Reincarnated as both God and The Devil

Chapter 103: I welcome you home, my children

The tension between the two armies could melt mountains and freeze oceans. Neither of the armies were blinking, afraid that one would have an arrow stuck on their heads if they do.

And in this conflicting calmness, the sovereigns of the two races advanced forward to the center of the field. With their trusted aides on the side and their greatest warrior.

For the Queen of the Elves, it was her advisor, and a warrior covered in a green cloak. Ilrina was also following behind them.

For the King of the Humans, it was her daughter and perhaps the strongest mage in the country, Sofia. Sofia was dragging what one could only assume is a man, fully covered and hidden in cloth.

With the two sides nearing each other, the silence their armies grew.

"I see you look as beautiful as always, Queen Silvia", the Human King greeted as soon as they were in a considerate distance.

The Queen looked young, true. But if one were to stare at her eyes, one could see the epic stories that it could tell.

"And age has not been kind to you, Human King", the Queen replied.

After that, once again, silence.

Kings have been replaced, countless castles shattered and forests withered.

Centuries of war, peace a fantasy.

Perhaps one had already forgotten to talk with each other as they stared in silence. Perhaps this is a kind of peace in and of itself.

The armies of two sides waited. Waiting for the time to strike, waiting for their fate.

And finally, the silence was broken by a voice.

"We are gathered here because it is what the Great Mother of Spirit desires. To unite our race and battle against the true enemy"

It was Princess Ilrina, who, despite the obvious restlessness on her face, spoke assertively. "I am a witness to the Great Mother Spirit's prophecy, and so is Princess Sofia of the Human race", she said as she glanced at Sofia. She then squinted her eyes, as if asking where Viel is and what is happening to their plan.

"Is this true, Human Princess?", Queen Silvia asked.

And in reply, Sofia nodded.

"You may be a Princess of the humans, but you will show our Queen respect!", suddenly, the Elf Queen's advisor harrumphed.

Hearing the advisor's grumpy tone, Sofia could only reveal a grin as she looked at him. The Queen's advisor frowned as he saw Sofia's obviously mocking stare.

"My Queen, this is ridiculous", the advisor approached the queen, "These humans do not treat you with respect! And this talk about the Great Mother of spirits is prep-"

"Enough, Iliad", Queen Silvia waved her hand, "I believe in what my daughter said. The fact that he King is here already proves the truth in her words"

"But my Queen-"

"Enough", once again the Queen waved her hand.

Advisor Iliad could only bow his head, an obvious frown forming on his face.

Queen Silvia then looked around, "Where is the Great Spirit?", the Queen asked, obviously referring to Viel.

"M-mother, I told you, Viel is not the great spirit", Ilrina interrupted.

"I know what you said", the Queen continued, "But to be on par with the Earth Goddess, what is he if not a Great Spirit?"

"I am afraid he will be late", it was Sofia who answered the Queen's question.

The Queen, of course, was well aware of who Sofia is. She was, after all, the one who single-handedly shifted the balance of the war. The Queen was no fool, even if her daughter did not tell her about the Great Mother of Spirits, she would have agreed to this parley. Whether she wants to admit it or not, they were slowly losing the war.

And so the Queen nodded towards Sofia, she then looked at the man who was fully covered in cloth that was standing beside the princess.

"And who is that?", the Queen asked.

"It is a gift", this time, it was the King who answered, "A gift to celebrate the peace to come"

Hearing the King's confident tone, Advisor Iliad cleared his throat, "None of that is set in tone", said Advisor Iliad, "Please, my Queen, peace with the humans is ridiculous. Your father would be asham-"

"I am afraid I do not have a gift to offer in return", Queen Silvia interrupted the advisor before he could finish his words.

"But you do, your Majesty", the King smiled. He then looked towards Sofia and nodded, "May I present to you our gift"

Sofia swiftly and elegantly removed the cloth, and there, revealed an elf.

An elf covered in bruises. His mouth gagged, a steel collar fashioning his neck.

"What is the meaning of this!?", Advisor Iliad bellowed.

"S-sofia!?", Ilrina gasped, her face filled with confusion as she looked at Sofia.

The queen's guard, who has been quiet this whole exchange, quickly removed his cloak and unsheathed his blade.

"My queen! We have been fooled!", Advisor Iliad said as he grabbed the Queen's arm. The soldiers behind them started to clamor as they too, unsheathed their weapons. The cries of war forming on their faces.

"ENOUGH!"

The grass on the vast field rippled from the Queen's shout. And like ripples, her army stopped advancing one by one.

"Human King!", the Queen hollered, "You will tell me the meaning of this!"

"Perhaps it would be best to ask him, your Majesty", the King smiled as Sofia removed the gag from the captive elf's mouth.

With the gag removed from his mouth, the captive elf quickly turned to the Queen's advisor, "A-advisor Iliad, please save me!", he shouted desperately.

"Free him, you heathens!", Advisor Iliad roared.

"Oh? This elf seems to know you very well", Sofia chuckled.

"Of course he would know me, I am the advisor to the Queen!", Advisor Iliad waved his hands frantically.

"But to approach you first instead of the Queen?", Sofia fixed her spectacles, "What a loyal subject to you, that is"

The Queen was silent as she stared at the captive elf. But there was an obvious frown forming on her face.

"W-what are you saying!?", Iliad stuttered. He was about to say more, but the Queen waved her hand.

"Who are you?", the Queen asked the captive elf.

Although it was minute, the captive elf gave a slight glance towards the advisor before he answered the Queen, "I...I am but your humble servant, my Queen".

"Why did the humans capture you?"

"I...I don't know, my queen. I was just- ACK!"

Before he could reason, the collar he was wearing started to light up as he howled in pain.

"What are you doing!? Barbarians!", seeing the captive elf in pain, advisor Iliad bellowed and once again commanded the army to advance. But once again, the Queen stopped them.

"I ask again, who are you?", the Queen asked, her tone now showing authority.

"M-my name is Inrad, my queen", the captive elf trembled as he feared the pain would come again if he lied, "I work under Advisor Iliad"

"What!? Preposterous!", advisor Iliad cackled, "I have not even seen this elf before!"

"What kind of work?", his words, however, were ignored by the Queen.

"I"

The captive elf then began telling his story. He was hired by advisor Iliad to hunt and capture humans. It did not matter whether they were alive or dead, what mattered is that their bodies were intact.

The humans were then sold by the Advisor as food to a group of elves.

"!!!", Ilrina's eyes widened in shock. She then looked at Sofia, remembering her words of how the elves ate humans. She knew that in the past, the elves did so. But she could not imagine that such a vile practice survived until now.

The Queen, however, only sighed when she heard this.

"Nonsense!", hearing the accusations against him, Advisor Iliad roared, "My queen, surely you don't believe this performance!?"

The grass in the field began to vibrate, filling the field with slithering noises. The grass only calmed down when the Queen released a heavy breath.

"I am aware that a small party of my kind has been eating humans", the Queen said, "And for the sake of peace, I apologize", the Queen then bowed her head.

"My Queen!? What are you doing!?"

"I had my suspicions", the Queen added, "I just did not think that it would be you who lead this party, Iliad", she said as she looked at her advisor.

"Lies! How can you even believe the words of the humans!?", Iliad pointed at the captive elf, "He has been tortured and most probably brainwashed! My Queen, please listen to reason!"

"Enough, Iliad", the Queen said softly. She then turned her head towards the Human King, "Then I hope you like my gift as well"

"Izran, tie the advisor and give him to the humans", ordered Queen Silvia to the warrior beside her.

"Wait! Wait!", Iliad quickly kneeled in front of Queen Silvia.

"Eno-", before Queen Silvia can finish her words, Iliad swiftly stood up, unsheathing the blade that was on his waist and plunging it directly to the Queen's heart.

The sound of flesh tearing whispered in the ears of Ilrina, "Mother!".

The elven warrior, Izran, was too late to cover his Queen as he held the rope that was supposed to tie Iliad.

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was a drop of blood.

The drop of blood, however, was not the Queen's.

"What!?"

Iliad stared at his knife that was plunged not in the Queen, but through the King's hand. How he got there so fast, everyone wondered.

Seeing that the Queen was alive and well, and looking at him with a threatening expression, Iliad screamed.

"Now! Do it now! Attack!"

Suddenly, a small unit of men from the Queen's army drew their bows and unsheathed their weapons. Some of their mages also started casting their spells.

At first, it was only a small number of them, but like a wave, soon, all of them had their weapons ready.

"Stop! By the order of your Queen!", the Queen shouted.

Most of the men did stop, however, it only took another fire to flicker for them to advance again.

"Rescue the Queen!", a group of elves shouted.

The Queen's shouts were drowned as the shouts of her men filled the battlefield instead. And soon, the army rushed towards the center of the battlefield.

And in response, the human army did too.

"HAAA!"

The cries of war filled the air.

"I am so sorry, my Queen", Iliad's mocking voice whispered, "but some of the elves have... peculiar appetites. And I happen to provide it for the-", before he could finish his words, he was pushed to the ground and restrained by the Queen's guard.

"Mother! Let's go!", In this confusion, Ilrina grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her towards the human's side.

The Queen, however, did not budge. Her mind, in conflict. Should she allow herself to be pulled by her daughter, for a chance of peace?

Or should she stay? To continue the war her race has been fighting for centuries?

But then, the conflicting thoughts on her mind instantly vanished as soon as she saw the Human King.

The Human King was calm, he did not even move from his spot as he removed the knife that was plunged through his hand.

"What are you planning, King Leon?", the Queen asked as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh, it's not my plan, your Majesty", the King moved his injured hand.

"It is your daughter's plan", Sofia interrupted. She then looked at Ilrina with a slight smile on her face.

Hearing this, Ilrina's eyes widened, and then, a smile plastered her face as well, "Could it be?"

As soon as she said that, a loud thunder reverberated from the skies.

The clouds whirled and soon separated, causing the rays of the sun to cover the entire battlefield. It was as if heaven itself was waving hello.

The army's flag stopped cracking as it remained still, downcasted. The movements of the grass were gone, along with the wind that choreographed their dance.

Both armies as well, stopped their advance.

"This What is thi-", before the struggling Iliad can finish his words, a bolt of lightning struck near their position.

Dust and smoke filled the entire area. And then once again, followed by the bolt of lightning, was a thunder.

The explosion rippled through the air, clearing all the dust and smoke like a wave.

And there, in the center of it all, was a boy. His long golden hair elegantly waving in the air, his skin, almost blinding as it reflected the sun's rays.

And the boy, he was only wearing a bunch of leaves, enough to cover his bottom parts.

"...Why are you almost naked!?", Sofia shouted, "That was not part of the plan!"

Her wails, however, were drowned by an echo.

An echo of a voice that said,

"I welcome you home, my children"