Far to the west of the Western Continent, beyond the vast West Sea, past the countless large and small islands known as the Far West Archipelago—a slender strip of land—if one could avoid being trapped to death at sea by the harsh climate or devoured by those savage sea-dwelling magical beasts, one would reach two enormous and fertile continents.
To the north lay the Goblin Continent, and to the south was the Elf Continent. The two were connected by a peninsula shaped like a leaf stem. The Goblin Continent called this peninsula the Iron Wall Peninsula, while the elves named it the Thorn Peninsula. Whether iron wall or thorns, both described the situation upon this peninsula. Goblins and elves had erected thousands upon thousands of fortresses here, facing each other north and south, centered respectively around the Iron Wall Defense Line and the Thorn Defense Line.
The peninsula was three hundred li wide, and the Iron Wall Defense Line and Thorn Defense Line were exactly that wide as well. The Iron Wall Defense Line in the north was forged entirely from metal, while the Thorn Defense Line in the south was shaded by green vines, all manner of strange magical plants entwined around it, making it look like a green dragon. A hundred li separated the two lines—a barren expanse where not a blade of grass grew, so level it could serve as a mirror.
On this day, as the war on the Western Continent raged ever more fiercely and countless lives fell like rain, a city gate at the very center of the Thorn Defense Line suddenly opened. Several dozen green dragons leisurely rose into the air from within the Thorn Defense Line, slowly flying north as the vanguard. A lavish procession of tremendous scale emerged from the gates,