Divine Kingship

Chapter 618 The Royal Court Faction is Overjoyed

Just as expected.

At the same time that the royal court received Xiangcao's letter, it also received a secret report from an insider within the reformist faction.

The Elf King, who was still considered the Elf King for the time being, stared at the letter in his hand.

He is currently completely unable to understand it.

The Elf King knew the fairy Vanilla Moonshadow; she was a young girl from a collateral branch of the royal family.

In his memory, Vanilla was unremarkable and no different from any other ordinary member of the royal family.

The only thing worth remembering is that this member of the elven royal bloodline went to the edge of the elven forest and was captured by humans, something a normal royal member would not do.

To prevent the royal elven bloodline from flowing outside, the Elven King even sent people to rescue them.

But what is the situation now?
This can be described as an unremarkable, unqualified, and at most somewhat rebellious royal collateral branch elf girl.

He has actually led his army to a point where he can rival the royal court.

The Elf King racked his brains but couldn't recall anything special about Vanilla, or any special talent that would allow her to possess such an exaggerated ability to summon a group of elves to fight against him in such a short time.

Moreover, the reformists, who are currently at a huge disadvantage in numbers, actually have a slight advantage in the war.

This is simply incredible.

If given another chance, and with the option to undo mistakes, the Elf King would never let Vanilla, this incredible girl, escape.

Now he has to be careful when dealing with this terrifying girl.

The Elf King was certain that the true leader of the reformists was Vanilla, and that Vanilla was definitely not a puppet or a mascot.

Because Nidhogg wouldn't have such an ability, nor would those useless elven nobles.

The influence of humans is more questionable.

Fortunately, Vanilla is just a young girl, and at her age, she is still innocent.

Vanilla wants to end the war and save the golden World Tree of the elves.

The Elven Court had already learned some relevant information, and they could roughly guess that the Restoration Faction was going to take action against the Golden World Tree.

However, they still decided to send troops against the reformists.

Indeed, the Golden World Tree is exceptionally important to every elf, almost indispensable.

But at this time, do you hope for a ceasefire, to stop fighting, make peace, and work together to save the World Tree?

The Elf King took a deep breath. He felt fortunate; if he were facing Vanilla 30 years in the future, such a golden opportunity might never have come his way.

Thankfully, the vanilla is still young and innocent.

Vanilla naively believed that since the Golden World Tree was so important, everyone would make the theoretically correct choice to protect it.

The Elf King certainly didn't disregard the Golden World Tree, but was the Golden World Tree something that could be destroyed so easily?
The Golden World Tree is truly in danger of being destroyed, and the Elf King believes that it is entirely possible to defeat the reformers and then return to rescue it at this time.

It's fortunate that Vanilla didn't choose to fight him to the death, giving him the chance to go back and save the Golden World Tree.

When he achieves victory, he will thank Vanilla for her contribution to the fate of the elves.

Although, without vanilla, there might never have been this rebellion.

"As you all know, Vanilla Moonshadow, this traitor, is willing to cease hostilities with us in order to save the Golden World Tree. Moreover, she has decided to lead an army to rescue it, and may have even already mobilized her troops." The Elf King looked at the elders of the council and spoke calmly.

The elven elders nodded in agreement: "Lady Vanilla is exceptionally intelligent, but she is still too young."

The elders all breathed a sigh of relief.

Legend has it that the elven royal family is blessed by the elven god, possessing talents and wisdom far exceeding those of ordinary elves.

In the past, the elders all believed that this was just a legend.

But now, seeing the actions of this only remaining member of the elven royal bloodline who had been separated from his family, they had to believe that there was some truth to it.

Although the other members of the royal family who still belong to the royal court do not seem to have anything special about them.

Including the Elf King.

Fortunately, the problem is finally about to be solved.

They were even somewhat relieved that someone would take action against the Golden World Tree; otherwise, they wouldn't have had much confidence in defeating the army led by Vanilla Moonshadow in a direct confrontation.

"Now prepare. We will send letters agreeing to Vanilla's ceasefire agreement, and we will each lead our troops to the Golden World Tree for 'rescue'," the Elf King ordered.

"Everyone, be careful not to give anything away. If we alert Vanilla, we might not be able to gain the upper hand, and our World Tree could really be in danger," the Elf King emphasized again after giving the order.

The elven elders nodded slightly, and after discussing some details, they left the meeting place one after another.

……

Vanilla quickly received a reply from the royal court.

She convened another meeting and stated that, as expected, all the elves would consciously and voluntarily protect the World Tree of the elves.

At the meeting, many elven nobles reminded Vanilla that the royal court did not really want a ceasefire, but might just want a respite, or even be plotting to attack the reformist army camp.

But Vanilla insisted on going her own way.

It wasn't exactly a case of acting unilaterally; quite a few elves supported vanilla's choice.

It's unclear whether they saw through Vanilla's scheme or simply trusted Vanilla's decision unconditionally.

In short, despite the considerable opposition to Vanilla's decision, it was still carried out.

After agreeing to a ceasefire with the Royal Court faction.

Vanilla led her army away from the battlefield where she had been locked in a stalemate with the Royal Court faction for a long time.

……

At the same time, Rand, Elsa, and Lysa arrived at a place not far from the World Tree.

There are indeed quite a few suspicious elves wandering around here.

The Golden World Tree is the manifestation of the Elf God's protection of the Elf race.

For elven nobles, there are no restrictions on visiting or praying at the World Tree.

But these elves are clearly suspicious.

Rand used his [Blessing 6: Favor of the Torch Goddess].

At first glance, it was all grayish-black.

Rand shook his head.

This blessing works quite well within one's own territory, and the probability of error is very small when used to distinguish between friend and foe.

However, among the elves, everything is mostly gray and black, making it impossible to tell who is worse or more hostile.

But it's not entirely useless.

At least some of the sprites around vanilla have already taken on a neutral colorless form instead of the hostile gray-black.

Hopefully, there will be opportunities for elves and humans to "coexist harmoniously" in the future. Although it could also be argued that the evil human Rand is hiding in the shadows and controlling the Queen of the Elves from behind the scenes.

“Let’s grab a few and question them; maybe we’ll get some clues,” Rand said to Elsa.

Elsa quickly captured several elves who were doing something unknown, and after interrogating them, she obtained some clues.

“They are indeed members of the Restorationists, but they are just low-level thugs. They were ordered to set up some traps around the area, but they don’t know anything else,” Elsa said.

“It seems we’ve come to the right place. Next, we’ll do some preliminary work and then wait for the vanilla people to be in place.” Rand rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the golden World Tree.

“It is truly vast and beautiful,” Rand commented, gazing at the World Tree.

Using the word "vast" to describe a tree might seem odd, but it's perfectly appropriate to use it to describe the Golden World Tree. The existence of the Golden World Tree makes Rand acutely aware that this is a world of gods and magic, not just an ordinary medieval world.

As for why Rand and the others only did preliminary work, it was naturally because Rand didn't bring many people to the Elf Forest this time.

The Elf Forest and the Moon Phase Kingdom are far apart, and even Rand has no way to transport a large number of troops to the Elf Forest.

Even if it were possible, Rand could not possibly transport a large number of troops to the Elf Forest.

If even warfare is done by humans for elves, then elves might as well be slaves to humans.

Fortunately, at least under Vanilla's leadership, it seems that the Elf race still has some hope.

Hopefully, the strategies that Vanilla and he discussed will be effective.

Using this opportunity to deceive the Royal Court faction into advancing rashly, and then, with the support of favorable timing, location, and popular support, to decisively defeat the main force of the Royal Court faction, and then come to rescue the World Tree.

……

This occurred shortly after Rand began dealing with the preliminary matters surrounding the Golden World Tree.

The royal court's army had already set off to pursue the reformist army.

At first, the Royal Court faction was worried that Vanilla's claim of a ceasefire to support the Golden World Tree was a lie, but now it seems there's no need to worry; Vanilla is just that naive.

Even the reformist elven nobles, generals, and their soldiers became so naive.

The Elf King's mount was a magnificent white deer.

The Elf King led his army forward.

"Where are the reformist army? They should be catching up soon," the Elf King asked the Elf Noble General.

The elven noble general replied, "Logically, we should have caught up today, but we haven't found any Reformist troops nearby. They might be moving much faster than we thought."

They are now in a canyon in the Elf Forest.

The terrain here is already somewhat rugged and narrow. In their original plan, they intended to catch up with the reformist army here and then use the narrow and rugged terrain to wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop.

However, the planned battle location now appears to be incorrect.

So either the reformists are so eager to save the Golden World Tree that they march very fast.

Either there was an inside job gone wrong, or the information was inaccurate.

Then that’s it…

The Elf King looked up at the narrow terrain and towering cliffs around him.

He now had a bad feeling.

"Your Majesty, shall we rest here today? The soldiers are quite exhausted after such a long march," the elven general inquired.

The Elf King shook his head: "I have a feeling something is wrong. Let's get through this canyon area first, and then find a place to camp and rest. It's getting dangerous here."

"You mean...?" The elven general was somewhat taken aback; he understood what the elven king meant.

"I only have some doubts. Go and get on with your business." The Elf King shook his head.

The elven general quickly went to relay the order.

The Elf King, however, gazed at the sky.

There are already some dark clouds in the sky, and the weather isn't very good; it's very likely to rain soon.

Being surrounded in this terrain would be extremely bad.

The original plan was for them to encircle and block the reformist army here.

but now……

The only option now is to get through as quickly as possible; going back the way we came won't be any faster.

I hope that's not really the case.

The events of the past kept echoing in the Elf King's mind.

As everyone knows, Vanilla is a young, brilliant elf genius with extraordinary talent and ambition.

The strategy of launching a surprise attack on the Royal Court's camp before the Royal Court had fully assembled its army was devised by Xiangcao.

Vanilla's assertion that a ceasefire was a decision made by the Royal Court faction is naive.

This conclusion was drawn from intelligence gathered from multiple sources, including a mole within the reformist faction.

And if Vanilla really is using this opportunity to lure them into taking risks.

Does that mean she's even deceiving her own people?
This……

The clouds in the sky grew thicker and thicker.

The leaden-black clouds hung over all the elves like an iron curtain.

The Elf King even unconsciously prayed to the Elf God, the god of the elves, that such a terrible fate would not befall them.

pity.

Backfired.

After they had traveled some distance,

The rustling figures of elves have already appeared on the cliffs on both sides.

Clearly, all of this was planned by Vanilla; it was all a conspiracy by the reformers.

The Elf King felt a chill run down his spine.

From the very beginning, when the news of the Golden World Tree being threatened was announced, Vanilla had calculated everything about both their own and the other side's reactions.

This led the Royal Court faction to believe that Vanilla was a young elf eager to save the Golden World Tree.

Their thought process was so smooth that they couldn't possibly have imagined it was Vanilla's scheme.

Up until now, everything before has made perfect sense, hasn't it?
We can't make them admit that Vanilla is a young, cunning sprite who can outwit these old folks and predict all their thoughts.
"Damn it," the Elf King cursed to himself.

Vanilla appeared before the Elf King in the drizzling heat.

"Commit suicide, Uncle, you've lost." Xiangcao's eyes held a hint of helplessness.

The Elf King is, of course, a relative of Vanilla.

And now she has to say such cold words to her relatives.

Of course, Vanilla knew very well that this Elf King, who no longer fit the needs of the Elf Forest, had already caused the deaths of many innocent elves, and if she did not defeat her uncle, even more innocent elves would die.

So even though she felt uncomfortable, she would show no mercy.

The Elf King remained silent.

The Elf King was well aware that the Royal Court's chances of winning were now very low.

Although the royal court's army still surpasses the reformists' army in both quality and quantity.

However, having traveled such a long distance to get here, some of the men and horses are already exhausted.

Moreover, due to the previous surprise attack, although they managed to stabilize their position, their morale was not high overall. Now that they have fallen into another trap, their morale will only be worse.

So the only chance of winning now is to kill the vanilla in front of us.

Vanilla Moonshadow is now only accompanied by Nidhogg, the black dragon mage, and a giant raven.

If there's a chance to kill Vanilla, then maybe there's still a chance to continue the fight.

Vanilla blinked her azure eyes, which were just like her uncle's. Of course, she knew what her uncle was thinking. She simply said again, "Commit suicide, hand over the army to me, and I will save the Elf Forest."

(End of this chapter)