Chapter 2025: Talk Progress, Secrets of the Demon Descendants

The Seven Cities Alliance was, by nature, a very loose covenant; aside from nominally needing to submit to the rule of the Seven Cities Council, the various lords were, in reality, independent little kingdoms.

It was precisely because the covenant was so loose that there was a greater need to huddle together for warmth, and they would not easily give it up; within the covenant, everyone still operated under the banner of Netheril and had the protection of the Seven Towers.

Although the covenant did not stipulate that the Seven Towers must provide protection, the Seven Cities Council had the duty of protection, and the Seven Towers, in controlling the Seven Cities Council, naturally had to shoulder such responsibilities; if they were unwilling, Netheril might collapse on the spot.

Moreover, most of the various lords originated from the Seven Towers or had intricate connections with them, so as long as they were willing, they could always find some reason to seek protection or demand benefits from the Seven Towers.

If they were to abandon the covenant, all benefits would be lost, and every risk in the Northland from then on would have to be borne by that tiny territory alone.

It could be said that right now, apart from Xia Duo's Floating City, there was not a single lord in Netheril who could maintain independence away from Netheril.

And even for Xia Duo's Floating City, once it left Netheril, it was hard to say what it might encounter.

Simply put, once a Netheril Lord chose to abandon the covenant and declare independence, they would be nothing; especially for the few lords who hadn't even managed to become Archmages, once independent, they might be wiped out by enemies in an instant.

It wouldn't necessarily be Elves; it could just be a neighbor coveting their territory.

That was why Badijiaer could say so unburdened that he allowed the Netheril Lords to be free and independent.

Of course, on one hand, the Netheril Lords indeed needed the Seville Covenant and the banner of Netheril to unite them, so as to resist various risks from both inside and outside.

But on the other hand, the Seven Towers, or rather Netheril, also needed these lords; the former needed the Netheril Lords to recognize their rule over Netheril, while the latter was composed of the Netheril Lords themselves.

Therefore, Netheril, while seemingly loose, had a solid foundation of realistic interests and would not fall apart because of a few words of provocation from outsiders.

Badijiaer's words left Sepeitiya speechless, and in the end, he could only throw out a "Don't regret this later" before leaving in anger.

But his departure did not stop the talks from continuing; Kelusi remained, and soon accepted Badijiaer's proposal.

As for the Yierlan side, although letting the occupied areas south of Terminos become independent would not have much impact on Yierlan's actual interests—and might even be more beneficial—

the interests of a country were not equivalent to the interests of individuals or factions; once he accepted such terms, it was foreseeable that not only he, but even the Crown King would suffer criticism within the country, as well as further pressure from the opposition.

Regarding this, Adalier could not make up his mind for a long time, making excuses about needing to discuss it with the rear, and temporarily shelved this topic; after that, it was the other points of contention involved in yesterday's talks.

This time, the attitudes of the various countries had softened, and they agreed to let Yierlan provide compensation to Sluwen in the name of aid; furthermore, since Sluwen also needed to pay fines for the Supermagic Event involved in this war, it was collectively paid by the Yierlan side.

As for the review power over Demon Descendants within Yierlan, now that there was the Magic-born Information Sharing Platform, all parties were required by the agreement to disclose information about Demon Descendants discovered within their borders in a timely and proactive manner.

As long as Yierlan did not want to cut itself off from the countries of the Northland Alliance, there should not be any major problems in this regard.

After all, in yesterday's talks, Yierlan had faced a near-desperate situation where all countries were targeting them, yet they still did not accept the plan to "compensate" Sluwen, only making the concession of "aid and compensation."

Whether it was now, as the order of the Northland Alliance was gradually taking shape, or in the past, which was like a dark forest, international credibility and international prestige remained one of the most important assets and influences of a country.

By around noon, the only thing left in the talks was the ownership of the region south of Terminos; because Adalier requested to discuss it with his country, all parties agreed to continue negotiations in two days.

However, Kelusi raised an indirect request here: "The issue south of Terminos can be negotiated later, but north of Terminos, can the Yierlan side withdraw in advance!"

Regardless of how the issue south of Terminos was resolved, Yierlan was already destined to be unable to touch the area north of Terminos, so at this moment, Adalier quite generously indicated that he would organize the Army to withdraw shortly.

But he also demanded that the Sluwen side must not obstruct or disguisedly obstruct them, otherwise the war might still continue.

To this, Kelusi stated:

"Our side will not organize formal troops to launch an attack on your side, but please also consider the simple emotions in the hearts of the Sluwen people; however, their strength is limited, and if your army encounters them, I hope you will show mercy."

Kelusi's words were very sincere, and his attitude was kept quite low; the representatives of various countries were deeply moved. Adalier was silent for a moment, then nodded with a serious expression, but did not make any explicit verbal or written commitment.

But even so, Kelusi gratefully bowed to the other party.

Being grateful that the invaders did not harm Commoners when retreating—such a reality seemed somewhat magical, but small countries apparently could not ask for more.

If not for the intervention of the Northland Alliance, whether Sluwen could continue to exist would be a question.

After the meeting, the representatives of all parties left one by one. Xia Duo's Floating City remained parked above Adofeier Fortress; in fact, he could leave now.

Given the current situation, the Yierlan side should not be making a comeback, but for the sake of Insurance, staying a few more days until this matter was completely settled would do no harm.

The Floating City had already made its debut, and Xia Duo felt that he should be able to be much more leisurely in the future; for now, he would just treat it as a vacation.

It was just a pity that some things were destined not to be dealt with with a calm mind.

By around evening, Xia Duo had completed the analysis of the Consciousness Copy of those Demon Descendant Spellcasters, and the amount of information within was enormous.

This was not just a matter of the literal amount of information; more importantly, the impact that information might have was enormous!

After much consideration, Xia Duo sent a Sending to Badijiaer, who was still visiting Adofeier Fortress below, inviting him to meet and discuss.

Floating City, Hengchun Square.

In the corner where the Demon Descendant Spellcasters were temporarily detained, Xia Duo stared fixedly at the seven or eight seemingly harmless Demon Descendant Elves; his figure was motionless, but his heart was not calm.

Before long, Badijiaer arrived. Seeing that Xia Duo chose to meet in this place, he couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart: "Does Lord Xia Duo have any thoughts on these mysterious Spellcasters?"

"I will not hide it from you, Lord Badijiaer; privately, I have already interrogated them, and the result—"

Xia Duo paused and sighed softly, "It is very bad; this is also the main reason I invited you to meet and discuss in detail."

Without waiting for Badijiaer to ask, Xia Duo took the initiative to explain: "These mysterious Spellcasters who attempted to interfere in this war are, in fact, Demon Descendants."

"They are Demon Descendants?"

Badijiaer did not doubt Xia Duo's judgment, but looking at the Demon Descendant Elves before him, who were no different from ordinary Elves, he always had an indescribable strangeness in his heart.

And a subtle, unspeakable fear.

At this moment, the question Badijiaer originally wanted to ask was swallowed back into his stomach; instead, he asked a question completely unrelated to whether these mysterious Spellcasters were Demon Descendants:

"What is the basis for the warning you previously asked Master Iolum to convey?"

Xia Duo had previously asked Iolum to warn the Seven Towers to be careful of the threat of Demon Descendants, in which he mentioned that Demon Descendants were suspected of mastering some means of modifying historical reality.

Although it was conveyed through Iolum, this matter sounded too outrageous, and in fact, the people of the Seven Towers did not take it to heart; after all, they hadn't even seen a real Demon Descendant.

The only one who could be confirmed as a Demon Descendant was described indirectly through the mouth of Puman; although powerful, they were not invincible.

But having heard news of Demon Descendant infiltration one after another recently, and having seen with his own eyes Demon Descendant Elves who were no different from ordinary Elves, Badijiaer finally recalled Xia Duo's warning again.

But regarding this question, Xia Duo had long decided not to speak of the news of the invasion from parallel timelines obtained from the Projection Plane, so as to avoid causing the Seven Towers to misjudge the current situation.

Only the modification of historical reality—because Xia Duo had seen similar, inexplicable phenomena with his own eyes, coupled with Xierdalanna's personal experience—did he make such a judgment.

To say it was absolutely accurate would not be entirely true, but by combining it with his experiences in the Projection Plane, he could roughly infer that it was eighty or ninety percent true.

One cannot demand absolute accuracy for everything to serve as a reference for action; eighty or ninety percent is already enough to be treated as one hundred percent.

"I do not have direct evidence to prove it, only some personal or others' experiences that can corroborate it; in my personal judgment, the possibility is very high."

"What has happened to this world!"

Badijiaer let out a long sigh; in fact, even if the possibility of Demon Descendants being able to alter historical reality were zero, their terrifying secrecy alone would be enough to warrant attention.