Path of Light.

Chapter 978, Section 973: The Gray Dwarves Trapped in the City

The message from the gray dwarf officials indicated that Roy probably wouldn't be able to see Commander Imster tonight, so he didn't want to wait any longer in the conference room. He wanted to meet with the military and political leaders of Presidius City tomorrow to gain a deeper understanding of the battle situation here.

It is evident that the defense of Presites was a difficult battle due to the lack of military supplies among the gray dwarf army.

The Imster Legion commander was so eager to tear everything down in the city just to keep those toad-like dark demon servants from reaching the east side of the city walls...

However, Roy also had his own considerations. He was more worried that the Imster Legion Commander would irreparably demolish many of the city's infrastructure. If that happened, the reconstruction of the entire city would become much more difficult once his mine guards took over Presidius.

The gray dwarf army, now enraged, has no interest in what happens after the half-elves take over...

So Roy was only now eager to meet with this frontline corps commander, but it seems he can only wait until tomorrow.

At this moment, Chief Grop and the other orc chieftains were discussing the city of Pristis. They even planned that after the Aries orc legion arrived in Pristis, they would open the sealed eastern gate of the city wall and launch a preemptive attack to defeat the giant catapults in the demon servant army.

These demon servant warriors are weak and have not formed a magic core in their bodies. However, those demon servant warriors of the leader level and above still have a black magic core in their bodies. If they can cut off the heads of these demon servant warriors, it will be a considerable income for the orc warriors.

The orc leaders climbed onto the city wall and inquired about the demon servant army from the gray dwarf warriors.

The relationship between the grey dwarves and orcs is far more harmonious than that between the elves, and they communicate much more easily.

These past few days, he's been traveling on magic airships and spending most of the day exploring Presites City. Roy is so tired that he doesn't really want to eat dinner. He ate some elf cookies the day before yesterday, and these past two days he's only had a few cups of lemon tea...

As the commander-in-chief of the half-elf mine guards, Roy naturally couldn't show any signs of fatigue in front of his subordinates.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, soft light shone into the room.

Only after confirming that he hadn't gone to the wrong room did Roy feel relieved enough to enter.

The room has four floors, but the ground floor has completely collapsed, and the passage to the surface is completely blocked. The three underground floors were unaffected, and the room even has a private bathroom, but unfortunately there is no hot water...

Sabrina, wearing a nightgown, was sitting by the fireplace in the living room, warming herself by the fire. She had her long, wet blonde hair down, probably wanting to dry it before going to sleep.

Her firm breasts were clearly outlined beneath her thin nightgown, and her long, slender, white legs were curled up on the chair, not hidden by the nightgown. Sabrina, who possessed the blood of a wood elf, had a dazzling white skin...

Roy walked to the railing and saw Moira fast asleep on the bed carved out of the wall downstairs. She was holding a blanket in her arms, her nightgown almost up to her waist, revealing her petite yet curvaceous figure, with stray hairs scattered on the pillow...

Roy had no idea how long it had been since she had slept so soundly.

Roy walked up behind Sabrina, took the comb from her hand, and began to comb her long blonde hair...

Sabrina glanced at Roy, subtly adjusted her skirt, picked up a book from the wooden table beside her, and casually flipped through it.

"Are we really going to bring the mine's guards over?"

In fact, this was a question that many half-elf officers wanted to ask Roy as well.

There are now nearly two million half-elves living in the Partington plane. The half-elves also occupy the Isle of Quel'Thalas. In the eyes of many half-elves, they already have a rich and stable homeland, and there is really no need to continue north to seize a homeland from the Grey Dwarves.

Moreover, this home is not as wonderful as imagined. If we move here, we will first have to face the Nakma demon army, and the days ahead may still be endless war.

Although the mine guards were used to fighting everywhere, they did not want to make unnecessary sacrifices.

There's a different voice circulating in the military right now, basically saying that Boss Roy has found a new home for the half-elves, and now the half-elves need to satisfy Boss Roy's desires and ambitions.

Roy placed one hand on Sabrina's shoulder, and Sabrina grasped the back of Roy's hand in return, letting Roy's palm rub against her cheek.

The two have been having these ambiguous physical contacts in private lately, but nothing more.

Roy nodded and said:
"Yes, the Nakmar demons have already occupied the heart of the Dragneel. Although their eastward expeditionary force is blocked by the dwarf and orc alliance on the west side of the Montenemz Rift, this battle will eventually end with one side winning and continuing to advance, and the other side losing and ending in defeat. In my opinion, the Grey Dwarves have little confidence in those dwarf and orc alliance forces, which is why they were forced to abandon their homeland and migrate to Garo Island in the Seven Seas."

"This also indirectly shows that the situation is not as optimistic for us as we imagined."

"Although this is only a war in the northernmost part of the Eastern Continent, far from the Elven Kingdom, and many elves haven't realized how dangerous the situation is, if we continue to sit and wait for death, it's only a matter of time before the Black Riders of the Nakhmar invade the Evernight Forest. Elves have a lifespan of about 800 years. Perhaps by the time we get old, the Nakhmar's iron cavalry will be at our gates. At that time, will we take up arms and go to the battlefield, or watch those young elves fight to the death on the battlefield?"

"The cruelest disaster for us will be when Castletown is truly engulfed in war, because our family and friends are there too."

"Now that our army has entered Durag and can occupy the Villaria Valley, it can be said that we have found a place for the half-elves to live in the eastern continent."

"If we fail to resist the Black Knights, it doesn't really matter. At most, we'll lose Victoria Valley. Then I can try to find other places and give the elven world a warning. At that time, perhaps more orcs and elves will join this war."

"I know that the relationship between elves and orcs has never been very harmonious. I don't want to bring up those old grudges anymore. Being neighbors with orcs is better than those Nakmar demons from the Abyss, right?"

"Actually, I found some information in Bishop Ocasie's diary. The priests of the Temple of Liberty were probably the first to realize this crisis, and the Holy Expeditionary Force that entered the Dark Land was also looking for a way to resolve this crisis."

"Sabrina, you'll always help me, won't you?"

Roy bent down, rested his chin on Sabrina's shoulder, pressed his face against Sabrina's slightly flushed face, and reached his hand towards Sabrina's loose neckline.

Sabrina gripped Roy's hand, which was resting on her rabbit, preventing him from moving, but she didn't ask him to leave. She whispered:

"You shouldn't always be so greedy. I'll help you until I find something else worth doing..."

She turned to look at Roy's profile; his once youthful face had now grown quite handsome. Although he didn't have the pointed ears of an elf, his eyes always held a resolute gaze that made it impossible for her to look away…

The boy who once dared to lift her skirt and hug her leg has truly grown up.

After lingering for a while, Sabrina struggled to stand up from the chair. Even though her hair wasn't completely dry, she didn't intend to stay by the fireplace any longer. With just two light leaps, she quickly returned to her upper bunk.

"good night!"

Sabrina burrowed under the blanket and whispered something to Roy.

No matter how tired he is, Roy needs to take a shower before he can fall asleep.

Roy snuggled into Moira's bed and wrapped his arms around her slender waist from behind. Perhaps it was a little uncomfortable, because Moira turned over in her sleep and pressed her face against Roy's chest.

My first night sleeping in the underground city of Presites was surprisingly peaceful.

The basement was very well soundproofed; you couldn't hear any fighting sounds from the ground at all...

When Roy woke up, he found the room was empty.

Roy got out of bed, grabbed a change of clothes, took a shower, and left a cup of lemon tea on the dining table upstairs. He drank it down in one gulp, then put on his leather armor and went out the door.

Upon entering the corridor, I was surprised to find that several orc leaders were still in the conference room across the hall…

Roy arrived at the meeting room, where High Chief Grop and several other orc chieftains were still discussing the details of the troop deployment on the city wall.

Roy was really curious to know who had said that the orc army was a bunch of simple-minded fools who could only fight with their physical strength and courage.
Seeing Roy enter, Chief Grop immediately grabbed him, pulled him to the city defense map, and said to Roy in a somewhat hoarse voice:
“Boss Roy, we’ve been discussing the city’s defenses. Everyone feels that having the natives of the Partington plane as the main force for the defense of Pristis might lead to many unstable factors. It would be better to let our Aries tribe orcs deal with these disgusting toads…”

Roy wiped his forehead.

"I know that the Highland Headhunters are far less powerful than the Aries Orc Warriors!"

"That's why I had more elite orc warriors guard the tower, in order to deal with these unstable factors."

"Furthermore, I hope that all the leaders can realize that our real opponent is not these demon servants, but the Black Riders of the Nakma demons. If we are helpless against these demon servants alone, then I think we should not come to defend the Valley of Villaria."

"Since we have the full support of the Elf Kingdom's Magic Guild, we are capable of constantly trying and failing. I not only want to know what kind of army this magic servant army is, but I also want to see the Black Cavalry army behind them!"

"Alright, alright, look at your bloodshot eyes. Get some sleep first. The Black Pearl will be returning to Boles City tomorrow. I plan to send a magic airship to the Nantali Islands the day after tomorrow, and then to Que Island to bring over the second batch of troops."

When Chief Grop heard Roy's words, he realized that he and the other orc chieftains had been worrying unnecessarily.

Thinking about the upcoming expeditionary force to enter Drag, Chief Grop said:

"I need to return to Kangamor Forest to gather the Aries Orc warriors and form an Aries Orc expeditionary force. However, we will need your help to reach the city of Boles at Durag's Knee."

“I will arrange for twenty magic airships, which can transport about 15,000 orc warriors at a time,” Roy said.

Grand Master Grop considered it for a moment,
"That would require three round trips to bring all of our first batch of Aries orc warriors over. Could you send some more magic airships?"

Roy shook his head with a somewhat embarrassed smile:

"This is already the maximum transport capacity the mine guards can utilize, and even magic airships might not be able to make three round trips between the Nantali Islands and Boles City in a short period. The remaining troops and supplies will likely be transported by imperial merchant ships. Although the transport time will be longer, taking more than four months, it will save a considerable amount of resources..."

Afterwards, Roy found the gray dwarf official and confirmed the time to return to Boles City. Then, he left the residence in the underground city with Moira, Sabrina, Miss Tiffany, and others.

The tunnel streets of the underground city are brightly lit, and there is no stuffiness or mixed smells...

Unlike yesterday, there were many more wounded gray dwarf warriors on the tunnel streets of the underground city. They lay on the street covered in blood, with only some dirty military blankets under them, and they all looked like they were enduring pain.

Roy knew that the gray dwarf garrison in Presites City did not have enough medical personnel and could only leave the wounded gray dwarf warriors lying there.

As he passed by the wounded grey dwarves, he heard almost no painful groans; even if their wounds were very painful, they would at most close their eyes...

This made Roy very impressed.

Unlike the gray dwarf warriors, the half-elf guards did not show any indifference to pain when they were injured.

The meeting with the Imster Legion Commander was scheduled for the afternoon. Now Roy planned to take a tour of the underground city to see how the underground city built by the gray dwarves actually worked.

Roy originally thought that most of the grey dwarves had left Precitus, leaving only the garrison troops in the city.

But it seems there are still quite a few gray dwarfs in the underground city, and they don't seem to have any intention of leaving. There are even a few gray dwarf women huddled together discussing harvesting the wheat they planted on the mountain outside the city to prevent it from being stolen by birds.

Hearing the gray dwarf translator explain the conversation of the gray dwarf women, Roy couldn't help but step forward and ask them in Elvish:

"Didn't the Northern Fleet arrange for your evacuation from Pristis?"

(End of this chapter)