War, where there is no such thing as good or evil, is just a disaster for everyone. - Anto Reelves, The Last Messenger

When Taroko Thorn, then the king of the elves and the leader of the Thorn Elves, made the decision to expand abroad, the high priest Crete had already anticipated the possible outcome.

In the beginning, when the original Golden Elves - Silver Elves (a proper word, not referring to Silver Elves) and Dark Moon Elves - established a racial federation in the eastern part of the continent, it was originally to protect the Silver Elves and other races who were struggling to survive at that time, and the Golden Elves, who were also children of God, regarded the other races living in the forest as brothers and sisters, and regarded it as their mission to protect them. However, the number of golden elves is scarce, and pure-blooded offspring are difficult to reproduce. So the golden elves intermarried with the silver elves, and a new elven race was born: the thorn elves. The Thorn Elves inherited the powerful power of the Golden Elves, and after the pure-blooded Golden Elves gradually disappeared, they became the new rulers of the Elves, continuing to lead the Race Federation forward.

But when did the question arise? Crete pondered more than once.

Perhaps, from the very beginning, the Thorn Elves were not the descendants of the powerful and noble Golden Elves, but only other Silver Elves who inherited great power—inherited great power, but not good character. From the beginning, the Thorn Elves regarded themselves as superior, treating their brothers as inferior elves, and deliberately excluded them from the ruling class of the Racial Federation. The Thorn Elves are warlike and ambitious, and from the very beginning, they did not intend to confine themselves to the forests of the eastern part of the continent.

Although, even this forest is completely undeveloped.

Crete was a priest, but only a priest. Even if he was a great magister himself, even if he could lead a large sacrifice that spread across the country, he could not refute the Elven King's decision in the slightest. He noticed the tense racial contradictions in the country, and also noticed the gradually surging dark tide among the silver elves - the secret agency composed of thorn elves captured and executed many silver elves, but the dark cloud hanging over the head of the federation did not decrease by half a point.

He had also reminded Taroko, reminded the high-sighted king, but this king's sight was only the vast plains and the rich windy forests, and he didn't even want to distract his gaze a little to look at the group of roaring ants at his feet—

So, one day, surrounded by angry ants, the giant fell to the ground with a bang.

In the early days of the war, the Thorns were not weak with their top high-level combat power, and they even had an overall advantage at the beginning - but the rebellion spread throughout the country, and millions of Silver Elves and other races were overwhelming in numbers. Then the thorn elves retreated, from the first fifty cities, to the later ten, and finally to the capital city of Kellofink, Crete watched sadly, but in the end he could only flee in defeat.

Escape all the way, chase and kill all the way.

Before the war began, Crete had secretly built an altar on the Great Plains and used all his wealth to buy pure gold, where the history of the Thorns was inscribed - a work that was less than half completed when they were finally defeated. Unwilling to accept defeat, the haughty Elven King chose to destroy with Kellophonk, and in the end, the king summoned Crete and handed him the last squadron of Nightblade Knights under the control of the Thorn Elves.

"I know what you've done, and now, if the Thorns are doomed, I want you to record our history. Many years from now, I don't want the proud Thorns to be savage sinners in the history written by the victors. ”

The Elven King used the last of his vaults to activate the ultra-long-range teleportation array, teleporting him and the Nightblade Knights of the 500-man team to the Great Plains. Crete writes and inscribes day and night, and the Nightblade Knights keep listening to the news, looking forward to the faint hope that they know is impossible—

The day after Crete completed the inscription, the Wayfinder Nightblade Knight brought back a message.

Kellophonk is lost. The elven king Taroko cast a forbidden spell that enveloped the entire palace, and led the silver elves who rushed into the palace to their deaths.

The moment he got the news, Crete let out a long sigh.

He understood that the age of the thorn elves was over.

The remaining Nightblade Knights were divided. Some of them insisted on fighting back to Kellophonk and following in the footsteps of the Elven King, while more of them were dead. Crete led them around the Great Plains, raiding and searching for their Silver Elf squad, hoping to get news that the other Thorn Elves had survived. But the number of casualties grows and the ranks get smaller, all that comes with hopeless bad news - less than half of the Nightblade Knights are left with the team.

Even the most powerful Nightblade Knight will crumble when they lose hope completely. There are people who are constantly making suicidal charges at the trackers, people who are constantly insane, babbling, and even wielding butcher knives at their closest Nightblade Leopard companions—and those who are barely "normal" have only numbness in their eyes.

So Crete led them back to the secret room. Before the pride and honor of the Thorns were completely lost, he decided to give himself and these powerful knights a decent ending.

He picked up his notebook and began to write it down, following the ancient custom of the elves. He recorded the war, the arrogance and pride of the Elven King, the warriors of the Nightblade Knights, the last watchmen of the Thorn Elves—

He also recorded the sacrifice.

The Last Sacrifice of the Thorn Elves.

"Harvest Sacrifice, this is a ritual that has been performed by the elves since the original golden elves," Assas closed his notes and looked at the richly dressed corpse, "At the end of the ceremony, Crete took the last hundred and fifty-two remaining Nightblade Knights to poison themselves, and before that, they had already released their own Nightblade Leopard mounts - the wild Nightblade Leopards we saw, the official offspring of the released Nightblade Leopards. ”

“...... Either way, their final death was decent. Delkora was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly, "This is already a good ending for the initiators of the war and the sinners of the nation. ”

“...... I don't want to say they're innocent. When the entire race of thorn elves has become oppressors, there is no point in discussing whether one of them is good or not. The individual and the nation are inseparable. Assas's voice was a little low, "But that doesn't ease the depression in my heart - Del Kora, we all know everything after that, the rebellion of the Silver Elves directly led to the chaos of the Racial Federation, and when Kurlot invaded, the Racial Federation lost more than a tenth of its population......"

He paused, but couldn't continue.

"I see what you mean, Asshas," Del Cola continued, "you're trying to say that the Second Pancontinental War wouldn't have been so tragic if it hadn't been for the Silver Elves' resistance, or if this war had caused less chaos, right?"

“...... I know it's not reasonable. Assas opened his mouth, but only smiled bitterly, "The silver elves have been oppressed to the limit, and there is no way to resist. And the imminent threat to life no longer allows the Silver Elves to 'calm down' and negotiate with the Thorn Elves. They had long realized that the Thorn Elves could not be trusted. It's just that...... The price is still too high. ”

"But history is like this, there is never the so-called best choice," Satya said, "Imagine that Assas, the silver elves did not resist, they obeyed the demands of the thorn elves, went to the border, went to the front line and Kulot and Yadu to consume, and died one after another on the meaningless battlefield, what would be the final result? Kulot will still invade, Yadu will fight back, the Race Federation will face a two-front battlefield, and Kulot, in order to expand the results of the battle, will still choose to attack Yadu, what will be the situation at that time?" No one is allied, the three kingdoms are attacking each other, all races are enemies of each other—for self-preservation, and for the sake of final victory, the weapons of war will not only be a deterrent, but will be engaged in real and uninterrupted combat, which will be a nightmare for the entire continent. World War II lasted only five years, and plague and famine cost the continent a tenth of its population, so what about another five or ten years?"

“...... History has no ifs. I don't even want to imagine it. Assas sighed.

"What if, what should have come will come, and wars that should have happened are destined to happen. Delkora retracted her mental power and watched as the projections retracted little by little, "This is also part of the evolution of civilization. From the standpoint of civilizational progress, wars – or rather, those wars that have taken place – cannot be denied in themselves. ”

"But war criminals cannot be forgiven, and the Thorns will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever. Satya took the notebook from Assas's hand and placed it back on the altar, "But the Pillar of Shame will not have the names of Crete and the five hundred Nightblade Knights on it. They may not have died so honorably, but they barely retained their dignity. ”

Assas closed his eyes and sighed.

In a moment he took two steps back, folded his hands, and recited the old ballad:

"When the trumpet of war is sounded by a madman,

The numb soldier charged with his spear raised.

Two people who have no grudge kill each other,

Their dried blood was still red.

Oh king, merciful king,

Why do you crave war?

When the decaying corpses are scattered all over the wilderness,

Vultures and funeral birds hover over the city.

The flames burned down the bustling city,

Only ashes are left to greet the belated dawn.

Oh king, wise king,

Why do you crave war?

When the noose hangs on the bloated body,

The crown of decay is stained with the dust of lowliness.

The royal robe is still made of needlework,

The blood of the nobles turned out to be bright red.

Oh king, tyrannical king,

Why do you crave war?"