Chapter Forty: The Siege, Part One

“Damn it! Curse them! Are these humans all fearless heroes? Why are so many willing to risk their lives against the Elven Empire? Why?!” Marshal Aldo Gitt, commander of the Elven Empire’s Western Expeditionary Army, sat in his office, clutching intelligence reports on logistical losses from the past month, roaring in fury.

“Marshal, it seems there’s no longer any need for conciliatory policies toward the humans of Istanbul. Except for those families and merchants who support us, the rest of the human populace should be exterminated or sent to the mines in the rear, to work for the great Elven Empire and atone for their crimes. Such inferior races ought to be grateful that the superior elves allow them their pitiful lives. Those who refuse gratitude should simply be erased.” The adjutant, standing before the marshal, knew his superior’s temperament well and spoke directly to Aldo’s heart.

“Indeed, it appears there are many wise elves among us. With this intelligence on human resistance and losses, those elves back home who dream of harmonious coexistence with humans will be forced to wake up. Your insight is excellent. I will allocate fifty thousand elven troops and ten thousand centaur cavalry to you. I appoint you to lead the extermination of the human resistance in the Istanbul region.

Your task is to wipe out all the resisting humans. Remember, all of them. Do you understand?”

Marshal Aldo Gitt glanced at his adjutant, feeling confident that assigning this like-minded subordinate would not disappoint him.

“Yes, Marshal. I will thoroughly erase those ignorant and foolish humans. I will return to you a pristine Istanbul, ridding the empire’s army of all obstacles.” The adjutant accepted the order respectfully, knowing that success would bring him another step closer to becoming a pivotal general of the empire.

“Go now. I will inform the other generals to cooperate with you. Your main task is to supervise their eradication efforts. Once Istanbul is pacified, the imperial army can truly penetrate the heart of human territory. You will be the empire’s greatest hero!” Marshal Aldo encouraged him.

After dismissing his subordinate, Marshal Aldo Gitt envisioned the promising future that awaited after Istanbul was thoroughly cleansed. His spirits soared, and naturally, he sought to relax.

He summoned his aide.

“Call Secretary Mary for me. I have important matters to discuss. Make sure no one disturbs me.”

“Yes, Marshal,” the aide replied, opening the door and leaving.

Soon, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Marshal Aldo Gitt, not raising his head from the papers on his desk.

The door to the marshal’s office opened and closed tightly. A wave of fragrance swept in; the seductive elven secretary Mary, dressed lightly, sashayed towards Marshal Aldo Gitt, her hips swaying provocatively.

“Marshal, you already missed me in such a short time?” Mary’s lips curled in a smile, her voice soft and tender.

On hearing this, Marshal Aldo Gitt looked up at his alluring secretary, stood, locked the door, and lunged toward her...

It seems the marshal of the Elven Empire knows well how to relax in a manner befitting the world’s norms...

The Elven Empire’s open sexual culture surpasses that of the human realms; there’s no need to elaborate further...

With the marshal’s orders in hand, the adjutant consulted several generals of the Elven Empire. Six thousand troops stationed in the former capital of the Morris Empire marched out, spreading across the Istanbul region.

After the fall of the Morris Empire, the elves transformed its former capital into their main military base. Though the factories had been destroyed, the numerous residential buildings remained and, after a bit of organization, became a vast military camp. Marshal Aldo Gitt named it Istantinburg.

The former Morris capital was ideally located, allowing the army to project control over all of Istanbul. It was one of the few plains regions, where the centaur cavalry could be deployed to their greatest advantage.

Thus, Istantinburg became the Elven Empire’s stronghold in Istanbul, with over a hundred thousand soldiers garrisoned there. Had it not been for the constant turmoil and the strain of maintaining supply lines throughout Istanbul, the army would have already advanced into the lands of the Kingdom of Light.

Now, the gates of Istantinburg opened. Legions of splendidly clad elven soldiers and iron-clad centaur cavalry surged forth, advancing into the Istanbul region. They would establish outposts in human towns, systematically shrinking the resistance’s space to survive.

Ranks of spirited troops marched on. The generals of the Elven Empire were confident that all Istanbul—and indeed the entire human world—could not withstand their advance.

In a remote mountain village of Istanbul, the collapse of the Morris Empire had not affected daily life. Men worked the fields, women tended homes, children laughed and played between the gardens, and elders watched their grandchildren with gentle smiles under the eaves. Everything was peaceful.

Suddenly, a squad of over a hundred elven soldiers burst into the tranquil village, brandishing flintlock rifles and shattering the peace with brutality. Elders and children fell before gunfire and swords, young men who resisted lay bloodied in the fields, and those who dared not resist were shackled in chains and marched to the nearest concentration camp, where a future of endless toil in the mines awaited them.

Since the elven army had moved out, the humans of Istanbul who sought quiet lives suffered the ravages of war. In the larger towns, the Elven Empire occupied directly and showed restraint. But all human villages and small settlements were ruthlessly pillaged: elders and children executed on the spot, young men and women dragged to concentration camps, then gradually distributed to various mines. Fortunately, the proud elves and centaurs found no appeal in human women’s appearance, so no discordant incidents of rape occurred—a small mercy for the humans of Istanbul.