Chapter 621.5: Go Steal Their Home!
Glancing over the chaotic battlefield, Matthew was extremely pleased with the tunnel warfare's effectiveness.
With about 5,000 fighters, they'd not only held back three times that number—
But also inflicted serious casualties while keeping their own losses minimal.
According to Matthew's estimation, if the Cole Elf warriors chose to retreat now, they could likely stop the chaos and save about two-thirds of their forces.
But at this point, the Cole Elf commanders had basically lost control of their army.
Especially since the grey elf modified warriors had started impersonating commanders and giving chaotic orders, making things much harder for them.
The possibility of them retreating and surviving was decreasing rapidly.
Alice, waiting for updates nearby, finally tore her gaze away from the blood-soaked Sparta, turned excitedly to Matthew, and said:
"Glory Fortress has sent out an elite unit. There are about 5,000 Cole Elf soldiers left."
"Should we keep waiting for them to send more reinforcements, or attack now?"
Noticing Alice's nervousness, Matthew realized he was being a bit impatient and answered decisively:
"Let's act now. This opportunity is already excellent—there's never a perfect moment on the battlefield."
Maybe if they waited longer, the Cole Elves in Glory Fortress would get desperate and commit all their troops.
But more likely, they'd pull back their chaotic army and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
So right now was the best chance for an assault.
And that's exactly how it played out.
"What? They still haven't taken down Sparta?"
"What are those idiots doing? Order them to retreat immediately, and seal off all mine exits. No enemy or rebel is to be allowed through."
"Order the whole army to pull back quickly to Glory Fortress and wait for reinforcements."
Lark heard the latest on the Cole Elf army's situation.
Realizing that losses had already exceeded 3,000 soldiers, he immediately gave the order to retreat.
It wasn't that he particularly cared about the lives of Cole Elf soldiers.
If sacrificing every soldier would kill Sparta,
he wouldn't hesitate to give the order.
But if this mine and Sparta were just bait and a trap designed to bleed the Cole Elf army,
that would mean Sparta and his outside supporters had much bigger ambitions—likely targeting Glory Fortress itself.
Just as other elf nobles and commanders were still puzzled, a sudden outbreak of screams and panic in Glory Fortress made them all nervous.
Lark strode decisively to the gates of the Lord's Manor and saw flames rising all over the city.
On the once broad and beautiful streets, groups of a hundred or more, dressed in grey robes or half-elf slave garb, were rampaging—destroying and killing.
"How did so many enemies get inside?"
"Where did all these professionals come from?"
"Could it really be drow support?"
Panic and fear welled up in Lark's heart.
He quickly swept his gaze over everyone present, then shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Inform the remaining 5,000 soldiers—gather at the Lord's Manor immediately!"
"As long as we hold the Lord's Manor, even if the enemy overruns Glory Fortress, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive!"
The nobles and commanders immediately snapped to action, sending their own guards to carry out the "notification" order.
They understood very clearly—the enemy was obviously well prepared, striking just when Glory Fortress's defenses were thinnest. They clearly intended to take the fortress in one go.
The outer districts of Glory Fortress had already fallen into chaos, and the nearly 100,000 residents had lost all "value" as a shield.
So the nobles hurried to gather their relatives and friends, ready to obey Lark's order and defend the heavily fortified Lord's Manor.
As for the other Cole Elf citizens, they would just have to fend for themselves.
Matthew showed no special reaction to this, and even specifically instructed the assault force:
"Put some pressure on them and cause some non-fatal casualties—use up their healing resources and reserves."
"Let them herd their nobles and soldiers into the manor—it's better than them scattering and escaping, making it easier to catch them all at once."
With this tacit "cooperation" between attacker and defender,
Bay Territory's strike force quickly took the fortress walls and seized all other key areas except the Lord's Manor.
For example, the warehouses holding tens of thousands of tons of high-quality metal ore and ingots,
and the granaries with hundreds of thousands of tons of grain,
as well as storage full of commodities and daily supplies.
After a quick tally, Matthew calculated that the value of these goods was at least over 20 million gold coins.
At this chaotic moment, these metals and food were as good as hard currency.
Hauling them back to Bay Territory was unrealistic,
but with these supplies, Bay Territory no longer had to spend a fortune sending materials into the Cantrell Mountains.
The living needs of the half-elf slaves could be met.
The ensuing battle went just as Matthew planned.
Over 20,000 adventurers controlled the outer areas and city walls of Glory Fortress.
They also took control of the half-elf slave quarters outside the city, where unrest had broken out.
Bay Territory staff, with large quantities of supplies and strong bodyguards,
skillfully "controlled" the mass of half-elf slaves.
They quickly gave these slaves a full meal, gaining their initial trust,
then led them to the surrounding mines.
In the underground areas of these mines, two bases under construction needed plenty of new workers.
This process took two full days.
Some of the half-elf slaves were in terrible condition, so emergency treatment and recovery had to come first.
Fortunately, there were plenty of supplies in Glory Fortress, and Bay Territory spared no effort in using these precious goods to help the half-elf slaves.
After all, these supplies had been bought with the blood and sweat of half-elf slaves anyway.
As for the Cole Elf soldiers in the mines, with support from elite troops, they had stabilized for the moment.
But once they heard that Glory Fortress had fallen and nearly 40,000 gray dwarves warriors had surrounded them,
and that even Sparta—the bait meant to draw them out—had retreated deeper into the tunnels,
the Cole Elf army, cut off from supplies and escape, lost their nerve and surrendered to Sparta instead of fighting to the last man.
Thus, except for the 5,000 Cole Elf soldiers holed up in the Lord's Manor, all of Glory Fortress's remaining forces were wiped out.
As for the prisoners, Bay Territory staff showed all the half-elf slaves what fairness, openness, and justice really meant!
Any Cole Elf who had killed half-elf slaves
was sentenced to laboratory imprisonment and death!
There were over ten thousand such cases.
Bay Territory carried out the executions without hesitation, and even broadcast footage of the laboratory imprisonment to the half-elf slaves.
This won near-universal praise and recognition from the half-elf slaves.
Cole Elves who had insulted, beaten, or abused half-elf slaves
were also sent to the lab for "modification and education."
Most would never see daylight again.
Only a handful who accepted modification and joined the Ruins Camp could gain some degree of freedom.
Of course, their actions would be strictly supervised.
They would have to perform at least five highly dangerous missions for Bay Territory to reduce the negative monitoring.
As for returning to normal life or formally joining Bay Territory—
they'd have to pay at least a hundred times more than other ordinary sentient beings.
Their contributions and value would be used to compensate the half-elf slaves—they'd spend nearly a lifetime atoning for their crimes.
As for the tiny minority of Cole Elves who had not committed or had refused to commit crimes,
Bay Territory assigned them to labor and re-education, helping build homes and cities for half-elf slaves.
Only after five years of re-education and passing magical inspections would they be allowed to join the Ruins Camp.
As for letting them go?
That's impossible!
Such good labor must not go to waste!
Bay Territory also promised the half-elf slaves that these policies only applied to Cole Elf civilians and ordinary soldiers.
As for the wicked nobles and commanders, their only fate was immediate execution.
They didn't even have the right to draw another breath!
Of course, Bay Territory would not simply take in every half-elf slave under its banner.
Their screening and acceptance process was the same as for all other refugees.
Any half-elf slaves who had committed crimes would also be punished according to Bay Territory's laws.
Bay Territory didn't want to shelter scum or disgusting monsters with cannibalistic habits.
Their fate was grim—most became test material for Bay Territory's classification of half-elf slaves.
Other half-elf slaves with bad habits were also punished as appropriate.
Only those honest and clean half-elf slaves could smoothly join Bay Territory.
Once they passed a months-long probation, they would enjoy all the rights of Bay Territory residents.
This process would take many days.
During this period, Matthew led Sparta and ten thousand adventurers in a final assault on the Lord's Manor.
Under the attack of giant trebuchets,
the manor's magical shield held for half a day, the walls lasted half a day, and the 5,000 soldiers held less than two hours before breaking.
Aside from a tiny number of nobles who escaped with lifesaving items, every Cole Elf was trapped like a rat in a jar.
When Bay Territory destroyed Glory Fortress and set this centuries-old city ablaze—
only five hours later, the Cole Elf relief army arrived.
They saw piles of burning corpses.
They saw a city in ruins.
They saw, on both hillsides, half-elves waving at them, and Sparta revealing his true form.
"I, Sparta, have returned!"
His ringing voice echoed through the great valley.
Faced with the devastation of Glory Fortress and their kin, and hearing Sparta's defiant shout, unspeakable rage consumed the Cole Elf reinforcements.
With little information, they recklessly charged into the open mine tunnels to pursue Sparta and the half-elves.
This time, Sparta had no intention of meeting the Cole Elves head-on.
Leading a unit of half-elf professionals and aided by Chris, he patiently waged a war of attrition with the Cole Elf troops.
Using tunnel warfare, they steadily wore down the Cole Elf numbers and morale.
There were some casualties, but everyone gained valuable battle experience and became far stronger.
Ordinary Cole Elf warriors could do nothing against Sparta. The Cole Elf commanders had to send their elite forces down the mines.
When those elites entered the traps, Sparta would suddenly attack.
And when they thought they had him cornered—
tens of thousands of fully armed gray dwarves warriors encircled them.
Unwilling or unable to abandon their elite, the Cole Elf commanders ordered the full 50,000-strong army into the vast underground mines.
With superior numbers, they took every tunnel.
They broke open hidden passages, cleared every trap, and excavated huge underground spaces.
Bit by bit, they squeezed the half-elf army's maneuvering room.
It took them two days to finally rescue their elite unit, only to find most were already lost.
The heartbroken Cole Elf commander hadn't even finished preparing to annihilate Sparta and the half-elves—
when he made a shocking discovery.
The half-elves had built a city underground!
A city with at least 200,000 half-elves!
This shocking news caught the Cole Elf commander's full attention.
He was desperate to know—
how long had it taken to build this city?
How many half-elves lived there?
And were there other such cities elsewhere?
While he spent nearly a week preparing for war,
gathering 50,000 Cole Elf soldiers, hundreds of siege engines, and mountains of supplies to be ferried underground—
just as he prepared to besiege the half-elf underground city,
a terrifying report came in:
Their home had been stolen!