This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 104 - 104 99 War and Storm

?Chapter 104: Chapter 99 War and Storm Chapter 104: Chapter 99 War and Storm Viscount Leiteman had to seriously consider Amberser’s proposal.

Paying a bit of gold and minerals to have the Dwarf King send troops to assist him? If the price was right, it wasn’t out of the question.

The Alchemy City was in chaos now, with minor lords all swallowing each other up, and the Great Lords were concerned that making the first move would lead them into someone else’s trap, so they held their forces back. On the surface, it didn’t seem too chaotic, but in reality, a storm was brewing.

Once the Great Lords entered the fray, the land would be completely engulfed in war.

If the Silvermoon Tribunal were to invade, the situation would become even more complicated.

The Silvermoon Tribunal was a colossus, and the combat strength of the Elf Tribe was more than any Lord could withstand. Although Viscount Leiteman was a follower of Lord of the Storm, Thanos, he was no fool and could see clearly the disparity.

Therefore, the assistance of the Dwarf King was essential, and in the early stages, he could also use the power of the Dwarf King to expand his territory quickly and accumulate more strength to cope with the elves’ invasion.

Alas, if only those elves weren’t so arrogant; they wouldn’t accept any conditions other than the ceding of territories, insisting on driving everyone away.

With this premise, cooperation became much simpler.

Viscount Leiteman expressed his willingness to accept this mercenary cooperation.

Amberser was very happy, with a cooperative intention in place, what came next was merely haggling over the price.

The Dwarf King would pay gold, using it to purchase land to settle the immigrants from the Golden Kingdom of Salokma, at the price of one million Gold Coins per hundred square kilometers.

It seemed a bit cheap, but the Golden Kingdom wasn’t picky; as long as the area was large enough, they would take mountains, valleys, or lakes at a uniform price. Many wastelands unsuitable for human habitation were unwanted, so as long as someone went to draw a circle, upon arrival, the Golden Kingdom would complete the handover and the contract would be fulfilled.

Then, Viscount Leiteman would pay gold and minerals to hire the armies of the Golden Kingdom to fight for him, with Amberser acting as an intermediary responsible for coordination. The specific price depended on how much military force Viscount Leiteman needed and what type of troops were required, which Amberser needed to list out to calculate his own profits.

The key was that both Alchemy City and Viscount Leiteman spent money, but neither knew the other had spent money.

In short, the trade of materials and troops was their affair, and Amberser, the intermediary, only wanted gold and minerals—truly very conscientious.

The negotiation lasted for more than half a day before roughly finalizing the method and the amount of assistance.

Although both the Golden Kingdom and Viscount Leiteman felt they hadn’t made much profit, Amberser thought it was quite nice; this would be a very successful cooperation.

Inside the majestic Royal Palace of the Golden Kingdom of Salokma, the Dwarf King had retired early.

Over the years, with the Laine Empire tightening its grip, the Dwarf King’s spirit and body had withered day by day, and in recent years, he had delegated state affairs to Hoffman Ironfist, the King’s Hand.

True to his name, Hoffman Ironfist’s right hand had been severed at the wrist and replaced with an iron fist. It was cut off by a Holy Slash during the war with the Laine Empire, but later Hoffman also killed three Paladins in the subsequent battles.

His valor earned the recognition of the Dwarf King and caught the eye of the Royal Family.

Afterward, Hoffman served as an administrative officer for a while, and the Dwarf King, finding him even more talented in handling affairs, gradually promoted him to a confidant.

Now, with the Dwarf King unable to sustain himself, the kingdom was entirely managed by Hoffman Ironfist alone.

At this very moment, Hake Stone sat opposite Hoffman Ironfist, communicating with Amberser through the Necromancy Codex, and then conveying Amberser’s opinions to the King’s Hand.

Hoffman Ironfist said to Hake Stone, “Your friend is a master of doing business, each condition was just right, making it impossible for me to refuse.”

Hake Stone smiled and said, “Indeed, very precise.”

What Hake Stone did not say was that Amberser didn’t even give him the chance to make a middleman’s profit margin.

In the previous negotiations, Amberser’s conditions were all within what the Dwarf Kingdom could afford. It appeared as if there was room for negotiation, but while discussing, Amberser directly threw out several pre-prepared prices. Hake Stone almost crushed his fangs in frustration—there was hardly any margin for him as an intermediary to make a profit.

It wasn’t that there was no profit at all, but it was far less than what Hake Stone had hoped for.

Hoffman Ironfist pretended not to know about these and simply said to Hake Stone, “We’ve known each other for many years; rest assured, I understand what it means to be a friend. However, I need to know how many connections your friend really has in Alchemy City. If it’s only a Viscount Leiteman, it doesn’t mean much to our overall plan.”

But Hake Stone replied, “Don’t worry about that. No matter how many friends he had before, he will quickly gain more now. The lords of Alchemy City have only two choices: Silvermoon Tribunal or the Golden Kingdom. Given the elves’ arrogant practices, we can pre-emptively attract most of the lords. The only concern is whether we have enough power to protect these lords.

“It seems the Silvermoon Tribunal has sent out all the Dusk Guards.”

Hoffman Ironfist nodded and said, “I understand what you’re saying. Viscount Leiteman is an example; we need to ensure his safety so others can see it and gain confidence to work with us. I will send a hundred Dwarf Iron Guards to protect our ally.”

Hake Stone blinked in surprise and said, “That’s going to cost a pretty penny.”

Dwarf Iron Guards could be considered the royal family’s personal guards, expert in protecting the leader’s safety and extremely skilled in countering assassinations. For Hoffman Ironfist to send a hundred Dwarf Iron Guards to Viscount Leiteman, it was a clear signal of determination to plant a firm stake in Alchemy City.

“Old friend, are you really prepared to give up the desert?” Hake Stone asked, “Is the situation that dire?”

Hoffman Ironfist showed a bitter smile and said helplessly, “We truly are no match for the Laine Empire. Even by the most optimistic estimates, more than half of Salokma’s territory will fall. Over the years they have been training their troops specifically for the desert conditions, and those young Paladins on the battlefield have completely adapted to the desert environment. We only have the chance to stop Laine’s invasion by retreating to a line beyond the reach of the desert’s death, relying on the endless sandstorms.”

The entirety of Salokma lay within the desert, built around hundreds of large and small oases, each forming separate city-states.

The so-called line of death was a fine line in the middle of Salokma’s territory, a place with ceaseless sandstorms, where a newly forged suit of plate armor would be eroded with holes by the sand in less than two days.

Such harsh environments were almost uninhabitable for life.

Salokma was accessible beyond this line of death only through the underground tunnels left by ancient civilizations, which allowed communication between the two sides.

Listening to Hoffman Ironfist, it seemed that the dwarves of the Golden Kingdom planned to cede the territories north of the line of death and then seal the underground passages, using the endless sandstorms to resist the Laine Empire’s attacks. This meant that they were prepared to abandon even the Dwarf Royal Palace they were in at the moment.

The situation was that desperate, and Hake Stone couldn’t help showing a look of concern.

The Laine Empire was the natural enemy of all dark creatures, and as Laine grew stronger, Hake Stone’s space to exist diminished. Once the Golden Kingdom of Salokma fell completely, vampires like him would have to flee far away. Hake Stone thought that helping the Golden Kingdom now would be helping himself. So he put aside his intention of making a profit and decided to help the Dwarf Kingdom through this difficulty first.

Hoffman Ironfist said to Hake Stone, “It will take time to gather the Dwarf Iron Guards and set up the Continental Transmission Array. During this time, the Elf Tribe will not sit idly by. Remind your friend that he must protect Viscount Leiteman until our Iron Guards arrive.”

Hake Stone nodded, deciding to send those Gargoyles to Amberser today. Viscount Leiteman was crucial; the Elves must not assassinate him.

However, Hake Stone’s realization came a bit too late.

Just as Amberser and Viscount Leiteman were negotiating all day and were about to come to terms, the Elves had already lost their patience.

An individual claiming to be an envoy from the Dwarf Kingdom had spent the entire day behind closed doors with Viscount Leiteman—a predictable outcome to anyone, even if they only used their toes to think.

Therefore, the Dusk Guards didn’t wait foolishly and bluntly insisted on meeting with Viscount Leiteman.

The Lord, busy calculating his losses, naturally didn’t want to deal with this group of arrogant Elves. After expressing his unavailability, the Elves chose the most direct method.

The tower where Amberser and Viscount Leiteman were located came under attack by the Elves.

It began with dozens of crossbow bolts shot from the night sky.

Amberser didn’t hesitate to summon his Golden Throne, then gave the backrest a twist.

The bolts clinked and clattered as they hit the backrest, all deflected.

When not using its power, it was simply a chair made of pure gold. The backrest was nearly half a meter thick, impervious even to a Magic Conduction Cannon.

But Viscount Leiteman wasn’t so lucky, even though he promptly deployed a Magic Shield. He was grazed by several bolts that sparked off his chainmail. One of the bolts even plunged into his shoulder, and it was unclear if it drew blood.

The Elves’ offensive didn’t end there; several nimble figures appeared, using Traceless Step to teleport atop the tower, brandishing their twin blades and charging at Viscount Leiteman.

“Damn Elves! I’ll show you the fury of the thunderstorm!”

Viscount Leiteman roared, his body bursting with countless sparks of electricity. His roar, almost tangible, was meant to blow the Elves away.

Three Elves were sent flying, but two managed to remain unaffected by the powerful sound waves, their curved swords about to strike Viscount Leiteman.

In the blink of an eye, as Amberser was about to intervene, Viscount Leiteman proved to be stronger than Amberser had anticipated.

Viscount Leiteman raised the hammer at his waist, and blazing white lightning shot out from it, repeatedly striking the two Elves.

The trademark ability of a Storm Priest, Chain Lightning; the unfortunate Elves took full damage and were unlikely to survive.

Amberser’s prediction was spot on; once the lightning faded, those two Elves at the forefront became charred corpses.

Viscount Leiteman crushed the skull of one of the scorched bodies with his foot and no longer needed to suppress his rage.

“Pass my order; kill all the Elves!”