The journey to Morningwind Harbor was remarkably smooth, almost suspiciously so.
Perhaps the sheer scale of Lin Qingyue's "Purification Concert" had frightened the monsters and beasts within a hundred-mile radius into relocating overnight.
Throughout the journey, they encountered not a single unwary creature.
Half a day later, on the horizon, the silhouette of a city pierced through the dense forest.
It wasn't built on the forest's edge but seamlessly integrated with the forest itself.
The city's structures had naturally grown as marvels from the roots and branches of ancient trees.
Morningwind Harbor.
Life-giving vines coiled around jade-white walls, blooming with tiny, starlike flowers.
Soaring spires didn't pierce the sky abruptly but gracefully intertwined with the canopies of colossal trees, forming a seamless, organic whole.
The air carried the sweet fragrance of blossoms mixed with the damp, earthy scent of rain-soaked soil, filling their nostrils and invigorating their senses.
"Is this... Fairytale Town made real?" Xia Lian murmured to herself, her eyes sparkling with awe.
Lin Qingyue nodded silently in agreement.
The place was indeed exquisite, possessing a vitality and spirit that far surpassed the human world's fortresses of steel and stone.
Yet this tranquility and harmony shattered the moment they crossed the city gates.
The streets of Morningwind Harbor teemed with slender-figured, fair-faced elves, the entire city steeped in an atmosphere of leisure and peace.
But when Aeldara led her company of knights, clad in heavy black rune-etched armor, through the gates, the air instantly changed.
The hum of conversation abruptly ceased.
Elven merchants tending their roadside stalls paused their work, their gazes filled with wary scrutiny.
Elven children playing beneath the shade trees were yanked behind their parents, who whispered hushed warnings, their little faces etched with confusion and fear: Mommy, what are those? They look so scary.
Even the guards at the city gates stiffened instantly at the sight of Aeldara's party, their hands clamping tightly onto the hilts of their swords.
There was no outright hostility, no attempt to drive them away.
Yet a deep-seated, primal rejection, rooted in their bloodlines, coalesced into an invisible wall, isolating Aeldara and her knights from the rest of the world.
"They... they don't seem to welcome these knights at all," Lin Xiyue whispered, leaning close to her sister's ear.
"Hmm," Lin Qingyue murmured, scanning their surroundings and taking in every detail.
She noticed the complex expressions on the elves' faces as they looked at Aeldara.
There was fear, and even disgust.
But mostly, there was a pitying gaze, as if they were watching a fellow elf who had strayed from the path, betrayed their race's glory, and become a source of profound grief.
Holy shit! Lin Qingyue mentally raged.
These elves are looking at Aeldara like they're watching their star student who got into a top tier university suddenly announce they're going to become a K-pop trainee. They're heartbroken but too afraid to interfere, lest they get their asses kicked.
Aeldara and her apprentices were long accustomed to this.
They kept their gazes fixed straight ahead, ignoring all stares, and marched silently through the streets.
Their footsteps were heavy yet resolutely firm, their destination clear: the city's heart.
Sigh, even being a living Death Knight isn't easy. Lin Qingyue sighed inwardly.
To protect their people, they wielded forbidden power, only to be branded as monsters. These elves are so narrow-minded.
In stark contrast, the treatment of Lin Qingyue's quartet, who walked amidst the group, was worlds apart.
When the Elves saw the four humans with their normal appearances, their tense expressions visibly relaxed, and a hint of curiosity flickered in their eyes.
The tall, long-legged twins, Lin Qingyue and Lin Xiyue, particularly drew hushed whispers.
"Are those humans? Guests brought back by Lady Aeldara?"
"That pink-haired Priest... she seems so peculiar."
The murmurs drifted past Lin Qingyue's ears like a gentle breeze. She was too busy appraising the Elven Race's striking beauty to pay attention.
Tsk, these Elves—men and women alike—are as beautiful as if they were carved from the same mold: slender, delicate, like exquisite porcelain figurines that need constant care.
She glanced at Aeldara's heavily armored, imposing figure striding ahead.
The Commander, on the other hand, stands out starkly among these "fragile items," yet feels remarkably reliable.
Now that's the kind of security I like.
The group soon reached the circular plaza at the city's heart.
At its center lay a Teleportation Array constructed from moonstone, quietly slumbering. The runes inscribed upon it were so intricate they could trigger instant death in anyone with trypophobia.
"We've arrived," Aeldara announced.
Aeldara stopped and approached an elderly Elven Mage guarding the Magic Circle, handing him a token engraved with a special insignia.
The old Mage's gaze lingered on the token for a moment before lifting to sweep over Aeldara, then paused on the group of Death Knights radiating an ominous aura behind her.
His eyelid twitched slightly, as if he had glimpsed something foul.
Without a word, he gave a curt, official nod, turned away, and began channeling Magic Power into the Magic Circle.
Throughout the entire process, he maintained zero communication with Aeldara.
That deliberate, precise coldness itself served as a silent humiliation.
Watching this scene, Lin Qingyue gained an even clearer understanding of the internal rifts within the Elven Race.
Soon, the Teleportation Array glowed with a soft, white light.
"Step onto the platform," Aeldara instructed the four women.
Lin Qingyue and her companions obeyed, entering the Magic Circle.
In the next instant, a violent dizziness assaulted them as the world around them shattered into a trillion shimmering fragments.
The sensation was akin to being kicked into a high-speed washing machine set on its most intense spin cycle.
The weightless feeling lasted only a few seconds.
When their vision finally stabilized, they found themselves standing in a vast, open meadow.
A life aura ten times more potent than that of Morningwind Harbor washed over them, permeating every pore and filling them with profound comfort.
Before them stood a city of unimaginable grandeur, bathed in the eternal moonlight.
Silvermoon City.
It didn't seem built so much as sculpted from moonlight and crystal, an exquisite work of art. Countless graceful arched bridges and floating islands were connected by radiant magical pathways that shimmered with iridescent light.
A colossal, translucent dome enveloped the entire city. Simulated stars and a radiant silver moon shone across its surface, casting an eternal, tranquil glow.
"Oh my heavens..." Lin Xiyue and Xia Lian stared in awe.
Even the usually composed Su Wan's breath caught slightly as the brilliant moonlight reflected in her eyes.
"Let's go. Her Majesty the Queen awaits us," Aeldara's voice roused them from their reverie.
She led the party along a broad avenue paved with white jade, toward the most magnificent palace, which floated at the city's heart.
Along the way, the familiar atmosphere of Morningwind Harbor played out once again, only this time with even greater refinement.
The elves of Silvermoon City, both nobles and commoners, paused their steps, pressed a hand to their chests, and bowed deeply, executing a flawless display of etiquette whenever they saw Aeldara's procession.
This was a gesture of respect for a powerful figure, the Captain of the Knights.
Yet beneath this outward reverence lay a deliberate distance.
Their courtesies were as polished as a stage performance. Their eyes, while expressing awe at the powerful weapons on display, also conveyed an unmistakable detachment—a refusal to be even slightly tainted by such things.
Oh, they've leveled up. From cold indifference to veiled hostility.
Finally, the procession reached the gates of the Royal Palace.
"Please wait here," Aeldara instructed Lin Qingyue and her companions. "I'll go in and report to Her Majesty the Queen."
Alone, she strode into the magnificent, gold-gilded palace.
The heavy palace gates slowly closed behind her with a resounding boom, sealing off two worlds entirely.