This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 293 - 271 Betrayed Everyone

Chapter 293: Chapter 271 Betrayed Everyone

Amberser crushed several Pseudo-Souls, their pure Soul energy seeping into the hourglass, replenishing the power of the slumbering Arthur Laine.

The essence of a Heroic Spirit is a Soul in a special state; the difficulty in recovering power lies in the scarcity of soul energy.

Heroic Spirits lack the ability to restore themselves by devouring Souls, and only Amberser could manipulate such power to heal Arthur Laine.

James Watson watched as Amberser turned a pile of materials into blank souls and couldn’t help saying, "Is that how the Life Caskets came into being? I was doubting that you could possibly slaughter hundreds of thousands without any news leaking out."

Amberser cursed, "Massacre hundreds of thousands? Are you insane? If I had killed that many, Alchemy City would have done me in long ago. Without a population, who would serve as laborers for the Alchemists?"

This was one of the reasons why James Watson was willing to issue a pardon for Amberser.

This Lich was able to create blank souls, so perhaps he didn’t need to massacre living beings to create Life Caskets like other Liches, which meant his sins might be lesser.

The Heroic Spirit of Arthur Laine emerged, even expressing surprisingly, "Why do I feel so much better? It’s more restful than sleeping for several days."

Amberser unabashedly said, "That’s naturally my doing."

Seeking to bolster the presence of this Holy King, Amberser quite liked the character of Arthur Laine, hoping that in future meetings they weren’t necessarily enemies.

When James Watson saw the Heroic Spirit of Arthur Laine, he froze for a good ten seconds before kneeling before him.

"Your Majesty..."

With only two words, James Watson was already choked up and couldn’t utter another sentence.

His head bowed deeply to the ground, tears uncontrollably falling.

James Watson had grown up hearing about this Holy King’s exploits, the greatest hero, the grandest monarch of Laine. It was because Watson idolized Arthur Laine since childhood, imposing the strictest standards upon himself, that he was able to become the Supreme Decree of Laine.

Now, finally seeing this great man, although only his Heroic Spirit, was so much like the statue that Watson became overwhelmed with emotion.

When James Watson knelt down, Amberser repositioned himself slightly, and then took out a Memory Crystal to record the scene, making it appear as though Watson was kneeling before him.

This was precious footage of the Supreme Decree of Laine kneeling before him. If they were to meet on the battlefield, he could play it in front of both armies, making the Laine People think their Supreme Decree had betrayed them early on, which might result in a victory without a fight.

Before James Watson raised his head, Amberser put away the Memory Crystal and returned to his original spot.

James Watson’s focus was entirely on Arthur Laine, completely unaware of Amberser’s subtle actions.

"Your Majesty, I never imagined I would have the chance to see you in my lifetime; I am indeed fortunate."

Though his emotions had settled somewhat, Watson’s tone was still quite excited.

Arthur Laine, however, felt nothing but awkwardness—the old man before him seemed much older, and being knelt to by such a person made Arthur Laine very uncomfortable.

"Old sir, you are mistaken. I’m not your sovereign. I am merely a Heroic Spirit with part of his memories, not the person you admire."

It took some time for Arthur Laine to calm James Watson down, but the title "Your Majesty" proved unchangeable.

This time, Amberser didn’t leave any privacy for the two, boldly choosing to move slightly away and eavesdrop on their conversation blatantly.

James Watson, realizing he was powerless against the Lich, had to ignore his presence.

"Your Majesty, I am here to escort you back to the Empire, which needs your guidance."

James Watson’s primary mission was to bring this Heroic Spirit back to Laine, he couldn’t let him stay in the grasp of this Lich.

However, Arthur Laine said, "Although I constantly hear people say that Laine is the Empire I established, I really don’t have any genuine feelings for this country. You are a Laine person, so let me ask you a question, why does Laine have such severe racial discrimination?"

Amberser, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but want to applaud. This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

Let’s see how you Laine People explain this to Arthur Laine.

James Watson was completely unprepared, not even understanding why Arthur Laine would ask this question.

"Your Majesty, darkness and light are irreconcilable, Undead are a perversion of death, Liches need to slaughter humans to create Life Caskets, Zombies crave devouring the flesh of the living, even the lowliest Skeletons harbor extreme hatred towards the living. To protect humanity, Laine naturally must be the enemy of the Undead."

After saying this, James Watson even cast a glance at Amberser, suspecting the Undead of sowing discord between them and their Holy King.

James Watson thought he had explained things clearly, but Arthur Laine said, "Did you know that among those who fought alongside me against the Magic Dragon Tyrant, three were Undead? Two of them even shielded me from the Dragon Race’s pursuit and ultimately shattered their very Souls."

"What? This... there’s no record of this in the history books."

James Watson’s eyes widened, for he had never heard of this.

Arthur Laine frowned, asking curiously, "Then what exactly is recorded in your history books?"

"The books state that Your Majesty was invincible, slaying the Magic Dragon Tyrant, liberating humanity. Regarding the others, I only know the Elven King of Silvermoon Tribunal was once your companion; as for the rest, there’s no detailed account, only that dozens of heroes were sacrificed..."

The more he spoke, the quieter James Watson’s voice became.

He was not a historian, and had not previously felt that there was anything wrong with such records.

But now that he thought about it, something was indeed amiss.

The heroes who united to oppose the Magic Dragon Tyrant, why were their names not recorded? Not even the Elven King was mentioned in detail, with only a name added because he was still alive.

Sorrow marked Arthur Laine’s face as he said, "If you say that this is the country I established, then I have betrayed them."

During the rule of the Magic Dragon, all intelligent races were slaves to the Dragon Race, and Arthur Laine’s path had been paved with their lives. It was the sacrifice of everyone that brought him before the Magic Dragon.

The Laine Empire is an extreme racist state?

This is the cruelest betrayal!

"Let’s not speak of the Undead for now, what about the Orcs and Dwarves? I heard that you have not only targeted the Undead, but the Dwarf Kingdom and Orc Kingdom have also been invaded by you, haven’t they?"

Arthur Laine’s tone became agitated.

James Watson hesitated for a moment, then said, "The Orcs and Dwarves... we have always been archenemies. Over the years, we have attacked each other so much that it’s unclear who invaded whom first."

More than a millennium had passed, and James Watson was about sixty years old; the Laine Empire had already been waging wars everywhere before his birth, seeming to have grievances with all its neighbors, the specifics of which had long been unclear.

Perplexed, Arthur Laine said, "What exactly happened to make you Laine People the second Magic Dragon Tyrant?"

James Watson quickly said, "Your Majesty, it is not so severe, at least we have always been good to humans, otherwise Laine could not have amassed such strong national power."

"The Magic Dragon Tyrant was also very good to the Dragon Race, but that was built on the enslavement of other races," Arthur Laine’s voice rose as he questioned James Watson, "Tell me, are there slaves in the Laine Empire?"

James Watson replied with shame, "Though not many, there are still some."

"Are these slaves human?" Arthur Laine continued to query.

James Watson lowered his head, unable to answer anymore, and even dared not meet his gaze. Laine had abolished slavery but only for humans. Many dangerous and laborious jobs were handed over to slaves of other races, with prisoners of war from Dwarves and Orcs being particularly suitable for these tasks.

Arthur Laine got his answer through the silence, and he said with grief, "What did I end up doing? Why has my country become like this?!"

Amberser suddenly said, "Based on my investigation and research, the problem started after Arthur Laine’s death. When the Holy King was in power, the Laine Empire got along very well with other races, not only helping them establish their own kingdoms but also uniting to overcome natural and man-made disasters.

"At that time, there was no talk of racial discrimination in Laine, and there were settlements of other races within the country."

Upon hearing this, Arthur Laine clung to it as if it were a lifeline and pressed, "Is that true? Are you not deceiving me?"

Amberser found it a bit odd, Hake Stone and the Old Elf King had both talked with him, had they not told Arthur Laine these details?

Thinking about it, it made sense, one couldn’t simply tell Arthur Laine, "Your descendants nearly scattered your ashes while squabbling with other races at your funeral."

That would cause Arthur Laine great pain.

Hake Stone probably just asked about questions related to the Era of the Magic Dragon and only briefly mentioned things that happened after the establishment of Laine, without going into detail. As for the Old Elf King, he probably spent most of his time reminiscing the good and the bad with Arthur Laine before they managed to talk about subsequent events, and Arthur Laine had fallen asleep.

Thus, Arthur Laine only knew about the general state of Laine, like racial discrimination and extreme belligerence, but the specifics were not very clear to him.

Amberser moved a pile of parchment and ancient books from his private space, some documents he had obtained from Hake Stone, which he had planned to study himself but had not found the time.

Now was the perfect time to corroborate his statements.

Arthur Laine, not one to read books, flipped through them and realized he couldn’t understand anything, so he had to ask Amberser for help.

Amberser referred to Hake Stone’s explanations and corroborated with historical precedents, completely convincing Arthur Laine.

James Watson looked at Amberser curiously. This Lich studied history, too? He was also convinced by Amberser, that the problems of the Laine Empire seemed to arise after the death of Arthur Laine.

The key turning point was indeed Arthur Laine’s funeral.

"The Elf Tribe has a story that after the king died, demons surrounded his corpse, wanting to tear off a piece and devour it. The king’s wife sacrificed herself to disperse all the demons, which refers to that mysterious funeral,"

James Watson said, "That story is preposterous. How could Your Majesty’s funeral be such chaos? What demon would dare appear in Laine?"

"I wouldn’t know, but we can go ask someone who knows the details," Amberser said.

"Someone who knows the details? Who are you talking about?" James Watson felt he couldn’t quite keep up with Amberser’s train of thought.

Amberser explained, "Isn’t it obvious? The reason the story is only widespread among Elves is that an Elf concocted it. And who is most likely to have concocted it? Of course, it would be Hildas Tera, the Old Elven King who has lived from the Era of the Magic Dragon to the present day. All signs point to him, and we need to find him for a clear explanation."

Arthur Laine exclaimed surprisingly, "Hildas? Why has he not told me about this?"

Amberser did not respond but simply walked to the door and opened it wide, just as the Old Elven King happened to be standing outside.

Amberser said to the Old Elven King, "You’ve been eavesdropping for quite some time; it’s time to tell us the truth, isn’t it? Next time, don’t eavesdrop in front of a Lich; we don’t rely on our eyes. Your life aura is so distinct, I couldn’t have missed it even if I wanted to."