Chapter 969: The Tower's Completion

From the end of the Third Epoch to the present, more than 3,700 years have passed; the splendor of Tixibiya has long vanished in the river of ages, and the remaining ruins can scarcely be identified as elven in style, having been replaced by a Netifu Demon tribe.

Tixibiya is vast, and the Demonkin tribe occupies only a small portion.

Demonkin are poor at construction; the tribe's buildings are mostly made from on‑site materials, using the stone foundations of demolished elven structures combined with timber to erect crude houses.

These houses are mainly concentrated on the western side of Tixibiya, where a wide river originates from the Baleqiya Mountains, called the Boke River; the water flows eastward, turns south upon reaching Tixibiya, and after a few hundred li empties into the sea.

The Demonkin tribe is built along the shore, extending ten li.

At this moment, a great Demonkin army that had just fled the battlefield has withdrawn many units here; because the Dreweil Peninsula is too close, they did not linger, and after re‑organizing they continued retreating south.

Lei En saw a Chosen Champion but did not alarm him.

The next morning.

The Demonkin army had fully withdrawn, and the tribe's inhabitants were taken away, leaving only over a thousand Demonkin behind as a forward outpost.

Lei En had already chosen the site for the high tower and began work shortly after dawn.

The Star Destroyer hovered aloft, opened its hangar, and hundreds of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers leapt out, unfurling dark‑golden wings that became bolts of lightning as they descended into the Demonkin tribe.

The Netifu Demons stared at the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers falling from the sky, horror etched on their faces, then turned and fled.

But it was already too late.

These foes were not worth wasting Bolt Gun ammunition, so the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers hurled clusters of Electric Blast Orbs, bombarding the Demonkin on the ground.

The explosions roared toward the heavens, lasting for over ten minutes.

The battle ended swiftly.

The entire tribe was razed flat, and all of the more than a thousand Demonkin were annihilated, none able to escape to report to the Chosen Champion. The retreating Demonkin army would not discover the tribe's condition for at least a few days, buying time for the tower's construction.

Lei En stepped out of a teleportation gate and appeared on the ground.

He looked around; this spot lay on the eastern side of the Demonkin tribe, about three li from the Boke River, a flat wasteland. Roughly a kilometer due north stood a massive architectural ruin—though wind and rain had stripped it for three millennia, and the remaining foundations were overgrown with weeds, one could still vaguely discern an elven palace.

In fact, it was the Phoenix King's palace!

A map of Tixibiya from the Third Epoch stored in the mobile library, after comparison, showed that the spot where Lei En stood had once been the plaza of the Phoenix King's palace.

"This is it."

Lei En nodded, his mind shifting, and three seconds later released a nine‑ring Magic Burst Force Field.

Boom—

A deafening blast, the invisible force radiated outward from its center, instantly clearing everything within two hundred meters, leaving a perfectly clean plain.

A high tower will be erected here!

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers that had just razed the Demonkin tribe flew over, each assigned a task: some cast spells to clear larger areas, some dug foundations, some measured data for positioning, some erected temporary shelters and defenses nearby, and some constructed teleportation arrays for transport.

From the Star Destroyer aloft, more Thundercast Celestial Soldiers descended carrying batches of materials.

One thousand five hundred Thundercast Celestial Soldiers quickly turned the wasteland into a construction site.

The Extreme Warrior regiment's 3rd and 4th companies, a total of one hundred twenty Extreme Warriors, spread out to establish a perimeter within a kilometer to guard against Demonkin raids.

Half an hour later.

The teleportation array was completed and calibrated, linking to the Dreweil Peninsula and Gotham City; after coordination, a towering portal opened, and squads of dwarf laborers and dwarf mages proficient in earth magic were teleported through.

Thorgrin, Magnus and Bruno, the three Dwarf Kings, also arrived.

However, they were merely visitors; the one truly leading the work was Chief Craftsman Bulestein, who is an old acquaintance of Lei En—he was responsible for constructing the Jin Gang Fort base and Kalanos.

"Consul, sir."

Bulestein, still blunt, came up and asked directly, "What do we need to do?" He was not very enthusiastic, having heard it was to build a Wizard Tower; dwarf laborers are not adept, only able to assist the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers.

Sure enough, Lei En said, "I need massive quantities of stone material, of various sizes and shapes; my men will coordinate with you."

"Very well," Bulestein nodded.

Almost every dwarf mage has mastered the spells Mud to Stone and Stone to Mud, so they need not quarry elsewhere, saving a great deal of time and labor.

A Thundercast Celestial Soldier came over, took Bulestein away, and assigned him a task.

Thorgrin gazed at the northern ruins and sighed, "The Phoenix King's palace—who would have thought that such a once‑magnificent palace is now reduced to these traces."

Lei En was somewhat surprised that Thorgrin could recognize it.

"Your Majesty knows this palace?"

"Of course."

Thorgrin seemed to be recalling long‑ago events, "Although I have never been to Tixibiya nor seen the city's splendor with my own eyes, when I was young a few senior Dwarf Kings were still alive; they had visited Tixibiya and told me everything about this place."

Lei En couldn't help but click his tongue, dwarves truly live too long.

A typical dwarf can live four hundred years; a Dwarf King can extend his lifespan to as much as three thousand years, and from the fall of the Third Epoch to now is only three thousand seven hundred years.

Such a span of time is merely two generations of Dwarf Kings for dwarves.

Thorgrin is the oldest dwarf alive now; it is said he was born during the Dark Millennium and is over two thousand years old—a true Elder of the Epoch.

"What a pity..."

"What a splendid civilization and era. Those elven pale‑skins, though detestable and generations‑long enemies of dwarves, possessed great aesthetic talent and created many wondrous works; alas, all were destroyed by Abyss demons," Thorgrin lamented the fall of the Elf Empire, his words also revealing his grief for dwarven glory lost.

"The wisdom of dwarves and elves has been passed down; it will rise again sooner or later," Lei En said with a smile.

"That will be difficult."

Thorgrin shook his head dismissively, "The New Epoch is the age of humans; dwarves having a place is already satisfying, we dare not hope for more."

At this point his expression soured, "The elves, however, still occupy the fertile lands of Aoroan; I hear they have been embroiled in internal strife these years, hindering the whole race's revival. Hmph… those scheming pale‑skins withdrew fastest when the Abyss invaded the New Continent, preserving their strength relatively intact, yet they still fail to cherish it."

He cursed vigorously, though inside he was quite envious.

Lei En had some understanding of the elves' situation.

Aoroan, at the far western edge of the Old Continent, is the elves' homeland, covering an area comparable to half an empire; its soil is fertile and resources abundant. Though it suffered Abyss demon invasion and devastation at the end of the Third Epoch, causing a sharp drop in elven population, it recovered within a few centuries.

When the New Epoch began, Aoroan had already revived, and elven numbers rose again.

For reasons unknown, the elves sealed off Aoroan, rarely interacting with the outside; over the first thousand years of the New Epoch they endured several large‑scale civil wars, ultimately fragmenting Aoroan into ten elf kingdoms, a state that persists to this day.

The ten Elf Kingdoms have a total population of over twenty million, which seems modest, yet almost every elf is a transcendent, the proportion of spellcasters is astonishingly high, and they also live long lives.

If the ten kingdoms unite, their overall strength would not be inferior to the three great human empires, and they would even surpass them in high‑end combat power.

With the power of the entire elf race, the chance of successfully re‑colonizing the New Continent is great.

However, they never took action.

Lei En can guess part of the reason: with the strength of one or two Elf Kingdoms it is impossible to colonize the New Continent, and uniting the other kingdoms cannot reach a consensus; some kingdoms even deliberately stall, resulting in none getting anything done.

Otherwise, the eastern coast of the New Continent would be left for someone else to colonize, and Tixibiya, the former capital of the Elf Empire, would not fall into their hands.

Internal strife is killing the elves…

"It's too late for the elves to come to the New Continent now, hehehe…" Bruno Zhanchui smirked with malicious glee, "Aibolaken and Tixibiya are already Consul territories; even if you gave the elves a hundred more guts, they wouldn't dare contest the Consul."

The other two kings also nodded.

No matter how powerful the elves are, they cannot defeat the Extreme War Brigade and Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, let alone the fact that Lei En is backed by the Oriense Empire.

Although the Dwarves are nominal vassals of Lei En and thus returned to the New Continent, the elves gained nothing, and the land the Dwarves now occupy once belonged to the elves, so thinking that way lifts their spirits.

As long as the elves fare poorly, the Dwarves will be pleased.

"Consul, sir."

Magnus Tonghuan stared at the tower foundation area marked by the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers; it was a perfect square, and he couldn't help his curiosity, asking aloud, "What does this tower look like?"

Lei En satisfied his curiosity and produced a blueprint.

The three Dwarf Kings crowded together to look, instantly exchanging puzzled glances; this was completely unlike the Wizard Tower they had imagined, and a closer look at the numbers on the blueprint left them astonished.

"So tall!"

"What a strange Wizard Tower…" Bruno scratched his tangled beard, puzzled, "Why does it feel more like a monument?"

Lei En laughed, saying with a hint of amusement, "What I built is both a Wizard Tower and a monument."

He said no more.

Thorgrin stopped probing and finally stated his purpose, somewhat uneasy, "Consul, we wish to rebuild a new dwarf city atop the ruins of Feili City; may we have your permission?"

"Feili City?" Lei En frowned slightly.

It is also a city of the Elf Empire, ranking fifth in population on the New Continent, situated at the junction of the Dreweil Peninsula and Kenton Peninsula, where a river meets the sea, forming a wide bay with a natural good harbor.

Feili City lies exactly at the midpoint between Getan and Tixibiya.

One is the Elf Empire's economic hub, the other its political hub; Feili City, positioned between them, enjoys a uniquely advantageous location.

The problem is that most of Feili City's districts are built on the west bank of the Dreweil River, which lies outside the territory Lei En promised to the Dwarves.

The east bank belongs to the Dwarves on Kenton Peninsula.

Feili City's location is excellent and crucial; Lei En has his own plans for it and does not wish to grant the Dwarves extra land.

Lei En was reluctant in his heart, yet he did not refuse outright.

"I'll think it over."

The three Dwarf Kings exchanged glances and then silently nodded.

If Danen Tieshou and Belega Tichui were present, their personalities would surely spark further debate, which is why they were not brought. During the tower's construction, both sides must negotiate treaty terms, and Feili City will undoubtedly be a top agenda item; this early notice to Lei En simply prevents the negotiations from seeming too sudden.

A few days later.

The tower's foundation had begun to take shape; the square foundation measured about fifty meters per side, built entirely of massive white stone blocks, with multilayered rune sigils etched inside.

Beneath the foundation, the structure extended even larger, reaching a depth of a hundred meters, with the rune sigils spreading out beyond a kilometer.

What is visible on the surface is merely the tip of an iceberg.

A thousand Thundercast Celestial Soldiers and over three thousand dwarf artisans cooperate, adding several meters to the tower each day, and the pace accelerates.

When the tower reached over forty meters, signs of Demonkin appeared around it.

They finally discovered the anomaly here.

Lei En had a concealment sigil set up, making the tower invisible from outside, yet that night the Demonkin army launched a raid. A force of over two thousand elite Demonkin, led by a Chosen Champion, crossed the Boke River and surged straight toward the tower.

Upon landing, they collided with the Extreme War Brigade's fourth regiment.

The battle ended in less than five minutes.

Except for the Chosen Champion, who was intentionally spared to flee, all the other elite Demonkin were annihilated.

For more than a month thereafter, Netifu Demonkin launched attacks almost daily, trying to discover what was being built within the sigil. They employed every method—direct teleportation, aerial flight, even tunneling—just to approach the tower, but always failed.

Every Demonkin force that arrived perished, never to return.

After losing twenty to thirty thousand, the Demonkin realized success was impossible; further attempts would only be suicide, so they finally abandoned raids and interference, daring only to lurk at a distance and watch covertly.

During the tower's construction, Lei En and Reslin remained here, the Star Destroyer hovered invisibly in the sky, guarding against a possible appearance of the Eternal Chosen Aikon. Yet Aikon never manifested; Kurgos did appear a few times, glanced from afar, then withdrew.

Lei En let him leave.

By the first month of New Era Calendar year 2539, a few days after the New Year and after nearly two months of work, the tower at Tixibiya was completed!

(End of Chapter)