Chapter 94: I Can't Win! I Don't Understand!
Seeing Olivia and her distinctive silver wings, several guards immediately drew their weapons with urgency. They had been too frightened by the Demonic army's disguises, their recent betrayal still fresh in everyone's minds.
Every shadow could be an enemy, every familiar face a potential trap waiting to spring up especially the birds.
With no Skywing Warriors present to vouch for her, a lone Skywing race member would make anyone nervous. Their fear had become a survival instinct born from bitter experience.
No one knew how the Demonic army had managed to disguise itself as the Skywing Clan's army so perfectly. Could it be special magic? Some forbidden art that they had never encountered before?
"Skywing!?" an Elf Elder asked sharply, gripping his chair with white knuckles. "Why is she alone?"
Everyone in the hall hoped to see a large Skywing Clan army march through those doors behind her. Of course, they needed to rule out the possibility of the Demonic army pulling the same devastating trick once again.
"Greetings, Elf King."
Olivia stepped forward with as much dignity as she could muster and nodded respectfully toward the Elf King. As a member of the Thirteen Council, she had spoken with him a few times during various council meetings.
The Elf King recognized her immediately, though his expression showed growing concern. "Olivia? But why are you alone?"
She was new among the Thirteen Council members and had little say in major decisions, so the Elf King hoped to see other, more senior members accompanying her with reinforcements.
Everyone in the allied forces was deeply concerned about the whereabouts of the Skywing Clan's army. It represented their last hope for survival.
Under countless expectant stares, Olivia began to tremble visibly, her wings shivering with the weight of what she had to tell them.
Kurtz noticed her distress and gently patted her shoulder to comfort her, offering silent support.
Olivia took a deep breath, forced herself to stand straight despite her fear, and her silver wings spread majestically behind her.
"The Skywing Clan is gone. I am the last Council member."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence before she continued with growing strength.
"On their way back to the Divine Kingdom, our Skywing Clan was ambushed by the Demonic army's main force!"
Her voice grew stronger as she pushed through her grief. "Under the Demonic army's God Strike, only one in a hundred of our thousands of warriors survived, and only I from the Thirteen Council am still alive!"
The council hall fell into a stunned silence that seemed to stretch for eternity.
Even the angry Dwarf King stopped his restless pacing, staring at Olivia in complete disbelief, his face draining of color.
This devastating news shattered their final hope like glass against stone.
"Impossible!" an Elf Elder retorted desperately, his voice cracking. "The Demonic army's main force is clearly here; how could your Skywing Clan have been ambushed by them?"
"What if the Demonic army split their forces?" Kurtz proposed thoughtfully, his tactical mind working through the implications.
The Skywing Clan's army wasn't at full strength when they departed, so the Demonic army didn't need their entire force for the ambush. They only needed to launch a God Strike as a devastating sneak attack.
"But there's no time!" another elder stammered, shaking his head frantically.
"There is!" Serie nodded grimly, her knowledge filling in the missing pieces. "There are Demonic army members who can use large teleportation arrays."
During this time, Serie had carefully analyzed the Holy Relic Stone Slab and found traces of sophisticated teleportation magic woven into its structure. The stone slab had been carved with a teleportation array by the Demonic army from the very beginning. They used it when the Dwarf Kingdom was destroyed, and again when the Skywing Clan came to the Dwarf Ruins.
The Skywing Clan could use it because the false god had told them that when he gave his oracle—it was a trap disguised as divine guidance.
"That's not strange!" The Elf Elder slumped back in his chair, muttering in defeat. "We've lost! This war is hopeless."
The Elf King's eyes filled with despair as the reality sank in. The Skywing Clan army they had waited for was gone, while the Demonic army's main force remained intact and ready to crush them.
The council hall felt heavy and oppressive, thick with the atmosphere of impending doom.
Kurtz looked around at everyone's defeated faces and slowly spoke with quiet determination: "It's too early to give up."
"What can we do?" an Elf shook his head hopelessly. "The Skywing Clan is destroyed, the allied forces have heavy losses, and the Demonic army still has reserves. We can't win!"
"Can't win? I don't understand!"
Kurtz slowly unwrapped the cloth around Orger, Sword of Divine Authority, revealing its legendary form. After a month of rest, Orger had regained its brilliant radiance. Its magic power hadn't fully recovered, but what remained was still impressively strong.
When the holy sword was fully exposed, an ancient aura filled the space, its divine presence silencing all doubts and arguments.
The Elves gasped in recognition and awe, while the Dwarf King stared at the sword with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"Orger, Sword of Divine Authority!?"
Duvalin's voice held a mixture of shock and deep respect that came from childhood legends.
The current Dwarf King was one of the few survivors of that old disaster and the leader of the strongest of the eight remaining Dwarf clans. After the Dwarf royal line was completely wiped out, their clan had built the current Dwarf Kingdom from the ashes.
The Dwarf King had seen Orger in his youth, and after several centuries had passed, its divine light was still as bright and magnificent as he remembered.
His beard trembled with emotion, eyes widening in disbelief: "Why? Orger would actually accept a human!?"
Since Orger was first forged by the greatest Dwarf smiths, countless mighty Dwarf Warriors had tried to gain its recognition, but most couldn't even approach it without being repelled. Only a few could grasp the hilt, but still couldn't draw the blade from its sheath.
And this human had gained Orger's complete recognition; the Dwarf King couldn't accept such an unprecedented reality.
Seeing the Dwarf King's obvious shock, the Elf King thought to himself: It was good that their clan's sword, Atos, only recognized Elf saints. If an outsider like this human could pull it, that would be utterly disgraceful.
"I gained its recognition. It's that simple," Kurtz answered calmly, without boasting or explanation.
"This is the holy sword of the Dwarf race," the Dwarf King protested weakly, though his objection lacked real conviction.
As Kurtz raised Orger and the blade hummed with unmistakable divine power, the Dwarf King gradually quieted down. This human had mastered completely the sword's legendary power; it was an unchangeable fact that couldn't be disputed.
No matter how unwilling the Dwarf King was to accept it, he had to acknowledge this new reality.
"We found it in the Dwarf Ancestral Land. This sword, just like in the legends, has the power to slay gods. And because of this, we became a threat to the gods, and this god is the god worshipped by the Demonic army!"
The fact that a false god had replaced the goddess worshipped by the Skywing Clan and the Elf race was too shocking and devastating; once revealed, it would completely devastate the already fragile morale of the allied forces.
So Kurtz deliberately hid this crucial point, and everyone else who knew the terrible truth understood his tactical decision.
"That's impossible!" The Elf King stood up suddenly, his throne scraping against the floor.
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