Chapter 81: The Empire Will Fall, but Humanity Will Endure

Chapter 81: The Empire Will Fall, but Humanity Will Endure

Although Victor’s plans were proceeding smoothly, he wasn’t particularly happy.

Because it wasn’t over yet.

The key figure, Suratu, was still inside the Elven castle, and one wrong move could endanger him greatly.

By the time Airael arrived at the city wall, all the treemen had already been captured by the humans.

Bound by chains and large nets, the cries of the treemen rang out with a sense of grief and anger.

Airael, rushing over, saw this scene and felt her vision darken, her body uncontrollably falling backward.

“Your Majesty!”

Fortunately, Hela, who had also hurried over, was quick to catch her.

Airael continued to gaze at the scene below.

Was it her imagination, or did she see a fiery demon with a cruel grin among the burning forests?

That image quickly faded away.

After a while, once Airael regained her composure, she angrily turned to Suratu and said, “You humans really have some clever schemes!”

“Your Majesty, I proposed a peace plan earlier, but you did not agree. If that’s the case, we remain in a state of war, making a skirmish or two quite normal,” Suratu explained.

Having said that, he looked at the morale-boosted human soldiers outside, nodding in satisfaction.

Thus, the tide of the situation had turned!

From here on, things would go much smoother.

While this was a good thing, Suratu couldn’t shake off his gloomy feelings about the imminent developments.

Alexander was destined to die; once he was gone, the empire he built would surely not last long under Victor’s grip.

If that happened, even if Airael agreed to a peace treaty with humanity, she might not marry this Elven queen, as the Elven race would likely retract their decision!

However, Suratu wasn’t overly concerned about that.

The empire that Alexander created may perish, but humanity would endure!

Although the foundation of Alexander’s empire was indeed shaky, humanity’s foundation was solid.

For years, aside from those in the oceans, the resources and wealth on land were mostly controlled by humans.

Moreover, for all these years, Alexander had waged aggressive wars abroad.

As a result, humanity’s stronghold remained unaffected by war, preserving a relatively intact production system, with enormous amounts of wealth continuously flowing into human society from Alexander’s conquests.

This included the treasures from Alexander’s treasury!

The costs of war were indeed massive, but much of that was spent on their own people.

Unlike other races, who have fewer resources, they had to purchase some things from other races!

And where did they buy from? Naturally, from the resource-rich humans.

If they faced restrictions from humans, they would have to pay much higher prices through smuggling to obtain those “precious” resources.

With so many advantageous conditions, combined with an abundance of manpower, even if humanity fell into civil war later on, it wouldn’t significantly diminish their overall strength.

Additionally, civil wars, while resulting in casualties, would cultivate a considerable number of heroes for humanity, and it was possible that a hero would arise who was no weaker than Alexander—or even surpassed him.

Then this great hero would reunite humanity and could conquer the world using the “peace” approach, as envisioned by his predecessor.

With the experience from the previous conflict, the next one would indeed be much easier.

Suratu’s true goal was to create a precedent for humanity on this path.

With a pioneer providing the experience, it would be easier for others to follow.

Since the Elven race could concede once, as long as those after them wished and dared to act, they would certainly concede the second time as well.

All restraint would have been completely shed after the first agreement.

If possible, during this negotiation, Suratu also hoped to take the Elves’ feelings into account and adopt a more gentle approach so they could accept it more easily.

Unfortunately, the situation didn’t allow for it.

Having lost a previous battle, if he took a gentle approach, how could the Elves agree?

So, he had to be tough.

While being firm in his words, he also needed to display his strength to show them he wasn’t just posturing.

Thinking again of his dying disciple, Suratu let out a deep sigh in his heart.

He hoped that future generations would follow his way rather than Alexander’s!

Even though the Elven race was weak, they were indeed a formidable group that wasn’t easy to deal with.

At that moment, Lof arrived with his guards.

“Capture this human envoy for me!”

As soon as he commanded, his guards charged toward Suratu.

“Your Majesty, do you wish to continue fighting?”

Looking at the approaching Elven soldiers, Suratu’s gaze turned dangerous.

The immense momentum he radiated halted the Elven soldiers in their tracks.

“You little human, this isn’t a place for your antics.”

At that moment, an aura not weaker than Suratu’s rose nearby, confronting him.

It was Domiya!

With her words, Domiya made her way through the parted Elven soldiers, arriving before Suratu.

Seeing Domiya, Suratu’s pupils dilated slightly.

Having fought against Domiya before, he knew she was not an easy opponent.

“Everyone, stop right now!”

Suddenly, Airael’s voice boomed.

An equally powerful aura erupted from her, surprising both the surrounding Elves and Suratu.

Domiya looked at Airael, her eyes filled with depth.

Her student, the queen brought back by Linis, truly was extraordinary!

“Your Majesty, have you come to a decision?” Suratu asked with a smile.

Airael did not respond to Suratu; instead, she focused on the struggling treemen.

At that moment, the treemen were completely at the mercy of others.

No, it wasn’t just the treemen; even now, the Elves were in a similar predicament.

In this war, humanity had come equipped with absolute superiority.

Suratu remained patient, waiting calmly.

The surrounding Elves held their breath, waiting for Airael’s next words.

After a long moment, Airael finally looked at Suratu with a cold expression and spoke, “Mending relations between our races isn’t a trivial matter; I cannot decide this alone. It needs to be thoroughly discussed at the Elven council. I wonder, Lord Suratu, are you willing to accompany me to the Elven Royal City?”

Seeing Airael relent, Suratu immediately replied with a smile, “For the peace of our races, I naturally would love to go! May I ask, Your Majesty, when do you intend to set out?”

“Let’s not discuss the departure just yet; can we free those treemen first?”

Suratu’s face immediately showed a difficult expression, “That might be a bit challenging. But please rest assured, Your Majesty, we won’t harm their lives. Once peace is attained, we will naturally release them.”