Blood Elf Monarch

It was actually Tristan's first time riding a flying animal. Even so, this was certainly not the case for Virtaz, the blood elf in his memory. Because of that, for him, this new experience in flying felt quite unusual.

This time, however, Tristan was riding together with the silver-haired dark elf Iliana.

With his arm wrapped around the dark elf's waist, Tristan could feel the firmness of her body covered by the smooth black leather.

With the wind blowing past them as they flew in speed, Tristan could also smell the faint fragrance of her hair.

It would be a lie to say that the fragrance was not intoxicating him, however, he was not the type to easily lose himself.

"Enjoying yourself there?" Illana asked while glancing back, purposefully making her voice slightly louder so it could still be heard despite the blowing wind.

"Yes. Great view and great company, what is there not to like?" Tristan answered with a smile.

"Hahaha!" Iliana laughed out loud, amused by his response. "You really are not from this world, are you?"

"Why, what have you heard about me?" Tristan curiously answered with another question. Although he was neither denying nor confirming directly, what he implied was clear.

"No, it's just that, it seems you haven't heard about me before, which means..." she incompletely answered, letting Tristan fill in the blanks on his own.

"Is it anything I should be concerned about?" Although Tristan understood where she was going with this, he did not understand where she was coming from.

"Nothing much, just that no man dared to touch me before," Iliana simply explained.

"Well, I'm not just an ordinary man," Tristan responded half-jokingly, the smile on his face slightly deepening. 

"That's what they all say," the dark elf casually shrugged off. Although Tristan was sitting behind her, he could still see that the woman also had a smile on her face.

Her answer intrigued him. After all, this woman was an individual who was as powerful as the Queen of Vanyar herself. Those who had the ability to match her could be counted with two hands.

Although the two had some cultural differences, Tristan could see that this woman was teasing him. Her constant gaze in the elf gathering, her invitation to join the wyvern ride with her, and the fragrance of her hair could make Tristan believe the female elf was flirting with him.

Considering the condition of the Arcadians and the wood elves who had been at war with the dark elves for so long, being close to this woman would be beneficial to everyone. Tristan was almost completely sure that his wife would not mind him getting a little close with this dark elf beauty… for the good of the kingdom, of course.

The flight speed of these wyverns could be considered quite fast. It was estimated that they would arrive at the dark territory within a few hours, so the two had some time to get to know each other better.

"So tell me, Tristan… what would the Vanyar princess think about us flying together?" the dark elf casually asked.

"And here I thought you were going to say you haven't heard about me," Tristan teased.

Iliana chuckled in response. "Of course I have heard about you. How could I not when you made the news these last few months so much more interesting? If I still hadn't heard about you despite how much you were talked about, I would have to change my information network."

How much this dark elf was full of lies and deceit suddenly made Tristan feel concerned. He could not rule out the possibility that the whole invitation to the dark territory was a trap.

Even so, after he gave it another thought, there should be only benefit in coming to this place. If the dark elf agreed to cooperate with them, he would receive a strong ally for the incoming threat. If they did not agree, then it would lead to a bloodbath, which would also be beneficial for him, especially considering how high the quality of elf blood was.

After flying past a long marsh, Tristan could finally see the black mountains of the dark territory in front of him. 

These mountains looked a lot different from ordinary mountains. Unlike ordinary mountains, these mountains looked rough and rugged. It was filled with stones and black sand, and clouds of smoke could be seen rising from some of the peaks, constantly covering the entire area from the sun. This was probably why this place was called the dark territory.

Not long after, Tristan could finally see the black gate.

The black gate was a large 30-meter-tall gate that covered the entrance of the dark territory which was surrounded by the black mountains.

From above, Tirstan could also see hundreds of camps, and around and inside those camps were grey creatures.

Those grey creatures were Uruks, and there seemed to be thousands of them in those camps. From what he could see, they seemed to be occupied working in and out of the dozens of mines around.

Further inside, Tristan could start to see dozens of Trolls. There were also humans in the crowd, but most of them were in chains.

All in all, there were about ten thousand of them, but none of them seemed weak. They were all strong fighters.

While he was observing their surroundings, the wyvern flew deeper until they could finally see the huge constructs made of steel. There were dozens of them in the outer area, but the biggest of them all was the one attached to the mountains.

As they landed, Tristan could see the construct spanning around the whole mountains. And there, the dark elves residing in the dark territory were finally in sight. These were their dwellings.

"Welcome to our dark fortress!" Rogan, who flew further away than the spot they landed, shouted. Soon after, he also landed on one of the balconies.

After them, the other wyverns followed suit, landing on the available balconies one by one.

As the other wyverns landed, Iliana and Tristan jumped down from their wyvern and the two began walking toward the fortress. Behind them, the three dark elves who were also with them as well as Crom, the huge one with a steel mask followed.

When they entered the dark fortress, a dozen elven guards in identical armor and elven servant girls came to welcome them. Among them, there was also an elder of the dark elves. Seeing these elves welcoming them, Iliana stepped forward and directly asked. 

"Where is my father?"

"The king is still in his training chamber," one of the elven servant girls politely answered, bowing in respect.

Hearing the servant girl's answer, Iliana nodded before turning to Rogar and the other dark elves. 

"I am going to report to the king. I will tell you his decision after."

After she finished, she turned to Tristan.

"You… Lord Tristan, you shall follow me."

As she said those words, she immediately turned back forward and began walking. Rogar and the other elves present bowed in respect, leaving Tristan together with the woman.

Illana took Tristan to enter the castle. As the two walked further into the castle, Tristan noticed that the walls that were previously made out of metals had now turned into stone. It seemed that they were now inside those mountains he previously saw.

As they walked even further, the temperature gradually rose until Tristan could see a large opening which seemed to be mountain lava.

Following the silent Iliana, Tristan walked to the biggest lava pool in the area. As the two walked closer, Tristan realized that a figure had been submerged inside the lava.

The unknown figure simply laid inside the lava pool as if this area of burning lava was his own personal bathhouse.

After waiting for a few minutes, the figure finally walked out of the lava pool. How casually the figure walked out made it seem as if he was just walking out of a pool of ordinary warm water.

After the figure was fully out of the lava pool, Tristan could finally see him clearly. As the dark elf with a large build glares at him, Tristan could feel his superior power.

[Male, Dark Elf]

[Magus - Half-moon]

[Battle Power: 382]

[Spirit Force: 3,050]

[Element Affinity - Fire, metal, and lightning]

From what Tristan could tell, this figure in front of him had the same strength as the lord of the high elves, Castian, who was considered the most powerful in the entire planet.

After glaring at the unknown person next to his daughter, the large dark elf looked at his daughter with curiosity.

"Who is this, elf?" the dark elf king asked.

"Father, this is Tristan, the new king of Arcadia and the one said to be the blood elf," Iliana briefly introduced.

Although Iliana's introduction could not be said to be in-depth, it was concise, with just the information the king wanted to know. Hearing the introduction, the king became visibly elated. 

"Welcome to my kingdom."