The battle was over.
A large number of prisoners were held in the former military camp.
These prisoners had been disarmed and sat there with vacant eyes.
Many half-elf nobles were utterly bewildered.
They had no idea what had happened.
Things had clearly been going well for them before, yet in a single morning, they had spat out every gain they had made.
And not only their gains—even they themselves had completely lost their freedom.
In contrast stood Elendil.
He had led his men out of the city, and upon seeing the enemy's utter defeat, he finally let out a breath of relief.
This time, the Verdant Crystal Domain had truly come within a hair's breadth of being breached.
The situation had been dire before. Only now did Elendil truly relax.
The moment that breath left him, the already wounded and utterly exhausted Elendil went limp and collapsed to the ground.
When he awoke again, he was already back in the castle.
Elendil opened his eyes and saw the familiar bedroom. He abruptly sat up.
"Hiss!"
That movement tugged at every wound on his body.
He had not felt much during the battle.
But now, the pain nearly made Elendil pass out again.
"Lord Elendil, you're awake."
A gentle voice came from beside him.
Elendil whipped his head around. When he saw Charles, he finally relaxed.
Charles was sitting beneath the window, holding Felenlos's Travels in his hands.
Elendil only felt that his mouth was dry. He asked, "How long was I asleep?"
His voice was tense. "Did we... did you win?"
Charles put away the book and said with a faint smile, "No, not me. We won!"
"And you were not asleep for long, my lord. We only just returned."
Upon hearing the first half, Elendil nearly passed out