Ambushed
Following the sound, Serea saw Aruka leading the werewolves, carrying the prey they had caught—truly worthy of the werewolf clan, they even brought back Tier-2 monsters...
"A bountiful harvest."
"Haha, of course! But we were only out for a short while, and the Queen already brought out such a huge thing."
As Aruka spoke, he looked up, and the massive tree nest filled him with a profound sense of awe.
"This is no ordinary big fellow. This is the Elven King Tree of our clan—with it, our tribe's strength can return!"
Lola said excitedly, and from the look on her face, it seemed this 'big fellow' was extremely important to the Elves.
"The power of an ancient guardian... Congratulations indeed."
Aruka sighed in admiration. The stronger the Elves, the safer his own tribe would be and the better their future, for they were friends of the great forest!
"Queen, many of our tribespeople have awakened the power of the royal bloodline!"
Doluka exclaimed excitedly. Hearing this, Serea turned to look; countless Elves had gathered, among whom many had transformed into blood elves with silver hair and dark golden pupils.
"Not bad. At this rate, we are not far from our goal."
"Yes, and it's all thanks to the Queen."
Lola's voice was still a bit emotional. Hearing this, Serea scratched her head, a little embarrassed.
"Thanks to me..."
Serea couldn't help but recall the mission that 'Loen' had entrusted to her and Lola—to find the vampires!
Serea had previously wondered why they had to seek out the vampires. Now, it seemed the prophet who presented that 'prophecy' truly had remarkable foresight.
"But this is only the beginning. We must keep working and strive to establish our camp as soon as possible."
Serea said, and Lola readily agreed.
"Yes, we definitely can do it! For Queen Serea!"
"For Queen Serea!" xN
The elves cheered in unison. Seeing Serea summon the Elven King Tree, they were now wholeheartedly devoted to her. Serea would be the eternal Queen of the Darkmoon clan.
Basking in the cheers of the crowds, Serea felt a little embarrassed, but as the cheers gradually died down, she sensed something was wrong.
"Huh? Where is Auna? Didn't Auna go hunting with Chief Aruka?"
To this, Aruka explained,
"Because of food shortages in the camp, I sent the tribespeople out in teams to hunt. Judging by the time, she should have returned by now."
As Aruka finished, Serea had an ominous premonition.
And as it turned out, a woman's sixth sense is often right...
Suddenly, a werewolf riding a direwolf dashed toward them, his arm hanging limp, clearly injured.
He galloped all the way, drawing everyone's attention. Seeing the blood on the direwolf, Aruka's pupils contracted sharply.
Something had happened!
"Chief!"
The werewolf rider rushed up to Aruka, dismounting before him without even pausing to catch his breath, and exclaimed urgently,
"This is bad! We were ambushed by ogres while hunting. They attacked us and stole our prey. Captain Auna was injured because of 'Becca' and couldn't retreat quickly, so she fought back against the ogres."
"Ogres! What about the others?"
"Our hunting party had only seven people. The remaining tribespeople stayed with Captain Auna to fight the ogres. I came back to report because I was injured."
The werewolf's voice was anxious; things were clearly urgent.
"Damn ogres! Gather the wolf riders—we're going to support Auna!"
With his daughter in danger, Aruka made a decisive call.
"Don't be rash."
Serea stopped the impulsive Aruka.
"How many ogres were there, and how strong were they?"
Serea asked, and the werewolf answered,
"Twelve ogres attacked us. They were extremely powerful—even Captain Auna had difficulty dealing with them. All the ogres obeyed a goblin commander, and they seem to have a tribe."
"A tribe commanded by goblins..."
Serea pondered, her gaze growing colder.
"Little Black, bring that undead mage here."
Serea ordered, and Little Black dashed off. When he returned, he was carrying Leklis.
"Great Lord of the Undead, I humbly request that next time you summon me, you might use a gentler method."
"Enough of that. Do you know about an ogre tribe led by goblins nearby?"
"Uh... I do."
"Speak."
"The tribe is called the 'Shorties' tribe, about fifteen kilometers from here. Besides ogres and goblins, there are also some goblins. They often attack passing adventurers and occasionally even target companions of other races. They are a band of bloodthirsty brutes. My lord, it's best not to provoke them."
"How strong are they?"
"There are over forty ogres in the tribe, and as the name suggests, they're all viciously bloodthirsty monsters. There are also fewer than a hundred goblins. They all follow the command of a goblin named 'Shortie.'"
"I see..."
Serea fell into deep thought. Seeing her pressing for so much detail about the 'Shorties' tribe, leklis couldn't help but ask,
"My lord, don't tell me you want to..."
He hadn't finished when Serea already issued her orders.
"Assemble the Skeleton Rider Squadron, the blood slave unit, and the elven archer unit. Lola, Vina, Little Black, Little White, you'll come with me. The rest will stay in the camp and prepare for battle!"
Serea gave her orders. As this was a mid-range support operation, she had chosen units that could move quickly. Most Skeleton Warriors were heavy-armored, making them less suitable for rapid deployment.
"Yes, My Queen!" xN
Lola, Little Black, and the others went to assemble the troops. Seeing this, Aruka wanted to say something.
"Queen Serea..."
"Don't try to stop me, and don't thank me. Since the enemy dares to challenge our alliance, in my view, they're ready to face the wrath of the Darkmoon clan."
Serea spoke. Hearing this, Aruka thought for a while.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
The werewolves quickly unloaded their prey and prepared for battle.
Seeing this, leklis swallowed hard...
"Um, my lord, I..."
"You're coming too. Guide the way for us."
"......"
Faced with Serea's order, leklis dared not refuse. Little Black firmly dragged him along with the party.
"I really could walk by myself, you know."
Leklis said, but Little Black ignored him, dragging him to the front of the team.
Then, the mighty main army quickly assembled and prepared to move out.
(To be continued...)