"...I'll go ask my tribesmen," said Ewald.

Soon, he returned with a look of anxiety on his face.

"Is this high elven magic?" he asked. "No one in our tribe can even remember our former neighbor... Should we send someone to investigate? Is this just an illusion?"

"...No." Fiona was still very weak at this moment. She said with difficulty, "That sky-high wall of fire was originally a cover... If nothing unexpected happens, the dark elves have already taken over those barriers."

The next one is the Xingyong family.

The bedroom fell into silence, and Elastrid, who was originally laughing, also fell silent.

Finally, the only high-ranking wizard in the clan made up his mind and said, "Ewald, our death is near."

“…As expected.”

Fiona said softly, "This is high magic: Ascension. Among the many high magics, it's renowned for its ruthlessness, long since banned by our Lord Corellon... Those dark elves dare to continue using it with impunity; their depravity is unimaginable. Furthermore, the Ascension ritual targeting us has likely already begun, and we don't even know where it will take place."

"Once activated, it will instantly wipe the target of the spell from the world—the body, the spirit, the traces left in the memories of others, the name written on the pages of the book, and even the runes on the moon blade will be completely wiped out from this world. However, the more targets it attacks, the greater the cost, so it is not suitable for attacking targets of too large a scale. This is the evil spell left by Queen Lolth, and now that the dark elves have begun to use the spell, our annihilation is irreversible."

"We are already dead. Our fate is sealed," the High Mage concluded. "No one can save us."

"No, no." Ewald clenched his fists. "We pray to the goddess Tyche—we are her most important believers. We ask her for help, and she will definitely not sit idly by!"

Fiona didn't deny it, but nodded weakly, then shook her head: "And my Lord Corellon..."

Ewald did not hide the news of his family's impending destruction.

The surrounding families suddenly disappeared from their memories without a trace. It would be fine if this matter was not mentioned, but if the problem was foreseen in advance, one would also be able to detect signs of impending disaster.

Although the Xingyong family underestimated the risks, they were not fools - this kind of crisis could not be concealed.

Given the Xingyong family's tradition, some people naturally didn't want to sit idly by and wait for death. Many sword singers expressed that they should at least investigate.

As for danger... their family was already in imminent danger. The Swordsinger's prayers were better than nothing, so taking the risk was no price to pay.

The huge Candlekeep was immediately mobilized, and the news that they might have become the target of [Ascension] spread immediately to every corner of the castle.

Only the civilians serving Candlekeep began to be evacuated, and the flow of people in the entire Candlekeep began to thin out at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The sky gradually darkened, but the Candle Castle remained as bright as ever.

There was no other reason. The wall of fire lit by the dark elves had already illuminated half of the world, making Candlekeep as bright as day day and night.

By this time, the sword singers who had gone to investigate had already returned—to be more precise, only about 70% of them had returned.

The remaining 30% might have escaped or fallen into the enemy's line. Ewald no longer wanted to care about them.

The sword singers returned, bringing back the crucial token. Each of them had a heavy expression on their faces.

"The fortress is deserted," one of the swordsingers said. "The mythal at the fortress I visited was no longer in charge, allowing me to enter easily."

"Same here."

"It's the same here. The fortress looks like new," said an elderly swordsinger. "However... the food is still on the table, the books have been opened, and countless pieces of equipment are scattered all over the floor, as if everyone inside has disappeared at once."

At this point, there is no need to question it anymore.

While there are many ways to instantly destroy a fortress, there are many ways to do it, but to instantly turn countless castles protected by a maze into empty cities, while erasing all traces of the families within them...

At the same time, there is even more irrefutable evidence.

At this moment, in the family's hall, more than ten extremely shining weapons were placed.

They are only curved but have double-edged blades, and there seems to be moonlight flowing on the pale blue blades. The length of an arm can contain thousands of years of history of a family.

They are the Moon Blades, the most important treasures among the Moon Elves. The manufacturing ceremony is completely monopolized by the Moon Elf priests of Corellon, and can only be used by Moon Elves.

Its power is limited when it is first produced, but it will become stronger and stronger as it is passed down from generation to generation in the family.

The borderlands of the Kingdom of Santa Osriel, which hadn't experienced the previous Crown War, couldn't possibly contain newly ennobled noble families. Furthermore, even a newly forged Moon Blade would bear several mysterious Avandor runes.

A common elf might never see such a treasure once in their lifetime. The luckiest could only see the scabbard of the Moon Blade during festivals.

And at this moment, in front of them, there were more than ten flawless moon blades lying on the table, as smooth as new, without a single rune on them.

"One for each fortress?" asked Ewald.

"One for each fortress." The swordsingers who went to investigate answered.

Ewald was silent for a long time, then he sighed deeply, slowly pulled out the Moon Blade from his waist, and placed it together with its other colleagues.

More than ten runes are engraved on this Moon Blade, representing the history of the Xingyong family.

Soon, the Moon Blade will suffer the same fate.

"...Are we going to fight those dark elves?" someone asked

"...If only time were left," another Xingyong replied, "I still want to be with my family."

The most outgoing stars were not in the castle at all. Those who would stay in the castle generally got married.

If death is inevitable and imminent, they still want to be with their families.

Just as the fearless swordsingers were at a loss, a priest suddenly rushed into the hall, panting: "Chief! Everyone! Our Lord Tyche has responded!"

what? !

Like dying embers meeting a flame, the atmosphere was ignited again.

Ewald excitedly sheathed the Moon Blade and squeezed the priest's shoulder excitedly: "What did the goddess say?"

The priest wasn't so excited. She shook her head. "The goddess replied: She will try to seek help from her allies, but she can't save the entire family. She can only try to save the children. Besides, this matter requires Lord Corellon's approval no matter what."

It was like a basin of cold water poured over one's head.

ally?

Goddess Tyche is a newborn deity. She converted to Buddhism simply because her ideas were so much to the liking of the Xingyong family. Her own power is not strong, so what allies can she bring?

As for Lord Corellon's approval?

They were elves who had converted without permission, and to some extent abandoned the Faith of the Seldarine. They were lucky not to be punished by Corellon. And yet they hoped for Corellon's forgiveness. Isn't that ridiculous?

But at this point, they have no choice.

Ewald took a deep breath. "...In our family, there are twenty-six children under the age of twenty. Including my newborn daughter, that makes twenty-seven. Bring them all to the church. I will personally go find Madam and bring Elastrid here."

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "From this moment on, children named Xingyong are the children of all of us. All members of the tribe named Xingyong are brothers and sisters. There is no distinction between superiors and inferiors."

Then the patriarch extended his hand.

All the sword singers looked at each other, held each other's hands tightly with tears in their eyes, and then filed out.

Ewald rushed into the bedroom, but was shocked to find that Fiona, who was supposed to be resting in bed, was gone. The wardrobe was opened and a robe had been taken away.

A moon elf man, a complete stranger to him, was now rocking the baby in his arms lovingly. Elastrid, who had been tossing and turning, had changed her temper and was sleeping peacefully in his arms, breathing lightly.

Behind him, two extremely tall elf warriors, who looked similar and were obviously siblings, were standing quietly behind him.

But no matter what, Ewald couldn't just sit there and watch his only daughter being held in the arms of someone else!

He immediately drew out the Moon Blade and shouted, "Who are you?! Let go of my daughter?"

The two tall elves opened their eyes and were about to scold them. But the man waved his hand, finally turned around, and said gently, "Alastrid is your daughter, but she is also my daughter."

What a joke, how could my daughter be your daughter?

Ewald was about to curse and call for his allies, but at this moment, he saw the elf's face clearly.

——It’s amazing.

The appearance of the elf seemed to be fluid.

When he saw him, Ewald seemed to see the faces of countless elves at the same time, but when he focused again, the face of the elf seemed to have never changed.

Strong, slender, elegant, and beautiful.

In an instant, Ewald subconsciously used all the words in the Elvish language to describe this unknown elf.

At this moment, two elven guards stepped forward and said sternly, "Ewald Starsong, you are a heretic. Now that you have come before our Lord, why don't you kneel and admit your fault?"

Ewald placed the Moon Blade at his feet and slowly knelt on the ground: "...Ewald Starsong, I greet my lord...

"You are the Creator of the Elves, the Ruler of the Elves, the Creator and Protector of Life, the Lord of the Crowns of Arvandor, the Origin of the Shiladrin..."

"Praise our Lord Corellon Larethian."

The male elf sighed, hugging Elastrid and saying, "...I have heard your prayers. In fact, those families that have already... vanished have also prayed to me. However, I have only come to the Xingyong family. It's not because I have any special sympathy for you, but at this moment, only your family has any hope of survival."

Ewald, who was originally trembling with fear and waiting for the Lord God to punish him, was shocked, and then filled with infinite ecstasy.

"...Praise be to God, we know we have made a great mistake..."

"No." At this moment, Corellon said, "At this moment, the reason you can be saved is because Tyche has a strong enough ally. Only with her consent can your family have hope of continuing. Therefore, I will not ask you to change your faith again - pray to Tyche, and fight to the last moment.

"Xingyong will not disappear here, but your period will fall today."

It’s today.

After finally getting a definite answer, Ewald stood up a little shakily.

Death has never been so close.

Moreover, they may not go to the kingdom of Avandor or Tyche after death.

When faced with this answer, Ewald, who had seen many storms before, couldn't help but tremble slightly. "...My Lord, please allow me to take Elastrid to the church."

At this moment, Corellon pointed out the window and said, "No, I'm taking Alestria with me. You can leave the city now."

what?

Ewald looked out the window in astonishment.

The wall of fire raised by the dark elves was still far away from Candlekeep.

However, a dark team formed a neat long line under the light of the fire and began to march towards Candlekeep.

They were like a long snake, without any defense or reconnaissance. It was more like they were coming to receive spoils than to march!

They are the soldiers of the Kingdom of Ilythri, wearing black armor.

"...This is simply too much." Ewald took a deep breath, and suddenly realized something. He asked the two guards, "Lord Filleresel, Lord Lashriel! Where is my wife now?"

The one who answered him was not Corellon's two Seraph Guards, but Corellon himself: "She wants to fight to the death. You should go and protect her. You may be wiped out, but the dark elves you kill will not be resurrected."

At this point, Corellon paused and said, "There's an even more important reason—the other two gods you've summoned don't like their followers sitting around waiting for divine favors. Therefore, you must fight to the death."

"Xingyong understands." Ewald took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

Soon, as the children were led into the church one by one, the atmosphere in Candle Castle became increasingly depressing.

Finally, Ewald entered the church and said, "Now, the final moment—you may have noticed that the Ilythri traitors are already heading for Candlekeep, thinking we will disappear here without a trace! My wife is preparing to sacrifice herself, using the elven high magic to strike a blow to those arrogant lunatics, and I will raid the city to buy her and the priests time.

"Who wants to go with me?!"

At this moment, a swordsinger whispered, "Your lady doesn't seem to be here?"

Ewald shook his head. "Don't worry."

They hadn't noticed yet that they had been willful for the last time - the Moon Blade had been left to Alestria, and he would use the spare sword to attack.

At this critical moment of life and death, even brothers and sisters of the same clan have no mood to care about other people's daughters.

Soon, all the fighting forces in the city were gathered together, leaving only the priests praying before the statue.

Then, at this moment, the trembling lips suddenly stopped, and the dancing flames in the church and the rising incense smoke all froze in the air.

The statue of Tyche in front of the priest swayed slightly, and out of it jumped a tall, slender, yet agile, elf-like human woman with blond hair and blue eyes. When she jumped out of the statue, she was pulling another girl behind her.

This girl was much smaller than Tyche. She had silver hair and wore an elven wizard robe.

However, that silver hair always emitted a colorful halo in the light.

"...So, Sister Tyke, why did you drag me along?" the silver-haired girl sighed. "Once something like [Ascension] is activated, it's unstoppable and irreversible. It's easy for you to stop it. Just kill the high mages of Ilythri. Why drag me along? I'll be maintaining the magic network even if I'm not here, and I can't do much more if I'm here."

"Because I feel guilty," the blonde in front of her answered confidently, "I don't understand elven magic, nor am I interested in it. I just think this event is very interesting, so I need you, Mystril."

"After all, this has nothing to do with me." Misriel snorted.

Tyke had long known the nature of his friend - or rather, the two goddesses had at least 70% similar personalities, and generally acted based on their momentary likes and dislikes, except that Tyke lacked a fanatical interest in magic.

So, she immediately pulled out her trump card. "Corellon said he has a way to save these children."

"Oh?" Misriel, who had been feeling rather gloomy, suddenly brightened up and glanced at the church. "The last child hasn't arrived yet."

At this moment, a gentle voice sounded slowly.

"Alestria is here."

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