This is the story of a magician and an elf girl.

"Hmm, you actually blocked it? I admit - you are indeed not weak. Even if you can't match the power of that magician, you are still the only enemy in this adventurer army who can fight against the Phoenix. But the battle is enough. Have you thought it through? There is no point in resisting further."

After twenty hours of fighting... no, an overwhelming war, the exhausted Linnai no longer knew how many times she had blocked the endless attacks from the Phoenix. The range of the magic barrier began to become narrower, and the magic power that had been stored in Xiaobi's body for many years was almost exhausted.

"Haha...haha...haha..."

Not to mention ordinary adventurers - if the earth elves were not able to absorb nutrients from the earth and convert them into their own magic power, Xiaoxue's magic power as a servant would have run out long ago, and the adventurers would have been torn to pieces by those puppets long ago. Now, only a few branch-level adventurers and earth elf warriors can continue to resist the puppet army.

"...After all this...you still want me to bow down to you...that is absolutely impossible!"

"..."

"No matter how desperate I am... no matter how many setbacks I suffer... I will not succumb to you... Demon God Hera... You are different from that person... You don't know the intentions of others... You only consider your own interests and try to justify this matter to beautify your own character. Except for those puppets with blood in their mouths... No one will accept your proposal! You must die here today!"

"Swish swish swish!"

A rain of arrows as huge as spears once again attacked the body of the phoenix from the direction of the guardian, but it only waved its wings wrapped in hellfire, and Linnae's rain of arrows turned into debris in the magic air in the blink of an eye - along with the spiritual power and tree spirit spores that were parasitic on the arrows, they were evaporated together.

"You are just a young elf... and you dare to point fingers at my moral character... I really don't know whether you are really brave or not... But you are right about one thing. I am different from that magician, there is no doubt about it - because living like that is too sad. I don't intend to become that miserable. Every day, every time I do something, I have to consider the feelings of others. Will I feel satisfied just by serving others? This way of living is nothing but self-satisfaction. Living for others is extremely painful. I want to control the future in my own way and my own way of living - so that I won't die in front of my beloved. It doesn't matter if you say that I am a selfish person. Anyway, you can't listen to my words anymore, right?"

"If you know the truth, just shut up about that nonsense!"

Although she said that, Linnai did not take Hera's words lightly.

Because that way of living - she was very familiar with it.

That person used to be just as the name implies. Every time he did something, he would consider the other person's mood and feelings, because he, like himself, was a person with extremely rich empathy.

But this means that he has repeatedly experienced those painful pasts.

People with rich empathy are not good peace-loving people - they are people who have witnessed various tragedies to get to where they are today.

The more pain he felt, the more tender he became toward others.

He cannot put other people's affairs behind "priority" for his own benefit.

Because he feels that rather than benefiting himself, this benefit should be used to help others so that its value can be realized in the most efficient way.

Sense of value, meaning, rationality - when he met Linna, his mind was full of these, and he has been living in this way in this world.

Linna felt extremely sad about this.

Because no one has ever cared about him who is so gentle.

Even though he was lonely, even though he could only feel sad, he could not give up on lending a helping hand to others.

Linnae told him many times to pay more attention to his own affairs.

But the wise man showed an expression as if he was a child who didn't understand the meaning of language. His eyes, which did not contain any desire at all, made Linna feel very confused.

Seniors often say that as long as people become smarter, they will become happy. I have always firmly believed that the power of intellect can indeed bring people happiness and motivation to live.

It was not until the girl saw the man's end that she realized how shallow and laughable those words were.

Although he was so intelligent, he could only suffer from grievances and loneliness throughout his life. The reason why people who think they are smart can be happy is that they only think so because they live in an ignorant environment. In fact, people who truly possess intelligence will never use it for themselves, nor will they become happy because of it.

He did not strive for that knowledge for its own sake, he did not pursue it to satisfy his own desires, he did not seek that knowledge for the sake of happiness.

He only thinks and acts for the sake of others.

Just as the demon had described, even Linnae felt deeply sorry for his pity.

Why would this person treat himself this way?

Even if he committed a heinous crime in the past, no one would blame him now. But why did he still treat himself like this and not even regard himself as a life?

Human beings must sing the praises of life and emotions throughout their lives. Without these, they are no longer human beings.

So it took Linnae a few years to finally help him remember his feelings as a human being.

But in the end, Linnay still couldn't make him change his mind.

After he turned into light, he disappeared.

Things have come to this point - he has lost his life and is still being ridiculed by Hera, the murderer behind the scenes. Linna will never allow this, and will never forgive Hera.

"But this is the truth, isn't it? Wouldn't you feel bad? Even now, those adventurers who barely survived by relying on your power are using you as if you were a magician. Can you bear this sense of unfairness?"

"..."

But Hera's words pierced Linnae's heart deeply.

She was right—Linnay had no way of resisting the sense of unfairness built on pain.

But this was not right - she still remembered those words deep in her heart.

"...Ah...No matter if we are human...elf...or demi-human...it is true that we cannot bear the sense of unfairness built on pain...But - I still believe that people can use trust to overcome the sense of unfairness in their hearts. That is our choice, and the only future we can choose!"

"So I said... that's a fantasy... What on earth do you not understand? If people can trust others from the bottom of their hearts! How can I control you so easily?! It is because I want to use your power, because I want to take the power of magic from the hands of the magician, and because I have experienced all kinds of deception and painful lessons - that's why I don't believe that people can trust each other from the bottom of their hearts!"

"Even if it wasn't possible in the past... sooner or later... people will definitely be able to do it..."

"That's not possible!"

“Possible!!”

"no way!"

“Possible!!!”

"Why?!"

"Because trust is the essence of human beings! This is absolutely not a ridiculous thing! The history of human prosperity is the evidence of trust! Proof that society was once alive!"

"So that society is already ruined, isn't it?! Because you have suspicion and distrust in your hearts! That's why the magician failed to save the end of society in time! His hesitation killed countless common people! Your suspicion also took away your own future! Humans, such inferior intelligent life forms, are not worthy of embracing emotions and this world! Why don't you understand! Why do you reject the sense of unfairness and true feelings that arise in your heart!!"

"Because I believe it! There must be a light in the human heart that can defeat darkness!!"