Your war hammer is too fake

The one who made the move was not An Jiyue, but Master Kurgaz who came specially from Plateau Castle. For this battle, the dwarves dispatched multiple rune lords and multiple doomsday anvils, with hundreds of spell-crushing runes shining.

The wood elves, who failed to cast spells and had no time to dig firebreaks, could only attack in desperation and charge into the pre-set positions that the dwarves had dug for several days. What happened next could not be called a battle at all, it was a massacre, nothing more. Many wood elves were waiting for reinforcements from their cousins ​​that would never come until the moment they fell.

The battle lasted until 3pm, when the dwarves finally received the long-awaited order to attack. They advanced over the bodies of Asrai and other enemies, and the slight resistance was quickly annihilated by the reflection of the surging armor plates.

It was not until the dwarves reached the Oak of Ages that they finally encountered a decent enemy.

Chapter 318 Death and Rebirth (Part 2)

Ariel had seen this scene more than once in his dreams (see Chapter 258).

The forest burned. The Asrai and their allies were defeated, completely and without argument. Athel Loren was about to be history, and all they held dear would be reduced to ash in the flames of vengeance, while the man who had caused this to happen stood before the Mage Queen, watching her calmly.

"So," the human girl with silver hair and red eyes asked, "do you have any last words?"

Ariel opened his mouth, but only coughed up some blood foam. The fully armed dwarves rushed through the sacred forest, throwing fire starters everywhere. The dwarves prepared a large amount of pre-refined "black water (oil)" for this day, and every dwarf who participated in the battle received enough throwable improvised incendiary bombs from the quartermaster.

"What are you?" the Mage Queen asked, coughing up blood. The wounds on her chest and thighs were bleeding, and she clearly felt the approach of death. Even if the enemies did nothing next, she would not be able to survive.

Hearing her question, the thing with human appearance looked around. Beside her were the kings of the dwarves, and the Butcher King's orange-red cockscomb was particularly conspicuous among them. "(Van Elsalin) I am a human," the thing suddenly laughed, "(Zhendan) Tsk, how come you look like a king..."

Ariel didn't understand what was so funny about this sentence, and could only attribute it to some strange and foreign culture that the elves didn't understand. Thinking of this, the Mage Queen spoke again: "'Human', why do you want to help the dwarves?"

"You really don't have any last words?" the other party asked.

Aisha's mortal incarnation shook her head. Before meeting An Jiyue, Ariel always felt that she had a lot to ask and say, but when she really met her face to face, she realized that those things no longer made any sense.

The Twilight sisters died, killed by two teams of Eagle Guards. The sisters could be resurrected as long as they did not die at the same time, so they and their giant eagle companion Gwindor were drowned by tracking rockets; the young and reckless forest dragon Sessin-Hal also died. It used its body to block multiple artillery attacks for the Twilight sisters until its entire chest was shattered by the shells and it fell down.

All of Ariel's direct guards, the Sisters of Thorns, died. In front of the organized rune blacksmiths, they were unable to successfully cast even a single spell and could only fight with swords and javelins. None of Orion's wild cavalry survived either. They gathered around their king and fought until the last moment.

Asrai, forest spirits, dragon lizards, forest dragons...all those who were human and those who were not, all died in the place they vowed to defend at all costs.

"Okay," An Jiyue said as she took a step forward, "If that's the case—"

The pile of corpses not far away was suddenly pushed open from the inside, and Orion rushed over with his bruised body, blocking his wife. The [Telekinetic Blade] smoothly brushed the neck of the Woodland King from left to right, and the huge head fell to the ground and rolled to Ariel's feet. The Mage Queen reached out and lifted up her husband's head, holding it gently in her arms.

"Go ahead," Ariel said, "What are you waiting for?"

An Jiyue did not kill Ariel immediately, but stared at her for a while. "My people are tracking down those refugees who escaped," the girl suddenly said, "I will go over and deal with those who survived."

The Mage Queen's eyes widened when she heard this. "You..." Ariel only had time to squeeze out one syllable from her throat before the needle-like telekinetic blade pierced into her forehead and then pierced out from the back of her head. The demigod's head shook for a moment, and then her body slowly slid to the side, her face full of disbelief, regret, pain, and endless sorrow.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't let you take revenge yourself," An Jiyue said to Brock beside him, "They are not ordinary people. Let's not talk about Ariel. Orion can't be killed by conventional means. Even if the King of the Woodland is killed, he can be resurrected in the spring of next year. In order to completely end this feud, I have to do it."

"Don't mind it, ma'am." Bullock shook his head with regret and relief. "The hatred has been settled, that's enough."

An Jiyue was silent for a while after hearing this. "My fleet will continue to cooperate with your actions," she said, "I will leave first. Have you decided on the time and place for the celebration banquet?"

"According to tradition, we can hold a celebration banquet after we return to the Desolate Castle," the person who answered her was King Agrim of the Butcher's Castle. "Do you have any urgent business, lady? If necessary, we can postpone the banquet appropriately. If you are not present at this banquet, even the most glorious victory will become dim."

"No, the celebration banquet can be held as usual," An Jiuyue said, "I will be there on time. Now let me take my leave for now. I am going to put an end to the Asrai race, that's it."

As he spoke, the governor turned around and looked at the Era Oak Tree in front of him, which literally towered into the sky. The heat wave hit him. This magical plant planted by the ancient saint was burning. After Ariel was knocked down, An Jiyue lit it with his own hands.

[The leyline nodes have been calibrated. Do you want to start deploying secondary anchor points? Yes/No]

The girl clicked "yes" with her mind. After Feng Xizhao led the team to purify the corruption of the Brass Fortress, An Jiyue, who had money in her pocket, bought a new secondary anchor point - this was specially prepared for Athel Loren.

Compared to other areas on the planet's surface, the veil of the Athel Loren Forest is relatively weak. Here, the Winds of Magic and other beings from the Chaos Realm can more easily pass through the veil and appear in the material universe. The reason why Athel Loren has not become a ghost place like the Polar Wasteland is purely because the existence of the Web of Life blocks those monsters.

The Oak of Ages is the key to maintaining the web of life, and is also the reason why Athel Loren is filled with the wind of magic. In An Jiyue's view, Athel Loren is just a small Eye of Terror that has not exploded yet, and she happens to have the ability to repair the veil. Under the premise of having a better alternative, this tree must become history. In the future, Athel Loren will become an ordinary forest. Too much magic energy is really not a good thing in this world.

The secondary anchor point will replace the Oak of Ages to suppress this weak area of ​​the curtain until it returns to normal. As for the convenient and fast root teleportation, although it is a pity, it is still more important to keep the demons out of the material world...

An Jiyue, who was about to turn around and leave, suddenly stopped.

"Anything else, ma'am?" asked Agrim.

"Agrim, send someone to seal off this place and don't let anyone in," An Jiyue said to the Butcher King with a serious face, "The Oak of Ages is dying, but its death also brings new life... Don't worry, I will take care of it."

After saying this, the Jiedushi took off into the air with his deputy commander and flew towards the north on a cloud.

……

Kerillian followed closely behind the adults, carrying a backpack that was almost as big as herself.

"Hold on, children!" she heard the Stray Hunter who had been tasked with escorting them shout. "We are not out of danger yet. I can feel the enemy close behind us... Your cousin's Everqueen will protect you."

Kerillian couldn't remember how many times she had said this. The 13-year-old girl tightened the straps of her backpack and tried hard not to complain about the excessive weight for a child of her age.

This backpack was given to her when she set out. It was filled with dried meat, preserved fruits, and a water bottle, with a few packets of herbs stuffed in. This was the rations for the next three days for twenty elf children, including Kerillian herself. If she lost it, everyone would have to travel on an empty stomach.

Although Warhammer elves have a long lifespan, they grow at the same rate as humans. At 13, Kerillian looks about the same age as a human girl, maybe a little older. When the king and queen decided to fight the enemy to the death, all those who could hold a weapon stayed behind, and those who were too young were sent away.

Kerillian's age was at a very delicate critical point: she could already hold a sword and pull a small bow used by Asrai children, which was between a weapon and a toy. When the tribesman in charge of screening came to her, he hesitated for a moment, and finally put Kerillian's name on the evacuation list.

They set out at dawn, walking deep and shallow through the undeveloped primeval forest. Aslai never built roads, or in Aslai's eyes, roads were secret paths made up of roots, vines and tree holes. Since there was really no way to spare more people to escort them, each child received a weapon that matched their strength, mainly short swords and daggers, and some people received soft bows with very low pounds. Older children also had to carry backpacks full of supplies.

After walking for a whole day under the pressure, someone finally couldn't hold on any longer. A child about seven or eight years old slipped and fell to the ground, then sat down and cried loudly. This cry seemed to have some kind of magic, and other children began to cry one after another, no matter how the dozen or so adult elves who were accompanying them tried to comfort them.

Kerillian was probably the only one who didn't cry. She looked around, found a flat stone, put down her backpack, sat on it slowly, and then rubbed her shoulders with red marks from the straps with a grimace.

How long will it take for this to end? Elf Loli thought to herself.

The adults went back and forth, trying to get the children to stand up and continue walking. They lifted the children up from the ground one by one, but as soon as they left, the children would sit back down on the ground, huddled together like a group of chickens. Although he was extremely anxious, the leader of the team could only announce that they would rest for half an hour. He could not and had no right to demand these children to use the standards of a soldier. It would be better to say that the children were strong enough to hold on until now.

Taking out half a piece of preserved fruit from her pocket, Kerillian put it into her mouth and chewed it slowly. This was her dinner from yesterday, which she had kept until now. Smelling the aroma of food, all the children nearby came over eagerly. Kerillian then opened her backpack and took out some dried meat and preserved fruit to distribute to everyone.

The short break was over soon. Under the adults' anxious and almost harsh urging, the listless children stood up from the ground reluctantly, and Kerillian put the remaining small piece of preserved fruit back into her pocket in due time. She gave her share of food to the younger children, and this piece of preserved fruit had to last until tomorrow morning.

A white mist appeared around them, surrounding the evacuation team. The Wanderer clenched his longbow tightly, his knuckles turning white from excessive force. He looked at the only spellcaster in the team, who shook his head at him with a very ugly expression.

"Do something!" the Wanderer called to the Spellsinger. "Anything!"

Before the spellcaster could answer, the surrounding white mist surged and then suddenly swallowed everyone in.

……

Kerillian opened her eyes blankly.

What happened just now... The elf girl thought in confusion, and then she relaxed. Yes, they were saved. When the evacuation team had to stop to rest because of fatigue, a team of rangers from the King's Court of the Crucified Wood suddenly appeared and rescued them. The leader was the famous "Prophetess" Nayes.

Then, they were escorted all the way to the Southland, far away from their homeland. It was a long and arduous journey, but fortunately, it was all over. All two hundred children arrived safely at the Orion Camp.

This is a peaceful land, at least much more peaceful than Athel Loren. Thanks to the efforts of the southern relatives or the Kaldorei, all potential threats were blocked outside the borders. There are no tree elves that steal elven babies, and there are no disordered time flows or other dangers. Before long, all the children who survived the death had new families: they were dispersed and placed in various Kaldorei villages and adopted by those Kaldorei couples who had been strictly examined.

Kerillian was no exception. Her adoptive father was a carpenter and her adoptive mother was a pharmacist. They treated her very well and gave her unreserved and complete love. Under the care of her adoptive parents, Kerillian spent decades without worries. The military strength of the Crucified Wood Court was very strong, and no foreign enemy had ever threatened this small village located at the foot of the mountains on the edge of the Southland world, even though it was said that there was a dwarf stronghold in the mountains to the east.

As her childhood memories faded with time, Kerillian gradually grew into a skilled hunter, although her adoptive father hoped that she could inherit his carpentry skills, and her adoptive mother firmly believed that she should become a pharmacist. Compared with the Asrai who rely entirely on hunting and gathering for food, the Kaldorei have retained the tradition of hunting, but there are not many full-time hunters, and the main responsibility of the Kaldorei hunters is to patrol the surrounding areas of the village and be alert to any potential danger signals.

Since becoming a hunter, Kerillian has always performed this duty meticulously, even though the village she lives in has never suffered any real threat. The greenskin tribes rushing down from the mountains are often crushed by the royal army before they even reach the edge of the village, leaving her, a full-time hunter, with little work to do.

But there is nothing wrong with a peaceful life, thought Kerillian as she patrolled the woods alone. Today was her 73rd birthday, and sixty years had passed since her escape. Her mentor, another hunter in the village, had recently received a call from Tal Hoar and had the honor of becoming a member of the Evergreen Guard. Now Kerillian was the only hunter in the village.

Perhaps I should find an apprentice, otherwise it would be too boring to patrol alone all the time... Just as the young hunter was walking through the woods, her thoughts wandering aimlessly, her ears suddenly twitched.

She heard the baby crying.

Following the sound, Kerillian found a wooden basin entangled by reeds beside a stream. The huntress held her breath. She walked forward lightly and looked down at the crying life.

A dwarf baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, with a stone tablet inscribed with Khazarid language beside it, that was all that was in the basin. The moment she met the innocent eyes of the dwarf baby, Kerillian drew out the sword that her mentor had given her before she left, with a clang.

The dwarf baby was still howling loudly. The enchanted blade engraved with elven runes trembled slightly, and Kerillian realized that her hands were shaking uncontrollably, and the tip of the sword that was so sharp that it could cut hair cut into tiny cuts on the swaddling clothes.

Kerillian didn't know how long she stood there. Countless thoughts were arguing, screaming, and fighting fiercely in the huntress's mind. The cry of the dwarf baby gradually became weaker. A breeze blew, and the drifting reeds gently caressed the girl's cheek. The next moment, its leaves slapped Kerillian's face, swaying and scratching a bloody mark.

The stinging pain on her face woke Kerillian up suddenly. She hurriedly put her sword back into the scabbard and looked at the dwarf baby in the basin at a loss. "Are you hungry?" she asked. As soon as she said this, Kerillian wanted to slap herself.

The female hunter struggled to carry the wooden basin to the shore. God knows why these low piles have to make even a wooden basin so heavy. After thinking for a while, she took out her water bottle and poured out most of the full water. Then she took out some biscuits from her backpack, crushed them and threw them into the water bottle, shaking it vigorously to mix them evenly.

"I didn't bring a pot." The huntress explained dryly to the dwarf baby. Then she turned the kettle over and poured out some cold paste in her palm. She carefully fed it to the dwarf baby and watched nervously as the little thing swallowed it. Perhaps it was really hungry, the dwarf baby ate all the paste.

After eating, the dwarf baby stopped crying and fell asleep with a smack of his lips. Kerillian looked up at the sky, then looked down at the little thing. After a brief hesitation, the huntress picked up the baby and strode towards the mountains in the east. She remembered that her mentor had said before that there was a dwarf farm not too far from the village, where hundreds of small-minded dwarves lived.

…When Kerillian returned to the village, it was already late at night. She was not surprised to see that the villagers were fully mobilized, fully armed and holding torches and gathering at the entrance of the village.

The female hunter stood at the entrance of the village, awkwardly but politely greeting the people who were about to set out to search for her. Just when she thought she would be severely scolded and maybe even beaten, her adoptive parents rushed over and hugged her in their arms.

No one scolded her, no one hit her, and no one even asked where she had gone. The villagers first went home to put their weapons and equipment back, and then changed into their ceremonial dresses. In the backyard of Kerillian's house, the whole village came to celebrate her birthday. The long table covered with a white printed tablecloth was filled with rich food and drinks.

The lively birthday party lasted until late at night. The villagers gave gifts and blessings one after another, and then said goodbye to Kerillian's family. When all the villagers left, the adoptive parents came to Kerillian and looked at her with a smile.

"Kerillian," the adoptive parents said at the same time, "Do you regret your choice?"

"No," Kerillian said, "I am a kaldorei. I did what a kaldorei should do."

As soon as the words fell, the whole world disappeared in an instant.

……

Kerillian opened her eyes again...wait, why did she say again?

The elf Loli subconsciously glanced around. Her friends and the adults who were responsible for escorting them were lying on the ground in all directions, and Kerillian was the only one awake at the scene. For some reason, she always felt that she seemed to have forgotten a lot of things, many very important things.

After a while, people woke up one after another. Strangely, all the awakened ones were children, and the adult elves were still "asleep". The children, led by Kerillian, waited for more than an hour. Dozens of children tried their best but failed to wake up the rest. The children who were too young started crying again.

Kerillian didn't cry, she just wanted to know what she had forgotten. Before she could come to a conclusion, a group of flexible figures appeared around her, and a female spellcaster with a staff was running towards her quickly.

"Children!" the spellsinger shouted, "It's all right now... You are safe."

The elf Loli recognized the other party's identity, "The Prophetess" Nayis, a legendary figure known to every household in Athel Loren. She then looked at the silent rangers, each of whom had the emblem of the Crucified Wood Court... By the way, has she seen this scene before somewhere?

Nais checked all the awake people one by one, and then those who could not wake up. Those who were sleeping stopped breathing at some point, and their hearts stopped beating. Finally, the spellsinger took away all the children who had successfully woken up from their dreams. She announced to the children that they would go to the Southland to receive the protection of His Majesty Morgan; as for the dead, they were buried deep underground according to the tradition of the Wood Elves, and their remains would nourish the forest.

After all the elves had left, An Jiyue slowly walked out surrounded by several brave men.

"So many people can wake up from the Nan Ke Yi Meng," the Jiedushi said, his hands behind his back, "I am somewhat surprised... I thought that only the little girl with psychic talent could pass the test I set."

A Biao officer standing nearby seemed to be hesitant to speak.

An Jiyue glanced at the big cat and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."

"Um... General," the Biaoren officer scratched the back of his head, "Didn't you promise that King Brock that you would kill all the Asrai?"

"Yes, all the Asrai died. Those who survived are no longer Asrai," the Jiedushi explained. "Brock is in such a plight. Sixty percent of his people died, and even his wife is gone. If this hatred is not avenged, he will go crazy... Thorgrin's decision is right, but are you going to reason with someone who has been driven to despair by hatred? If this happened to you, would you let go of the family of your enemy?"

"…General, I absolutely cannot do that."

"Look, everyone has their own reasons, and everyone has their own reasons that make sense. That's where the trouble lies," An Jiyue said as she walked back with her hands behind her back. "If I don't vent my anger, Brok will hate Thorgrim, and that's how the rift is created. Don't think that the dwarves don't have internal conflicts, that's the illusion of outsiders! Thorgrim has his own difficulties, so I have to think of a way to have the best of both worlds in this matter."

"I thought..."

"Shut up."

"Here."

"We're done here," the girl said quietly, "it's almost time to go back. There's still a very valuable treasure at the Oak of Ages that we need to retrieve."

"What is the commander talking about?"

"Seeds," An Jiyue turned around and glanced at it with a look that made the Biaoren officer shudder, "seeds of the Oak of Ages."

The author says:

Author's Notes: Two chapters in one, two more chapters to go.

The Kerillian in this chapter is just a borrowed name from the Five Little Strongmen, and is essentially an original character. I have been thinking about the content of this chapter for a long time. In my plot arrangement, the Asrai must not only be exterminated physically, but also culturally. In addition, when reading a novel, it is normal to have opinions about a certain plot in the book, but the first thing you say is "Should I report it?" Is this something a normal person can say?

Chapter 319: Looming

Sartosa Island, somewhere inland.

As one of the Tyrell city-states, Sartosa is undoubtedly the most unique one in terms of style: this island is located in the southernmost part of Tyrell, across the sea from the mainland. Its history can be traced back to the end of the Longbeard War, when the high elves retreated from the Old World under the order of the new Phoenix King, Karadjoer. Some expatriates were stranded here for various reasons, and the ancestors of the Tyrells came here at about the same time and built the earliest human town on the island.

Soon after, the Tomb Fleet of Settra the Great and the Dark Elf Pirates attacked here one after another, and even the Norsemen came here in their longboats to share in the spoils. The difference is that the former two left after looting, while the Norsemen settled here. These barbarian pirates from the icy north have always had a tradition of sailing to the end of the world and establishing colonies in places with suitable conditions - this is how the Skogi Colony in the northeast corner of Lustria came about.

The Norsemen used the island of Sartosa as their base and constantly attacked the merchant ships of the Tileans, especially the Lusigni. The mercenaries hired by the merchant princes fought against the Norse pirates entrenched on the island many times, with both sides winning and losing. Realizing that it was difficult to solve the problem by force, the merchant princes changed their strategy and successfully reached an agreement with the Norsemen on the island. The latter no longer attacked the Tileans, but took the money given by the merchant princes to deal with their counterparts: the dark elf pirates and the Araby pirates.

This partnership lasted for a long time until the legendary Sultan Jafar, under the instigation of Rat, invaded Estalia across the sea, which led to a fight with the entire Old World. Sultan Jafar's attack on Estalia was thwarted, and he was beaten back to his hometown by the Old World coalition, and eventually died in defeat. In the early stages of the war, the Araby pirates tried to take advantage of the opportunity to drive away their Norscan counterparts and monopolize the Feng Shui treasure land of Sartosa Island (a Feng Shui treasure land for pirates).

Due to their absolute superiority in military strength, the Araby pirates had the upper hand for a time. They had almost taken over Sartosa Island until the merchant princes of Lusigny once again stepped forward and took the lead in organizing a coalition composed of mercenaries, Norsemen, and other nearby pirates to drive away the Araby pirates who refused to leave the island.

This war laid the foundation for the political structure of Sartosa that continues to this day - a pirate principality dominated by captains, a hotbed of anarchism, and an extremely chaotic lawless area.

As long as your fists are strong enough, there is a place for you in Sartosa.

Sartosa is the destination for the scum who can't make it in other places, and it is also a perfect place for filth and dirt. However, for the Palatis Cult, who are on the upper level, Sartosa is almost the type they hate the most: the rulers here are all kinds of captains, some of whom are mainly engaged in piracy and occasionally trade, and some are mainly trades and occasionally part-time pirates. This group of bastards has their own set of rules of the game. The Palatis are good at first infiltrating the upper political structure, and then the top-down model cannot be applied here at all.

The Order of Paradis has branches, intelligence stations and peripheral organizations in all city-states of Tyrell. They have more or less "business dealings" with almost all the well-known commercial princes, but they don't have much power in the pirate principality of Sartosa, which is exactly what William, who has many little secrets, needs.

After providing a little help to the current pirate prince, which helped the middle-aged man who was already somewhat powerless to regain his strength, William was able to purchase a lot of properties in Sartosa and also bought a piece of land inland as a backup base. The ninja troops loyal to William, the Ghosts, moved here from the border prince's territory under William's orders after their original village was razed to the ground by a wizard himself (see Chapter 193), and built a new village from scratch.

The Ghosts suffered heavy casualties in the battle with Dustan's army, and their core forces were almost completely lost. Fortunately, after escaping to Sartosa, the ninjas finally had a good turn of events: after killing a well-known pirate gang in the local area in one night, the Sartosa people quickly learned to respect these mysterious and eccentric outsiders.