"Do we have at least one chance to counter this scourge?"
"Are you deaf or what? You heard it, right? Or maybe you don't know the zero percent luck?"
As tension rose between Tugra and the king of the Kelspies, two unknown silhouettes appeared in the room without notice.
Liliana raised her hand to stop others from attacking them with sight. Even if she had only felt Alvine's presence now, the threatening presence that emanated from Alvine's shadow aura was different from the others. Although she had seen Alvine use this mysteriously threatening energy several times, she was still unable to get used to it.
The two dark silhouettes that were none other than Alvine and her maid began to clear up after half a second.
"S-Sir Dalvine? Hohoho~ By the grace of the goddess, I thought you had left our world; once again!" The joyful voice that was like an old man who saw his nephew visit him was none other than the picturesque voice of the King of the Kelspies. From the moment he identified Alvine and his (beast contracted), all his frustration was mysteriously flown into oblivion. He was currently looking like an overexcited child who saw a Santa Claus entering the fireplace on Christmas evening!
Apart from him, who showed his feelings, the others had electrifying pupils while they looked at him, even the famous Tugra breathed a sigh that was not, for the first time a sigh of horror and fear in front of his sworn reaper.
"As you may have already guessed, they are our reinforcement." Liliana opened her palm towards Alvine for the designer. She herself had a derisory smile when she saw the scene that had just been caused by Alvine's simple arrival. Her smile became all the more proud when she saw such attention to her husband. Contrary to Alvine's earthly views, which think that two couples can only be called (married) when they get married, Liliana had a completely different idea in her head.
Alvine had a perplexed look when he saw the atmosphere of the room become more pleasant all of a sudden. 'I see now, it's precisely this planet that almost made me forget my first goal. The way they see me had given me the impression of being powerful; hence my previous arrogance that had almost led me to the wild. I can now understand Dalvine's goal who threatened me by crushing me with his unreasonable force; it was for the sole purpose of showing me how pathetically I was thinking I had become strong. Whereas in reality, I was nothing more than a frog that was revered by insects.'
'A frog is maybe a powerful predator of the insects, but it will always remain in its arrogant little world while thinking that it is the master of the universe until a snake settles its account. Even snakes are also powerless in front of the Eagle. It's still strange, why Dalvine acts as if he wanted to prepare me at all costs for a few things that I myself don't know. Sigh, I'll think later; for now, let's take care of the affairs present.' He concludes by sitting on the chair that was next to Liliana.
"Before getting to the heart of the matter, I ask you to take a break so that you can contact each one, of your kingdoms and gather all the people you left behind to protect your two kingdoms. The enemy has not yet crossed the border, therefore, the soldiers who have remained behind you are useless there, they must imperatively join the battlefields if we want to win this battle. Syl-Dylvia who is behind me will help you escort them here." He did not dwell in unnecessary discussions, his explanation was short, precise, and non-negotiable.
"D-Do you mean that we will succeed in surviving in the face of this horde?" The queen of the Kelspies asked with sparkling eyes.
Alvine had a mocking smile. "Survive? No, we will simply annihilate our invaders without the slightest mercy. But I prefer to warn you, Queen and King of the Kelspies, that many of your soldiers will perish in the battle we are about to fight. But it's to save millions of lives. You must keep your head on your shoulders, a king is not only the one who cherishes his people but also the one who knows how to make wise decisions that sometimes involve sacrifices." He continued in a placid tone. The small awareness he had just realized strangely helped him behave like a God among mortals while knowing that he himself is nothing but a simple insect among mortals.
With such a mentality, his arrogance would not risk making him behave like an arrogant idiot who does not know that above the clouds, there is also an endless universe.
The eyes of the king of the Kelspies wavered when they heard Alvine's words that resembled the words of a wise man who came straight from the thousand Samsara. "I understand." How could he complain, recently, he was looking for a solution to survive; but now he could win the battle. If he relies on these mysterious beings who are the humans of their legends.
"Ahem, Mr. Dalvine, are you sure we will be able to win this battle?" Tugra asked in an overexcited tone that made him forget the threat that Alvine posed. To be honest, he also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to bury the war age and the ancient grudge that exists between him and Alvine.
Alvine nodded while keeping his euphoric smile. "You don't have to worry, king of the Elves, Tugra. Anyone who tries to kill you, I would personally send the person in question six feet underground. As for this battle, in my opinion, it must be the penultimate battle before the real war begins. But it doesn't concern you in any way. Within three weeks, this war will probably come to an end. So, be quiet."
As Tugra's smile became bigger, Alvine continued his sentence. "After all, the person who must kill you is none other than me! So live peacefully for the last three weeks without worrying about anything!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Even the queen of vampires could guess the resentment that exists between Alvine and Tugra, according to the information disclosed by Noddra about the meeting for the joint alliance. 'As I thought, coming to this man; given the importance, he attaches to his debts, it is not surprising that he faces the same with his grudges.' Liliana concludes her thoughts without making judgments about Alvine's thoughts.
"Ahem, can you explain your plans for how we will take part in the fighting?" Feeling the familiar atmosphere that was beginning to reign in the room, the king of the Kelspies tried to solve the problem by changing the subject. Tugra grumbled when they saw others act as if they had not heard anything. Even if it was a problem that was caused by his arrogance, he still felt betrayed by the others who did not want to get involved in his problem with Alvine.
Alvine did not dwell on it either, he had already changed his plans for this arrogant elf. "It's simple, we will trap the ground, after reducing their numbers with our traps, we will only have to separate them into small numbers to allow your men to besiege the holy beasts at the same time. Regarding the beast emperors, do not worry about them, they will have their own enemies to face (shadow soldiers). As for the divine beasts, the queen will take care of one, her advisors will occupy the other, while I and Sylvia will try to take care of the last two at the same time. So the plan will have to take place as on wheels." He briefly explained his strategy with impassive eyes.
Everyone had only one idea. This strategy was not only too simple but also very difficult to put into practice. Traps? Beasts are not like animals, not to mention separates them!
He raised his hand to arrest the King of the Kelspies who probably had doubts about his strategy. "Don't worry, if everything goes as planned, our losses won't even reach three percent! As for the traps, I would take care of them with the queen of vampires. The same goes for separating the animals into small groups, I take care of it. But we don't have time to debate it, you have to trust me and let me take care of it." He says without giving them the time to ask for more explanations.
'This plan is based solely on the assumption that I can able to appear my clone once again. And that in turn, does use my affinities even though the system blocked them without problems. Even if there are too many hypotheses, this is the only solution; in the worst case, I would try to convince Dalvine to block the system. Tsk, but knowing him, he will surely ask for something in exchange; even if I don't like to admit it, his behavior closely resembles mine. Sigh, I hope everything goes well according to the plan.' He prayed in his beard while his face did not reveal the slightest doubt.
"In this case, I think we will do what you suggested to us. Please, Lady Dylvia, come with us out to execute your skill." Even if he did not know how it should happen, his confidence in Alvine's power was such that he became an object of worship for him.
Note that they have never seen spatial affinities at work, not to mention this incredulous affinity, even flying in the air was a divine skill for the Kelspies and ice elves.
"Liliana, come with me for a moment. We don't have much time ahead of us." Alvine announced it when he saw the room that was filled become empty apart from him, Liliana, and the fourth counselor, Vandel Sunshield.
"Can you give me a minute, my lord?" Vandel, who had remained silent from the beginning, made the tone of his placid voice heard, which bore the traces of age.
Alvine knew him of course, as well as the other two counselors and Noddra. "Thirty seconds, we don't have much time ahead of us anymore, so I would give you thirty seconds." He said in a placid tone.
Contrary to what many people could imagine, counselors are distributed from the youngest to the oldest and also from the weakest to the strongest. To put it explicitly, after the queen who has an innate talent for cultivation and is the strongest vampire, accordingly; the person who will follow her behind is Vandel, who is the fourth counselor and also the most powerful vampire, after the queen.
Then the third counselor, died facing the Wyvern that had been sucked by the orb of Alvine's shadow mage. So on until Noddra who is not only the youngest counselor but also the weakest among them.
"I wanted to apologize for calling you a young ignorant man who had not matured enough to carry the lives of thousands of people of our race. Understand that I had no particular dissatisfaction with you, it was just an erroneous judgment on the part of an old man who became old-fashioned over the years." He apologized by bowing deeply to Alvine.
"Don't worry about that, frankly, I still don't know if my decision is good or bad. But I sincerely hope that you will contribute in the future to guide me with your advice if I go astray one day." Alvine announced to him by ordering him to raise his head.
"This subordinate understands your words, my lord." He was surprised to see another face that Alvine hid under his arrogance throughout the meeting. It was a revelation that had increased Alvine's esteem for him without him knowing it.
"Well, if you have no other task to do, can you accompany us near the border? The more we are, the faster the task will be." He suggested with a respectful smile to the elder who was in front of him.
"Hohoho, if this old senile man can help with anything, do not hesitate to put him through challenges before he joins the underground world." He said following Alvine and Liliana who had a strange smile on her lips closely.
"Hehe, hear these words from an old man who can divide the mountains in two, even if I am not an oracle, I can say that the grandfather in question has many millennia ahead of him." Alvine continued his joke with Vandel along the way to the border.
But when he arrived there, he was faced with another challenge. The giant crater that stretched several hundred kilometers long and deep left him in perplexity. One thing is certain if he installs his traps here, it is not only the magic beasts that he will bury but the planet itself by breaking its core. He did not know the distance between the core and the surface, nor the ability to measure it; but one thing was certain for him, he did not want to bet on it. But the most worrying problem was that the battle will take place on these arid, bumpy, and rocky lands.
Not to mention the traps, he was not sure that the current terrain will succeed in surviving the impact between the two sides that will take place in just a few hours! The move back was not a valid option, since behind it is the vampire kingdom tens of kilometers away! How will he deal with this problem while installing his traps in an infinitely short time?!
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More chapters? As usual....