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The fallen girl laid on the floor awaiting her fate. The victorious Wood Elf coldly stood above her, looking down upon her silently; what was to follow could already be predicted by her.

It was her who changed his destiny. He had every reason to exact revenge on her. Even if he had let every Dark Elf before her go, he had a reason for doing so. But when it came to Paliseth, would Solar forgive her so easily?

Unlikely… now that matters had reached this point, whether it was being killed or being @#$#@, she had made her peace.

Then… Solar just left. Without even a single word, he left.

Did he not recognise me? That was the first thought that sprung to mind for the Matriarch-candidate Paliseth. But his eyes clearly showed that he knew who I was… so why? Why won’t he exact his revenge? Why would he let me go?!

No one knew why Solar would refuse to kill her then. Perhaps not even Solar himself knew the answer to that.

What do you mean why? It’s because of love! Pure, unadulterated love!

Having heard the story up to this point, I was practically one of the audience members in that colosseum. The gossip connoisseur in me was on maximum overdrive right now. My heart truly raced with anxiety at what was to come next. Man, this is like watching the eight o’clock soap opera all over again!

The Dark Elven Warrior most likely heard my internal screaming as well as she threw me a scornful look at that point. Then, under the eyes of an overly-eager Jezsere once more, she continued…

Having been defeated, the Matriarch-candidate Paliseth neither received any abuse, nor did she get killed. All because he turned his back on her, without any hesitation whatsoever.

Has he forgiven me? Was her next thought, however that was quickly snuffed out by her own hands. In the face of hatred, everyone was equal. Whether it was the Dark Elves or the Wood Elves, none were spared.

This was the fifth year Solar had spent as slave gladiator, and was also the first time in five years that he had encountered Paliseth after becoming a slave.

The colosseum of the Dark Elves was governed by multiple rules. For example, a slave gladiator only had to fight one match a day unless he requested for another. If the loser of the match didn’t get killed by the slave gladiator, they had to wait at least one year before being eligible to challenge him again. In other words, Paliseth couldn’t challenge him again for one year.

Unable to understand why Solar would let her go like that, she felt immensely humiliated and began training herself furiously for the match a year later.

Yet a year later, she lost once more, by that same hair’s breadth.

Faced with that familiar yet foreign defeated adversary, he made the same decision as he did last year. He turned around and left without any hesitation, leaving behind a confused Paliseth once more. She had honestly thought that he would make a choice this time but… who does this Wood Elf think I am? He doesn’t kill me, nor does he desire me. Does he think I am air?!

From that year onwards, she would constantly challenge him whenever she could. Yet each time she would always fail by that same hair’s breadth, as if that tiny difference was an uncrossable gully separating the two of them.

Slowly, her days became consumed by the desire to become stronger. She wasn’t at all concerned that Solar would die in the colosseum; because there was a rule that prevented warriors of a higher Star Level from challenging those below them.

Simply put, a Five-star couldn’t challenge a Three-star, but that Three-star could challenge a Five-star.

It could be said that this special protection was enacted because the colosseums were not just a place of entertainment, but also an important source of breeding stock. One could just see how much value the Dark Elves placed on a strong male of a different race -they were practically a strategic resource.

Back in those days, there was almost no female who didn’t wish to lay with Solar, but none succeeded. There was no female Dark Elf who could triumph over him because he was practically invincible in his own Star Level. That was also why Paliseth wasn’t worried about Solar dying.

Just like that, Paliseth would challenge him every year and fail. This stalemate continued for a full fifty years… that’s right, fifty years…

The moment I heard that number, my very core shook. Sir Solar is truly undefeatable, a grand sage in the making!

But based on the mood of this story, how the heck did the two of them ever end up together?

It turned out that on their fiftieth year, Paliseth finally ran out of patience and made the wisest decision of her life -at least it was so to her. If one was going to embark on an endeavour, then they should go the whole mile! With that in mind, she poisoned his food… then that was that…

For a not at all short period of time, Paliseth would play with him daily using every position she could feasibly think of -it wasn’t like he could object seeing as he was drugged. It was only until she bore his first child that their unnatural relationship finally came to a close.

Hold on… so this story has nothing to do with love?! At least not the love I had in mind… Actually, it clearly has nothing to do with love at all, no matter what definition you had of it!!! Curses, give me back my innocence. What happened to the story of pure love I was promised? How did this turn into a lousy R-rated fanfic?

“Master?”

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Honestly, I wasn’t fine at all. However, I did not want Jezsere to become worried so I forced a smile for her.

I only had this to say: the city’s a scary place, I want to go home!!

The story continued soon after. Their first child turned out to be a male who later came to be known as Reyage, Jezsere’s older brother. Because of the Dark Elves’ secret art, this child was a pure-blooded Dark Elf. In terms of appearance, Reyage had none of the defining features of a Wood Elf, but he did resemble Solar.

Only to be expected… seeing as they are parent and child.

Wood Elves were fiercely loyal towards their partners. Even though Paliseth had already given birth to five children, it didn’t change the fact that she was his first woman. Because of that, he could never bear to be fierce with her.

Now that they had a child together, Solar could be considered an extended family of the Dark Elves. Even though the both of them had never held a wedding ceremony, Paliseth still brought Solar out of the colosseum, on account of their shared child. That was the start of their normal life together.

So she does have feelings for him then. Honestly, I can’t claim to know how deep those feelings run, neither can I claim to know how Solar felt… but I guess this story can technically still be considered a love story.

Jezsere, on the other hand, was more than happy to continue listening, love story or not. After all, this all happened before she was born.

“I have a question. Since Solar was so strong, how did he get caught in the first place?”

That’s right. If your Sir Solar was invincible in his own Star Level and even defeated Paliseth fifty times in the colosseum, how did he get captured by her in the first place?

Teacher, I would like to report a mistake.

Faced with my plothole destroyer of a question, the Dark Elven Warrior used the look one would only reserve for an idiot to glare at me. “When Solar was captured, he was only an unassuming Three-star guard.”

“So the OP monster Solar only came about because of your clan’s colosseum?”

“OP monster?” The Dark Elven Warrior was stunned for a second -most likely because she had no idea what that term even meant- before using a gentle gaze to address Jezsere. “Sir Solar is a genius, a true genius!”

From her eyes alone, I saw a variety of emotions from respect and reverence to deference. Realising that something was up here, I knowingly asked, “You have challenged him before?”

“…” The Dark Elven Warrior didn’t immediately respond to my question. Instead, she slowly shook her ponytailed head and said, “If you ever get the chance in the future, you can ask those who qualified those years ago… how many of us Shadowhunter clanswomen never thought about challenging Sir Solar…”

That settles it then: she’s a fan of Solar… Now that’s a winner in life. I bet if he really wanted to, he could set up a harem with just a snap of his fingers…my idol… I don’t know why but I just feel so emotional right now. I just knew setting up a harem was the very definition of romance for a man! Ah… so emotional right now…

Naturally, one couldn’t be touched forever. I quickly recovered from my intoxicated state to push the Dark Elven Warrior for more juicy gossip.

Four years after having Reyage, Solar and Paliseth had their second child, Jezsere. Skip forward ten years and Solar was somehow leading an escape with his two children to the home of the Wood Elves.

The Dark Elven Warrior did not specify the reason for this departure but it was worth noting that the then Matriarch of the Shadowhunter Clan, Paliseth, did not dispatch anyone to track them down. After staying at the home of the Wood Elves for five years, they were sent back by Solar…

Hold on… something’s wrong here…

With that in mind, I quietly sneaked a look at Jezsere and found that she was upset -probably because she was reminiscing about the events of those five years.

“Jez, do you still remember why your father would take you two away from the clan?”

In my view, even if they hadn’t been properly married, their relationship was basically a marriage in all but name. In other words, he shouldn’t be against her any longer, else why would he have a second child with her after Reyage.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.

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A mature Dryder was at least a Three-star. In order to qualify as an elite Dryder, that Dryder would have to at least be a Four-star. To the Dark Elves, such a natural born strength was nothing less than the Spider Queen’s favor. After all, normal Dark Elves had to rely on training to gain their strength. Most Dark Elves never even made it past Four-star if their talent was lacking.

But even though the advantages of being a Dryder were numerous, they also had a glaring weakness: they were unable to reproduce. In other words, a Dryder was unable to reproduce with another Dryder, meaning every Dryder in existence had to have come from a union between Elf and spider.

Vessels for a Dryder birth had to be a young Dark Elven female. What was even more disturbing was that the more devoted amongst them even saw this as an honor.

In reality, Dryders were an undeniably powerful force in Dark Elf society. There were thirteen large clans that ruled over all Dark Elves. Of these thirteen, five had only qualified because of their reliance on Dryders.

In order to maintain the Dryder population, a certain number of females would be sent to the Arachne Cavern annually to become vessels.

Even though these vessels were permitted to return to the clan after fulfilling their duty, very few ever make it back. To put it simply, most of these vessels were often broken in the process…One could only imagine what sort of cruelty they underwent in Arachne Cavern if even a Dark Elf couldn’t endure it.

The reason why Jezsere ran away from home was because her mother wanted to send her off to Arachne Cavern. After all, she was worthless to the clan, and such an existence wasn’t permitted, not even for the clan leader’s daughter.

Honestly, I think that dirty spider could have easily protected Jezsere if she wanted to. But based on what I just heard, I doubt she had the mind to do so. Hmmm… for her to treat her own flesh and blood in such a manner, what a deplorable woman. Really, did this race even deserve to exist?

“But if the situation is so dangerous, why did Jezsere return?”

I was previously told that the both of them returned willingly because they obtained my medium. But did simply handing in my medium absolve them of their desertion and lack of contribution?

That question didn’t last much longer as the Dark Elven Warrior soon provided me with an answer.

“Because both Lady Jezsere and Sir Reyage knew that they couldn’t keep hiding forever. The clan has always adopted an at-all-costs approach to hunting down deserters, unless, of course, they managed to hide themselves with their father. But…” The Dark Elven Warrior paused at that point and sighed. “Even if they reach their father, the fate awaiting them there might not be any better.

“And Jezsere’s father is…”

Honestly, the fact that their father was even alive was a shock to me. I had always assumed that all female Dark Elves were all widows… the kind that never got married… a black widow. Sister, you can’t just drop a bomb like that. Spare a thought for my tiny brain! How will it ever process the fact that that dirty spider still has a living mate somewhere!?

Also, what kind of person is this father of theirs? Where is he now? How did the two of them know each other? And why would it potentially be a bad thing if they ever took refuge with him?

“Lady Jezsere’s father is a Nature Elf.” The Dark Elven Warrior did not explain any further at that point. Even so, I vaguely got the feeling that he must have held an important position amongst the Nature Elves.

Hold on… so Jezsere’s father was a Nature Elf?! No wonder that Dark Elven Warrior did not feel their chances were high with him.

Nature Elves were also known as Wood Elves; the typical fantasy elf that had long golden hair, blue eyes, a handsome, elegant appearance and specialises in archery. The true question was: how the heck did a Wood Elf and a Dark Elf end up together? They were both hated rivals with each other! Why would they ever have children together? There must be a mistake somewhere!

I guess even that dirty spider was a teenage girl once…

“Can you elaborate more on Jezsere’s father? Like how did he meet her mother? And what happened after that?”

If I do say so myself, I’m a connoisseur of such gossip. This might just be a Romeo and Juliet 2.0 in a fantasy world -why would I ever want to miss out on that? If one had to point out the difference between their story and Romeo’s, it would be that they ended up giving birth to children, and they were both alive still. Even so, it was also a fact that the both of them had to be separated because of the hatred between their clans.

The more I think about it, the more I can’t help but admire them -what a noble love that overcomes the barriers of hatred! I approve.

Even though the Dark Elven Warrior couldn’t hear that last bit of approval, that didn’t stop her from coldy glaring at me. “You are sure you wish to know?”

“Of course I do. It’s not like I have anything better to do.” At that point, I gave Jezsere a quick wink. As expected, she obediently tossed a curious look at the Dark Elven Warrior as well. Even though she never explicitly said so, I could tell that she herself didn’t know much about her father.

“Since Lady Jezsere wishes to hear about it, I’ll summarise their story.” After spending some time to organise the facts, the female warrior started recounting…

Roughly ninety years ago, when Jezsere’s mother, Paliseth, wasn’t yet the clan leader, she had unexpectedly captured a Wood Elf, Solar, during one of her routine hunts.

According to rules, captives had to be sent to the colosseum, and that was exactly what happened to Solar. Normally, it would be impossible for the both of them to ever have any relationship in such a situation since the fate of a slave gladiator was to descend into madness and ultimately die.

Slaves who fought in the colosseum of the Dark Elves either became increasing numb after each match, or they simply died. In order to survive, they had to employ the cruelest tactics possible to win. Such a daily conditioning made one numb to the world and eventually forced them to madness.

An alternative, of course, was to let the Dark Elf who defeated them have her way with them.

Such a bleak fate only fuelled the rage and murderous intent of the colosseum’s participants. Under such circumstances, even the kindest of persons would eventually break.

Yet there was one person who defied this fate, even becoming more steadfast with each passing day. Each time he stepped into the ring, he would emerge victorious. When faced with the alluring prospect that was that defeated Dark Elf, he prevailed. While he might have wavered at times, he resisted this corrupting influence in the end.

He was the first gladiator ever in the history of their colosseums to have never killed his opponent or fallen for their allure.

Even the corrupt Dark Elves had to admit that this man was beyond reproach. However, that only made them want to corrupt him even more! That was basically how every female Dark Elf felt.

As time passed, more and more female Dark Elves grew interested in him. His daily battles had pushed his renown to its ultimate limit until that fateful day arrived. Finally, Paliseth, a Matriarch-candidate of the Dark Elves, took to the stage herself…

“And then they fell in love at first sight?”

Forgive me this interruption but… this has all the makings of a noble story about love triumphing over hatred. Evidently, it wasn’t only me who thought this way. Jezsere was on the edge of her seat listening to this tale being recounted.

However, our eagerness only earned us the scorn of our Dark Elven storyteller. In the end, her tale continued under the eyes of an overly-eager Jezsere.

That paragon of virtue was none other than Solar, the Wood Elf. The moment Paliseth appeared to him, he recognised her as the person who once defeated him.

Knuckles white from gripping his sword, Solar immediately launched into an attack against his captor.

Their furious duel lasted for over ten minutes before a victor was decided. It was Solar, but only by a hair’s breadth.

As the loser, Matriarch-candidate Paliseth could only wait for the judgement of Solar. Even though she was next in line to become a Matriarch, the colosseum’s rules couldn’t be broken. If Solar really wanted to kill her, she was dead.

She knew that he had never chosen to kill those he defeated; neither had he ever gotten into a relationship with anyone either. But she knew she was different. At the end of the day, she was the only reason why he was forced into this situation right now…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.