Chapter 240: Ode to Joy

The system fairy's annoying voice chimed in again: "Detected hidden hostility towards you under Alleria Windrunner's fake smile. Do you need to load the boss template? Threat level estimation... The threat level is quite chaotic, but it is strongly recommended that you surrender immediately..."

Surrender my ass!

Why bother thinking about it? The look in her eyes translated to: "Kid, I don't like the look of you, so you better appease me quickly or you'll suffer later."

Duke didn't know what had happened to Alleria, but he knew that everything had a cause and effect. If it was just because of their friendly encounter back then, Alleria shouldn't have dug up the entire Windrunner family's history.

On the other hand, although his contact with Alleria was brief, Duke was sure that something must have happened to upset her; otherwise, she wouldn't care about his attempts to please Princess Calia.

After all, Alleria was known to be mature and stable among the three Windrunner sisters, not the kind of woman who would be unreasonable or throw tantrums.

Calling herself an "old woman"... If Alleria were a warrior, this would be like being in full rage mode!

Duke shuddered at the thought!

Then Duke had an epiphany!

Wasn't it just about putting on an even bigger show?

Wasn't it just about pleasing a goddess?

Duke slowly turned his head and glanced at Turalyon. For some reason, he felt that the holy light slowly seeping from Turalyon's head was green. Yes, it must be the brilliance of 'protection.'

Duke smiled, and with his right hand, he drew a beautiful arc in the air, finally resting his fingertips on his left shoulder.

"Dear Alleria, for your beauty, please allow Duke's orchestra to perform an 'Ode to Joy'!"

Ode to Joy?

It sounded like the title of a song.

A hymn?

Or something else?

But singing here? A cappella?

And what did Duke's orchestra mean?

Not only was Alleria curious, but the Alliance leaders were as well.

Regardless, Alleria was determined: Since Duke had been pushed this far, she would see what tricks he had up his sleeve. As long as Duke's performance was worse than the magical ice-fire rose, she wouldn't accept it, and Duke would have a hard time later.

Alleria supported her right cheek with her left hand and rested her right elbow on her left palm, looking like she was waiting for a good show.

Both arcane and frost magic circuits activated on Duke's body simultaneously.

A purple-blue mysterious magic circle appeared beneath Duke's feet, taming the surrounding elements after a sudden tremor in the air. They became a part of Duke's body, obediently following his commands.

Under the noon sun, at the shallow water area on both sides of the pier where Duke and his group were standing, translucent ice pillars as thick as arms suddenly rose, with the tallest one reaching over ten meters.

Calling them pillars might not be accurate; these hollow ice tubes were more delicate than glass tubes carved by artisans. Not only were they thick, but they were also crystal clear, much more transparent than most glass in this era.

The sudden appearance of so many tubes on the beach beside the pier attracted not only the attention of the high elves in line but also the astonishment of all the human guards on the pier.

What was this?

Neither the kings nor the generals, nor even the elves who had lived for countless years and considered themselves knowledgeable, could figure out what this was.

Percussion? An organ?

But it didn't seem quite right.

Duke flashed Alleria a confident smile, raised his left hand with a flourish, and snapped his fingers.

Twenty-eight Mage Hands appeared in two columns beside the ice tubes, poised like musicians preparing to play their instruments. Each pair of Mage Hands, emitting a soft white light, assumed a relaxed posture similar to that of a conductor.

The performance began at the next moment.

With a "clang," a row of Mage Hands touched the third tube on the left, causing it to soar into the air and shatter into countless ice crystals like an exploding silver bottle. The ice crystals, made from seawater, burst into a dazzling display under the sunlight, reminiscent of fireworks.

Alleria's sensual long ears twitched as she seemed to hear a sound - "mi"!?

She thought it might be an auditory hallucination, but as more Mage Hands plucked the tubes like strings and caused them to explode in midair, not only did a rainbow of ice crystal dust form in the sky, but she also heard a complete melody...

"Mi, mi, fa, sol, sol, fa, mi..."

This melody transcended time and space, piercing through civilizations and worlds.

Beethoven's classic piece "Ode to Joy" unfolded magically in Duke's hands, conveying its exuberance, excitement, and ecstasy to everyone present.

Most human soldiers only instinctively found the rhythm enjoyable and uplifting.

However, the high-ranking nobles and kings were more discerning.

Of course, the most discerning were the high elves who had immersed themselves in music and art throughout their countless years.

High elves generally considered themselves noble and looked down on humans, a young and short-lived race. They thought humans were crude, not much better than the so-called barbaric orcs.

Duke changed their minds completely.

Not only did they see Duke's incredible talent for composing music, but they also noticed his extraordinary control over magical elements.

As Ranger high elves, their magical aptitude might not be exceptional, but that didn't mean they lacked discernment. Their long lives granted them unparalleled experience and insight.

They could see at a glance that although Duke's mage level was not high, his terrifyingly exquisite magical control was on par with most members of the Silvermoon Council.

What did it mean to be a member of the Silvermoon Council?

That represented the pinnacle of high elven magical civilization.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were among the top magicians in the entire world.

This was high praise indeed.

As Duke swayed his hands like a conductor, playfully mimicking the role while not quite keeping in time with the beat, he 'directed' the Mage Hands to flawlessly perform the melody.

The Windrunner sisters present found the scene both amusing and exasperating.

However, having seen through Duke's intentions, the three sisters simply attributed the minor discrepancies to the difficulty of casting multiple spells simultaneously. After all, no one could perform so many different tasks without making a single mistake.

"Oh, so he's Duke Markus," Lirath murmured calmly.

In the 'Language of the Wind,' Sylvanas laughed, "Such a constantly surprising youngster. No wonder big sis adores you so much, even at the expense of..."

"Enough!" Alleria interrupted Sylvanas through the Language of the Wind.

Ignoring the reactions of the others, Alleria, the Demon Queen, walked up to Duke with satisfaction and gave him a passionate kiss... alas, it landed on his forehead.

"Good boy, little Duke."

Duke's face darkened.