Chapter 395: An Invitation from the Royal Family

Since childhood, Cornelia had loved swordsmanship and military affairs. Though she wasn’t well-known in military circles, even her older brother—Ferdinand, the renowned military genius of the kingdom who led an army at a young age and would soon become the head of the Ansel family—often lost to his nearly ten years younger sister in simulated battles.

Cornelia wasn’t just theoretical; she had also disguised herself several times to join military operations of the Holy Sword Legion. With a solid foundation in theory and rich experience, she understood that in the face of overwhelming strength, any tactics or traps were futile. Tactics were most effective only when both sides were evenly matched, leading to a stalemate.

Thus, under the command of this “Ansel flower,” the forces of Dalaran devised no complicated plans. They simply ordered the militia guards to cooperate with war puppets dispatched from the mage towers and golems to confront the enemy head-on in front of Windchime Town’s bridge. Meanwhile, a dozen griffin knights led by William’s eldest son, Eric, joined forces with druids from the Druidic Order, elf archers and hunters from the Ranger Camp, as well as Wood Speakers and Horned Eagle Knight units to intercept the enemy halfway through the Twilight Forest.

Elf warriors and spellcasters had a significant advantage in combat in jungle environments compared to human armies, while the griffin knights’ aerial harassment left the rebels off-balance. These continuous attacks and harassments caused the rebels heavy losses along the route from Giantstone City to Dalaran. By the time they reached Dalaran’s territory, at least a quarter of their forces had been lost, and their morale was low.

Faced with the towering and formidable war puppets and the militia guards fighting head-on, they could barely muster 80% of their combat strength. Under the pressure of war puppets, which swept through human soldiers like a storm, the enemy forces collapsed first. The militia guards, unaccustomed to actual combat, fought with high morale, chasing after the enemy and dealing heavy blows to their elite forces.

With the support of war puppets and the powerful warriors from the druidic elf tribes, Dalaran suffered minimal losses. Only a few guards were injured due to battlefield accidents, and the number of dead was barely countable on two hands.

Even with a legendary paladin from the enemy side, they were repelled by Dalamar’s legendary archmage along with a large team of high-level mages. The severely injured paladin had no choice but to abandon the rebel forces and flee on his own. In that battle, Dalamar’s forces actually killed not many enemies; most rebel soldiers surrendered immediately upon the legendary paladin’s escape, lacking the will to resist Dalamar’s formidable army. After all, those nobles who attempted to rebel against the kingdom were not very popular among the common people, and aside from a few loyal followers, few soldiers were willing to risk their lives for them. It was a stunning turn of events for the factions watching the war as thousands of rebel soldiers fled in the face of less than three hundred Dalamar troops! The war puppets of the Arcane Tower made their first appearance on the battlefield, and before they even took action, the enemy collapsed on its own. At the same time, the formidable combat strength of Dalamar’s elf forces became evident, alerting many factions. However, Dalamar’s weakness was also clear: they had too few soldiers. Though they fought bravely and achieved successive victories, dealing with enemies outnumbering them tenfold made it difficult to clean up the battlefield after victory. The sheer number of captives—several times that of their own troops—was a headache for Dalamar’s officials. Forced to act, Cornelia ordered the reserve forces of the militia to be deployed. With the help of hundreds of rangers and horned eagle knights, they quickly quelled the unrest among the thousands of captives. As for those who escaped, they were left to it—after all, they were all people of Thelos. Cornelia didn’t want to cause too much bloodshed. For the rebels, reuniting their scattered soldiers was also a challenge, adding more trouble to their side. Thus, the first battle between the rebels led by the Macbeth family, lords of Castle Stone, and Dalamar ended with Dalamar’s fewer than a thousand soldiers defeating thousands of rebel forces. When detailed reports of this dramatic battle reached the rebel headquarters in the south, the prince was furious and wanted to cut off the head of the new Viscount Macbeth. The royal family and nobles rejoiced at the rebels’ misfortune but were also deeply shocked by Dalamar’s immense strength. Meanwhile, the members of the Church of the Dawn were captured by the Holy Spirit of Thelos I. Without the support of powerful backers, the rebels lost the deterrence of their legendary warriors, greatly weakening their resistance.

The royal expeditionary forces had already achieved successive victories within just ten days, sweeping away most of the rebel forces and recapturing four more towns in the south after Kusui Town. The rebels now only had Longying Town as their last stronghold.

Less than 10,000 rebels gathered in Longying Town, preparing for a final battle against the allied forces.

The remaining matters no longer required the attention of those legendary warriors. The rebels’ defeat was inevitable; no matter how hard Andrew struggled, he could not escape defeat.

The only one seemingly dissatisfied with this war was probably that guy, Carlisle. He grumbled in front of Donald about how without legendary warriors to use their swords, the Blood Demon Sword couldn’t be sharpened in battle! But he merely complained and returned with Donald the day after the decisive battle. Dalaran’s elite troops had already gained combat experience, so there was no need for them to participate in the cleanup. To be honest, Donald didn’t care about the spoils taken from the rebels either; he would reward his own troops once they returned to their territory.

Before returning to their lands, Duri came to see him on behalf of the royal family.

“You say His Majesty the First wants to see me?”

“That’s right! The ancestors are very satisfied with your strength and achievements. Due to limited time before, they couldn’t stay longer, so they want to invite you to meet them in the royal palace.”

Donald was somewhat surprised by Duri’s news. But thinking back to what Colin had said earlier, he somewhat understood the royal spirit’s thoughts.

Then an idea arose in his mind.

“Very well. Please convey to His Majesty the First that I am honored to accept the invitation!”

Upon hearing this reply, Duri said with envy, “Donald, you’re really lucky! Even my father can’t casually request an audience with the ancestors. As the legitimate heir, I’ve only seen them once during my coming-of-age ceremony!”

Donald remained modest about it. In reality, he didn’t think being received by Celt the First was that honorable. He had met more than one being at the level of a demigod or even a true god, and he had even killed one himself, though it was by taking advantage of the situation.

He didn’t hold much reverence for Celt the First, who, though not yet at the level of a demigod, could wield demigod-like powers. What he respected was merely the latter’s status as the founding monarch of Celt!