Chapter 208 What Are You Doing?!
...
When the woman appeared on the magic carpet, all the mages immediately stood up and bowed slightly.
The lords, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment. Those who reacted quickly also followed suit with a salute, while those slower in response had a delayed gesture of respect.
There was silence on the magic carpet.
Because before them stood none other than Lady Suerel, one of the three Grand Archmages.
She was also the chief arbiter of the current Mossy Hills skirmish.
And when Lady Suerel uttered the words "protest is invalid," Arbitrator 09 naturally lowered his head: "Alright, alright."
Lady Suerel elaborated a bit more: "Under any set of rules, there will always be loopholes. The significance of this skirmish lies in our ability to identify these loopholes before more wars commence, and then rectify them by adding regulations and details. However, we cannot negate the essence of this battle just because there are loopholes. Because the existence of loopholes is not a problem between the opposing sides but rather our own dereliction of duty."
Arbitrator 07 immediately chimed in: "You're absolutely right!"
Lady Suerel then looked towards the lords.
Her smile remained as gentle as ever: "We also welcome everyone to point out any potential loopholes to us. On one hand, we'll make rapid adjustments to ensure the fairness of the skirmish."
The lords nodded and bowed one by one, almost swearing to report any discovered loopholes to the Alliance.
However, in practice, only the loopholes disadvantageous to oneself were likely to be reported.
Loopholes beneficial to oneself—
Could those even be considered loopholes?
Lady Suerel seemed to be well aware of this, as she didn't engage in prolonged conversation with the lords but instead gestured with her right hand.
The next moment, a grayish teleportation gate appeared at the edge of the magic carpet.
Lady Suerel spoke softly: "It might be quite taxing for everyone to watch here. On one hand, skirmishes aren't something that can be finished in a day or two, and on the other hand, everyone needs rest. So, I've prepared a rest area for you all. The rooms and supplies inside can meet all your daily needs, and the fees are not high. It's only 100 gold coins per hour. With your status, it should be more than affordable. If anyone needs it, just enter, and there will be apprentice mages inside to assist you."
After saying this, amid the lords' puzzled looks, Lady Suerel's figure gracefully disappeared.
People began discussing the topic of the "rest area" in earnest.
Their expressions weren't very pleasant.
Everyone was silently condemning Lady Suerel's blatant exploitation.
However, she was Lady Suerel, after all.
So, what was said at the tip of the tongue often turned into awkward praise.
For a moment, the atmosphere above the magic carpet became somewhat strange.
Seizing this opportunity, Arbitrator 07 asked Arbitrator 09, "What about your black dragon? Are you still going to fight?"
Arbitrator 09 put on a serious face: "No comment!"
Arbitrator 07 reminded him, "Don't get too involved. We're just observers and recorders. The outcome of the skirmish has nothing to do with us."
Arbitrator 09 couldn't help but retort, "Isn't this just my professional ethics? The outcome has nothing to do with me! But speaking of which, what's the deal with your Matthew? Wasn't he Lady Isabelle's apprentice? Why is Lady Suerel acting as the chief arbiter?"
"I knew there was a reason they didn't tell us the chief arbiter's identity earlier...," Arbitrator 07 pondered. "The first battle in the south must require a heavyweight figure, right? Lady Isabelle is indeed substantial. However, her current status is somewhat special. Besides, mundane wars are probably a bit dull for legendary mages. If that lady came over, she might just kill everyone on both sides for being too slow."
Arbitrator 09 nodded in agreement, "You make sense."
Just as he was about to say something, at that moment, he suddenly turned and looked westward.
"I have to go," Arbitrator 09 said abruptly.
Pulling out a flying broom, he hastily flew away.
Watching him depart into the distance, Arbitrator 07 revealed a pensive expression.
Beneath the magic carpet.
On the Watcher's Highlands.
A new round of construction was underway in full swing.
With the supplies from the frogmen received, Rolling Stone Town suddenly acquired a large quantity of rolling stones, timber, hot oil, and various tools.
This provided excellent conditions for the upcoming defensive positions.
The defense of the Watcher's Highlands wasn't as simple as it seemed.
The hilltops of the Mossy Hills, rather than being true mountains, were more like large mounds of earth.
And the Watcher's Highlands was the largest among these mounds.
This thing had nothing to do with being easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The defending forces on the mountain had to fend off attacks from all directions.
Considering the rugged terrain of the mountains, the mobility of cavalry was greatly reduced.
This added considerable difficulty to Matthew and the others' plans.
To cope with this situation, Rolling Stone Town mainly made efforts in three directions—
Firstly, the construction of defensive works. These works mainly concentrated on the southwest, including a large number of wooden fences, traps, iron clamps, spikes, and pits.
With everyone's efforts, the defenses on the southern side were now taking shape.
If the enemy wanted to launch a strong attack on this side, they would undoubtedly have to pay a heavy price.
The second aspect was the construction of a three-dimensional defense system. Apart from the conventional defensive works, the northwest was defended by Matthew's undead.
The horde tactics of necromancers played a crucial strategic role at this moment.
Skeletons and zombies covered every conceivable path up the northwest slope.
For the enemy army.
Such a large number of undead themselves could form a psychological deterrent.
Currently, the southeastern direction is mainly guarded by the Breaker Mercenary Corps.
In the coming days, the forces from Rolling Stone Town will also construct a large number of fortifications here.
However, due to the terrain, the slopes here are steeper compared to the southwest and less urgent.
The northeast is considered the rear of Rolling Stone Town.
Reaga has set up some camps on the slopes, with several outposts at the foot of the mountain.
Corresponding to these outposts are half of the cavalry stationed on another hill to the northeast of the town.
These cavalry are the elites of the elites, responsible for patrolling and sweeping outside in shifts.
Their mission is to occupy this hill, providing a relatively stable rear for Rolling Stone Town.
At the same time, ensure that if there is a situation where people on the mountain have to retreat down the mountain, they can serve as a cover.
The third aspect is to establish a strong early warning system.
This includes Zeller's monitoring spells, the scouts' roaming reconnaissance, Matthew's flying horse reconnaissance, and so on.
Only when these three aspects are perfected as much as possible can the defenses of Watcher's Hill be more stable.
And to achieve this, everyone is working hard.
At first, there might have been passion as support.
But as time passed, only stubborn willpower was left to push the body forward.
At night, many soldiers appeared to be quite tired.
Fortunately, the main camp has been initially built.
According to the previously assigned tasks, everyone began to take turns to rest.
The night grew deeper, and thick fog rose.
Faintly, from the southwest direction came the ancient and desolate chanting.
At that moment, Matthew felt countless pairs of eyes staring in the direction of Watcher's Hill within the vast white fog!
At this time, Zeller found him:
"The Dragon Priest has blocked my monitoring spell. I can't monitor Watcher's Hill from all directions now."
Matthew nodded.
This was expected. The enemy did possess magical abilities. Counter-surveillance spells or treasures were something they had guessed would appear early on.
Combined with the thick fog, the enemy first cut off Zeller's line of sight, which indeed posed a certain hidden danger to Rolling Stone Town's defense system.
To compensate for this, Richard and the other wanderers must increase their frequency of going out. However, going down the mountain meant higher risks.
Except for Richard, once the others were discovered, they would have no place to bury their bodies.
This even included Aebing.
As a highly capable solo fighter, Aebing was also very fragile. When the enemy came prepared, Aebing would probably find it difficult to escape into the Shadow Realm as easily as usual.
And once captured, it would only take a few seconds to be reduced to ashes.
So when Matthew ordered Aebing to go out for reconnaissance, he was especially cautious.
He would rather go out multiple times himself on his flying horse to physically scout the area than see his undead perish because of it.
However, this undoubtedly added to Matthew's burden.
Maintaining such a large-scale undead army itself was very exhausting both physically and mentally.
He also had to take on the role of some scouts.
This indeed made him somewhat tired.
But there was no other way.
Who made the flying horse, Ollie, only willing to be close to him?
At this point, Reaga quickly noticed this situation—
He found that Matthew flew out to survey the area almost every 15 minutes, immediately stopping him from doing so.
"There's no reason to put all the flying pressure on you. Rest first."
Reaga said solemnly.
Matthew shrugged:
"Except for Richard, no one else is more suitable than me for reconnaissance. I do have scrolls for dispersing fog and gust spells, but these scrolls must be saved for more critical moments."
Reaga waved his hand:
"Trust me, go and rest. I still have some tricks up my sleeve."
Saying this,
He took out a copper whistle and put it in his mouth.
Then he blew hard.
The piercing sound immediately spread far and wide.
Not long after,
A clear eagle cry came from the sky.
Then, a giant eastern eagle flew out of the mist.
It circled around Watcher's Hill and landed beside Reaga.
"Just as I told you before, don't transform, buddy."
Reaga hurriedly said.
Before the giant eagle could say anything,
The figure of Adjudicator 07 appeared in front of them again.
His expression was quite speechless.
He stared at the giant eastern eagle for a long time before he couldn't help but say:
"Druid?"
The giant eagle didn't make a sound.
Adjudicator 07 looked at Reaga with a conflicted expression:
"He's not on the registered list. Technically, I should give you a warning..."
Unexpectedly, Reaga widened his eyes:
"He's my pet!"
"Can't you bring
pets to battle?"
Adjudicator 07 seemed to have anticipated this. His expression gradually became numb, and his tone became routine.
He asked the giant eagle:
"Are you his pet?"
The giant eagle blinked:
"I think I am."
Adjudicator 07 rolled his eyes.
But he continued to write in his notebook—
"At 9 o'clock in the evening, Lord Reaga of Rolling Stone Town summoned an Eastern Giant Eagle. Although he is a genuine druid, if this druid always remains in wilderness form, then theoretically, as Reaga said, he can indeed be classified as a pet..."
Reaga held up a torch and looked at Adjudicator 07's notes diagonally.
Then he asked eagerly:
"Approved?"
"Then I'm starting!"
Adjudicator 07 shivered:
"Just starting?"
Before Reaga could reply,
The giant eagle, Hoven, immediately let out a long cry.
This cry was extremely penetrating, almost reaching the ears of every creature in the Mossy Hills.
Half an hour later,
A group of giant eastern eagles came from the distant sky.
They flapped their wings, forming a huge wind.
The strong wind dispersed the fog.
And it also made the night vision somewhat better.
"1, 2, 3... 12."
Adjudicator 07 silently counted.
In the end,
He could only continue to write—
"The Eastern Giant Eagle summoned by Reaga has summoned 12 new Eastern Giant Eagles.
We have reason to believe that as long as he wants, he can continue to summon more creatures endlessly.
Therefore, I suggest that in future battles, summoning spells must be restricted.
Of course,
I deeply doubt that even if summoning spells are prohibited, these people can still find other loopholes.
So the most convenient way may be—To prohibit Rolling Stone Town from participating in the battle!"
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