Lann knocked down several elven swordsmen in an instant, as if he was strolling in the garden, injuring but not killing them. If this chic look had been seen by the people of Cintra or the knights of the Four-Nation Alliance, it would probably have caused another round of cheers and given him a few more nicknames.
But in the eyes of the Squirrel Party, that relaxed and carefree look was suffocating and chilling.
"I told you, I saved you. And I will continue to save you." Lann said as he stood among the groaning Scoia'tael. "Can you listen to me now?"
Iorveth took a sharp step back.
The man in front of him had the momentum of having just defeated all his companions. Iorveth did not want to show his weakness, but he could not suppress the fear rising in his heart.
If the display of physical and sword abilities on Haji Fortress could still be barely understood by ordinary people, then the [Teleport], [Flash] and Sign abilities that Lann had just displayed had already exceeded the scope of "enemies that can be killed" in Iorveth's cognition.
The leader of the Scoia'tael shouted resolutely: "Humans! I have nothing to say to you! The people of the mountains will never forget the blood that was shed!"
"Ha. If you had listened to my self-introduction just now, you might have tasted something different."
Lann said coldly: "I am Lann Lannister Rayanron."
Iorveth glared at Lann. The racial hatred was irreconcilable, and he didn't want to hear more from Lann.
But we all know that when a word appears repeatedly in front of us, even if we try our best to avoid recalling it, it will still emerge in our minds uncontrollably.
"Leianlun..." Iorveth's eyes were still full of anger, but there was a different flavor inexplicably. "You are the lion of Cintra, the daughter of Laura Doron aip Shidahar - the descendant of Leianlun."
Before he became a member of the Scoia'tael out of hatred for humans, Iorveth had a good family background. Even though the elves on the continent have fallen into decline, many deep-rooted things are still stubbornly upheld by the elves - such as education.
Especially since Iorveth was not yet a young elf, he was still old enough to know a lot of secrets. For example, this "Laura Doron Aipu Xidahar" was actually the first generation of the Ancient Blood.
Iorveth said coldly: "You are the descendant of Laura Doron, which means... you also have elven blood in your body. But this is meaningless. Although we hate this fact very much - but now most people on the continent have elven blood."
When Iorveth said this, his expression was filled with a deeper level of mockery. The aesthetics of elves and humans are very different, and many elves think that humans are nothing more than hairless monkeys. However, under this aesthetic, a large number of elf-human hybrids were still born, and the composition of the mixture is very complicated.
This involves a series of events soaked in blood and wailing, including wars, captives, slave trade, etc.
——Of course, there is true love, for example, the source of Lann's ancient blood, "Laura Doron Aipu Xidahar", fell in love with humans and eloped, thus bringing the ancient blood to humans. However, many elves deny the love element in this, believing that this is a conspiracy planned by humans.
Iorveth, an elf who harbors a deep hatred for humans, is obviously one of the "many elves" in the conspiracy theory.
The Scoia'tael was about to speak again to show his toughness and his determination not to surrender even if he was captured by Lann. But suddenly a flash of inspiration exploded in his mind, taking away all his sanity.
"Ancient Blood..."
He recalled fragments one by one -
There was Lann's physical strength beyond the elves' comprehension when he fought twelve warriors alone on the top of Haji Fortress;
There were the two sigils that Lann had just released, which were more powerful than the normal warlock's attack magic;
And Lann's strange ability to suddenly appear beside him and flash continuously in the crowd.
Iorveth could accept the failure of the Scoia'tael, could accept that he and his group were defeated by a strange and powerful person who appeared out of nowhere, and could even accept death after failure. But he could not accept the thought that appeared in his mind now.
"The ancient blood...has awakened within the human body."
He sat down on the ground in despair, with a look of despair. "Impossible, humans are just carriers of the Ancient Blood, thieves. The savior that Islinni mentioned will only appear after the Ain El clan or Ain Sid takes back the Ancient Blood. He should appear among the elves..."
"How could it be a human... How is it possible?"
Not only Iorveth, but other elves in the Scoia'tael who knew the inside story all had dazed and unbelievable looks in their eyes.
…
Before understanding the reactions of elves like Iorveth, we need to first understand the background of the elves on this continent.
The affairs of the elves are complicated.
The elves on the continent today are called "Ain Sid" in their own language, which is translated into the common language of the continent as "elves". They were once the rulers of the continent until they were overthrown by humans and retreated to the "Blue Mountains" - a vast mountain range that separates the Northern Kingdom from Haklan and Zerekan, and is also the natural border of Lyria and the eastern countries of Rivia, Aedirn, and Kaedwen. Dol Bretanna, known as the "Valley of Flowers", is located at the foot of the mountain, and the Yaruga River also originates from the depths of this mountain range.
But in fact, the "Ain Sid" elves who once ruled the continent were not the indigenous people of the continent.
They come from another world.
According to legend, there is a race called "Ain Woodard" who can easily travel through space and distort the multiverse, so that they can live in different worlds. The Ain Woodard people trace the source of this power to their divine bloodline.
Until one day, they discovered that this kind of time travel actually had sequelae, which would trigger a disaster - "white frost", a force that could freeze and destroy the world. And as they traveled more and more frequently, the speed at which the white frost spread became faster and faster.
After that, the people of Ain Woodod spent their whole lives fleeing from the White Frost, but the White Frost chased them slowly but relentlessly, as if it was a punishment for their abuse of their bloodline talents.
Legend has it that one day, during their long escape, the Iron Woodards arrived at a crossroads. One path at this crossroads led to a green world, and the other path led to the mountainous islands that humans later called Skellige. The tribe could not agree on which way to go, which was safer, and which would be farther from the white frost, so they went their separate ways.
Those who chose the mountainous islands - which is the continent where Lann is now - were later called "Ain Sheedi", and called themselves "Mountain People"; those who built a new home in the forest were called "Ain El", also known as "Alder People".
At the same time, their bloodline talents gradually weakened. After coming to the mainland, Ain Sheedy completely lost the ability to shuttle through space, and only retained the ability to use magic. When the celestial sphere convergence came, humans were able to generate chaotic energy and learned magic from the elves, and the mountain people completely lost the power to maintain their pride.
The Ain El who went to the forest world were different from their peace-loving relatives who were overthrown by humans. They loved killing. After slaughtering the inhabitants of the original world, the Ain El's ability to travel through time and space was almost gone, but they were brave enough to learn to use the white frost that destroyed the world to travel through time and space, retaining some of their talents.
The Aldermen of the Ain El clan occasionally come to the continent. They like to wear skeleton-shaped armor and use the power of frost to travel through the continent, which will cause blizzards. People who witness them call them "Wild Hunt".
But the Alder people of Ain El were not satisfied with this. They were eager to restore the glory of their ancestors. So they awakened their power through various magic, creatures and other technologies that humans could not understand. This power finally sprouted in the elf sage Laura Doron. The Ain El elves believed that Laura Doron's children would fully awaken the power of their ancestors.
They looked forward to calling this power "the blood of the ancients" - Ain El itself also means "elder" - and betrothed Laura Doron to another elven sage, hoping that the blessing of the powerful sage's bloodline could accelerate the growth of the ancient blood.
But in the end, Laura Doron eloped with a human warlock, and both humans and elves were ashamed of this relationship. The revival plan of the Ain El family was thus thwarted.
Eventually, the couple was killed by humans, but the child with the ancient blood was adopted by the Queen of Redania at the time. Humans who did not know the power of the ancient blood did not cherish this bloodline, and did not deliberately spread and protect it, so it was passed down among the upper class of human nobility, and finally only this one child in Cintra was left.
The above is the origin of the elves and the ancient blood.
有的人可能会问：那说到底上古之血其实也没怎么展现过完全体的力量，那么为什么精灵一族尤其是艾恩·艾尔这一支依旧对上古之血寄予厚望呢？
这里又要提到一位有史以来最强大的预言家、精灵先知——伊丝琳妮。
她的预言被各个种族的各个阶级所熟知，而且其中的多数都已经被验证，包括但不限于来到大陆的艾恩·希迪精灵一族的衰弱、原本时间线上血流成河的北境战争和席卷整块大陆的南北大战、以及对标兰恩前世欧洲黑死病的一场超级大瘟疫。
上古之血，在伊丝琳妮的预言中被描述成了对抗白霜、拯救世界、精灵复仇人类的强大力量。
……
兰恩说道：“世界将于寒霜中死去，并于新日下重生。那亦是上古之血撒下之种重生之时。”
已经心神大失的伊欧菲斯无意识地接上了下一句：“此种不会萌芽，却将燃起烈焰。首先——首先精灵之血将淹没大地……”
看到非常配合地开始背诵后面预言的伊欧菲斯，兰恩满意地点了点头。但他还是打断了伊欧菲斯的话：
“所以，如你所见。我是便是预言中的上古之血，有史以来第一个完全觉醒的上古之血，也就是说——”
“我就是预言中的救世主。”
兰恩用一种非常低沉、缥缈、无悲无喜的语气道：“一开始我就说了，我是来救你们的。”
伊欧菲斯心神大颤，但他依旧用尽全力夺回了一丝理智。
得亏他是个武斗派，要是换成一个不明所以的精灵术士，此刻或许已经被兰恩忽悠得得五迷三道的了。
“就算你有上古之血……你也是个人类。”
兰恩没有理会伊欧菲斯的挣扎，只是冷着眼睛：“所以我讨厌松鼠党。我对于非人种族没有意见，甚至对其中的大部分抱有好感。”
“或许你在丛林里面待了太久。但是如果你对如今的辛特拉有一点认知，那就应该知道我们现在坚守着布洛奇隆，而树精一族——她们曾是比你们松鼠党还要极端的反人类种族——如今却已经跟我们建立起了良好的友谊，甚至说一句合二为一都不为过。”
“不但如此，我还邀请了矮人朋友和半身人朋友去辛特拉定居，去给予我力量。种族的隔阂哪里都会有，但是我希望辛特拉能够成为那个独一无二的地方，一片乐土，一个可以追求多种族平等——至少是没有歧视的地方。”
“而你们松鼠党——如今却成为了掀起种族矛盾的最大推手。我在北境已经看到了不少爱好和平的非人因为你们犯下的血债而替你们血偿了。”
兰恩说着指了指一旁戒备地看着这边的半身人：“半身人是最热爱和平的种族，我猜他加入松鼠党的理由一定是‘家园被破坏’，但是你有没有想过那些破坏他家园的人类正是因松鼠党才产生了仇恨的呢？”
面对兰恩攻击性极强的话语，伊欧菲斯轻呵一声。
“哪怕觉醒了上古之血，你也果然只是人类啊。”松鼠党的领袖讥讽道，“你想要说服我放弃复仇，放弃抵抗吗？曾经的精灵就是因为低估了人类的贪婪，这才导致今天的我们退居蓝山。你想要故技重施吗？是不是太看不起人了！”
兰恩摇了摇头：“我所说的都是我所见的和我所做的，没有任何的阴谋和诡计。你大可以去验证。”
“你知道上古之血，那你肯定也知道劳拉·朵伦有着预言的能力，这种能力遗传到了我身上。”兰恩指了指自己的眼睛，“在我看到的未来里面，你们的所作所为百害而无一利。你们不但掀起了人类对非人种族的无差别大屠杀，将无数的平民拖下水；松鼠党本身还成为了政治牺牲品，你们为了尼弗迦德而战，最终却成了精灵和帝国向北境妥协的弃子。”
这就是兰恩前世带过来的记忆了，其实说是预言也没什么错。
看着脸色大变的伊欧菲斯，兰恩笑了：“没错，我知道你们的背后是帝国，我甚至知道蓝山的精灵对你们的政治支持——你们并不是自发组织的起义部队和复仇军，这些恐怕你的矮人朋友与半身人朋友都不知道吧？但我是上古之血，我什么都知道。”
松鼠党的营地不大，这些话足够让所有的松鼠党成员都听到。那些不明真相的松鼠党闻此都微微**了起来。他们对于上古之血没有什么认知，对于兰恩的话没有什么信任；让他们不安的是伊欧菲斯此刻脸上的表情，那表情就是在肯定兰恩说的是实话。
伊欧菲斯沉默了一会，不知道在想些什么。
兰恩很有耐心地等待，直到面前的精灵艰难地抬头开口：“你说……松鼠党会成为弃子？所有的战友都会被抛弃？”
“我已经反复跟你说过很多次，现在我再重申一遍：我是来救你们的。”兰恩说道，“哈吉要塞之顶的那一战算是一个问好，我让你们得以全身而退。不然哪怕你们成功刺杀了亨赛特，你们也没法活着回到这里。”
“我们早就做好了牺牲的准备！”
“我知道，我知道……你们是一群复仇者。我很理解，相信我。”兰恩摇摇头，“但是我有更好的点子，你们知道么？”
上古之血的继承人循循善诱道：“杀掉一个亨赛特，你们只能够造就一个混乱的科德温王国。你们觉得这就够了吗？仅仅让复仇之心缓解了，就足够复仇了？”
“如果按照我的计划来，我甚至能够让你们拥有整个科德温。”
……
兰恩降低了音量，其他的松鼠党只能够看到他嘴唇的开合，之后他跟伊欧菲斯的话再没有第三个人能够听到了。
但是不远处的松鼠党们能够看到伊欧菲斯脸色的变化，从迟疑、到沉重、到惊疑不定，最后变成了一种他们说不上来的奇怪神色。
“我知道你会迟疑我说的这些事情，你也拿不定主意。你大可以回去跟那些真正坐在高高椅子上的人报告，但是我相信他们也会让你按照我的计划走的。”
兰恩退后一步，表示自己的话说完了：“顺便替我向‘山谷雏菊’女士问好，我很期待能够和她见面。”
不等伊欧菲斯回答，兰恩就放开了【传送】的感应，准备离开。
他很有信心伊欧菲斯会把自己的话听进去。
“兰尼斯特！”伊欧菲斯突然出声，他不再用种族的名字称呼兰恩了，“按照你所说的一切，那你就是在帮我们了。你为什么要这么做？”
兰恩轻笑一声：“首先，我刚刚跟你说的那些话是真的。关于辛特拉的种族歧视消除乃至于种族平等。我不希望你们的罪最终要我的人民来承担。”
说完这句话，兰恩又指了指自己的眼睛，意味深长地说道：“其次，在我看到的未来里面，你们会有大作用。”
在我【看到】的未来里，也是在我将【创造】的未来里。
但是这话落在伊欧菲斯的耳中却大不相同。上古之血的未来是什么？拯救世界啊。难道松鼠党、或者说伊欧菲斯本人会在救世的过程中发挥大作用？
可惜说完这句话后兰恩不再等伊欧菲斯的反应，浑身波动起翡翠的光芒，顺着清晨的阳光消散不见了。
这一次伊欧菲斯看得仔细了。
“不是传送门，也不是任何一种已知的魔法。”他出神地自言自语，“这种神奇的传送能力……真的是上古之血吗？”
松鼠党们惊疑不定，尚在四处搜寻着兰恩的痕迹。
伊欧菲斯的副官慢慢走到他身边，低头询问道：“伊欧菲斯，这件事情……”
“法兰茜丝卡必须要知道。”伊欧菲斯突然回过神来，斩钉截铁地说道，“我要回一趟蓝山。”
副官露出了顺从的表情，对于队长的决定没有异议：“是的，女士必须知道这件事情。我们需要‘山谷雏菊’的指引……”
上古之血重现世间，这是精灵族的大事；尤其这位上古之血还达成了史无前例的觉醒，联想到那些预言中的片段，伊欧菲斯只觉得脑中阵阵眩晕。
不过在那之前，还有别的事情需要伊欧菲斯处理。
兰恩刚刚说了太多外界所不知道的信息，很多如今的松鼠党成员都不知道的信息。伊欧菲斯一回头，正看到松鼠党同伴们脸上的迟疑。
一名半身人迟疑地朝伊欧菲斯问道：“伊欧菲斯，刚刚那个人类是谁？什么是上古之血？他说的都是真的吗？我们的背后其实是……南方的人类帝国在资助？”
这些迷茫的松鼠党成员有矮人、半身人、侏儒，甚至有几个流落民间刚刚回归不久的精灵。他们中有的确实是为了复仇而加入松鼠党，但是更多的是心中“自由”或者“种族解放”的理想在驱动。
If the Scoia'tael is really just a political force supported by human forces with high-sounding reasons, then what are they?
Iorveth shook his head fiercely: "Everyone, this is very complicated. But please believe me, we are comrades who share life and death, and our ideals cannot be false..."
The leader of the Squirrel Party wanted to continue explaining, but a voice suddenly interrupted him:
"But if what the knight just said is true, your ideals don't seem to be as good as what he said about Cintra, right? At least he was able to express his ideas openly - racial equality, elimination of discrimination, and the process was full of reason and little bloodshed."
Iorveth choked and was about to explain when he suddenly realized something was wrong.
This voice sounded very strange to him, definitely not the voice of any Scoia'tael member he knew. Moreover, the source of the voice was not in the camp, but came from the jungle behind him.
When? Who? Could it be that someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and no one—including the Ancient Blood—had noticed?
A chill rose from Iorveth's tailbone, and he quickly picked up his weapon and turned around. The other members of the Squirrel Party also suppressed their doubts and united to face the possible enemy, forming a residual formation to meet the enemy.
Then, they saw a human female figure slowly walking out of the forest, with the aura of a ferocious beast.
"What method did that knight use just now? How did he disappear all of a sudden? I wanted to talk to him about 'racial equality'."