This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 372 - 345 The Giant Dragon Reappears

Chapter 372: Chapter 345 The Giant Dragon Reappears

The plan had been to bolster morale and then march to attack Impure Chant, but it was disrupted by that rebel Allen. Now, unable to capture him, the Young Emperor had no choice but to shift everyone’s attention elsewhere.

Although Allen’s speech had shaken many people’s hearts, it was not possible for him to incite rebellion against the Laine Empire’s authority in such a short time.

The gates of Flow Flame City opened, and the grand army set out, slowly advancing towards Impure Chant.

Seeing this scene, Allen wanted to continue trying to awaken the people, but Amberser suddenly appeared again, giving him quite a shock.

Allen said angrily, "Can’t you appear less abruptly next time? I’m a living person, you could scare me to death!"

Amberser didn’t care what Allen said and just stood in front of him, speaking with utmost seriousness, "You can go and get yourself killed if you want, but don’t take my flying backpack with you. That thing is expensive, and you can’t afford it!"

Allen: ...

Seeing Allen’s reluctant expression, Amberser continued, "Don’t be in a hurry. This war isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Go back, do what you need to do. Leave the battlefield to me."

"Leave it to you?"

Allen looked at Amberser incredulously. Since when had this Lich been so noble? To confront the Laine Army for a bunch of Tiflins?

Amberser didn’t bother to explain, "If you don’t trust me, give me back the flying backpack. Die if you want."

After much hesitation, Allen decided to trust Amberser.

Though this Lich often spoke cryptically, hiding half of what he meant, most of what he said he could deliver.

Like the first time they met, he took Five Thousand Gold Coins and indeed let him use Evil Detection without any disguise.

If this Lich said there was a turning point in this war, then there must be one. Perhaps he would make another hefty profit, but as long as it could stop this senseless war, that was fine.

"Just you wait. When the time comes, get as far away as possible."

After saying this, Amberser disappeared from sight.

Allen did not leave; he merely distanced himself from the battlefield for the time being. He, too, wanted to see what turnaround Amberser was referring to.

After persuading Allen, Amberser followed behind the Laine Army.

The Illusion Technique concealed his form, making even the arrogant Time Dragon unaware of his presence.

This Laine Army, though numbering just over a hundred thousand, stretched into a long procession. The Laine Army did not have cannon fodder or ditch fillers; every single one of them was a zealous believer. Thus, their vanguard consisted of the Paladin Legion mounted on warhorses, followed by the Bright Priest Corps, and then the Mixed Army Corps comprising soldiers like warriors, archers, and mages, making a complete setup.

In a direct battlefield confrontation, the Laine strategy often starts with Priest Corps casting group enchantments, followed by a Paladin charge to break the enemy lines, and then the Mixed Army Corps finishes the job. On an open battlefield, Laine is invincible. A charge from this army would mean that Blackgate City, the stronghold of Impure Chant, would not last long before falling.

The Gates of Hell along the way had been dismantled by the Young Emperor using the Power of Time, allowing the army to cross the border smoothly, now on the verge of entering Impure Chant.

The Tiflin army could only hole up in Blackgate City, with little courage left to even lift their weapons. If not for the overwhelming approach of the Laine People, any envoys sent to offer surrender might have led them to capitulate right away.

High above in the sky, Mr. Misfortune and Amberser hid together in their illusion, overlooking the battlefield below.

Mr. Misfortune remarked, "Laine truly is the mightiest Empire. This hundred thousand is but one-fifth of their forces."

Amberser said, "Although it’s only one-fifth, their Emperor is leading the campaign personally. There should be no lack of Legendary warriors within the army."

"That makes it even more terrifying. Even if the Gates of Hell were still intact, they could not be stopped."

"We weren’t planning on using the Gates of Hell to stop Laine, were we?"

When the Time Sorcerer Dragon first destroyed the Gates of Hell, Goddess Tiamat’s contract was activated, and thirteen families of the unclean, together with Amberser’s one million six hundred thousand Soul Currency, fell into Hell.

Without a doubt, Goddess Tiamat and Zariel seized all one million six hundred thousand Soul Currency, and those Tiflin nobles turned into sinners wailing in the flames of Hell.

Once those souls became miserable enough, they might be used to create more Soul Currency.

But after taking the money, Goddess Tiamat still raged and severely punished those Tiflins.

The reason was simple, because they had indeed brought down the exact amount of Soul Currency, not less but rather more.

Goddess Tiamat had anticipated that the Soul Currency brought by the group of Tiflins would be consumed in some way, such as damaged during the inspection or lost in the struggle, and even if not, upon descending into Hell, Tiamat would have ensured "losses" occurred.

A few hundred or thousand pieces of "accidentally" damaged Soul Currency would make sense, then Amberser would have failed to fulfill the contract, and she could have harshly dealt with the Lich.

But there was more!

Damn that Lich, he had anticipated Her plan.

Zariel, having been informed of this, even came over to mockingly say, "You reminded me that this Lich is incredibly cunning, not to be trusted, yet you yourself could not resist scheming against him."

Goddess Tiamat said, "Trying it out won’t hurt us, look, we just made an extra hundred thousand Soul Currency."

After all, Amberser had fulfilled half of the contract, and now it was time for the other half.

As the Laine Army crossed the border, what was once void of anything in front of them rippled like a mirage. With the veil-like Illusion Realm dissipating, a group of strangely dressed, robed figures appeared before the Laine Army.

Each of them was bald, with fresh red scars covering their faces. These were freshly inflicted wounds, and the daggers they used for self-harm were still held in their hands.

The sudden appearance of these enemies surprised the Laine People, as their attire was strikingly similar to that of some heretical cult followers.

It really has fallen, Tiflin, even working together with heretics.

Although they didn’t understand why this group had suddenly appeared, the Laine People showed no fear.

The Light Priests began to bestow Spells on the Paladins, and a detachment of three thousand from the Paladin Legion charged towards these heretics.

The Paladins at the forefront had already raised their shields, as Holy Light coalesced on them, forming a giant shield of light that protected the entire troop.

Amberser didn’t recognize the person, but at first glance, he knew it was one of Laine’s Legendary Holy Warriors. The great shield of Holy Light was enough to block most of the magic damage, especially effective against the sinister magic of heretics. No wonder he was leading the charge, this Legendary Grace was simply too fitting for it.

However, the heretics, instead of attacking the charging Paladins, waved their daggers frantically, rushing towards them.

The human body couldn’t withstand the immense force of a cavalry charge. These mad heretics were flung aside and trampled, and after just one assault, their numbers were halved, with less than half surviving.

Yet such a grievous loss did nothing to frighten them. The living heretics once again initiated a suicidal charge towards the Paladins.

Despite sensing something amiss, not a single Paladin wavered and they continued with their original formation, charging and hitting these heretical troops again and again.

After four charges, these heretics were all turned into a pulp, and their daggers hadn’t managed to inflict any real damage on the Paladins.

Before they could celebrate their victory, those pulverized into flesh started squirming and floated towards the sky.

Blood, bone fragments, and torn organs—all the repulsive matter started to ascend, forming a sinister Magic Array high above.

The Laine People felt something was wrong, and those Light Priests began to cast Divine Arts, hoping to disperse the strange Magic Array.

But for some reason, at that moment, all of the Light Priests failed in their casting.

It was as if someone had altered fate, ensuring that failure was locked onto them.

At this point, many looked up at the Time Dragon, wondering if it was time for the young Emperor to unleash the power of his Divine Artifact.

However, the Young Emperor hesitated upon seeing the eerie Magic Array.

For, the power of the Magic Dragon Armament was nearly spent.

Curled up within the Giant Dragon’s body, the Young Emperor wore the Blood Rose Necklace around his neck, now almost entirely silver-white. Once all the blood color faded, the power of the Magic Dragon Armament would completely disappear.

The Young Emperor had already dismantled many Gates of Hell on his way, and had spent much of the stored energy.

He had thought he could be invincible with his own army, yet he hadn’t anticipated this situation.

The Young Emperor wasn’t a fool; he knew that Magic Array was bad news, and that failure to destroy it in advance would surely lead to trouble. But he worried that using up all of the Magic Dragon Armament’s power would leave him defenseless in the face of an unexpected incident that might arise—who would save him then?

To not act was to let the Magic Array complete, which would mean the army below would bear the brunt, and if necessary, he could still maintain the form of the Time Dragon to escape. But once he acted and exhausted the power of the Magic Dragon Armament, who could protect him? Even if there were protectors, who could guarantee that nothing would go wrong?

A youth who had never seen battle, who had been intimidating others with the might of a Divine Artifact, would rapidly lose his courage in the face of danger.

And because of the Young Emperor’s indecision, the Magic Array above finally took shape.

Countless blood-red lights brightened as if the sky itself was about to be torn apart.

The space fractured, and endless gales blew from the fissures, plunging the entire battlefield into darkness and chaos.

Those who knew better could tell that the Magic Array, almost a kilometer wide, was a massive space portal, though it was unclear what lay on the other side.

To perform a blood sacrifice with tens of thousands, to create such a space portal, it must be a summoning of something powerful.

The Magic Array should have been destroyed earlier; now it was too late.

No sooner had the space portal formed than a gigantic dragon head poked through.

The ferocious Red Dragons flew through the portal and into the battlefield. And not just one, but many Red Dragons flew out one after another; soon, they covered half the sky.

With those wings that blotted out the sky and the deafening roar of dragons—at that moment, the Laine People finally remembered the terror of being ruled by Giant Dragons.