Chapter 986: Killing the Elf, Plane War Badge

Arcane Plaza.

As the important figures in the viewing stands arrived one after another, the boisterous atmosphere in the plaza grew increasingly intense.

Under the influence of such a fanatical atmosphere, even a commoner dared to point at the Mages they usually wouldn't even dare to look at directly, shouting their names aloud.

And when Princess Xiya, Badijiaer, Huo En, and a group of other Great Arcanists appeared, the atmosphere in the plaza reached a peak; the invisible wave of sound surged straight into the clouds, spreading in all directions.

Even the surrounding Magic Net vibrated faintly, triggering bursts of brilliance that could only be glimpsed under Magic Vision.

At the northernmost part of the plaza, on the platform at the entrance of the Seven Cities Council building, this area was originally just a buffer zone meant to display the majesty of the Council and separate the Council building from the plaza.

Now, however, it had become the seating area for the Great Arcanists, or more precisely, the seven Great Arcanists of the Seven Towers, as the Princess and the others took their seats one by one.

As for the other Great Arcanists, they were not all present; only Kangjienio and Iolum attended in person, sitting in the western viewing stand, adjacent to the Keman ambassador.

Besides these three, in the western viewing stand, there were also envoys sent by the other Great Arcanists of the Arcane Union; although they could not come in person, the courtesies were not lacking in the slightest.

On the east side, there was also a viewing stand, but compared to the west side, the status of those there was somewhat inferior, mostly Senior Arcanists and Archmages attending in a personal capacity.

But even so, these people possessed quite extensive reputations in Netheril, and before the Princess and the others appeared, they were the ones whose names were shouted most by the crowd in the plaza.

In addition, there was another viewing stand directly facing the Seven Cities Council, separating the crowd from the ceremony site; this was allocated to the various lords of Netheril.

Of course, if the High Mages of the Seven Towers did not want to be squeezed by the crowd on the perimeter, they could also sit here to watch the ceremony.

There were significantly more young faces; not all lords liked such lively scenes, and sending their children to attend was also a matter of course.

As for the ceremony site—

When the Princess finished recounting the causes and consequences of the Green Field Plane War with great emotion, accompanied by bursts of cheers for "victory," the participants of the Green Field Plane filed out from the Council building behind the Princess.

They arrived at the ceremony site surrounded by the viewing stands, enjoying the baptism of gazes from the countless people in the plaza.

Xia Duo was inconspicuous in the crowd; perhaps there were many people in the plaza at this moment who knew his name, but there should not be many who had actually seen him.

Therefore, even though he could hear his own name appearing in the crowd from time to time, he did not feel like he was being stared at by many people.

After all, there were over a hundred High Mages alone among the participants of the Green Field Plane, and the number of other Intermediate Mages was several times that.

With so many targets scattered, the gazes falling on him were not that many, but he also knew that this situation would not last long; after the award ceremony ended, only the Pioneers would remain in the field.

Even if it were just one in several dozen, that was still undoubtedly the focus of everyone's attention, not to mention that his name was placed last, as if this celebration were held for him alone.

Even though Xia Duo had achieved a peaceful state of mind before entering, when this moment truly arrived and he heard countless people shouting his name, he was indeed quite stirred.

And this was only the beginning.

"In last year's Green Field Plane counterattack, every participant made tremendous efforts and achieved excellent results. I will represent the Seven Cities Council and grant them the honor and rewards they deserve!"

Just as the Princess finished speaking, a voice suddenly erupted from the outer crowd, "Kill the Elf!"

This voice was not very loud, but it was exceptionally harsh; influenced by this sound, countless onlookers followed suit and shouted as well.

For a time, the sound of "Kill the Elf" echoed throughout the Arcane Plaza; such uniform chanting made even the Ierfalan ambassador, who had close relations with Netheril, change color.

Not to mention the Keman ambassador, who was already ashen-faced at this moment.

Xia Duo was mixed in the crowd, and it did not matter if his gaze was slightly unrestrained; he noticed that the moment the "Kill the Elf" sound emerged, the Princess's expression changed.

Although he had had very few contacts with the Princess, he could still see the displeasure in her eyes; this situation should not have been staged by those above.

If they wanted to perform, wouldn't it be more dramatic to push out those Elf captives?

This should be considered an unexpected incident.

He did not know if the person who first shouted the slogan was spontaneous or if someone had commanded it, but regardless, Xia Duo felt that someone was going to be in big trouble this time.

Just as the atmosphere in the plaza had a tendency to derail, Princess Xiya raised her hand, and a strong Magic Aura immediately emanated from her palm, connecting to the surrounding Magic Net, and the influence spread accordingly.

Almost instantly, the plaza quieted down, and then the Princess said calmly: "People of Netheril! The Elf are not our enemies!"

"The establishment of Netheril could not have happened without the guidance and help of the Elf; even now, Netheril has steadfast Elf allies. As for Keman, I believe that the two countries will eventually find common interests, resolve disputes, and become true friends!"

After speaking, the Princess sat back in her original seat, and then the master of ceremonies announced the start of the award ceremony.

And above the plaza, cheers rang out again; it was only then that Xia Duo noticed that at some point, the Arcane Plaza had completely overlapped with the Semi-plane he had visited a few days ago.

He had been puzzled before; the interior of that Semi-plane was exactly the same as the Arcane Plaza. If it weren't for today's overlap, why would they specifically prepare a custom-made Semi-plane?

Now he knew that it wasn't that it hadn't overlapped with the Arcane Plaza, but that it had, and he hadn't noticed.

This approach could control risks as much as possible while keeping the Arcane Plaza as it was, but Xia Duo still could not understand the specific details of the method.

The award ceremony was as simple and clear as rehearsed; the difference was that this time it was for real. All participating Intermediate Mages received a 【Green Field Plane War · Combat Commemorative Badge】.

All participating High Mages received a 【Green Field Plane War · Heroic Badge】;

Among them, the seven Arcanists who had participated in the later Magic Net repair work received an additional 【Green Field Plane War · Dedication Badge】, which included Xia Duo and Niya.

And Xia Duo, compared to the other Arcanists, received one extra special badge—the 【Green Field Plane · Excellent Commander Badge】!

These four types of badges were all Magic Items, and their quality increased sequentially; although he had not seen this during the rehearsal, one could guess a thing or two just from the intensity of the Magic Aura on the scene.

When Xia Duo took the 【Drow Commander Badge】 from the Princess's hand, the plaza suddenly erupted in real cheers, uniformly shouting his name.

Except for this badge, the other badges and the badges of others were awarded by relevant personnel of the Seven Cities Council, and because of this, Xia Duo officially appeared in the public eye from this moment on.