Chapter 2010: War Ends, Identity Shifts

Inside the Floating City.

Xia Duo was surprised to discover that Adofeier Fortress had completely abandoned its resistance; even the spellcasters on the suspended platform in the southern part of the upper plaza had begun to disperse.

He had originally thought the Siluwende Elf would resist to the end, but he hadn't expected them to lose their nerve before the Floating City had even flown halfway to a position directly above the fortress.

This left him feeling somewhat disappointed, as the true power of the 【Annihilation Light】 had not yet been fully demonstrated!

However, the power displayed so far was enough to control the course of a localized war. As for a total war, Xia Duo was not optimistic; at least for now, the 【Annihilation Light】 was not enough to completely eliminate the entire war potential of a major power.

Furthermore, the war spells Xia Duo currently possessed required material carriers. Using them frequently would naturally lead to wear and tear, necessitating maintenance or even replacement. Right now, the Floating City only had this one set of spell carriers, which were originally provided by Iolum.

Although Xia Duo could craft these carrier Magic Artifacts himself, the carrier for a single war spell contained at least several dozen complex, high-quality Magic Items, and he simply could not produce spares in a short time.

Therefore, after Adofeier Fortress abandoned its resistance, Xia Duo did not continue to use the 【Annihilation Light】. What had been shown was already enough; in this situation, keeping a bit of suspense might be more intimidating.

……

Taking advantage of the brief interval while the Floating City continued its flight, Xia Duo arrived at the planting level of the Floating City and personally removed the confinement on Naris.

"The war is over, Mage Naris, you may leave!"

"Leave?"

Having just experienced this turn of events, Naris did not react for a moment. He stood there blankly for a few seconds, and only after that, as if he had thought of something, did he hurriedly ask Xia Duo:

"Is Siluwende still there?"

"It is still there. The way the war ended might be a little different from what you imagined."

As he spoke, Xia Duo gestured casually, conjuring a real-time image between the two. It was exactly those Eaerlann Elf he had invited onto the Floating City. He told Naris:

"The Northland Alliance has passed a resolution demanding that Eaerlann stop the war, and I am the one who responded to this resolution and personally put an end to the war."

"Personally put an end to the war?" Naris was somewhat confused.

However, Xia Duo did not explain too much, only saying: "Once you return to Adofeier Fortress, you will know just by asking around!"

This statement almost made Naris jump. In his view, the fact that Adofeier Fortress was controlled by Siluwende should have been a secret known to very few, yet Xia Duo not only knew it, but was even willing to let him go back.

This meant that the external situation had truly undergone earth-shaking changes. At this moment, his heart felt as if it had grown wings, and he longed to fly back immediately, but—

"Observer Xia Duo, may I leave now?"

"Of course, but before you leave, there is one more thing I would like your help with."

"Please speak, Observer Xia Duo—" In this situation, Naris only wanted to return to his homeland. No matter what Xia Duo wanted him to do, he would agree without hesitation. As for whether to actually carry it out, he would decide after returning and understanding the situation.

Xia Duo could see that Naris was eager to return home, but he did not intend to make things difficult for him. The so-called request for help was just a casual mention; he had other ways to achieve his goal—

"Mage Naris, I would like to invite the leader of your organization to come to me to discuss the aftermath of this battle. For the sake of stability in the Northland, please be sure to deliver this message. As for whether they come or not, that is entirely up to your leader to decide."

"Where is this?" Naris asked suspiciously.

Ever since he was abducted here by Xia Duo not long ago, he had been observing carefully. This place seemed to be some kind of artificial environment, yet it was filled with the familiar scent of a Mythallar.

Do humans also possess such exquisite Mythallar? Naris was very puzzled; he even once suspected that he had been sent to Eaerlann by Xia Duo.

But at this moment, the situation seemed a bit different from his guess. This place might really be human Territory, but the Mythallar—

Naris did not dare to continue thinking, fearing that the other party would no longer be willing to let him leave.

……

Xia Duo did not want to know, nor did he need to know, about Naris's various psychological changes. Even when the other party finally asked "Where is this," he did not answer directly, instead brushing him off with the same "You'll know when you get back" as before.

After sending Naris away, Xia Duo sent messages to Iolum and Bulundesi in succession. To the former, he communicated his current plans and feedback on the use of war spells on a real battlefield.

To Bulundesi, he formally requested the Seven Towers' help to change his status from Observer to "Peacekeeping Personnel," which could be considered a response to the Northland Alliance's recent resolution—a case of boarding the carriage first and buying the ticket later.

As long as the Seven Towers was willing to help, this bit of maneuvering would not be difficult to handle.

Additionally, he hinted to the Seven Towers about his views on the aftermath of this battle. Naturally, this involved revealing some of the Floating City's secrets, though some things were inconvenient to say via Sending, so he spoke rather vaguely.

Xia Duo only said that he had mastered a war spell scheme suitable for individual implementation, and that its effectiveness had been verified in actual combat; he did not mention any further details.

In any case, Iolum did not intend to keep the secret of the 【Mythallar】 from the Seven Towers forever, or rather, the Seven Towers had provided much help during the design and development of the Mythallar itself.

Whether he said more or less now did not really matter, and Xia Duo was not worried about the Seven Towers holding him back; this matter was ultimately beneficial to the Seven Towers.

……

After contacting Seventon, Xia Duo finally sought out the Eaerlann Elf mages he had invited over. At this moment, the leading high mages were sitting in a corner of the Floating City's Public Level plaza, looking dejected and bewildered.

Seeing Xia Duo appear, one of the Gold Elf mages stood up and questioned him: "Human, what exactly are you playing at? How could the Northland Alliance possibly pass such a resolution!"

"Although I consider myself to have some influence, that influence is not great enough to sway the various countries of the Northland Alliance to make independent decisions!"

Looking at the hint of madness in the other's eyes, Xia Duo could not help but shake his head repeatedly. "Have you not contacted your country? Do you not have the most basic communication verification mechanism with your country?"

Inviting them to the Floating City earlier was mainly to temporarily isolate these forces, which could also be considered taking them hostage. After all, aside from Adofeier Fortress, Siluwende really did not have much ability to resist Eaerlann.

Although the method of invitation was a bit crude, Xia Duo had not humiliated them, and even allowed them to contact their country.

In the current situation, it was indeed difficult for these Eaerlann Elf to accept. First, the Siluwende war, which should have been easily won, encountered an accident and almost ended in failure.

Then they heard about the Northland Alliance resolution, which almost completely denied the legitimacy of Eaerlann's war, and also denied the achievements of these actual participants.

As for being saved by humans, this itself did not pose much of a psychological burden to these Eaerlann Elf; instead, there was a sense of "It is your honor to save me."

The only annoyance was probably that humans actually possessed such strength.