The Great Spirit Mouton told his story.
He had been partnered with a great general of the dark elf army.
There had been many influential dark elves present, so he recalled exactly what happened.
The dark elves and elves were at war, which had lasted for thousands of years.
Sometimes elves had the upper hand, sometimes dark elves overtook them.
The dark elves even got to a point of occupying all of Rosenheim except for the city at the shadow of the World Tree.
Seeking help, the elves began praying to the World Tree. Rosen answered their prayers, coming out from a hole in the tree and partnering with an elven girl.
She was turned into a high elf, and people started calling her the praying maiden.
That encouraged the elves to fight back even though their defeat seemed imminent.
The Great Spirit's story began a little after that.
3000 years ago, the dark elf king, his generals, and elders, gathered in the fortress of LaPolca.
They all looked tense, facing the war happening in Rosenheim.
Knock knock
Someone knocked on the door.
"Hm? Come in!"
In response to the dark elf king, a dark elf entered the room.
Everyone's attention focused on him, a scout leader with his body pierced by numerous arrows.
"My apologies! Fort Chiaro has fallen!!"
He knelt and gave his report, having risked his life to get there.
"Th-that can't be!! Didn't Fort Scraw just fall recently?!!"
"There's no signs of them slowing down either. They might arrive here any moment now…"
Having said that much, the scout leader fell unconscious. Dark elf soldiers carried him away.
The meeting room fell silent.
The World Tree stood in the center of the continent, with an elven city at its foot surrounded by wide prairies, encircled by a tall mountain range.
Other than LaPolca, there were 3 large forts in that prairie, which were being reclaimed now.
The scout leader's report meant that all 3 other forts had been retaken by the elves.
"That doesn't sound good. King, we should consider retreating if necessary."
'...'
An elder suggested retreating, as the elves would be there shortly.
Fabre was also present there, but she remained silent.
"Hmm…"
The king continued thinking of what to do.
"What are you saying! Why would we run now?! The elves have been fighting without rest, they have to be exhausted by now. We can win with the right plan!!"
A general replied angrily to the elder, angry that he was thinking so highly of the elven army.
The elves had taken back the 3 forts without resting, so the general believed it was time to strike back.
"But then this fort will fall and the future of our future will vanish. Don't make light of the Praying Maiden."
The elder stood his ground. The king was in the fort, they could not risk it.
LaPolca had most of the dark elf army, and that was why the elves took out the other forts first.
There was a reason why they were arguing for so long. There were no spies in either army, as they were different races with different beliefs, no one would betray their side.
As a result of that, it was hard to really know what was going on on the other side.
The dark elves desperately tried to figure out the best way out.
Before they could come to a conclusion, there was a loud sound outside, which alerted everyone and they stopped arguing. At first they were afraid it was the elven army, but then they heard shouts saying "Dragon attack!"
A large dragon was flying circles above the fort.
After a short moment, the fort fell silent. The dark elves did not seem to be fighting.
The generals and elders just looked at each other wondering what was going on.
Knock knock
"Why are you here when there's a dragon outside! You didn't come here to hide did you!!"
An elder shouted at the dark elf that just arrived.
"No, the Dragon King Matildora and Hero Astel have come to visit. They are requesting an audience, would that be possible?!"
The soldier replied with a loud energetic voice.
They had come in such a pressing time. Everyone looked at each other silently hearing that, probably thinking of the same thing. They would try to receive the visitors as well as they could.
LaPolca was a strategic location, without living spaces for common people, but there were plenty of large areas for armies to line up, so the dark elves organized a banquet there, one big enough to entertain a Dragon King tens of meters long.
"P-please help yourself to this, it's our own wine."
Two soldiers brought a large barrel of wine to the Dragon King.
'Mm, you're very generous. Ohh, this is good wine.'
'Thank you very much…'
The Dragon King skillfully held the large barrel between two claws and drank all of it.
The dark elves also had a few drinks to ease up on the stress, but those who knew what the elven army was doing were still nervous.
The Hero Astel, who was also being welcomed by the king and elders, was a dragonkin.
"Ohh, so you challenged the S Rank Dungeon, you really live up to your name of hero."
One of the generals gave him his seat, and served him wine. An elder started talking with him.
"That was actually a proper challenge though. I wasn't able to defeat Gordino."
Astel had not turned 20 yet, so his face still looked young, and frowned mentioning his defeat.
"Ohh, I guess there are foes that even a hero struggles with then."
The general did not belittle Astel's position even though he heard of his failure, as he was still one out of a handful of powerful people from back then, having a Dragoon General Talent.
He traveled around the world conquering dungeons and defeating monsters.
Some of his stories had survived even to the present day.
"We've actually been searching for you for a while, Matil really wanted to see you."
Astel then explained why they were there. After failing in the S Rank Dungeon, the Dragon King Matildora had insisted on going to the dark elf village.
They had traveled for a long time until they arrived at Rosenheim to find them.
"I see, and what did you need from me?"
Everyone's gazes focused on Astel, curious to hear why he was there.
"Apparently there's some history between Matil and the previous Dragon King. He has the chance of clearing the Gates of Trials, but that's a quite the difficult task."
He continued explaining how he also had made a promise to the Dragon King when he became a Rider.
'I want to go through the Gates of Trials no matter what.'
The Dragon King Matildora joined the conversation. He had been alive for 5000 years before Astel was born, and had tried to go through the Gates of Trials countless times, always failing.
When they learned about the S Rank Dungeon in Baukis, they decided to head there first to get stronger in preparation for the gates, but Gordino proved too difficult to defeat.
That was not the plan, so they came to meet the dark elf king. It was then that Fabre, who was resting against the dark elf king's chest, finally spoke.
'So Matil, what do you need from us?'
Fabre's voice sounded like she resented his long absence until then.
'Would you like to accompany us to the S Rank Dungeon, and then the Gates of Trials?'
The dark elves could feel how determined the Dragon King was, but there was a size limit for parties in the S Rank Dungeon.
'But as you can see, we're embroiled in war against the elves, we can't spare skilled men.'
Fabre said they did not have the men and time for that, their fort had just been taken from them.
"Maybe we could attempt to defeat the Praying Maiden together. After that we'll have plenty of time…"
One of the elders spoke boldly. The large banquet had been made to entice the Dragon King Matildora and Hero Astel to aid in fighting against the elves.
"I'm sorry, but I can't participate in the war."
No matter if Matil was a friend of the dark elves, Astel did not want to intervene in such a war.
The dark elves had a hunch that would happen, but they still looked distraught.
They did not have the men to send to the S Rank Dungeon, but the Dragon King Matildora and Hero Astel also could not help them with the war.
Telling that story, the Great Spirit Mouton said that things would have been alright if Fabre had remained silent.
'Then why don't you take 2000 dark elves to the Gates of Trials then?'
"Hm?"
The Hero Astel wondered what she was trying to say.
'Ohh! I see, we can take soldiers to the gates.'
'Yes, while there's a limit for the S Rank Dungeon, thousands can easily go to the gates.'
There was a possibility for dark elves to accompany them into the gates though.
"Spirit King, that's…"
The dark elf king seemed confused by Fabre's suggestion.
'Going through the Gates of Trials will reward you with incredible power, so it'd be good for some of our men to go with Matil.'
The Gates of Trials opened a path into the Divine Realm. Dark elves with Talents could help with that, fortifying the dark elf army, which could give them the means to defeat the elves.
Maybe a dark elf could even obtain power similar to the Praying Maiden's.
"B-but we don't know how long that will take, or if we can wait that long."
'That's true. Then how about we surrender LaPolca, and try to arrange a cease-fire agreement?'
"I-I see, that's a good idea. We can fortify our army while the agreement lasts."
There was no guarantee that the elves would accept, as they had already taken 3 out of 4 forts.
But if they gave up LaPolca in exchange, they would likely not suspect anything.
The king, generals, and elders were starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Having 2000 dark elves would also help the Dragon King Matildora and the Hero Astel.
And so the dark elves and elves signed a cease-fire agreement, and the dark elves traveled with dragonkin to spend years in the Gates of Trials.
But the Dragon King Matildora's attempt ended with failure and the Hero Astel died.
And not a single dark elf returned to Rosenheim alive.
