Chapter 2188: Candor and Hegemony

Xia Duo's gaze touched upon the Sword of Artistry and immediately withdrew. At this moment, Badijiaer also began to question the other party: "Mage Jialanuode, you went out of your way to follow us here; do you have any instruction?"

Because he had already realized that Cormanthor had not abandoned their imperial fantasies, but had merely transferred them to the Northland Alliance, Badijiaer's attitude toward Jialanuode was not particularly friendly.

Jialanuode, however, did not mind at all, and still smiling with elegant grace, he said: "I have come here under the orders of His Majesty Yilise Er to improve understanding and eliminate misunderstandings between us and Netheril, so as to build mutual trust and avoid misjudgments."

"Then what do you wish to understand? And what do you intend to explain?" Badijiaer asked again.

"The demarcation of borders is a foregone conclusion; regardless of what attitude Yierlan holds, it will not affect the final result. What follows is the discussion regarding the restriction of War Spells."

Jialanuode brought up the border demarcation again, appearing quite optimistic, even pleased to see it, and he did not express any obvious negative evaluation of Yierlan.

Subsequently, he looked at Badijiaer with a meaningful gaze and continued: "As regional powers of the Northland, both Cormanthor and Netheril have a responsibility to establish a long-term policy that can benefit all parties. If you and I were to develop a rift, I fear it would not be a blessing for the Northland."

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"Hmm, and what else?" Badijiaer had long seen that the other party wanted to come over and probe Netheril's bottom line regarding the restriction of War Spells, but he did not want to respond first.

Jialanuode also saw this intention of Badijiaer's, yet he was not the least bit annoyed and continued the topic he had not finished earlier—

"Crown King Yilise Er asked me to tell Your Excellency Badijiaer that while there have indeed been many misunderstandings and even conflicts between Cormanthor and Netheril in the past, as neighboring regional powers, some conflict is inevitable.

"But the establishment of the Northland Alliance has opened up a brand-new perspective for Cormanthor. This world is vast, so vast that neither of our sides can dominate it; only by uniting can we resist threats from the outside.

"First there was the Drow War, now there is the Demon-blood Crisis, and in the future, there is no telling what disasters await us—take, for example, the possibility of the collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar that Lord Xia Duo once mentioned!"

Hearing Jialanuode mention the Dragon Madness Mythallar, Badijiaer could not help but change his expression and interrupted the other party directly: "Has Cormanthor found some clues?"

"Regrettably, no!"

Seeming to feel that saying this might be suspected of playing with the other party, Jialanuode hurriedly added: "Having no clues does not mean that clues do not exist; it is just that, for the moment, it cannot be confirmed that the climate anomalies in the Northland are due to the collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar.

"What Cormanthor knows now is merely the result of an investigation I conducted privately at the request of Crown King Yilise Er, following a petition from Yierlan.

"But this matter has already aroused the vigilance of a considerable number of knowledgeable people among you and us, as well as Yierlan and Yierfalang. As long as it passes through public discussion in the Northland Alliance, it will not be difficult to get all parties to accept it and take action for it."

"What Mage Jialanuode says—"

Badijiaer hesitated for a moment, but finally said the words, "is indeed reasonable!" But he was also very clear that the other party was using this point to manipulate Netheril.

After all, the Dragon Madness Mythallar was built by the ancient Elves, and the ones most likely to possess data related to the Dragon Madness Mythallar now are the Elven Nations. Moreover, the one suffering the most severely from the disaster now is Netheril, not Cormanthor.

Even if the Cormanthor side knew that the climate anomalies in the Northland these years were caused by the collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, as long as these climate anomalies were not severe enough to affect their normal lives, they could completely sit by and watch.

From this perspective, Netheril was indeed being manipulated by the other party!

Of course, Netheril was not without countermeasures; Cold-Resistant Crops could be considered one, and they could also be used to trade with other countries in the Northland, while the Arcane Garden was the final safeguard.

"If Cormanthor truly has the willingness and actions to benefit the various countries of the Northland, Netheril is also happy to see it and will provide support."

This statement by Badijiaer was undoubtedly a stance: as long as Cormanthor could do practical things for the Northland, especially for Netheril, then what does it matter if you lead this Northland Alliance!

After all, why form an alliance? Isn't it to find a stable and reliable helper for one's own side? In the process of a multi-party win-win, if one party wins a little more because they contributed a little more, that is also completely acceptable.

One cannot expect others to put in effort without getting any benefits. Politics is the art of compromise; ever since Badijiaer became the spokesperson for the Seven Towers, he had become increasingly aware of this point.

……

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Excellency Badijiaer. Next, let us discuss in detail how to effectively restrict the abuse of War Spells!"

Finally reaching the specific issue, Jialanuode's demeanor seemed to relax slightly, and he even pulled Xia Duo to participate in the discussion: "Even with many ruins to excavate, War Spells remain a technology with a high threshold.

"Cormanthor believes that such dangerous technology should not be held in the hands of existences without a sense of responsibility. This is not just a problem of abuse, but a core issue that will tangibly threaten the interests of many parties."

Badijiaer subconsciously glanced at Xia Duo and immediately responded: "I agree with this point. Not everyone is like Lord Xia Duo, who has a full understanding of power and the influence of power. If the Demon Descendants were to master War Spells, it would simply be a disaster!"

Whether the Demon Descendants had mastered War Spells—theoretically, it was impossible, but in reality, with both the "Illuminati" and the "Midian", it is estimated that not many people would believe it if one insisted they didn't.

It was just that this did not hinder Badijiaer from using this to play up the crisis; the Demon Descendants could be said to be one of the targets Cormanthor was most vigilant against, besides the Drow.

"However, War Spells often appear in the form of War Magic Artifacts. Some ancient War Magic Artifacts can be used immediately without even needing special training. We cannot force others to hand them over, right!"

This question was raised by Xia Duo. What he pointed out was the fact that most countries, including small ones, now possess War Spells. If one only considers the qualifications for possession, it is not appropriate.

Regarding this, Jialanuode also gave his own view: "As long as it is an existence that does not possess the qualifications using War Spells, then the Northland Alliance has reason to step forward to conduct searches to ensure that no hidden dangers are left behind."

"……"

Seeing the look of interest on Badijiaer's face, Xia Duo knew that he might be about to fall into Jialanuode's trap—though, of course, it might not be a trap; the Cormanthor side might truly think this way.

That would be even worse!

If, under the guise of qualifications for possessing War Spells, they were to actually infringe upon various countries, that would go against Xia Duo's original intention.

The reason he proposed restricting War Spells, besides indeed having some thoughts on restricting others from developing War Spells, was that, as Jialanuode said before, there are always ruins to dig them out from. Xia Duo's true intention was seeing the immense destructive power of War Spells.

If one were to resort to War Spells at the slightest disagreement, this Northland, which had just recovered from the ruins of war, would sooner or later turn back into a pile of ruins.