Chapter 1708: The Sorrow of Small Nations, The Alliance of Internal Friction

Although Xia Duo did not yet fully understand the specific strength and hidden cards of the Seven Towers, judging solely from the number of Great Arcanists, he believed the Seven Towers possessed at least twenty-plus Great Arcanists capable of taking action at any time.

With just these, as long as they did not fight recklessly or lose their heads, it would not be difficult to deal with an Elf Elder who had only one breath left; if they had some other ultimate weapon, it might be even easier.

Therefore, Xia Duo dared to wear the skin of the Seven Towers to question Laruian, and the facts were exactly as he had anticipated; although his tone was not polite, Laruian still endured it.

Perhaps this is the sorrow of a small nation!

Fortunately, Xia Duo was not as aggressive as Cormanthor, but after that question, which was more akin to alarmist talk, Xia Duo's tone softened slightly:

"The Northland Alliance placing its Headquarters in Evereska is certainly Evereska's misfortune, but isn't it also your good fortune?"

Although Laruian did not want to fall out with Xia Duo, he also did not want to listen to this near-mocking nonsense again; he suppressed the discomfort in his heart and replied expressionlessly:

"Things have reached this point, what is the point of Lord Xia Duo saying these things?"

"Of course there is a point!"

Seeing that the other party was not indifferent, Xia Duo continued: "The five nations of the Northland Alliance claim strength, and small nations can only seek survival in the cracks, but compared to the precarious Akaola and Siluwende, Evereska is incomparably more fortunate! At least you do not have the crisis of being wiped out in an instant!"

"What exactly does Lord Xia Duo want to say?"

"What I want to say is that Evereska should face its own special position squarely and must strictly maintain neutrality. This time you and the Cormanthor Ambassador schemed against Netheril; next time, will you scheme against Illefarn, Eaerlann, or perhaps Danzo? We can tolerate you once, but can we tolerate you every time?"

Hearing this, Laruian's expression changed, clearly thinking of a certain possibility, "This—Lord Xia Duo, I—"

"Elder Laruian need not panic. I believe you were also helpless in this incident and were completely coerced by the Cormanthor Ambassador, but you should have notified us in time! Could it be that Evereska really intends to lean completely toward Cormanthor?"

"No!"

Laruian subconsciously raised his voice, "Evereska absolutely has no intention of leaning toward Cormanthor! We have even recalled our Elder from the Elf Court; we absolutely have no intention of being enemies with Netheril!"

Laruian was not necessarily afraid of Netheril, but he had to fear the possibility Xia Duo had just raised. Once Evereska could not maintain neutrality, why should the Northland Alliance Headquarters be placed here?

If the Northland Alliance Headquarters were not here, they would inevitably be drawn into the infighting of the five great nations of the Northland; he truly could not bear to imagine that situation.

"Then, Elder Laruian, tell me, now that things have developed to this point, how should we handle the aftermath?"

"This—" Laruian hesitated.

He had to face the Cormanthor Ambassador, and furthermore, was that bet something he could cancel just by saying so? But he could not neglect Netheril either.

For a moment, Laruian was truly caught in a dilemma; if he had known, he would have feigned illness and stayed far away when the Cormanthor Ambassador came looking for him!

And that kid Weila, he had told him long ago to have less contact with humans, but he just wouldn't listen, and even if he did have contact, he didn't know how to be discreet. Now that it had blown up like this, he really didn't know how to end it!

"Elder Laruian, I have always held a favorable view of Evereska, and even toward Cormanthor, which repeatedly targets us, I do not have much hostility. Do you know why that is?"

"Lord Xia Duo—" Laruian was suddenly confused, "Why is that?"

"Of course, because cooperation is far more meaningful than confrontation, it is just a pity that Cormanthor still does not understand this principle to this day!"

Xia Duo's words were not hypocritical; if possible, he truly hoped that the various nations of the Northland could develop peacefully instead of wasting energy and resources on meaningless confrontation.

There are plenty of Sub-planes; wouldn't it be better to discover a few more than to engage in internal friction in a tiny place like the Northland?

But unfortunately, from the moment the Northland Alliance was established, the internal friction of the Northland was destined to be difficult to end. To say nothing else, between Cormanthor and Akaola alone, a war is almost inevitable.

The legitimacy of Cormanthor's rulers stems from the concept of unification, and the first step of unification is undoubtedly the Listar Forest.

But as members of the Northland Alliance—in fact, regardless of whether they are members of the Northland Alliance—Akaola is almost impossible to sit still and wait for death; they will always resist somewhat.

And Cormanthor's path to unification begins with the Listar Forest; the next step is undoubtedly to move west, and Netheril has become the first stumbling block on its path to unifying the Elf World.

It just so happens that Netheril is not an Elf Kingdom, so other Elven Kingdoms find it difficult to intervene directly. Once Netheril is annexed and they recuperate for a few thousand years, the entire Northland will not be a match for Cormanthor.

Under these circumstances, Netheril is destined not to let Cormanthor easily unify the Listar Forest, and once Cormanthor's aggressive intentions are too obvious, other nations will inevitably intervene.

Under the framework of the Northland Alliance, peacekeeping has become the best excuse.

The current Northland Alliance, while named an "Alliance," is in reality just a product of necessity under the threat of the Drow War.

As long as Cormanthor does not display its ambition too openly, even if it is a bit overbearing, other than Netheril, which is consistently targeted, the other nations generally will not care too much.

There even exists a strange entity like Eaerlann that vaguely leans toward Cormanthor.

Of course, Xia Duo believes that once Eaerlann completes its internal centralization reform, the organization's will certainly will not let them be content to serve as Cormanthor's lackeys and vassals.

But how long will that take?

In the history of Xia Duo's homeland, the time it took for emperors to personally rule and consolidate power was mostly calculated in decades, and that was already under a centralized system. In non-centralized systems like Earth's West, it might not be possible to centralize power even in thousands of years.

Not to mention that Elves have long lifespans; if they say they are going to reform, perhaps an ordinary person's entire life might pass, and they would have only just begun the prelude!

And for Xia Duo, countering Cormanthor is not just about wanting to vent his anger; it has more practical significance.

At this time, after the challenge incident by the Uvilon Remnant on the day the Northland Alliance was established, Cormanthor's conduct, in the eyes of outsiders, although still somewhat overbearing, has become much more steady compared to the past.

The key is that the Cormanthor Crown King has changed the past governing philosophy and re-proposed "Equality of the Five Races," which has greatly alleviated the racial conflicts within Cormanthor.

This has disguisedly strengthened their national power.

And this, in Xia Duo's view, is already a sign that development is on the right track and gradually accelerating, which is not a good thing for humans.

If Cormanthor were not so hostile to Netheril, that would be one thing, but it just won't give up its evil intentions and keeps targeting Netheril—first the Magic Restriction Treaty, and now it wants to stir up issues of Faith.

How could Xia Duo sit by and wait for them to rise?

Launching a countermeasure against the Magic Restriction Treaty is just a beginning; Xia Duo has a ruthless plan in private, and besides Cormanthor, Eaerlann can also be dragged into the water together.

It is just that that plan is too hateful and easily gives people a handle to use against him; without a Floating City and without War Spells as a foundation, he is not yet prepared to implement it.