This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 502 - 462 No Longer Human_2

Chapter 502: Chapter 462 No Longer Human_2

This Laine general was in the habit of deploying the Paladin Legion, hoping to turn the tide at the critical moment.

Under normal circumstances, it was feasible. Laine’s history had seen many victories against greater odds, all thanks to the Paladin Legion.

But this time, the outcome was completely different.

The Laine Paladin Legion feared not death, yet so did the orcs, who charged forward with cries of vengeance, desperate to fight to the death.

Both were elite legions capable of fighting to the last man, yet the orcs had the tactical advantage, and the result was predictable.

An entire Paladin Legion was annihilated, two thousand Paladins and three hundred Light Priests died on the battlefield, and then a border city was lost, twenty thousand Laine people taken captive by the orcs.

Although Ange Watson had faced repeated defeats, at most he had only contracted the battle lines but had never directly lost a city before.

After this battle, all Laine people understood.

It wasn’t that Ange Watson deliberately lost the battles, but that the opponents this time were incredibly powerful.

The Emperor of Laine called a grand meeting, assuming all blame upon himself, pardoning past criticisms of Ange Watson and granting him the highest authority in military affairs, with only one demand—the Laine people could not lose any more land.

Ange Watson, taking command in a crisis, could only struggle to regroup.

Ange Watson brought all the Magic Mirrors he could find to the front line, seized the opportunity when the enemy was slightly complacent from their grand victory, and swallowed up two isolated orc patrols that had penetrated deep into the territory, barely holding off the orcs’ further invasion.

Then, using the topography of the Emerald River, Ange Watson managed to halt the orc onslaught.

The Emerald River, over three hundred meters wide, is the second largest river within Laine’s borders. The orcs would have to cross it to continue their onslaught.

The Laine people defended it fiercely, and the orcs couldn’t break through for a good while.

The orcs had ships, as they had coastlines, but seagoing vessels couldn’t navigate the river, nor could they transport their ships to the Emerald River.

Thus, the orcs resorted to other tactics.

They attempted to trade Laine people’s lives for Laine people’s ships.

After the orcs breached the border city, they didn’t massacre everyone as usual but kept the survivors locked up, now presenting them to the Laine people, using their lives as leverage.

This was a first in Laine’s history.

Previously, those who offended Laine, however distant, would be punished. The Dwarves only skewed in border trades to swindle the Laine people’s money, which led to a series of wars until the Dwarves lost half of a desert.

Now, it was the Laine people’s turn to decide.

Nearly twenty thousand Laine people’s lives at stake, to save or not to save? If they were saved, it would be like giving these orcs the opportunity to continue invading Laine.

And the Laine people couldn’t hesitate for long, as the orcs had already started killing—one a day, regardless of gender, age, and in full view of all Laine people across the river in a gruesome spectacle.

This time, Laine was pushed to the brink.

As Ange Watson faced immense pressure, the Emperor of Laine issued a direct order, forbidding any compromise with the orcs.

With this command, the Emperor of Laine pushed himself into the eye of the storm, but at the same time relieved all pressure on Ange Watson. The finger of blame pointed at the emperor’s cruelty, causing the situation to become turbulent once again.

And the orcs showed no mercy. Since the Laine people were so resolute, they couldn’t afford to feed twenty thousand prisoners, so they simply slaughtered them all and dumped the bodies into the Emerald River.

Suddenly, the river ran red, bodies floating downstream until the Laine people retrieved them all.

Twenty thousand men, women, elderly, and children, a sight so tragic it made every Laine person seethe with anger yet feel powerless.

They resented the brutal orcs and also their own emperor.

It was one thing for soldiers to die defending their home and country, but why should these civilians’ lives be traded?

However, this question soon faded away.

After all the bodies had been retrieved, Emperor of Laine transformed into the Time Dragon, and this silvery white Giant Dragon unleashed power akin to Deities, reversing time to resurrect all twenty thousand people.

This spectacle left everyone gaping in astonishment.

To resurrect twenty thousand people, could this even be accomplished by mortals?

No wonder His Majesty the Emperor insisted on not compromising, for he had the means to save everyone all along. Truly a visionary emperor, the fated ruler of the Laine People!

The greater the public resentment had been, the more beloved Emperor of Laine became at this moment.

However, only the ordinary citizens felt joy, while those who understood were already worried about His Majesty the Emperor’s health.

Time has weight; the same amount of time bears different significance for different beings. Reversing a thousand years for a stone is not difficult, but reversing a thousand years for Arthur Laine’s time, even Deities might not be capable of such a feat.

To make the people of the Imperial Capital one year younger is easy, but to bring these twenty thousand people back from death, that meant even their Souls had to be restored. Those in the Upper Divine Kingdom, those in Hell, or those Souls that had dissipated, all had to be brought back to their original state; the accumulated weight of this was terrifying.

The greater the impact caused by reversing time, the greater the pressure one must bear.

His Majesty the Emperor had to pay a price every time he used the Magic Dragon Armament; otherwise, simply transforming into a Magic Dragon and reverting all Orcs back into infants would suffice, wouldn’t it?

And, just as everyone suspected, Emperor of Laine did not appear before the people after resurrecting the twenty thousand and had to ’recuperate’ within the Royal Palace.

Yet, contrary to what outsiders imagined, Emperor of Laine was not bedridden and breathing faintly.

On the contrary, he was in a frenzied state, continuously pounding at the walls and floor. His body gradually merging with the Magic Dragon Armament, the Young Emperor Price Lein possessed immense strength; each of his punches could shatter sturdy rock.

Regrettably, such actions were futile.

A tearing-like intense pain spread throughout, a suffering originating from the Soul, against which no medicine or treatment could prevail.

"Damn it! You lied to me! I’m dying, I’m in so much pain!"

Price Lein, face contorted with veins, roared like a madman.

And in his mind, another voice spoke up: "Calm down, Your Majesty. I’m suffering from the same soul-rending pain as you. Moreover, I told you this from the beginning; we haven’t yet mastered the full-fledged power of the Time Dragon, side effects are inevitable. But for prestige, this sacrifice is worthwhile. Right now, you are gradually stepping into a position even greater than Arthur Laine!"

"I don’t care, I would rather those twenty thousand die than bear this pain! It hurts so badly, it really hurts, I’m going to kill you! You cheater!"

"Just bear with it a little longer, your Soul will gradually recover."

"I can’t bear it! Didn’t you say your Soul was also harmed? Why don’t you feel pain?"

"The tenacity of a Dragon Soul is much stronger than that of humans. Of course, another reason is that I inherited the memories of a Magic Dragon, so my willpower is stronger. If you really can’t handle it, I can give you a method to convert your Soul, which could alleviate some of your pain."

"Tell me, tell me right now!"

Price Lein had already smashed the room to pieces, but the sharp pain in his mind hadn’t eased at all; at this point, he wouldn’t hesitate to eat feces and drink urine if it would relieve his headache.

"Don’t be so hasty in agreeing; this method also has side effects, don’t blame me for not warning you ahead of time."

The voice of Atros, resurrected from the Magic Dragon Armament, took on a slight change in tone, but now Price Lein couldn’t care less, for he was already rolling on the floor in agony.

"What are the side effects?! Hurry up and tell me, I can’t take it!"

Atros spoke solemnly, "If you use this method, your Soul will gradually convert into a Dragon Soul, and then, you will no longer be human."

"That doesn’t matter, I don’t want to be human anymore!"

Amidst Price Lein’s howling, a strange energy merged into his Soul, swiftly soothing the severe pain.

Only, with it came memories that did not belong to him.

When Price Lein finally stood up from the ground, his right eye had changed from the blue pupil of a human to the golden vertical pupil of the Dragon Race.

The Young Emperor sighed, "Finally, I don’t have to endure this foolish waste any longer. Arthur, I will be coming for you soon; wait for me with the Lich."