Back in the field where the festival was supposed to have become one of the proudest moments in the history of the Kingdom of Elves, the anti-teleportation and anti-communication field had been dispelled, which finally allowed those inside to communicate with the outside world.
However, Katerina and the other scholars had initiated a lockdown on information, as they did not want to discount the possibility that the culprit might still be among them. Still, word had gotten to the palace which led to the remaining army of the Kingdom and the ministers who had stayed back to immediately make their way over.
One very disconcerting thing was that the Queen was missing. She had last been seen heading to this area, but after that, communication had completely been cut off and n.o.body knew where she was.
It was only after asking around was it discovered that the Queen had been seen right around the time when the veil had come into existence. At that moment, many of those in the central areas had been busy trying to rush to safety, so it was only a few on the borders who had been able to spot the Queen.
In the hut that had been expanded to seat the newcomers, Katerina stood at the head of the table while hearing the bickering of those in front of her.
"We should find some way to communicate with the Big 4!"
"Why? They"ve never cared about us, so I doubt that they would show any interest now!"
"What if all of this was a scheme by our enemies?"
"Yeah, right. As if our enemies could be capable of mustering a formation that baffles even us."
Theories, suspicions and even war threats were being thrown around casually, and Katerina was trying hard not to lose her temper.
At the same time, she received a message through the communication trinket that connected her to the King of Lanthanor.
Bang!
As she banged her fist on the table and cracked it in the process due to her Fighter strength that she was known for, the voices finally stopped, while the 83 elves in the tent turned around to look at her.
Among the newcomers, some had had scorn on their faces after seeing that she had taken the role of the one in charge, but after finding out just how integral she had been in handling the whole situation, they had shut up.
Still, she saw no ardent support in the eyes of these elves, who were, practically, the strongest in the Kingdom, either in the terms of strength or influence, and in many cases, both.
However, that changed when she spoke.
"The King of Lanthanor approaches. As you all know, he left to check the formation in the hope to find some clues about who might be responsible."
"The King of Lanthanor!"
"If it weren"t for him, we would all be doomed!"
"But how did he become a Peak Exalted Warrior so quickly?"
"He"s the strongest mage on the continent right now! And to think that he"s a human!"
"Human or elf, what does it matter? He saved us, and soon, this is going to make waves across Angaria!"
Whispers sprung up, while Katerina observed the absurd amount of respect and admiration that shone in the eyes of everyone around her.
Apparently, it had been pretty strange that no one had been able to contact anyone inside the area of the festival for an extended period of time. Many had just thought that it must be because everyone got too engrossed in magic theory exchange, but they had still had their attention on the area, which resulted in them seeing the apparition of that awe-inducing blazing sun that had broken the veil.
Such a level of complexity and power…was something that fascinated and captivated all elves, regardless of age or position, because of their inherent love for magic.
So, those emotions were seen even in the newcomers, as after finding out that the one responsible for the sun had been the King of Lanthanor, they had only been able to give grudging, yet genuine praises.
And after hearing about and seeing the many soldiers who had lost their lives while defending the Eldinorians, that respect had gone to a whole other level.
At this moment, while Katerina waited for King Daneel to arrive, she couldn"t help but get a small suspicion in her mind.
That man had already known about the blood-purifying formation before. Yet, he had told her that he had no idea about exactly when it would activate, before promising that he would arrive to help save them.
Could it be possible…that he had planned all this in order to elicit such emotions from all the high-ranking elves in the Kingdom?
After all, it was the perfect opportunity, as most of them had gathered for the festival.
But…no. Surely, no one could be capable of something like that, right?
For once, even her gut failed her, so she just put the matter aside.
"Eldinorians."
A calm, graceful voice suddenly appeared from beside her, and as she turned to her side, she realized that the man she had been thinking about was already here.
How the h.e.l.l had he…
Oh, yes. He was a d.a.m.n Peak Exalted Warrior! Surely, bypa.s.sing their security and appearing without alerting her must be a piece of cake.
"King of Lanthanor!"
"We cannot thank you enough!"
"I apologize personally for looking down on your Kingdom!"
"Eldinor will never forget the debt we owe to you! You are a true friend of the elves!"
As phrases like these showered down on him, the King of Lanthanor actually hardened his face and raised his hand to stop all of them, instead of basking in the praise.
"Come with me," he said, in an iron tone that brooked no argument.
Without even waiting to see whether they were following, the King of Lanthanor turned around and walked out of the tent.
"King Daneel!"
"There"s King Daneel! Our savior!"
"King Daneel Thank you so much for saving us!"
Without responding, the King continued walking in a specific direction with a stoic expression on his face.
All those in front of him parted due to an invisible force, but as they saw who it was, no one complained.
Instead, a large group started to gather, which followed him to see where he was going.
The cheers and praises continued, but again, he didn"t pay them any heed.
After a few seconds, the crowd behind him had swelled to encompa.s.s most of those who had stayed in the central area because they hadn"t lost anyone.
After the veil had been broken, all of those who had had to leave behind their loved ones had immediately rushed out, leaving behind these people.
Now, the crowd, with King Daneel at the head, was pa.s.sing through the area where motionless bodies were being clutched by grieving families who couldn"t stop crying.
Children, wives, and husbands kept staring at the peaceful expressions on the faces of those they loved. They couldn"t believe that they were dead, but they had no choice but to accept it.
By now, even though it was a large area, all of those who had seen their family members collapse due to the veil had already gone back and gotten reunited with the lifeless bodies that had been left behind.
As for those who couldn"t even find that, their cries were the loudest, as they understood that it meant that their husband, wife or children were no more.
On seeing the crowd and the man who was leading them, even these grieving families chose to follow, as that moment when he had saved them all really had become engraved into their minds.
Besides, on Daneel"s request, Katerina had also deployed those display trinkets again, which meant that the rest of the people also started to watch and wonder where the King was taking them.
Finally, he came upon an area where a long row of human bodies could be seen.
Their hands had been laid on their chests, and although they looked like they were sleeping, those watching knew that these were the ones who had given up their lives to save them.
However, something was wrong.
Why…did the mages who were alive look so…defeated?
It would have made sense if they were looking at their fallen comrades and lamenting their deaths. Yet, that was definitely not the reason.
The Mages of Lanthanor were either sitting on the ground or standing haphazardly while looking out into empty s.p.a.ce.
Repeatedly, they ran their fingers over their foreheads, as if looking for something they had lost.
Even the arrival of such a large crowd did not affect many of them. Only a few glanced in their direction to see that their King had arrived, which made them slowly stand to attention.
Finally, it was only when the Grand Court Mage and the Mage Commander called out an order did they respond and turn around before a.s.sembling into ranks.
Still, they walked as if they had heavy loads on their backs, and anyone watching could tell that all the glory and honor they had seen before was gone.
What was wrong? What could be worse than losing so many of their brothers-in-arms that they looked so devastated?
The two senior Mages had grave looks on their faces. They had been seen fighting alongside the soldiers while leading two individual teams on their own, and although they didn"t look as desolate as the soldiers, one could tell that they were mourning something. In fact, the red-haired woman even looked angry.
As the King left the crowd to stand in front of his soldiers, the elves finally stopped but continued to stare, eager to find out the just why everyone from Lanthanor looked like they had lost much more than just those soldiers.
Taking a deep breath, the King spoke, after looking deeply into the eyes of each and every soldier in front of him.
"Brave soldiers of Lanthanor, I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done. Look around you. All of these people…all of them- are alive because of your sacrifice. I-"
"SO WHAT?! ALL OF THESE SOLDIERS HAVE LOST THEIR MAGEROOTS BECAUSE THEY PUSHED THEMSELVES TOO MUCH WHILE TRYING TO STOP THAT d.a.m.n THING! THEY CAN NO LONGER BE WHAT DEFINED THEM FOR SO LONG! THEY ARE EMPTY Sh.e.l.lS OF THOSE WHO MARCHED FOR YOU, KING! YOU-"
"Ca.s.sandra, stop."
Wh-what?!
As shocked silence appeared among those who had been saved, they finally realized the reason behind the crazy grief they were witnessing.
All of these glorious and honorable mages…had had their mageroots burned out because of overexertion.
They had pushed themselves too far, for too long.
All…for what?
For them.
But…wasn"t this the main Mage army of Lanthanor?
Didn"t that mean that…
"My King, we must depart. Already, word that Lanthanor is no longer in possession of our iconic Mage Construct regiments is spreading. Axelor will be the first to mount an attack. We must…make preparations."
These words from the Grand Court Mage, who had stopped Ca.s.sandra in her tirade before, confirmed everything.
It seemed that he didn"t even bother to make it secret, as everyone could derive this simple conclusion.
It wasn"t just that a few mages had died for the Kingdom of Lanthanor. No…almost their entire Mage army was, more or less, "dead", which meant…that the Kingdom itself was doomed.
"I know. Even if I can bring all of those who are lying motionless back to life, I cannot reverse this. Lanthanor…must brace itself for a storm that it mostly cannot survive from."
Wait…what?
Y-you can resurrect all of those who we thought to be dead?
Why didn"t you lead with that?!
This question popped up in many minds, but after thinking a bit, it did make sense that the worry about his Kingdom being destroyed probably trumped everything else.
The man who had done so much for them…was mostly going to have to see his Kingdom destroyed and annexed, all because he had chosen to save them.
He could have simply ignored it all and even waited to storm a defenseless Kingdom to raid their treasures after they were all dead, and many elves could tell that many rulers would have chosen to do just that.
But not him.
No, he had made the choice to stand with them, and for that, he was going to lose everything.
Ever since they had seen him, the one thing they could think of that defined him were those broad shoulders and that straight back which spoke volumes about the confidence that the King of Lanthanor had in himself.
However, at this moment, his shoulders were slumped, and his back was bent. More than his grim expression, it was these two little details that got stuck in the minds of those watching most, making them feel waves of emotions that they couldn"t make sense of.
"No!"
Katerina had her mouth open, as it was her cue to speak. When they had spoken, Daneel had told her that there might come a time for her to speak about how she felt.
However, before a sound appeared out of her mouth, someone else said this word that was echoing in the minds of the hundreds of thousands who were watching.
The source was from above, and as they looked up, they saw someone descending from the sky.
It was…the Queen of Eldinor.
Even before anyone could react, she alighted in front of the King of Lanthanor and actually…knelt.
Yes, an elf, and that too, an esteemed Queen, had bent the knee to a human, which was definitely something that hadn"t happened in written history.
This was just too many surprises from one day.
Reeling from shock, the elves of Eldinor heard the Queen speak, and as they comprehended her words, a blazing emotion of shame, which was followed by overwhelming support engulfed them, making most of them cheer with all of their hearts.
"We, the people of Eldinor, have accrued a debt with Lanthanor that cannot even be fulfilled by giving up our lives. We proud elves have never been known to default on any of our debts. We always pay what we owe. And now, when you are in need, if we do not step forward, then we would only be worthy of calling ourselves the most despicable and shameless race in history. King Daneel, I kneel to you to show my willingness to follow you. In this way, I can at least rest a.s.sured that I am paying off my debt in some way. I propose an alliance between Eldinor and Lanthanor, with you being the main leader of our combined forces. Even if you hadn"t been capable of miraculously resurrecting all those for whom tears have already been shed, you have already proven yourself worthy of this. I do not know if my people will follow, but I, for one, choose this path, as I do not want to die and be cursed at by my ancestors for bringing disgrace to my race. I, Eldra, Queen of Eldinor, swear to follow till the Endless Sea lays claim to my soul. Who"s with me?!"
When she spoke the last sentence, she looked up straight into the eyes of the King, and at that moment, even though she was kneeling, Eldra looked more prideful and dazzling than any elf that had been seen by anyone present.
Her words were enough to give birth to the seed of this idea in most of the minds of the watching elves, and as they thought about it, they felt that it was how it should be.
The Lanthanorians had already elevated their status to the heavens through their gesture. Now, it was the opportunity for the Eldinorians to do the same.
Happiness and antic.i.p.ation that most of them were going to see their loved ones walk and talk again mixed with the satisfaction and relief that came from knowing that they had a chance to pay back what they owed, which resulted in such jubilant screams that they echoed for many miles around.
Even though it didn"t become official right away, the thunderous cheering was enough to signify just how much support there would be for this decision when the time came to stamp it into reality.
And so, while King Daneel suppressed the urge to break out into a broad smile, the First Alliance of the Present Age was born.