"Fire attack?"
Shandris Feathermoon immediately understood: "You mean to drive the Hatecoil Naga onto the island first, then set fire to all the vegetation on Dreadmist Island to burn them to death? Isn't that too cruel?"
She had never considered such a tactic.
It wasn't that she wasn't smart.
She was a Night Elf, a guardian of nature.
Night Elves embraced nature and would not conceive of such environmentally destructive methods.
"This is a war of life and death, Shandris. As long as there is war, there will be death. The method is just different. Being shot by an arrow, cut by a sword, or burned by fire, there is no difference," Kael'thas reminded her.
He had thought that after ten thousand years of warfare, Shandris Feathermoon would have a heart of stone, but he didn't expect her to find burning the Naga cruel.
When the Northern Forests, or even the World Tree Nordrassil, were burned one day, she would understand what true cruelty was.
"All beings are born from the earth, and after being burned to ashes, they return to the earth to nourish all beings. This is the natural cycle, the Way of Nature."
Kael'thas said.
"What kind of twisted logic is that—but you're right, this is war. The Naga are our enemies, and we don't need to consider how they die."
Shandris Feathermoon nodded: "However, we don't have mages who can cast fire spells, and we lack flammable materials like oil. We still need your help in this regard."
Kael'thas smiled: "General, please wait a moment."
He teleported to Teldrassil and found Archmage Rommath, who had already returned ahead of time: "Allocate three hundred fire mages, led by Selyn, to go with the Mage Guard to Eldre'Thalas to assist General Lirath Windrunner in eliminating the Hatecoil Naga."
For such minor characters, there was no need for him to act personally. Selyn, the Fire Archmage, leading the team himself, was sufficient.
"Rommath, how are the magic barrier and runestone system coming along?"
Three months had passed since Sandar Hill was planted.
General Lirath Windrunner was very dedicated to managing her territory, utilizing all resources, including the Windrunner Family's thousands of years of accumulation.
With assistance from the Wildhammer Dwarves, Green Dragons, Keepers of the Grove, Druids, and Princess Theradras, Sandar Hill was no longer what it once was.
The massive foundation engineering was largely complete, and a large number of meticulously carved stones were continuously transported to the platform above the tree canopy.
A magnificent city in a typical High Elf style was gradually taking shape.
Its scale was almost comparable to Silvermoon City, standing majestically in the central area of the World Tree's canopy, bathed all day in bright, cloudless sunlight. The overall effect was exquisite, grand, and resplendent.
The main outline and framework of the city had been built, and various internal buildings were under intense and orderly construction.
The City Lord's Mansion, the Windrunner Spire, the Mage District—vast buildings stood in all directions, guarding the Sunstrider Spire located in the center—
Although Sandar Hill was nominally the territory of the Windrunner Family, Lirath Windrunner knew very well in her heart that she must not truly believe that.
This World Tree and this Sky City were born because of His Royal Highness, so the most important, tallest, and most central building within it naturally belonged only to His Royal Highness.
However, for such a magical city suspended high in the sky, the buildings themselves were not important; what was important was the utilization of massive amounts of Arcane energy.
The Arcane energy of Sandar Hill was at a demigod level.
The best way to utilize such a vast amount of energy was through the runestone system.
The High Elf runestone system was essentially the ordering of scattered Arcane energy.
Through runestones distributed everywhere, the underground Arcane energy was extracted, and with runestones as nodes, a network was built on the ground and in mid-air, integrating attack, defense, warning, and daily use.
The core of the Arcane network was the Sunstrider Spire.
The Sunstrider Spire itself was a super-giant runestone composed of a large number of runestones.
Through the Sunstrider Spire, one could harness the Arcane energy within several hundred kilometers, and casting spells with this energy would absolutely be at a demigod level of power.
The runestones themselves formed a defensive system similar to Silvermoon City. When needed, they could erect a magic barrier, with a planned coverage and defensive capability that was even stronger than Silvermoon City's.
With the Arcane energy of the entire area ordered, any spellcasting would cause Arcane fluctuations and could be detected.
Once a powerful enemy invaded, border soldiers could also activate runestones in specific ways or cast specific spells to issue an alarm, thereby responding in a timely manner.
In addition, the runestone system was like an electrical system, also meeting the daily energy needs of Sandar Hill's residents. Magic had long permeated all aspects of High Elf life; cooking, cleaning, and lighting were all closely related to magic!
"Your Highness, Sandar Hill is too large, several times larger than Silvermoon City, and requires several times more runestones. All the mages of Quel'Thalas are working overtime to produce runestones. At the current rate, it will take at least three years to complete," Rommath said.
It wasn't that he wasn't trying hard; it was just that His Highness's demands were too high!
A magic barrier covering the entire Sandar Hill and a runestone system covering the surrounding area—such a massive project was unprecedented in Quel'Thalas, only appearing in the Ancient Night Elf Empire.
What level were they, and what level was Quel'Thalas? Could they be compared?
The entire treasury of Quel'Thalas was being emptied!
He really wanted to ask: Was it necessary?
Sandar Hill now had several legends, tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and thousands of mages alone. Who would dare to cause trouble? Not even Lordaeron!
Was it necessary to spend so many resources to build a runestone system and a magic barrier? It wasn't needed!
Not only him, but many people in the country were complaining and mocking, believing that doing so was meaningless, and even the prestige of His Royal Highness was affected.
These remarks also reached Kael'thas.
He ignored them.
Explanation was meaningless; once doubts arose, only facts could dispel them.
Sandar Hill's importance was far beyond what minor characters like Terenas could comprehend. Time would prove him right.
"Take your time; it's fine if it can be completed within ten years."
Sandar Hill was a mega-project of colossal scale; it couldn't be rushed.
The Kirin Tor took several years to rebuild Dalaran, and Sandar Hill was much larger than Dalaran.
"Also, go to the Eldre'Thalas library and find those scholars. Their Crystal Towers are quite good. You should study them and see if they can be integrated into the runestone system," Kael'thas added.
A mere five small Crystal Towers could imprison a legendary creature of Immol'thar's caliber.
If there were more and they were large enough, they might even be able to imprison demigods.
Sandar Hill had enough Arcane energy and didn't need to absorb magic from living creatures.
But with a slight modification, perhaps imprisoned demigods could be used as energy sources for casting offensive spells?
If ten or eight demigods were imprisoned, the spell power might reach the level of high-tier demigods.
If a group of high-tier demigods were imprisoned—
"Your Highness, Prince Muradin has arrived. He wishes to see you," Lirath Windrunner appeared, interrupting Kael'thas's thoughts.