47. The Revival of the Elven Kingdom

Far away on the empire’s border, Mo Fei and his companions remained unaware of the events unfolding in the Elven Royal City. Yet at that very moment, the elven village where they resided—along with every elven settlement scattered across the continent—began to tremble and writhe. All their city walls, just like those of the Royal City, suddenly and forcefully rose several meters higher.

Throughout the land, elven villages and towns alike were roused into commotion. Elderly leaders rushed out, faces turned toward the direction of the Royal City, their eyes brimming with tears as they knelt to the ground. Behind them, whole ranks of elves followed, kneeling in reverence behind their elders.

Even in the village where Eileen now lived, everyone knelt beneath the elders’ guidance. The elders wept openly, repeating the same words: “Her Majesty the Queen.”

“Her Majesty the Queen has been formally crowned, our Queen is crowned at last—the Elven Kingdom will finally be restored!” Every elder spoke in unison, issuing the same command: “All clansfolk, prepare yourselves at once—we are returning to the Elven Kingdom. The Queen has issued a summons, make ready, everyone.”

Thus, elves scattered among the empires—even those who had once been slaves—rushed from their dwellings. As if guided by some unspoken instinct, the elves of each empire gathered together, preparing to march home.

Their former masters, seeing these elves suddenly seized by fervor, dared not hinder them. Even the high officials of the empires sensed the change within the Elven Kingdom and ordered strict border security, yet hesitated to impede the elves’ gathering—caught between letting them go and refusing release. Under the Queen’s summons, the elves became fearless, determined to return home at all costs. Besides, the Elven Kingdom still counted the City of the Dead as an ally. Even if the empires did not fear war with the City of the Dead, such a conflict would leave both sides weakened, offering easy spoils to a third party. This calculation was clear to every empire; none would risk such a loss, yet allowing so many elves to depart in silence still felt like a blow to their strength...

“Your Highness, we should prepare to return to the Elven Kingdom—will you come with us?” The elven elder, revitalized and brimming with energy, stood straight and steady once more.

Eileen said nothing, only gazed wide-eyed at Mo Fei.

“Let’s return together. Since the Queen has issued a summons, all elves must have received it by now; there’s no more for us to do here. You are the princess—how can you not return to welcome your people home?”

Eileen threw her arms around Mo Fei. “Thank you, Brother.”

Vivian, for her part, had no objection—so long as she could remain by Mo Fei’s side, she cared not where they went. Besides, she was eager to witness the flourishing kingdom that would rise from the elves’ revival.

With the emergence of the dark elves and all that had transpired in the Royal City, the Queen had foretold the return of many elves in the coming days. The City of the Dead acted at once: new homes were swiftly raised outside the Royal City, and armed cavalry units were dispatched to the borders of every empire. In the name of the City of the Dead, a stark warning was sent: any attempt to hinder the elves’ return would be treated as a declaration of war, and the City of the Dead would immediately send its armies to raze the offending empire.

After this threat, none of the empires wished to be the first to provoke the mad force of the City of the Dead, and so they opened their borders. The City’s audacity left the empires shocked and enraged, but until they could contend with the fearsome Death Knights, they dared not voice their anger. That a single city could hold the empires in check—this was something close to a miracle.

Mo Fei’s group, being within the same empire, was among the first to arrive. Yet Mo Fei did not return to the City of the Dead immediately. Instead, he accompanied Eileen and the more than two hundred returning elves deep into the Forest of Death.

Led by the last elder of their clan, the three of them entered the awe-inspiring Elven Palace.

“Your Majesty, we... we have returned.” The elder prostrated himself, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.

“Please rise, Elder,” the Queen said, descending to help the weeping elf to his feet. “It is enough that you have returned. Welcome home.”

Seeing the dark elves standing in the hall, the elder knelt again. “The guardians of our people have finally awakened.”

“Yes, our protectors have returned. From this day, there will be no more suffering for our kind,” said the Elven Queen.

She walked to Mo Fei’s side. “Child, thank you. With your help, our people are reunited at last.”

...

The return of the elves lasted more than three months, with their numbers swelling to an astonishing four hundred thousand. Fortunately, when the Queen issued her call, the dwarven master builders of the City of the Dead had already begun constructing new towns.

Not far from the Royal City, a series of new towns sprang up. With the help of the dark elves, the dwarven masters worked at a miraculous pace. For the city walls, once the foundations were laid, a dark elf’s incantation would cause the walls to rise on their own. The houses were built just as swiftly—once the dwarf set the roof, the rest was finished by magic. Without the dark elves, not even the dwarven builders could have completed homes for so many in so short a time.

Once the returning elves were settled, the Elven Queen and Mo Fei met to send a formal notice to every empire, announcing the official founding of the Elven Kingdom. They declared that the Elven Kingdom was an ally of the City of the Dead, and would only go to war if the City of the Dead were attacked; otherwise, the kingdom would remain strictly neutral.

At the Queen’s request, Mo Fei agreed to help train the elven military. What choice did he have? Princess Eileen had led nearly a hundred thousand unarmed elves to open the gates and enter the City of the Dead.

The elves’ food, clothing, and supplies were now Mo Fei’s responsibility. Thankfully, there were still enough crossbows in the arsenal—enough for a third of the new elves. The dwarven masters were working overtime to produce the rest.

Cain selected a group of battle-hardened berserkers to train the elven crossbow troops in formation attacks, solo defense, and other skills. Elves were natural marksmen; though they once used bows, they adapted to the crossbow in no time, wielding them with the same dexterity.

Mo Fei devised battle formations tailored to the elves’ agility and slight builds and supervised the training alongside the chosen berserkers.

Elves were born scouts—their speed and stealth unmatched by berserkers or dwarven warriors. After consulting with the Queen, Mo Fei transferred some of the best elven archers into the military ranks of the City of the Dead—after all, the City was the outer defense for the Elven Royal City, and the Queen was glad to see Mo Fei take more elves under his command.

When the City of the Dead was first built, it had been designed as a metropolis, anticipating future growth. Though it housed only about two hundred thousand residents, its walls could shelter six hundred thousand. Thus, the addition of a hundred thousand elven warriors caused no strain.

Elder Off was all the more awed by Mo Fei’s arrangements—this lord seemed able to foresee every eventuality.

With this, the City of the Dead became a military stronghold. The Dragonrock Empire, once the weakest of the four great empires, leapt to second place—after all, the former second, the Empire of Arcane Might, had been laid low, and even the mighty Empire of Goldstone had suffered losses. Dragonrock’s diplomats now stood proud before their peers.

Emperor Tyron of Dragonrock had little to complain about. He allocated another two billion gold coins in military funds to his son-in-law and formally granted the former lands of Prince Grelith to the City of the Dead. Mo Fei had little affection for his father-in-law, but the gesture was generous, and as the imperial son-in-law, he could hardly refuse to respond.

So Mo Fei personally drafted a letter to Emperor Tyron. In it, he affirmed his loyalty to Dragonrock Empire and promised that, should the empire ever be invaded, the City of the Dead would fight with all its might at the Emperor’s command.

When Tyron received the letter, he was overjoyed. He thought to himself: “Mo Fei truly only yields to kindness, not force. If you press him, he’s harder than iron; but treat him with respect, and he’ll outshine anyone.”