Chapter 112: The Grey Elves’ Plea for Aid
The Elven Kingdoms weren’t a single nation but an alliance of numerous small city-state countries. These countries interacted and traded, used the same currency, and acted like a unified entity. They all adopted an enlightened republican system, electing resident representatives based on seniority and experience to form citizen councils that handled various affairs.
Such a system, compared to human empires and kingdoms, did indeed better cater to the interests of all and was relatively more peaceful, effectively reducing power struggles and scheming. However, it also brought problems.
The biggest issue was the inefficiency caused by the system.
The concept of “officials” didn’t exist in elven society. For any matter involving everyone’s interests, the elves would convene a meeting, gather together, and discuss thoroughly. If the scope was larger, the meeting results would be submitted to city-state representatives, who would then travel to the Grey Elves’ territory to hold another city-state meeting with the Grey Elf council. Finally, a decision would be made by vote.
This administrative efficiency was appallingly low – but given the elves’ lifespan and pace of life, this speed didn’t seem particularly problematic.
This directly led to the fact that long after Abyss and his group arrived at the Druid gathering, the envoy sent by the Grey Elves finally reached them to convey the collective decision.
Before arriving, the Grey Elf council had magically notified the Druids of the specific arrival time: precisely twelve noon today. As the time approached, Abyss, along with his companions and the Druid Sages, stood waiting.
They didn’t have to wait long. The Grey Elf envoy appeared punctually. A tall female elf with cascading gray hair, dressed in pure white robes, rode a snow-white steed, approaching the Druid gathering with graceful steps.
Her expression was solemn, her demeanor dignified. When she reached the group, Abyss glanced at the sun’s position and estimated it was exactly twelve noon. The Grey Elf hadn’t made them wait even a minute extra.
The female Grey Elf dismounted but didn’t touch the ground. Instead, she used magic to levitate herself a few centimeters above it. Then, she performed a curtsy towards the Druids, every movement – legs, waist, back, neck, even fingers – meticulously executed.
Leona watched, clicking her tongue in amazement. Grey Elves truly were the most refined race in the world; their poise alone was something humans could spend centuries learning.
“The Grey Elf Council sends greetings to the Druid Gathering, thanking you for your contributions in resisting the external enemies and the animal mutation incident,” the female Grey Elf said with a standard yet sincere smile, speaking clear and gentle Ancient Tongue. “I am the envoy of the Grey Elf Council, Ellen Bildia Brindevor. It is a great honor to meet the Masters today.”
“Why isn’t she speaking Elvish? I can’t understand many words,” Leona asked Rebecca through the mind link.
“Ancient Tongue is actually the official language of the Grey Elves. Since this is a formal occasion, they naturally use the official language,” Rebecca explained. “You can ask Abyss to translate simultaneously for you. As a mage, he’s very familiar with Ancient Tongue.”
“Lady Brindevor, welcome to the Druid Gathering,” Arcaiste, representing the Druids, bowed to Brindevor. “Is there anything the Grey Elf Council requires of us?”
“In fact, when we urgently called upon the Druids to resist the Iron Lilies a few days ago, the Druid Gathering already contributed significantly and suffered casualties. We shouldn’t shamelessly continue asking for assistance. However, our Golden Rose Legion has encountered an enemy we cannot handle. We have come to request aid from the gathering,” Brindevor said, her eyes lowered, her voice steady. “We need Master Belator’s help.”
Saying this, Brindevor looked towards Leona, who was standing there in Abyss’s guise.
“Eh? Me?” Leona was taken aback, then remembered she was currently playing Abyss. Thinking she couldn’t embarrass Abyss in front of refined people like the Grey Elves, she put on a stern face and said in the most formal tone she could manage, “If it is within my power, I shall certainly do my utmost. Please explain the details, Miss Brindevor… to me.”
“Please, let us speak inside,” Arcaiste, realizing the gravity of the situation, quickly invited Brindevor into the Druid gathering.
The Druid gathering didn’t have formal indoor spaces. Arcaiste led everyone to a relatively secluded and elegant grove, preparing a tree stump as a seat for Brindevor.
Although a noble Grey Elf, Brindevor wasn’t picky about seating. She sat naturally on the stump, yet still radiated an aura untouched by the mundane world.
“As everyone now knows, the enemies of the Elven Kingdoms are not just the Iron Lily thugs, but also the Outer God hiding behind them, manipulating everything, the ‘Lord of Bullying’. The Grey Elves possess firsthand information about Outer Gods and have some understanding of them. Therefore, after encountering an unimaginably powerful enemy recently, we concluded this individual wields the power of an Outer God,” Brindevor stated. “An Iron Lily general has besieged one of our cities. He seems intent on occupying it.”
“An Iron Lily person… they… huh?” Leona was a bit surprised. “Did you say, an Iron Lily general besieged a city?”
“That is correct. You might think I misspoke, but in fact, it is just one person besieging our city.”
Leona’s Ancient Tongue was poor; she relied entirely on Abyss for comprehension and always spoke Common Tongue herself. But Brindevor didn’t mind, conversing normally with Leona.
“Does this person have special abilities?”
“His abilities likely come from the brain crystals of mutated animals. He also wears a special bone-tooth necklace, which seems to grant him additional powers,” Brindevor said. “He can create multiple clones of himself, each with different specialties. If anyone tries to break out or relieve the besieged city, he immediately creates clones equal in number to the opposing force and generates an illusory arena. Each clone can duel an enemy one-on-one, and they happen to possess abilities that perfectly counter their opponents…”
“Arena…” Leona immediately recalled what Abyss had described about his duel with the fish-man leader in the arena.
Can the arena be seen this time?
“Neither the breakout teams from the city nor the Golden Rose soldiers we sent survived. Losers in the arena are directly turned into crystals, which he collects. We also dispatched powerful mages, but they too failed to defeat him. We have suffered immense losses,” Brindevor said. “To summarize in one word, this person is currently invincible.”
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