Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich

Chapter 627: Proper Status

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

“Something’s wrong with the situation...”

Since we intended to do something about the first demon wave, gathering information was naturally of utmost importance. But, when I truly gathered all necessary information and analyzed it, I discovered that something was truly bad about the situation. The Chaos Abyss had been “overly complete” in its actions this time.

Since the will of the Chaos Abyss’s ultimate goal was the evolution of all species, pure destruction was only a process, not the final goal. Many of its choices would be quite random. However, this time, its vicious intentions were quite obvious.

The location of the Dimensional Door had been far too intentional. This was the elves’ final sanctuary. Having the first demon wave here would be no different from trying to kill all elves.

There was also a major problem with the location in the Chaos Abyss for the Dimensional Door.

It was located in the seventh level of the Chaos Abyss. That wouldn’t have been much originally, but when thinking about the demon wave’s traits, and the nearby levels, clearly visible vicious intentions could be seen.

The ninth through thirteenth levels of the Chaos Abyss had originally been the personal territory of Demon Main God Ladvioka. That was right, Ladvioka, the Lord of Putrefaction who had died back in Hell.

After his death, at least 20 great demons claiming to be his personal descendant or reincarnation had suddenly shown up. They were now busy with infighting for the sake of obtaining the inheritance of the deceased Main God.

But now, they would no longer have any reason to fight. Considering the abnormal way that the aura of Chaos was spreading down, the ninth through thirteenth levels were also likely to become conscripted for the first demon wave. It just so happened that these levels would be quite bad for the elves.

Back at the battle of Hell, the Lord of Putrefaction had showed us the frightening abilities from his personal dimensions. His territory was filled with his creations and creatures from various other dimensions. Although he had previously limited them in what areas they were allowed to go to, these dangerous creatures were now no longer under control after his death.

These few dimensional levels of his were highly dangerous. Who knew if a seemingly innocent kitten would suddenly transform into a several hundred meter tall tiger monster? It just happened to be that Ladvioka loved giving his most dangerous creatures the appearances of being “cute and harmless”.

The former territory of a Main God would definitely be far more dangerous than ordinary Chaos Abyss levels. Not to mention, Ladvioka had been an expert in raising the most dangerous creatures possible. They would be the worst possible enemy for the elves who were already in such peril.

Alright, the rest should be quite obvious. These creatures would likely all be tossed over to the mortal plane. Perhaps a few new rising stars of the Chaos Abyss would appear after a culling of the weak. But, this would be a nightmare for the elves.

Even I felt rather helpless after analyzing all this information. Any combat strategy would still require looking at the strength and number of both sides’ chess pieces as the foundation. However, the current situation was like the elves having only a king and a bishop against the enemy’s ten full sets of chess pieces. No matter how I looked at it, death was the only possible result.

“We should learn from the Chaos Abyss’s strategy, where only basic autoattacking is required to win...? Since it seems quite true, I really can’t laugh at all.”

Comparing combat potential or trying a battle of attrition with the Chaos Abyss would be the most foolish strategy possible. I didn’t even need to give this information to the elves, as they had likely started gathering information already themselves. This hopeless combat situation would likely force them to use their full power and combat resources. However, even that was improbable to help them survive for long.

“How much longer until the first demon wave?”

“...That will depend on the Chaos Abyss. But, it will be ten days at the maximum,” Harloys answered while perusing a map. Ever since she’d met Didina, she maintained her Gold Elf form. She became a lot more serious, and was even wearing clothes... Wait, why did this sound so awkward?

The current situation was quite obvious. The Chaos Abyss was filled with vicious intentions towards the elves, wanting all elves to die. And, the will of the Chaos Abyss was...

“It’s your younger brother, isn’t it.”

“Theoretically speaking, that’s indeed a possibility. However, we know that fate’s guidance is always difficult to comprehend. Perhaps even your inference is part of fate itself...”

“...I was the one who taught you prophecy magic. You never received a single passing grade. Just talk normally.”

I could only helplessly take a deep breath.

“I suppose it’s perhaps possible... Fine, it’s definitely Karwenz.”

Did Karwenz have a grudge against the elves? Obviously. One of the direct masterminds behind the Mist Kingdom’s destruction had been the elves. I had already taken my revenge, but he had yet to do so. Karwenz wouldn’t have such a poor memory that he would forget.

Was he truly capable of controlling the will of the Chaos Abyss, or even a portion of it? I could still remember him dragging Cynthia into the void with him.

The evidence? That bastard twin of mine had just beaten up Anslo severely a few days ago. What other reason could he possibly have for severely injuring the Elf Main God?

“Such a black sheep of the family...”

I sighed insincerely while trying to think about what exactly Karwenz wanted. While taking revenge was perhaps his goal, it definitely wouldn’t be his ultimate goal.

However, I had far too little information available. Guessing wouldn’t be that meaningful, so I decided to focus on the topic at hand instead.

“Is there a response from the Northlands?”

“Yes, they’ll do everything according to your orders. They should make it in time. We will board their airship at Sindair. They will first go to pickup the silver elves, which will delay them by two days. If they arrive on time as scheduled in two days... We should be able to reach the Moonwheel Capital one week from now.”

The silver elf group trying to reach the Northlands was still far away. Reyne’s Borealis Squadron was also on the way, so I directly told her to pick up those silver elves.

“What about the preparations to establish the Elven Empire?”

“Everything will be done as simply as possible. The coronation ceremony will begin immediately when we arrive at Sindair. Diana, Victoria, Suana, and Kelly are all on their way.”

I nodded as it seemed like my plan was proceeding smoothly. The coronation would take place in the small town of Sindair. There would be a high-ranking representative from each of the four Superior Elf species, so this coronation ceremony didn’t count as too casual.

“...Harloys, are you prepared to become an empress? You’re so calm.”

“...I’m rather numb because it all happened so swiftly.”

Indeed—we were going to coronate Harloys and establish our own Elven Empire. Although we were truly intending on helping the elves, how to help them was still a problem.

Since the Northlands elves also desired to establish an Elven Empire, it was fine to meet their expectations. This wouldn’t be the first empire in the Mist Alliance.

If we reinforced the Moonwheel Capital elves in the name of normal human allies, we would become a “guest army” that would be no different from free cannon fodder. In that case, rather than helping for free with no benefits received, it would obviously be far better to help the “branch family elves” with the status of the “proper Elven Empire”.

Not only would this be better for us in name, it would also bring many practical conveniences.

From what we already knew, directly fighting against the first demon wave would be utterly suicidal. But if we wanted to help the elves organize a retreat, that would likely mean fighting for authority with the Moonwheel Capital Elven Empire. So, I was really looking forward to the upcoming scenario of Elven Empress Harloys and her four major Superior Elf subordinates going over to suppress the fake Elven Empress Afina...

We were both helping the elves in their time of need, as well as extorting them. Our assistance wouldn’t come for free. The price would be the proper status of the Elven Empire.

“What? You refuse to recognize Elven Empress Harloys and the Northlands Elven Empire as the proper one? Fine, we’ll be leaving immediately.”

If the Moonwheel Capital elves refused to recognize us as the proper Elven Empire, they would either all die there, or have their “Elven Empire” destroyed. That was something that I wouldn’t really mind seeing. Actually, it was all just an act as no matter what the Moonwheel Capital elves chose, I would never let them have any authority.

This was because I knew from long years of experience that rather than any godly opponents, garbage teammates would be even worse to have, and if a garbage teammate had the right to command anything, that would be nothing more than suicidal death.

“...Stop talking about your younger brother. You’re just as vengeful as he is.”

“Aren’t you looking forward to the Moonwheel Capital elves’ downfall as well?”

Of course Harloys was looking forward to it. She would be able to return to the elf species as the Elven Empress, and even use her newfound status to punish the original traitors. She was excited to the point where she couldn’t even sleep at night.

Before, this would have been unimaginable. But, the three pieces of God Equipment representing the Gold Elf royalty had just happened to appear at this time, and the Northlands also just happened to have the support of all four Superior Elf species. It really felt as if Harloys was fated to become Elven Empress.

I was also looking forward to what expression the Superior Elves would have when the fairies started reporting that Gold Elf Empress Harloys had returned. The Superior Elves would surely have complex expressions then.

Right now, everything that we were doing was really important politically.

When the moon elves went overboard with their schemes, the Northlands Elven Empire and Elven Empress Harloys not only didn’t watch the traitors be destroyed by the demon wave, but even lent a helping hand. Then, no matter what happened afterwards, this would mean that Elven Empress Harloys didn’t intend to take revenge for what happened before.

When considering how much trouble the elves had previously stirred up, an extremely magnanimous and powerful Elven Empress would be far more likely to receive the recognition of all elves.

Also, the Northlands elves, Mist Alliance, and Hell Gods would all support Elven Empress Harloys. This would be her solid foundational power for making a claim to the throne.

The result of helping the Moonwheel Capital elves would be her first accomplishment. How she did would be directly related to how secure her “proper” position as Elven Empress would be.

Don’t underestimate the position of Elven Empress. This would be the most venerated person possible in the hearts and minds of countless elves. As long as she obtained the proper position of Elven Empress, countless elven mages, druids, and rangers would voluntarily join her side. Judging from the long-term benefits, gaining the proper status would be immensely beneficial.

The Borealis Squadron had brought the elites of the Mist Alliance in order to fight against the first demon wave. The Northlands elves had also sent their strongest fighters. However, this still wouldn’t be enough. Forcefully resisting the first demon wave capable of utter annihilation would be foolish as well as suicidal.

Perhaps you would be able to resist for a day and kill ten thousand demons. But, would you be able to resist for the entire duration of the Holy War and kill every single demon in the Chaos Abyss? It would be impossible to calculate when the first demon wave would finally stop. That was because every single location in history that the first demon wave descended upon had become nothing but rubble where only Chaos Abyss creatures lived.

I felt that since Karwenz as the will of the Chaos Abyss was behind this particular demon wave, it was likely that the amount of cannon fodder would be practically infinite. In the end, moving the elves away and retreating would be the only possible main strategy.

“The other human kingdoms will give us some face if four mega empires make an announcement together, right?”

“...I really hope so.”

Not only was Harloys not confident, even I could not guarantee this. The Mist Alliance, Bardi Empire, Auland Empire, and the Mage Country, four mega empire level existences, had all made a combined request for the elves’ neighboring human kingdoms to open their borders for elven refugees to pass through. But as of now, there had still been no response.

If this had been a time of peace, the combined announcement from four mega empires definitely would have been greatly effective. However, since it was confirmed that the demon wave was arriving, the elves all running away would only mean catastrophe for the neighboring human kingdoms.

Open their borders? Wouldn’t that mean the demon wave would follow close behind the elven refugees? It was obviously the wisest decision for the human kingdoms to make the elves fight the demons to the greatest extent possible.

These human kingdoms would obviously know that they were also facing such a calamity. How could other countries’ empty diplomatic requests possibly matter to them? And if it wasn’t for the sake of giving face to me and the Mist Alliance, Auland, Bardi, and the Mage Country wouldn’t have made such an announcement, either. That’s why I didn’t have any expectations for this. I had other preparations underway as well.

“I hope that we’ll be in time...”

“...It might be quite difficult. Honestly, I’m sorry.”

Margaret was rather embarrassed and feeling awkward as she said this. As for the reason?

“I also think that it might be difficult. We shouldn’t be overly optimistic,” Adam added while chewing a rice ball with his mouth open. He seemed completely like some tourist from a hick town.

“You dare to say something like that! Didn’t you say that you knew the way!?”

I felt that I must have been utterly foolish to have allowed a bastard like Adam to lead the way. Where were we now? Had we taken the wrong teleportation portal? What level of the Chaos Abyss was this patch of desert supposed to be?

I was quite speechless as I looked at the three moons in the sky. Where was this?

“We got lost at such a time? Do the heavens want the moon elves to perish so much?”

“...No matter how you look at it, this looks intentional. Are you certain that you didn’t intentionally have him lead the way?”

Didina, who had come along with us, was filled with obvious vicious intentions. Harloys was also viciously glaring at me. She seemed to be grinding her teeth. If it weren’t for the sake of preserving her image, she probably would have bitten me already.

I didn’t know whether I should cry. Since the plan was now confirmed, why would I still act ridiculously? I truly hadn’t intended on setting any more pitfalls. It was just that Adam seemed highly confident when he said something about knowing a shortcut.

“Forget it, I’ll lead the way.”

Finally, Didina, our Chaos Abyss guide, made herself useful.