Chapter 385: The Rite of the Sunstrider

You high elves think you're all that, don't you?

You elves, with your aloof and dazzling demeanor, acting as if you're the best in the world, as if everyone owes you something, right?

I came all this way for Alleria's sake, only to be left eating dust at your border. Quite the pleasant experience, I must say.

Alright then.

You don't listen when I speak.

You don't understand when you listen.

You don't act when you understand.

And when you act, you don't do it well.

I send you reinforcements and you don't use them, instead wasting precious troops on futile efforts.

Are your Sun King and Silvermoon Council hell-bent on courting disaster?

As a traveler from another world, Duke didn't initially harbor such a strong dislike for the high elves. But after experiencing firsthand the elves' arrogant and overbearing temperament, Duke had one thing to say - I'm done serving you.

Now, Duke's simple "I don't have time" infuriated the elves on the spot. We finally deign to welcome you with the highest honors, and you say you don't have time?!

This time, even Prince Kael'thas' eyelids twitched a few times.

If this was a show of arrogance, Duke had undoubtedly gone too far.

But of course, Duke wasn't that foolish. His excuse was even more grandiose.

In the communication mirror, Duke looked regretful: "I'm sorry! I had planned to help you deal with the Horde Warchief's main force first, but it seems Quel'Thalas doesn't need assistance. King Menethil has urged me more than a dozen times to deal with the Horde's auxiliary force causing havoc near Darrowshire. So, I've redirected that army of thirty thousand."

After saying this, Duke even turned the mirror to show a battlefield filled with intense combat.

Well, it wasn't exactly intense combat. The elves noticed that the humans had already gained the upper hand, their soldiers systematically dividing, surrounding, and annihilating the Horde.

Considering Duke's position as the Alliance's Deputy Commander, prioritizing the Horde within the Alliance's territories was completely justified. Who told you high elves not to join the Alliance?

At this moment, all the council members regretted their decisions, casting countless resentful glances at Dar'khan, the Silvermoon council member who had once given the Alliance nations a hard time.

Everyone knew that Duke was setting the stage now.

Forcing the high elves to choose between face and substance.

In fact, there wasn't much to choose from.

Once you've lost your integrity once, it's easy to lose it again.

2800 years ago, the elves sought help from humans, having to teach magic in exchange for human support.

2800 years later, the elves were just losing their integrity once more.

Now that the Silvermoon Council had softened, the Sun King wouldn't exterminate them in the face of a great enemy and urgent need for manpower. Even if they were the worst political enemies, their strength as a ** division would still be useful when the enemy was at the gates.

The Sun King gave his son a look.

Kael'thas immediately stepped forward: "Duke, the high elves need your help. Could you please make a trip to Silvermoon City as soon as possible?"

As he said this, Kael'thas was looking at Alleria, who was standing at the end of the hall. In the eyes of this gentle and cultured prince, there was only a plea.

He was playing the emotional card.

If it were anyone else, Alleria would definitely ignore them.

But she couldn't ignore Kael'thas.

When Alleria had given Duke, who was Kael'thas's mage apprentice, a notebook that belonged to Kael'thas, and was sentenced to three months in prison, Kael'thas had pleaded for her. Otherwise, given the political influence of the Windrunner family, she would have been sentenced to at least a year, if not three years in prison.

Alleria's lips moved slightly, and a gentle breeze quietly drifted into Illyria's ear. Illyria immediately understood, she didn't do anything, just let the mirror shine towards Alleria.

Duke understood immediately.

"Alright, once I've dealt with the leader of this auxiliary force, I'll come over as soon as possible."

Indeed, as Duke spoke, the head of General Noggar, the leader of this Horde auxiliary force, was lying next to him.

In the original historical trajectory, if Noggar had been allowed to continue to grow, he might have become a famous Horde hero.

Unfortunately, he met Duke.

Upon learning that the extermination of Sindorei was over, Duke immediately left a small camp of less than 300 people outside the elven border. The main force turned around and joined forces with Simos's auxiliary force.

Kurdran Wildhammer was also quite interesting. Since the peak confrontation at the wine table, Kurdran personally brought a whole Gryphon Rider regiment.

The number of an air force regiment seems small, only a thousand riders.

However, considering the terrifying combat power of an adult gryphon, which can easily deal with twenty infantry without panting, a Gryphon Rider regiment is equivalent to a force of fifty thousand!

In addition, Kurdran also supported a 3000-man Wildhammer heavy infantry regiment.

This time, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Kurdran had emptied his reserves.

Flying in the sky, blocking on the ground, the destruction of this dwarf auxiliary force was only a matter of time.

Moreover, knowing how fierce Noggar was, Duke directly initiated a fight to kill this Horde hero-to-be. Gavinrad, Reginald, Kurdran, and Duke, four masters teamed up, no matter how fierce Noggar was, he could only die in frustration.

In fact, during the magical communication, Duke even cheated. The battle background the elves saw was actually a video recorded by Duke, and the sixty thousand army was already stationed outside the elven border.

Hearing Duke's promise, the elves finally let go of their hearts hanging in mid-air.

That night, the elves held a state banquet, with Illyria and... the Windrunner sisters as the guests of honor. If the Sun King's praise for Alleria and her sisters was within the normal range, the council's gifts were blatant bribery.

Four mansions in Farstrider Square, five large ocean-going merchant ships, a dozen epic quality longbows...

However, the more the council members smiled, the colder Alleria's heart became.

"Is this the high-level elf who controls the life and death of hundreds of thousands of elves?"

Compared to Illyria's appropriate responses, the Windrunner sisters were like four pieces of wood, purely accompanying.

Regardless, after some initial condition exchanges, Illyria finally promised to communicate with her master later. As expected, she received a positive response from Duke that he would arrive early the day after tomorrow.

June 18th, Year 2 of the Dark Portal, this is a very special day for the high elves.

With a hundred thousand ferocious Horde soldiers at their gates, Silvermoon City welcomed a human hero, Duke Marcus, with the highest honor, 'The Rite of the Sunstrider'.

In the over six thousand years since the founding of Silvermoon City, only two heroes have received such a grand honor. They were the first and second kings of the Sunstrider dynasty.

In the eyes of the supremely proud elves, the one who was expected to be the third to enjoy the honor of 'The Rite of the Sunstrider' should have been Prince Kael'thas, who all the elves had high hopes for.