Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 971 - 679: Retreating Troops

Demacia:...

"Sophia, my lady, please don’t look at me like I’m trash, okay? I really am a master in spreading faith!"

He looked helpless.

After hearing Demacia’s words, Sophia remained silent, just looking at him expressionlessly.

And just as Demacia was feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, thinking he was doomed again, the girl suddenly spoke:

"I’ll believe you this time."

"Uh... huh?!"

Demacia was slightly taken aback.

Then he rejoiced:

"Really?!"

"No, it’s only because Lord Li Mu vouched for you."

The girl continued.

Demacia:...

Looking at the red-haired warrior with a wistful expression, Sophia sighed:

"Lord Demacia, if you were more composed, I think you might be more popular than you are now, and easier for people to trust."

"These soldiers are entrusted to you. I’m going to check on the surrendering nobles, please don’t let me down."

After speaking, the girl left the place where the captured soldiers were held.

Leaving two players staring at each other.

"How do you plan to handle these soldiers?"

Li Mu looked at Demacia, asking with a peculiar expression.

Demacia glanced at the soldiers filling the courtyard and chuckled:

"The usual, just like with the Half-Beasts, a complete brainwashing package."

"What about those who can’t be brainwashed? Will you take them back to work as miners?"

"Naturally, but they must spit on the statue before leaving. It’s uncertain if the Evil God will have additional punishment for followers who spit... hopefully, they’ll still be alive after spitting."

Li Mu:...

...

Leaving the courtyard where the soldiers were held, Sophia quickly entered the fortress castle.

In the not-so-badly damaged castle hall, a group of much more lavishly dressed nobles was squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands, just like the soldiers outside.

They were the leaders and supporters of the Red Maple Garrison, some surrendered with the soldiers, and others were captured by furious commoners with elves.

Some... Sophia even saw a few familiar faces.

Those were the nobles she had seen in Zelolan before.

As the girl noticed those people, they also quickly recognized her.

Several surprised voices instantly sounded among the nobles:

"Sophia, miss? Is it you?! I am Baron Elf! I have met you in Zelolan!"

"Miss Sophia, have you become a Life believer? I am Milov! I’ve seen you at your father’s party!"

"Great! I didn’t expect it to really be you! It’s a misunderstanding... this is all a misunderstanding! We were also forced by that despicable Evil God!"

"Yes indeed!"

"Please tell the elves, we’re willing to pledge loyalty!"

Looking at these pale-faced but forcibly cheerful nobles, Sophia suddenly felt exhausted.

She didn’t directly respond to them but silently used the Eye of Faith to identify their beliefs.

Most were green.

Green... means unbelievers.

For this result, the girl was not surprised at all.

Sincere believers among the nobles were rare, most were actually shallow believers.

As for those who surrendered now, the vast majority were fence-sitters, "pretending to convert, repenting later" was their most commonly used excuse after being captured post-Holy War defeat.

Now that they have become prisoners, abandoning the faith in Evil God is the most normal choice.

These things, they do more skillfully than those soldiers who might struggle with basic writing in the common tongue.

However, if one day Evil God believers capture them again, they might change once more...

This is the most real face of the nobility.

For most of them, their own survival, unchanged status, power, and wealth remaining unaffected is the most important.

However, after witnessing it time and again, Sophia already understood that for the nobles, merely seeing the glow of faith is not enough.

Without hesitation, she also cast Detect Evil...

This was the first time the girl used this magic in front of the nobles.

During her time in Zelolan, her father strictly forbade her from using this spell on nobles.

As the girl moved, magic power spread over the surrendering nobles.

Above their heads, corresponding halos appeared one after another.

The halo, mostly as black as ink, stood in stark contrast to the soldiers seen before.

Seeing this, a trace of disappointment flickered in Sofia’s eyes.

Still, the young girl was too tired to say anything more.

After all... to retain one’s position under the control of the Evil God, even reaching the leadership of the army, it doesn’t take much thought to figure out what kind of being one must be.

"Leave them all to be disposed of by Lord Demacia, from now on... there will be no nobles in Augus City!"

She looked indifferently at the nobles, speaking expressionlessly.

Seeing the girl’s cold demeanor, the nobles’ expressions changed one after another.

"Miss Sofia! No... Lady Sofia, what are you doing?!"

"Lady Sofia... we are innocent! It is all the Evil God’s fault!"

Listening to the wails of the nobles, a trace of disgust flickered in Sofia’s eyes.

She no longer cared for these fallen figures and turned to leave.

After the girl left, the players who received the order chuckled coldly, tied up these nobles with Magic Prohibition Chains, and sent them to Demacia...

...

After dealing with the surrendered soldiers and nobles, Sofia officially took over Augus City.

Of course, it was temporarily under the administration of the Elf Clan.

The war had not yet ended, the propagation of faith had just begun, and the property left by the nobles needed to be dealt with, among other things.

The future was long, but for now, the most important thing was to reclaim the entire Fengye Territory and spread the Goddess’s faith to every corner...

After capturing Augus City, the players also busily repaired the defensive works and formally welcomed the Goddess statue into the city.

With the statue, they could activate the divine defense barrier, allowing players to defend the city with peace of mind.

Of course, they also did not forget to construct a Teleportation Array in the city, directly connecting to Grey Harbor.

Although it’s quite far from Grey Harbor, the long-distance Teleportation Array still worked reasonably well.

These tasks didn’t require too many people.

So, after leaving some players to defend Augus City, the rest set off once more, heading magnificently towards the heart of Fengye Territory...

This blitzkrieg continued.

...

Western Domain, Morningstar City.

On the high city walls, traces of the recent battle still lingered, while outside the walls, the soldier’s bodies had yet to be dealt with.

With the ongoing war between the Empire and Fengye Territory, this place had long become the warfront.

Red Maple King Ao Tuo had been leading a large army to besiege the city for days, and the capital of the Western Domain was already on the brink of collapse.

Morningstar City, in the Temporary City Lord Mansion.

A skinny young man looked worriedly at the map spread before him.

He was the current City Lord of Morningstar City, Count Misi, also the lord of the Western Domain, the unfortunate one whose mansion was destroyed by a Black Dragon.

"It’s been three days already, when will the Empire’s reinforcements arrive?"

He frowned as he looked at the messenger in the hall.

The messenger respectfully replied:

"Count Sir, Duke Sir has already dispatched troops for support, at most another day, and they’ll be here."

Here, Duke didn’t refer to Duke Rosen.

Following the death of the last Duke Rosen in battle and the annihilation of the expeditionary force, the Rosen family had been stripped of the command of the Guard Corps by the Imperial Council...

Of course, there was no army to command anyway.

The Duke referred to by the messenger is the new Marshal of the expeditionary force, one of the seven Electoral Princes, Duke of Borrenzia, Commander of the Empire’s Second Guard Army.

"A day, is it? That’s good..."

Count Misi let out a sigh of relief.

Morningstar City of the Western Domain is not a stronghold.

If the rebels were to continue besieging for another two days, the city might fall.

But before Count Misi could catch his breath, another trusted aide hurriedly rushed into the hall:

"Count Sir! Count Sir!"

Seeing the trusted aide enter the room, Count Misi felt a pang in his heart.

But when he saw the other’s excited expression, he felt a slight stir in his heart:

"What happened?! Have the reinforcements already arrived?!"

His expression bore a hint of expectancy.

"No, it’s not!"

The trusted aide took a breath, speaking excitedly:

"They’ve retreated! The rebels have retreated!"

"Retreated?"

For a moment, Count Misi was a bit confused.