The Natural Empire of the Oceanic Dragon

Attilan was well aware of how difficult this decision was. Ordering a pursuit would inevitably result in heavy casualties for the Ranger Corps, but not pursuing would mean the captured Wood Elf civilians would be tortured to death.

Both sides were his comrades, and both were equally important. Vareesa was still young, and Attilan wondered if this painful decision would be the final straw that broke her spirit.

The total number of Dark Elves was fewer than the Wood Elves, but Vareesa was using a small force to fight against the entire underground city of Dark Elves. Because the underground city's system was quite cruel, the Dark Elves' attrition rate had always been relatively high.

Those who survived were elites proficient in combat and conspiracy. They had a strong desire to survive, but they could also risk their lives to fight at critical moments.

The entire underground city probably had only fifteen thousand Dark Elves. This time, the Spider Matriarch directly brought out more than six thousand troops to attack this Wood Elf city, which had only three thousand Ranger guards but ten thousand civilians.

On the other hand, because of the relatively peaceful environment, the Wood Elves' overall fighting will was not as strong as the Dark Elves'. Once it came to life-or-death situations, many Wood Elves would unconsciously panic and become flustered.

In a battle where they should be giving ten, it would be good if they could give half.

Not to mention those civilians with professional levels but no fighting will, even Vareesa's Rangers, faced with the overwhelming number of enemies outside the city and the Black Dragon's assistance.

Some recruits with less battle experience had weak legs.

The Fishmen and other humanoid races that the Black Dragon had gathered might not have professional abilities as good as the Wood Elf civilians, but they could fight desperately for a bite to eat.

That savage aura and the ferocity in their bloodshot eyes made most Wood Elf civilians no match for them.

It is said that being good at fighting is better than training well.

Attilan suddenly realized that his kingdom had similar problems. Perhaps the first generation of dependents he had gathered, who had experienced war, were fierce fighters and qualified soldiers.

But the second generation, who were still children, lacked combat experience and the quality of daring to risk their lives to fight. This quality was cultivated by the environment.

Tough environments produce elite soldiers; that's the principle.

In addition to environmental factors, the pain brought by war would also shape a group of qualified soldiers.

After this battle, the Wood Elves' casualties would be heavy, but the deaths of relatives and friends would stimulate the indignation and hatred in the hearts of the survivors.

The Wood Elves, who once hated fighting and liked to play with flowers and plants, should put down their hoes and pick up swords, bows, and arrows to fight the Dark Elves!

The emergence of this battle, in addition to the inextricable hatred between the Dark Elves and the Surface Elves, was also due to the Wood Elves' reproduction and increasing numbers in recent years.

The Wood Elves had occupied many original barren lands to the east, and the city they built was too close to the Dark Elves.

The Wood Elves didn't know to strike first, so naturally, they could only suffer.

Compared to hatred making soldiers better, Attilan would rather take slightly inferior soldiers to the battlefield, as long as they train more and fight in several battles with progressively increasing difficulty.

Elite soldiers would be trained.

For example, the Wood Elf Ranger Corps would definitely expand after this, and launch a war of revenge against the Dark Elves in the underground city. Attilan felt that he could let Fisher lead a semi-new team to cheer on the Wood Elves.

They could soak up the atmosphere of war without much damage, and it would also have the effect of training troops.

The Wood Elves were rich and powerful, so they wouldn't treat them badly.

At least Attilan believed that Vareesa could solve the military expenses after the troops were dispatched, even if the eastern region was devastated, Attilan believed that the Wood Elves' annual grain output was still higher than the land under his rule.

Attilan flew over the Ranger Corps, showering them with the rain of grace that healed pain, invigorating Vareesa, the Ranger Corps, and some civilians with bloodshot eyes.

Before being drenched by the rain of grace, Vareesa did have a bit of an impulsive idea to rush up and die together with the Dark Elves, but the cool rain cleared her mind.

In the end, she endured the heartache and made a decision that went against her conscience.

Continue to charge, but not so fiercely.

She couldn't hurt everyone's fighting spirit, but at the same time, she couldn't have too many casualties.

As for those captured compatriots, Vareesa could only say sorry.

It wasn't until the Dark Elves retreated into the Black Forest that Vareesa ordered them to stop.

"We can't chase anymore. We have already lost many comrades. I must ensure everyone returns home safely."

A civilian with bloodshot eyes rushed angrily in front of Vareesa.

"General, my family has already died after the city was broken. I don't care if I can live. I just want to kill a few more damned Dark Elves before I die!"

Vareesa stared at him righteously and sternly.

"Precisely because you are the only one still alive, you must live well with their share!"

Under Vareesa's firm gaze, the Wood Elf who had lost all his family still lowered his head, clutching the longbow in his hand.

"Yes, General."

Vareesa scanned the entire army.

"Everyone, believe me. After investigating the situation in the underground city, I will definitely gather all the warriors who are willing to go deep into the underground city with me to crusade against the Dark Elves and save our people!"

Attilan raised an eyebrow. Was this going to be 'Underground City and Warriors'?

After this battle, Attilan believed that not only this city, which was almost captured, and the villages along the way that had been persecuted by the Dark Elves, but also the Wood Elves who had heard of the tragedy of this city would join Vareesa's Ranger Corps.

The Mage King's allies were in trouble, but his unmoved behavior must have chilled everyone's hearts.

From the Dark Elves' invasion of the easternmost village, Vareesa had been skirmishing with the Dark Elves for more than a month. If the Mage King wanted to, his mage团 would have arrived long ago.

However, he did not send a single soldier, completely pushing his nominally still subordinate people to the Druid faction, making them the people of the Great Druid.

Attilan stroked his chin and suddenly had a bold idea.

Perhaps he could push Vareesa to become queen, splitting the Water Elf Kingdom into the Ocean Kingdom controlled by the Mage King in the coastal area, and the Forest Kingdom controlled by Vareesa inland.

Then the military operation to expedition the Dark Elves and save the people must succeed so that Vareesa could gain enough prestige to become queen.

But his support was not free.

Of course, it also depended on whether Vareesa needed it. It was impossible to do business by rushing, and he still had to wait for Vareesa to speak up herself.

Leading the tired elves back to this dilapidated city, Vareesa clenched her fists. She deeply blamed herself. Why couldn't she be stronger!

If her strength was strong enough, even if Grandma wasn't here, the Dark Elves wouldn't dare to invade on a large scale.

Even though she was very tired, Vareesa still found a relatively intact square to entertain Attilan and the Leopard Woman. Several granaries had been plundered, destroyed, and burned.

But the city still had enough food reserves.

Soon, exquisite Wood Elf delicacies were brought up by the chefs.

The portion of each dish was not large, but the taste was quite good, with a plant fragrance. Attilan's favorite was the Wood Elf brewed white wine, which had a completely different flavor.

The red wine brewed by the wine woman with purple grapes from the forest and the Wood Elf's white wine both had a natural atmosphere, but the two were still very different.

The wine brewed in the Bearman Forest had a natural wildness, while the Wood Elf's wine had an elegant elven atmosphere.

"In the past, white wine of this quality had to be stored and offered to the Mage King. Now we drink it ourselves. The Mage King is not worthy!"

Attilan's mouth curled into a smile. Drinking the wine offered to the Mage King seemed like a small matter, but it actually represented that Vareesa no longer had respect for the royal family in her heart.

Perhaps Vareesa herself was not clear that drinking the wine for the king actually meant taking on the responsibility of the king.

Only Vareesa, Attilan, and the Leopard Woman attended this banquet, but the fact that Vareesa drank the white wine offered to the Mage King quickly spread throughout the city.

A one-eyed elf tore at the roasted chicken in his hand.

"I said long ago that the Mage King is unreliable. You still said he would definitely send troops to support us. Tell me, where are his troops now?"

The elves eating together around him didn't speak. The one-eyed elf spat again.

"I'm afraid they haven't left the royal territory yet!"

A young elf angrily threw the chicken bones in his hand away.

"I don't understand. Are only those living in the coastal cities the Mage King's people? Every time those cities are attacked by Fishmen, the Mage King's direct troops always rush to the battlefield at the first moment."

"We wanted to join the battle, but we were stopped by the Royal Guard."

The one-eyed elf threw the chicken bones all over the ground.

"I heard from my grandfather that the Mage King's grandfather and the Great Druid created this country together. The Great Druid contributed even more, but the Mage King's grandfather became the king."

"The Great Druid left for the inland, leading everyone to build villages, towns, and cities in the inland. Because of the natural magic, the elves who followed the Great Druid had more descendants than the Mage King's side."

Another elf asked in surprise:

"Really? Don't listen to anything and say it out to fool everyone."

An elf who had been eating silently without speaking opened his mouth.

"My grandfather was a Druid, and he had five children with my grandmother. My second uncle later became a mage and studied arcane arts, which made his body very weak."

"Although my dad is not a Druid, he is a Ranger and has three children. My second uncle is not good. He has been married to my second aunt for a hundred years, and they still haven't had a child."

The one-eyed elf had a cold face.

"I heard that the number of people in the royal territory and those mage nobles' territories combined is less than forty thousand, while we have as many as sixty thousand, but because of the Mage King's restrictions."

"We're limited to a force of only five thousand. We spend our time making extra arrows and forging more blades. Even the Mage King restricts our iron supply. What's he afraid of?"

"And the General's parents, they were renowned rangers, incredibly powerful. How did they die so ambiguously in the campaigns against the dark elves and green dragons?"

The one who was complaining about his second uncle's incompetence suddenly widened his eyes.

"No way! I heard that in that battle, the Mage King lost an entire five-hundred-man mage团. Was the Mage King willing to pay such a high price to kill the old General?"

The one-eyed man snorted and said:

"Why not? Although my dad didn't participate in that battle, he heard that the bodies of the mages were riddled with arrow holes, and the old General was killed by magic."

The calm elf narrowed his eyes and said softly:

"Those arrow holes could also have been made by dark elves. Dark elves also use magic. Don't speak carelessly, or the General will punish you under military law."

The one-eyed man continued to snort, disregarding the warning.

"I insist on speaking! My dad said that the old General was killed by arcane magic, and the arrow holes on the dead mages were caused by the General's family's secret Wind Wolf Fang Arrows. So, the Mage King must have colluded with the dark elves to kill the old General back then."

"Just like this time, the Mage King is planning to harm the General. Have you forgotten? Last time in the Great Desert, when we were snatching that treasure, something that had nothing to do with us."

"The Mage King said it would affect the stability of the kingdom, and ordered the General to lead troops to investigate. As a result, he only allowed the General to take so few people, and the mage团 he sent was less than half-strength, and they were all inexperienced recruits."

"What do you think he was trying to do?"

Atilan's ears were more sensitive, and he heard all the veterans' conversations.

It seemed that not only Vareesa, but these rangers also harbored a lot of resentment towards the Mage King. If Vareesa raised her arms and called for action, even if they didn't chop off the Mage King's dog head,

They could at least create a situation of north-south division.

Atilan rolled his eyes.

"Vareesa, when will your grandmother successfully break through to become a legendary druid?"

Vareesa shook her head.

"Grandma has tried several times before, but none of them were successful. She said that she couldn't seem to draw enough pure natural power from the realm of the God of Nature."

"She can only collect treasures and hold summoning ceremonies again and again, while honing herself, to increase the amount and purity of magic in her body as much as possible."

"Grandma said that legendary druids who break through entirely by their own power are stronger in combat, and can take on two or three of those who rely on divine power to break through."

"However, that kind of druid's method of breaking through to become a legend is very different from that of druids who believe in gods. They revere the more ethereal spirits of nature."

"She admires such people, but she said it's best not to get too involved with them, or it will lead to bad luck."

Hmm? Did your grandmother say something like that? Then why are she and Bloodstained, La'lune and his wife friends?

Asking Vareesa about this will definitely not yield any results. I'll wait until the Great Druid comes out, and Atilan will meet her in person before talking about it.

"What are your plans now? Even if the Dwarf King is willing to provide you with weapons and allow you to equip more rangers, relying on the existing city system, can the rangers and druids under your command withstand the Mage King's mage团 and guard units?"

Vareesa frowned, and for the first time, she seriously began to consider this question.

"It's difficult, it's very difficult for us to win, but I have the confidence to fight the Mage King to a mutually destructive end."

The leopard girl waved her arms and shouted.

"It's good enough to fight to a mutually destructive end. Treacherous and cunning guys like the Mage King and Atilan definitely don't want to end up mutually destructive with you!"

Vareesa chuckled, while Atilan's face darkened.

"In your heart, am I the same kind of despicable villain as the Mage King?"

The leopard girl shook her head and said as a matter of course:

"Of course not, you're even more despicable than the Mage King. Vareesa, don't be fooled by Atilan."

Vareesa waved her hand casually.

"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid, and I also believe that Atilan isn't that kind of despicable villain."

Atilan nodded. His vision was much greater than the Mage King's. Only petty, incompetent monarchs would worry about not being able to control their subordinates.

Afraid that their subordinates' power was too strong, they would constantly think about how to weaken them.

Instead of thinking about how to weaken Vareesa's ranger force, the Mage King should try to break through to become a legendary mage. If he were a legendary mage, or even just a level 20 mage,

He wouldn't need to worry about the druids' rebellion at all.

The problem is that his hard power is not enough, his personal ability is not outstanding, compared to Vareesa, a young woman who is already a level 10+ ranger at just over a hundred years old.

He's afraid!

"I heard some of your soldiers discussing, and I'll take the liberty to ask, when did the Mage King start suppressing you?"

Vareesa shook her head.

"I'm not too sure, but I heard my grandmother say that the Mage King's father and my father allowed the two groups that were about to split to become a kingdom again."

"However, with their successive deaths, after the Mage King took the throne, he began to consciously target us."

Atilan narrowed his eyes. Not only did Vareesa's parents die, but the Mage King's father also died. Atilan seriously suspected that the death of the previous Mage King was greatly related to the Mage King's targeting of the ranger force.

"Taking the liberty to ask again, who died first?"

"My parents."

If Vareesa's parents died first, then there would be many mysteries, and it would be difficult for an outsider like him to figure it out. The Great Druid must have her spies.

Since she hasn't fallen out with the Mage King, it's likely that the Mage King didn't do it.

"Do you think there's something wrong with this? Is it what they said, that my parents were killed by the Mage King?"

"Don't listen to their nonsense. That war involved us wood elves, the dark elves of the underground city, and the arcane elves of the high tower kingdom. The key to that war was a green dragon."

"The secrets of it, Grandma hasn't fully told me, but it was a battle that could change the situation in the southeast of the continent."

This was the first time Atilan had heard that to the east of the water elf kingdom, besides the dark elves, there was actually an arcane kingdom established by high elves.

"Do you have a map?"

"Yes."

The map of the water elf kingdom, or rather the map that Vareesa had, basically only involved some of the forces in the south of this continent.

From the wild boar kingdom in the far west, to the werewolf united tribe, the centaur united tribe, the water elf kingdom, to the dark elf underground city, Dragon Valley, and the high elf kingdom.

The wood elves, dark elves, and high elves, the three kingdoms, formed a triangle, and in the middle was Dragon Valley, where the green dragon used to live.

Although there were no longer any green dragons in Dragon Valley, there were still many dragon-type magical beasts living there. It was a very dangerous and not very valuable area.

"I heard that to the east of the arcane kingdom is a gnome kingdom, but I haven't been there, so I haven't drawn it on the map."

The leopard girl widened her eyes and slammed the table fiercely.

"The Mage King is so hateful, he doesn't even give you a copy of the map?"

"Although I really want to inherit my father's wish and make the water elf kingdom a whole, the Mage King is too much!"

"This time, I must fight him to the end! Atilan, can your army be mobilized to support us?"

Atilan said lightly:

"In principle, I don't want to intervene in the internal disputes of other countries. This kind of battle is difficult to fight. My subordinates are some mindless barbarians. They won't consider the long-term issues."

Vareesa nodded and said:

"It's okay, in that case, please help us continue to keep an eye on the tribes in the west and resist their looting armies. We will continue to pay according to the previous amount of food."

"And the dark elves in the east, I know that withstanding the dark elves is much more difficult than the backward werewolves and centaurs, but I am willing to pay double the food."

Atilan said with a smile:

"No problem, as long as they can eat their fill, those guys are willing to give their lives. Actually, I didn't finish what I wanted to say just now. It's not impossible to participate in the war with the Mage King."

"But this matter is difficult and requires more resources to satisfy their appetites. I think you understand what I mean. To fight the Mage King, you have to add money!"

Vareesa calculated the annual grain output of the land under her rule.

"I'll give double for fighting the dark elves, and four times for fighting the Mage King. I'll be responsible for wartime rations and wound medicine, how about that?"

"Deal!"

For mobilizing one minotaur or centaur, Vareesa needs to pay Atilan twenty pounds of food a day, fifteen pounds for fishmen, lizardmen, snakemen, and werewolves, and five pounds for kobolds.

Kobolds are also useful. Atilan is not a dragon who doesn't pay attention to details. The kobolds he sends out are responsible for logistics and civil engineering, which is much better than the elves.

Receiving five pounds of food, Atilan still felt that he was losing money.

This refers to the extra food paid. Rations must be provided to everyone participating in the war three times a day to ensure that they are full.

Atilan had a premonition that in this battle, the grain produced under Vareesa's rule would probably be given to him for several consecutive years, except for the elves' rations.

The annual grain output of the land under Vareesa's rule is more than 300 million pounds.

Even the grain output for three years is enough for Atilan to recruit the number of people in the kingdom to over 100,000.

Atilan was already thinking about how to make her and the Mage King's battle last for two more years so that he could make more money.

In the past, he always felt that some high officials didn't understand war, but they had to interfere, making a battle that could have been won quickly turn into a protracted war that couldn't be won in a few years.

Now Atilan has become this kind of disgusting person, and he suddenly has a deep understanding of the word 'nurturing bandits to protect oneself'.