Lysfer led her people carefully and anxiously to the plains in front of Dragon City. After reaching the foot of the mountain it was built on, the temperature began to warm up. The humidity of the south mixed with the dryness of the north, resulting in a comfortable ambient temperature.
There was a piece of farmland outside the city, but to her astonishment, there was no one working on it.
Save for winter and war, there was no reason for citizens to stop working the fields especially with how important food was for their civilization.
‘Could it be that they’ve treated our arrival as militaristic??’
Lysfer immediately shut down her idea.
They only numbered a paltry thousand, and it was clear that more than half of them were civilians. They might have been able to plunder a few small villages but attacking something the size of Dragon City was simply hitting stone with an egg.
In the past, every time there was a war to take over Central City, the scale would always reach at least 10,000 soldiers while the highest record was 300,000 soldiers.
With the number of her clansmen, the people of the city could easily kill them from a few kilometers away. And the dragon could probably do so even more easily.
An eagle in the sky let out a loud screech. The bear brothers approached Lysfer and whispered, “That is a sentry.”
Lysfer nodded slightly. She knew that elves and beastmen were similar, with many people having the ‘Hunter’ profession. These eagles were their tamed beast and had a functional role in many places.
“Stay alert. Tell the warriors not to act impulsively. As long as the other side does not attack, we cannot make the first move!”
Lysfer said in a deep voice. The bear brothers nodded and each retreated to relay her orders.
The closer they approached Dragon City, the tighter the beastman soldiers gripped their crude weapons. Although the arms were not as excellent as those used by humans and elves, they suited their powerful physiques.
“Oooooooooooooo————-”
Suddenly, there was a whistling sound from Dragon City. Lysfer’s blade-like eyebrows wrinkled in a frown. From her experience, she could tell that it was the light and sonorous sound of the elves’ war horn.
With the sound of the horn, hundreds of hippogryphs with elves riding on them flew up from the city. These riders hovered in the skies on their mounts and bow and arrow in hand. At this, the beastmen felt great pressure at the possibility of dealing with aerial enemies.
At the same time, lightly armored elven soldiers holding long swords reached the low city walls and bent their waists as they prepared for their assault.
Behind these armored eleven soldiers were teams of elven archers who moved neatly like machinery. Each of them pulled out three arrows and knocked one of them on the bow while holding the other two to the side for easy access.
Judging from their posture and movements, Lysfer knew that this was a well-trained troop from the Silver Moon Kingdom. Although they might not be as good as the Queen’s Guards, who were defending the royal capital, they were considered elite. Although there weren’t many of them, they were quite orderly and fully capable of fighting a small-scale war.
If the walls of Dragon City were still in place, Lysfer was convinced that these troops would be enough to stop a 10,000 strong siege.
She looked at the elven soldiers holding bows and arrows and gritted her teeth. The majority of elves were rangers. Their archery skills were high, and shooting three rounds at this distance was not difficult for them at all. The beastmen were now trapped with no way to escape.
Humans, elves, and beastmen were the most dominant racial forces on this continent. They had been at war for thousands of years. In the year when the Silver Moon Kingdom was established, beastmen and human civilizations were relatively backward. At that time, the elves called themselves high elves. It could be said that they were nobler existences and also the rulers of the continent.
With the development of human and beastmen civilizations, however, and the population issues the elves faced, the elves were pushed back into the Forest of the Moon, completely taking the defensive.
Although the three races were not irreconcilable adversaries, the relationship between each other was definitely not peaceful.
At the corner of her eye, Lysfer could see some special elves wearing leaves and barks. She knew that these people were druids, who could transform into terrifying beasts on the battlefield. When they transformed, they were closer to beastmen in power.
‘Surprisingly, there are even druids.’
Lysfer sighed. Druids, who rarely left the Forest of the Moon, could actually be seen in Dragon City.
“Beastmen, put down your weapons and state your business!”
The elven troops stayed silent for a while after finishing their battle preparations. The elven soldiers in the middle suddenly put away their weapons and stood to the side, creating a long path. At the far end of the pathway, a beautiful elf wearing light armor and draped in a green robe slowly strode forward. She had a longbow behind her back and a sword hanging from her waist. From the subtle patterns and faint fluctuations coming from them, Lysfer could tell that they weren’t ordinary objects.
At the same time she saw the elf, Lysfer’s pupils shrunk and let out a sucking sound, “Legendary…?!”
She did not expect to see a legendary rank elven powerhouse in Dragon City. She wondered why an elven powerhouse that should be staying in the Forest of the Moon was suddenly here in Dragon City. And the elves even stationed a portion of their valuable army here to guard the city. She imagined that the relationship between the dragon and the elves was quite good.
Lysfer was shaken. If it was just the elven soldiers, she and her clansmen would be able to take down a portion of them if they fought to the death. After all, she was a ninth rank powerhouse. But the appearance of the legendary rank ranger in front of her made her instantly despair. Just that alone was enough to wipe them all out.
“Sisna Susril!”
Other than some reclusive legendary rankers, the vast majority of legendary rankers were well known. Lysfer was able to guess the identity of the elf in an instant.
She was the elven queen’s imperial bodyguard, a ranger general stationed in the Silver Moon Kingdom. In private, some people even called her the princess of the elves.
Sisna was not surprised that she was recognized. Her emerald green pupils calmly gazed at the thousand-strong beastmen, or mainly at Lysfer. As a general of the elven race, she was still aware of famous people and the state of the continent, so she was able to recognize this wolf girl.
“Bloodthirsty Hunter Lysfer Blood Blade. Aren’t you a successor of the Blood Blade Clan’s chief? Why are you in such dire straits? Could it be that you lost the chieftaincy duel?”
Sisna’s playful words caused the beastmen to become restless. Many beastmen angrily looked at her. They could not hold back their anger even if they were in front of a legendary rank powerhouse.
Before Lysfer could speak, Sisna’s long ears suddenly trembled. She showed a listening expression and smiled after a while, “I had intended to wipe you all out here. You should count your lucky stars. Lord Garaklond is very interested in you. Put down your weapons and surrender. Then follow me to have an audience with the lord, and he will decide your fate!”
Sisna paused. She took a deep look at the group of beastmen that were leaning back and continued, “Of course you can also choose to resist if you are willing to let these civilians meet death!”
Her tone was high and overbearing as she released a powerful aura.
Although Sisna acted humbly in front of Louie, as a powerhouse of the elven race and a warrior known as the Ranger General, Sisna was not a pushover.
After a moment of silence, Lysfer took out the two sharp longswords that she was carrying and threw them to the ground.
“A wise choice!” Sisna said.