"There's no need to act so anxiously, Ryan," Yoona said with a smirk.

"You think I'm anxious?" Ryan realized his poker face was slipping in front of the High Priestess under all this pressure.

Yoona chuckled, then summoned the servants to place some bread and meat onto the plates. "You are clearly anxious, how could you not be."

"Haah... It's that obvious, aye?... All of this is hard for me to accept. I mean, so much stuff has happened to me in such a short time," Ryan said as he looked Yoona in the eyes.

"You will be fine," Yoona said as she took a bite of her bread. "The Goddess of Nils seems unorthodox in her choices, but it's only because we can't fully comprehend her visions. And is never wrong."

"Who is the Goddess of Nils?" Ryan asked.

"Our Goddess, Nils, is the Dark Goddess. Her true form is kept hidden away in Darkness." Yoona explained as she took a sip of her wine. "But she's our goddess of rebirth, of life, and death."

'Huh? Hidden in shadows? Did she come to me in my dreams last night? I don't like this.' Ryan shivered at the thought of the goddess messing with his dreams.

"You said she's the goddess of life and death?"

"In this world, we have two kinds of people. Those who live, and those who die. As they say 'Only the strong survive.' Plus there's the nonliving of course." She says with a smirk.

"So, how bad is the division between the races?" Ryan asked as he felt a sense of déjà vu as if he'd seen this cliche scenario in anime before.

'This sounds way too familiar. It's starting to feel too similar to fiction. I don't need to be caught up in a war of the races.' Ryan thought.

"Very good, Ryan. You're a smarter one, aren't you," Yoona looked him straight in the eyes with an amused look.

'Shit!' Ryan accidentally let his facade of acting dumb slip in front of Yoona. 'Now it's going to be harder to play dumb in front of her in the future. Maybe it has something to do with the food they gave us or this mana that's absorbed into my body? I'm having a tougher time trying to play coy with the Sorellians.'

"Yes, we share this world with many other races."

"Which races?" Ryan asked.

Yoona smiled. "There are other Dark Elves, also humans, dwarves, and demi~"

*SLAM!*

Hiro slapped both of his hands on the table and yelled.

"And d-d-d-demi-humans!?" Hiro screeched with excitement, interrupting Yoona. His outburst caused everyone to jump in their seats as they all turned to look at the human. The dark elves at the table had a look of shock or annoyance written all over their faces.

'Damnit Hiro! I almost had a heart attack because of you!' Ryan thought as he tried to calm himself and noticed some Dark Elves glaring at Hiro.

Yoona shook her head. "Yes, there are demi-humans. I don't know why that's such a big deal. They are a migratory race. Quite a boring species if you ask me."

'I've never seen Hiro so starry-eyed before. Haah... He has a one-track mind. I need to ignore him and find something edible to eat. I'm going to need my strength if I'm going to get out of here...'

Ryan looked around at the food on the table, 'God, this meal looks disgusting... J-Just don't look at it and try it, Ryan. You ate their crap earlier and it was fine... I think,' Ryan thought as he summoned the strength to try eating his unusual elven dinner.

He picked up some dark blue meat. Or maybe it was a vegetable, it was tough to tell as he brought it closer to his lips. He didn't want to eat such disgusting-looking food again, but he was so damn hungry that he had to try.

To his surprise, it tasted fine but he needed to keep his eyes closed when he put some of the dark blue-colored meat in his mouth. It kind of looked like a lamb shoulder blade, and there were some vegetables that Ryan couldn't make heads or tails what they were.

'Anyway, it seems like Hiro is contemplating how to get his fantasy waifu he's always wanted. I pity the demi-human that comes across Hiro.' Ryan shook his head before getting his thoughts back on track. 'Well let's find out who the Dark Elves are warring with?'

"So, what race is your enemy?" Ryan asked as he finally finished his elven cuisine.

"Our main obstacle is the Alliance of the Divine Three. They're a combination of human kingdoms." As Elianna jumps into our conversation. "They're ruled by the Kingdom of Nordland and the Holy Kingdom of Chalced. When the Alliance of the Divine Three was formed, the Dark Elves were forced to make peace with them."

"More like a non-aggression pact than a peace between Sorellia and the Divine Three," Yoona adds as she sips her tea.

Ryan nodded. "Why is there friction between Sorellia and the Divine Three? It seems like there's more to this story?"

"That is because of the current king of the Divine Three... His name is Rolmund and he has the backing of their Prophet," Elianna said with a sigh. "He's got a penchant for purifying anything that is unholy in the eyes of the Divine Three."

"Purify?" Ryan asked with worry. He assumed that the war was over land, but if this is about a holy war then this is a bigger issue than he had first anticipated.

Elianna nodded. "When the Divine Three found out about us, they sent an envoy to tell us to leave the area or be destroyed, and by leave, they meant purged. It didn't take them too long before the Divine Three brought their paladins to purge us. It was like they wanted to murder my people for fun."

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'FUCK! Did we get summoned to stop a genocide? Are you kidding me!? I don't even have enough time to get a good night's rest! Why the fuck are we the ones that have to solve their problems?' Ryan's heart sank as he listened to Elianna's tale.

"Our Goddess sent us the Twins of Mournhold in our time of need. So we could summon the Chosen Ones. So, we are able to destroy all of those whom the Goddess has deemed Unholy," Yoona explained as she sat back in her chair.

Ryan wanted to cry right then and there, but he couldn't. He was just a little too exhausted. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

'Is this how I'm going to die? Being a hero for these crazy elf women?... I-I need to keep cool and get stronger. Then I need to find a way back home to my family.' Ryan's mind started to wander as he sat there.

The elves continued to eat their food as Ryan pondered over what they just told him. "So, you mean to say that there are other races out there that want to purify all those who aren't worshiping similar gods?"

"Correct. It's not only the Divine Three that want to end us, but the Angels and the High Elves wish for our demise as well."

'So, I'm on the side that has Angels coming after them. Great!' Ryan was realizing how much more complicated things were becoming. It was like the whole world wanted the dark elves dead.

'Even if I do escape from the Sorellians, I'll probably be attacked by the human race by association. All because of this stupid, Dark Elven, necklace on my goddamn neck!' Ryan wanted to run and hide somewhere. So he could curl up into a ball and cry. But, he had to sideline his own feelings and get through this, for now. There were other things that he needed to know and ask.

"Don't you guys have allies or something with some of the other races?" Ryan asked in desperation.

"There's the coalition of the Dark Races," Elianna says as she looks down at her plate. "They are made up of Demons, Orcs, and Vampires. The Demon Empire of Valmar is led by a powerful sorcerer named Garuda. His army consists of thousands of demons and has conquered countless lands. He now seeks to conquer the world."

"Vampires rule over the Eastern Continent. It is said that the Vampires created the Holy Church of Malacath. As for the Orcs, they're more nomadic. They live in tribes. The two major tribes are the Blood Horde and the Cinder Ash Clan, but many others exist as well."

"Wait, I thought Vampires would have been more unholy creatures than holy? Why make a Holy Church then?" Ryan asked getting sidetracked.

"Heh heh heh. That's your human bias coming through," Yoona laughed with a bunch of other Dark Elves in the room. She continued, "What is holy to Vampires is unholy to Humans, and vice versa. We don't think like you humans do. You're far too rigid in your ways. Always worrying about everything that isn't like you."

'H-Hey! I-I feel like she's talking to me specifically. I've got nothing to do with that shit, right?... Who am I kidding!? I still think they're up to something, but I have no proof of that... Fine! You got me there, Yoona.' Ryan thought as he had to concede to Yoona's logic.

"Touche" was all Ryan said in return.

'Well, I guess the elves' Dark Goddess is holy compared to the Divine Three Gods who are unholy heretics. So, in their eyes, the elves aren't the ones committing unholy acts. What a clusterfuck,' Ryan thought as he tried to understand everything he's learned so far.

Ryan never cared for religion back on Earth, because it was more of a way to control the citizens who found comfort in ignorance of faith. This faith was a great way for people to cope with the reality of their world. And this annoyed him to no end when they used it to justify their actions.

Religion was supposed to be a set of morals or standards used by people to live by. However, some religions took it too far. People in power would use religion as an excuse to oppress others who were different from themselves or the scientific community.

It didn't help that religion and politics went hand in hand because in most cases, people with wealth and political influence were the ones to create religion, not the gods themselves.

But here in this new world, gods and magic existed together, while science seems to be nonexistent. And the gods seemed to be more hands-on in this world than what he was used to. He had to accept that higher powers were in play in this world. And he had to assume that most of the gods here are not benevolent either after hearing about the creeds of other races.

This was the first time he had felt so lost in his entire life. He wasn't prepared to be thrown into a situation like this. He could barely comprehend the events that had taken place so far, and it seemed like things were going to get even more complicated. But Ryan couldn't give in to his despair. He needed to be strong and fight his way through this. No matter how scared and confused he was, he had to push forward.

"Hmm..." Yoona smiled back at Ryan and Elianna was nodding as well.

After a moment of reflection, Ryan asked. "Is the entire human race against you?"

Elianna shook her head, "No, there are some human kingdoms to the north of the Divine Three that have no hostility towards us. They're neutral kingdoms but they will unite under the threat of extinction. So we can't rely on them to stop their brethren."

Ryan nodded back at her after he thought for a minute to digest what he just learned.

Then he turned towards Yoona, "So, you're okay with us because we got summoned? You don't mind the goddess summoning humans?"

Yoona looked back at him with a surprised look on her face. She tilted her head to the side and then she laughed out loud. "You are so funny, Ryan." She teased him playfully before she could answer his question.

All Ryan could do was wait for her to stop laughing at him. It wasn't malicious laughter but it was still annoying because he wasn't trying to be funny. He was curious how she really felt about summoning humans instead of some other dark elves. He relaxed a bit after seeing Yoona and the other elves acting so indifferent now.

'If she wanted to kill us and eat our souls or something, then it probably would have happened by now. Or at least that's what I hoped. But I can't shake this feeling that Yoona was disappointed when she saw me the first time I came to this world... Whatever, at least I don't have to worry about them killing us for no reason.'

After she calmed herself, she smiled warmly at him and started to answer his question. "Of course, we don't mind! Why wouldn't I want you here? You are our Chosen Ones."

Ryan still couldn't tell if she really meant what she was saying, because it was hard to shake the feeling that she was extremely disappointed when a second human, with no mana, was summoned into their world. He knew what he saw when she first laid her eyes upon him and it was so weird that her attitude towards them did a 180-degree turn in a day.

He couldn't shake the suspicion that she might be hiding something from him. But he has no concrete evidence to back up his gut feelings right now and he wished his gut feelings were wrong about Yoona and the rest of the Dark Elves.

'Maybe I'm being too paranoid?' Ryan told himself.

He then looked around at everyone else in the dining hall. Everyone seemed like they were enjoying themselves and Ryan started thinking that things might be better than he first thought. But that's when Hiro suddenly decided to stand up and slammed his hands on the table to get everyone's attention again.

'Oh, fuck me... Why now Hiro?' Ryan was so invested in everything Yoona and Elianna were telling him that he completely forgot about Hiro until he made another outburst.

Hiro on the other hand was happy to have all eyes on him as he began to announce, with enthusiasm, "I know what my next goal, as your Chosen One, shall be!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

All of the dark elves in the dining hall went silent and stopped what they were doing so they could give Hiro their undivided attention. Even the servants stopped what they were doing as they too listened to the human male that stood before them.