However, relations between elves and humans were far from friendly.
The primary point of contention lay in centuries of slave raids.
Countless beautiful elves had been abducted, becoming playthings for nobles and the wealthy.
Because of this, relations between the two races had frozen to a breaking point, even sparking several wars over the past hundred years.
Although these wars resulted in alternating victories and defeats, the elves ultimately had low birth rates and could not afford the casualties.
As more lords joined the slave raids and even goblins began risking everything to kidnap them, these beautiful creatures gradually vanished from public sight.
The last recorded sighting of an elf was five years ago.
“It seems I’ll have to find a way to bring this race under my command.”
Xia Jin was already making plans for the elves.
Even if these girls weren’t as beautiful as she was, they were still beauties, weren’t they?
She had heard that elves were exclusively female. She wondered how a single-gender species reproduced. Did they undergo fission?
She shook her head, let out a yawn, and returned to the carriage to prepare for sleep.
Ellie, having been woken up earlier, seemed a bit excited.
When Xia Jin climbed out of the carriage the next morning, she found that the young knight hadn't slept at all.
Connecting her consciousness to the swarm, she found that the main force had advanced fifteen kilometers away from the main hive.
Just ten minutes ago, several squads had encountered attacks from a large pack of leopards.
Based on her experience over the past few days, she suspected a magic beast lord was present.
Sure enough, before long, a pitch-black leopard appeared in her shared vision.
With a loud roar from the creature, countless leopards clashed with the insects.
In the vastness of the Border Forest, battles between magic beasts for territory were constant.
There were also complex relationships between different packs. Magic beasts were capable of forming alliances, though Xia Jin clearly couldn't feel the weight of that fact yet.
However, while fighting the leopards, her northeast flank was suddenly attacked by a wolf pack, giving her a rough idea of how things worked.
Over twenty squads, totaling two hundred zerglings, were being attacked by a beast horde several times their size.
If not for the Tier 4 hydralisks showing their worth and demonstrating powerful long-range suppression, this wave might have actually been wiped out.
Brain Bug No. 1 immediately concentrated the surrounding scouting zerglings, gathering a legion of a thousand insects to launch a large-scale offensive.
The monsters from both sides galloped and slaughtered one another across the earth. The air was filled with the roars of leopards and the shrieks of the swarm.
From the sky, it looked like an epic battle from a movie.
The elven race had also become aware of the situation.
Because of the events from the previous night, the beautiful young women had sent out a few powerful scouts to investigate the surroundings, leading them to witness the scene on the battlefield.
Countless frenzied beasts engaged in a display of extreme bloodshed, leaving the lead scout, Vigaya, stunned.
“Sister, is this a war between magic beasts?”
An elf beside her couldn't help but tremble.
“Yes. One side is the species we encountered last night.”
Only two had actually fought them the night before.
The elves had perfectly utilized their archery skills to kite and kill the two zerglings, yet their tenacity had still left Vigaya shaken.
And today, there were hundreds upon thousands of those same creatures waging war against the magic beast packs that had dominated this area for decades.
“That is the Leopard King’s pack. Thirty years ago, it drove out the overlord that had ruled this region for a century, seizing this land with incomparable ferocity. Over the years, its relationship with us elves has been ambiguous, but it has at least shown no interest in us. It even doesn't mind trading meat they need for our fruit,” an elf behind Vigaya explained softly, recounting the history.
“But today, it has met a challenger.”
The magic beasts that had suddenly appeared in the Glowing Forest last night.
After only one night, these creatures had used absolute strength to show their fangs to the elves’ neighbors.
“By the way, we killed two yesterday... we won't end up as enemies, will we?” Her sister’s face turned pale with fear.
“No, likely not. Magic beasts are different from humans; they should know they were the ones invading our territory. If we can talk it through, we might not necessarily be enemies.”
Despite her words, Vigaya sounded very uncertain.
They had originally thought the leopards were crazy enough, but seeing the meat-grinder of a battle in the distance, they realized there truly were even more vicious existences among the magic beast race.
...
After the conflict lasted for over ten minutes, the swarm actually became the side that retreated.
However, as they left, they took every single corpse they could carry.
It looked as though the alliance of leopards and grey wolves had secured a victory, but the two lords were not happy.
They stood at a vantage point overlooking the entire battlefield, knowing that the Zerg were the true winners in the end.
“We have encountered an unprecedented challenge.” The Wolf King turned to look at the Leopard King. “My brother was defeated. I came to avenge him, not simply to help you. But now there is no turning back. An enemy like this will one day threaten my position as well.”
“So you are willing to ally?” The Leopard King felt slightly relieved.
“No, just the two of us isn't enough. We need to find one more ally. Its magic beasts are skilled in magic and can help us counter the enemy.”
The Leopard King’s expression shifted slightly. “You mean the cat demons?”
“Don’t look at me like that. I know your relationship isn't good. But the situation we face now is extraordinary. If we cannot set aside our hostility and unite, its end will be the same as my brother’s.”
As the Wolf King finished speaking, his gaze fell on the distant forest.
The several elves immediately realized they had been discovered.
However, they hadn't intended to hide their presence anyway. After nodding to the two magic beasts, Vigaya led the scouting team away from the scene.
Rate on N.U.
