the door.
This door seemed to be formed by countless ancient tree roots, and there were even some tender green leaves growing on it. The smell that greeted them was extremely natural, mixed with the fragrance of grass and soil. Many felt that if they closed their eyes, they would see a forest in front of them.
"Please enter. My authority is limited to this."
A gentle voice sounded, speaking in the Ancient Elven language, causing many to look at her in surprise. Then, they nodded and thanked her softly before taking a step forward.
The indentations were obviously where the badges were embedded. Many took out their badges and gently pressed them on the surface.
There wasn't much of a dazzling light. The tangled branches slowly retracted, making way for a door inside.
It was made of stone.
Many squinted their eyes. The door in front of them was made of an unknown stone, and it was engraved with a terrifying magic array of a certain level. It was enough to show the importance of what was hidden behind the door in every aspect.
They gently stretched out their hands, and the moment they touched the door, they retracted their hands as if they had been electrocuted.
Looking back, the librarian behind them had quietly retreated. The wooden door in the distance that they had just walked in had just closed, as if to avoid arousing suspicion.
The atmosphere around them was frighteningly quiet. Many narrowed their eyes, but not because of the fear of the unknown, but because they found that … behind the door was not another room as they had imagined.
Behind a door was a piece of history.
Finally, after taking a deep breath, as if welcoming a baptism, many gently brushed off the dust on their bodies, took a step forward, and pushed open the unusually ordinary stone door in front of them.
※ ※ ※
Fallen leaves.
Many gently reached out and saw the falling leaves in front of them fall through their palms to the ground.
This feeling couldn't be more familiar. When in someone else's memory, the ghost-like state would no longer surprise many.
Beneath their feet was a soft hillside, and in front of them was a battlefield.
A deathly silent battlefield.
The smell of grass in the air had long been covered by the soaring smell of blood, as if the sky was also affected by this hostility. It was gloomy and gloomy, and the earth was covered with a layer of haze.
A flag flashed in the eyes of many people.
There were countless corpses on the battlefield in front of them, and it was not difficult to judge that an unimaginably vast war had happened here. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but corpses in front of them — deathly silence was the only atmosphere here. There was not a single moving thing, and the battlefield revealed an indescribable tragedy.
The Elves, the Abyss.
It was impossible to tell what had happened here from the corpses, but many could see that the armor on these Elves was an ancient style that they had never seen in Dashiell or Karo City. The only flag that was erected was a symbol of a huge eye — this was a characteristic of the High Elves when they were marching in battle.
In a few seconds, many understood everything in front of them — this was an ancient battlefield of the Abyss War three thousand years ago. Both sides fought to the last soldier, no one retreated, and no one survived.
It was hard to imagine how a war could almost exhaust all the troops of both sides. The striking tragedy made many feel as if their hearts were suddenly struck by lightning.
Their gazes stayed on that flag for a long time, and then they looked at the person who did not let go of the flag even in her death.
A familiar face came into view. Before they could remember her name, they seemed to feel the contempt and disdain in her tightly shut eyes as she looked at them.
Xia Wei, the Specter who once wanted to take Sylvia away — the current Elder of the Undead Council.
The flag was erected above countless corpses. Some of these elven soldiers were wearing armor, but most of them were clergy members wearing priest robes. The number of abyssal army corpses around them was unimaginable. It was not difficult to infer that these frail priests were still fighting with their lives on the line when the final moment arrived.
Even after death, the flag that symbolized the pride of the High Elves and even the entire Elven race never fell.
"Xia Wei …?"
Many people appeared in front of this Elder. Standing on the hill of corpses, this was the first time he had an indescribable feeling towards the word "death."
The so-called life and death, the so-called honor, the so-called loyalty, in the end, became endless darkness the moment he closed his eyes. Were they really worth fighting for for the rest of his life?
There was movement in the distance.
Turning around to look at the end of the hill, due to the cover of the forest, he could only hear the messy sound of horse hooves. Then, banners appeared in his field of vision — the human cavalry seemed to have arrived late.
The leader was a middle-aged man who wore heavy armor and looked like a general. When the tragic battlefield appeared in his field of vision, this leader-like fellow pulled the reins in his hand and slowly dismounted from the back of his horse. Then, he knelt on the ground as if his entire body had lost all strength.
The dull sound of armor hitting the ground clearly echoed in the ears of many, because the originally noisy soldiers collectively lost their voices as they faced the battlefield before them.
"Damn it!"
Because of the helmet, the voice of the human who looked like a general was tight and tight. The warhorse behind him didn't even have a stirrup, which was enough to show how backward the current military strength of the humans was. However, their strong bodies and over six thousand cavalrymen behind them were enough to make them a decisive force on the battlefield.
With a fist filled with regret, he punched the stone in front of him fiercely. His skin was lacerated and fresh blood flowed along his fingers to the ground, but it could no longer save the lives of the fallen Elves.
A faintly discernible sigh echoed across the battlefield. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, covering the sky with sand and dust. In the blink of an eye, the warhorses all retreated in panic. The sudden scene made the humans feel as if they had seen a heavenly omen. Under the command of their leader, they retreated into the distance.
As if it was only for a moment, the sand and dust disappeared.
The battlefield before them was covered by an unimaginable amount of sand and dust. In just a few minutes, the traces of corpses disappeared, and the entire ground was as flat and desolate as a desert.
A golden desert suddenly appeared in the forest that was surrounded by green pines and cypresses. The abrupt contrast was like the bright sunlight, reminding them of what had just happened.
In the center of the desert, a figure was still kneeling on the ground, just like what they had seen many times before.
Xia Wei was still holding the flag that had never fallen. Her priestess robe had lost its luster, and her hair that fluttered in the wind revealed an indescribable sorrow.
However, everything changed when Xia Wei opened her eyes once again.
"Betrayal … I will never forget."
The priestess spoke once again. This time, she had a new identity that people feared — Undead …
The atmosphere on the battlefield was indescribably gloomy. The elven priestess slowly stood up from the ground without any signs, but she didn't have a powerful aura that inspired awe. Her strength seemed to have melted because of death, but she stood up again with indescribable resentment and stubbornness.
Many looked at the elder of the Undead Council who had almost killed them. At this moment, she was as weak as a skeleton soldier of the lowest tier.
What was it that made her stand up again?
Without the incantations of the necromancers, how could she use another form of life to return to this bloodthirsty and merciless continent?
What … was her goal?
The sky gradually darkened. Time seemed to pass abnormally quickly. When people looked up, they saw the starry sky and a bright moon above their heads. The huge moon projected a beam of light that wasn't dazzling, and it enveloped Xia Wei within it.
This scene had exceeded many people's understanding. Xia Wei actually had the same identity as Sylvia?
She was actually an … Undead chosen by the Moon Goddess?