Ch.297298. High Elf (1)

A massive fleet of hundreds of ships was cutting through the sea, advancing toward the land beyond.

Enormous and gigantic white vessels, adorned with blue and green decorations—these ships were none other than the High Elf fleet.

To be precise, it was the High Elf fleet that had abandoned their homeland, the Albion Isle, which was falling to demons, and was now fleeing to their colony in the north-central region of the New Continent.

With hundreds of warships and at least thousands of regular vessels, the number of High Elves aboard this fleet reached an astonishing 3 million.

However… even a fleet of this magnitude symbolized nothing but the downfall of the High Elves…

This was because more than 40% of the original elven population of about 5 million had either failed to escape from the island or voluntarily stayed behind to buy time.

They had yet to recover from the damage inflicted by the legendary idiot El’draf’s blunders from centuries ago, and for elves with their extremely slow reproduction rate, losing 40% of their population was essentially no different from the collapse of their nation.

Thus, the current Immortal Lord, Lafin Winstir Etlien, aboard the flagship of the elven fleet, the Immortal Glory, stared blankly at the burning Albion Isle, barely perceptible to his senses, with a heavy heart.

“…”

The elves had suffered far too many losses.

The Immortal Heroes, rebuilt to just ten members, superior heroes who had sworn to fight for the High Elves even in death, had gone missing while holding back the endless waves of demonic forces.

The Silver Dragons, the “Silverfangs” who had made pacts with the elves and lived together on Albion Isle, had left their eggs and hatchlings—the future of their kind—with the High Elves before engaging in mutual destruction with dozens of Leviathan’s greater demons.

The Solar Guard, the Immortal Lord’s personal guard composed entirely of mid-tier or higher warriors, had died gloriously while evacuating the Immortal Lord from the greater demons that had stormed the royal palace.

The Pegasus Cavalry, the finest riders of the High Elf cavalry who rode winged white horses, had used all their capabilities to evacuate as many elves as possible… and more than half had perished in the process.

The Guardians of Albion, the High Elven regular army composed of warriors and mages, had remained in Londinium, the only unconquered capital on the island, sending word that they would buy time against the demons… and communications had been cut off after just a few days.

Thus, the Immortal Lord Lafin Winstir Etlien, now a refugee having lost almost everything, could not hide his complicated feelings, but…

“My Lord, the colony is in sight.”

“…Very well. I shall prepare to disembark.”

Even so, hope still remained.

※ ※ ※

The High Elf colony, spanning the northeastern and central regions of the New Continent, was actually quite modest in population despite its large geographical size.

This place, which had accepted the Eldians—a new race born from half-elves interbreeding among themselves—as subjects, primarily existed to supply food to Albion. Consequently, most of the population consisted of natives engaged in magically-assisted agriculture.

The Eldian race, diverging from elves in a different direction, was particularly adept at druidic magic for manipulating nature, enabling enormous agricultural output despite their small numbers.

In this situation, the sudden arrival of 3 million refugees certainly bewildered the colonists, but they soon accepted these pitiful newcomers and together began developing the colony.

One might worry about insufficient land, but surprisingly, the New Continent had plenty of vacant territory.

Among these empty lands was an enormous desert stretching across the central region.

Since it was abandoned land, too barren and monster-infested, the High Elves used their superior magical technology to reclaim the entire area and began massive development projects.

Thus, as buildings rose rapidly, walls were constructed, and the entire New Continent territory was being developed by the influx of 3 million elves—

“Immortal Lord, powerful magical waves are erupting from the north! The pattern indicates a dimensional gate!”

Barely a few months after escaping from Albion Isle, demonic dimensional gates began opening in this New Continent as well, with demons pouring through.

At first glance, this appeared to be the worst tragedy befalling the elven forces.

The land-based regular army had been annihilated during the escape from Albion Isle, and all that remained was the powerful navy… which could not operate on land.

Of course, like other nations, the High Elves had airships, but most had been lost in the homeland, leaving them with virtually no means to stop the demons invading by land.

One might think the elves had no land forces, but did you know?

“Fire! Fire our rage upon those demons!!”

“Die! Die! Die!”

“We must not let them live!!!”

The High Elves, with their small population, operated a kind of loose conscription system.

In this era when most nations had populations of millions thanks to magical population growth, the High Elves, with barely 500,000 living on Albion Isle, were troubled by their extremely limited military numbers.

When considering all-out war with other human powers, the elves, with their painfully slow reproduction and growth rates, found it burdensome to sustain heavy casualties whether they won or lost.

Therefore, all High Elves, regardless of status, class, or position, underwent military training for several days each month, and in wartime, these conscripted High Elves—whose age made their combat prowess unbelievable for conscripts—were called to service.

Archery was considered a fundamental part of High Elven education, making the vast majority excellent marksmen. Any random elf from the street would possess archery skills far surpassing those of elite human archers.

They were also trained in handling halberds and spears for wartime situations. Though light-bodied, elves possessed considerable strength, easily surpassing the regular armies of human nations.

Moreover, many of these conscripted High Elves could use magic depending on their profession, making more than half the population quite skilled mages as well.

A High Elf farmer was typically a 7th-grade druid who magically plowed the land, struck it with lightning instead of using fertilizer, summoned spirits or elementals to assist in farming—and in emergencies, transformed into giant animals to help with labor.

A High Elf baker was an accomplished mage specializing in fire magic, using precise heat control to bake perfect bread, and in emergencies, could direct those flames upon the heads of enemies.

A High Elf alchemist typically ran a small alchemy shop akin to a neighborhood pharmacy, but in wartime, would test hidden alchemical reagents on enemies—becoming a bomb maniac who valued large, beautiful explosions above all.

[CRUNCH CRUNCH!!!]

“Look there, the village chief transformed into an armored bear and is tearing apart demons!!”

[Burn! Blaze! Reduce everything to ashes!]

“…Um, Alchemist? The potion you gave me… it’s glowing red…”

“…Witness You!”

“AAAAARGH!! It’s exploding! Throw it, throw it!!”

WHOOOOSH—KABOOOOOOM!!!!

Thus, these elves fought against the demons, unleashing the island nation’s unique madness that they usually kept hidden beneath their hypocrisy and arrogance, but…

“…This is the worst.”

The Immortal Lord, Lafin Winstir Etlien, as ruler, could not view this ambiguous situation positively.

While it was possible to maintain the situation somehow with suspiciously strong civilian elves, conscripted soldiers, and fortress defenses… the demons, whose numbers were gradually increasing, were enough to fill her with foreboding.

Just as she felt their chances of victory slowly diminishing and the colony beginning to falter—

A miracle found them.