Chapter 239: Brothers

The Wood elves were a naturally peaceful species that disliked conflict, as it was antithetical to their customs. But the thousand-year abandonment from the Elven Collective has left a few changes regarding how much of their culture and traditions they actually adhered to.

Among those who made up the elven race included the 7 elf clan who arrived at the planet 4000 years ago, one High elf clan, two Dark elf clans, and 4 Wood elf clans.

Out of all of them, the High elves were the strongest, possessing a more advanced physique and an abundance of magical talent at birth. In comparison, Wood Elves were known to be the weakest.

The Forlorn elves used to be considered the strongest creed among the Wooden elves for  one particular reason; the extensive research they have conducted on their own genes.

Upon realizing the weakness of their own genealogy and being fed up with the way they were perceived, the Forlorn were committed to becoming the strongest of their species, to the point where they even started to experiment on their prince since his birth. 

As a result of this, 2 princes were born with High elf genes within them. Elroth, the older prince who was able to master ice element magic, as well as the young Janus with his lighting element magic. 

The two young princes were so talented that within only 20 years, both of them had reached Stage 4 Katra.

At the time, the two were considered prodigies whose talents surpassed some of the best magicians in the kingdoms. Even the young rising star, the half-elf Vanyar prince, was not as talented as them, despite undergoing rigorous training himself. 

Being the strongets among the wood elf, the Forlorn always ask the question of why the other elven clans decided to give the position of the Arcadian king to the Vanyar elves.

It  was a question that had been debated for a long time among the Forlorn. Not only was such an important position given to a Vanyar elf, but to an impure half-elf boy, at that. 

But the Forlorn could do nothing but sulk in shame when the young half-elven prince Callan managed to reach Stage 5 Katra before their own experimented princes did, despite their superior genes that have spent years altering.

Things only took a turn for the worst when, 50 years ago, the elven kingdom decided to send some of their best and most trusted warriors to enter the Mist. Among these warriors was the King of Forlorn himself. Their leader went inside, never to return. Leaving the Forlorn absent of any stage 5 elf.

Upon his absent, The king had given his oldest son the position of leadership.

As opposed to humans, most elves valued loyalty and order above all. Hence, when the oldest was chosen, all the nobles and elders in Forlorn backed the decision without question.

Unfortunately, the youngest brother was not one of those elves. The youngest had strong ambition and an unquenchable desire for power; as a result, he had been jealous of his brother for a long time since he would be the one to inherit their father's titles instead. 

During the coming years, the older brother Elroth liked to busy himself by continuing his father's experiments behind closed doors, while the young Janus opted to focus on his cultivation and training instead. 

The younger brother became more active in terms of Arcadia's affairs, be it trading or engaging in battle with the barbarians and the orcs. The latter made his influence grow to its maximum potential, until eventually, it made him confident enough to challenge his brother and take the leadership position.

Elroth, who did not have enough desire to be king in the first place and was unwilling to fight his brother, never accepted the challenge. This refusal was only perceived as a show of weakness by his people. 

This, in addition to the abundance of false information that was being spread about his older brother,  more people were slowly swaying to Janus' side. This support made him bold enough to trick his own brother and shove him in a dungeon, where he would never again see the light of day. 

But it wasn't until they cut his legs and took his eyes did Elroth realize the true extent of his brother's wickedness.

Now it has been more than 10 years since he's been locked in the Forlorn dungeon. He no longer cares to think about his kingdom nor his people anymore. That is, until today.

When he saw how his people had changed under his brother's rule, he was horrified. Not even once in the 4000 years of Forlorn's history did they ever conduct a public execution, much less an exhibit of such gruesome torture. 

When the Blood elf of the prophecy had managed to break free, he had actually been enthralled, beaming with excitement. Not only was the Blood elf a huge part of the fairy tales he read as a child, but seeing how blood, the single most important essence of the body evolving and mutating in various ways excited him greatly as a scientist.

When he saw that the Blood elf had crushed each one of the elves as easily as one might kill rats, Elroth's excitement upon seeing the legendary figure slowly shifted from admiration to fear. 

He was reminded that what lied underneath the Blood elf's feet were the corpses of his own brethren. Crushed and mutilated, their own blood spilling everywhere.

"Stop! Stop! This is madness!"

But at this moment, none of them were willing to listen to him anymore, not even his trusted nobles and elders.

More nobles came at the red monster only to be killed within a second. He really believed that if he didnt do something soon, all the elves in Forlorn would meet their doom.

While everyone was fighting, the blind prince jumped towards the red, cocoon-like blob, and as he cast his [Frozen Touch] spell, it broke it apart.

"Princess Serene ,you must help me convince them to stop."

The girl who, up until now, had only been able to guess at what was happening outside, started to scan her surroundings with wide eyes. 

"Tristan…" She whispered. "What have you turned into...?"

"Princess Serene, please, he did come here for you, after all. He will listen to you."

Serene walked out of the blood construct seeing at the red monster fighting and said

"Why? Let him kill as many as he wants! The Forlorn deserve it!"

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,