Although the concept of Ultramarines had ceased to be much of a secret throughout Zelandia after Li Wei personally announced the second military expansion, the specific details concerning the Ultramarines were known only to a handful of high-ranking figures.
So unless Igg had deliberately encouraged Aierlinni, the first half-elf to appear in the territory, to become an Ultramarine, Li Wei found it hard to believe it.
Perhaps for the vast majority of ordinary people, becoming an Ultramarine was simply a shortcut to heaven in their professional careers.
Yet the potentially fatal risks and costs involved were instinctively overlooked.
Li Wei was also aware of the awkward position half-elves occupied in the Northlands.
And when he had passed through the portal and witnessed Aierlinni—who so clearly loved life and held such sincere convictions—still helplessly embrace death, it had undoubtedly struck Li Wei deeply.
At that moment, for some reason, Li Wei suddenly thought of Mithriel, the first Goddess of Magic.
She too had been a woman who faithfully fulfilled her duties while harboring beautiful hopes for the future.
Li Wei remembered that during one of her casual conversations with Karsus, she had imagined finding a successor worthy of entrusting with the Weave, someone capable of taking command of it, so that she could "retire" and live a leisurely life traveling the multiverse.
Only then would her journey through this world not have been in vain.
Yet when doom descended, no matter how many regrets she had, she still chose to face death without the slightest hesitation.
It was precisely because of the similarities between them that Li Wei found himself feeling something indescribable toward Aierlinni, this half-elf:
Even in such a cruel life, she could remain so optimistic and kind. She had already worked so hard; if a girl like her