Chapter 018: The Elf King

Hearing these words, Komhan’s heart suddenly grew cold, and he sighed silently. Without looking back, he headed toward the Bilu tribe.
“City lord, I released the warriors from the Bilu tribe without permission. Please punish me,” said Leibao as he knelt before Basha.
Seeing Leibao in this state, Basha laughed heartily. “Don’t blame yourself too much, commander. After all, the Bilu tribe is also part of our dwarf race. To be honest, even I wouldn’t have the heart to kill them all.”
Hearing Basha’s words, Leibao felt relieved.
The Black Eagle Knights were directly under the dwarf king and, nominally, part of the guards of Grass City. Naturally, they regarded Basha as one of their absolute leaders as well.
In Leibao’s eyes, Basha was nothing more than the dwarf king’s son. If he weren’t the king’s son, he would have considered him an ordinary person at best.
Basha’s performance in this war had also satisfied Leibao greatly. Yet, as the guardian force of Grass City and a direct subordinate unit of the dwarf king, Basha had been hunted relentlessly—and even attacked inside Grass City! All of this made Leibao feel extremely guilty.
But seeing this great son of the dwarf king smile at him so generously, Leibao resolved that, in future wars, he would do whatever it took to ensure the safety of the dwarf king’s sole heir!
“City lord, what should be our next move?” Leibao asked while still kneeling.
In fact, many dwarfs wouldn’t even dare to kneel in front of Basha. As a high-ranking commander like Leibao, his kneeling was both an expression of apology to Basha and a result of his rigorous knightly training under the dwarf king. He had fully adopted the etiquette of human knights.
Most importantly, it served to enhance Basha’s authority. Since even a commander like Leibao would kneel before him, Basha’s status among the dwarves, especially among the soldiers of the Black Eagle Knights, rose significantly.
“Of course, we’ll march straight toward the Bilu tribe,” Basha said with a smile. “Uncle Leibao, please get up. I really can’t accept such a grand gesture from you.” Basha helped Leibao to his feet.

“Also, on this journey we must reach the Bilu tribe. There are seven smaller tribes in total, large and small. As we move forward, let’s conquer them one by one. I think news of our decisive victory over the Bilu tribe will surely spread along the way, making it much easier to subdue those tribes,” said Basha, still smiling.

At that moment, Du Fan arrived with Nai Xiu.

Nai Xiu was leaning on Du Fan, looking utterly dependent. Seeing such a powerful archer at Du Fan’s side act so reliant, Leibao began to view Du Fan with new respect.

“Colonel Leibao, your Black Tiger Knights are truly formidable!” Du Fan said loudly as soon as he saw Leibao.

Hearing this, Leibao replied modestly, “It’s Duke Du Fan’s excellent plans that are the main reason we were able to achieve a complete victory.”

“Well, even if you charge with your current forces, those Bilu tribe warriors won’t be able to withstand it,” Du Fan said with a smile.

“But that way, our casualties could be much higher,” Leibao said seriously.

By then, the battle statistics had come in.

The Black Tiger Knight Corps lost 89 men and 223 were injured, 21 of them seriously enough to retire. The reserve force of the Black Tiger Knight Corps lost 289 men and 546 were injured, 156 of them seriously enough to retire. The warriors sent from various tribes lost 2,173 men and 6,543 were injured, 1,648 of them seriously. Fortunately for Du Fan, only ten of the elves archers were lightly injured, with none killed.

All the dwarf warriors, including those in the Black Tiger Knight Corps, were melee fighters. So during the battle, the elf archers shot from a distance behind, never engaging directly with the Bilu tribe warriors. Moreover, these elf archers were all at level seven, and it wasn’t easy to injure a skilled warrior of that level.

In other words, Basha’s side suffered a casualty rate of one in ten! The number of deaths alone reached nearly 2,500!

The Bilu tribe suffered even heavier losses, leaving behind 20,000 corpses as they retreated in disarray.

“Uncle Leibao, since so many of your Black Tiger Knight Corps members have died, quickly replenish them from the reserve force,” Basha said urgently after hearing the battle report.

“There’s no rush. We can discuss it after the war is over. Putting them into the regular troops now will only hold us back,” said Leibao.
The establishment of the Black Panther Knight Corps’ reserve also solved the issue of troop shortages. Whenever regular Black Panther Knights were killed or injured, they would be immediately replaced by those from the reserve. However, the Black Panther Knight Corps was kept at a strength of only 10,000—this rule was set by the Dwarf King, who never explained why.
Hearing Leibao’s words, Basha nodded in agreement. Indeed, integrating the reserve into the regular army would not be helpful; instead, it might cause instability in team coordination during future battles.
“Gather all the warriors of the Bilu tribe and bury them!” Basha ordered.
After doing this, Basha led his warriors onward.
There was still a day’s journey from there to the Bilu tribe. During this time, Basha continued to subdue the tribes along the way, which slowed down their progress.
That night, they arrived at the territory of the third tribe they had subdued. This tribe had only a population of over 30,000, and upon seeing Basha’s massive army, they quickly pledged loyalty.
This tribe relied on a mine for survival—a rather ordinary mine in the Twilight Mountains. Many dwarf tribes were built around such mines.
Such mines made it easy to create living caves, and the dwarves could utilize their skills in mining and iron smelting.
Dwarves chose mountainous areas largely to find suitable living places. Unfamiliar with construction, they compensated by digging caves directly into the mountains for living.
This tribe lived in these mines, with thousands of caves of various sizes scattered throughout the mountain.
Basha, Du Fan, and the others camped in front of the mine.
Under the bright starry sky and moonlight, the three brothers sat on the ground and chatted.
“Second brother, why hasn’t not only your father appeared, but neither has your cousin Karu?” Du Fan asked, raising a question that had been bothering him.
“That’s not all. Even the second-in-command of the magical beasts came to cause trouble, yet the supreme commander didn’t show up either,” added Moses.

“They two have always been like that—always impossible to figure out,” said Basha.
As god-tier masters, the Grand Commander and the Dwarf King never showed up unless it was at the most critical moment. So, in Basha’s eyes, it was quite normal for them not to appear.
However, Du Fan’s words earlier also caught Basha’s attention—that is, why hadn’t Karu shown up either.
“It seems your cousin Karu hasn’t appeared since coming out of the Divine Ruins,” Du Fan added.
At that moment, Colonel Leibao hurried over.
“Lord City Master, according to intelligence, Karu’s reinforcements have entered the territory of the Bilu tribe,” said Leibao.
“When exactly?” Basha asked promptly upon hearing that Karu’s reinforcements had arrived.
“It was just an hour ago,” Leibao replied, frowning.
“What’s the strength of their forces?” Du Fan asked quickly.
“Twenty thousand cavalry,” said Leibao.
“All cavalry?” Du Fan asked again.
“That’s right, all cavalry. But ten Mountain Giants have also arrived,” Leibao added.
“It seems they’re determined,” Du Fan sighed.
Since they had sent all ten Mountain Giants, it meant Karu’s side intended to engage in a decisive battle against Basha’s forces.
“What should we do then?” Basha asked.
“In such a situation, we should defend ourselves. Since they’ve brought twenty thousand cavalry and ten Mountain Giants, they definitely want to fight us. So, let’s go back and wait for them to attack,” said Du Fan.
Early the next morning, Basha led a large force back to the Black Panther Knight Order’s base.
In addition to strengthening the defenses of the base, Du Fan decided to go to the Bilu tribe to gather more information.
“Third brother, isn’t it a bit dangerous for you and Naixiu to go?” Basha asked, frowning.
“Don’t worry. If we dare to go, it’s because we have our backing,” Du Fan said with a smile.
As soon as he spoke, a red and green glow suddenly appeared on Naixiu’s hand, and a shiny ring appeared on her finger.
Seeing this, Moses was deeply moved!
“I pay my respects to the Elf King!” Moses suddenly knelt down and shouted loudly.
“Elder brother, what are you doing?” Du Fan exclaimed in shock.

“In our elf race, it is said that whoever possesses the Elf King’s Ring becomes the Elf King—that’s our tradition!” Moses said.
At this moment, Naixiu was so shocked that she couldn’t speak!
How could she have imagined that she would become the Elf King so suddenly!
“Brother, please get up first. It’s not yet certain whether this ring is indeed the Elf King’s Ring. Please don’t act like this,” Du Fan said urgently, seeing that Moses was still kneeling on the ground.
“It can’t be a mistake! The design and the materials are all unique! Plus, with this aura and this red-and-black glow, I can’t possibly be wrong!” Moses said.
“Your Majesty, the Elf King, it’s too dangerous for you to go to the Bilu tribe alone. I must stop this!” Moses shouted.