It was afternoon when they returned to Balnir Farmstead. The battle to catch the Gnolls had just ended, and the scattered allied forces were regrouping there.
Unfortunately, Thule Ravenclaw slipped away. Liante and his cavalry had caught him by the tail, but the cunning sorcerer abandoned his last remaining troops and vanished without a trace.
However, after this battle, the power of the Rot Hide Gnoll was almost completely wiped out. According to several officers familiar with military affairs, Thule's hometown at most had a thousand low-strength soldiers left, and they would not be able to cause any more trouble in the future.
After annihilating most of the enemy, Liante timely halted the pursuit. Firstly, the battle lines had been stretched too long and lacked momentum, and secondly, Thule's hometown was not worth occupying, as those counties were deeply contaminated by plague, the land was uncultivable, and their side did not have the ability to purify it for the time being.
The victory was resounding, and everyone was in high spirits. The only discordant element was Sir Thomas and his men.
The bald Paladin was struck by the Blue Dragon's tail and knocked to the ground, suffering a comminuted fracture of his left leg. After emergency treatment, he was able to walk with difficulty and limped over to demand an explanation, but by then Unas had already ridden the Blue Dragon to chase after the Gryphon.
Unable to find the person in question, Thomas unleashed a torrent of curses, but ultimately could only utter a few harsh words before leaving.
"Sir, Thomas says he's going to file a complaint with Parliament against you for attacking friendly forces during the war, which is a serious crime," Liante said worriedly.
"That's ridiculous! He broke his leg because he wasn't sitting properly and now he can blame me?" Unas wouldn't admit it. "If he wants to make such an embarrassing thing public, then let him tattle on it. I'll take the bait!"
His confidence stemmed not only from the strength of his own forces, but also from the fact that the great victory he had achieved was enough to overshadow this minor flaw. Moreover, he had powerful backers in the Council of Five, so he was certain that nothing would happen to him.
The only tangible gains from this battle were a large quantity of weapons and equipment, which were the most abundant items at the stronghold. Unas was already considering whether to go to Blackrock Depths to trade some equipment for food, and these matters could be entrusted to Frank, who managed the mine.
After a brief rest, the allied forces marched back to the Canyon. The question of Luther and the Stormwind City troops returning home was once again placed before the Warden. This was a promise that Unas had repeatedly made, and he could not go back on his word.
The nine hundred Stormwind City soldiers were all loyal and brave Warriors, and it would be a real pity to abandon them so easily. Unas made one last effort, saying, "Why do you all have to go back? Now that we have acquired so much land in the Canyon, we urgently need to cultivate it. I will soon issue a public recruitment notice. Anyone willing to cultivate the land and accept the control of the Argent Dawn can obtain a piece of land, guaranteed to have enough to eat and wear. The enemies around the Canyon have been almost completely wiped out, and everyone will have a stable life."
Luther and his men exchanged glances, and finally said, "Thank you for your kindness, sir, but we have already decided to go home. I will pass on this recruitment notice, and if anyone is willing to stay, I will not stop them."
Unas nodded, having no choice but to agree. These higher-ranking officers certainly didn't want to stay and be farmers; they either wanted to continue serving their country or had better prospects back in Stormwind City. But he believed that there must be some impoverished proletarians among the ordinary soldiers who were tempted.
"You can prepare for your journey now. I have some urgent matters to attend to here. I'll take you home as soon as I have some free time."
"Thank you, sir," the group said in unison, and quickly withdrew.
As for the Dwarf reinforcements, due to food shortages, Unas intended to send most of them back as soon as the war ended, leaving only Colonel Thunderaan-Deepstone and his trusted men who needed protection.
But after observing them for a while, he found that these Dwarf were strong, hardworking, and skilled at digging holes and moving bricks. They were also very obedient, so he wanted to keep them all for the time being.
Because he already had a general plan. The first was to build a wall at the mouth of the Canyon to prevent the enemy from easily advancing. Just like the crisis caused by the Gnolls, if there had been a defense at the mouth of the canyon, it wouldn't have been so urgent.
The second option is to relocate all the residents of the stronghold to Blue Rock Pass, where a new stronghold can be established in a strategically important and easily defensible location. This new stronghold can then be used to control the entire Canyon. The old stronghold can be completely transformed into a mushroom cultivation base to increase production, achieving two goals at once.
These plans will undoubtedly require a large number of people, which will give the Dwarves a chance to use their skills. We must keep them in check. With Colonel Deeprock helping to suppress them, there shouldn't be any major problems for the time being.
This means we need even more food. There's no other way but to continue spending money to buy more from Blackrock Depths. We have to hold on no matter what.
When Unas thought of money, he thought of Merlin's legacy. The mage said before he died that he had millions of Gold Coins in savings, but this huge sum of money could not be found in the upper levels of the Mage Tower. So this wealth was very likely hidden in a storage Arcane Artifacts.
Unas left Huoye behind, dismissed everyone else, then took out the hidden Ruby Ring and asked, "This appears to be a spatial Arcane Artifacts. Its owner is dead. Can you open it?"
"If the master is truly dead, there's generally no problem."
Huoye took the Ring and examined it for a moment. "This doesn't seem to be just a spatial Arcane Artifacts; it also stores an attack spell. Where did you get it, sir?"
"Merlin's bedroom, you must keep this a secret."
Huoye got excited too. Anything a legendary Archmage wore on his person must be top-quality. He quickly started studying it using various detection spells.
"I understand!" A full half hour later, the Elf mage finally made his discovery, his voice trembling with excitement, "Finger of Death, it stores the Finger of Death!"
This is a top-tier single-target attack spell. Anyone hit by Finger of Death is likely to die instantly, whether you are a rat or a god, the only difference is the probability.
The probability of an ordinary farmer dying might be as high as 100%, while a powerful god might only survive. But the possibility of killing a god is a terrifying effect in itself.
Unas was slightly relieved; thankfully, he had quickly Execute Merlin. If anything had gone wrong and the Archmage had escaped the Anti-Magic Room, everyone would be dead by now.
"Can you control this spell?"
"The Ring is currently ownerless; it needs to be given a new owner."
"If you acknowledge me as your master, can I unleash the Finger of Death?"
"Since you can control Holy Light and Fire Elemental energy, it should be possible to activate it."
"Hahaha, great! Quickly make it recognize me as its master!" Unas was extremely excited. In the future, when he encountered a troublesome enemy, he would just send him a Finger of Death and maybe he could enjoy the thrill of instant kill.