Half a day passed, and the female mages of Thorn of the Rose finally recovered. Master Pino also took this time to equip the hundred Golems with a powerful weapon for fighting in the Forest —a giant circular saw wheel.
Driven by magic and gears, the saw wheel spun rapidly, felling one after another in the face of a loud hissing noise, leaving only stumps in its wake.
The young Druid, who was monitoring from a distance in his Nightsaber form, was enraged and nearly lost his mind, rushing out to fight. In the end, he could only run back to report the news.
Unas's side was fully prepared and just waiting for a real battle, so they were not panicked after receiving the news. Everyone performed their duties in an orderly manner, and they had an unshakable momentum.
The mages in the air and the Golem army on the ground stopped half a kilometer away from the ruins. This was the last safe distance; any further and it would trigger ranged attacks from both sides.
Fode flew over on his Gryphon. "Knight Unas, Modera is willing to negotiate with you. We are natural allies; let's not fight amongst ourselves."
The saying goes that peace sought through compromise will perish, while peace sought through struggle will endure. When you are prepared for war, war often does not break out, and the current situation seems to illustrate this point.
But Unas dared not be so optimistic. Negotiations would only have two outcomes: if they broke down, the fighting would continue, or they would compromise and make peace.
But Modera is not one to compromise, especially when she feels she has a significant advantage, making it even less likely that she will make substantial concessions.
However, it would be good to hear her conditions. With that thought, Unas nodded and rode his Blue Dragon, following Fode to the very center of the two armies' confrontation.
Not long after, Modera and Ya arrived riding Elemental Wind Dragon, accompanied by Rachel Adams, and the two sides met in the air.
This was the first time Unas had seen the Archmage up close. She was not tall, and her hood and veil concealed her true face, leaving only a shadow on it.
A person who hides their true intentions is unlikely to be a good person.
Of course, this was what Unas was thinking. In fact, this Dalaran, and most mages dressed like this.
Rachel looked much more refreshed; she pulled back her hood to reveal her full figure, appearing to be a quiet woman, probably in her thirties.
"The Golems you summoned look quite impressive. I wonder which is more powerful, the Iron Golems I captured. I'd really like to have them spar." This was Unas's true feeling; seeing the three hundred steel soldiers, his hunting instincts were rekindled.
Modera sensed a hint of threat and said, "Crude."
She was sparing with her words, but everyone knew she was referring to the Dark Iron Dwarves' golems as crude, which was true; judging by appearance alone, Pino's Golem far more exquisite.
Unas shrugged and didn't engage in a verbal argument.
Fode smoothed things over, saying, "Each has its own merits. Exquisite things are useful but fragile, while rough things are heavy but can withstand wind and rain. We cannot easily judge which is superior or inferior."
Enough with the nonsense. Unas, not wanting to beat around the bush any longer, said directly, "Your Modera, please state your conditions. I will not refuse what I can agree to, and I will not force myself to accept what I cannot."
"Hand over Master Merlin's letters, notes, and body; relinquish the ruins of the Mage Tower; leave all of the Master's legacy behind, including that false god."
Modera's asking price was simply unacceptable, but isn't negotiation all about bargaining?
Unas said, "I will hand over Merlin's letters, notes, and body, but not to you."
"Who are you going to give it to?" Fode asked nervously. These hot potatoes could be deadly, and he was terrified that the Paladin would reveal his name.
"Your new leader, Rhonin, is the only Dalaran I trust."
A flicker of doubt crossed Modera's eyes. Could this kid have some connection with Rhonin?
She knew everything about Rhonin and had no way of having any dealings with this Paladin.
Actually, Unas was just judging from the game's plot that Rhonin shouldn't be a bad person, and handing over this evidence to him would probably be fine.
Rachel Adams then said, "Lord Rhonin is overseeing one of the most important reconstruction projects in Dalaran and doesn't have time to come here."
"Don't you have Portal? He can come immediately; it won't take long. Isn't Master Merlin's death the most important thing right now?"
"We will not allow your fabricated rumors to spread throughout the city, as this tarnishes Master Merlin's reputation."
To put it bluntly, he didn't want more people to know the truth. Unas put the issue aside and continued, "The ruins of the Mage Tower can be yours, but Merlin's legacy has vanished with the collapse of the Mage Tower. The underground Spider Research Institute was established by Gunsel. You wouldn't admit that an evil Lich is part of Dalaran, would you? His legacy is naturally my spoils."
As for the Spider God, Merlin stole it from the Troll tribes of the Tanaris Desert. I have a Shadra priest in my army, and now that the aggrieved party has come to us, I have promised that the Shadra belongs to the Desert Trolls, and no one has the right to take it away again.
"Trolls are the mortal enemies of humanity, and you're actually helping them?"
"Haikesi is Troll, but he is also a devout believer who has converted to the Holy Light. As the guardian of the Holy Light, I have a responsibility to protect and support him."
"Troll believe in the Holy Light? Ridiculous!"
"He is in my army. You can see for yourselves if you don't believe me. He has healed more humans with his Holy Light than any of my Priests. Moreover, Shadra has regained his divine power through his worship. All the spiders in this Forest will be His children."
That's just nonsense. Even if Shadra recovers, his control over the entire Forest is impossible.
Both sides laid their cards on the table. Unas rejected almost all of Modera's conditions, only willing to cede the ruins, which was also unacceptable to the female mage.
After arguing for a while, everyone felt it was a waste of breath, Unas made the biggest concession. "We all acknowledge Gunsel's crimes; those are undeniable facts. But I can remain silent on the matter of Archmage Merlin. We'll proceed according to what you consider 'facts'."
This is precisely the crux of the problem: if Unas insists on exposing Merlin's crimes, then the two sides will have no choice but to fight to the death.
"Then please hand over the original master's notes and the corpse; we want to authenticate them ourselves."
"I told you, go and invite Rhonin here, otherwise you'll never get this crucial evidence unless I'm dead."
"Then die! Paladin, you and your minions, along with those hideous spiders, will be torn to shreds by our magic!"
Modera revealed her berserk side, roaring out a declaration of war.