Chapter 66: It's Better to Meet Than to Miss

  With a glance at the two girls, the tacit understanding that had already been formed made it unnecessary for Mide to say more. He simply nodded lightly and walked out of the training ground with big strides.

  In the great hall of the Autumn Ancient Castle villa, the generals and commanders had been waiting for a long time.

  In the front row are Bartholomew, Klausi, Siegmond and Lilian's trusted elite.

  Then came the elders of the sprite tribes, the generals of the territorial defense forces, the personal guards of the family castles, and the city lords of the major cities within the territory.

  Everyone gathered together and even filled up the large hall of the villa.

  Feeling the gaze of expectation from the crowd, Midy slowly swept his calm and collected eyes around, cleared his throat, and finally spoke up.

  "Article one, martial law is declared nationwide. The four thousand troops stationed at the border immediately enter combat readiness. Anyone attempting to invade, regardless of identity or whether they are human or monster, will be killed without mercy. The remaining three thousand main force troops patrol the territory, and any discovered monster dens will be annihilated; arsonists will be annihilated; incendiaries will be annihilated. Another one thousand troops garrison the ancient city of Autumn, ready to strike at any moment."

  Three words, "Kill without pardon", suddenly lowered the temperature of the entire hall by a few degrees, and also made everyone understand that this was how much the true mastermind of the Asrelex family valued the fire that had started outside the duchy.

  "Krusty." Middy spoke up again.

  The 32-level spirit warrior stood upright like a spear.

  "Gather the Night Blade Leopard Cavalry, along with the remaining elite, a total of two thousand people, and follow us to the Forest of Gran. Let's first pick up the spiritual brethren of the five major tribes." Midy said, casting his gaze backwards, meeting the eyes of the Bullet Queen and the Fog Witch.

  At the same time, there were not a few aristocratic lords who took action like Mi Di.

  After all, the territory is the foundation of a family, taxes, resources, talents, food, military strength and magic veins, everything comes from the land itself. Unless it's a young master with no ambition, whether it's a small baron or a high-ranking marquis or duke, they can't stay in the castle and watch their territory be turbulent under their noses.

  There are not a few nobles who can predict the threat of the great fire to their territory, but there are almost no lords who can truly suppress the turmoil brought by the great fire.

  The fire was too large in scale.

  The army of the long peaceful Principality of Bellmard was really too small.

  With the terrible fire, countless monsters of doubled ranks rushed out of the forest, with scorched earth behind them. Retreat would only lead to being burned or starved to death, so they charged forward without any hesitation.

  The spirits rose from the sleeping graveyard, they stripped off the dirt that had been covering the coffin for many years, towards the sky, stretched out their withered arms and opened their voiceless mouths, silently screaming. Many cities were not bad in defense, but were directly attacked by the spirits from inside.

  What's worse, those inconspicuous low-level monsters that were originally scattered throughout the country, such as goblins and cat demons, also possessed powers that could rival those of 10th-level soldiers.

  Perhaps a level 10 is nothing, but the enormous number of these little monsters makes them the largest stone weighing on the heads of the nobles.

  In comparison, after several hundred years of peace, the lords' armies were not numerous, with not only a small number of people but also inadequate equipment maintenance and seriously insufficient training.

  Moreover, the army was originally not suitable for small-scale warfare. Faced with this situation where fires were popping up everywhere and needing to be put out all over the place, every single general had turned white-haired overnight.

  The soldiers had to split into countless small squads and go to different places to fight, but the training they received made it impossible for them to compare with adventurers who were accustomed to fighting in squadrons all year round.

  Moreover, most of the soldiers were ordinary humans without any divine assistance, unable to sense the pulse of magic or receive the blessings of holy light. Relying solely on their long swords, they struggled to cope with monsters that possessed various new abilities.

  There are even places where the soldiers sent out were completely annihilated by monsters.

  The entire Principality of Bellmare was thrown into an uproar in an instant.

  A family with a profound foundation, at this moment, showed their strong strength accumulated over hundreds of years. The Hamilton family, which was presided over by the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke, need not be mentioned, and even the Seth family, who had suffered a disastrous defeat just three months ago, also showed unusual calmness and composure in the face of this great disaster.

  Moreover, those marquessates which were next only to grand dukedoms were relatively much quieter.

  In these territories that have been in operation for several centuries, the monsters were originally cleared out, and with a complete military system, supplemented by sufficient financial resources to hire adventurers, it is natural to be able to stand still.

  But among all the noble territories, the one that surprises and even shocks people is a county.

  The territory of the Aslex family!

  Being able to suppress the monster's offensive was a feat, but it wasn't enough to surprise anyone, however, Miti's choice far exceeded the nobles' imagination.

  He actually sent troops directly and entered the Gran Forest where no one dared to enter!

  Do you want to lure us into attacking and winning another victory? Don't dream about it!

  The generals of the Sais family sneered, ordering their troops to be on high alert along the border. After annexing the Joseph family, Asrecks was now adjacent to Sais, and who knows what kind of trouble that little black-haired brat would stir up in these turbulent times.

  Better keep your eyes wide open, lest you lose a few more mines!

  What special resources and treasures are there in that forest?

  There are other noble guesses, but after years of experience, it doesn't seem like it. After all, it's just the edge of Granzen Forest, what good things can there be? Even if there were, they would have been cleaned up by the Elf Kingdom hundreds of years ago.

  In fact, Middy's purpose was very simple, which was to safely bring out all the members of the five major spirit tribes who had made a contract with him in the forest.

  In the past three months, although a lot of work has been done, the elves are still the most stubborn and resistant to change. Two thousand elven warriors have been won over by Midie's fearless and straightforward demeanor, while the cunning elder elves have been swayed by the benefits and goods brought about by large-scale trade.

  There are also many spirits who cannot bear the monotonous life in the forest, and they proactively come to the Asrecks family's territory, wanting to find their own place in a lively human society.

  But there are still some elves who enjoy the benefits brought by the opening of trade channels with a sense of security and contentment, but have no intention of changing.

  Midi doesn't reject this kind of life view, not making trouble is also a way of living. However, when the Great Fire of Granzen occurred, he couldn't let these spirits die there.

  Fortunately, the witch of the fog had previously connected the magical pulse in this forest to the Autumn Ancient Castle Villa, so Midie was familiar with the changes in the area. Moreover, when the trade route was established, Midie also specially built many defensive fortifications along the way. With the help of these fortifications and the 2,000 elite troops who had been prepared early on, it was not difficult to relocate the remaining elves.

  So, there was only one question left---

  Should this forest itself be abandoned just like that?

  Midi handed over the right of decision to the original master of the forest, the fog witch, Alice Otterlop.

  The black-haired girl walked quietly in front of the Witch's Mansion where she had lived for many years, as if taking a stroll.

  She has hardly come here in recent months.

  Many daily necessities and personal items, such as violins, mirrors, wardrobes, and all sorts of black clothes in the wardrobe, including robes, have also been moved to the Qiugu Castle villa without realizing it.

  That place is indeed more suitable for living, with more abundant magic power, more complete defense, and various rare magical materials can be obtained. There is no need to worry about the elder spirits anymore, everything can be handed over to the specialized management personnel to take care of. Eris only needs to focus on studying magic, studying the mysterious ghost god on Mide's body.

  But at this moment, looking at the tree house where she had lived for many years, Alice felt an unforgettable nostalgia.

  Although remote, she is extremely familiar with every blade of grass and tree here. The surrounding beasts, she has personally contacted, stroked those beasts. The white raven magic array under her feet was still set up by herself when she studied magic before, and then improved many times afterwards.

  The mechanisms throughout the Treehouse were all handmade. The rare materials that were lacking were all collected by hand by Alice when she went out, and at that time, she also experienced various dangers, facing powerful monsters that occupied resources, but Alice overcame them one by one, and walked alone to this day.

  Should I give up now? Should I abandon it?

  The black-haired girl, who had always been expressionless, was now biting her lip, revealing an unmistakable hesitation and struggle.

  Stay behind!

  Midi's lips moved, and she couldn't help but want to say so.

  In her past life, Alice had persisted here for two whole years until the Delos Empire turned its spearhead towards this forest, and only then did she finally choose to leave.

  This life has sufficient conditions, no need to give up like this!

  Midi thought so in his heart, he didn't want to see his loved one suffer anymore.

  Just as Middy was about to take a step forward and say this to Alice, a small hand pressed firmly on his shoulder, stopping him.

  It's Fiona's hand.

  "Didn't we agree that Alice would decide everything?" The red-haired girl gave Midy a cold glance, "Why are you trying to get involved now?"