Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
“What happened?”
It wasn’t just him. All the mages had reacted. The feeling of magic obstruction was too obvious, as if a stone was pressing down on them, suppressing all the magical elements within their bodies, rendering them immobile.
Aurobak’s gaze locked onto the Karari King, only to see the monarch with a smile that was not a smile, his eyes full of mockery. It was clear that this was all his doing.
What did the Karari King want to do?
Aurobak’s heart sank by half, but he still held onto a sliver of hope, which was that the Karari King wouldn’t dare do anything to them.
Therefore, he forced himself to remain calm and asked the Karari King:
“Your Majesty, why are you sealing our magic?”
“If you have something to say, you can say it openly. The Saint Ellis Empire has always maintained a good relationship with you. I hope you will seriously consider your current actions.”
Aurobak’s words carried a strong threat.
The implication was simple.
If the Karari King did not provide a reasonable explanation today, the Saint Ellis Empire, which had maintained a friendly relationship, would become an enemy of the Karari Empire.
“Don’t threaten me, mage from the South Continent.”
Xi Wei smiled faintly. Leaning on the Karari King’s dragon-headed golden scepter, he stood up and slowly walked towards the leading mage, Aurobak.
Aurobak, with his magic sealed, was merely an ordinary person with slightly better health.
“The reason for sealing your magic is naturally so that you will stay in my royal palace for a period of time. Don’t worry, if you cooperate obediently, I won’t kill you. After all, I don’t want to be enemies with the Saint Ellis Empire.”
Xi Wei explained with half-truths and half-lies, then ordered the knights beside him to help these South Continent mages put on exquisite magic-sealing shackles.
“I hope you understand what you are doing.”
Aurobak looked coldly at the “Karari King.” The current outcome was irreversible. The magic-sealing spell array set up by the other party was extremely brilliant, with immense suppressive power. Even magical items could not be used.
So, he could only surrender.
Fortunately, the Karari King didn’t dare to kill them.
As long as they could stay alive, there was still a chance to return to the Saint Ellis Empire and the Violet Family.
“Of course, I am very clear-headed.”
Xi Wei’s smile was exceedingly arrogant.
After all, he was currently wearing the face of the Karari King and could do whatever he pleased. These mages, with their magic sealed, could not see through his disguise.
Aurobak and the others were eventually taken away by a group of knights. As they left, this Source Mage from the Violet Family, who had led the mage team to first place, glared fiercely at Xi Wei.
Xi Wei paid it no mind. He was already contemplating his next move.
All immediate threats had been temporarily eliminated.
The conference that was supposed to involve three allied countries had now become his solo dominance. The kings of the two countries had invited a wolf into their den, only to be bitten to death by Xi Wei, the old wolf. Now, he only needed to consider quickly controlling the armies of Karari and Medon.
As for what face to present to the elves, whether to drive them back to the Emerald Forest or cooperate with them, that would depend on the elves’ strength and their attitude.
However, Xi Wei currently knew nothing about the elves’ combat power, and there was no specific information coming from Alence’s side, possibly due to his inconvenience in disengaging.
Seeing is believing; hearing is not necessarily true.
He decided to go and see for himself.
By the way, he would try to instigate the North Wind Duke with Polvert’s cooperation.
The next day, the Winter City army, which had not stayed in the Karari Royal Capital for even three days, set off again, this time heading for Emerald Fortress.
And in the Karari royal palace, the “Karari King” was still enjoying his happy moments with the nobles who did not exist.
Meanwhile, the Medon King’s carriage also returned the way it came. “He” had reached a final agreement with the “Karari King” and the King of Winter. The allied forces would be led by the King of Winter, and all armies would obey the King of Winter’s command. Upon returning to Medon, the “Medon King” fell gravely ill and his magic was depleted.
The Medon King was dying and withdrew from all affairs.
All attention was focused on the struggle for royal power after the Medon King’s death.
Which of the five princes would become the next Medon King? The entire royal capital was in chaos under the vying powers of the five princes, with everyone fearing for their lives and busy choosing sides for self-preservation.
With the deliberate push of someone with ulterior motives, no one questioned what illness the Medon King had or why he was sick. The Winter City scout, disguised as the Medon King, thus quietly remained hidden.
A week later.
Emerald Frontier, Narvit Bastion.
This was a defensive line guarded by the North Wind Duke, said to be one of the most important defensive hubs of the entire Emerald Fortress.
The Emerald Fortress was generally shaped like a protruding U, with the bottom of the U facing the Emerald Forest. The Narvit Bastion was precisely at the center of the bottom of the U.
Xi Wei stood with his sword planted, on a snow-covered hillside. Below was a wide canyon filled with dark red gravel.
Scrawny vultures with grayish-white feathers soared in the sky above the canyon, letting out sorrowful and long cries.
They were searching for the corpses in the canyon.
The dark red stone path made it difficult not to imagine it being stained by blood. One could only wonder how many lives had fallen beneath this majestic bastion.
Usually, the elf army would attack the Narvit Bastion from this direction.
The position Xi Wei was currently standing in could only be reached from a gentle slope on the rear side of the Emerald Fortress.
To the elves, this was a sheer cliff hundreds of meters high. It was difficult for ordinary elf warriors to climb this cliff successfully under the sniping of human soldiers.
The key was that there were sharp cliffs like blades on both sides, like two soldiers guarding the Narvit Bastion, making it an easily defended yet difficult-to-attack terrain, and one of the most important defensive hubs.
Faintly, the sounds of weaponry and fighting could be heard from within the Narvit Bastion. However, there were no elf soldiers below the Narvit Bastion.
Because the enemy attacking today came from within – it was the army led by Polvert, which had already engaged the fortress guards under the North Wind Duke.
Xi Wei had arrived almost precisely on time.
It was exactly when Polvert’s army successfully infiltrated the North Wind Duke’s army and launched a surprise attack.
According to intelligence obtained from the scouts who had returned to the army, Polvert had already occupied a portion of the city walls.
Although the North Wind Duke’s forces were all elites, they were few in number. Even more remarkable was that even in such chaos, two-thirds of the North Wind Duke’s forces were still manning their posts.
Facing Polvert’s invasion, the North Wind Duke personally led a group of personal guards and fought to the death with Polvert, defending in front of the second checkpoint of the Narvit Bastion.
