A sudden shift in the weather happened, turning the bright day cloudy.
Rain pours from the sky like a million blessings, each droplet a glistening gift from the heavens above, nourishing the land of the living. Entities of nature, Supernaturals or not came to rejoice at the coming of the rain, a gift from nature itself.
Especially one that came during a scorching day.
One would only be happed knowing that rain would replenish the habitat and food sources.
It was the work of the almighty that helped the living keep on living.
Standing robustly for almost a dozen years in the center of a large wetland forest, surrounded by shallow swamps and a vast colony of cattails was a small islet, a humble home that hosted a mix of the Supernatural races living inside this area.
Different kinds of races could be seen, basking their bodies in the shower of rain.
A temporary break from their daily activities.
Judging from the light expressions on their faces and the fact that this place is located quite deep inside the forest, it seemed they were sheltered from the horror of the ongoing war between the Supernaturals and Humans.
Beastmen of all kinds and even Trolls could be seen roaming about the islet.
Peace has coursed through them for a while.
Reminiscing the times of the past, before all Supernatural races were sealed, a world that was filled with death and struggle for power, a young dark elf was looking at the small community his father had created with a huge smile on his face from the view of his terrace.
It reeks of peace and harmony that many thought impossible.
Sheltering himself from the rain, he supported his face with his hands and enjoyed this view.
From the distinctive features of the young dark elf, his darker tone of skin to the inky circle around his eyes and the intricate purple markings resembling birthmarks adorning his face and arms left no doubt about the origin of his lineage.
He undeniably belonged to a rare subrace of dark elves known as the Drow.
Drows are a rare and unique subrace of the dark elves.
All of them have better vision in the dark, unable to be obstructed by any means including spells or other abilities, have a superior physique for fighting, and also have a higher magic resistance thanks to their mutated skin.
Most of what the dark elves lack is present in the Drow anatomy.
Additionally, the things that dark elves good at were weaker or outright vanish for them.
'Others said that it's impossible, but Father managed to prove them wrong!'
Gazing at the small community that his father built through sweat and hard work tenderly, forcing the impossible, possible, the young drow's eyes sparkled in admiration. Anyone would take pride in having a father who has accomplished all of this.
Not when even the others said it was impossible, he never considered stopping.
'Father is the best in the world!' the young drow cheered.
Smiling even brightly, he stretched his hand and let the rain wet it, wanting to feel the sensation brought by nature's gift in this peaceful time. 'I can feel it, starting from now, our lives will only get better and better! Power is not necessary for peace, father is right!'
Despite not being a part of the higher-rank Supernatural races, this is more than enough.
Consisting of no more than a thousand individuals who believed in going forward in the path of peace and harmony, the little community they had kept on thriving, and would keep on developing further without any need or concern about the war and bloodshed.
It was convincing enough to make the young drow brave enough to hope.
A hope that he could look forward to the future.
'I love the rain' the young drow mused inside his head with a light smile.
But suddenly, a serenading voice creeps to him and makes the young drow turn his face.
"Do you understand now, dear...?"
Gazing upon a mature woman who shared his unique features, radiating a comforting warmth amidst the rain's chilly embrace, the young Drow's smile blossomed like a sunflower. His mother, a constant source of love and kindness throughout his life, was a cherished sight to behold.
Patting him on the head, she then continued tenderly.
"If we keep to ourselves, then peace will be possible. Strength is unnecessary" His mother mused with a reassuring smile, rubbing his head gently. "Believe in your father. As long as he's around, you could live your life in peace"
Upon hearing this, the young drow nodded his head excitedly, "Yes, mother!"
A brief pause enveloped the two as they remained silent.
Standing and being pampered by his mother like this was the best he could ask for, but the silence was shattered between them when a figure approached them through the rain and stopped in front of the house.
"Hey, idiot!" the figure, a young Troll with mohawk red hair called out to the young drow.
Gaining the young drow's attention, he then smiled cheekily and raised his thumb up, "Why are you standing there being dry? Come out! Let's thank nature for the rain and also their blessing for giving us peace!"
Pausing a moment, the young drow glanced at his mother, asking for permission.
In return, his mother replied with a light nod.
Reckoning that he was given permission to play, the young Troll pulled him out of the terrace and into the heavy rain. With a smile, the young drow sighed, "Hah... Don't tell me what to do, you're not even thanking nature properly. Here, I'll show you our rain dance"
"Okay show me, but don't make me do something silly" the young troll replied, laughing vibrantly.
While watching from the side, the young drow's mother smiled.
Not once in her life had she thought that she would be able to see a sight where her child could play normally and focus on other things aside from fighting, laughing, and playing under the heavy rain with a friend of a different race.
She unconsciously shed a tear, this was a dream come true for her.
Oblivious to this happy tear, the young drow cast his mother a genuine big happy smile.
However, like all happy things, it will eventually come to an end.
It was about a month ago when he had that hope and looked forward to the future of their small community, and now rain poured down again. But unlike last time, the rain is infused with magic and energy.
Prove that it was not the work of nature but a strong entity instead.
Splatter...
Amidst the heavy pouring rain from the thundercloud above, rampaging with constant lightning, the young drow stood in front of his wooden house with his body completely drenched and his eyes fixed onward.
Similar to before, he was watching the sight of the small community he was a part of.
But it was not the same sight.
Over the last couple of days, an ominous pall had settled over the small community, where whispers of anguish and an unrelenting, searing heat seemed to seep into their very souls. It's an insidious influence, eroding the sanity of the entire population and driving many to the brink of madness.
Mostly, the Trolls and Beastmen were influenced the most by this influence.
Contrary to them, the young drow could endure the influence, however, he was not having a better time than anyone else. Despite his ability to endure, he witnessed firsthand the community fall from grace and into a hellhole.
Even his friend has succumbed to this and cramped himself in his house.
It takes a moment for the entire situation to change.
His Father, the person that he looked up to also didn't fare well against this, trying his absolute best to contain the influence over the community to no avail as with each passing day, the community worsened.
Some refused to face the matter and committed suicide.
Realizing the impending doom was enough to make them choose death over life.
Despite trying his very best to prevent this from happening, his father was completely powerless to stop this and eventually retreated to his room. In there, the young drow heard a conversation between his mother and father.
"We need to keep to ourselves and be hidden, but it's no use..."
"Dear, what is happening? What is this phenomenon, really?"
"It's the Demons, the worst kinds, the Rastrikan Demons... If they gathered enough numbers, this kind of phenomenon happened. If we keep being composed and not fearful, they won't sense us and will leave. But now...? In this situation? Our doom is imminent"
"Should we escape? We can always rebuild, dear..."
"Leave...? Do you really think we can simply escape? We're doomed... all of us are doomed"
Upon hearing the unfamiliar term, the young Drow was confused.
More than that, his heart cracked and shattered hearing the desperation in his father's voice. It was something that he never heard before, his father's state and condition were completely foreign to him right now.
In his mind, his father is a hero who could save thousands of people.
But at this moment, that display was nowhere to be seen, his father becomes different.
Just as the community plummets into oblivion and madness, beasts from the blackness come at the opportune moment and raid the entire place, turning the islet that they called home into an absolute mess of blood and gore.
Nothing was spared from their claws and fangs.
His parents attempted to fend off these diabolical beasts, but they were no match.
Like a month ago, the young drow stood witness to the massacre of everyone he had known, their lives brutally extinguished by the merciless Rastrikan Demons. A cacophonous symphony of maniacal laughter, the savored brutality of the killers, and the agonized screams of the victims became the haunting backdrop to the relentless downpour.
Amidst all of this, the young drow's eyes started to wane and turned dead inside.
Clearly, the hope inside of him has disappeared.
Upon remaining silent for a brief moment, the young drow then reached his hand forward to feel the sensation that was supposed to be nature's gift. But there was no joy around him, his world had already gone numb.
Despite his shock, his senses started to come back to him before a stream of tears burst out.
A flash of his peaceful memories appeared inside his mind.
Mixing together with the torrential downpour, his tears were untraceable but surely mingled with the earth, bleeding seamlessly with the crimson tinge of rainwater puddles, now tainted by the flowing blood of the fallen victims.
Gazing at the ground not far from him, the young drow saw the young troll's corpse.
It seemed he was about to visit but got killed along the way.
'Mother said that power is unnecessary and that I should trust Father... But what happens now? Both of them said that we'll be fine as long as we keep to ourselves and away from the war. But what happened now?!'
Remembering the lessons he had learned, the young drown clenched his fists tightly.
A moment of sorrow enveloped him as he closed his eyes.
Just as he was trying to accept reality with his denying mind, a heavy thud penetrated his ears, forcing him to open his eyes and raise his gaze. But it was then his breath got stuck in his throat at the sight of two corpses in front of him.
Standing beside these two corpses was a towering black figure, a Demon of hell.
"Are these two your parents, young one...?" It asked menacingly.
Despite the urge of wanting to embrace his parents' corpses, the young drow was rooted on his spot. He was unable to move. But in return, this made the Demon smirk even wider as the young drow's reaction answered him already.
Lowering his gaze to the young drow's eye level, the Demon becomes excited.
"Do you want to reunite with your parents? If so, I can send you to hell too..." It added eerily.
Upon hearing this, the young drow felt a cold shiver embracing his body.
Raising his gaze to meet the Demon's eyes, his pupils completely dilated as ultimate fear dawned upon him, a sensation that was so strong that his body tried to escape on its own. "Haah... Haah... HAARRGHH!!" He screamed and started to run away.
But this made the Demon even more aroused as it laughed sinisterly and chased after him.