"Such severe damage could have been avoided! Thousands of people! Thousands of our tribe will never return!" "It's all because of you, you old fool! If it weren't for you insisting those beastmen were pursuers, how could this have happened?" "You're no different, you damn old fool. Who was it that incited those young ones back then?" "It's you, it's you, it's all you!" "You should be responsible for the death of those thousands!" At this moment, within the Secret Realm of the Elf Kingdom, the Elf Elder Council is mired in disputes. The elders are arguing fiercely, almost coming to blows. Since the elf prisoners returned to deliver the message to the remaining elves of the kingdom, the entire meeting has persisted in such a manner. When the Blue Young Dragon's influence spread within the Elf Kingdom after the war, all the remaining elves experienced a mix of surprise, relief, and then anger. The surprise stemmed from realizing that the attackers this time were not their old mortal enemies, not dispatched pursuers from the core region's traitors, stirring up a sense of post-crisis relief. But simultaneously, they were angered by the brutal war caused by a misunderstanding, with only one-third of the elves escaping back after the final battle. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝※𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖※𝕟𝕖𝕥 The misjudgment led to massive losses. Originally, there were better solutions that could have been implemented. But now, the Elf Kingdom has been driven further into the abyss. The catastrophic war failure demands accountability, yet, at this moment, the highest decision-making body of the Elf Kingdom, the Elder Council, is caught in chaos, elders pushing blame, abusing each other. With the enemy impending, the council is on the verge of collapse. In the conference hall, the Elf Queen sits high on the throne, gazing at the quarreling elders below with bewilderment on her flawless, alabaster face. Before the war began, launching the assault was the result of a unanimous decision by the elders. Seeing the dispute continuing for three days and nights, the Elf Queen had no choice but to step forward. "Everyone, please stop quarreling. This time, it was my fault. As the queen of the tribe, I failed to carefully consider before making a decision. The order for battle was given by me, and all responsibility lies with me." The Elf Queen's words signified that she was taking all the blame for the war upon herself. Her face revealed silent anguish and regret. If, from the start, she hadn't given the order to commence the battle but had insisted on investigating thoroughly before making a decision, the casualties in this war wouldn't have been so severe. As the Elf Queen finished speaking, the conference hall fell into silence. Actually, everyone knew that each of them present bore some responsibility, but since the Queen was taking all the blame upon herself, there was no need to push it further. "Elders, let's focus on the warning from that dragon. Three days have passed." The Elf Queen said softly, burying her sorrow deep in her heart. The topic finally shifted to the serious matter at hand. Yet, this time, the argument was even more intense than before, with several short-tempered elders leaping up, slamming their palms on the table. "We absolutely cannot surrender! After so many people have died, to ultimately bow to that ridiculous dragon is simply disgraceful!" "No matter what, we retain the dignity of royal lineage; surrendering to a group of Wild Tribe is unacceptable—we'd rather starve, fall from the Mother Tree and die, than surrender!" "But that Blue Young Dragon and its army are still camped outside; how can we deal with them?" "We have the Mother Tree, the Secret Realm; the kingdom is our home ground! And we have the royal Sacred Artifact—if those Wild Tribes dare to invade, the kingdom's depth is enough to destroy them!" Surrendering is not an option! They feared those damn traitors only because the traitors knew their own depths and would come with restricting means. But a mere Blue Young Dragon imagining it could obliterate them? Absolutely impossible! Within the Elder Council, a decision was made on Austin's final notice. Despite one or two dissenting voices, they were of little consequence. How could the bloodline of the ancient royal lineage truly surrender to a Wild Dragon and a group of beastmen? Indeed, Wild Dragon and beastmen. The once noble members of the Elf Royal Court, occupying the richest lands in the core region, ruling over millions of square kilometers, were entitled to look disdainfully upon the crude beastmen struggling at the fringes of the Kawa Great Forest. Those lowly beastmen creatures appeared to the proud elven citizens as beasts—pigs and dogs. Much like how city folk might regard country bumpkins from remote areas, the pride here is magnified hundreds, thousands of times between elves and wild, barbaric beastmen. An elder, with a proud expression, exclaimed loudly in the conference hall: "That dragon imagines we'll surrender and serve—it simply cannot happen. He'll need to break the Secret Realm Space upheld by the Mother Tree first..." Before the words were finished, Suddenly, a faint cracking sound spread quickly. Though faint, this sound traveled throughout the Secret Realm Space where the Elf Kingdom resided, clearly reaching every creature's ears. No matter what they were doing or discussing, they heard this not loud but clear ice-breaking sound. The elves looked up at the sky in confusion, tracing the sound's origin. The sky has collapsed! Every elf who witnessed this opened their mouths wide, astonishment beyond verbal description. But lo and behold, the sky was like a massive block of ice, with cracks spreading across like a spider web, emitting a crisp cracking noise. The shattered fragments fell like snowflakes from the sky, resembling a heavy snowfall. Amazement, shock, fear—countless emotions arose from the scene. The spread of cracks did not last long, only for a moment, It was as if a sheet of glass was smashed by an Iron Hammer, and the sky abruptly collapsed, revealing a huge opening, where fragments fell swiftly like hail, accompanied by a massive, fearsome dragon claw glowing a ghostly blue, tearing through. At the center of the claw, a huge azure energy light ball gradually dissipated. That was the energy light ball that shattered the barrier! Bolts of lightning cracked across the sky, as clouds gathered at the horizon without warning, the entire space whipped into a frenzy, swirling with sand and stones. The daylight dimmed across the entire realm, a pressure beyond description slowly spread out, filling every corner of the space. Like a looming storm, yet the oppression surpassed by thousands, tens of thousands of times!