Chapter 133: The Elf Conflict (II)

At night, Tree Elves go from active to weary, while Dark Night Elves are the opposite; when darkness falls, the Dark Night Elves hidden in the tunnels become active again.

When a crescent moon rises from the horizon to the middle of the night sky, it is already 11 p. m. Brenam Time; in a chamber near the top of Wangyueku, most of the Dark Night Elf commanders have gathered.

"Ready?"

The speaker is a tall, slender figure in a purple tight night‑clothing, waist like a willow, with a red crescent mark on the left cheek; she is the leader of these Dark Night Elves—Ai Na (Eluen). All Dark Night Elves, worshipping the moon goddess Eluen, share the surname Eluen.

Ai Na scanned the commanders with the regal gaze characteristic of a King of Night Elves.

As everyone nodded, Ai Na began assigning tasks to all the leaders; their objective is to destroy the Ancient Elf Tree that the Tree Elves have just cultivated below. The Tree Elves had prepared defenses there two days earlier, and the discovery of this tunnel now makes the Dark Night Elves' movements much easier.

There are 1,800 Dark Night Elves hidden here, led by three main chiefs, each commanding 600. Among each 600, every 100 has a subordinate commander; the subordinate commander who encountered Li Bucai and the other two is a junior commander under the clan chief's daughter Ai Na, named Aevikona.

Ai Na divided everyone into three squads. From one commander she allocated 200 to guard Wangyueku's entrance in case Goblins break in. The remaining 400, together with that commander and Ai Na, will slip into the dark tunnel and infiltrate both sides of the Life Spring simultaneously. The other commander will descend the walkway to launch a frontal attack on the Tree Elves.

With the allocations set, they moved immediately.

Commander Ailin led 600 subordinates armed with short crossbows and daggers at their waists, rushing down the walkway. Because Dark Night Elves excel at night raids, they moved like the wind, making no sound beneath their feet.

When they were still 200 meters above the Life Spring, a multitude of Light Element Elves began to float in Wangyueku, and the farther down they went, the more there were; the lower they got, the brighter it became, leaving no cover. Because He Rui Peak is a columnar mountain that widens toward the base, Wangyueku's lower chambers are increasingly spacious.

At 150 meters, the stone walls began to change, covered with colorful vines, and the chambers intermittently emitted a faint fragrance of elf flowers; it was clear that from here onward lay the Tree Elves' dwelling.

Ailin halted the squad; on the spiral walkway, the 600 Dark Night Elves formed a ring around the cavern wall. Within the green‑tinged lower area they could faintly see a radiant Golden Ancient Elf Tree, already over three meters tall. When the tree reaches two meters, its trunk spreads outward, so even at just over three meters its trunk is as thick as three people together and its crown is enormous, nearly filling the space below. The golden crown shows specks of white—the tree's flower buds. Once they bloom, Light Element Elves swarm inside, forming Elf Fruit; beneath the tree lies the Life Spring. Light Element Elves fly into the blossoms and give birth to new elves within two or three days, and as the Elf Fruit falls, new petals unfurl on the crown. Thus, as long as the Life Spring exists, Tree Elves can reproduce easily.

Ailin noted that the crown's golden glow indicated the Tree Elf mages were at their weakest magical power; during the day, when they perform rituals, the crown emits a rainbow‑like radiance.

Ailin pointed to a chamber encircled by vines; the nearest chambers for all Dark Night Elf troops were separated by one level of walkway, each level about thirty meters apart. With a single gesture, the soldiers leapt down one level, landing precisely on either side of the chamber without a sound.

Seven or eight of them handled one chamber; upon reaching the entrance, the first agile one rolled into the center, then quickly leapt onto the doorway, a spot higher than the inner sleeping chambers and with a view of all of them.

In the Tree Elves' caves, both chambers and sleeping rooms are filled with pale‑purple elf flowers. These flowers look like herbaceous blossoms but are supple; no matter how heavy a weight presses them, they spring back instantly. In each sleeping spot, a cluster of purple flowers bears white blossoms about two feet tall, feather‑soft and warm. When someone lies on them, the flowers shift and cling to the body like a quilt. The flowers are highly sentient, adjusting their temperature according to ambient and body heat, and many non‑elf peoples call them Xianmeng Flower; the name reflects their dreamy effect, drawing sleepers into beautiful dreams.

However, the Tree Elves' clothing is all white, making it hard to see whether anyone is in a sleeping chamber. Someone shot an arrow at a central sleeping chamber; with a "thwack", the bolt pierced the flower mass and lodged in the stone wall below.

At that sound, several others leapt in, each firing a bolt into a chamber, then lunged forward, parting the flowers, only to find the interior empty.

"No one inside."

"No one inside..."…

The troops repeatedly reported to Ailin, and Ailin had already discerned from the sounds that the chambers were hollow…

By the bottom of Wangyueku, none of the chambers showed even a trace of a Tree Elf; even the four mages who had guarded the Ancient Elf Tree day and night were nowhere to be found, leaving only four Magic Altars scattered around the tree.

The chance to destroy the Ancient Elf Tree was at hand; Ailin ordered, "Retrieve the Holy Fire, everyone else stand back and watch the surroundings."

The four responded, each pulling an egg‑sized stone from their pockets; the stones looked like ordinary river pebbles with faint red speckles. They placed the stones against the tree trunk, securing them, then stepped back. From their bags they took water‑filled pouches, dipped an arrow in water, loaded it onto the crossbow, and aimed at the stone fixed to the trunk. Just as they were about to trigger the mechanism and release the arrow, someone shouted, "Hold! There's an ambush!"

With a sudden "whoosh," a snow‑white long dragon materialized on the walkway leading to the cavern ceiling, stretching from above the Dark Night Elves' heads up five levels. Over three thousand Tree Elves clad in white robes appeared out of nowhere, all bearing long bows aimed at the black‑clad crowd below. A torrent of arrows whooshed through the air like a green cloud, descending over the Dark Night Elves' heads.

…

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Planning to do three to four watches tonight, but a friend came to visit, so it may be delayed; I'll make it up in the latter half of the night, before 3 a. m., at least three watches.