Chapter 232: Same Tribe and Different Tribe (33)

Fifteen minutes later, Luosen saw the Elves.

There were two, one male and one female; their exact physical age couldn't be seen, only feeling very young.

Looking at their appearance, there was no big difference from humans; their ears were also round, and their clothing was not much different from humans'.

There were, however, minor differences.

First, their skin was extremely smooth, with pores almost invisible.

Their features were very delicate, slightly leaning toward a youthful look.

They were tall in stature; the male Elf was a little over half a head taller than Luosen, almost two meters, and the female Elf was over 1.8 meters.

Their posture was very full-bodied, with a larger frame; the male was as vigorous as a sun god, the female as graceful as a moon's lines.

The male had golden hair, while the female had silver hair.

Likewise, both male and female had blue eyes, but the male's eyes contained gold lines within the blue, and the female's eyes contained silver lines within the blue.

These patterns looked innate, yet their shapes resembled magical runes, thus giving off a very mysterious aura.

Finally, Luosen carefully sensed their souls.

He felt that the souls of this Elf pair were equivalent to twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and their magical strength was at the seventh ring.

The most special point was that their total magical power was extremely high, actually over ten times that of a human of the same level.

It was directly higher by an order of magnitude!

Luosen observed with extreme speed; the keen perception of a legendary mage let him see very accurately, a flash of his gaze, and he understood the two Elves completely.

He deliberately gave the female Elf an extra glance, because she was extraordinarily beautiful, her whole person seeming to glow.

Then he smiled and said, "Mr. Bulaien, Miss Xixi, welcome to Weilan."

The two Elves each bowed to Luosen.

The male Elf crossed his arms in front of his chest and bowed.

The female Elf spread her arms, bent her knees, lowered her head, and bowed at the waist, performing a gesture resembling a swan.

In unison they said, "We pay respect to you, the great legendary lord of humanity."

Their voices were round and pleasant to hear, especially the female Elf's voice, which reminded Luosen of his own Steel Iron Dragon Ancestor Meierqilinna.

He nodded in return, then said bluntly, "I've been busy lately, so I won't waste words."

"Weilan and the Holy Elf Empire have had no contact, and I cannot guess the purpose of your sudden visit."

"So, speak plainly."

The two Elves glanced at each other, then the male Elf Bulaien stepped forward half a step.

"Your Grace, we come representing our people's Sun God Osella and Moon God Duola, seeking from you the secret method for stable advancement to legendary."

Luosen raised his eyebrows, hearing the subtext in their words.

The Sun and Moon Dual Ultimates also mastered considerable legendary power, merely lacking stable legendary power.

Luosen did not immediately refuse; he smiled lightly and said, "Well, that's quite frank. Then I ask, what price can you pay?"

Miss Xixi the female Elf stepped forward half a step: "We have seen your current predicament, Duke, and we have the ability to help alleviate it."

"Even if you, Duke, are willing to engage in deeper cooperation, we could even join forces to completely resolve this trouble!"

This was not only frank, but also a bit frightening, and at the same time somewhat naive, especially the latter part.

Luosen looked at the male Elf: "Mr. Bulaien, the Radiant Nations led by the Radiant Empire are a very powerful force; to lightly speak of completely resolving them would be overly arrogant."

That is over 900 million people, and with a unified culture and long history, if they truly felt the threat of extermination, they would surely cohere tightly and erupt with astonishing might.

Even if it were two against one at that point, the result would inevitably be a devastating loss.

Male Elf Bulaien's face showed a faint hint of embarrassment; obviously he also felt his companion's words were overly arrogant.

He immediately made amends for his companion: "Your Grace, Miss Xixi excels at magic, but she has shortcomings in national politics, and some of her remarks were inappropriate."

One could see the female Elf was somewhat dissatisfied, but the male Elf gave her a secretive glare in return.

Luosen found it interesting, yet also puzzled, not understanding why the Elf race would send an unqualified envoy.

After suppressing his companion's dissatisfaction, Bulaien said: "But Miss Xixi's meaning has been made clear; our country can send troops to help you contain the Radiant Empire, giving you ample time to integrate the strength of the Natural Alliance."

This actually sounded like a truly excellent exchange.

But as a national leader, if one only looks at the present and not the future, that is short-sighted, and sooner or later one will founder on this point.

The current situation is that the Natural Alliance and the Radiant Empire are mortal nations; their peoples often intermarry, and their nobles, tracing back four or five thousand years, can trace to the same ancestor.

Meanwhile, the Elves of the Holy Elf Empire, even if similar in appearance, are clearly different from humanity.

The conflict between the Natural Alliance and the Radiant Empire is essentially an internal human struggle.

Whether they lose or win, it merely changes the emperor.

The vast majority of commoners simply live their lives, nothing more than days being a bit better or worse; after a few hundred years, the two peoples will have merged.

If the Elves are allowed to intervene, that amounts to bringing in an external tribe to deal with one's own tribe.

If something goes wrong and the Elves gain the upper hand, humanity's days will become very miserable, possibly even facing extermination, after all the difficulty of integrating Elves and mortals is very great.

Not to mention other things, the lifespans of the two tribes differ by more than tenfold.

This point is not only Luosen's personal cognition; the upper-class intelligentsia of both the Radiant Empire and the Natural Alliance also think so.

Therefore, once allied with the Elf Empire against the Radiant Empire, Luosen would be alienated by a large number of human intelligentsia, and his prestige among humanity would sharply decline.

This is completely understandable.

Just as when two families are fighting and a tiger rushes back, anyone of sound mind knows to join forces against the tiger, not to ally with the tiger.

Luosen is very clear about where his base of support lies.

Thus, he slowly shook his head, giving the clearest refusal.

"Humanity's affairs, humanity will settle themselves; no need to trouble the Elves for help."

Bulaien had prepared for this answer, and immediately said, "Your Grace thinking this way, the Radiant Lord Misaike may not think so."

Although the Lord of Radiance, Messiah, proclaims himself a great righteousness, he is actually an overbearing narrow-minded person; he absolutely will not allow anyone to seize his authority, even if that person is his closest kin.

Luosen gave a faint smile.

Mr. Brian, there's no need for you to attack the Lord of Radiance's private morality.

In my view, emperors ought to have this sort of character; an emperor lacking this character would not last long.

I also need to tell you, the struggle between Weilan and the Radiant Empire is a public contest between states. Whether the Lord of Radiance is a petty villain or a noble gentleman, he cannot change this situation.

Likewise, I will not only clearly tell you now, but also issue a clear proclamation, explicitly declaring that Weilan will refuse any form of military cooperation with the Holy Elven Empire, lest the Radiant Empire make a strategic misjudgment on this point.

These words made Brian furrow his brows, and also caused the ever-silent Miss Xixi to flash anger in her eyes.

This elven lady finally couldn't hold back: 'Duke, if you lose, your whole family will be done for.'

Luosen's gaze dimmed slightly as he fixed his eyes on the beautiful elf maiden, his body slowly leaning back against the chair.

The safety of my family I will personally guarantee; there's no need for Miss Xixi to worry.

The elf maiden Xixi instantly felt a tremendous mental pressure; she wanted to retort at the duke as she usually did with Brian, but the words rose to her lips and she still dared not utter them.

Having come to this point, there's really nothing left to discuss.

Luosen shouted loudly: 'A Lai~'

A Lai immediately pushed the door open and entered: 'Master, I'm here.'

Luosen jerked his chin at the two elves: 'Escort these two envoys of the Holy Elven Empire out of Swan Castle!'

Yes, master.

A Lai gestured to the two elves with his hand: 'Please, both of you.'

Before leaving, Brian gave Luosen one last glance, and a clear feeling arose in his heart.

'This human legendary great lord will surely become the elves' most terrifying foe, far more dreadful than the Lord of Radiance.'

Seeing Xixi still wanting to say something, he immediately seized her hand and pulled her outward.

Because he understood that they were now actually in great danger, and whether they could continue to live hinged on a single thought of this duke.

Since the other side intends to sever all military cooperation with the elves completely, there is a certain chance they will publicly execute them to demonstrate their resolve not to ally with foreign races against their own kind!

Brian walked out trembling with fear; when he reached the gate of Swan Castle's wall, a gust of autumn wind blew, making his back feel chilly, and he unknowingly broke out in a cold sweat all over.

In his mind rang Xixi's mental whisper: 'Hmph~ Duke Weilan is formidable in the arcane arts, but he has a blockhead!'

Brian furrowed his brows: 'Xixi, if a blockhead could advance to legendary, every mage would wish to have a blockhead!'

Come on, we'll leave Weilan immediately and report the duke's situation to Their Majesties.

He actually knew why Their Majesties had sent Xixi with him, for Xixi is a renowned beauty of the clan, her purpose being to enchant Duke Weilan.

But now it appears Their Majesties' secret plan has completely come to naught.

He strode out of Swan Castle, and Xixi could only follow unwillingly.

'Brian, Weilan refuses to cooperate—what should we do?'

'Then let's go to the Radiant Empire and seek the Lord of Radiance for legendary secrets.'

'Will the Lord of Radiance give it?'

'If he refuses, we'll send troops so he cannot suppress Duke Weilan.'

'Mm, this plan is good; then why don't we just go directly to the Lord of Radiance?'

'Because we need to confirm the duke's attitude; as things stand, he will absolutely not cooperate with us.'

'Then, when needed, we could even join forces with the Radiant Empire to jointly suppress the Natural Alliance and eradicate the menace that is Duke Weilan.'

'Eh, will the Radiant Empire agree to join hands with us?'

'I understand the Lord of Radiance; once he feels he can no longer suppress the Natural Alliance, he will surely do so.'

Meanwhile, Luosen immediately drafted a proclamation in his study, titled 'Letter to Fellow Humans'.

After it was written, it was first submitted to the cabinet for discussion.

Each cabinet minister is a top talent of the Natural Alliance.

After a discussion, consensus was easily reached.

The ministers unanimously agreed that, no matter what, the elf foreign race must not interfere in human affairs; regardless of what the Radiant Empire does, Weilan must hold to its bottom line.

Thus the 'Letter to Fellow Humans' was sent out via all communication channels.

The proclamation's core content consists of three points.

'One, no matter the circumstance or whatever crisis we face, Weilan is a human nation and will never join forces with any foreign race, in any form, to oppose the Radiant Empire, which is also a human nation.'

'Two, if the Radiant Empire has need, Weilan is willing to join it in opposing the Holy Elven Empire.'

'Three, please have the Radiant Empire respect Weilan and also respect the Natural Alliance, and refrain from interfering in the Natural Alliance's internal affairs.'

Upon seeing the proclamation, the Radiant envoy Erin, who had been somewhat wavering, instantly became resolute.

Duke Weilan indeed followed through with his words; having issued this proclamation so publicly, Weilan can no longer even consider military cooperation with the elves in the future.

She also sensed the duke's sincerity from the proclamation, and the last lingering trace of resentment in her heart vanished without a trace.

She couldn't help but sigh softly: 'Ah~ this man is truly poisonous, he's utterly bewitched me!'

She immediately relayed the proclamation's content and related circumstances to the Empress, then later found an opportunity to make another trip to the duke's study.

As for what she went there to do, it goes without saying.

About two hours later, the proclamation's content and related information appeared on Empress Zhuo Ya's desk.

She quietly read the proclamation, and after a long silence, she sighed inwardly.

'Duke, duke, you are cutting off your own retreat.'

She knew very well that her grandfather would certainly not accept this favor.

A few days ago, the duke's announcement of his legendary mage status at the academy had already been regarded by her grandfather as a grave provocation, and he had marked the duke as a man to be killed.

But having said that, as a fellow ruler who personally administers governance, Empress Zhuo Ya actually feels some admiration for this young duke.

This guy's private morals are dissolute, but he's not muddle-headed in major matters, and he also has extraordinary courage. Too bad he's an opponent.

It's been three thousand years; among the people my grandfather swore to kill, aside from the Heavenly Father of Divine Might still being alive, all the others are dead.

I just don't know whether this Duke can stay alive.

'Probably he can, and I hope he can. Otherwise this world would be too boring.'

Zhuo Ya thought so, and at the same time recalled the information that Ailin had directly transmitted to her via a secret channel.

'Ten Rings? Legendary?'

'Heh, grandfather would never allow me to wield such power, would he?'

(End of chapter)