Chapter 521 - Reinforcements
At the fortress city in the south of the Holy Dragon Kingdom,
At that moment, the fortress city had been entirely occupied by the elves, and the city was in a bleak state.
"All of you, behave yourselves. Don"t think about escaping or resisting. Cooperate obediently, and we can spare your lives. Otherwise—" The soldiers who had just been captured were transferred to a refugee camp.
An elderly elf was lecturing them. His gray beard spoke of the pa.s.sage of time. His resolute face and powerful aura made the soldiers furious, but they did not dare say anything.
"General Erland, all the residents and wealthy people in the city have been controlled. His Majesty has issued an order to us. He wants us to find those who have relatives in the nearby cities and bring them out of the city. He wants the people in the nearby cities to pay a ransom for them! We don"t need the ransom; we want to use those people to attack the nearby cities."
An Elven soldier quickly said in a low voice, "Didn"t His Majesty discuss with the Winter Nation about attacking the Holy Dragon Kingdom together? Isn"t it too much pressure for us to attack by ourselves? Don"t we need to wait for news from the Winter Nation?"
"His Majesty said that there"s no need to wait for them. Since the Winter Nation hasn"t made a move yet, they won"t make a move for a short time. Perhaps they"re deliberately waiting for us to clash with the Holy Dragon Kingdom so they can sit back and reap the benefits after we both suffer heavy losses! His Majesty said that now is a good opportunity for our Elven Kingdom. We"re not dead, so we can easily take down the Holy Dragon Kingdom. It"s good that the Winter Nation doesn"t partic.i.p.ate this time. In that way, the Holy Dragon Kingdom will soon belong to us."
The young Elven soldier revealed a smug look on his face, and his eyes lit up.
Within a short hour after the Elven Kingdom"s army entered the city, they had killed all the higher-ups and some soldiers. It was not as if they did not meet some resistance, but it was not enough to defeat them. Even when the elves were killed, they only needed a few seconds to be revived again. They were still standing even after their enemies hacked them into pieces.
More than 100,000 soldiers were fighting them when they first entered the city. However, that number was quickly reduced by half. In fact, the garrison army even gave up fighting. They had seen how the elves they killed would just get up uninjured again and again.
The entire city was filled with panic. The Elven Kingdom had never won against the Holy Dragon Kingdom for hundreds of years. However, they had beaten the Holy Dragon Kingdom, so it stimulated the elves" morale.
"After occupying the other nearby cities, we need to find the rich and powerful young masters and young ladies in those cities. Let them head toward the direction of the royal city, and we can attack the cities along the way. Their soldiers will not act rashly when they see the people with us. We can use poison and let some virus break the humans" defense line in the future. His Majesty has already asked us to start developing a poison that is only harmful to humans but ineffective against elves."
"I didn"t expect His Majesty to have already planned that far ahead. Go back and report to His Majesty that I will cooperate with his plan." The general named Erland nodded and looked into the distance at the white smoke rising from the city"s ruins.
The Elven Kingdom had twelve elders. The twelve Elven elders formed a parliament and could judge national affairs. As long as the elders unanimously approved a proposal, even the King could not veto it.
As one of the twelve Elven elders, his duty was to be in charge of military affairs. He was also one of the few elders who followed the Elven king on that expedition.
Eight of the elders favored the attack on the Holy Dragon Kingdom. Four of them were against it! "The four who are against it have all been removed by His Majesty. It seems like His Majesty is not only attacking the Holy Dragon Kingdom, but is also displeased with those anti-war elves. If I can"t satisfy His Majesty in this battle, I"m afraid that I"ll end up like those elders."
Erland looked at the people in the refugee camp who were covered in dust. Some of them were missing some limbs and were moaning weakly on the ground. Some of them could not find their children, and some children had lost their parents. Their eyes were numb, and occasionally, their eyes were full of hatred.
In the face of that scene, Erland could do nothing but sigh in his heart. He was not a general who liked to fight. As an elf, he was born to love nature and maintain a peaceful nature. Most elves were like that. Other than the soldiers killed in the first confrontation with the Elven army, the subsequent residents were taken under control; they were not ma.s.sacred.
There were always exceptions.
"Erland, you"re still dawdling. Didn"t His Majesty ask you to choose people related to people in the surrounding cities? If you don"t want to choose them, why don"t you let me do it? In any case, I"ve killed a hundred people in this battle, and I"ve already received His Majesty"s praise. Perhaps I"ll be promoted to your position very soon."
A sharp and repulsive voice rang out. A thin elf with a sunken face and a long tongue sticking out of his mouth slowly walked toward Erland. That elf carried a blood-red longbow on his back, and two human heads hung from his waist. It seemed like the two humans had died not long ago.
The elf licked his tongue after arriving in front of Erland, and a red glare flashed in his eyes.
"Kidd, that is my job. I don"t need you to interfere." Erland frowned. The elf named Kidd patted his shoulder and said, "We are working for His Majesty. Don"t be so stingy." Then, they came to the refugee camp and grabbed a teenage boy. "Do you know if any of the people around you are related to anyone from the nearby cities?"
"I don"t know," the boy answered with a trembling voice.
"You don"t know? That is not the answer I wanted."
The corner of his mouth rose. Kidd took a dagger and held it against the boy"s neck. "Do any of you know? Those who know better step forward now. As long as someone steps forward, I"ll let him go. Otherwise, I"ll count to three. If no one steps forward, this boy will be dead for sure. Then, I"ll count to three and kill one person at a time until all of you are dead."
His calm words contained a terrifying killing intent that reverberated through the surroundings. Everyone s.h.i.+vered and clenched their fists.
"Three, two—"
When Kidd was counting, no one moved. That caused a cold glint to flash across his eyes. He pressed the dagger a little harder, causing it to cut through the boy"s neck; fresh blood seeped outward.
"One!"
Erland glanced away when the final count fell because he knew the boy was about to die.
At that moment...
Crack!
A loud sound came from the ground. A crack had appeared where Kidd was. A golden stream surged outward and hit him between his legs, suffocating him. He stopped what he was doing.
"What"s going on?"