novelThe Dark Elves' Choice
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Facing Rhode's response, Durelle was completely speechless.
She was mentally prepared. As a matter of fact, when she heard his request, she heaved an inward sigh of relief. Matriarchs were most afraid of not knowing what was going on inside the other negotiator's head. Even though the matriarchs correctly guessed that Rhode was surely plotting something with Carlesodar City, for safety's sake, if the other negotiator said: "I don't want anything. I just dislike dark elves like you", the matriarchs could only head home and weep helplessly.
But now, Durelle felt restless because Rhode mentioned his conditions so effortlessly. It would be within the dark elves' expectations if he overwhelmed them with one aggressive statement or spoke calmly to give them a chance to make decisions. But now, Rhode's tone of voice was entirely as though he were saying: "Since I'm here, it would be a waste if I didn't get my hands on something before heading back."
There was no need to guess the true meaning behind that intention and it left Durelle depressed because she couldn't figure out whether Rhode was joking or being serious.
No matter what, since Rhode gave them two choices, they could only choose one no matter how unwilling they were.
But the dark elves disliked both choices.
Rhode said he wanted 70 percent of Carlesodar's assets, which was a huge amount. Of course, the dark elves could take their time, but Rhode apparently wasn't amused. Durelle was also aware that Rhode wouldn't wait for them to hand over 70 percent of their assets, but would seize all of them instead, before returning the remaining 30 percent to them...
And they weren't sure if he would even return the 30 percent.
Therefore, this was entirely a joke. Maybe Rhode only spoke casually because the operability was truly too low and he couldn't possibly not understand it. Rather than waiting for the dark elves to hand out their assets, Rhode would rather annihilate them all and take his time to recover the assets, wouldn't he? At least, judging from the current situation, Rhode was capable of messing over all of Carlesodar City.
The reason why Rhode gave them two choices was entirely for cover. But everyone knew that it was apparent he intended to lay hands on Carlesodar City.
Durelle's guess was right. Rhode had indeed decided to do it. But she didn't know that he actually came up with this idea after the group of idiotic dark elves caused trouble for him. Before that, Rhode was honestly passing through the city...
But now, he changed his mind. As the saying went, 'one chose to visit hell instead of heaven with its doors open', since the dark elves were so eager, he wouldn't mind taking advantage of them. However, despite the sudden idea, he had given it some serious considerations.
The underground races had always been unique in the Dragon Soul Continent. There was only one reason for that. Even though underground races were also inhabitants of Order, they didn't live under the dragon soul protection. Rules were most stable on the continent and even in lands of Chaos, rules wouldn't be eroded by Chaos.
Judging from this fact, it could be seen that the land itself possessed unique rules of Order. Due to that reason, creatures living in the underground were considered another force of Order because the underground world they resided in wasn't influenced by the dragon soul protection.
Be it the dragon soul protection of the Void Dragon, Judgment Dragon, Trial Dragon, Dark Dragon, or Light Dragon, it didn't influence the underground world too much. This was also why the Dark Dragon had to head down to the underground back then. His dragon soul protection was powerful on the surface, but it was a pity that it wasn't useful in the underground. If not, he didn't need to show up personally to deal with the dark elves and could simply manipulate the dragon soul protection to wreak havoc in the underground to make the dark elves go extinct.
But the Dark Dragon couldn't achieve it. So he had to do it personally.
This was what the dark elves once relied upon because even though they were inhabitants of Order, they didn't need the dragon soul protection. One of the reasons why they continued to follow the Country of Darkness was that its 'cultural atmosphere' was similar to theirs. The other reason was that undead creatures were their natural enemies. If they were to break into a war, the dark elves would definitely be crushed, which was why they gave in and became a part of the Country of Darkness.
And now, Rhode had the same plan in mind.
Of course, it wasn't like Rhode had a strong desire for power and yearned to control the surface and underground world like the Dark Dragon. The problem for Rhode was that he knew that the Country of Darkness was in a complete mess right now, where he wasn't even sure of how much Ion was under the influence of Chaos.
But he was certain that Chaos definitely wouldn't let this large slice of the cake off. On the other hand, the dark elves had no experience in dealing with Chaos. Rather than letting them be annihilated and assimilated by Chaos to increase their strength, Rhode would rather add them to his force. That was why he made this decision. It went without saying that he understood the dark elves' personality inside out. Even if he were to flatten Carlesodar City, they wouldn't possibly be willing to follow him.
But Rhode naturally had his ways to manipulate them.
After hearing Rhode's suggestion, Durelle didn't answer immediately. She pondered for a few moments, lifted her head, and bowed respectfully to him.
"My apologies, Your Majesty the Void Dragon. This matter is of major importance. I think we will need some time to discuss."
"You guys only have half a day."
Rhode said, waving his hand and turning around to leave. While gazing at his back, Durelle knitted her brows tightly, but eventually closed her mouth and strolled into the shadow. Shortly after, her slender figure blended into the darkness like a drop of rain falling into a pond, vanishing entirely.
***
Noon.
When the matriarchs of the council received the news from Durelle, they fell into silence.
They didn't feel relieved after receiving reports from the front. It could be seen that Rhode had no intention of stopping his assault even though he was in the midst of negotiation with them. Angelina continued to expand her undead army and attempted to upgrade them to death knights. Shira didn't seem like she would be satisfied until the blood of corpses across the land flowed into a river. Meanwhile, Mini Bubble Gum was carrying on with her massacre. Judging from her aggression, perhaps the core district she was in would collapse like the other districts in just three hours.
Durelle passed on to the council the two choices that Rhode had raised. Of course, the matriarchs treated the first choice as a joke and were more focused on the second option. Dark elves were naturally cunning and had a strong desire for authority. That was why they quickly realized that the reason why Rhode gave such choices was that he needed their strength in some areas. Even though they didn't know the exact reason, they were sure that it was related to the surface. Because no matter how formidable Rhode was, he was still an inhabitant from the surface and wouldn't stay in the underground 24/7. On the other hand, dark elves were genuine underground creatures. If Rhode had any scheme against the underground, manipulating the dark elves would be a good direction to start in.
"Is this the only choice for us?"
But even so, the matriarchs were unconvinced. Even though it wasn't like they weren't used to submitting to a dragon soul heir, the Country of Darkness spoke the same language with the dark elves, after all. As for the Void Territory? Other than them being tens of thousands of miles apart, could Rhode successfully beat the Country of Darkness?
The dark elves were also aware of the situation on the surface. During this time, the alliance of the Void Territory and Munn Kingdom didn't seem to have any intention of pressing ahead. Even though the dark elves weren't aware of the battle progress, it was apparent that the alliance faced some difficulties. If they agreed to submit to Rhode and he failed to resist the Country of Darkness and retreated, wouldn't they be facing the wrath of the Dark Dragon? When that happened, wouldn't they all be dead?
The only difference now was whether they would die earlier or later...
Was there still a need for consideration?
"I think we should make our decision now."
Durelle spoke softly. She swept a glance at the other eight matriarchs and smiled in her mind. Just a few moments ago, she came up with a rather decent plan. If she succeeded, she could regain the status of the first family in Carlesodar City...
"Everyone. Our choices are limited, aren't they?"
"Of course."
At that moment, the dark elf clad in a black robe and sitting in the center of the table spoke. Upon hearing her voice, Durelle narrowed her eyes.
The first family; the biggest obstacle of her progression.
And now, what would the first family do?
Would they give up on their authority?
"We, the first family, have decided to accept His Majesty the Void Dragon's proposal."
At that moment, the dark elf announced her decision.
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