In the chairman's room of the fog moon court, the eyes of all the Elven elders focused on the gate, waiting for the next figure to break in.
The Azores and black haired wizards standing in the center of the "dance floor" looked at each other with four eyes, stood motionless on both sides of the gate, waiting for the final result.
The pieces have fallen, the dice have been rolled... The rest is to give each other confidence and luck.
"Bang --!"
The door of the council house was once again roughly knocked open. The elder of the fog moon court sitting in the front row shook his cheeks violently and sighed helplessly - this is the second time today.
Luca, with a dignified look on his face, stepped into the long house; At the moment when his figure passed between the Azores and the black haired wizard, the expressions of both sides immediately changed.
Looking at Meade with a slightly stiff expression, Loren's expression is as proud as ever.
"I'm very sorry for interrupting your discussion!" facing the confused or nervous eyes in the long room, Luca, with a serious expression, stood in front of the elder and said coldly and loudly: "but there's something you must know!"
"Just a quarter of an hour ago, at least 100 war dancers gathered and launched an unprovoked attack on the imperial mission visiting the ancient wood forest; an extremely bloody fight broke out under the cloud canopy tree symbolizing peace in the settlement of wuyueting!"
Although they had known it for a long time, when this sentence was said from the war dancers in the morning star forest, the elders of the fog moon court still looked ugly.
"In order to prevent the situation from getting worse and destroy the meeting between the Empire and the ancient wood forest, I summoned all the soldiers willing to respond in the whole fog moon court without authorization, transferred the imperial mission to the foothold of the morning star forest, and detained all the war dancers involved in this behavior."
The solemn looking middle-aged elf said sternly, "they claim to be 'in order to protect the freedom of cell race and blood relatives, not deceived by the rhetoric of the empire', claiming that all these are spontaneous actions, and resolutely denying who ordered them."
"But as far as I know, the despicable man behind the scenes is now in the Council room." with a cold hum, Luca's sharp eyes swept to the silent Azores behind him:
"Dear Lord Meade, what do you think?"
The hall was silent.
Meade didn't answer him immediately, but turned his head and looked at the lush and vibrant fog moon court outside the door, as if the eyes behind him didn't exist for him.
"Such a beautiful scenery, such a rich settlement, such a noble and proud blood." the Azores sighed.
"I thought that the blood relatives living in the ancient wood forest must be more simple, brave, proud and unyielding than the Azores who have been leveling under the eagle king for hundreds of years. I didn't expect that you are also so greedy for the peace given by others." he frowned slightly and shook his head at Luca:
"What a pity, your excellency Luca; I once thought you were the most loyal war dancer to the ancient wood forest; I didn't expect that you would contribute your loyalty by pleasing foreigners."
"That's because my loyalty is only aimed at the ancient wood forest, not the Azor Kingdom behind you." the middle-aged elf replied coldly, not interested in the irony in mider's words:
"We respect the blood relatives from afar, but don't mistake this respect for loyalty; we are proud, independent and free Ancient Wood Forest Elves, not the courtiers of the eagle king!"
"The fate of the Ancient Wood Forest Elves only belongs to ourselves!"
Luca's voice fell, and the atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed; The Elven elders, who were still embarrassed in surprise and tension, looked at each other and showed their approval.
"Pa!"
A crisp applause rang out in the long room.
"Pa, PA, PA..." the Azores elf, who did not change his face, clapped his hands. In his gentle and indifferent expression, a pair of approving eyes looked at Luca coldly; The lonely applause seemed very harsh in the long room:
"Well said, well said - the future of the Ancient Wood Forest Elves should be left to the Ancient Wood Forest Elves to choose by themselves. No outsiders can interfere or talk about it."
"What do you think? Do you also agree with your excellency Luca, who is loyal to the ancient wood forest and his blood relatives?"
With that, he leisurely turned his eyes to the Elven elders behind Luca; What I saw was a pair of angry and complex, tangled but frightened eyes.
Yes, they hesitated.
On the one hand, except for the morning star forest and the eastern forest, the elves in other settlements did not have much favor or even hostility to the Empire; Although the words and actions of the little wizard and the guarantee of elder Lin of Morningstar have dissolved a lot, the mistrust and estrangement between the two races can not be solved in one meeting.
On the other hand, Meade from the Azores Kingdom gave them more choices, especially the fog moon court, who was dissatisfied with the Empire, could not refuse the temptation of the other party - let the elves of the ancient wood forest really unite through a war, rather than a plate of loose sand, and had no power to fight back against foreign enemies.
Including the encirclement and suppression of the imperial mission - what really dissatisfied the elders, especially the elders of the fog moon court, was that the other party did not discuss with them and acted without authorization.
Looking at the silent elf elders, the contemplative black haired wizard couldn't help squeezing his fist.
Although he successfully disrupted Meade's plan and completely exposed his anti guest plot; But the key to this game still depends on the attitude of the elders.
From this moment on, the two sides really stand in an absolutely fair position and let the ancient wood forest make a dilemma.
Is it to use friendship and Empire to forge peace, or to completely fall into the embrace of Azores?
In meditation, the dark haired wizard turned the remaining light from the corner of his eyes to the Azores who were still at ease.
The decision-making power of this game is in the hands of ancient wood forest, but... Meade will never give up. He will try to regain the initiative of choice in his own hands.
The point is, what would he do?
The cards in hand have been played out, the situation deliberately created has been destroyed, and everything has returned to the starting point.
Is the Azores really
"... it's hard to decide, isn't it?"
Midell raised his head, his mouth still with a gentle smile, and his eyes were full of empathy: "indeed, this is a very difficult choice."
"Originally, your choice was very single, and only the blood relatives of the Azores Kingdom opened their arms to you; but now the Empire has stood up and told you in her majestic and arrogant voice that you can still have a second choice."
"It's really difficult to make a decision between foreigners and fellow clans, one is far away from home and the other is close to you... Because once you choose one of them, you will greatly offend the other party or even be an enemy."
"For the elves in the ancient wood forest, this should be the last scene they want to see? Obviously, they just want the future of the ethnic group, but they have to push the ethnic group into a tragic war doomed to the fragmentation of their homes and the separation of their wives and children... Is there anything more absurd than this?"
Meade stood in front of the elders and sighed, as if he really thought from the perspective of the ancient wood forest.
Yes, just like that night... The dark haired wizard narrowed his eyes.
"Everything happened so suddenly that you didn't even have time to prepare and think! The current situation is that you must make your decision right here, right now and now. This decision will be related to the future of the Ancient Wood Forest Elves."
Middleton paused and said in a deep voice word by word, "and this future will come soon."
"Soon!"
The biting sound echoed in the ears of all the elders.
However, only a few people were really aware of what he meant.
The dark haired wizard frowned slightly. Meade's words seemed to show some threat, but they were not just verbal.
What does he mean... The empire is on the border of the ancient wood forest. It is not difficult to mobilize troops to launch an invasion and counterattack, but what about the Azores kingdom? Have they been able to make thousands or even tens of thousands of troops cross the fog sea and invade the Empire?
Is it possible?
Loren stared at Meade's expression, hoping to find the answer.
But the next second, Meade turned his head again: "but I think it's very unfair."
"Yes, it is the freedom of the ancient wood forest to choose which side. Even the blood relatives should not interfere; but the elves of the ancient wood forest are innocent. They have to change not because of their own desires, but because of outsiders."
"Because of me... And the arrival of the honourable Duke of Byrne, Lord Loren Turin, you have to make such a dilemma; the fault is not you, the fault is us... We, who have some purpose, rashly visited your settlements and homes and forced you to make a choice among us."
Looking up, Meade sighed: "it's really unfair to the innocent ancient wood forest!"
"What the hell are you trying to say?!"
Vaguely aware of something wrong, Luca finally interrupted the Azores who were ready to continue.
Meade chuckled and turned his eyes to the dark haired wizard on his side.
"I've heard that the elves of the ancient wood forest keep a long tradition, which is called the 'War of honor'." Meade smiled and said, "I've also heard that there is a similar custom in the Empire, which is called the 'judgment before God'."
"What's interesting is that the Azores also retain such a tradition. They use one-on-one duels, let the gods and all the audience as witnesses, and use the victory or defeat to determine who is the just party on both sides."
Meade stepped forward, stood on his back and looked at Loren: "so... Since the source of all contradictions comes from me and the respected Lord Loren Turin, it's better for us to represent the kings behind us to have a fair and just 'War of honor' to determine the future of the ancient wood forest!"
In the long house, the elder Elves were surprised!
The elder of the fog moon court got up in a panic and wanted to stop him.
"Absolutely not! Both of you are guests of ancient wood forest. We can't watch one of you..."
"What do you think?"
Meade ignored the "poor" old man and stared at the black haired Wizard: "there is no need for any extra sacrifice, just one of you and me."
"The glory of the winner will lay the peace with the ancient wood forest, and the corpse of the loser... Is the best declaration of war!"
The eyes of the Azores spirit were burning, and the eyes contained fire that could gush out at any time, as well as an endless sense of war.
I've put all my eggs on this game. Dare you?!
"Lord Meade, please reconsider!" Luca hurriedly stepped forward and stopped at the side of the Azores: "this is the settlement of the Ancient Wood Forest Elves. It should be decided by the elders present, not between you and Lord Loren..."
"You are wrong, your excellency Luca." Meade interrupted him with a smile, but his eyes never left Loren's face. "That's what happened between me and Duke Byrne."
"More accurately, it is between the eagle king behind us and the supreme emperor, Azor and sakran - between the two, the ancient wood forest can only do one thing..."
"... that is to watch quietly as a witness of the two and wait for the final result!"
The iron faced middle-aged wizard looked at the dark haired wizard who was always silent next to him, and could only step back silently
"Your plan is really flawless, and almost all my arrangements have been torn apart." Meade stared at Loren: "but I'm not going to give up immediately, as you said..."
"I am also very confident in myself!"
"Really?" Lauren also raised his head and smiled. "But why are you so sure that I will agree to your request and duel with you?"
"Because if I leave here alive, you can't be at ease - just as I can't." the gentle Meade, with a complex sheen in his eyes:
"Finally... Only one of the two who once shared the summer moon can live to see the moon in the midsummer of next year."
"Or..." Meade suddenly chuckled and glanced at the stunned Elven elders: "are you really willing to give them the power of choice?"
Loren tilted his mouth slightly. To some extent, the killing intention and self-confidence of the other party were also affecting him.
The little wizard held his breath and involuntarily grabbed Loren's clothes.
Because she really saw the confidence in the dark haired wizard's eyes and heard what he said:
"I accept your challenge!"