16

The Witcher: The last King of the elves

Chapter 16 - The Elven King

When an army of a hundred thousand beings moves, the noise it generates is anything but discreet.

Boom!

On the new borderlines marked by the elves, the hawks soaring through the skies immediately noticed the abnormality on the ground.

When the elven hunters received the information, they immediately called their team back to their territory and reported these events to Thranduil as soon as possible.

"An undead army is marching, and its route is headed here?" Thranduil, who was hunting monsters, received the news, and his expression suddenly turned serious.

This attack was completely different from the previous assaults by thousands of undead.

First of all, it was large-scale and aggressive in strength. Moreover, it was premeditated, and the purpose was very clear.

That’s why Thranduil hadn’t wanted to draw attention, but since there was no alternative, he mounted his steed and said to the elves around him, “We must return and organize the defense!”

As he told this to his soldiers, he waved his hand toward the sky in a circular motion, and suddenly a massive fireball flew into the air and then exploded, lighting up the entire sky.

Boom!

“And you won’t slow us down.” Thranduil then attacked the monsters around him that were lurking in the dark.

The wave of fire that formed after the explosion swept across an area with a radius of dozens of meters.

The undead creatures within this range were quickly burned to ashes.

Among these undead, some clearly had elven features. In that battle thousands of years ago, countless elves had died here.

Naturally, undead creatures with elven characteristics were also born. When they were alive, they were elves, but now, unfortunately, they were all ordinary undead creatures with no memory of their past lives.

All of them, without consciousness, charged at Thranduil at once, leaving him no choice but to pulverize their bodies.

While hunting, Thranduil could also feel the magical power in his body growing rapidly.

He not only gained something for himself but also shared the experience of killing enemies with other elves.

This is the benefit of increasing the number of his army and expanding the classes of soldiers he had.

The more types of soldiers he had in his ranks, the more monsters they could kill and, correspondingly, the more experience he would gain.

Even if he did nothing now and didn't go out hunting, it wouldn’t take long for his magic to continue growing by leaps and bounds—so much so that it could alter the laws of the world.

"According to the reports, there are at least tens of thousands of undead creatures... Besides, I can sense that many high-level undead are among them." Thranduil, returning to his territory, thought: "If I win this battle, the benefits I’ll gain will be immense."

…

Just as Thranduil returned to the territory, the elven troops had already gathered in the plaza.

Thousands of elves mounted on horses were at the front of the army. They were the only frontline troops Thranduil had for now.

Behind the riders, thousands of elven archers were lined up, and among them were the mages.

As for the huntresses riding on mountain leopards, they were scattered on both flanks of the legion.

The total size of the elven army exceeded eight thousand.

Vaguely, dozens of hawks circled the sky outside the plaza. They had been released by the hunters.

These spirit creatures, even in the total darkness of night, allowed the elven hunters to see what was happening around them thanks to their skills.

After all, they were not ordinary hawks, but magical creatures.

On one side of the elven army, a large number of leather bundles were stacked. These were the spoils brought back by each team of elves.

"Your Majesty!" A slender and well-proportioned elven mage approached Thranduil, greeted him with reverence, and said: "The army is assembled, and all the elves have drunk from the elven spring. Their magical power is at its peak, and they are ready to fight at any moment."

"Very good!" Thranduil praised the performance of his army, though it was to be expected that they were well prepared.

Haldir, as the supreme commander, had done a good job leading each of the military branches in Thranduil’s absence, who should not have been on the battlefield.

Moreover, the elven soldiers trained by the Tree of War were all elite troops who had experienced hundreds of battles.

Whether in individual combat or as a unit, they all possessed rich experience thanks to their heritage. Thranduil had no need to worry at all and could confidently leave the war in Haldir’s hands.

The only thing he needed to do was one thing: train more soldiers.

Train more soldiers!

At that moment, Thranduil began to tally up the harvest from each elven team.

The elven teams had collected a total of nearly 70,000 energy crystals and more than 30 magic cores.

The reason there were so few magic cores was that the enemies in the darkness were mainly undead creatures, and the hunting time had been too short.

According to the original plan, the elven army was supposed to hunt until around three in the morning before returning to the territory to rest.

It was barely ten at night, and they had only hunted for a few hours. “Almost 40,000 magic crystals. How many undead creatures can we kill now?"

“If the plan stays the same, wouldn’t we be able to collect at least 100,000 magic crystals in one night?” Thinking this, Thranduil suddenly felt in high spirits.

The number of troops under his command had increased dramatically, and the territory’s profits had also increased dramatically.

Once this wave of incoming undead hordes was eliminated, the snowball in his territory would roll even faster.

Then, Thranduil went to the ancient Tree of War, opened the information panel, and began training elven troops.

Including his own hunting gains, he now had a total of approximately 42,000 energy crystals.

“The number of enemies is too high, but their combat power shouldn't be that alarming. This is a good number to train my army.”

So this time, the training would focus on elven mages. Secondly, he would train a group of elven huntresses to primarily hunt those high-level undead.

In the end, Thranduil used the magic crystals to grant a heritage to each elf, leaving only a small amount behind.

In total, two hundred elven mages and twenty-four hunters were obtained.

At this point, the number of elven mages under his command reached three hundred, and the number of elven hunters reached nearly one hundred.

With this combat power, it would be enough to give the attacking undead a hard time.

Especially the three hundred elven mages, who were fully capable of inflicting great damage on the undead army.

One more word.

The elemental magic possessed by the elven mages is not the same.

A total of five elemental magic powers are included: wind, fire, water, earth, and wood.

Mainly the wood element.

Some are of other elements.

…

Time passed quickly.

Finally, the enemy appeared.

A hunter standing beside Thranduil, waiting while observing the battlefield, reported: “Your Majesty, the enemy vanguard has approached our territory, about 2,000 meters away. Moreover, the undead army has increased significantly.”

"Its total size is at least over 150,000!"

"I see." Upon hearing this, Thranduil was not surprised.

There were undead creatures everywhere outside. When a large undead army approaches, it's normal for it to bring such high numbers.

"Prepare for battle!"

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

"We will protect His Majesty to the death!" shouted Haldir, Commander of the Elves, in unison with fighting spirit.

His Majesty the Elven King is the spiritual pillar of the elves and their creator. Even in a desperate situation and destined to die on the battlefield, he will not take a single step back.

This is the supreme mission for which they were trained.

At that moment, Thranduil raised his sword and shouted in a deep voice: "I, the Elven King Thranduil of the Dark Forests, will be with all of you in this battle!"

"Praise His Majesty!!" The elves were extremely excited. Everyone knew that with the power of their king, they would win this battle.