The Elven Evolution: Starting With 1 Million SSSR Skills

Chapter 266: [266] War Report [Edited]

Before the briefing began, Grand Marshal Reginald found his way to the camp, alongside Lord Warren who stood at the very edge of their camp.

When they were all settled, Feyre began her briefing.

"Although it is recorded that there have been two major cities brought down by the undead, the casualties have been on a much greater scale."

Feyre walked closer to the region of the map marked red. She coated her finger with mana, and as she drew a circle in the air, that portion of the map was marked out.

"All the smaller towns and villages around them were hit first, and completely consumed by the undead..."

She glanced at Eliron’s group. "You already know what happens after someone is killed an the undead right?"

"They are turned into undead." Ash answered coolly, likely remembering what had happened in Donia. "But from my understanding, they do not have to be killed. A bite was enough..."

Feyre shook her head. "What you speak of is indeed true. But it is very different from what I have witnessed on the battlefront..." she explained.

"The Donia port was a localised situation, and a unique one. My guess is that because he did not have to bother about controlling the undead with him, he was able to focus more on the curse."

"But during the war, where he passively controls hundreads of thousands of undead, only the dead rise. Getting bitten still causes the curse, but it progresses much slower."

"He... controls the undead?" The Grand Martial asked, his face twisting with concern.

Eliron could understand his concern. Normally, the undead were a vicious bunch, driven to madness by the curse and the ever present void in them.

Their only goal was destruction, but this madness also meant it was possible to counter them, since they were nothing better than rabid beasts.

But if they were being controlled, it was a whole other situation.

"We were not sure at first, but we have confirmed it. The one in charge of their army steers the lesser undead, not fully, but the effect is profound." This time, it was Indra who spoke.

"The undead we encountered..." Another oracle added. "They are a rather capable bunch."

With each detail, the Grand Marshall’s face hardened more, why wouldn’t it? When the information was enough to make them revise the entire battle plan.

’If he is like that now, I wonder how he will react when he hears the worse part...’

Feyre gave them some time to wrap their heads around what she had said, just before dropping the next bombshell with a straight face.

"...but this is not the only reason the undead were such fierce foes. Those things possess traits as well."

"Traits?" Yen asked, tilting her head slightly to the side as she pet Tsukiko.

Although she was the one who asked, it seemed everyone, including even some oracles, were equally confused.

Feyre glanced at her. "They possess characteristics from who they once were, vestiges of their former self."

A silence encompassed the camp, up until a deep, rich voice cut through it, the disbelief clear in his tone.

"Are you saying that those foul creatures can..." his voice trailed off as the realisation hit him. "A question, Secretary of War. If a mage were to die and rise as an undead, what would happen?"

"The undead would rise as a mage." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Warren tried to speak, but only a gasp came out as he bitterly shook his head.

Fighting an army of two hundred thousand was bad enough, fighting an army that could steal your warriors and add them to their ranks was another issue.

But fighting the horde while worrying about mages, swordsmen and other devious traits, that was a lot to handle.

"As I was saying earlier." Feyre pointed at the overhead map. "Each city that has been overrun has been inculcated into the undead army, although the official number is two hundred thousand...."

She paused briefly before she continued. "The real number is likely much higher."

Eliron nodded. "What about their chain of command? How are they being led?"

In the novel, there were different generals assigned to sections of the undead army. Since there was already a major change in their administration, Eliron wondered if there was also a difference in the generals.

"I was getting to that, Lord Eliron. Please only ask questions based on already discussed topics." She said curtly, earning a look from Artie.

She raised a brow. "Was that... rude?" She asked, her voice a whisper.

Artie just sighed, running a hand through her face.

"I see..." Feyre cleared her throat.

"The army of the dead follows a stringent command system. Starting from the bottom, there are seven commanders we call the lower plagues, each one as strong as a second stage minor commander."

Feyre waved her hand in the air, and a crystal orb appeared in front of her.

’She has a spatial storage device?’

She waved her hand over the orb and a projection of the seven plagues appeared above it.

"These are images that were captured on the battlefield..."

Naturally, they looked nothing like normal undead. Even from the image, Eliron could tell that they were filled with power.

One of them was a Litch, the other was a vampire, while the other three were undead Nero had no name for. But there were only five.

"You said there were seven. Were you unable to acquire images of the others?" Ash asked.

Feyre shook her head. "Well, they were originally seven... but I squeezed two of them with my magic, so they are of no consequence."

Ash blinked. "Oh."

"Any other questions?"

He shook his head.

She waved her hand over the orb again, and this time a projection of two figures hung above it.

’At least this part of the story hasn’t changed.’ Eliron thought as he stared at them.

"There are three leaders above the seven plagues..." Feyre said, then glanced at Zora, silently urging her to continue.

Zora cleared her throat and got to her feet. The jovial undertone in her voice vanished, replaced with a confident tone worthy of the leader of the oracles.

"These three are the real problem, and the monsters we have to look out for on the battlefield."

"The first of them..." she pointed at what looked like a skeleton wearing an ancient robe, dark fire burning in its eyes. "...is a grand lich capable of using SS-Rank spells."

She pointed at the second. "The second leader is a Dread Knight, and he alone commands an army of over two hundred Dullanhans, cavalry known as Hell’s Brigade."

She gritted her teeth. "I’ve seen them rip through castles like it were paper, tearing through people with ruthless precision."

"The Calvary is already a problem, and that is without the Dread Knight commanding them. And worse of all, both he and the Lich are strong enough to take on an oracle."

Feyre nodded. "And finally..." she pointed at a dark shadow. Apart from the dark silhouette, there was nothing else to see.

"The last one is a mystery even up till now. We have only ever sighted them a few times, each time from afar. Not once have they participated in the war."

The map vanished, and her eyes roamed over all those that had gathered, at their concerned faces, and questioning gazes.

"That concludes my report."

"Thank you, Feyre." Prince Alex got up and walked to where she stood, while she found a seat close to Zora.

Artie returned to her spot beside Eliron as well, crossing her legs.

Alexander heaved a breath. "Please know that everything that Feyre has told us is confidential information. Not a word of anything discussed here should be passed on to a third party."

His silver eyes grew colder. "Defaulting on this is punishable by death." He said icily.

Then he let out a breath, the tension dissipating as he clapped his hands together.

"Grand marshal?" He invited Reginald to speak.

Reginald shook his head as he had a sigh. "This is a lot to pack in... but it has not changed our objectives. We must destroy the plague in our land before it spreads even further."

"Now that we are all up to speed, we will all meet every night to discuss an effective strategy, until we arrive at Castle Kasket."

Alexander nodded, then slowly, his eyes moved from person to person, his gaze so sharp that it was as though he could piece them apart.

"Before we call it a day. There is one more thing we must discuss, the issue of the traitors among us."

The tension in the air was as thick as a cloud.

There was no one present who didn’t know someone was feeding the undead information. Maybe it was one of the lords, maybe it was a knight, or maybe even someone higher...

But the fact that someone, a human, was giving those monsters information about them, it made them sick to their stomach.

As the silence stretched on, Eliron casually raised a hand. "Actually, I think I have that sorted out already."

Everyone turned their attention to him. "What do you mean, Lord Eliron?" Reginald asked.

Without a word, Eliron summoned his infinity pouch, and before their eyes, he pulled out a head...

The head of the Dullahan.

And set it before their camp—