Chapter 1190: Taiweimansa, the City in the Trees; The Balancing Mythallar

After the performance by the Arcanists of Netheril concluded, it was the turn of the Elves of Eaerlann.

As the Spell unfolded, within the Illusion, countless rope bridges and floating stairs connected a cluster of towering oaks, while occasionally, Pegasi and cloud eagles carried Elves across the sky.

Taiweimansa, the capital of Eaerlann, was a city built among the oaks; upon the branches of these trees, various exquisitely crafted wooden structures shone with brilliance.

Except for a few large-scale public entertainment and sacrificial buildings that were constructed independently, the vast majority were integrated with the oaks by magically reshaping their branches.

No, this was the oak itself.

As the angle of the Illusion shifted continuously, the audience in the Arena felt as if they were soaring among the trees on cloud eagles, indulging in a view of the scenery of Taiweimansa.

Such a unique city, such brilliant Illusion.

Countless people held their breath, afraid to miss any part of the scenery; even Xia Duo was seeing the appearance of the Eaerlann capital for the first time.

Although he had previously transformed into an Eaerlann Elf in the Projection Plane, the Yinguang City he was in at the time was a ground-level city, or more accurately, a mining city used for collecting Mithril and a fortress city guarding the Underground Passage.

In terms of scenery alone, it was, to some extent, not as comforting as Seventon.

The scenery of Taiweimansa displayed by these Eaerlann Elves indeed filled in some of Xia Duo's imagination regarding Eaerlann, and at the same time, this imagination truly conformed to the consistent perception most humans had of Elves—

Living in trees.

However, from Ailintar, the capital of Illefarn, to Taiweimansa, the capital of Eaerlann, observing the evolution of architectural style from grand and imposing to exquisite and beautiful, Xia Duo also seemed to see the overall "degeneration" of the Elves.

Of course, a single city of Taiweimansa was not enough to prove this point, but in Xia Duo's impression, the ancient Elves were indeed far better than the modern Elves.

At least in his view, ancient Elven society tended more toward the modern society he understood, while modern Elven society tended more toward the ancient society he understood.

The regression of civilization could be glimpsed from just one display of 【Grand Illusion】.

……

After the Illusion display by the Eaerlann Mages ended, it was the turn of the Cormanthor Mages to take the stage.

The Cormanthor Kingdom, or the Cormanthor Forest Kingdom, or the Listar Forest United Kingdom.

Although it was founded nearly seven hundred years later than Eaerlann, it was not a new country built from scratch, but a union of several ancient powers; Jielunsita, which composed it, had a history that could be traced back at least four or five thousand years.

Of course, even so, in terms of history alone, compared to Illefarn, which had experienced the entire Crown War era and had a history spanning ten thousand years, Cormanthor could only be considered a younger brother.

The only one that could be mentioned in the same breath as Illefarn was probably Kaitemier in the south, which had also fully experienced the Crown War.

Even compared to Illefarn, whose upper-echelon Spellcasters were wiped out, Kaitemier managed to preserve more power during the Crown War, but by now, it was barely maintaining itself.

There are never winners in total war; even the final victor of the Crown War, Aryvandaar, was now reduced to piles of ruins.

Or rather, not even ruins remained; traces of its existence could only be seen in a small number of ancient texts.

Cormanthor's intention to recreate the glory of Aryvandaar was almost impossible to achieve in the present day, with the Elven Nations long separated and the human race on the rise.

Watching the Cormanthor Mages in the Arena forming a Resonance Array for Joint Casting, Xia Duo sighed incessantly in his heart.

……

Soon, the Illusion appeared, and Cormanthor's capital, Kemansuoer, was displayed to everyone by those ten Gold Elf Mages.

It had quite a few similarities to the Kemansuoer Xia Duo had imagined, and even felt somewhat familiar; of course, Xia Duo had never been to Cormanthor, but in the Projection Plane, he was the Sole True King of the emerging Cormanthor.

What made him feel familiar were the three high towers of the main city, Kemansuoer, summoned by the 【Sword of Ruling】, 【Sword of War】, and 【Sword of Artistry】 respectively.

The holders of these three Elven divine swords were the Crown King, the War Commander, and the Mage Leader of Cormanthor, respectively!

Cormanthor architecture integrated the grand and imposing style of ancient Elven architecture with the exquisite and beautiful style of modern Elven architecture.

The city was filled with high towers and towering ancient trees, with countless floating bridges connecting these towers and trees into one, and the glow of Magic lingered among the buildings at all times.

Like the capitals of Illefarn and Eaerlann, the capital of Cormanthor was also protected by a Mythallar, and it was a large-scale Mythallar with complex functions.

Although the Cormanthor Mages performing the Illusion did not deliberately show the existence of the Mythallar, for Xia Duo, who understood the 【Sword of Ruling】 and understood Mythallars, he could see some clues just from the Magic Aura of some buildings.

Most of those buildings were connected to the Mythallar, both protected and constrained by it; seeing this scene, Xia Duo was immediately moved.

The power of a Spellcaster is too great, and the disparity in power between individuals can even be worlds apart, but the strong are ultimately few, and a mature society does not need existences that transcend the system.

It is necessary to provide protection for the weak, or rather, for the vast majority of people.

Xia Duo thought that perhaps he could establish a Mythallar with a wider coverage to balance the power of Spellcasters, or specifically provide protective power for the weak.

But in any case, in the future magical civilization, there must be a universal power to constrain Spellcasters.

This power could be a Mythallar, or it could be a powerful Order Force.

He kept this thought firmly in his heart, so that in the future, when shaping the order of civilization, he could refer to it from time to time.

……

A long history of a country does not mean it is powerful, and a short history does not mean it is weak.

Among the three countries of Illefarn, Eaerlann, and Cormanthor, Illefarn, which had the longest history, was relatively the weakest, Cormanthor was the strongest, and Eaerlann was in the middle.

Xia Duo silently calculated the strength comparison of the Northland nations he knew; Netheril should be between Eaerlann and Illefarn, and might even be weaker than Illefarn.

After all, no one knew how many trump cards an ancient kingdom with a history spanning ten thousand years possessed.

As for some small Elven nations in the Northland, such as Siluwende, Shaerwen, and Akaola, they might still possess not-insignificant power, but in the Elf World, for various reasons, they were actually not included in the calculations at all.

Like Siluwende, which was now considered a vassal state of Eaerlann; like Akaola, which was completely isolationist, roughly equivalent to non-existent.

And like Evereska, which was actually just a small city-state; although it had a long history and a prestigious status, and its Spellcaster power was quite considerable, its decline was a fact that had long been destined.