This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 429 - 401: Who is the Most Evil?

Chapter 429: Chapter 401: Who is the Most Evil?

Silvermoon Tribunal, once again, a gathering of elven high-ranks surrounded the Magic Mirror, watching the live feed with careful scrutiny.

When Cyril Rolan appeared on the screen, the elves let out various sounds—admiration, shock, contemplation... All these reactions proved the extraordinary status of Cyril Rolan.

This Glorious General was indeed a celebrity of the Laine Empire.

Unlike those old-timers like the Silvermoon Knights and the Shield of the Empire, the fifty-something Cyril Rolan was in his golden years. He might not have as many glorious victories as the Silvermoon Knights, but everyone knew that this Glorious General was qualified to be the leading candidate for the new generation of paladins.

And behind Cyril Rolan, those legendary figures from the Empire were familiar faces too—such a luxuriously assembled team seemed overqualified for dealing with just one lich.

Not all the elves knew about the Elegy Poetry Society, nor did they all understand the full extent of Amberser’s capabilities; they only knew that his most famous battle was the one where he sent the entire Kingdom of Impure Hymns packing.

However, it was said that this was achieved through the sacrifice of another Diviner Mage, and it seemed this lich had once again picked up a bargain.

Therefore, not many were optimistic about Amberser’s chances. Except for the young Elven King, Aldalian, who had believed from the start that Amberser would not lose.

This lich never engaged in battles he wasn’t sure of winning. His daring to lure the enemies of the whole world to himself indicated he planned to greedily devour all the foes, leaving no bones behind.

Aldalian was only curious about how exactly the lich intended to crush this Laine legion.

Would he call upon the members of the Elegy Poetry Society to join forces, crushing the Lainers like boulders? Or would he cast some formidable spell, just like that meteor shower from before?

Aldalian never cared for Cyril Rolan’s appearance on the screen; instead, he kept searching for details in the footage, eager to unravel the conspiracy the lich had prepared.

And when Amberser asked aloud, "Can you list the sins I have committed?"

Aldalian suddenly burst into laughter, and all the elves looked towards their king, unable to resist asking, "Your Majesty, why do you laugh?"

Aldalian rubbed his cheeks to prevent his smile from becoming too apparent, then he told the other elves, "Watch carefully. This lich intends not only to kill but also to condemn the hearts. From today onwards, Laine can no longer stand on the side of justice."

The elves were baffled, unable to grasp how their king had come to this conclusion. How could a paladin crusading against the undead find themselves at a moral disadvantage?

However, it was okay not to understand. They just continued to watch.

The elves focused intently on the live feed from the Magic Mirror, and so did the other viewers.

Unlike the elven schadenfreude, on the Laine side, Kaid Worson watched the Magic Mirror with a furrowed brow, unable to help muttering, "Idiot, why are you bothering to argue with him?"

Although his acquaintance with the situation was short-lived, Kaid Worson had already heard too many stories about that lich from his family. Whether it was his most respected father or the most talented junior in the family, Allen, both were helpless against this lich. What was even more despairing was not that they couldn’t beat him, but they couldn’t out-talk him.

Even when faced with paladins and Light Priests, this lich could still stand on a moral high ground and point fingers at others.

This Glorious General was indeed formidable, but that was in terms of combat prowess. Arguing with this lich, he was likely to suffer a crushing defeat in reputation.

Not only in Laine and the Silvermoon Tribunal but also in the remote Chaos Space, those Tiflins, the druids of the Emerald Dream Forest, and the New Alchemist Council in Alchemy City... everyone who received a Magic Mirror from Amberser was watching, waiting for the Lainers to suffer the biggest embarrassment before the whole world.

Amberser’s voice still echoed in the sky—please list my sins.

Such a simple question. Cyril Rolan had judged many undead, including liches of Legendary Rank.

The crimes of a lich are plain—murdering to obtain souls and then creating Life Caskets.

But Cyril Rolan would not voice this accusation first; having deployed so much legendary power and such forces, to do so would seem far too unconvincing.

More and graver accusations were needed to justify themselves.

Soon, Cyril Rolan found an accusation and loudly declared, "You conspired with the Hell Lords, opened the Star Realm portal, brought in the Githyanki and Red Dragons, led foreign races to invade, and slaughtered humans. Your sins are unforgivable!"

Amberser let out a chuckle and asked, "Is slaughtering humans a sin?"

Cyril Rolan replied as a matter of course, "Of course, slaughtering humans is a grave sin. What else have you to say?"

"I have a question for you. How did the Laine People come to be so conveniently at the Star Realm portal? What brought you Lainers to land that wasn’t yours?"

Cyril Rolan furrowed his brows; he couldn’t answer that question.

Laine’s invasion of the Kingdom of Impure Hymns coincided with the opening of the Star Realm portal, leading to heavy losses for Laine, but admitting this was problematic—it could lead to a protracted argument.

Amberser, however, did not give him the chance to evade and loudly rebuked, "It was you Lainers who invaded the Kingdom of Impure Hymns without reason, intending to slaughter all Tiflins. If slaughtering humans is a sin, does slaying Tiflins not count? Does the killing of other races not matter?

"How many orcs, how many dwarves, how many Tiflins have your Laine Empire killed over the years? How did your Ironblood General earn his title? Do you need me to lay out the evidence? I may be a lich, but the people I’ve killed don’t even come close to the fraction of those the Ironblood General has slain."

Amberser might have posed the question, but he didn’t give Cyril Rolan a chance to respond. Countless lights and shadows appeared in the sky, one after another depicting scenes of extreme cruelty: the massacre of foreign races at the hands of the Laine people.

Cyril Rolan’s hand on the hilt of his sword bulged with veins, agitated not just because Amberser had silenced him, but more so because he had no knowledge of these scenes. That damned butcher, he didn’t even spare children?!

Cyril Rolan wasn’t part of the same system as the Ironblood General, who was a grand general tasked with defending a region, while Cyril Rolan was more like the captain of a special operations force. They rarely crossed paths, usually only hearing about each other through reports of their respective battles.

This was his first encounter with the so-called "purification of heretics."

How could that butcher dare to commit such brutality, and still call himself a Paladin?

Just as Cyril Rolan was caught in his intense emotions, a Paladin walked up to him and said, "Rolan! Don’t be fooled, this is an Illusion Technique!"

Cyril Rolan shuddered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Right, these were just illusions created by the Lich. Whether they were true or false was hard to say, and he shouldn’t let it disrupt his composure.

Cyril Rolan took a deep breath and said to his companion, "Thank you, Lucas."

This was another Legendary Holy Warrior, Cyril Rolan’s long-time partner and always the most calm one.

Lucas continued, "Don’t fall for the Lich’s trap. He’s twisting the truth. We’re not here to debate with him."

Cyril Rolan nodded, finally drawing the Holy Sword at his waist.

The Royal Holy Sword, tainted with the Blood of Rosanda, was a Divine Artifact, unmatched both in historical significance and power.

Cyril Rolan raised the Holy Sword high and bellowed, "Lich, using such tactics to slander us is meaningless. Everything in Laine is under the watchful eye of the Lord of the Dawn. We don’t need judgment from an evil creature like you!"

The Holy Light shone brilliantly, with a billion golden rays transforming into sword blades and flying towards the giant skeleton in the sky.

The collision of Holy Light and Dark Magic shattered the illusions, blowing the smoke-formed giant skeleton to pieces, and even blasting a vast hole into the dark canopy of the sky.

The might of the Holy Sword was unrivaled.

The Laine People cheered in unison while their warship pressed onwards, vowing to annihilate the Lich.

The dark canopy slowly healed, once again coalescing into the giant skeleton, and Amberser’s voice came from the sky once more.

"Furious from embarrassment, not even asking where I got this evidence from and declaring it as fake—is this the justice of the Laine people? Fine, you deny the massacre, but you can’t deny this."

Once again, illusions appeared in the sky, but this time it was the battlefield between the Githyanki and the Laine people, with the massive Time Dragon descending from the sky and, in a panic, crushing a large group of Laine soldiers.

Seeing this scene, the Laine people aboard the warship fell into an eerie silence.

Most of them had heard about the defeat in that war but hadn’t seen it with their own eyes. The war reports were also vague, only mentioning that the emperor made a mistake in his first battle experience, leading to the failure.

Cyril Rolan had never imagined that the emperor himself had crushed a group of Lainese people.

Amberser’s voice rang out again, "Look, Laine people, the highest killer of humans isn’t the Githyanki but your own emperor! The Kingdom of Impure Hymns was unjustly invaded by Laine, and in self-defense, they could only summon the Githyanki and the Red Dragon Legion, all just to protect their own country. After I dispatched the Kingdom of Impure Hymns, I dealt with the Githyanki issue myself."

The illusions in the sky changed again, showing Amberser destroying the Githyanki army with a meteor shower.

This time, even the most calm Lucas was left speechless.

The power of those hundreds of meteors was too frightening. If they were to hit their ship, none of them would survive.

Their original vehement mission to seek justice had been turned upside down by these continuous revelations, leaving the Lainese perplexed.

So, who exactly was the one guilty of the most heinous crimes?

Amberser never gave his opponents time to think calmly, throwing out one last question, "I could’ve used these meteor showers against you, but I’m different from you Laine people, I reason. Cyril Rolan, the Glorious General of Laine, is your Holy Light as righteous as you think it is?"

Cyril Rolan gripped the Holy Sword tightly and called out to the skeleton above, "In this life, I have done no wrong to the Holy Light!"

His sword had only slain the Undead, never once killing the innocent, so Cyril Rolan could claim his conscience was clear.

At that moment, a beam of Holy Light pierced the dark canopy, and a silver-white figure descended from the sky.

Amberser’s laughter once again filled the sky, and in a mocking tone, the Lich said, "Cyril Rolan, do you dare to put your Holy Light to the test against my Paladins? Let’s see who truly represents justice."