When the first Dark Elf of that dungeon was born, there was absolutely nothing around her except darkness. She did not know how long she remained in that place, as there was no day, night, or anything else that could help her measure time.
For a long time, she remained completely alone, simply observing that emptiness without understanding why she had been born or what she was supposed to do. At a certain point, however, something began to appear around her. First, a floor appeared beneath her feet, covered with small pink and blue flowers. Then, trees began to grow, accompanied by other forms of life that slowly transformed that empty space into a small world.
Ylrie tried to walk across the new terrain, but fell on her first attempt, since she had never walked before. After some time trying to understand how her own body worked, she managed to stay on her feet and, as she became accustomed to that new ability, she began to run.
She had the curiosity of a child and, even without having anyone to accompany her, she played among the flowers and trees, exploring every part of that place. However, there was a limit. She could only remain within an area of approximately one hundred meters, as that was the space where everything had been created. For a long time, that small territory was Ylrie's entire world.
As the years passed, however, she began to feel something she had never felt before: loneliness. Ylrie was happy in that place, but she wanted her world to be larger. She wanted to discover what could be born beyond the trees she knew, what creatures could appear and, above all, whether another being similar to her could emerge.
It was then that plaques began to appear throughout that space, containing words she did not understand. Ylrie began observing them and, little by little, learned how to read and speak. Everything that appeared awakened her curiosity, and she did everything she could to turn that emptiness into something fun.
She also discovered that a God was responsible for creating that place and everything that happened within it. Because of this, she began to pray. To Ylrie, that being had given her a world, a life, and the possibility of discovering new things. She was grateful for that.
"I humbly ask, my lord, that other beings appear in this place..."
After that request, some time passed and animals began to appear in that small territory. As new creatures appeared, the space also began to expand, allowing Ylrie to discover an ever-increasing number of living beings. Years later, others like her began to be born, although they still appeared in the form of children. Ylrie became extremely happy and began taking care of them as if they were her own children. She taught them, played with them, and watched them grow. For the first time, she was no longer alone. However, she also discovered that even those she loved could die. Watching her children grow and then disappear was something that always made her sad, but nothing could have prepared her for what would happen next.
The shadows began to appear.
At first, there were few of them, but they quickly spread throughout the world that Ylrie had helped build. The territory, which had once been small, had grown until it reached the size of a continent, but those shadows began devouring everything around them. They not only destroyed the environment, but also surrounded the Dark Elves, turning them into enemies who attacked their own brothers.
"My children..."
Ylrie watched in despair as the children she had raised were surrounded by the shadows and completely lost control. Some of them killed their own brothers without even realizing what they were doing. However, what destroyed Ylrie the most was discovering that some Elves had willingly surrendered themselves to the shadows and betrayed her. They kept other Elves alive to use them in a sacrificial ritual for something Ylrie still did not understand. She tried to do everything she could to protect them, but she was desperate and could not find a way to win.
It was then that a new plaque appeared before her, this time completely purple and containing information about magic. Shortly afterward, a magical fire spirit appeared in that world and began fighting the shadows on its own. It continued fighting for months, while Ylrie and the other Elves tried to understand the concepts presented on the plaque. When they finally understood how magic worked, they began helping that spirit. To Ylrie, that creature could only be a gift sent by the God she trusted so much.
"Thank you, my lord."
From that moment on, Ylrie began developing her magic even further. She created arcane circles capable of extremely enhancing magic, developed various techniques, and managed to master the four main elements of nature. Afterwards, she created several guardians to protect her children.
The Elves themselves also began striving harder and harder to help her. Some even went so far as to try to surpass their own limits in an absurd manner, sacrificing their lives in the process. This made Ylrie deeply sad, as she knew they were going so far only because of her.
"Master, should I guard the side of the forest? Sir Vaelith said he couldn't do it today."
Val'Drakar was the strongest guardian in that place, ranking below only Vaelith, the commander leading the Elves, and Ylrie Marlial herself, the first Elf. Despite holding such an important position, he spent much of his time by her side and was one of the few who knew about her true concern for all the Elves.
"You should call me by my name after all these years I spent without having one."
"I'm sorry, but I could never do that."
Ylrie always worried about everyone like a mother. Being the oldest among them, she felt responsible for protecting every one of the children she had helped raise. These years were also responsible for her mastery over the four elements. Since that war had begun, two hundred years ago, Ylrie had been forced to continue evolving to keep her children alive. However, the further the war progressed, the less communication she had with the God she admired so much.
"My lord... why don't you speak to me anymore? Did I do something wrong?"
Val'Drakar was one of the main guardians and also the one who spent the most time by her side. He saw Ylrie pray every day with a faith that seemed impossible to break and, because of this, he also began praying every morning.
The war continued for years. The world Ylrie had created stopped growing, while the shadows advanced further and further. Many Elves died, and the survivors were gradually pushed into a single region, a territory that was no longer larger than an island.
Ylrie knew that she needed to do something. She tried countless times to speak with her lord, hoping that he would answer her requests, but she never received a response. Then, in the midst of desperation, she developed an ability capable of seeing the future. With it, she could anticipate the enemies' movements and gain a few precious seconds during battles.
"Where am I?"
Ylrie opened her eyes and realized that she was in a completely white place. For the first time, she managed to see her lord's true appearance. He did not possess a human form. He was something made of shadows, without a physical body that could be understood. Ylrie approached with hope, believing that she could finally speak with the one she had admired throughout her entire existence, but something invisible prevented her from continuing.
The shadow seemed disappointed.
"You really are a failure. You can't even properly tear open that being's dimension."
The words destroyed Ylrie from within.
'Failure...?'
Her own God called them failures? After everything they had done? After all those years in which she had prayed, believed in him, and created that world thanks to the power she believed she had received from him?
Before she could ask anything, Ylrie was expelled from that place.
She fell back into her own world and, at that moment, her ability activated again. The future passed before her eyes, but this time she saw something different. The shadows that had destroyed her world were not merely enemies that had appeared by chance.
They had been sent by the very God she admired so much.
Upon awakening from that vision, tears streamed down her eyes. Throughout all those years, Ylrie had never cried in front of others. She always needed to be strong, always needed to protect her children, and always needed to believe that everything would end well. But at that moment, her faith had been destroyed.
"Master, why are you crying?"
Val'Drakar approached worriedly. He had never seen his master cry like that. To him, Ylrie had always been someone incapable of showing weakness, but that day she seemed like nothing more than a child who had just discovered that the person she trusted the most had lied to her.
Ylrie raised her eyes, still with tears streaming down her face.
"Val'Drakar... our God is not benevolent."
She took a deep breath, trying to control her own voice, but she could not hide the pain.
"He is actually an evil God called Sairao..."
After discovering Sairao's true intentions, Ylrie began trying to see the future whenever her mind and body allowed her to. She needed to find some way to prevent that, but the more she searched for answers, the more frightening the possibilities she found became.
In one of her visions, she finally discovered the truth about that world. Sairao had created that dungeon as an attempt to produce something he had failed to create before. However, after his failure, he decided to use that place in another way.
He was creating a vessel that would allow his existence to descend into the original world, but there was a problem that even he could not ignore: no Dark Elf was capable of crossing the dimension created by the Supreme God. Since he could not directly send a vessel to the outside world, Sairao changed his plans.
Instead of using an Elf as a vessel, he intended to sacrifice all the Elves in that dungeon and use the resulting energy to create a completely new body for himself.
Ylrie was horrified when she discovered that. Everything she had created, all the children she had cared for, and that entire world that she had called home for centuries would be reduced to mere sacrifices. To Sairao, they had never been his children or living beings who deserved to exist. They were merely an attempt that had failed and could now be used for another purpose.
"I will not let this happen, Master."
Val'Drakar was the first to respond when Ylrie told him what she had discovered. He did not hesitate for even a moment. Even knowing that they were facing a God and that their chances of survival were small, he decided to remain by her side until the end.
"We will not let him do this."
Ylrie replied with determination. From that moment on, all the Elves began fighting not only to survive the shadows, but also to prevent Sairao from completing his plan. For years, the guardians continued protecting the survivors, but little by little, they were defeated. One after another, the guardians disappeared in the battles until only about one hundred Elves remained.
It was then that Val'Drakar made a decision. He transferred a large part of his own power into a tree, causing it to create an enormous dome around the region. The barrier concealed the darkness outside and protected those who were still alive. However, even inside that small safe space, the situation continued to worsen. New Elf children continued to be born, while the older ones died protecting the dome from the enemies and the traitors who remained outside.
"Only fifty children... fewer and fewer..."
Ylrie watched the children running around the tree with a sad look. She tried to smile at them, but the concern never completely disappeared from her eyes. Val'Drakar noticed that and wanted to find some way to make his master smile again. He did not want to see her carrying the weight of all those years of war alone.
It was during this period that one of the children approached her.
"Mommy, can you let me play in the river with little Tarcen?"
"Of course, dear."
The girl ran toward the river, and Ylrie watched her for a few seconds. There was something different in her eyes, a kind of nostalgia that Val'Drakar could not understand. He noticed that his master continued looking at the girl even after she had moved away.
"Who is she?"
Ylrie took a few seconds to answer.
"We can say that she will be the next me."
Val'Drakar did not understand the meaning of those words, but from that moment on, he began paying much more attention to that child.
Her name was Lyrielle, and, as time passed, he also began to care about her much more than the others. Ylrie continued watching her growth while using her ability to see possible futures. Some visions brought nothing but despair, but others seemed to carry small possibilities of salvation. In one of them, she saw a boy carrying a sword who would become a great hero. He would possess the power of a light capable of burning anything that was not pure. To Ylrie, every new story that appeared in her visions seemed to carry a small possibility of hope.
Until one vision brought something different.
When Ylrie awakened, there was hope in her eyes. She had seen a child who could be chosen by the magical fire spirit that had just died and transformed into a tree.
"This could be our salvation. If she can free us... Val'Drakar, we have to prepare something capable of transporting several Elves and that can withstand being transferred without the permission or the mental resistance required by the Supreme God."
"Yes, Master."
"Yes, Mother."
Lyrielle was also determined to help. At that time, Ylrie seemed to possess more hope than at any other point during those years of war. For the first time in a long time, there was a possibility that her children would not have to die there. It was also during this period that a new friend appeared among them: a humanoid lizard named Laflez, who, despite being quite lazy, ended up becoming important to that plan.
The preparations took time. They could not simply create any object and expect it to be capable of crossing a dimension protected by the Supreme God. Everyone needed to contribute with the little power they still possessed. After much effort, they managed to create a crystal ball made of pure magic, using the energy of all the survivors.
"I will seal all of you, but stay calm. For us, it will be as if only one second has passed after you fall asleep."
Lyrielle had turned seventeen that day and become the strongest among the fifty children. Even so, they still needed to wait for the survivors who were outside the barrier to return. After some time, Vaelith finally appeared accompanied by two more Elves. With them, the number of survivors reached only fifty-four.
"Very well, Val'Drakar. Tarcen and Laflez took care of everything. And please... don't die."
"Don't worry, my lady. Among the three of us, I can revive as many times as necessary."
The youngest ones were the first to enter the sphere. For a few moments, it seemed that everything was finally going according to plan. The plan was ready, the sphere had been created, and the survivors could be sent outside that place.
Then, a new vision appeared in Ylrie's mind.
Her entire body trembled.
She fell to her knees.
"What happened, Master?"
Ylrie tried to answer, but her voice took some time to come out. What she had seen was worse than anything she had imagined.
"The original world will be destroyed... even with Kai being the strongest human in history..."
The hope that had appeared in her eyes began to disappear. She trembled as she tried to understand that vision, but she did not have time to do anything else.
A blade pierced her chest.
The attack had come from one of the Elves who had arrived with Vaelith.
"As Lord Sairao said, you cannot see the future of someone with the hidden ones' curse."
"VALDIR!"
Vaelith reacted immediately. Angrily, he performed a slash toward Valdir's head, but the traitor managed to dodge it by a narrow margin.
"Vaelith, you have always been the strongest. But now, with Lord Sairao's power, I am stronger than you."
Vaelith quickly looked at the crystal ball that had rolled away and realized that there was no time to fight there. He pointed his sword toward it and ordered the others to leave. He would stay behind and take care of the situation.
Lyrielle looked at Valdir with hatred. She wanted to kill him at that moment, but her superior's orders were clear. She needed to protect the sphere. So, she ran to Ylrie and carried her, following the other survivors.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Several other traitors appeared around them, all with smiles on their faces.
'The Elves who betrayed us many years ago.'
Tarcen and Laflez immediately moved forward to face them, trying to buy time for the others to escape. Val'Drakar looked at the two for a moment, understanding that they were preparing to make a sacrifice.
"Sorry... and thank you."
He could not waste any more time. Val'Drakar took the crystal ball and brought Ylrie and Lyrielle to the tree he used as a source of power.
"My lord, it would be better for me to stay behind and delay them, just as the others did."
When Val'Drakar was about to respond, a barrier appeared around Ylrie and Lyrielle.
Ylrie, even while injured, had gathered some of her power to protect them. She looked at the two and quickly sent them inside the sphere.
"Master?"
Lyrielle barely managed to understand what was happening before she noticed a presence approaching.
A shadow appeared before them.
Sairao.
Beside him were Tarcen and Laflez, but something was deeply wrong with the two of them. Their bodies were corrupted, and their appearance had changed completely.
Val'Drakar immediately assumed a combat stance. His eyes carried pain upon seeing his former companions in that state, but he did not retreat.
On the other side, Sairao remained still.
The battle was about to begin.
Ylrie, determined to prevent that fight from destroying what little remained of her world, created a small separate dimension for the confrontation to take place there. That way, even if both of them used all the power they possessed, the rest of that place would not be destroyed along with them.