55 Elf

The City of Platinum which had a rich history… in this instant it was no longer as prosperous it used to be.

The far spreading inferno crept across the streets full of history, swallowing everything it set its sight on. In the eyes of the destroyers who had lost their sanity, the preciousness of these scars of history wasn't worth a second look.

In the sky, an army of Dragons and Demons were fighting. The eyes of the white-winged angels went red from all of the slaughter. Just like butchers, they were killing off the 'evil' they saw in front of them, even if they were still ordinary peasants the moment before.

"They're dead! They're all dead!!"

"The High Priestess Kajah has been assassinated! The Dark Elves have all gone mad! They're killing everyone in sight!"

"Why're there Gold Dragons and Angels in the Underground World? Are the Order Gods getting rid of us? Or is the army from the Surface invading us?"

"The Beastman army has entered the city, they've started fighting with the Dark Elves!"

There was not a trace of the peaceful Vance of yesterday. Countless beacons of war had been ignited and the thousand-year old ancient city was on the brink of destruction.

To tell the whole story, I should start from the auction which was bound to end in war.

Four in the morning, the auction which was supposed to be conducted in the Platinum Chapel had changed its location at the last moment.

No other reason, the Chapel which had a capacity of 10000 people was too small for the number of people attending the auction this time. Due to the condition I listed in my contract that 'everyone was allowed to attend the auction', before 3 in the morning, the Chapel where the auction was supposed to held at 12 was already overcrowded. Thus, there was no choice but to change the location of the auction.

Considering that the new location for the auction should be wide enough to fit all the participants, they chose the location which the auction house normally used. There was a large basin there the edges couldn't be seen from the center, it was definitely wide enough.

It was impossible for the auction to end peacefully. Since the Alliance Conference had ended, the restrictive rule of not allowing fights to occur in the period of the Conference had been annulled. Vance was a neutral zone that restricted fighting? I'm sorry, but if it wasn't for the balance in power and that the powerful factions were wary of each other, this city was just another natural location which others would fight for.

In reality, everyone knew that no matter who managed to win the auction for the God Equipment, it would be snatched on the spot. Without power and influence that was able to suppress everyone else, the winners would definitely be unable to take it away.

However, humans were born greedy and everyone still believed in luck somehow.

"Aren't all the novels about those legendary knights written in such a way? Perhaps, during the fight for the God Equipment, it might just fall in front of me. Afterwards, I might be able to decipher its secret and not long after, ascend as the next Undead Emperor of Xiluo Empire, marry a beautiful and rich wife and walk to the pinnacle of life. Just the thought of it mkes one agitated." This kind of thought was whirling around everyone's mind. Those were quite a few who, thinking they were strong enough and blessed with good luck, couldn't resist the temptation of trying their luck to earn a bargain on the spot.

It was said that when the auction began that day, the entire 'field' had been blocked to not even allow water to pass through. The few items in front may all be rare treasures, but no one paid them any heed. In fact, under the threatening gaze of tens of thousands of experts, no one dared to bid for them, causing them to be passed immediately.

Why did I say that 'it was said'? Stepping into a hole that I dug myself would seriously be foolish. Not only did I not go, I even strictly ordered all of my subordinates to not go to the auction. At the same time, I heightened the wariness around the base and activated everything that could improve our defences. Everyone was equipped in their armor, ready for battle at anytime.

Why? Was I overthinking too much? Actually, it wasn't excessive at all. Under normal circumstances, there should be only one owner in each city. Only this way would the citizens and army know where they belonged to. However, in this city, there were at least 4 cores.

It might be a multiracial city but contrary to Sulfur Mountain City, the different races weren't governed under the same laws and governance to promote mutual trust and co-existence. In this city, Dark Elves were Dark Elves, Beastmen were Beastmen and Humans were Humans. Their habits and even the districts they lived in were totally different. Naturally, the Autarchs governed their own districts. If one were to walk to other district at night and they were killed or robbed, in the eyes of others, this was perfectly natural, the victim deserved it.

"This isn't right, isn't right at all." This excessive segregation made the idea of a multiracial society pointless. On the contrary, due to the rumours that were blown out of proportion that promoted discrimination and misunderstanding, the fracture between different races just kept getting deeper.

When I first arrived at this city, I realized that there was something amiss with the situation. A legendary ancient city with ten thousand years of history may sound amazing, but if they had lived separated like that with friction constantly occurring among different groups, wouldn't that also mean an accumulation of ten thousand years of resentment?

The countless infighting incidents and even destructions of this city throughout history had ascertained my guesses. The structure of this city had doomed it into a cycle of 'accumulating resentment', 'venting of resentment' and 'rebuild'. Right now, when all 4 Autarchs were gathered here, the debate and even fighting over the interests of their races in the Alliance had caused sufficient resentment to build up. What was left was just an igniter.

And I just had to deliver the Eternal Night Scepter at such a moment.

Alright, I admit that it was a suicidal move, but there would have been such circumstances under the image of a beautiful and harmonious city.

If the Scepter was the reason for the fighting, then, when the 'Observer' agents who brought back the igniter, the reason for the war, after the war finally broke out, I felt even more helpless.

"Just after the auction was concluded, the fool that paid 10000 gold coin was split into 13 pieces and everyone broke out in a fight. At that moment, a Fire Angel threw his sword, but it was deflected by a Tauren Master Smith. The Blazing God Sword ended up being rebounded towards a Dark Elf Matriarch, frightening her? "

"I assume the Matriarch died? But that shouldn't be enough for the situation to escalate to such a level that they would go all out in a war? Isn't Kajah overdoing it?"

"No, the one who died wasn't Luciana Syfan from Morsblight City. She immediately tried to pull a person beside her to serve as a barrier to block the next attack. Back then, it was completely chaotic and the Matriarchs were all Priestess who had slow reaction. In the end, she really succeeded."

"Pu1, which fellow was so unlucky?"

"High Priestess Kajah. Her heart was pierced directly, she died to the point she couldn't be more dead. She returned to Lorci's embrace in an instant."

If I were to take off my mask now, it would definitely be a weird expression. The Supreme Leader of the Dark Elves in name, Lorci's secret child, died just like that? In such a ridiculous manner?

"Impossible, I had already warned her not to go to the location…" My shocked muttering stopped halfway. I did warn my 'allies' that there would be danger there. But if they had to listened to my advice, that would have been unbelievable as well.

"How did this happen? Was her luck really that bad? Was she destined to die as a foot soldier?"

My muttering to myself was treated as a question by the Elf spy in front of me. She nodded her head.

"Lord, in order to ensure her safety in the chaos, Kajah brought out the SemiGod weapon that Lorci passed down, the Nine Serpent Spear. However, the God of Misfortune never turns the other way just because of a person's social standing. The powerful High Priestess has actually met with such misfortune. Afterward, there were people who recognized that spear and quite a few people started to fight over it. There're a lot who died because of it as well."

I was dumbfounded. This was simply too effective.

I expected that there would be chaos, but Kajah's sudden death caused the chaos to plunge into a large-scale war.

The sudden death of an Underground Autarch, especially the secret child of Lorci who the Dark Elves worshipped. Following the traditions of the Dark Elves and Lorci's past history, if there weren't sufficient blood tributes, Lorci's rage would hit everyone and the Dark Elf Matriarchs didn't have the kindness in them to wait for God's Punishment just not to sacrifice innocent people.

Thinking about this, I shivered. The Dark Elves were one of the main races of the Underground World. There was at least a few hundred thousand in Vance. What if all of them were to got mad at once? Probably after the catastrophe, there wasn't even a need for Vance to be rebuilt.

"Lord?"

"Un? Is there something else?"

"It's like this. Luciana Syfan had caused Kajah's death, so Lorci sent a curse to change all Syfan Priestesses into spiders. The First Family of Morsblight City was wavering, empty on both inside and on the surface… "

"You are referring to Victoria, Victora.Syfan?"

At this moment, Elisa walks out from my back.

"Yes, Master. Victoria has sent me a request. Right now, she's probably the only Lorci Priestess in the Syfan Family in Morsblight that is still in Elf-form. Following the traditions of the Dark Elves and the rules of Lorci, she should be able to be promoted to a Matriarch straight. Thus, Victoria hopes to gain Sulfur Mountain City's support in helping her gain control of Morsblight City. Of course, she made a lot of promises in exchange and these promises are quite attractive. What do you think, master?

Based on what Elisa said, as long as we were willing to send a fixed amount of fighting power to support her, then we would be able to obtain a city that was close to Sulfur Mountain City. I had no reasons to reject her request, but instead, I fell into deep thoughts. I was really starting to hesitate.

What made me hesitate wasn't the matter in front of me.

"Kajah is dead and Victoria is starting to ascend up the ranks. Is this the trace of 'history'? Does this mean the rise of the Dark Elf Queen is unpreventable? This should be the supposed flow of history? It couldn't be that the wings of the butterfly are going to be corrected by history yet again? Are my efforts destined to end in vain?

If everything returned to its starting point, then what was the use of my plans? In an instant, a sense of weariness started to arise from the depths of my soul, making one feel despair, not wanting to do anything at all.

"Lord?"

But, a warm and caring voice brought back my sanity.

It was rare for Elisa to show such a worried expression. After being together for so long, it was her first time seeing her overly energetic master showing such a tired look.

"That was dangerous, too dangerous. Undead depend on their lingering will to remain in this world. My greatest desire is to change that darned fate. That kind of state was really too dangerous. It would be ridiculous if I end up going to heaven just like that." I shook my head and dispelled my other thoughts. I knew that I accidentally pushed myself into a corner again.

"I was just overthinking it. History has already been changed. No matter what, Victoria has started late and her personality is much milder then how it was in 'history'. That personality will determine her future fate. She's destined to be different from the Victoria in 'history'. Furthermore, even with my support, it's impossible for her to gain control of the entire Dark Elf Tribe within 10 years. Maybe, it's just that Victoria was fated to not live an ordinary life. If so, then having an Elf Matriarch that is close to Sulfur Mountain City and perhaps, a Dark Elf Queen who would make peace with the surface, no matter how I look at it, it's a good thing."

Thus, I nodded my head in agreement.

"Accept her request. Send a few people to take over the remaining power of the Syfan Matriarch. Try your best to take over, but retreat immediately if you all meet with danger. After this incident, send a group to help her gain authority in Morsblight City. Right, give this note to her."

Thus, I quickly wrote a letter and passed it to Elisa.

It wasn't some incredible plan within a pouch but a double insurance against a certain someone.

'Actually, there is somethings which isn't easy to say and not up to me to say. But, if I don't say it, I'll be really worried about your future. You were turned into a female due to God's Punishment. As a Priestess, you should know that a God's Punishment represents the will of the God. If the offender were to dispel the punishment, then that would be like slapping the face of the true God. You should know that Lorci was never a forgiving Goddess. There's no benefit in saying more, so take care.'

Everyone knew how much Victoria wanted the Belt of Edwina. Even if Victoria seemed like a nice person, but the horrid reputation of Dark Elves and Lorci's Priestesses made them wary of her, even if she was still underage.

So, for the sake of Krose's safety, I better prepare insurance. This way, for fear of enraging a true God, Victoria should try to suppress the desire in her heart.

Of course, things were never so coincidental that everything I wanted would come true. The message on the note may be all true but when putting all of it together, it made a big lie.

God's Punishment was indeed related to the reputation of a true God. If you were to dispel a God's Punishment of a God punishing an evil sinner, you might just end up getting struck by lightning the next moment. However, Lorci's situation was quite unique. Other true Gods were careful with their God's Punishment, for fear it might hurt the innocent.

However, Lorci often showcased her might in Dark Elf Cities and there were multiple times when she sent an incarnation down. She also imposed God's Punishment quite frequently that it was just like a thunderstorm in summer. It came randomly and after the rain there would be sunshine. When everything went back to normal, a person receiving God's Punishment could no longer be considered news.

Given Lorci's 'busy' schedule in leaving her traces, she might have long forgotten how many people she had punished. Personally, I think that even if the God's Punishment were to be dispelled, she might not even notice. Un, so saying that dispelling God's Punishment would bring about her anger was technically true, Lorci not being a forgiving Goddess was also the truth. It was just that I forgot to add in a line saying that 'The situation with Lorci is unique', so it turned into a big fat lie. This was a linguistic technique that I learnt from those scammers in the underground prison.

I don't think that Victoria could be able to see past my lies. For a Priestess, the will of the God was just like the sky. It may seem not far away, being able to see it just by looking up. However, it was something that couldn't be approached. She knew the significance of the God's Punishment and what would happen if it was dispelled. There was not a single book of the teachings of a true God that would teach you how to dispel God's Punishment or what you would meet with after dispelling it. After all, it would be blasphemy.

Fine, I was also doing it for her own good. For her who was intending to return to the Dark Elves to spend 'his' days, it was definitely a good thing. After all, male Dark Elves were no different from slaves in their society.

Hey, in order for them not to end up killing each other, for there to be a good ending, it had been tough on me, their superior. I think I should present myself with a plaque —'The #1 Good Boss Who Moved Sulfur Mountain City".

Just awhile after Elisa's departure, a voice of a delighted female and the depressed sigh of males could be heard from the windows. After that, I took the chance to fix the content of the lecture next week — Discussing the importance of normal sexual orientation to the development of the society.

When the world outside was plunged into chaos, I was busy on my office desk. Countless reports passed through Elisa, waiting for me to make the final judgement.

"The Dark Elves who had lost the daughter of Lorci have gone mad. They're urgently trying to obtain more souls and fresh blood so that they can avoid God's Punishment, so it's impossible for them to keep true to our alliance. Also, the Dragon Queen and Lion King who had been savagely attacked by us won't let us get away scot-free. The chaos will soon spread throughout the entire city so get everyone to prepare. For the sake of our position as an Autarch for the next decade, not only must we win this war, we must do it beautifully."

When I finally made my judgement on the oncoming war, I nodded my head towards the 'secret weapons' in the room, so that they could prepare themselves.

Just when I was about to get prepared myself, I suddenly recalled a treasure that I had neglected before.

"Right, what about Kajah's corpse?"

Yes, that treasure was Kajah's corpse. To a Necromancer, the corpse of an expert was an excellent material. Furthermore, the physical body of Kajah, the daughter of Lorci, which had the blood of a true God flowing through her, made it a treasure among treasures. If I could obtain this Half-God body (different from the SemiGod realm), I had the confidence of creating an Undead Lord that wouldn't lose to any of the other Seven Deadly Sins.

However, the 'Observer' spy shook her head.

"The corpse has disappeared. The Dark Elves are searching frantically, but there are totally no traces of it. It's as though the corpse had walked out by itself."

"A corpse can walk? Bullshit! Wait… It could be possible."

Wasn't what I wanted to do now making a corpse move by itself? There was more than one Undead Lord in Vance. If it was one of the other lower ranked Undead Senators, they would only waste this hard-to-come-by Half-God body. However, there was an Undead Senator who hadn't appeared recently. Furthermore, she had been wanting to attain a perfect physical body of an Elf.

The 3rd Senator, Queen of Banshees Harloys. This was going to be troublesome.

The placing of the Undead Senators was dependent on their strength. However, the top 3 were on a whole new level compared to the others. There were even people who whispered that the rest were just there to fill up the numbers, so that the first 3 wouldn't be so striking.

Among Emperor Yongye's subordinates, Gria was able to rise to the position of the 4th Senator, but it was impossible for her to advance any further. That was because those above her in the rankings were 'colleagues', their relationship with the Emperor was a 'partnership' rather than subordinates. Just this point itself was enough to prove how extraordinary these 3 Undead Lords were. Also, from their history, they were all seniors of the Emperor.

Of them, the 3rd Senator Queen of Banshees Harloys had once been the princess of an ancient Elf Kingdom. It was not from one of the Elf Kingdoms that were currently fractured into small countries by their descendants but one during the Era of Elves, the ruler of the Supreme Kingdom that had ruled over 70% of the continent by itself. She was also known as 'The Omniscient One', a praise directed towards her vast understanding in the field of magic.

Also, the only reason why she was ranked 3rd was because the physical body she was using before was destroyed in the previous Undead Calamity and she wasn't willing to find an ordinary body to replace it, so she could only make do with being #3. If she were to really get hold of Kajah's body, the rankings would probably have to be reshuffled.

"Yes, half a month ago, there were quite a few people who remarked that they had heard the epic ballad by the Ancient Elves, 'The Sunset of the Gods', but they couldn't find the singer. That was her trademark, so people started guessing that the Queen of Banshees was here. That's why I said that despite 6 Undead Senators having arrived, only 5 had appeared."

"Yeah, if it was her then it would really be troublesome. She's not easy to deal with." My mumblings were acknowledged by the Elf 'Observer' in front of me.

"Yeah, she was indeed known to be smart, wise, strong, charismatic…"

"Wait! How did you know the song was called 'Sunset of the Gods', that should be the language of Ancient Elf? There aren't more than a handful in the entire Eich continent that should understand it!!"

My query made the Elf spy in front of me smile. She slowly took off the mask on her face.

It was a very familiar face, so familiar that I just seen it two days ago…

The white skin of the High Elves started turning black and the red hair started changing into a silver-white colour unique to Dark Elves. The face that belonged to Kajah seemed even more mature and confident than previously. The slightly raised eyebrows on her face gave a feeling of Elf arrogance and pride, just like a Queen who was born with everything, the right to look down on everything else on birth.

"Yo, long time no see, little Yongye. How have you been?"

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There are Order Dragons and Chaos Dragon

The Chaos Dragons are the Elemental Dragon while the Order Dragons are the Metal Dragons. Currently, they don't really belong to any faction due to a peace pact.

The Senators ranking are determined by their strength. The top 3 are so strong that Emperor Yongye can only be of equal standing to them (as comrades) rather than subordinate