This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 347 - 324 Laine’s Powerful Strength

Chapter 347: Chapter 324 Laine’s Powerful Strength

Amberser opened with an exorbitant demand of twenty billion, and Rachel Angelo wished she could just use Holy Slash to sever the lich’s head right then and there.

But she knew that doing so was meaningless, and no matter how much she looked down on the brashness of the Silvermoon Knight, the knight possessed a skill that towered over all paladins.

The Holy Slash of the Silvermoon Knight could pursue the lich’s soul and sever the Life Casket as well.

Without this ability, facing a lich meant at most destroying its body, but not actually taking its life.

But twenty billion, that was impossible. Even if she sold the entire Flow Flame City, including herself, it wouldn’t fetch that much.

With this in mind, Rachel Angelo put on a friendly smile and said to Amberser, "There was a bit of a misunderstanding just now, my friend. I apologize for my rash behavior. But time is of the essence, and even if you don’t tell me the truth, can we save Frodo first? Since you know the truth, you must know how to save him, right? You wouldn’t deceive me, would you?"

Rachel Angelo deliberately used a heavier tone on the last sentence.

Both being sly and cunning, Amberser immediately caught Rachel Angelo’s implication.

The deal could be discussed, but Amberser had to present proof of his credibility, or there would be a fallout. Although Rachel Angelo couldn’t kill Amberser completely, she wouldn’t make it easy for him.

Amberser shook his head and said, "How could I resolve such mystic methods? If you want to save someone, you would need to extinguish the source. As I just mentioned, this is a collaboration between a Deity and Tiflin. Either kill the Hell Lords or eradicate the Impure Chant, otherwise it won’t be possible to save anyone, at best you can only delay."

"Delay will suffice!" Rachel Angelo said excitedly because Frodo’s right arm had completely undergone undead transformation, and its flesh was beginning to rot and stink.

Amberser then said, "Time Freeze! That’s the only way to delay his death. You have a Time Freeze Scroll, right?!"

"Time Freeze Scroll?"

Rachel Angelo, not caring about the scroll’s cost, immediately ordered someone to bring it.

It had to be said that the Laine People really were wealthy; such high-tier scrolls were priced in the hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins, as copying such a scroll would cause great harm to a mage, quite literally a life-threatening task. And yet, they produced three of these precious scrolls in one go.

As the barrier of Time Freeze was activated, Frodo was immediately rendered immobile. Under these circumstances, all magic became ineffective, and finally, the Undead Curse upon him came to a halt.

However, Rachel Angelo’s expression remained grim because Frodo’s shoulder and half of his chest were already undead. If that part were cut off, she feared he would not survive.

And this Time Freeze barrier could only last a few minutes; after that time, the curse would continue, turning Frodo completely into an undead.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel Angelo turned to Amberser and said, "We don’t have much time, but now we can have a proper discussion. Master Ultraman, what exactly do you know about this?"

"Not much, but I advise you not to try other methods to stop this undead transformation, as it will only make him suffer more. Better to give him a swift end. Oh, if you really can’t bear it, I have a soul transfer procedure that could let him live in another form..."

Rachel Angelo snorted coldly and said, "Wouldn’t that still turn him into an undead? Your advice is quite something!"

From Rachel Angelo’s perspective, a lich talking about soul migration and changing form was just making someone into an undead, at best retaining a semblance of self-consciousness. But that was absolutely unacceptable; if a paladin was turned into an undead, it would be a historic disgrace for the entirety of Laine.

Amberser simply shrugged his shoulders. He had intended to suggest using a Mercury Avatar to house the soul of the paladin, certainly counting as a living thing rather than undead. However, being a Slime wasn’t much better than being undead, so maybe not.

"Alright then, if you don’t accept that suggestion, you could try reversing time. If Time Freeze can halt the curse, then naturally, reversing time could restore him to before the curse took hold. Laine has a way to reverse time, right? I’ve heard that during the celebration in Laine Imperial Capital, your emperor used Magic Dragon Armament to reverse time for everyone by a whole year..."

Amberser watched Rachel Angelo’s face closely, as this was the key reason he came here—to inquire about the Magic Dragon Armament. Could this Divine Artifact really be used without any limitations?

Rachel Angelo, hearing this suggestion, did not immediately relax. Instead, she fell silent and ordered others, saying, "I will write to Your Majesty immediately. Send Frodo to the Imperial Capital, and report my letter and the situation. Whether Frodo can survive now depends on His Majesty’s decision."

Rachel Angelo’s reaction left Amberser uneasy. For the life of a single paladin, was Rachel Angelo indeed daring to request the emperor to use the Magic Dragon Armament? Could it truly be used without restrictions?

Who could defeat Laine in battle then?

With an instance of time reversal, all enemies could be turned into infants, and cities into wastelands.

However, Amberser dared not inquire further. Rachel Angelo was definitely a sly fox, whose slight lapse due to the unforeseen incident with his associate revealed a crack. Now as the person was about to be sent away, he might not continue exposing vulnerabilities and disclosing more information.

Therefore, Amberser needed to create new openings.

Once Angelo finished writing the letter and sent it off, Amberser then spoke, "General Angelo, I believe I have shown my sincerity, so can we now talk business? I will tell you everything about this matter, and you must offer compensation that satisfies me."

Rachel Angelo shook her head and replied, "Twenty billion is out of the question, that’s not even worth discussing. Moreover, I may have been a bit out of sorts just now, but it doesn’t mean I’m a fool. This curse surely has some prerequisite conditions. If it could be used without limits, I would surely have died even before Frodo. You might not tell me, but I would find the answer."

Amberser then asked, "Really? And how long would that take? How many more will die in the meantime?"

Rachel Angelo revealed a cold smile and said to Amberser, "Master Ultraman, you underestimate us, the Paladins. We may be unsettled by the unknown, but we do not fear death. I will ensure my subordinates are prepared."

Amberser did not refute, for it was the truth.

Other armies would collapse in morale if they suffered over thirty percent casualties in head-on combat, but the Paladin Legion of Laine often produced astonishing battle records. Casualties of seventy to eighty percent were not considered significant, and it was common to fight to the last man.

Otherwise, how could Laine have been undefeated in the past thousand years? Although it was one of the four warring states, its neighboring countries were often reduced to tears.

Religious zealots might be easy to manipulate, but when they went crazy, they truly were terrifying.

"Well, since we can’t come to an agreement, I will take my leave now. Good luck, General Angelo."

Amberser was about to leave when Rachel Angelo blocked his path.

"Master Ultraman, the intelligence you possess is of great importance; I cannot allow you to leave for now."

"That’s not reasonable. I came here with good intentions to warn you, and even provided useful intelligence. You’re not only unwilling to pay for the intelligence but also want to imprison me? General Angelo, is that how you treat ordinary citizens of Laine now?"

Rachel Angelo shook his head and said, "No, you misunderstand. I’m not keeping you here to imprison you, but because I mentioned the situation here in the letter I just wrote to the Imperial Capital. I can’t offer so much money, but His Majesty might be willing. Why not wait here for His Majesty’s response?"

Rachel Angelo’s hand was already on the hilt of his sword, and Amberser was well aware it was just an excuse. If he really tried to leave immediately, Angelo would draw his sword and ensure Amberser’s body remained there.

Amberser thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I will wait a while then, but I would like to rest quietly for a bit. That’s not too much to ask, is it?"

Rachel Angelo nodded and replied, "Of course not. I will prepare a room for you and ensure no one disturbs you."

Amberser was escorted by Rachel Angelo into a humble little house within the castle, a detached structure surrounded inside and out by a large contingent of Paladins and Light Priests, ensuring that Amberser had no chance of escape.

Amberser was pushed into the house, but the moment they closed the door, he had already walked out again.

Laila’s True Illusion, a powerful illusion technique capable of deceiving even Deities.

After Laila regained her status as a Deity, the effect of this illusion became even stronger. The dozens of Paladins and Light Priests didn’t notice Amberser had escaped.

Thankfully, Amberser had obtained an item that exempted him from the city’s defense Magic Array as soon as he entered the city, allowing him to move freely inside without triggering any alarms... at least for the time being.

"Sly old foxes are tough to deal with, a pity I don’t have enough time."

Rachel Angelo was a tough old bird, with extensive experience, yet a mind as agile as a young man’s. Several times Amberser tried to set traps for him, only to be sidestepped directly. Not taking the bait at all, Amberser had no time to waste on him. He would first investigate the reality of Flow Flame City and then make his escape.

With the Illusion Technique as his cover, Amberser didn’t alert anyone and swiftly made his rounds through the city.

The armory, the granaries—just a glance at these places was enough to roughly estimate the number of troops Laine was gathering. The Paladins had special standard-issue equipment for the battlefield, different from their usual training gear, easily recognizable at a glance. Counting them could give an estimate of their numbers.

"A legion of Paladins, that’s ten thousand men, plus a battalion of Light Priests, followed by the standard regular troop types..."

Amberser made a rough estimate; just the troop support from Flow Flame City neared a hundred thousand.

That didn’t even include the forces transferred from other border cities. Even without the main force units of Paladins, the Laine Army’s numbers were also around three to four hundred thousand.

The average soldier of Laine would be considered elite in any other kingdom, and these numbers were not inflated by including support personnel, but a solid three to four hundred thousand elite troops.

Without the Impure Chant of the Gates of Hell, it was definitely impossible to hold them back.

Amberser sighed and said, "Sigh, I should persuade my senior brother to accept reality. We truly cannot win this battle. Several hundred thousand Laine elite troops, along with Magic Dragon Armament, and who knows how many Legends, not even the combined forces of Impure Chant and the Dwarf Kingdom can overcome them unless the Druids and Orcs are willing to join forces in defense."

Just as Amberser was walking out of the armory, preparing to leave Flow Flame City, he suddenly noticed a shadowy figure scaling down the distant city wall, then, with incredible speed, bypassed the patrolling soldiers and rapidly headed towards Amberser’s location, taking twists and turns along the way.

Amberser was surprised when he got a clear view of the approaching person. As they passed by him, he reached out to grab their shoulder.

But as if anticipating the move, the person quickly dodged to the side, avoiding Amberser’s sudden attack with a somewhat awkward posture.

Considering that Amberser was now a Legendary Ranger—though a lesser one among Rangers—such a sudden ambush was typically difficult to anticipate, yet the person evaded it.

After dodging Amberser’s attempt, the person immediately drew the sword from their waist and looked around warily.

Amberser dispelled the Illusion Technique, appeared before the person and, before they could cry out, spoke first, "Allen, what are you doing here?"