Boom!
As the white wolf swung its claws, the trembling stalactite pillars finally collapsed to the impact. In an instant, huge fragments fell from the peak and landed heavily on the ground. After the last stalactite pillar crumbled, the land finally restored its peace. At that moment, the towering white wolf lifted its head, scanned the surroundings, and shuddered. Shortly after, it shrunk swiftly as though it were under the influence of a shrinking spell. The four to five meters tall monster twisted and contracted in shape and Anne showed up within it. As the white wolf vanished, the air around it rapidly restored its usual state.
“Phew… Anne is so tired…”
Anne was exhausted, putting up a contrasting difference to the enthusiastic young lady from before. Well, she couldn’t be blamed. Even though the materialization of the Elemental Spirit was one of her strongest skills, it was a pity that Anne wasn’t a true elemental lord, after all. That was why although she could cast this skill, she also had to expend a lot of power. At that moment, she was thoroughly drained and had also yawned several times.
“… It’s finally over… This is the place, right, Angelina?”
“Yes, Miss Anne.”
Upon hearing Anne’s question, Angelina emerged from the shadows silently and answered. The dark elves weren’t aware that it was actually Angelina’s idea for Anne to transform into an Elemental Spirit. As a vampire, Angelina possessed the intelligence extracted from the brains of her victims, which was why she informed Anne immediately after learning who their enemies were. Even though Angelina didn’t instruct Anne specifically, Anne’s instincts were top-notch on the battlefield. Anne understood what it meant to ‘capture the ringleader first in order to capture all the followers’. Due to that reason, after gaining the intelligence from Angelina, Anne transformed into the Elemental Spirit instantly, charged into the enemy’s camp, and demolished their buildings. One had to admit that Anne’s instincts were sharp. At least for the moment, none of the enemies dared to stir trouble with her anymore.
In the first place, it might also be tough to determine whether there were any survivors…
Angelina lifted her head and scanned the ruins. She squinted and her scarlet eyes glinted with a trace of an ice-cold smile. Rhode didn’t give specific instructions to Angelina as to how she should defeat the enemies, but as a vampire born in the Country of Darkness, it went without saying that she knew what had to be done.
“Thanks for your help.”
“You’re welcome. Anne also decided to get it over with quickly and head back to sleep… Yawn… There should be nothing else for Anne, right? So can Anne make a move first?”
Anne said without taking a glance at the havoc she wreaked. She simply turned around, waved goodbye to Angelina, and departed this uninhabited ruin. Meanwhile, Angelina didn’t respond, but gazed respectfully at her departure instead. In terms of strength, even though Anne and Angelina were about the same level, it was a pity that their statuses were poles apart. Angelina clearly knew that this innocent young lady was pampered by her master. And as her master’s subject, Angelina knew she had to try her best to please Anne. That was why Angelina gave Anne the ‘opportunity’ to crush the enemies, while she remained at the rear quietly. Although Anne’s Elemental Spirit applied a lot of pressure to one, Angelina was a vampire who didn’t need to breathe, so she didn’t face any trouble throughout the one-sided battle. Anne was competent as a shield warrior, but it was a pity that she knew nothing about politics and conspiracies.
However, it was Angelina’s expertise.
“Alright, let’s begin, shall we…”
Putting up a cunning and sinister smile, Angelina raised her arms. Along with this action, faint, red mist exuded from her body, rolling and expanding to the surroundings. In just a few moments, the red mist became denser and heavier, while mournful wails echoed within. Then, shriveled and ugly specters emerged from inside one after another. Looking at this scene, Angelina’s smile turned elegant and mesmerizing.
“Dark elves, it’s time to experience the terror of your master. As hole-digging mice, it will be embarrassing if you can’t distinguish your lowly identity and status…”
While Angelina mumbled under her breath, innumerable corpses crawled out of the ruins. They widened their scarlet eyes and let out heart-wrenching screams.
The shadows of death spread in silence, shrouding the entire Carlesodar City.
But it was a pity that the dark elves who survived didn’t notice them.
***
“What? Say that again?”
Verna was wide-eyed. She stared at the three dark elf mage in disbelief. No matter what, she didn’t expect this news at all. Not only did the family established by her once eldest daughter fail to resist the enemies’ attacks, but they were also annihilated and their camp crumbled completely?! What kind of sick joke was that?!
Of course, Verna learned from her intelligence network that the enemies who entered the city were formidable. But what kind of threat could a group of less than 10 members possibly pose to her? No matter how powerful they were, they shouldn’t be able to defend against a sea of slaves and the assassinations of dark elves, wasn’t it?
But now, it seemed like the enemies had indeed succeeded.
Elemental Spirit…
Verna couldn’t help but turn pale. But she was also glad that she was fortunate enough to not be involved as Elemental Spirits were terrifying existences. Even though most spell casters within dark elf families had entered the Legendary Stage, there were only a handful of spell casters who transcended to the Peak Legendary Stage and possessed the strength and ability to defeat an Elemental Spirit. Based on the current situation, only the matriarchs of the top 10 families had acquired such power. But despite that, it was tough even for Verna herself to defeat Elemental Spirits. Perhaps she might need to try her best to stand a chance, not to mention her daughter.
This spells trouble.
Verna abandoned the thought of her daughter’s death, as well as the destruction of her family. Losing a daughter wasn’t anything huge to Verna and she was also clearly aware of her daughter’s wild intentions. Back then, Verna killed her mother and gained her current status and authority. In this case, according to the dark elves’ traditions and moral values, it was only considered genuine ‘filiality’ that her daughter also came up with conspiracies to deal with Verna. The reasons why Verna dispatched her two daughters into battle was to diminish their strength and also stop them from growing too strong and threatening her. Verna had reached her goal now and apparently achieved more than she expected. She didn’t need to worry about her daughters slitting her throat from the back anymore.
But despite that, the price she paid was rather hefty…
Shortly after, Verna threw this matter to the back of her head. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t having it any better either. Even though she had sent out two-thirds of her army to the battlefield, the report from the front baffled her. In less than 10 minutes, she was informed of the death of four mages through the spiritual connections. The dark elf mages weren’t just ordinary spell casters, but were elite confidants who Verna groomed. Every one of them was in the Basic Legendary Stage. Even though they were still unable to activate their very own Order Dimension, their strength shouldn’t be belittled.
Verna had groomed a total of 13 mages in the Basic Legendary Stage. They were also the pillars of support for her family to stay relevant within the top 10 families in Carlesodar City. And this time, for safety’s sake and also to display the deterrence of her family, Verna sent out eight of them to lead the battle in the front. Verna thought that with so many guards and formidable mages, those measly surface humans should be taken care of effortlessly.
But to her bewilderment, four out of the eight mages died in the blink of an eye. Not only that, but judging from the current situation using the spiritual connections, the four of them also died in less than a span of three minutes! In other words, they were slaughtered by the mysterious enemies before they even had the chance to retaliate!
Verna was trapped in a dilemma. Her feeling of gladness was long gone as it seemed like the enemies were far more powerful than her. Currently, she only had two choices. The first choice was to retreat and send out someone to make peace with the enemies immediately. Although this would hurt the reputation of her family, which was ranked fourth in Carlesodar City, it could ensure that her family avoided disaster, at the very least. As long as there was time, she could rise to the top again.
The second choice was to fight to her death with the enemies. It would be the best if she succeeded. But if she failed, the consequences would be unthinkable…
Verna gnashed her teeth tightly. She gripped the nine-headed-snake whip in her right hand, while clutching the chair handle with her left had. In an instant, the entire hall fell into a dead silence. No one spoke a word as they gazed at their matriarch meticulously. Everyone was aware that the forth family was in dire straits.
“Reporting, Madam Matriarch!”
All of a sudden, a dark elf guard scrambled into the premises. His scream shattered the peace of the hall. Verna couldn’t help but dwindle her thoughts and stare at the guard.
“We received news from the front—the 37th family alliance has been utterly defeated!”
Verna’s heart sank into the ice-cold bottom. Her vision was enveloped in total darkness. But as the honorable dark elf matriarch, she returned to her senses immediately. She forced herself to not reveal any expression, stood up solemnly, and gazed at the guard.
“Tell me exactly what happened!” she demanded.
