The Silvermoon Knight's Request

Ryan was the mortal enemy of the undead, so Anbaixiu naturally paid close attention to news regarding the empire. This white-haired Silvermoon Knight was renowned throughout the lands. Though Anbaixiu had never seen him in person, he had heard plenty about him. Master Morgan, the creator of the soul puppets, had met his end at this very knight's hands, with not even a speck of ashes left behind. Yet seeing him with his own eyes, Anbaixiu still found it hard to believe. The Silvermoon Knight looked remarkably frail. His steps were unsteady, his complexion sallow, and his breathing shallow... In every respect, he looked like an old man with one foot in the grave rather than the Empire's mightiest paladin. Facing the salutes of the entire tavern, the Silvermoon Knight merely waved a hand casually and commanded, "Everyone out." The young paladins did not dare utter a single question and hurriedly exited the tavern. The remaining patrons, sensing trouble brewing, rushed out as well. Catherine was hesitating over whether to slip out with the crowd when the Silvermoon Knight sat down across from her, offering a courteous greeting. "Your Majesty, please inform us in advance next time you visit. Such meager hospitality is a discourtesy on Ryan's part." "Huh? What are you saying?" Catherine panicked and began reciting her backstory lines: "Sir, you must be mistaken. My name is Irene. I'm the only daughter of a minor noble family. I came here this time—" "All right, Catherine. We've been seen through. Refusing to admit it now is just bad manners." Anbaixiu sighed. His skull floated out from within the mercury soul puppet, and the rest of his skeletal body flew out of his personal space, reassembling itself piece by piece. With the lich body revealed, Sandshadow City's magic circle reacted at once. A massive concentration of Holy Light began gathering, poised to thoroughly purify Anbaixiu. Just as Anbaixiu was about to cast a spell to ward off the Holy Light, the Silvermoon Knight murmured an incantation, and the coalescing Holy Light slowly dispersed. "Not planning to fight me? I was already prepared to self-destruct," Anbaixiu asked, getting straight to the point. The Silvermoon Knight coughed once, then said, "The Empire has no reason to act against you. Didn't you know? Your name has already been removed from the wanted list. I haven't mistaken your identity, have I, Master Ultraman?" Anbaixiu asked quizzically, "The Ryan Empire handles undead according to wanted lists now? Your paladins usually kill undead on sight. Since when did you care about due process?" "It has always been due process. Under imperial law, all discovered undead are deemed hostile by default, and those who cannot be slain on the spot are reported and placed on the wanted list." At this point, the Silvermoon Knight coughed again before continuing, "However, you are the first undead whose bounty has ever been rescinded. Truly, there was no precedent to follow. "To that end, I specifically consulted the Lord Supreme Arbiter, and he handed down the final ruling: unless you actively attack anyone of the Ryan Empire or commit atrocities harming humanity, Ryan will not purify you. "This is your reward for mediating the war and saving tens of millions of human lives." Anbaixiu didn't know what to say. An undead receiving a commendation from Ryan—he was probably the first in history. Yet why did it sound so much like being a traitor? If word got out, would people call him a race traitor to the undead? Anbaixiu said to the Silvermoon Knight, "You should have said so earlier! Then I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of hiding. I could have strutted right in—I bet I would have seen a whole bunch of paladins with looks of utter frustration, despising me yet unable to touch me." The Silvermoon Knight replied, "Then I wouldn't have shielded you from the Holy Light's targeting, and you would have endured continuous bombardment." Anbaixiu said smugly, "Doesn't matter. Marching into the city while tanking Holy Light bombardments would look even cooler. When those paladins realized the Holy Light couldn't do anything to me, they'd probably be even angrier." Baffled, the Silvermoon Knight remarked, "I thought you were a benevolent, wise figure who disliked conflict, but I never expected you to be as childish as a bristling stray cat." Anbaixiu sneered. "If this conversation leaks out, it'll show that I, a lich, remained completely unmoved by the Ryan Empire's overtures and righteously denounced your hypocrisy. Then other undead won't view me as a traitor. Mr. Paladin, I still have to maintain my standing in the organization." "Leaks out?" The Silvermoon Knight looked puzzled. Anbaixiu said, "If I showed even a shred of politeness to you, who knows if you'd record it with a memory crystal? If you spread the recording after I leave, the other undead will redirect their hatred for Ryan straight onto me." The Silvermoon Knight was speechless. He truly hadn't entertained such a thought. This lich's heart was far too cynical—he dreamed up underhanded schemes without a second thought. The Silvermoon Knight glanced at Catherine. How had an Elven Queen ended up mixed up with a lich? When Anbaixiu entered the city, he had triggered a reaction in the Holy Light magic circle. Though faint, any undead reaction was a top-priority alert, so it had been reported immediately to the Silvermoon Knight. Through the surveillance magic circle, the old man had seen Catherine's disguised appearance, instantly spotted something amiss, and soon confirmed she was the legendary Elven Queen. With the fighting in Sandshadow City concluded, the Silvermoon Knight had originally been preparing to depart. Who would have guessed that in the final hours of the garrison rotation, such prominent figures would show up? The Silvermoon Knight had no choice but to investigate personally to figure out what was happening. The moment he stepped through the tavern door, he had sensed the undead aura hidden inside the mercury soul puppet. An Elven Queen and a legendary lich—this combination was far too bizarre. The Silvermoon Knight couldn't even be sure what they were here for. He decided to cut straight to the chase. "Your Majesty Catherine, might I ask the purpose of your sudden visit?" Seeing that the jig was up, Catherine dropped her pretense as well and confessed frankly, "We really only want to use the continental teleportation circle. Our destination is the Emerald Dream Forest." The Silvermoon Knight furrowed his brows. An Elven Queen and a legendary lich, sneaking in under disguises just to borrow a teleportation circle? No matter how one looked at it, that didn't sound right. Anbaixiu said, "Don't worry. Activate the teleportation circle for me right now and I'll leave immediately. Who enjoys lingering in Ryan's territory?" The Silvermoon Knight pondered for a moment, then said, "If Her Majesty Catherine wishes to use the teleportation circle, that is naturally acceptable. But this gentleman..." Anbaixiu chuckled dryly. "I knew it. You want to hike up the price, don't you?" Extortion on the spot—he was all too familiar with this tactic. Anbaixiu said to the Elven Queen, "Catherine, cover the difference for me." Very obediently, Catherine produced her small, gold-threaded purse and asked the Silvermoon Knight, "Um, how much more do we need to pay?" The Silvermoon Knight was at a loss for words. The relationship between these two was even more absurd than he had imagined. Why did it look like master and servant? With Catherine offering to pay, how could the Silvermoon Knight accept? Money had never been his goal. "Actually, I would like to ask Master Ultraman for a favor. It is rare to have a legendary lich visit. Would you be willing to cooperate with Ryan in a military drill?" The request stunned Anbaixiu for a second, then he asked in astonishment, "You want me to be a sparring partner? And then use the opportunity to take me out?" *This lich's mind is truly too dark.* The Silvermoon Knight shook his head. "I will not violate the Lord Supreme Arbiter's order, and naturally I would not set a trap to frame you. It is just that the dwarves were defeated far too quickly in this desert war. These lads won with barely any hardship." Anbaixiu's jaw dropped. If the dwarves heard this, they'd probably die of shame and rage. Yet Ryan's performance in this war had indeed been brilliant—a total steamroll from start to finish. The dwarves couldn't even mount the slightest counterattack and lost half their country outright. Had the City of Alchemy not imploded from its own blunders and let the dwarves pick up the scraps, this Golden Realm would have fallen long ago. "This desert battle was their first campaign. Winning so effortlessly has made these boys frivolous and overconfident. With that mentality, they will suffer immensely when faced with a real, brutal battle. Since Your Excellency happens to be passing through, why not teach them a lesson? "I have heard that you excel at capturing live prisoners. If Your Excellency is willing to help, I can write you a letter of recommendation guaranteeing unhindered passage for the remainder of your journey." The Silvermoon Knight's offer tempted Anbaixiu. Teleporting to the Emerald Dream Forest required three transfers, all within Ryan's borders. With the Silvermoon Knight's guarantee, a great deal of trouble could be spared. "You want me to stage an undead siege?" Anbaixiu asked. "However you wish to play it. War has no set formula, and there will be no prior coordination. Use any means at your disposal—so long as you keep casualties under one thousand." "One thousand? You really are ruthless." Anbaixiu was taken aback by this number. Were the people of Ryan this harsh even toward their own? The Silvermoon Knight said, "Even after detecting an undead presence, the gate guards still let you enter the city and even helped write a guarantee for you! If another legendary lich had entered the city, would casualties have stopped at a mere thousand? These lads have disappointed me far too deeply." In his agitation, the decrepit Silvermoon Knight emanated an aura of iron and blood so fierce that even Anbaixiu felt intense pressure. Still, he was overthinking things. There might be another legendary lich in the world, but where would one find another Catherine? "This request isn't entirely unacceptable. The chance to teach paladins a harsh lesson doesn't come every day. However, a single letter of recommendation isn't enough." Taking action required a significant expenditure of gold, and Anbaixiu needed to calculate the costs carefully. "I have heard a little of Your Excellency's hobbies. If compensation is required, that can be negotiated." Anbaixiu smiled and said to the Silvermoon Knight, "How about this: to ensure you don't think I'm slacking off, let the final results speak for themselves. For every Ryan citizen captured alive, you pay me ten thousand gold coins. How does that sound?" The Silvermoon Knight immediately shook his head. "My casualty quota is set at one thousand. Wouldn't that make this battle cost at least ten million gold coins? That price is absurd." Paying was not out of the question, but ten thousand per prisoner was preposterous. If he agreed to such a sum, the Silvermoon Knight would be hauled before a military court. Anbaixiu added, "Don't rush. Ten thousand for a paladin, one thousand for a regular soldier, and one hundred for a civilian. That should be acceptable, right?" The Silvermoon Knight calculated quickly. Most of Sandshadow City's paladins had already been redeployed; fewer than a hundred remained. Even if all of them were captured, it would come to less than a million gold coins. As for the regular soldiers, there were fewer than two thousand—capturing all of them would still be within acceptable bounds. Besides, did Anbaixiu really have the ability to capture the entire city? The Silvermoon Knight said, "Civilians don't count. This drill cannot involve civilians. The other two, I can agree to." "What about militiamen? You have quite a few of those, don't you?" "Militiamen? Count them as regular soldiers as well." Sandshadow City was newly retaken; the garrison consisted entirely of regular troops, with only around a hundred local militiamen helping to maintain order. Adding them wouldn't amount to much. Very satisfied, Anbaixiu said, "Excellent. Swear on the Holy Light, and I promise to teach the Ryan Empire an unforgettable lesson."