"Actually, that terrifying existence lurking at the bottom of the lake... has been dormant in Shadow-fold Valley since an era so long ago it's hard to trace back. Only, back then, it remained sunk in a deep slumber, silent and traceless like a stubborn rock in the valley itself."
Maria's voice was deep and distant, as if piercing through the veil of time, slowly laying out a sealed clan secret before Castorice.
"And our Moon-marked Clan, tracing back to our roots, actually discovered this isolated secret realm by chance tens of thousands of years ago, when the 'Dragon Clan Disaster' that swept the heavens and the earth erupted across the Eresia Continent. We went through untold hardships to escape the flames of war and destruction before settling here to take refuge."
"Take refuge?" Castorice repeated softly. This word allowed her to keenly catch the likely displacement and hardship behind this history.
"Yes, take refuge." Maria's sigh carried the memories of their ancestors. "At that time, we were wandering and destitute, our clan withered. Even the clan name 'Moon-marked,' which carries our hope and inheritance, hadn't been established yet. It was the first matriarch, the great Lord Elowen Moonwhisper, who led the surviving clansmen to find this place and build our current home, Shadow-fold Valley."
Her gaze turned toward the window, as if she could see the figure of that legendary ancestor.
"With her unparalleled wisdom and power, Matriarch Elowen first led the clansmen to cleverly hide and seal all known entrances to the valley using profound illusions and natural magic, completely isolating this pure land from the disturbances of the outside world. After that, we were able to recuperate and rebuild our home in this fertile land."
Speaking of this, Maria shook her head slightly, pulling her drifting thoughts back.
"Apologies, I've strayed a bit from the topic."
She composed herself, refocusing the topic on the monster at the bottom of the lake.
"According to the oldest ancient records in the clan, as well as the descriptions from Patriarch Thorne, who personally experienced those past events, shortly after our ancestors settled down, they encountered an extremely bizarre phenomenon. All crops planted near Crescent Lake, no matter how vigorously they were growing originally, would inexplicably wither and die in a short period."
"At first, the ancestors suspected there was a problem with the lake water itself. So, they tried taking the lake water out and applying the purification spells the elven clan is most adept at, attempting to dispel any potential filth before using the purified water for irrigation..."
A profound sorrow appeared on Maria's face, as if she had personally experienced the helplessness of those dashed hopes from back then.
"However, the result... Your Excellency can probably guess, right?"
"The Aura of Death in the lake water couldn't be dispelled by purification spells, correct?"
Listening to Maria's description, Castorice stated this calmly.
Just like what Lunara did this noon, the amount of Aura of Death in the lake water she scooped out remained exactly the same after purification.
This indicated that the so-called purification spells were completely useless against this Aura of Death.
It was quite strange, though, because generally speaking, weren't purification spells meant to purify evil energy? Why was this Aura of Death completely immune to purification?
Could it be because it was produced by the Evil God's Progeny?
"Exactly." Maria's affirmation interrupted Castorice's thoughts, her voice carrying a trace of bitterness. "The light of the purification spell faced that lake water like a pebble thrown into an abyss, failing to stir up even the slightest ripple. Crops watered with this 'purified' water still headed irrevocably towards decay. But what's even more terrifying is that the tragedy didn't stop there..."
Her voice grew even deeper, carrying a pain she couldn't bear to recall.
"After a period of accumulation, some clansmen who had directly drunk the lake water began to exhibit various terrifying symptoms. Initially, it was an inexplicable weakness throughout their bodies, their mana flow seeming obstructed by something formless, becoming sluggish and blocked. Then, the situation rapidly deteriorated; their internal organs began to decay at an accelerated rate for unknown reasons, and tearing, wrenching pain came from their hearts... In the end, they passed away one by one in indescribable agony..."
"This sudden disaster was like a dark cloud shrouding the entire nascent clan, completely alarming Matriarch Elowen as well."
"She immediately utilized all possible means, casting the most profound detection magic to trace the source. Ultimately, her mental power pierced through the illusion of the lake water and caught the Aura of Death spreading like black threads within it."
"Following the source of this Aura of Death, Matriarch Elowen's consciousness dove into the deepest part of the lake bottom... There, she saw 'it'." Maria's voice instinctively lowered, carrying a trace of primal fear. "It was an indescribable, massive amalgam of flesh and blood, a blasphemous creation. It lay dormant quietly in the mud and darkness at the bottom of the lake. Countless irregularly shaped vines, seemingly possessing life, grew twistedly on its colossal body. It was this entity that unconsciously emitted that fatal Aura of Death, polluting this lake."
"At that moment, Matriarch Elowen understood everything. She understood why this hidden valley with such superior conditions had no traces of any intelligent races settling here before our arrival... and she understood what a grim choice the clan was facing."
"However, the situation at the time did not allow us to migrate the entire clan again to find a new home. Outside was a continent in turmoil, and inside were exhausted clansmen. We had no way of retreat."
"Thus, Matriarch Elowen resolutely gathered all the powerful warriors and mages in the clan to form a subjugation team, determined to eradicate this tumor entrenched in the heart of our home. At that time, we didn't know this monster was the progeny of an evil god; we only viewed it as an extremely powerful and evil magical beast."
"So, since you eventually settled down here, and that Evil God's Progeny is still sealed at the bottom of the lake to this day... does that mean the subjugation back then was successful, at least in terms of 'sealing' it?" Castorice asked thoughtfully, following the storyline.
Maria lowered her head deeply, her voice becoming heavy and hoarse:
"Yes, we succeeded... but it was an incredibly tragic victory won with the blood and lives of countless of our finest clansmen. Although I didn't personally experience that ancient war, just reading the brief records written in blood and tears in the ancient tomes, and listening to Patriarch Thorne describe those past events with an inability to fully conceal the grief and horror in his eyes... I can imagine just how dark and desperate that battle at the bottom of the deep lake must have been."
"The final outcome was," her voice carried endless sorrow, "Matriarch Elowen, together with several of the most powerful elves in the clan, burned all their vitality and souls. Using Matriarch Elowen herself as the core, they constructed a powerful seal, thoroughly suppressing that terrifying monster at the deepest part of the lake bottom."
"Moreover, during the battle, relying on her extraordinary perception, Matriarch Elowen also discovered an astonishing fact: this monster, besides that dense Power of Death, actually also contained an extremely pure Moonlight power at the same time. These two diametrically opposed powers formed a bizarre balance within its body."
Maria paused for a moment and continued explaining:
"Utilizing this characteristic, Matriarch Elowen cleverly incorporated a conversion mechanism when constructing the seal. The seal's power firmly locked the monster and its fatal Power of Death within its core, while simultaneously guiding and stripping out that portion of pure Moonlight power from its body, allowing it to flow continuously into the lake water, turning it into an energy source that nourishes this lake and our clansmen instead. This is exactly the true reason why Crescent Lake was later called the 'sacred lake,' and why the lake water contains a peculiar Moonlight power."
"Then, I understand the benefits and principles of the seal." Castorice's gaze sharpened, pointing straight to the core. "Now, it's time to answer the most crucial question. What is the price of maintaining this seal?"
Maria's body trembled imperceptibly. She took a deep breath, her voice carrying unconcealable pain and heaviness as she spoke word by word:
"The price is... every hundred years, the seal's power periodically decays. To maintain its stability and prevent the monster from breaking out... we must sacrifice to the seal an elf who has a portion of the first Matriarch Elowen's bloodline flowing within her, and whose body has undergone a special ritual, being continuously infused with Moonlight power for 'synchronization' over a long period. By using her unique bloodline and power as a catalyst, we can reinforce the seal anew in exchange for the clan's peace for another hundred years."
"So, Lunara... is the chosen 'sacrifice' for this generation, isn't she?"
After listening to Maria's heavy and lengthy narration, Castorice was silent for a moment before stating this already self-evident conclusion with a tone akin to a sigh.
"Exactly." Maria nodded with difficulty, admitting to this cruel fact. "She is the clansman destined to sacrifice her life to maintain the seal within this century's cycle."
"A hundred years... sounds long, but for a life, especially one forced to end prematurely, how fleeting and cruel this number is." Castorice sighed in a low voice, her gaze falling on Maria, carrying a scrutinizing look. "Then according to you, over these tens of thousands of long years, you have already sacrificed hundreds of clansmen for this seal..."
But before she could finish, her words were slightly agitatedly interrupted by Maria.
"However, over these tens of thousands of years, the elves born and raised in our Moon-marked Clan far exceed hundreds!" Maria's eyes suddenly became sharp, as if defending an unquestionable belief. "For the continuation of the 'Moon-marked' Clan, for the majority of our clansmen to continue surviving and multiplying in this valley, the sacrifice of individuals... is a necessary and unavoidable price."
Her voice carried an almost stubborn firmness:
"We will forever remember their dedication. Like the first Matriarch Elowen, they are heroes who sacrificed themselves to save the entire clan. Their souls will be with the Moon-marked forever."
"Really..."
Hearing this, Castorice felt a lump of pent-up frustration in her chest, difficult to express.
She despised this kind of decision that casually determined the fate of an individual in the name of "collective interest."
However, according to Maria, they were actually just a group of people tied to a trolley track where a trolley ran every hundred years.
The lever was right beside their hands; pulling it would only cause one clansman to die, but not pulling it might result in everyone being crushed to death by the trolley.
They were merely forced to choose the former and had institutionalized this choice for tens of thousands of years.
Ultimately, she closed her eyes and slowly exhaled, as if trying to expel that sense of powerlessness along with it.
A moment later, she reopened her eyes, the depths of them having returned to calm.
"Forget it. In the end, I am only an outsider, unqualified to make arbitrary judgments on your way of survival that has continued for ten thousand years." Her tone returned to indifference, but she immediately threw out a sharp question. "However, I have a doubt. You mentioned that maintaining the seal requires the bloodline of the first Matriarch Elowen. But after tens of thousands of years, wouldn't the bloodline be continuously diluted as it's passed down from generation to generation, until it ultimately fails to meet the seal's requirements? When that time comes... how do you plan to deal with it?"
"That situation won't happen." Maria shook her head, her tone affirmative. "We possess a special inheritance ritual capable of ensuring the purity and continuity of the first matriarch's bloodline, preventing a gap in the bloodline required for the seal. But... these involve the most core inheritance secrets within the clan and are unrelated to the seal and the monster in the lake itself. Please forgive me for being unable to disclose more to Your Excellency."
Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed Castorice's eyes, but she didn't delve deeper into it.
"Alright, I understand. Please continue."
Seeing this, Maria's expression was shrouded in loneliness again, and her voice lowered accordingly:
"Originally... according to the normal cycle, Lunara... would still have at least ten years of time to experience life, without needing to face this cruel fate immediately. But..."
Her words stopped abruptly, as if the following words were too heavy to voice.
"But due to some reason, a problem occurred with the seal, causing the sacrifice ritual to have to be initiated ten years in advance, correct?"
Castorice directly picked up her unfinished words, piercing through that thin layer of window paper.
"And that problem is exactly the situation that erupted at the center of the lake this time?"
"...Exactly." Maria lowered her head, her voice barely audible. "This is an unprecedented situation, and you are the only variable that appeared during this time. Even more coincidentally, you happened to be right there at the scene when the anomaly at the center of the lake erupted."
Castorice was slightly taken aback, then pointed to herself with some confusion:
"So, you suspect... this abnormality with the seal is related to me?"
Maria was silent for a moment, slowly raised her head, and looked at Castorice with a complex gaze:
"We cannot rule out this possibility because everything is just too coincidental, even though we currently don't have any conclusive evidence."
Speaking of this, Maria's tone suddenly became tough. Her gaze locked tightly onto Castorice, carrying a final warning:
"Precisely because of this, to prevent any potential unexpected factors from interfering with the seal again, we must ask you to leave Shadow-fold Valley immediately. We have already repaid the kindness of your two instances of help with that token of gratitude. What follows is a matter concerning the survival of the clan, and it is the responsibility and destiny of our Moon-marked Clan ourselves."
"Therefore, if Your Excellency truly has no connection to the evil god in the lake, and if Your Excellency harbors no malice toward our clan, then please leave. This is the best choice for both Your Excellency's personal safety and the future of our Moon-marked Clan."
As her words fell, as if to verify her statement, two elven swordsmen wearing light armor and carrying longswords at their waists, along with an Elven mage holding a staff swirling with the radiance of elements, silently stepped out from the shadows of the large wooden house. They formed a triangular formation, faintly sealing off Castorice's retreat.
Simultaneously, within Castorice's powerful perception, she clearly caught more concealed auras emerging from the surrounding woods.
Dozens of elven warriors and mages had silently surrounded this lakeside wooden house in layers.