Elven Queen Tina finished her mobilization. The entire army, advance!
The battlefield was the Sunset Plains, located north of the Elven Woods.
The World Tree was still visible from here.
Following the army all the way, Lu Ran was quite surprised by the size of this Elven territory instance.
It was enormous!
Truly worthy of being a separate plane instance capable of accommodating an entire race.
At the same time,
the mission triggered.
As an Elven Emissary, Lu Ran also received the mission prompt.
Lu Ran found it fascinating this was his first time encountering the mission system.
After global datafication, the mission system was an independent entity; not everyone had it.
Or, to be more precise, not every class holder had the chance to trigger it.
Missions varied widely, and their triggering methods also differed.
But the rewards were often exceptionally generous.
Even for minor, trivial little missions, once triggered, the rewards were quite substantial.
And now,
the great war between the Forest Elves and the Dark Elves—the difficulty of this mission was likely unprecedentedly huge!
“Whether we can complete it is an unknown,” Liu Xinxin mused.
Then,
like everyone else, she opened the mission panel to check.
Lu Ran followed suit, clumsily summoning his own mission panel.
[Mission: The Glory of the Forest Elves]
[Objective: Subdue the Dark Elves]
[Reward: Variable reward. Earn points based on the number of Dark Elves subdued. Higher points yield higher rewards. Minimum: D-rank reward. Maximum: SSS-rank reward.]
The mission description was quite simple.
But it was also very vague.
What the rewards actually were remained unclear.
“A variable mission…” Liu Xinxin pondered. “That’s actually a good thing. It won’t be impossible to complete or receive a reward due to excessive difficulty.”
Variable missions calculated rewards based on completion percentage.
The higher the completion, the richer the reward.
The minimum was D-rank, though it was unclear how many Dark Elves needed subduing for that.
The maximum difficulty was SSS-rank, though the exact number required was also unknown.
But…
Liu Xinxin looked at Lu Ran excitedly. “You are definitely getting that SSS-rank reward!”
Lu Ran also snapped out of it.
He muttered, “Thank goodness the mission requirement isn’t ‘kill’. Otherwise, the difficulty would be higher. The number of Dark Elves should be roughly equal to the Forest Elves. If it’s just subduing, controlling and enslaving them with the Throne of Bones should probably count as ‘subduing’.”
But Liu Xinxin lamented, “The Forest Elves believe in peace. Tina would never issue a kill mission, and she never has. That fits her personality. Don’t be fooled by her hostility towards humans; towards the Elven race, she has a compassionate heart. Even towards the Dark Elves—after all, they share the same roots. But in war, casualties are inevitable. If it weren’t for the World Tree needing the Magic Stone to grow, Tina probably wouldn’t have declared war on the Dark Elves either.”
After a pause,
Liu Xinxin added, “This is even better. If you can subdue the Dark Elves, reclaim the Magic Stone, without losing a single soldier and with no casualties on either side, that would likely be the most perfect outcome in Tina’s eyes. Not only could you get the SSS-rank reward, you might also gain Tina’s recognition. Maybe even have a chance to obtain the Wings of the Elves!”
Liu Xinxin’s analysis was very sound.
Lu Ran also grew excited, even starting to wish the Dark Elves would show up quickly.
Liu Xinxin then added regretfully, “There are gains and losses. The pity part is, if the reward required killing Dark Elves, you could also accomplish that. Moreover, the Dark Elves could provide you with a massive amount of experience!”
That experience wouldn’t be comparable to the Wraithwood.
Several hundred thousand Dark Elves!
Opportunities to encounter so many monsters gathered together, a densely packed army for Lu Ran to kill, were rare!
The experience would be simply unimaginable!
Even Lu Ran couldn’t help but swallow hard.
He mumbled, “So… should I kill a portion?”
Even half, or a quarter, the experience would be incredibly terrifying!
But Liu Xinxin immediately rapped him on the head.
She said, “Have some ambition, kid. You are now an Elven Emissary. Although the Dark Elves are a branch, they are of the same lineage. Such killing the goose that lays the golden eggs behavior, even if it could get you the SSS-rank reward, would cause Tina to censure you for the mass slaughter of Dark Elves. Dream on about getting the sacred artifact Wings of the Elves then!”
Getting that much experience all at once was indeed tempting.
But losing the chance to befriend the entire Forest Elf race and the opportunity to obtain a sacred artifact for it would be the most foolish thing.
Lu Ran chuckled and said, “I was just talking. After all, Sister Xinxin, you’re also of the Elven race. I still have some sense of propriety. Since Prophet Haili gave me this Emissary status, it certainly wasn’t with the hope that I would quell this conflict through slaughter.”
Hearing this,
Liu Xinxin finally sighed in relief. “Good that you know. Once the battle starts, regardless of anything else, first summon the Ancient Golem to prevent any accidents. Also, the first one you need to control is the Dark Elven Queen, Silolo. Once you control the Dark Elven Queen, handling the entire Dark Elf army will be much easier.”
Lu Ran nodded solemnly.
At the same time, he began wondering in his heart: what could the ultimate SSS-rank reward possibly be?
Looking ahead,
the Elven army stood ready.
The vast open space of the Sunset Plains before them was tranquil, with only the occasional breeze stirring waves across the grassland.
But soon, even the breeze seemed to sense the palpable tension and killing intent in the air, quickly dying down.
Elven Queen Tina wore a set of golden battle armor that wrapped around her exquisitely perfect figure.
But this golden armor had pieces here and there.
Her smooth back, flat abdomen, and fair, long legs were exposed. Lu Ran wondered curiously what exactly this thing was supposed to protect.
Behind her was a pair of exaggeratedly huge Elven wings.
Putting everything else aside, as an Elf, with her inherently exquisite and perfect features coupled with this spicy figure…
Who wouldn’t be mesmerized by that?
Even Lu Ran couldn’t help but swallow hard.
He was probably the first person to harbor such designs on the Elven Queen in his heart.
But Elven Queen Tina was clearly not someone easy to ‘win over’.
Lu Ran suddenly thought: the Dark Elven Queen Silolo… he could completely control her.
I wonder what she looks like?
He hadn’t encountered Dark Elves yet, but since they were born from the fall of Forest Elves, they probably wouldn’t be too bad-looking, right?
If they had truly degenerated into some disgusting monster-elves, that would be a huge loss!
Probably Liu Xinxin had no idea about the messy thoughts swirling in Lu Ran’s head right now, or she would surely criticize him harshly.
Perhaps sensing Lu Ran’s aggressive gaze, or perhaps because Lu Ran was the only pure human present,
her eyes swept over in his direction.
Feeling a bit guilty, Lu Ran quickly averted his gaze.
Tina frowned slightly but didn’t say anything. Her eyes scanned the group of human class-holders before disregarding them.
In her mind, it seemed she didn’t believe this small group could significantly impact the battle’s outcome.
At that moment,
suddenly, ahead on the Sunset Plains, a massive black fissure appeared.
It was as if some giant hands had torn open space itself!
“They’re here…” Liu Xinxin murmured.
And Lu Ran,
instinctively pulled Liu Xinxin behind him, instructing, “Sister Xinxin, don’t take action. Just stay behind me.”
Lu Ran could use the Ancient Golem to block damage.
He also had the Life and Death Veil for resurrection, giving him some margin for error.
But if Liu Xinxin were to be instantly killed, she would truly die!
Liu Xinxin was momentarily stunned. Looking at Lu Ran standing protectively in front of her, her eyes flickered slightly.
