Chapter 2002: Importance, Determination

"Ahem—"

The Yierlan Envoy cleared his throat, then put on a different face and said pompously: "Yierlan has unilaterally provoked this war. Such behavior has already endangered the foundational order of the Northland Alliance, and we must put a stop to it."

"Is that all? Could it be that Yierlan, disregarding the crisis within its own borders, is determined to forcibly intervene in this matter?"

"Of course not."

The Yierlan Envoy shook his head and said without concealment: "My meaning is to initiate a resolution within the Northland Alliance, for our various nations to jointly form a peacekeeping force to stop Yierlan's current barbaric and crude actions."

He added at the end, "Sluwen is a member of the Northland Alliance. If we sit by and watch it be unreasonably occupied by Yierlan today, then if similar events occur in the future, are we to turn a blind eye to those as well?"

The words about stopping Yierlan were, of course, meant for the Envoys of Netheril, Keman, and Danzo; at present, only these three nations dared to clash head-on with Yierlan.

As for that last sentence, it was undoubtedly aimed at winning over the Small Nations Alliance, which already showed signs of banding together.

It is difficult to exclude the great powers from Northland Alliance resolutions, not because the great powers have more votes, but because the influence of the great powers causes the small nations to use the opinions of the great powers as a weather vane.

If one looks purely at the vote count, the small nations are the majority.

The greatest difference between small nations and great powers in the Elf World does not lie to a large extent in top-tier power, nor in population, but in the war potential that can be continuously mobilized.

Or to put it more bluntly, it is the number of Spellcasters at the Elite level and above.

If there is not enough war potential, even if the small nations are given enough War Magic Artifacts, they will eventually be unable to outlast the great powers.

But conversely, as long as they have basic top-tier power, they can make the great powers hesitate to act, and they will have the most basic qualifications for existence.

Or rather, the reason small nations can exist is, in reality, that the cost for the great powers to conquer or annihilate them is greater than maintaining the status quo.

But if the small nations can cast aside their differences and work together against outsiders, their war potential will compensate for one another, and they will possess the capital to contend with the great powers.

When all is said and done, the great powers themselves are not of one mind and may not be as united as the Small Nations Alliance; as long as they do not harbor unrealistic delusions, it is enough to survive and develop in this world for a long time.

It was precisely because the Yierlan Envoy saw this trend that he had just been incessantly pressuring Shaerwen and Aifuruisi to be enemies with Yierlan, and his attitude toward the former was even described as atrocious.

As for the current attempt to win them over, it was directed more toward Aifuruisi.

Before Elder Ankalita was assassinated, Aifuruisi had already been contacting various parties; now that Ankalita is dead, although it has indeed cast a shadow over the not-yet-fully-formed Small Nations Alliance.

But from another perspective, this is also a tremendous driving force, pushing the Small Nations Alliance to take shape rapidly, and this incident has also allowed the successors of Aifuruisi to gain significant political heritage within the alliance.

Since the Elder sacrificed himself for the alliance, shouldn't the other small nations show a bit more respect?

Not only that, as the location of the Northland Alliance Headquarters, Aifuruisi can, to a certain extent, be considered a neutral ground recognized by all parties, including the great powers.

As they organize the Small Nations Alliance to huddle together for warmth, as long as they do not seek hegemony externally and are not harsh internally, they are almost certain to receive the unanimous support of the small nations.

Given time, it is not impossible for them to develop into a truly independent great power through this.

Thinking of this, the Yierlan Envoy could not help but glance at the Seven Towers Envoy, who was staring straight ahead; it is said that the Small Nations Alliance strategy of Aifuruisi was originally proposed by a Netheril Lord.

Then, could that Netheril Lord be acting under the command of the Seven Towers?

Undoubtedly, the emergence of the Small Nations Alliance will greatly alleviate the pressure Netheril encountered during its rise; after the Northland Alliance was established, Yierlan had originally prepared to begin suppressing the human forces within the Alliance.

But in many cases, interests and stances are not determined solely by race; the emergence of the Small Nations Alliance—even if it currently looks like only a prototype—has already put tremendous pressure on the Ailintar side.

Of course, the Yierlan Envoy would not say this out loud; only he himself knows how much the Executive Advisory Group values the current Aifuruisi.

His trip to Aifuruisi, besides urging the various nations to intervene in the Sluwen war, has the primary mission of observing and recording the attitudes and stances of the various factions within Aifuruisi.

But to be honest, the Yierlan Envoy does not hold a high opinion of the latter, because the path designed by humans for Aifuruisi is entirely a win-win open conspiracy.

Even Yierlan, which brazenly launched the war against Sluwen, still found an excuse involving a Demon Descendant; what reason does Yierlan have to intervene in the establishment of the Small Nations Alliance?

Those who play with conspiracies will not last long.

Just like Yierlan at present; if not for the previous incident that triggered the great avalanche in the World Spine, perhaps Yierlan would not have been forced to intervene in the Sluwen war!

After all, this matter is, to a certain extent, beneficial to Yierlan as well. The obvious benefit is roughly gaining from the war, but the hidden benefit is one that all the great powers are extremely thirsty for—a legalized path to wantonly launch wars.

Now that Yierlan can do this, Yierlan can naturally do it in the future as well.

But the great avalanche in the World Spine, although the resulting Orc Tide did not ultimately cause much loss to Yierlan, caused great panic within Yierlan and also made the Crown King and the Executive Consultants furious.

Added to the fact that intervening in the Sluwen war is also beneficial to Yierlan, this led to his current trip.

After the Yierlan Envoy finished speaking, the venue fell into silence, but he was not panicked, because the fact that the various nations accepted the invitation to come here was, to a certain extent, a tacit agreement to intervene against Yierlan.

The question now is who contributes more, who contributes less, and who takes the lead.

This is indeed a very realistic problem; the small nations do not want to see the order of the Northland Alliance vanish, but they also do not wish to lose too much strength because of it, and there is also the factor of fearing Yierlan's subsequent retaliation.

And for the great powers, what is the benefit of going up against another great power?

Unless they can ensure that Yierlan is dragged into the quagmire of the Sluwen battlefield and unable to escape for a long time, otherwise, once the war ends quickly—regardless of the outcome—the one who contributes the most and takes the lead is likely to face Yierlan's decisive counterattack.

Or to put it another way, the great powers do not fear being enemies with Yierlan, but they worry about being dragged into a war that cannot be ended for a long time.

"Everyone, the current momentum of Yierlan's advance has been blocked; this is the best time for us to step in and intervene. If we wait any longer until Sluwen has no strength left to resist, Yierlan will not so easily spit back out the benefits it has already swallowed!"

These words moved the other Envoys in the venue, but they still had misgivings, which made the Yierlan Envoy feel anxious; just as he said, this is the best time to intervene, and if missed, they might have to pay a greater price.

"Our Mage Tailun has already led the Sword of Punishment troops to complete their assembly in Ailintar; we are just waiting for your response and can enter the Sluwen battlefield at any time."

Regardless of the final opinions of the various nations, Yierlan has already made preparations for intervention; to a certain extent, this can also be considered a battle of pride—who told Yierlan to play tricks first!