Finally, Anselin announced something even more important. She had developed an antidote that could resist the backlash of black magic. As long as the Dark Elf tribe drank this antidote, they could gradually free themselves from the torment of mental backlash and reduce their excessive dependence on Dum energy.

After Anselin's spirited speech, the Dark Elves gathered near the Black Stone Castle reacted with surprise, joy, cheers, and skepticism. However, regardless of the reactions below, Archbishop Anselin paid no attention. She stretched out her arms, and the gates of the Black Stone Castle opened.

After the gates opened, rows of soldiers clad in heavy armor marched out of the castle in neat formation. However, what shocked, or perhaps frightened, everyone was that these soldiers wearing exclusive Black Stone Castle armor all had faces akin to terrifying corpses.

But the astonishment didn't end there. Following the exit of these soldiers with zombie-like faces, more than a dozen gigantic corpse-flying beasts, stitched together from the fur of different animals, walked out of the gate. Accompanied by spine-chilling roars, these beasts soared into the dark clouds. After roaming among the dense clouds for a while, the dozen or so fiercely ferocious flying beasts dove back down and hovered over the Black Stone Castle.

Seeing the Dark Elf tribe, who were shocked by the sight of these zombies, Anselin promptly announced that her black magic power had advanced once again. Creating this army of zombies was the result of her comprehension of higher-level black magic. With this army of zombies, the Dark Elf tribe would be unstoppable on the battlefield and could crush the Light Elf army in one fell swoop.

Due to the almost fanatical reverence of the Dark Elves for black magic and absolute power, when they saw Anselin display such formidable power, they immediately dispelled all their previous doubts about her. The strong ruled. In the hearts of the Dark Elves, Anselin was not just the Archbishop of the Black Magic Association; she was the true queen of the Dark Elf tribe.

However, the jubilant Dark Elves, celebrating the coronation of their mighty new queen, would not know that the zombie soldiers standing before them were all former guards of the Black Stone Castle killed by Anselin. Nor would they know that the elders standing behind Anselin had long turned into dry bones manipulated at her whim.

"So, those zombie soldiers were created by Anselin." Dao Lao's statement brought Haoyun's thoughts back from Elinna's story to reality.

"In strict sense, the zombie soldiers you saw near the Cliff Coast were all created according to the method provided by Anselin," Elinna corrected.

"Anselin sounds quite formidable! But I don't understand, how did she suddenly become so powerful? Her closed-door cultivation seems to have had an extraordinary effect!" Haoyun muttered.

Elinna shrugged, indicating that she wasn't sure either.

However, Haoyun didn't want to dwell on Anselin's sudden strength at the moment. Because, after hearing Elinna's narrative, he felt that his target for this trip might change from Elinna alone to both Elinna and Anselin. Ah! It seems that the difficulty of this mission is going to increase again! Haoyun thought to himself.

Elinna, as if reading Haoyun's mind, smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord Haoyun, Archbishop Anselin won't pose any threat to you. Because she's already dead."

"Dead? How did she die?" Haoyun asked, feeling quite surprised.

Elinna shrugged and said, "I don't know either. We were still fighting the Light Elf tribe on the front line at that time, and then suddenly received news of Anselin's death. Apart from feeling extremely shocked, no one knew what had happened."

Upon hearing Elinna's words, Dao Lao immediately raised an eyebrow and asked, "Fighting with the Light Elf tribe? But aren't you yourself a Light Elf? Could it be that you're a traitor to the Light Elf tribe?"

"Traitor? That's quite a harsh term," Elinna said.

But from Elinna's tone, it was clear that she didn't intend to deny the definition Dao Lao had given her.

Elinna gestured to Haoyun and Dao Lao if they wanted some biscuits. The two shook their heads in refusal. Elinna playfully pouted, indicating that Haoyun and Dao Lao didn't know how to enjoy good food. Then, she put a biscuit into her mouth and said in a vague tone, "I think Judge Yan has already introduced you to my past experiences, right?"

"Yes. But Judge Yan only gave a brief introduction to some situations. So, we don't know much," Haoyun replied.

Elinna nodded in understanding and then said, "Although the combat literacy of the Dark Elf tribe still lags far behind that of the Light Elf tribe, ever since the zombie army joined the battlefield, due to their extraordinary endurance, they have become tireless and ruthless war machines. This makes it impossible for the Light Elf tribe to withstand the attacks from these zombies due to their inability to adapt to the new intensity of the battle for a while. The defense line of the Light Elves is being gradually breached, and the balance of victory is beginning to tilt towards the Dark Elf tribe."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"My Adaigua family lives in an area not far from the border, making our homeland one of the important strongholds guarding the border. However, after the Light Elf tribe suffered a major defeat in a large-scale defense battle organized at the border and the Dark Elf tribe invaded, other surrounding families unexpectedly rejected my family's proposal to organize a second defense line and continue to cooperate in battle, and they all left us."

"According to them, since my family can cultivate a talent like me, since our family has become a strong contender for a powerful noble family because of my existence, then our family should prove its strength through this battle and demonstrate its qualification to be listed among the noble families of the Light Elves."

"Having greater power means shouldering heavier responsibilities. And at this moment, it is the time for our Adaigua family to bear heavier responsibilities and demonstrate our powerful strength. Under this moral coercion, the Adaigua family, which wants to be strong and save face, naturally willingly became the scapegoat for ensuring the evacuation of other families. Sacrifice, in the eyes of our family, was the only way and the only choice to uphold our family honor at that time," Elinna recalled calmly.

"Jealousy can turn people into demons. Even the Light Elf tribe, who claims to pursue a peaceful and harmonious life with nature, still cannot escape the corrosion of jealousy on their hearts," Dao Lao commented.

Because, according to the information provided by Judge Yan earlier, he knew that behind the various arguments of other families that supposedly had the Adaigua family responsible for the rearguard, hid the jealousy of other families towards the Adaigua family for possessing a magical genius like Elinna.

"Yes! Unlucky, really unlucky! When the Dark Elf army invaded our homeland, other families, who fled without looking back, made me think—why did my family suffer betrayal from our own people? Why was I born here? Why do I have such powerful magical talent? If it weren't for this talent, my family wouldn't have stayed here as cannon fodder for others," Elinna lamented, expressing both hatred towards other families and self-loathing.

"So, you were at that moment—? And the other members of your family too—?" Haoyun, upon hearing this, also expressed regret for the Adaigua family's plight.

Elinna took a deep breath and nodded indifferently. "No. Fortunately, our family did not perish in that battle. Due to the loss of support from other families, my family was simply unable to withstand the onslaught of those powerful Dark Elf warriors. So, my father, the patriarch of the Adaigua family, voluntarily surrendered to the enemy and offered his own life in exchange for the safety of all other Adaigua family members."

"The Dark Elf army, which often fought with the garrison troops allied with our family and had many soldiers slain by us, naturally refused my father's request. They demanded the lives of all Adaigua family commanders in exchange for the safety of other family members. Because in this way, they could ensure that our family would be unable to command troops in battle due to being without a leader. Our Adaigua family would then become fragmented due to the absence of family power representatives and would be completely dissolved," Dao Lao evaluated the demands of both sides in this matter from a neutral perspective, like a godly observer.

Elinna sighed deeply, nodding helplessly. "Yes! The demands made by the Dark Elf tribe cannot be said to be excessive, but rather the most reasonable demands for them under the circumstances at that time. Moreover, those Dark Elf warriors at least agreed to spare the civilians and ordinary soldiers of our family. So, for us, who had no bargaining chips at all, besides accepting the demands of the Dark Elf tribe, we had no other choice."

"So, my father and all the commanders of the family could only accept the conditions of the Dark Elf tribe. But just as the Dark Elf tribe was about to take my father away from me, scared and angry, my brain suddenly short-circuited, and I stood in front of my father like a brainless blockage. I kept shouting loudly at those Dark Elf warriors to stay away from my father, while I also felt a strong power awakening within me. Since I was studying white magic at the time, I was well aware that this power was definitely not white magic. Because I sensed the evil aura brought about by anger from that power," Elinna continued.

"Black magic, your talent in black magic was passively activated at the moment of crisis and anger," Dao Lao said.

"Yes," Elinna nodded. "But at that time, I was not aware of this situation. I only found out that, after I revealed that powerful aura, a Dark Elf commander immediately stopped the soldiers from taking my father away. Then, that commander ordered them to stay temporarily in our family's territory. The commander also sent word to nearby other Dark Elf troops to come to support, and they heavily surrounded our homeland."

"We didn't know why the Dark Elf tribe suddenly increased its troops in our homeland and didn't make any harmful moves against us. My father and the other family commanders tried to negotiate with the senior Dark Elf commanders again and reiterated his willingness to sacrifice his own life to save the lives of all the people in our family's territory. However, the Dark Elf commanders seemed unwilling to say too much to him, just telling him to go back obediently and then dismissively sent him away," Elinna recounted.

"So, under the heavy siege of the Dark Elf tribe, we spent several days trembling in fear. Then, one evening, a group of Dark Elf soldiers forcibly brought me into the garden of our family. Then, I saw an airborne combat unit composed of more than a dozen large corpse-flying beasts descending from the twilight sky. Then, a female elf with two fresh bloodstains on her cheeks jumped down from one of the flying beasts and walked straight to me," Elinna took a deep breath and continued, "Although I had never seen Archbishop Anselin, I recognized her at first sight just by the various descriptions of her passed down in the world. Anselin first carefully scrutinized me, then asked me to accompany her on a trip. And she promised that if I listened to her, she would ensure the safety of our clan without any harm."

"On the one hand, it was because of Anselin's seemingly gentle and approachable but actually aggressive momentum; on the other hand, it was because of Anselin's status as Archbishop, so I believed that she could keep her promise not to harm our clan. Therefore, reluctantly, I obediently got on the corpse-flying beast with her and flew back to the Black Stone Castle, where I saw other elders of the Black Magic Association. It wasn't until then that I realized that, apart from my Anselin, all the elves in this Black Stone Castle had become puppets solely controlled by Anselin."