Chapter 293 The Animal God.
"In the dense forest, Norn roams, the Animal God, ruler of nature's fate. In their free-spirited existence, they are humble, wisely governing the destinies of animals.
They take on invisible forms, traversing through trees, exploring vast valleys. Listening to the whispers of the wind, observing the creatures, they find happiness in the harmony of nature.
In the wild realm, they play with joy, leaping gleefully, singing untamed songs. They gently touch every living being, showering love in their interconnected lives.
Full of wisdom and extensive knowledge, they maintain balance, protecting the fragile environment. With tender caresses, animals find shelter, their fates guided with compassion.
Oh, Norn, the Animal God, you are the wise one, safeguarding wildlife, bestowing natural life. In your freedom, we find beauty, following your footsteps, embracing nature with love.
Live on, Norn, the Animal God, in the enchantment of life, inspiring us with boundless wilderness. We learn from you about balance and love, within your embrace, wild life becomes eternal."
Slightly different from other elf races, the followers of the Animal God have no other race than the Animal Elf race, also known to humans as Satyrs. The above verses are snippets from the sacred book of the Animal Elf, The Story of Norn, depicting the life story of the Animal God named Norn.
Satyrs consider The Story of Norn as a guide to their way of life. Protecting the delicate balance of nature and controlling the food chain of forest life are the core teachings. Satyrs believe that the balance of nature can only be maintained if the food chain remains intact.
Therefore, Satyrs are known as the most fierce and brutal elf race. In their pursuit of maintaining the food chain, they wage war against other elf races and even among themselves. They live as nomads, like locusts, taking over the homes of other elf races.
However, after the first inter-mana species war, Satyrs found another target to vent their cruelty. Every time they attack, they target those weaker than them. They infiltrate the enemy's rear lines to enter the territories of the weak.
Their cowardly tactics ensure that every village near the war zone is plundered by Satyrs. Even the brutality and savagery with which they treat the humans in the villages they plunder disgusts other elf races. So when humans refer to the animal elf race as Satyrs, other elf races follow suit.
Satyrs are sometimes seen roasting a living human child or adding spices to a woman's vagina before boiling her alive. For Satyrs, the weak, have no say in how they will die, while the strong Satyrs have no restraint in doing whatever they want to the weak.
Their brutality has led other elf races to always steer clear of Satyr encampments. Even during major wars, their forces are always separated from the rest of the elven armies. It's as if the human alliance is collaborating with their enemy, swiftly focusing their attacks on the Satyr forces to eliminate them from the battlefield.
However, Satyrs are not a weak race. It can be said that they are incredibly strong and outnumber the other elf races. Perhaps due to their animalistic lifestyle, Satyrs do not have the concept of marriage or ownership within their culture.
They believe that a woman's purpose in life is to bear children and care for them. Therefore, it doesn't matter who the father of the child is, and it doesn't matter how many men the woman sleeps with to conceive.
Because of this, Satyrs often engage in massive orgies involving thousands of participants. They sometimes even invite other elf races or human captives to join their orgy festivities. Although crossbreeding between different elf races is impossible, Satyrs couldn't care less about that. For them, if a woman can conceive a child, the identity of the father is not important.
It is this way of life that led me and my fellow sisters to decide against slaughtering them all to extinction like the other elf races. I believe that Satyrs are the best livestock for the survival of the Asura race. With the presence of Satyrs, we can ensure a sufficient number of potential Valkyries for the future.
Like other elf races, Satyrs have their own unique mana color that has been with them since birth. This gives them advantages in certain types of spell factions, especially those related to animal manipulation or puppetry.
The most terrifying aspect of their mana color is the Control spell faction. The Control spell faction allows a mage to control the body of their target by manipulating the mana flow within them.
Control spell faction is incredibly frightening as it enables the caster to control anyone or anything that possesses mana within their body. The caster can do anything with their victim under their control – they can torture, make them commit suicide, or even force them to do things beyond reason.
The most horrifying tragedy occurred on a battlefield named Sambit. At that time, the human alliance and the elf alliance were facing each other, separated only by a lake in the middle.Satyrs use smoke camouflage to infiltrate behind human defense lines. They silently attack several villages around Sambit. Using the Control spell faction, Satyr forces take control of every human they encounter.
Then, using these humans, the Satyr forces form a bridge made of the villagers holding hands, creating a massive bridge made of human bodies.
The humans are still alive and breathing, but their bodies are immobilized by the Satyrs' Control spell faction, and they cannot even scream. Only horror and terror can be seen in their wide, unblinking eyes.
Casually, the Satyr forces walk across the bridge of humans without using any defensive spells. They are confident that the human forces will not dare to attack them.
And indeed, the mages in the human ranks cannot bring themselves to cast their spells. Despite the arrogance of the mages and nobles, they are still human. Many of them have enough conscience not to kill their own kind.
But war is war, and when conscience is mixed with violence, defeat is inevitable. The human commanders force the mages to recite their spells and direct them towards the approaching Satyr forces.
He instructs the mages to consider the villagers who were turned into a bridge as already dead. However, before any mage can steel their heart, the Satyr commander orders his mages to release control from the mouths of the village humans.
At that moment, screams of unimaginable suffering erupt from the depths of the villagers' hearts.
"AAARGHH... HELP!! HELP!! HELP!!!"
"HURT! HELP! HURT! HELP!!!"
"MERCY! PAIN!! MERCY!! PAIN!!"
"HELP MY CHILD!! HELP, DON'T KILL MY CHILD!!!"
"MOTHER!! IS HURT!!! HURT!!!"
"RELEASE MY WIFE!! PLEASE, DON'T HURT MY WIFE!!!"
"My husband, I can't bear it anymore. Am I going to die? What about our unborn child?"
"SOB.. SOB.. SOBB... I DON'T WANT TO DIE!! HELP!! IT'S HURT!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"
The mages who had steeled their hearts trembled upon hearing the screams. To create a sturdy bridge, the Satyrs not only bound the limbs of the villagers with ropes but also interlocked their bones.
This was an incredibly cruel method that kept the victims alive while subjecting them to excruciating pain. The screams filling the air resembled the torments of burial and the tortures of hell.
The hairs on their necks stood on end, and their bodies began to tremble with fear. Even the elves who did not understand the human language grasped the hellish scene unfolding before them.
The fighting spirit of both sides vanished. The clanging of weapons hitting the ground echoed as they slipped from the hands of both armies. Their eyes could only stare in horror, while their ears begged for respite.
Only the Satyr forces continued to advance with jubilant smiles on their faces. The victory was within reach, and they would seize it by any means necessary. Only the strong could survive, that was the law of nature, and it would always be so.
Until a mage decided to forsake his conscience and recite his incantation. Calvin Lewis, who would later be known as the Ironhearted Man.
Using the unique Spark spell faction resulting from the mutation of the Fire spell faction, Calvin conjured a gigantic red sphere, its size eclipsing the sun. The massive red sphere soared towards the Satyr forces.
When the colossal sphere was directly above them, it exploded, unleashing a wave of searing heat that scorched everything within hundreds of meters. The entire bridge of village humans turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind. However, some Satyr warriors managed to survive by quickly employing their defensive spells.
The explosion also served as a signal that the war was far from over. Though the method was brutal, Calvin Lewis's actions silenced the cries of pain that had been plaguing the morale of the human forces.
The infuriated humans shouted out, and their previously feeble morale suddenly flared up. Like a possessed horde, the mages and warriors plunged into the lake, hunting down any remaining Satyrs.
Meanwhile, the forces of other elven races merely watched, showing no intention to aid the Satyrs in their escape from the human pursuit. In the Battle of Sambit, the first semblance of unity between humans and elves was found.
The unity that existed in the fact that they all still possessed a conscience.