City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

The Whitepeak Treaty

Richard didn’t take his unicorn this time, instead walking on the ground. However, he had only taken a few steps forward when his foot suddenly sank down, leaving a shallow footprint on the ground.

Greyhawk stared at this footprint, deep in thought. Epic beings almost always had absolute control over their power, not leaving footprints even if they were carrying mountains. This was clearly a loss of control.

Richard didn’t look back, but he seemed to notice the mage’s expression, “It’s nothing, things just got a little heavier.”

Greyhawk didn’t know that every use of Issa added greatly to the weight of Richard’s soul. This time, he had added 12,000 frost knights and Prince Lyren in one go, it was inevitable for him to feel off balance.

The thunder cannons Richard brought out this time had been improved with reaper technology, using their propulsive bullets to achieve an enormous 500-metre range while still maintaining terrifying destructive ability. This was effectively bringing reaper technology to a fight in Norland, which quickly decimated the elven troops. Any hints of their former glory had soundly been destroyed at this moment.

While the entire scenario was tragic, it was also a necessity if the elves wished to ever return to the limelight. They had been indulging in their own fantasies for a thousand years, and Richard had finally stomped them out of that dream.

This new thunder cannon wasn’t without its drawbacks. Its recoil was too high and ammunition too expensive, but Richard had decided that it would be better to respect the top-end power of the elves. Without any way right now to replicate the propulsive metal, any bullets used could never be recovered. However, the regular bullets with a 150-metre range would certainly not have been enough to soundly wipe out the frozen cavalry.

As he expected, the elven empire continued to refuse to discuss the trade. Pragmatic people like Greyhawk would have given in by now, knowing that the value of a golden world tree branch was far above some ancient records, especially to a civilisation that no longer had the power to go anywhere close to the depths of the Abyss, but these elves still had their pride.

Having been closed off for nearly a thousand years, the high elves of Lithgalen had just spent too much time in comfort. Having fought three of their epic beings, he knew that not one of those three were truly worthy of that title. They were each far weaker than human counterparts at the same level, especially the Emperor who was actually level 29. Apeiron, one level lower than him, would be able to kill him in an hour if he didn’t escape. The druid and High Prince Casir wouldn’t take half the time.

In Norland, humans were constantly at war. Amongst themselves, against the three other major empires, against the Daxdians at the Land of Dusk… they spent all of their growth period in combat. Anyone who could enter the epic realm amidst the constant bloodshed truly had the power to back their level. Even the Celestial Sage, someone widely considered weak for an epic being, was no different. This held true in Klandor as well; Asa would be able to defeat any of these three ten times out of ten.

Lithgalen truly was far weaker than Richard had expected. Even recovering from the various wars as they were, the Archeron Family would be able to conquer the entire continent if they so wished. Fortunately for the elves, he wasn’t at all interested in new land and just cared about getting to Arbidis.

Since the other side still didn’t want to speak, Richard continued his march. Three days later, he destroyed the last of Lithgalen’s military. A full 50,000 warriors died in battle, 20,000 were captured, and a scant few thousand managed to escape. This time, he didn’t rein in his power and attacked the three epic beings of the other side with full force. The already-wounded Casir decided to join this battle, and he was killed in the melee. The druid was seriously wounded as well, with only the Emperor managing to escape with light injuries.

This campaign shook all of Lithgalen. Only a day after defeating the Emperor, Richard was at the royal palace and had captured the imperial world tree. The fleeing Emperor finally sent a messenger to express willingness to negotiate, but the stakes this time were completely different from what they had first been.

The negotiator had clearly received near blanket authority to ensure peace, paying Richard an enormous sum for the cause. The northeastern section of Lithgalen was handed over to his control, alongside the resources from three private planes. Richard found himself surprised at the ease of negotiations, starting to suspect whether he was even dealing with the high elves any longer.

An armistice was reached quickly. Although the Emperor himself wasn’t present, the treaty was signed under the imperial world tree and attached to its leaves. The guardian of the entire continent was a more powerful guarantor than the Emperor himself.

This treaty would soon come to be called the Whitepeak Treaty, becoming one of the most impactful agreements in the history of Norland. It would cement the fall of the ancient elven empire, removing its glory forever from the public mind. When Richard and the druid signed their names on the leaf, elvish superiority had been crushed.

Richard sighed once everything was over. He had only ever seen two silvermoon elves in his life, his mother Elena and aunt Tzu, but both of them had very similar personalities and determination. He had no doubt that, even if they were met with the same situation, they would rather die than sign such an agreement. However, at the same time he knew that such scenarios would never arise with them at the helm. The two women were prideful in their own ways, but neither was arrogant or conceited.

Richard had once been willing to take out something as great as a branch of the budding golden world tree in exchange for the abyssal records. This was in no way an equal exchange, but he had planned to show some goodwill to his mother’s cousins. He certainly hadn’t expected a smooth affair, but he also hadn’t expected things to get to this point. Whatever it may be, he had effectively subjugated the last bastion of elvenkind.

This trip ended up being a huge harvest. Amongst what he received were more than a dozen precious materials from the old empire, some of which even met the standards to be used as cores in grade 6 runes. He also got a few world tree seeds, alongside a basket of leaves from the imperial world tree. Although they weren’t nearly as effective as the branch, the broodmother’s clone in the Forest Plane could greatly enhance her analysis of the world trees and trees of life. If things worked out, she would even be able to create more units than before.

……

The fleet quickly embarked on its return trip to Norland. Richard spent his time in his cabin, reading through two silver pages that recorded the path the ancient elves had taken to arrive at Arbidis. His assessment of their value had changed the moment he laid eyes upon these pages, helping him understand just why the elves had refused to the supposedly profitable exchange.

The elven empire had explored the abyss at great cost, finally finding a path to Arbidis and confirming its coordinates. They mobilised the entire country to create a rainbow bridge, breaking through numerous obstacles to directly enter its depths. However, it was easier said than done to tear into the space at the depths of one of the strongest planes in all of existence; even finding a passage to the alter world, they had lost the first extradivine artefact in the history of Norland.

Richard didn’t have the ability to build a portal that would take him all the way, but even if he could that wasn’t the best choice. With two broodmothers supporting him, it was a much better choice to conquer his way through the abyss. The silver pages recorded the stories of those who had first opened up the path, of the pinnacle of the elven empire. They were proof of the ancient empire’s superiority, indestructible vessels for elven glory. They were a window into the mysterious divine era of the elven empire, which hadn’t been deciphered to this day even by gods.

In the end, he had to accept that the true value of his branch was far below that of these two pages. However, that didn’t matter to the elven empire; two pages they couldn’t hope to decipher were worthless when compared to a branch that could help their imperial world tree transform into a sky tree. Once that happened, all high elves would experience a growth in power. They had originally hoped to rob him of the branch, but having failed to do that the Emperor finally came to face reality and bowed.