Chapter 155 - All Actors in Place

To the elves’ surprise, the demon army had remained outside the Elven Forest for an entire week. Not a single demon had crossed the border during this period, their behavior making it seem as if they were truly waiting for the Tree of Nature’s fruits to ripen and collect the four Seeds of Nature they demanded.

Originally, many elves thought that the demons were bound to show some excessive behavior. After all, this was how the demons typically behaved in the past wars, so it was inevitable that the elves would stereotype the demons as such.

However, thanks to this one week of quiet confrontation, many young elves, who had never experienced war, got the chance to talk to some of the demon soldiers. After all, the environment in the elven village was simply too boring and depressing.

It might have been fine if they were born during ancient times, but now that the elven village was connected to the human realm’s internet, many young elves got to see how different and interesting the outside world was. Hence, they couldn’t help but grow confused about why their race was living such a secluded, conservative, and boring lifestyle.

Meanwhile, this confusion eventually developed into subtle rebellious attitudes, and many young elves had initiated contact with the demons despite the patriarch’s prohibition. This, in turn, allowed them to understand some of the demon realm’s situation.

For example, apart from the demon realm having an environment far worse than the human realm, many aspects of the demon realm were already similar to those found in the human realm. Right now, the biggest difference separating human and demon society was the demon society’s worship of strength.

In addition, the young elves also found out that many demons were ignorant of why the Four Heavenly Kings were suddenly demanding the elves’ Seeds of Nature. Most of the demons in the demon army had simply come to the Elven Forest because of orders from their superiors.

Of course, unlike the young elves who tirelessly engaged in communication with similarly young demon soldiers, the elven patriarch and elders weren’t having as joyful a time during this past week. Instead, they had spent this past week mired by questions and headaches.

Patriarch Elway and the elders had personally experienced what kind of role the demons had played in history. So long as the demons remained deployed outside the Elven Forest, the pressure on them would remain. Although the situation hadn’t devolved into a frontal confrontation yet, they still had a hard time tolerating this situation.

To make matters worse, the village’s youngsters were constantly seeking out the demons for conversation every day, ignoring any prohibitions they had set. If not for the fact that these youngsters were ignorant of the elven race’s top secrets, Patriarch Elway would’ve suspected that these youngsters had already blabbered all of their race’s secrets to the demons.

Of course, the interactions the young elves shared with the demons weren’t completely unproductive. Although most of the information they brought back was of no importance, Patriarch Elway and the elders still managed to find out that the sudden demand for the Seed of Nature came from the demons’ upper echelons. Not even the commander of the demon army knew why they were demanding the elves’ Seeds of Nature.

In that case, could the order to acquire the Seeds of Nature have come from the Four Heavenly Kings, or perhaps even someone higher?

When Patriarch Elway thought of this possibility, he felt as if his brain was about to explode. On the off chance that this order came from the Demon King, this situation would be a big problem.

However, before Patriarch Elway’s thoughts could run wild, someone suddenly opened his office door without even knocking.

Patriarch Elway frowned at this sight. However, just as he was about to reprimand the other party for their rude arrival, the words that came out of the soldier’s mouth caused Patriarch Elway’s expression to change:

“Lord Patriarch! The Demon King has appeared!”

Speak of the devil…

Patriarch Elway sighed deeply. He had already occupied the position of patriarch for 500 years, and he had personally witnessed the fight between Demon King Grant and Hero Kristine 300 years ago. He never thought he would get another opportunity to witness a Demon King as the elves’ patriarch.

Originally, Patriarch Elway had been rather nervous about such a situation taking place. However, now that he was faced with this situation, he felt inexplicably calm.

“Let’s go, then. Let’s meet this Demon King,” Patriarch Elway calmly said as he stood up from his seat. Then, he left his office and made his way to the demon army’s base camp.

This time, Patriarch Elway finally realized something—the elves had always been on the passive side in regards to the war with the demons. Or, more specifically, the elves had always been the ones receiving a one-sided beating.

After considering this fact, Patriarch Elway felt that it might be time to bring forward the agenda of introducing human technology into the Elven Forest. Similarly, they might have to stop isolating themselves from the world and begin inviting human nations to conduct partnered research on the Seed of Nature. In doing so, the elves might also be able to get on board the train of rapid development.

…

While Patriarch Elway was making his way to the frontlines, the elven warriors dared not act rashly. As they stood near the Elven Forest’s edge, they carefully observed the cloaked figure standing at the front of the demon army. Although this person’s face was hidden, her tall figure and the dense dark mana she radiated were clear indicators of her identity.

The Demon King!

Naturally, this cloaked “Demon King” was Luna in disguise. While her body was more in line with the fake identity Alice had come up with, her face and hair were different. Hence, she had worn a cloak capable of concealing her face and upper body to hide these features. She had also released her extraordinary dark mana to avoid unnecessary suspicion.

Currently, standing behind Luna was Davis. When Davis saw Luna’s cloaked figure, he naturally assumed the other party to be Alice. Although he didn’t know how “Alice” had managed to alter her body to such an extent, there was no way to fake the majestic dark mana that radiated from her body. That kind of dark mana was something only the Demon King could possess. Even all of the demon realm’s dark magicians combined couldn’t necessarily generate so much dark mana.

“Where are the Seeds of Nature?”

After making her appearance, Luna followed Alice’s instructions and posed this question to Davis. The demons were here for the Seeds of Nature on the surface, so there was no problem for Luna to ask such a question, either.

“The elves are still preparing them. They say the seeds should be ready tomorrow.”

Although Davis didn’t know what “Alice” had in store for the Seeds of Nature, he still promptly answered her question.

“Useless!” Luna coldly snorted. Although she could not modify her appearance, modifying her voice was a simple task. So long as she applied pressure on her throat using mana, she could change her voice, making it sound strange and low. Thus, she was not afraid of letting others hear her voice. “There’s not enough time! Have the elves hand over the seeds immediately!”

When the elven warriors heard Luna’s harsh voice, they couldn’t help but look at Davis sympathetically. They had learned many things about the demons recently, so they knew that all of the demons here were merely carrying out orders from their superiors. None of them even know why they were trying to obtain the Seeds of Nature.

However, evidently, Davis’s loyalty not only failed to earn him a compliment, but he even received a cold rebuke from the Demon King. At this time, even the elves, who valued etiquette highly, couldn’t help but feel that the Demon King’s behavior was excessive.

Of course, some people had also keenly noticed the key points in the Demon King’s words.

Not enough time? What could be so urgent for the Demon King to be in such a hurry?