Chapter 246. Eila's Suggestion. Battle's Conclusion.

Both battlefronts stabilized, and time passed quickly. One hour, two hours, eventually, three hours of siege went by. Everyone was exhausted and using their spells sparingly. 

In terms of fatalities, the numbers were in the tens of thousands. Moreover, all the Sylvans had already used their transformations, returning to their original forms. 

Eila was breathing heavily, her body heavily injured. Around her, the five serpents and Delia were similarly full of injuries created by her lightning. However, none of them had fallen, making Eila feel helpless. 

In the first place, the melee serpents were just too solid for her to one-hit-kill. Therefore, with the help of the healer at the back, she was unable to finish them off. Then, if she tried to go for the healer, the three spell casters would bombard her and heavily injure her.

Eila looked at her Aether Mana reserves and frowned.

***

Aether Mana Cores: 1.99/11.14 (1,114,386) 

Phoer Body Cores: 1,67/5.99 (599,674) 

Anima Energy Cores: 1,45/5.97 (597,442) 

***

'Less than 200,000 Aether Mana left…'

Her ternary essence reserves were all dangerously low, making even moving tedious. Thankfully, during this time, Folter managed to breach the city walls. However, Sirol City was resilient and, together with the sub-Level 20 people joining at a later moment, their advance was completely halted.

Eila dodged one of the melee serpents, jumping back, and then she quickly shifted to the right, avoiding the calculated fireball from hitting her. Changing her footwork, Eila weaved around, dodging the Ice and Water spells while also avoiding the other melee serpent from hitting her.

While she dodged most of it, the ice spell from the serpents had grazed her arm, leaving a frost patch. Eila checked her arm's mobility. 'Hm, slightly stiffer, but it shouldn't be a problem. However…' 

After dodging their barrage, she looked at them, blood smeared on her face. "We are not going to be successful. I'll retreat with my people. However, you must not hunt us down. If not, I'll battle until my last breath and destroy as many things as I can."

Hearing Eila's words, Delia frowned. "How can I trust that Folter and Lyra will retreat?"

Eila raised her eyebrow, her gaze chilly and arrogant. "Without me, they are nothing. Even now, they are barely holding an advantage. When I retreat and let you six free, they will collapse like a house of cards. If I say we retreat, they have no other choice but to listen."

Delia looked around her. She was exhausted beyond belief at the moment. Her body hurt everywhere as some muscles twitched without her consent due to the damage Eila's electric currents had created. 

To be honest, Delia wanted to accept Eila's offer. Still, she knew that Liu Shu's army of ants, Rose Fairies, Myconids, and Explorers were about to arrive as well. While their numbers were around 3,000, the actual combat effectiveness was much higher. After all, those 3,000 creatures were relatively fresh compared to them, who had been fighting nonstop for more than three hours.

Delia looked at Eila and asked. "You know that our reinforcements are about to arrive, right?"

Eila nodded. "I do. Elowen has probably been killed by now as well."

Delia's eyes flashed with surprise. Her gaze became deep while looking at Eila, and Eila returned her gaze. Both women stayed silent for several seconds as if they were exchanging information through their eyes. 

Eventually, Delia spoke. "Okay, retreat. I'll tell Taro about it, and we won't give chase."

Eila looked at Delia and smiled faintly. "Good." Without another word, she turned around, and then her voice boomed outward with an authoritative feeling that was hard to ignore. "RETREAT!"

The people who were part of Fortuna City's army didn't even hesitate and turned around, leaving their posts. Delia ordered right after, her voice similarly spreading all around the battlefield. "Don't give chase! Only kill those who keep fighting!"

Taro heard Delia's orders and frowned. 'We are about to reverse the situation with the reinforcements. Why is she giving this order?'

Meanwhile, Lyra, who was tired and covered in burns and cuts, shouted, her voice echoing. "EILA NEOFLORA! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"

Eila's voice, carried by the wind, reached them. "Enemy reinforcements! We lost!"

Lyra's heart dropped, and she gritted her teeth. Looking around, the number of people that had died in her sect was enough to cripple her sect's strength for a few years. Without this victory, whether she would be able to keep her position as the Sect Master was in question as well. Desperate, she looked around her, trying to find a way to reverse the situation. Sadly, nothing came to mind. 

While they had managed to breach through the chokepoint, advancing forward was impossible. The enemy's reinforcements, meaning Wert and the others, had managed to keep a tight lock on people trying to bypass the barricade. 

Lyra heard Folter shouting. "Lyra! Retreat! Eila's soldiers are retreating, and I will be overrun if I don't retreat as well! Once we retreat here, they will go after you!"

Lyra's calm face twisted, and she stomped on the ground.

BANG!

Frost spread around her. However, Taro raised his arm and looked at Lyra closely. He spoke. "You lost. Retreat."

Lyra looked at Taro and sneered. "The next time, it won't go the same way. Now I know your little dirty tricks!"

Taro didn't answer and just looked at Lyra, who turned around and shouted. "Retreat!"

Wert approached Taro quickly and spoke. "Lord Taro, Golden Sap City's reinforcements should be about to arrive. Why don't we give chase?"

Taro shook his head. "Delia said not to give chase. She should have her considerations." He sighed and relaxed his tense body, using his hand to sweep back his dirty hair. "This was much closer than I expected. I underestimate the power of a Level 29 of Lyra's level."

The assistant girl approached, doing little jumps to avoid all the rubble around. "City Lord, what do we do now?"

Taro commented. "Collect the battle spoils. Since they are retreating, all the enemy's armor is now ours. Other than that, throw the enemy corpses into the moat and prepare a burial for ours. We'll bury them under the trees so that they can become part of Sirol City forever."

The assistant nodded. "Okay!" Then, she said. "Oh, right. I'll catalog our battle spoils and give twenty-five percent to Lady Delia. Then… Another twenty-five percent will be used to pay the other powers. Of the last fifty percent, we take forty-five percent, and five percent will go to Golden Sap City. Am I right?"

Taro nodded. "That seems a fair assessment. What do you think, Wert?"

Wert nodded. "Our side only sent a few <Second Energy Cycles>. Five percent is fair."

Taro smiled and patted his shoulder. "That's great to hear." Then, he retreated and called the generals who were still alive to start organizing everything.

Wert looked at the surroundings, observing the corpses litered all over the place. Then, he looked at his system messages and saw several Experience earning messages.

He couldn't help but sigh at the duality of the situation. 'No wonder some countries are at a constant war. They have probably never really attempted to negotiate peace due to how lucrative it is.' Wert shook his head, not wanting to think of these things at this time. "Let's help! Ophion, you fly back with your other buddies and tell Liu Shu that she can unsummon you. The poor girl must be at her limits after keeping all of you up for so long."

Ophion nodded and flapped his giant wings, flying toward the Golden Sap Forest. The other serpents saw him and followed behind.

Delia waved her hand and smiled. "Thank you! It was an honor fighting by your side!"

The serpents flipped in the air and hissed, making Delia laugh. This small laugh helped her release much of her accumulated stress and calmed her down slightly.

With the serpents gone, everyone started working on the aftermath. Taro approached Delia and asked. "Explain."

Delia shook her head. "Eila was too strong. While we had her cornered, her strength was high enough to keep five of those serpents and myself occupied." Delia then added. "If we waited for the reinforcements, we don't know if she would've gone to the extremes. Some Sylvans can transform more than once, and I didn't want to take my chances with Eila."

Taro looked at Delia and hummed. "What else? That's dangerous, but you could've asked for reinforcements from our side. Lyra was dangerous, but we had enough leeway to send that big snake called Ophion to help you."

Delia crossed her arms and looked at Taro. "She also said a sentence that bothered me a lot."

Taro frowned. "What sentence?"

"Elowen has probably been killed by now as well." Delia repeated what Eila had said, word by word. When he heard it, Taro paused and looked at Delia for a few seconds. Then, he hummed. "I see…"

The assistant by the side, as curious as ever, asked. "What does that mean, City Lord? Do we have spies in our ranks? Or did she just guess due to Ophion's arrival?"

Taro shook his head. "Ophion's arrival was not known to the other side. He landed right on our side, so who was on Ophion's back is still a mystery to Folter and Eila." Taro then smiled. "As for spies… Well, having a completely clean government without a single spy is very difficult. I am sure there are one or two spies within our ranks. But that's not the reason Eila knew. She had been battling all this time; when did she have time to receive such a message?"

Taro rubbed his chin. "The only explanation is… She expected it."

The assistant blinked a few times, baffled. "Huh? She knew that her ally would die?"

Taro smiled. "Interesting. Things are not as they appear on the surface."

Ophion's group saw the Golden Sap City army not far from Sirol City, and they descended, hovering above them. Cinderielle looked upward with a puzzled face. "Ophion? What happened with the battle? Did we lose, did we win?"

Verdantia sighed. "How can he answer you if you ask him like that?" She looked up and asked. "Ophion, hiss if we won the battle!"

Ophion hissed in answer, making many inside the army feel elated. Tempestria commented. "Since we've won… Ophion, hiss if you want us to return to Golden Sap City!"

Hiss~.

They all looked at each other and nodded. Flor commented. "Okay, let's return then!"

Ophion's group landed around them, escorting them back just in case.

Nearby, a gorgeous Sylvan woman hummed. 'With those big snakes around, it might be a bit more difficult that anticipated. Tsk, tsk, this place's power level is increasing at a terrifying rate due to the new World Tree. Truly marvelous creatures.' 

She looked around and sighed. "Retreat. It seems that we need new leaders. We are already not enough." The Sylvan clicked her tongue. "It's a shame I blew my chance to entrap that World Tree and even lost my leverage due to it. I haven't taken such a big loss in a while."