They were walking through the forest toward Sylvara.
Kai broke the silence.
"Tell me, Liza," he said, glancing at her, "why are you so sure that no one from your village survived?"
"There were twelve hundred—" Liza began, but Kai interrupted her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he waved his hand. "Twelve hundred demons, seven hundred elves. I know all that."
He stopped walking and turned to face her.
"But what I'm asking is—how are you so sure that not a single elf survived?"
"Do you really think anyone could have?" Liza replied, her voice shaking. "The village was surrounded. The demons burned everything. They killed everyone—men, women, children, the young, the old."
Her fists tightened as she fought back tears.
"Even if someone somehow escaped, they would have been hunted down by the demons who scattered after the death of the Sixth Sinner."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"But still… why are you so sure that not even one or two elves survived?"
"Because…" Liza hesitated.
"Don't lie to me, Liza," Kai said calmly, looking straight into her eyes.
"O-Okay," she whispered. "When I was born, a hundred years ago, my father made me drink a drop of blood from every elf in the village, mixed with special potions."
Everyone went silent.
"Because of that," she continued, "I'm connected to every elf. Not just them—but their children, and even their grandchildren."
Kai clicked his tongue. "That old man must've been insane. Doing something like that to a newborn."
"Don't badmouth my father," Liza snapped.
"Alright, alright," Kai said, stepping back slightly. "But I've got more questions. Like—if Eris is a Blessed Elf, why didn't the gods take her? Or how the demons even knew there was a Blessed Elf in the village."
He shrugged. "But you don't have to answer now. We've got plenty of time."
He turned and continued walking. The others followed quietly.
After a while—
"AHHH, I'm tired. Let's rest," Kai suddenly announced, sitting down on a stone.
"We need to reach Sylvara by evening," Marcos said firmly.
"Nope. I'm tired," Kai replied lazily.
"Why are you like this?" Marcos muttered angrily.
"It's okay," Sara said gently. "If we rest a little, we'll still reach on time."
They stopped and sat down.
"I'll bring some water," Marcos said.
"I'll come too," Sara added.
They walked away together.
Silence returned.
Kai sat on the stone. Liza sat some distance away. Eris sat awkwardly between them.
What should I do… Eris thought nervously.
"A-ah… Liza?" Eris tried.
"What?" Liza replied coldly.
"N-Nothing…"
Silence again.
"They're taking too long," Eris said suddenly. "I'll go check."
She hurried off.
Only Kai and Liza remained.
"So," Kai said, breaking the silence, "what were you elves planning to do?"
"We're one of the most backward species in this world," Liza replied quietly. "My father wanted to change that. He experimented on me… most of them failed."
Her voice cracked.
"About a year ago, he learned he was sick and that he could die anytime. From then on… he started forcing me to marry."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"And you still can't hear anything bad about him?" Kai asked. "After all that?"
"Yes," she replied firmly. "Because he was still my father."
Kai looked away. "Huh… fathers."
"And about those other questions—"
"I said I don't want answers right now."
"Hey! We're back!" Eris's voice called out.
Liza quickly wiped her tears.
They drank the water.
"Let's move quickly," Kai said.
"What? I thought you wanted to rest," Marcos said.
"Yeah, but we need to reach Sylvara soon," Kai replied, glancing at Liza.
"I really don't understand you," Marcos muttered.
By evening, they reached Sylvara.
Burned houses. Blackened ground. Decomposing corpses.
Liza ran toward what had once been the village center, desperately searching.
Sara and Eris ran to help her.
They found their father's head—half decomposed.
"Father!" Liza cried.
She fall on her knees, holding it, sobbing uncontrollably.
She really loved her father… Kai thought quietly.
"Kai look at this." Marcos.
"What!.." Kai eyes widened.
There was the body of a little elf girl—her legs twisted and broken, ears torn out, and bite marks covering every inch of her skin.
"Those fucking demon's." Kai shouted angrily.
That entire evening, they gathered as many elf bodies as they could find and buried them.
At midnight—
"Tomorrow, we move toward Redscar," Liza said softly.
"Okay," Kai replied.