Such scenes played out ceaselessly on the city walls. Even the cave frost spiders ridden by the dark elf knights were not spared—their eight legs buckled beneath them, their compound eyes losing all luster before they were swallowed by the surging tide of soldiers…
Such terrifying results even caught Fantix off guard, despite having vaguely anticipated them from midair. "This toxin's potency is truly formidable! If it could be disseminated—"
His eyes blazed with excitement.
"It's not as simple as you imagine!" Leilin said with a bitter smile. "This is a concentrated plant essence I formulated specifically for the dark elves' physiology. It's non-toxic on its own, which is how it bypasses the anti-toxin defensive runes. But once it enters a dark elf's circulatory system, it undergoes a violent chemical reaction with their endocrine secretions within three seconds, producing a neurotoxin…"
"It's merely a roundabout approach—an element of surprise. Once this battle ends, the dark elves will certainly encode resistance to this essence into their defensive runes, rendering it useless!"
In truth, Leilin had drawn this inspiration from his research into his second-rank innate wizard spell—the Gall of Venom.
On the other hand, the Nature Alliance's earlier research materials on the dark elves had also given him considerable insight. He had used those materials to gain the Joint Council's approval before; now he had merely refined the approach further.
"Even so, Lord Leilin has undoubtedly surpassed us all in dark elf research!"
The female wizard's face showed undisguised admiration. Though Leilin had made it sound simple, producing a non-toxic essence that would rapidly turn lethal inside a dark elf's body—such a combination was something many master apothecaries might never invent in a lifetime.
All of this spoke volumes about Leilin's extraordinary command of Potionology and his profound understanding of the dark elves.
"After this, I'm afraid I'll have to study the works you've left with the Joint Council…"
A smile appeared on the female wizard's face.
"Your interest is most welcome. If you could offer additional perspectives, that would be even more of an honor," Leilin said modestly. "But now is not the time for such discussion—the matron mothers on the other side look ready to make their move!"
He pointed toward the dark elf encampment and, sensing the spiritual power in the air condensing to its peak, spoke with a faint smile.
"They're truly getting desperate. They could strike at any moment—let's prepare!"
Fantix drew a black gentleman's cane from somewhere, its tip set with a diamond the size of a hen's egg that blazed with dazzling light.
Leilin smiled without a word.
Nearly three thousand elite frost spider knights—half the dark elves' total deployment on the entire eastern front. If they weren't panicking now, that would be the real surprise.
In an instant, dense dark energy particles converged, and powerful waves of wizard magic erupted from the opposite side.
"Black Spring Deluge!"
At the sound of a melodious feminine voice, massive quantities of moisture formed above Dolun City. A torrential downpour of black raindrops followed.
Where the black raindrops met the red mist, a hissing sound erupted. Both substances dissolved into charred pus that splattered to the ground, revealing the barely surviving frost spider knights beneath.
Leilin's toxin attack was devastatingly effective against ordinary frost spider knights of only Great Knight strength, but official wizards of the first rank could resist it using their own radiated energy.
As for the second-rank matron mothers? It had long since stopped working on them.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground split open. Countless black strands of hair surged from beneath, coiling around the surviving frost spider knights like small snakes, then yanking them backward.
In a single instant, the black hair withdrew over a dozen miles, pulling the knights to safety.
But even so, the frost spider knight order had lost more than half its numbers.
"You—" Several furious voices rang out from above the encampment. The dark mist dispersed, revealing the faces of three dark elf matron mothers.
Leilin studied them.
These dark elf matron mothers were faithful inheritors of their race's traditions—all strikingly beautiful. They wore leather-like garments that exposed vast expanses of snow-white skin and voluptuous figures, and each carried a barbed whip.
"Hmm! Very much the S&M dominatrix style from my previous life!" Leilin mentally rolled his eyes.
But at that moment, the three matron mothers across from him had clearly reached their breaking point. Dangerous magic coalesced in their hands.
"You dare violate the accord and attack?!"
Fantix stroked his cane, his expression serene and unreadable.
"Humans! You dare use such despicable tactics against our brave warriors? I will sever your heads and offer them as tribute to Her Majesty!"
The central matron mother spoke without so much as acknowledging Fantix's accusation, her words delivered in the Dark Apex tongue. She was the most provocatively dressed of the three—golden rings pierced through the red buds atop her ample chest, radiating an aura of strange seduction.
"Heh heh! Since when did the dark elves—renowned for their cunning and treachery—start accusing others of dishonorable methods?"
Leilin hadn't even spoken before the female wizard beside him let out a cold laugh.
"Enough talk! Attack!" Leilin barked.
Vast dark qi surged from his hands, coalescing behind him into the silhouette of a massive black serpent that enveloped one of the matron mothers.
Staying here had allowed him the occasional rest day, free from real danger—but it had grown tedious. Now Leilin intended to settle things once and for all, then return to carry out his own plans.
"Counterattack!"
Fantix sneered as he sent a message through his secret magical imprint.
"Counterattack!" "Counterattack!" "Counterattack!"
Waves of battle cries erupted from the city walls. The gates of Dolun City, shut tight for so long, burst open with a thunderous crash as knights and wizards poured forth, charging toward the dark elf encampment.
After the earlier battles and the toxin assault, the dark elves' elite forces had been grievously wounded and were in full retreat. The tide had turned decisively in humanity's favor.
Leilin paid little attention to the battle below. After launching his probing assault, he had begun luring one of the matron mothers away, searching for suitable terrain.
A dark elf matron mother was equivalent in strength to a second-rank human wizard. Facing such an opponent, Leilin could not afford carelessness.
Moreover, second-rank wizard spells vastly exceeded the first rank in destructive power and range. The fact that the matron mother followed him without resistance showed she, too, wished to avoid unnecessary casualties.
After all, human and dark elf forces were now locked in close combat below. Any large-scale attack would inevitably strike both sides.
Given humanity's prodigious birth rate compared to the dark elves' miserable fertility, any such exchange would clearly favor the humans.
In truth, watching the two forces clash below, this matron mother's heart was already bleeding.
Humanity's reproductive capacity was terrifying. The dark elves required a minimum of three hundred years to reach maturity—the gap was simply too vast. Knights and Great Knights could be replaced swiftly, but every dark elf lost was one fewer forever, and the losses were nearly impossible to make up.
Furthermore, the fact that this sector of the front had been entrusted to her meant that at least a third of the dark elves below belonged to her family—her own descendants and bloodline.
"Here will do!"
Leilin led the dark elf matron mother to a plain not far from Dolun City.
Along the plain's edge, a few sparse human settlements were still visible, though their inhabitants had long since evacuated. Overgrown roads wound through weeds—there was no risk of collateral damage.
"My name is Alyssa. You may know it!"
The dark elf matron mother had now fully regained her composure. After all, the one she faced was an equal.
Leilin looked at the dark elf woman before him, clad in revealing leather, and a faint smile crossed his face. "I am Leilin."
Crack!
Even as he spoke with a smile, Leilin's body shot backward, narrowly dodging a phantom spider.
The spider phantom seemed to materialize directly from empty space, its compound eyes a vivid, vicious green. Its mandibles snapped shut on the spot where Leilin had just been standing, producing a sharp crack.
"Do all matron mothers enjoy this sort of trick?"
Leilin found it somewhat exasperating.
"As for outsiders, we see no need to honor any compact! As for you—if you're willing to defect to us, I would gladly convert your bloodline into my own family's lineage, and grant you rewards beyond your imagination!"
The matron mother licked her crimson lips, deliberately accentuating her alluring figure with an unmistakable suggestion.
"Heh… more seductive energy," Leilin shook his head.
His vast spiritual power simply repelled the foreign influence.
"Scorching Touch!" He scattered a handful of crimson powder, and two beams of searing red energy—powerful enough to make Alyssa's expression shift—tore through space, arriving before her in an instant.
"Anderslay!" Alyssa intoned, and a white shield materialized before her, its surface etched with a spiderweb pattern.
Bang! Bang!
The two scorching rays struck the shield one after the other, producing sounds that set teeth on edge.
Hairline cracks spread instantly across the shield's surface.
Crack! Then, before Alyssa's stunned gaze, the white shield shattered into countless fragments of steel that scattered in every direction.
"This shield was forged from metal ore found in symbiosis with the Cave Frost Spider Emperor! You actually broke it!" Alyssa's eyes held even deeper wariness as she regarded Leilin.
"
"I'm afraid I see no sincerity in your proposal."
Leilin responded coldly, silver spiritual power streaming from his hands.
He was not a man governed by lust, and besides—betrayal carried far too high a price for far too meager a reward.