Chapter 21: The Second Resurrection Target

The Dark Elf Queen, Besalia Ancolinesia, was known as the "Rose Queen" because her palace gardens were filled with roses.

Eirina loathed this woman.

They shared many traits: noble status, elegant beauty, formidable power, and a disdain for those beneath them. Eirina despised the Rose Queen just as she despised the person she herself had once been.

Besalia was a direct descendant of the previous queen. As a child, she had been sent to the Cathedral of Light to serve as a vestal virgin, which meant she had been abandoned by her mother from the start, a sacrificial pawn in the compromise between the Royal Court and the Cathedral.

When the Others attacked and the world entered the Age of Heroes, the Dark Elf Queen and all her offspring were assassinated by necromancers simultaneously. Only Besalia, then in the Cathedral, escaped, making her the sole candidate to succeed the throne.

Given the Rose Queen’s later penchant for political intrigue and manipulation, many historians believe that the "assassination by necromancers" was merely a discreet euphemism used to cover up a palace coup she had orchestrated.

Leveraging the political correctness of "uniting the nations to fight the Others," Besalia seized the crown and quickly consolidated absolute military power, conducting over twenty political purges of varying scales within the dynasty.

By cajoling, dividing, bribing, and assassinating her way to power, she ruthlessly eliminated all opposition. She forced the three great noble houses to submit, achieving a level of centralized authority rarely seen in Dark Elf history.

In the final years of her reign, the Rose Queen began to target the Cathedral of Light, declaring that "divine authority shall not supersede royal authority."

Then, she mysteriously disappeared.

The throne was inherited by her niece, for the Rose Queen had sworn a vow to the Holy Spirit when she became a vestal—"to renounce all passion and desire until death"—and thus left no heirs with a claim to the throne.

Historians remain skeptical of this account: it is highly probable that Besalia died at the hands of Cathedral assassins, just as her mother and sisters had, with her "disappearance" being nothing more than a vague, public-facing cover story.

"How do you know she ended up dying on Salt Island?" Eirina asked suspiciously.

"I have some friends," Renn said calmly. "They enjoy researching the historical backgrounds of the various kingdoms, looking for any trace of a clue that might be useful."

"After thorough discussion, they concluded that the Rose Queen could not have been attacked within her own borders. Her guard detail was so ridiculously large that an assassination attempt by the Cathedral would have had no chance of success."

"Unless the Rose Queen left the shore and boarded a ship. Her guards would inevitably have been dispersed across several vessels, creating an opportunity."

Eirina was silent for a moment before saying, "If Besalia was going overseas, it could only have been to the Gem Archipelago to visit the High Elf royalty there."

"She would have first visited the capital of the Ancestral Elf Empire, located at the crossroads of the four realms," Renn said leisurely. "Then, she would have traveled by land through the Southern Realm, into the Riverbay Province, and arrived at the mouth of the Longwater River in the fertile lands. After boarding a ship to the open sea, she would have had to pass by Salt Island."

"And you intend to find her burial place," Eirina said coldly, "and resurrect her completely—just as you did to me."

Daya stared at Eirina, her mouth agape.

"Ah, wait... so Eirina, you are actually..."

"You should be aware that with only your strength and mine, it is impossible to deal with the army of the Others," Renn said, taking a sip from his teacup. "We need more hands."

Eirina fell silent.

Upon reflection, there were many benefits to resurrecting Besalia. Even setting aside her political prowess, she was a master of swordsmanship, poisons, and flame magic—a formidable hero of the ancient era who could contribute significantly to the fight against the Others.

For Eirina, having another caged bird meant there was a basis for cooperation; it was certainly better than fighting alone.

However.

To desecrate a soul that has found peace is a great torture to the deceased.

Although Eirina detested Besalia, she could not bring herself to say the selfish words, "Then resurrect her," and could only express her silent resistance through quietude.

Renn, as she expected, ignored her attitude entirely and said:

"Our primary task is to prepare for the fight against the Others at any cost. As for conscience, morality, or bottom lines—those can be set aside for now."

"After all, if all the intelligent life in this world were to perish, what use would those things be?"

He looked out at the distant sea again and suddenly felt a chill on his face.

Daya and Eirina looked up at the sky.

It was raining.

The moist monsoon winds, rich with vapor from the southeast, had crossed the vast green sea and reached the continent's coast.

The rainy season in the Rainforest Peninsula was beginning.

***

There are three cities on the Rainforest Peninsula, from south to north: Dragon Valley City, Dragon Peak City, and Dragon Plain City.

Dragon Peak City is built deep within the Blade Mountains. Because of its high elevation, it is unaffected by the flooding of the Raging River, making it the preferred refuge for residents of surrounding towns during the rainy season.

Now, however, it was under a state of emergency curfew.

Large numbers of refugees from Dragon Valley City had brought news of the imminent arrival of the Others and the appearance of a true dragon, leaving Lord Diegor and the military nobility in shock.

As the scouts sent to investigate Dragon Valley City failed to return, everyone knew the situation was likely dire, and for the sake of security, they chose to begin preparations for war.

Unlike the religious sanctuary of Dragon Valley City, Dragon Peak City had been built as a military fortress from the start.

It possessed independent water sources from mountain springs, and firing ports and bunkers were carved into the mountain itself. The several paths leading up the mountain were blocked by layers of fortresses, outposts, and stone walls.

Combined with the arrival of the rainy season, which would raise the Raging River and flood the lowlands below, the nobles felt little panic or concern.

Until danger arrived quietly.

The number of Lizardman refugees seeking shelter from the floods had been decreasing sharply.

This morning, not a single refugee had entered the city.

The temporary shelters prepared for the refugees according to years of tradition were now nearly half empty.

Just as the military nobility were meeting to discuss the matter, a guard suddenly reported that unidentified, grotesque creatures had appeared outside the city.

"What about the scouts?" General Diegor demanded angrily. "From the foot of the mountain to Dragon Peak City, there are seventy-two fortresses, outposts, and watchtowers along the way. Why has no news of monsters been sent back?"

His question was soon answered.

The nobles of Dragon Peak City quickly ascended the walls, only to see a dense swarm of Others already beginning the siege below.

The most numerous were undoubtedly the Sea Cockroaches. These monsters, the size of hunting dogs, not only crawled with terrifying speed but could use their razor-sharp limbs to scale nearly vertical walls in seconds, filling the defenders with profound shock and horror.

It was easy to imagine that the outposts and strongholds guarded by soldiers on the mountain road had been completely surrounded by such a swarm, leaving them no chance to send word back.

Under the immense pressure of life and death, the entire city began to mobilize frantically.

Blades and arrows were ineffective against the Sea Cockroaches; the only truly effective weapons were boulders and logs dropped with the help of gravity, as well as non-physical weapons like fire oil.

General Diegor immediately arranged for the citizens to go into the mountains to quarry stone and fell trees, while gathering the shamans and refugees from Dragon Valley City to have professionals conduct separate interrogations:

"You claim the Daughter of the True Dragon has descended; where exactly is she right now?"