Reorganization

Standing on the city wall, watching the undead creatures running rampant throughout the city, Li Lin couldn't help but rub his forehead.

Although he could also control these undead soldiers, as the saying goes, "Only when you're in charge do you realize the cost of firewood and rice." Normally, Li Lin watched Angela command the undead army as if it were child's play, so he hadn't taken it too seriously. But now, as he tried to control this sizable Scourge Legion himself, Li Lin realized how difficult it was. While necromancy also had spells to create undead minions, the limitations of Magic Power restricted his control, preventing him from achieving the unlimited reproduction that Angela did. However, the pressure Li Lin was currently facing from the undead army wasn't technical, but rather mental.

Although the bodies of the undead army were completely decayed, their souls had not departed. Anger, fear, and other negative emotions surged towards Li Lin like a raging river. Especially when they began to fight, their intense killing intent and destructive power were completely uncontrollable. Li Lin had to use his own power to forcibly suppress their reactions in order to keep this undead army under his command. This siege was initiated by Li Lin, both to ensure that no one outside could detect any internal problems and to test his skills in controlling undead creatures.

But the battle had barely begun when Li Lin sensed something was terribly wrong. The fighting spirit that surged within him, faced with his prey and the undead creatures, overwhelmed him. Like a dog suddenly breaking free of its leash and running wildly, he was no longer under command, acting solely on instinct. Thus, it immediately devolved into a chaotic and undisciplined massacre. Only when the undead creatures temporarily satisfied their killing urges did Li Lin finally have a chance to regain control.

This is incredibly troublesome.

After making a general assessment of the situation, Li Lin felt somewhat helpless. He had never imagined that the Scourge Legion would be so troublesome—how did Angela manage to do it in the first place?

Fortunately, Li Lin didn't come away empty-handed from this experiment. Although the undead creatures would become quite excited during battle, they would obediently follow orders after the battle ended, as long as they weren't attacked. Now, Li Lin could use the part of his Angela within him to issue relatively simple commands to these undead creatures that they would always obey.

"Do not leave the city; remain where you are."

Li Lin closed his eyes and used the contract to project his power in all directions. Soon, the undead creatures began to gather. They leaped over the city walls and entered the city, wandering among the corpses and flames without any emotion, or hiding in dark corners, waiting for the next command. In this respect, they were not much different from semi-automated robots—although the program sometimes malfunctioned, they were generally easy to control.

After confirming that no undead creatures were wandering outside, Li Lin opened the portal and returned to his room. Angela might get along well with these undead creatures, but for Li Lin, a comfortable bedroom was the most comfortable place.

"Ah, Lady Luoxia."

The voice and that name that no one had called for so long rang in his ears again. Come to think of it, after a thousand years, there was only one person who still called him that.

"Nisi, how is it?"

Looking at the elven mage who respectfully stood up and bowed to him, Li Lin couldn't help but smile with relief. Although according to custom, Nisi shouldn't address him that way anymore—though it wasn't mature enough—she had become Arcane Mage, and in terms of status, they were now of equal rank. It wasn't good to maintain a hierarchy among equals. However, Nisi clearly had no intention of giving up the title. She didn't even Li Lin by his new name like the others. Perhaps, for this elf, this form of address brought back the harmonious and reassuring feeling of the past.

I'm trying.

The work of Arcane Mage involves much more than just studying spells.

It was only after becoming Arcane Mage that Nisi understood this principle. She spent most of her time handling the affairs of the Magic Empire. As an elf and a mage, Nisi hadn't yet learned to adapt to her new identities. Much of her upbringing dictated that she couldn't go against the interests of the Elven Kingdom, but her current status and power also constrained her emotions. Frankly, Nisi was very unwilling to make decisions that would harm one side while benefiting the other. Therefore, when Li Lin asked her to temporarily focus on the internal affairs of the Magic Empire, Nisi breathed a sigh of relief—at least she didn't have to consider the relationship between elves and mages for the time being.

However, this task is actually quite challenging.

Because the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys were all absent, the tasks on Nisi's shoulders were even heavier than when Li Lin was there. She not only had to take care of patrol and defense, but also deal with various problems arising within the magic academy. At the same time, she also had to confirm the applications submitted by the research mages regarding the manufacturing materials for new magical weapons. Well, as an Evocation Mage, she had never been good at enchanting or construct creation.

Although this was giving Nisi a headache, she persisted in dealing with it. Fortunately, the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys had almost finished handling their affairs before leaving. Anna's assassination squad was currently assassinating high-ranking officials in Kudel and Lalia, causing chaos everywhere. The former Dark Elf priest, who had once been the top student in the priestly academy, was clearly a good captain. Under her leadership, the assassination squad would quickly paralyze the political and economic system of a region, and then swiftly withdraw before the undead army arrived. After all, they knew very well that those undead creatures did not distinguish between friend and foe.

Miu'erkasi's Black Peak Knights have also temporarily suspended training. Without orders, the undead knights would simply sit on their horses like robots, waiting idly. As long as the entire area is sealed off, there's no fear of them causing trouble. Conversely, the tasks assigned to Nia, Suoxiate, and Yi Aier are much more troublesome—the internal management of the academy, the immigrants arriving from the City of a Thousand Towers, and the research and production of new construct magic weapons. These are all very troublesome problems. With the increasing population of Ringwraith City, reports of disputes and incidents frequently come from the patrols that should be led by Kalin. Fortunately, under the pressure of the Arcane Mage, no one has dared to cause any major trouble.

Li Lin was well aware that while his mages could handle many of the problems themselves, they clearly didn't trust Nisi, the newly appointed Arcane Mage. Most of the mages working in Ringwraith City were those bound by Li Lin a thousand years ago and reborn a millennium later. Many of them had watched this little elf girl grow up. Therefore, they doubted whether Nisi could shoulder the responsibilities of Arcane Mage, and the challenges Nisi faced now could be seen as a test for them.

However, Li Lin didn't want to interfere too much, since this was something Nisi would have to go through sooner or later, and for now, maturing early would be helpful for her.

"However, Lady Luoxia, I just received a report from the Magic Weapon Construct Department."

Nisi glanced at Li Lin's tired face with some concern, then hesitated before pulling out a document from the pile of papers on her desk.

"It appears that the new weapon has been completed. Please take a look."

"I see."

Li Lin nodded, reached out and took the book from Nisi, while the elf looked at the mage with some unease, hesitated for a moment, and then asked.

"Lord Luoxia, has something happened?"

Why would you think that?

Li Lin stopped and stared at Nisi in front of him.

"Because..."

Facing Li Lin's gaze, Nisi hesitated for a moment. Although she had grown a lot in the past thousand years, sometimes, deep down she was still that elven girl. Nothing had changed.

"Because Sister Nia... Miss Nia and the others have all gone out, and you're busy with other things, so these important matters have to be handled by me..."

"You're an Arcane Mage now, Nisi."

Li Lin smiled and interrupted Nisi.

"This is a process you inevitably have to go through... Speaking of which, we were in the same boat before. We thought establishing a country would be a simple matter, just gathering a group of people. But after establishing the country, we found that there were a ton of things to do, and it was even a bit annoying. However, once you get used to it, you'll find that it's not actually that serious."

At this point, Li Lin paused, seemingly hesitating whether to tell Nisi the actual situation, but in the end he just shrugged.

"Indeed, there's been some trouble. I think you understand what happened with Nia, but you don't need to worry about this. Hmm... I don't think it's something for you to worry about. Although you've performed quite well in killing enemies as an Arcane Mage, I think you're not yet able to set aside the natural principles of elves to consider other matters, so leave these to me."

Nisi fell silent. She was no longer that little girl, but Nisi had to admit that Li Lin's words made sense. After all, before becoming a mage, she had been an elf. And to this day, she had not yet found a balance between her dual identities as a mage and an elf.

Don't worry so much.

Li Lin patted Nisi on the shoulder.

"If things go well with Nia, they'll be back soon, and then you'll be relieved."

If Nia heard what Li Lin said, she would definitely tell him very seriously that things weren't going well.

Almost every elf stopped what they were doing, closing their eyes and covering their ears to block out the white light and roar that seemed poised to destroy the world. Although they were still quite a distance from the battlefield as reinforcements, some things had already transcended the boundaries of space and distance.

"Done!"

Gazing at the now empty space before her, now just a large, sunken patch of land, Yi Aier clenched her fists in excitement, her golden twin tails swaying with the movement.

"See that? That's my power—convenient, quick, and no need to deal with the aftermath! One shot and it's over. Nothing could be more amazing!"

"She's clearly a girl, yet she likes shooting so much. What's she going to do in the future? A young girl's modesty, her modesty... Besides, you don't have anything to shoot at other people, do you... Never mind."

Kalin rubbed her ears. Although watching Yi Aier's bombardment up close was always a shocking experience, it would be a loss if she damaged her ears as well.

Yi Aite's tactics were indeed surprisingly effective. In just a few days, they had destroyed three villages and towns. The elves even skipped the step of summoning plants to cover the houses and corpses—the villages and towns, blasted away by pure Magic Power cannons, left not only no corpses, but not even a single brick or tile. They were as clean as the cream decorations wiped off a cake, with nothing left.

"However, our plan is not going smoothly."

Nia gripped her staff, gazing around with a worried expression.

The Divine Envoys of the Seven Sages had not appeared in these attacks, causing Nia some anxiety. Their initial intelligence was unclear, and while Nisi, the sole source of information, was unlikely to lie, this was still an isolated incident. These creatures hadn't appeared on other battlefields, leading Nia to suspect they might simply be experimental weapons, already moved elsewhere. If so, they were wasting their time. While wasting time wasn't a major issue given the current situation, only Nia knew Angela had disappeared, and Li Lin's takeover of the Undead Legion seemed to be progressing less smoothly than expected. Therefore, Nia was starting to worry about these fruitless raids.

"But after all this time, we still haven't seen a glimpse of the enemy."

Nia wasn't the only one with this idea.

Miu'erkasi gripped the hilt of her sword and spoke solemnly.

"I think we should change our approach."

"Do you mean we have to split up?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Aier's face turned pale instantly. If there was one among the seven who was least adept at acting alone, it would undoubtedly be her.

"Of course not."

Suoxiate still wore the same smile as always, but this time her tone became somewhat hurried.

"However, I also agree with Miu'erkasi's opinion. Although it's possible we've just been unlucky, I think the reason they haven't shown up yet is probably because our attack has been too successful."

"Too... smooth... out...?"

Anna tilted her head curiously, repeating the head maid's words, clearly not understanding what it meant. Wasn't everything going smoothly a good thing? Why would anyone say it was bad?

"That's right."

Suoxiate smiled and held up a finger, then pointed to the empty space in front of her. She then looked at Yi Aier with a hint of reproach. Sensing something unspoken in her gaze, the previously cheerful maid involuntarily shivered, stopped speaking, and anxiously watched her head maid, wondering what she had done wrong this time.

"Look at this, everyone. Such a clean and efficient attack, not even a single person escaped to report it... Isn't that the problem?"

I see.

Although Yi Aier's attack beautifully destroyed everything, it also inadvertently shut down communication. While these villages and towns had previously maintained connections, after the war with the elves began, they essentially adopted a defensive, turtle-shell-like tactic. In previous wars, although the elves, relying on Nisi's legendary magic, could inflict heavy casualties on humans, a few lucky ones would always manage to escape. But Yi Aier's bombardment was completely different; it was pure, area-of-effect destruction. No one had enough time to react, and escaping the terrifying energy was virtually impossible. With the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys possessing the greatest destructive power, even a fully protected mage couldn't withstand Yi Aier's bombardment head-on, let alone ordinary people who didn't even understand magic and had no protection whatsoever.

In normal times, a village going silent for days might arouse suspicion, but this is wartime, communication is underdeveloped, and most people have already evacuated to the rear to escape the fighting, so there's no time to pay attention. Besides, our progress is too fast; at this rate, we won't lure them out. Sometimes, we need to give them time and opportunity to prepare... Since we can't find them, let them come to us.

Therefore, while Yi Aier's suggestion wasn't entirely wrong, the problem was that she overlooked just how terrifying her wide-area destructive power truly was.

Or it was simply ignored on purpose.

"That could indeed be the reason."

Nia clearly agreed with Suoxiate's assessment. While launching a preemptive attack wasn't inherently wrong, eliminating enemies too thoroughly could also be problematic...

"Kalin."

"What is it, Nia?"

"Go and inform the elven forces in the rear that I will lead them in the next attack against the humans. You all stay in the rear and do not act rashly."

Ultimately, Nia made her decision.