Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 135 The Three Sisters of Tarabal

Once war begins, it is not so easy to stop.

This time, the Mind Flayers went all out, with new reinforcements arriving every moment. The ever-expanding camp demonstrated the Mastermind's obsession with conquest.

Each mind flayer brought with them a horde of monsters and minions. This time, they drained their resources and even summoned a large number of otherworldly creatures.

There can only be one overlord of the underworld, and the city of Mozordilka before us will become the starting point of a new Mindflayer empire.

"Boom!" One after another, wooden war chariots were pushed down the city wall.

On the morning of the second day of the war, the reassembled slave army was sent to its death on the battlefield.

This is why the dark elf nobles and the city lord arrived at the city wall so early in the morning.

Compared to yesterday, their equipment was much better, and many servants and slaves had completed simple training and were sent to the battlefield.

Although it was still a classic case of cannon fodder fighting cannon fodder at the beginning, both sides deployed at least 50% more combat power.

"For the honor of the family!" The matriarchs brandished their nine-tailed whips, throwing all of their family's assets into the brutal meat grinder battlefield.

The Dark Elves' society is probably the most typical feudal family system. Their political and military core is composed of individual families, and as a theocratic society, their family patriarchs (mistresses) are all high priests of the gods.

When faced with military threats, each family must make a contribution.

"The gods will always watch over your dedication."

What might be just a battle cry in other societies is a real fact in the Dark Elf society.

Even though the Dark Elves have become slightly more peaceful than before, some of their inherent logic and racial characteristics cannot be changed.

The weak should be enslaved, and the strong should have a higher status.

If the goddess performs poorly in the war, then it is only natural that another family should become the new city lord.

Furthermore, if necessary, the gods will even gladly "bestow" new divine veins.

“We are running out of slaves; our war preparations are inadequate.” They showed no regret for their losses, only complaining that their previous stockpile of slaves was insufficient.

"Damn mind flayers! They not only stockpile a lot of war slaves, but they've also enslaved the local newborn monsters." A hawkish matriarch was regretting not having recruited these scattered cannon fodder earlier, allowing them to become the "assets" of her opponents.

“That great monster is always a threat to the war. It seems to be able to control those low-level monsters.” All the matriarchs could see that the Beast Child was the key to the war.

Yesterday's fierce battle inflicted heavy losses on the proud Dark Elves.

Today, we have brought more war machines and slaves, yet we still have not gained an advantage, because our adversaries have increased even more.

The "Prince of Beasts" actually enslaved some newly born monsters, turning them into cannon fodder in the war.

"We absolutely cannot back down. It is the will of the gods to defend this city." Even the rank-and-file commanders are fanatical believers.

"He is watching us. Those who retreat will lose divine favor." For the dark elves, profit and piety are synonymous.

Dark elves are a fanatical war-loving race with real interests to pursue; their main power structure consists entirely of priests and priests.

This means that as long as they have divine favor and maintain sufficient offerings, they will continuously progress, and all the family heads will be high priests.

The priest is the most special of the extraordinary professions. Many practitioners do not even regard it as a profession.

They are servants and implementers of the gods' will, using divine arts bestowed by the gods and borrowing the gods' divine power.

Therefore, their piety is enough; even if their martial arts skills and spellcasting training are terrible, it won't prevent them from becoming great priests.

Therefore, among the younger generation of professionals, there are many Grand Priests, but very few Top-Tier Transcendents.

After all, top priests require a great deal of divine power, which is derived from the flesh and blood and capital of the gods, and also requires a corresponding physical body to bear it.

Only a very small number of top ascetics, those favored by God, or divine children can become top-level high priests; for most priests, becoming an ordinary high priest is the inevitable end.

"This, perhaps, is also our opportunity." The matriarchs didn't speak, but exchanged glances. "The order of Mosodirka needs a reshuffling." The third-ranked family had always yearned for power.

"Ha, a goddess? She fought so badly." The matriarch of the second-ranked family has already set her sights on the position of city lord.

When dark elves encounter opportunities for large-scale hunts and wars, they often fall into a frenzy across the entire race, which also presents them with an opportunity to reshuffle the deck.

Those who achieve great feats in battle will be rewarded immediately, and may even become high-ranking priests. The hard-fought battle of this day may be comparable to years of sacrifice and prayer, so they will naturally be quite fervent.

This is also the root cause of why both doves and hawks always crave war; their only disagreement is when to wage war. The Talabal family are already city lords and goddesses; even if they win against the earthlings, they will only retain their current power and influence.

Winning doesn't bring much benefit, but losing means losing everything, which is the root cause of their becoming doves.

This is also one of the reasons for the distorted nature of Dark Elf society. Doves are often the strongest families and their allies, while hawks are often a group of the second to tenth most powerful families. The higher up the list, the more eager they are for an opportunity for change.

It is said that this was a structure intentionally designed by the dark elf gods to ensure they always progressed through internal strife, and to ensure they remained forever high above, the "patriarch" whom they desperately tried to please.

Their pastor probably went to great lengths to report them to the deity (Silver Bottle Mirror Woman) last night.

After all, that's how Talabal came to power back then.

"They probably want to force me to leave the city to fight them." Verna Talabal sighed. She hadn't recovered from yesterday's exhaustion, and the battlefield had arrived again today.

The battlefield remained in a state of agonizing stalemate throughout the day. The Dark Elf society was not actually prepared for war, while the Mind Flayers had been preparing for this day for far too long.

Verna was somewhat tired, but the divine light still emanated from her, and her signature black blade floated slowly with her.

This is the society of the Dark Elves. If the leader cannot maintain his dominance, he can expect to be constantly betrayed.

She couldn't even ask other dark elf cities for reinforcements. This wasn't a holy war against the surface world, but merely an "internal strife" in the underworld. If she asked for help, she would be seen as weak and incompetent.

Divine veins are difficult to sever, but divine favor and divine power can be reduced. She couldn't even imagine what would happen to herself and her family after she lost her prestige.

"My foolish and incompetent sister will probably be a slave coveted by many families." The goddess sighed, stood up again, and summoned a series of black swords, preparing to charge again.

This time, at least we should severely injure that beast's offspring. If we let it continue to kill indiscriminately, the gossips from these noble ladies will definitely affect the gods' favor towards us.

Other deities are not as concerned with the mortal realm. The weak dark elf deities, on the other hand, are more concerned with the gains and losses of each city and even each family.

Verna floated up slowly, gathering her power once more. The "Child of the Beast's" near-limitless regenerative ability was what frustrated her the most.

Even if it is cut in two, it can still heal quickly.

What exhausted Verna the most was that she had been reserving her strength to deal with the second Beast Child that might appear at any time.

Her "comrades-in-arms" would obviously only see this as their own incompetence, and would use all sorts of sarcastic words to force her to go up and exhaust herself.

"Those who possess power but have no outstanding achievements should step down." This is the most typical mindset of the Dark Elves.

At that moment, a burst of fire suddenly descended from the sky!

"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, a massive crater appeared on the giant's body, and a Valkyrie with fiery wings descended from the sky.

"Is this...me?" Those familiar eyebrows, that sharp, edgy aura—isn't that me in the mirror?
The power emanating from this Valkyrie, and the divine flames attached to her spear, are of the same origin as her, or even nearly originate from herself!
Verna was bewildered. What was going on?

But a familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind.

"My silly sister, are you so surprised to see your other sister?"

Verna turned around abruptly and saw her "incompetent sister," but she had never seen the other woman's smug and confident face before.

"She is also Tarabal. Alexie Tarabal, your own sister."

(End of this chapter)