Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 79 Her Majesty the Empress's Summoning (5k)

Dia curiously measured Aurora.

High Elves, Dark Elves, and Wood Elves—the three great elven races of the world have been gathered by Renn.

In terms of appearance, the differences are quite obvious: the dark elf Bersalia has a darker complexion, mostly due to the intense sun on the Red Soil Plateau, and her temperament is quite bold and open. The high elf Ellina has fair skin and is beautiful, with the tallest average height among the three elves, and her temperament is closer to that of human nobles, both elegant and dignified.

The wood elves, Aurora, are more petite, with yellowish skin and a gentle, reserved demeanor, perhaps due to their long-term residence in quiet forests.

While the ceremony was being cleaned up in Raine, the three elven heroes were chatting.

After exchanging pleasantries with her two long-lost friends for a few moments, Aurora asked about the topic she was most interested in:
The fate of Quen Galicia, the Wood Elf hero of history, also known as the "Hand of Nature".

“You’re dead,” Berthalia said with a smile. “After you died, the Wood Elves waged guerrilla warfare against the White Walker army, and the battle lines were pushed back one after another. They even lost their capital, Greenwood.”

"Later, the continental coalition was established, and Quen joined as the representative of the Wood Elves to fight against the White Walkers with all the nations of the world."

"It took us several years to drive the White Walker army back to the rainforest peninsula."

"Ellina and the White Walker Highlord perished together, thus securing the final victory in this long battle. Quen died while clearing out the remaining White Walkers. He and a squad of rangers strayed into the White Walker's lair and were surrounded and killed by monsters ten times their number. We couldn't even retrieve his body—his death was confirmed by the Wood Elf rangers who escaped alive."

“I’d like to add something as well,” Ellina commented. “The Wood Elves once wanted to thoroughly investigate the cause of Quen’s death, but the ranger defected to the Dark Elf army, claiming that he was afraid of being judged and executed by the Druid Elders for failing to protect the Hand of Nature. The Dark Elves refused the Wood Elves’ extradition request. This incident once caused animosity between the two sides, and the Sea of ​​Jungles has reason to suspect that the Red Soil Plateau played some dishonorable role in Quen’s death.”

"Look at what you're saying, as if all we dark elves do is plot and scheme behind people's backs." Bersalia glanced at Renn out of the corner of her eye, and seeing that he didn't seem very interested in the conversation, she sneered, "I have no grudge against Quen and I have even fought side by side many times. What reason would I have to harm him?"

"The war against the White Walkers is over," Ellina said calmly. "The Red Soil Plateau and the Jungle Sea border each other at Skyfall Canyon, where the two sides have a long-standing territorial dispute. Considering the dense forest environment within the canyon, the power that Quen could unleash here in the event of a war would be extremely terrifying. Therefore, the Radiant Court devised a plan to eliminate him in advance, which is also in line with your personality of liking to take precautions, Berthalia."

“I must remind you that Skyfall Canyon is the territory ruled by the Dark Elf Bedorn family,” Bersalia said unhappily. “There are no territorial disputes here; it is legally and historically part of the Red Soil Plateau.”

“I must also correct you, Bertha,” Aurora said calmly. “In our time, the Bedorn family had died out, and more than 80% of the inhabitants of the canyon were wood elves. According to our custom, in the absence of a lord, the wood elves, who had the advantage in numbers, had already achieved de facto autonomy in this area and severed their ties with the Dark Elf Kingdom.”

"Damn it! Apart from you country bumpkins, no country in the world recognizes so-called resident self-government!" Bersalia said angrily. "And it's not that lords don't exist, it's just that the lords we sent later were all driven out by your mob!"

“This is the best example of resident self-governance,” Aurora said slowly. “How can someone who can’t even win the hearts of his people be worthy of being a lord?”

"That's enough," Renn said casually, putting away the last ritual candle. "Two dead men discussing state affairs. What do the Dark Elves and Wood Elves have to do with you now?"

Bersalia and Aurora were both speechless.

"Let's go," Renn ordered.

The group left the tomb by the same route and, upon returning to the surface, saw Chief Conai of Talas and a dozen fully armed wood elf archers waiting outside to welcome them back.

"Ah, you actually came back alive," Connell said incredulously. "Then, can I take that the lich deep in the tomb has been dealt with?"

“It’s been taken care of,” Renn said indifferently. “Pay up.”

“Very good, very good.” Connell paced back and forth, a satisfied expression gradually appearing on his face. “You did a very good job. I didn’t expect you to actually be able to kill that lich. He had been entrenched in our tomb for too long, so long that people outside suspected that the Talas family had some connection with the lich. Thank you for silencing him completely.”

"Now, we only have one last problem to solve: how to shut you all up completely..."

He let out a satisfied sigh and waved his hand, saying:

"Fire arrows."

The wood elf archers drew their bows in unison, but even faster than them was Ellina's lightning spell.

A chain of lightning struck Chieftain Connelly of Talas on the head, completely blasting him apart from the neck up, before leaping onto his three guards. They convulsed and collapsed to the ground, their bodies convulsing violently.

A dense barrage of arrows rained down, only to be blocked by the bone shield that Rein had raised, producing a dull thud like chopping wood.

Just then, Aurora rolled across the ground, emerging from beneath the gap in the bone shield. She snatched the longbow and quiver dropped by the guard who had been paralyzed by lightning, and with another quick roll, dodged the incoming arrows once more.

He stood up, drew his bow, and nocked an arrow. Without any aiming, he raised his hand and simultaneously released five arrows, which accurately pierced the foreheads of the five archers.

The bone shield shattered and fell with a crash, as Berthalia's Burning Cloud spell was completed. Incredibly hot blue flames erupted, setting the wood elf archers, who were still drawing their bows, a cacophony of screams quickly filling the air.

In just a few seconds, Dia transformed into a dragon, ready to shield everyone behind her and unleash a powerful dragon breath to destroy the enemy, only to find that everyone on the other side was already dead.

"Huh?" The dragon uttered a puzzled sound, seemingly confused.

“Change back.” Raine patted her scales.

"Oh." Dia could only revert to human form once more.

Aurora slung her longbow at her waist, then picked up all the arrows from the remaining corpses and put them into her quiver. Then she heard Dia ask again:

"What's next? Is it to retrieve the magic longbow from the Eye of Nature?"

"How could that be? Of course we're going back." Renn tapped her head. "Are you planning to go to Greenshade City and, in front of dozens of high-ranking druid elders, forcibly seize the Eye of Nature's personal weapon?"

"Ouch." Dia's eyes welled up with tears from the blow, and she turned to look at Aurora. "But..."

“It’s alright,” Aurora said gently with a smile. “All I need is a bow and arrows.”

She turned to look at Ryan and said:

"Bessa has told me everything about the feud between Florella and the Talos family."

"Although this happened after my death, a family blood feud is a blood feud that cannot go unpunished. I hope you can give me half a day to deal with this matter."

“Go ahead,” Renn said graciously, waving his hand.

Since his resurrection, the hero has been quite cooperative. And with the caged bird restraints him, he's not worried that Aurora will cause any trouble.

A few days later.

Greenwood City received news that the Talas family of Blackwood City had been wiped out by some ruthless assailants, with none of the dozens of members surviving.

The vast majority of them were killed instantly by arrows piercing their foreheads. Only the chieftain Cornelius and his guards had marks of magical burning on their bodies, and the archers' quivers were empty.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the murderer used magic to kill them, took the bow and arrows, and then killed the remaining people. After all, magic consumes a lot of magic power and cannot be cast indefinitely; using melee weapons is more convenient for dealing with the weak.

This incident caused a great stir among the Wood Elf lords. No one liked a murderer who could wipe out a lord's entire family and continue to roam the sea of ​​jungles, calmly choosing his next target.

Greta Dorothy, the current Eye of Nature, has taken on this case under the orders of the Druid Elders, vowing to personally shoot the murderer with her bow and arrow, no matter where the killer may flee! ——————————————

The group returned to the empire, boarded a boat in the Valley Province, and sailed down the Long River.

Inside the cabin, Renn checked the spell model in his mind again, then looked out the window and fell into deep thought.

Ordinary necromancers can only resurrect mindless skeletons, zombies, and ghosts because they infuse them with a small amount of magic that can only support the undead creatures in simple movement and attack.

Raine's unique resurrection spell allows the dead to move and think freely as they did in life, as well as perform the finer actions that only the living can do. The price is that it consumes an exorbitant amount of magic power, to the point that they cannot leave Raine's side for too long. Otherwise, once the necromantic magic power in their bodies is exhausted and cannot be replenished in time, they will return to the state of decay.

Without these restrictions, Raine wouldn't need to worry about dealing with the White Walkers. He could simply eliminate the royalty and nobility of various countries, then resurrect them using the Caged Birds and take control of them. The world would then be completely in his hands, and no one would object to him preparing for war as he pleased.

With three people now resurrected, the strain on his mana is beginning to show. After careful calculation and estimation, Rein confirmed that he could only resurrect a maximum of six people, which would be the limit of his mana.

If you exceed this number, your mana recovery rate will not be able to keep up with the consumption. Not only will you become a useless person who cannot cast spells, but you will also be unable to stay alive.

Regarding the choice of who should be resurrected, there is no doubt that the value of fighting the White Walkers must be considered.

Ancient heroes who had fought against the White Walkers were undoubtedly the top choice. After all, they truly understood the threat posed by the White Walkers, possessed formidable combat skills, and also had the leadership ability to lead armies into battle.

To combat the White Walkers, a comprehensive mobilization of all nations is essential, but ultimately, it depends on the military competence of the commanders. It's not uncommon in history for hundreds of thousands of troops to be lost to a single incompetent leader.

Secondly, there are nobles and royalty in key positions. By killing them, resurrecting them, and controlling them, one can quickly seize power from them. However... resurrected creatures cannot leave Renn's side for too long, and Renn is unlikely to stay in one place for an extended period. It's impractical to have a powerful figure traveling all over the world with Renn, so this method can only be used for temporary emergencies.

The greatest advantage of being a necromancer is that no one knows he is a necromancer. Once his identity is unfortunately exposed, no noble will dare to let him get close and make a move. At that time, if Renn wants to integrate the power of the world, he will have to conquer the world first.

That would be outrageous.

By the time he arrived in the Fertile Lands of the River Reach, Renn had already figured out his next steps.

Six resurrection slots, try to get as many ancient heroes as possible, and leave one slot for emergencies.

At the same time, we should try our best to maintain contact with the line of Empress Virtue.

The current human empire, with its emperor who controls the population of the four realms and twenty imperial legions, still possesses supreme and absolute power, and no one in the world can rival or oppose him.

But it doesn't matter, he has a good wife who will eventually push the royal family into the abyss of destruction.

Raine decided to follow in the Queen's footsteps.

Before the royal family ruins itself, he must remain the Empress's chief loyal minister!

Upon returning to Salt Island, Raine summoned the castle steward, Gariven, to check on the operation of the territory during his absence.

Salt Island remains unchanged, barren of resources and hampered by poor transportation. Many lizard refugees cannot even afford food and have to catch fish themselves to fill their stomachs. This has even led to conflicts with the local fishermen of Salt Island, who believe that these "reptiles" are stealing their food. As a result, they have even formed the "Human Pureblood Society," which organizes people to go out to sea every day to play bumper boat games and engage in paddle fights with the lizard people.

Lord Renn issued an order: within his territory, no racial discrimination is permitted, and all pure-blooded humans will be immediately disbanded! Otherwise, you'll be sent to the Blood Fortress dungeon!
Secretly, he instructed his butler, Garrison, to keep a close eye on these daring and aggressive fellows.

Once the pirates are defeated and the fleet is assembled, these brave and unruly humans will be needed as armed sailors. An all-lizardman configuration is ultimately risky.

As for the family, we recently received a message from Darryl, saying that some kind of hideous monster seems to be spreading across the rainforest peninsula. Many coastal trading towns have been occupied by them, and not a single living lizardman can be found in the harbor (they've all come to our Salt Island!).
Marquis Fahel also issued instructions to suspend trade with the rainforest peninsula.

The majority of the family's income ultimately comes from smuggling activities in the Gem Islands. The trade on the surface is just for money laundering, and it doesn't matter if they lose money while running the business.

When Raine received this news, he knew that the White Walkers were devouring all life on the peninsula.

Once all living things on the rainforest peninsula have been wiped out, they will launch a massive attack on the Jungle Sea and the Imperial Longwater Province.

In the capital, the loyal Captain Magus in his golden robes sent a letter saying that the previous garrison commander, Leilo, had stepped down in disgrace.

His downfall was quite dramatic: his father, Duke Dacros, was killed by a mob in the street, which made Commander Réiló very disgusted with the mob in the capital who liked to hold demonstrations.

During an Amazon Association march, Rello, accompanied by his golden-robed guards, intercepted the demonstrators, leading to a verbal altercation and a violent clash.

A noble lady participating in the event tried to use the "Amazonian self-defense techniques" she had learned at the association to attack Lei Luo. However, Lei Luo slammed her to the ground with a tackle and kicked her hard in the side several times, breaking her ribs.

This has really stirred up a hornet's nest.

The news quickly spread among the private circles of noble ladies and wives. Everyone who heard the news unanimously condemned Commander Réiló's atrocity and went home to pressure their husbands or fathers to write to the court, declaring, "This disgraceful act of publicly humiliating noble ladies must be severely punished!"

The prestige and legacy of the Dacros family ultimately couldn't withstand the barrage of nagging. Many noble families, in order to silence their wives and daughters, were forced to write to the court suggesting that Lero Dacros be "protectively dismissed" and "wait for the public opinion to subside."

Lei Luo was thus removed from his position.

After reading Magus's letter, Ryan sneered a few times in the study and threw it onto the table.

Berthalia picked up the letter, read it carefully, and said with a smile:

"It seems that Her Majesty the Empress is eager to recall you and continue to serve as the Commander of the Capital Garrison."

"After all, Her Majesty the Queen needs to develop her Amazon Association and connect all the noble ladies into a vast network of relationships, which requires frequent gatherings and parades. Therefore, the position of Commander of the Imperial Capital Garrison must be held by someone she trusts."

"What?" Dia exclaimed in shock. "Raine, you're going to the capital again?"

“She did send me a letter.” Renn opened the next letter, and sure enough, it was from Queen Margarita, asking him to go to the capital immediately and await the next appointment by the royal family. “But I need to stay on Salt Island to deal with things here, so I have to think of a reason to politely decline her offer.”

"You created this image of loyalty yourself," Ellina said coldly. "How will you explain your failure to respond to the Queen's summons promptly?"

"It's not easy to come up with a plausible excuse," Bersalia remarked. "No matter what reason you use, Her Majesty the Queen will inevitably wonder, 'Is this matter more important than my summons?'"

“By the way, Eileen, you present yourself to the public as Renn’s wife, right?” Aurora suddenly suggested, “Why don’t you say you’re pregnant and Renn wants to stay and take care of you? For nobles, bloodline is of paramount importance. If the Queen makes things difficult for you, that would be considered heartless.”

Ellina shuddered involuntarily. Seeing that Renn seemed somewhat tempted, she quickly refused, saying:
"And what about the consequences? One lie requires countless more to cover it up. What will you do if the news reaches the Fahre family and your father sends a doctor to check on the fetus? How will you explain it if the Queen inquires about the child in the future?"

“Indeed,” Renn said thoughtfully. “This type of lie is very effective, but it’s hard to cover it up afterward.”

Before Ellina could even breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Renn say again:

"It would be better to just have a real child."

(End of this chapter)