A Core Ship From The Start

“The elves will never accept your humiliating conditions! If you want to destroy Summer Island, we will use every ounce of our strength to defend the Ancestral God Province!”

Queen Airen’s voice was firm, without any hesitation, filled with the dignity and determination appropriate for a queen. Listening to her, the elves also raised their weapons, roaring loudly. For a moment, the whole Summer Island echoed with the elves’ bellows, expressing their resolution and battle intent in this manner to the enemy before their eyes.

However…

“Oh.”

The other party did not say much, not caring about the performance of the elves or the queen’s answer. He just nodded and then disappeared again. Seeing this, Queen Airen clenched her fists and from the high platform, she issued an order.

“Activate the magic barrier! Everyone prepare for battle! We will never surrender! We will show our pride and glory as High Elves here!”

Let the Tribunal see the will of the elves’ sovereignty!!

For Duanmu Huai, the elves’ will, determination, and thoughts meant nothing.

In fact, after he returned to the Voice of Truth, he gave only one order.

“Three rounds from the Macro-cannon, one Light Spear, then all cannons fire together.”

That brief command, given in less than five seconds, determined the fate of the elves.

The first to notice something amiss was an elf sentry.

He pulled his gaze from the distant sea level, only casually sweeping the sky above, then his eyes widened incredulously as he looked up at the night sky —— shining against the inky blackness were countless stars as usual. But soon, he realized something was off with the starry sky.

The originally serene starry sky seemed to be shaking, as if it was falling from the sky.

No, it was not the night sky that was falling, but the stars.

Hundreds of huge macro-cannon shells pierced the atmosphere, hurtling towards Summer Island like a meteor shower, bringing a destructive glow while mercilessly plummeting under the acceleration of gravity.

“—————————!!”

In the blink of an eye, the sky above Summer Island was covered with a dazzling, scorching, and intense light. The magic barrier, which the elves had thought so long over and put all their effort into, shattered like a fragile spider’s web in the face of the 140-meter-long, massive shells — not even able to withstand it for a second. Subsequently, the meteor shower from the sky covered the whole of Summer Island.

Flames surged into the sky, fire and air gushed everywhere. The entire island looked like a chain of erupting volcanoes. Countless clouds of fire mushroomed into the sky, enveloping the whole island. All resistance was meaningless in the face of this dire onslaught. The high towers, cities, and fortresses the elves had built crumbled like brittle structures, and the elves within were torn into pieces before they could scream.

The violent tremors caused the earth to undulate like waves, even stirring up tremendous waves in the sea. Mountains were eroded, the elven forests were destroyed, and vineyards spanning across the plains were utterly ruined. The earth, forests, grasslands, cities, ports — nothing could survive this terrifying attack that was on the verge of annihilation.

Just as the elves believed that this terrifying attack would last forever, suddenly, everything ended without warning.

The surviving elves looked up in dumbfounded surprise. They saw destruction all around them. It was as if the world was plunged into deathly silence, so silent that they could not hear each other’s voices — it was as though all sounds had disappeared.

At that moment, the elves saw a radiance in the sky that rivaled the dazzling sunlight.

Several high-temperature energy beams descended from the sky, illuminating the entire Summer Island. Unlike the previous violent attack, this time flames and heat swept across the island, submerging the remaining cities, forests, and mountains in intense fire. The bright light was so brilliant that it even reflected off the horizon.

It was as if a burning sun was slowly rising from the sea.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!!”

An elven guard screamed as they dashed forward. Their glass light armor had completely melted, fusing with the elf guard’s flesh. They shrieked in pain and reached out to their queen in despair. However, in the next moment, both the elf’s body and glass light armor were completely melted into a pool of thick fluid, their bones sinking into the consuming flames.

“Your Majesty, please get out of here immediately!!”

The court mage held up both hands. Their fingers had turned black, but even so, they grit their teeth, trying to maintain the protective barrier. Their clothes were on fire, and their hair had been completely burned off.

“It’s… too late.”

Queen Airen shook her head and looked up at the night sky, seemingly unable to bear the sight of the elven royal city which was fully engulfed in flames.

Even though Queen Airen had known it would be an unimaginable battle when she made her decision, she had not expected the disparity to be this vast… Was this possible for mere mortals? Shouldn’t this be the work of gods? But even gods probably could not accomplish this.

Without any interaction, let alone hand-to-hand combat, the entire Summer Island was demolished merely upon confrontation.

Is this power… the power we are opposing?

With this thought, the queen opened her eyes, and the last thing she saw was a bright, dazzling light.

A plasma flood roared downwards, heavily bombarding Summer Island. Under this blow, the already devastated Summer Island was directly shattered. Numerous cracks appeared in the earth, and the sea rushed in with raging roars. The shattered land disintegrated, and the sea water surged in, evaporating on the scorching ground and pooling into clusters of white smoke that rose to the sky.

When all was over, the elves’ holy land — Summer Island, the home of the High Elves, where the Royal City was located, had completely disintegrated and was inundated by the sea. The remnants sank to the seafloor under the last devastating blow. As for the tens of thousands of elven inhabitants, they unceremoniously stepped into death.

Their determination, their will, their dignity had been utterly obliterated without even a spark to mark their passing.

Duanmu Huai, with his hands clasped behind his back, stood on the bridge of the ship. The elves’ resistance, struggle, and agony were meaningless to him. He could sense the souls of the elves writhing in pain, but this was not enough. The Tribunal’s wrath was not so easily quelled. The extermination of the aliens was not easy. Their souls would be completely destroyed in the Tribunal’s Obliteration Domain by the Star Furnace and turned into energy, serving as the source of existence for the judges.

No matter how horrific the events on Summer Island were, all Duanmu Huai saw was a fleeting spark.

But it was not over yet.

“Order the Night Guards to prepare. We are going to completely finish those aliens. From tonight, the Ancestral God Province will be utterly eradicated!”

For the inhabitants of this continent, this night was a heart-stopping one.

The fire on Summer Island drew all eyes, but it wasn’t enough. In addition to Summer Island, two other territories of the Ancestral God Province — Valen Forest and Aelsville — also came under attack. The Night Guards, clad in black armor, broke through the elves’ defense, ruthlessly slaughtered the two territories’ main city armies, and hung the lords’ bodies on the city gates to announce the complete destruction of the Ancestral God Province.

With the demise of the High Elves’ army in these two territories and the death of the lords, the situation grew increasingly turbulent. In Valen Forest, the Wood Elves regained power due to the destruction of the Ancestral God Province and reestablished a federal government favorable to the Empire.

In Aelsville, the tiger people began to contest power again and established a new government.

In just one night, the Ancestral God Province, the sovereignty of the elves, was totally annihilated. This night was known as the “Night of Destruction.” After this night, no race dared to question or confront the Tribunal. This unknown force, following the “Night of Destruction,” became the most horrifying entity on this continent.

What would happen to the continent afterwards, whether the Empire would seize this opportunity to defuse internal conflicts, was not of Duanmu Huai’s concern. As he had told the emperor, the Tribunal only cared about external threats to humans. As for the conflicts among humans, the Tribunal did not care, let alone mind. Even if another regime overthrew the Empire and established a new country, it would have…nothing to do with the Tribunal.

After this incident, except for hundreds of Night Guards left behind to manage the Tribunal’s influence on the continent, Duanmu Huai took the others back to Manaria.