Anbaixiu sat upon the Golden Throne, suspended high above the desert.
The brilliant golden light below had no effect on him whatsoever, and the battle between the gnolls and paladins was in plain view.
Thirty gnolls, large and small, were naturally vicious monsters, but under the onslaught of the troops led by two paladins, they were butchered like melons and vegetables, offering almost no resistance.
Wearing sunglasses, Catherine also floated beside Anbaixiu and asked curiously, "What was the point of controlling these gnolls? They were wiped out before they even got close to the city gates."
This was merely a weak pack of gnolls; a single spell to control monsters was enough to dominate their chieftain completely and send the pack charging toward Sandshadow City.
The problem, however, was what use could monsters that barely counted as cannon fodder be against Sandshadow City?
"No rush. Naturally, these gnolls couldn't possibly affect Sandshadow City. I was merely testing their reaction."
"The gnolls didn't even last two minutes. What did you test?" Catherine asked, puzzled.
"Look at the city gates. They began closing before those paladins even sallied out. It's as though they slipped out of the city at the very last moment. But against a pack of gnolls like this, did they need to shut the gates?" Anbaixiu asked.
"Perhaps whoever is in charge of defending the city is cautious?" Catherine guessed.
"There's some truth to that, but if they're cautious, why recklessly send men out to engage these gnolls in direct combat? Wouldn't it be safer to wait until the gnolls drew near and shoot arrows from atop the walls? How could someone be cautious and reckless at the same time?"
"Then why did they?"
"How should I know? That old man didn't give me any intelligence at all. Don't I have to probe step by step?"
Anbaixiu felt helpless as well. Beyond telling Anbaixiu to attack Sandshadow City, the Silvermoon Knight had said nothing else. Claiming he wanted a complete simulation of an enemy invasion, he had not only withheld all intelligence, but had also made Anbaixiu leave Sandshadow City to invade from the outside.
Of course, that Silvermoon Knight had also sworn upon the Holy Light that he would not give the defenders of Sandshadow City any hints, ensuring it would be a fair duel of attack and defense.
Meanwhile, Anbaixiu had no intention of launching an outright undead siege. A frontal assault made casualties difficult to control, which would make it hard to milk the Ryan Empire for money.
Anbaixiu's goal was to not let a single person die—capture them all alive, then ransom them to Ryan for a massive fortune.
And to achieve that, he had to first feel out the strengths and weaknesses of Sandshadow City.
"No need to rush. Wait patiently. I left a little something on those gnolls."
Anbaixiu traced a magic circle with his finger, and the sounds of battle below transmitted clearly into both of their ears.
Under the paladins' onslaught, the gnolls were swiftly put down, leaving only low, feeble whimpers. The Ryan soldiers delivered finishing blows to these resilient gnolls one by one to make sure they were dead, quickly concluding the fight.
One of the paladin leaders remarked to his companion, "They were only gnolls. Alan Watson is far too cowardly. He didn't even dare face them head-on. Being captured back then really broke him."
The other paladin chuckled. "Heh, a pampered young master meets that terrifying legendary lich on his very first trial and drags the Knights of Condemnation into heavy casualties. That'll probably haunt him for the rest of his life. No wonder the general stuck him guarding this border town. His will is like a broken sword—completely useless."
"You can't entirely blame him. Haven't you heard? At that lich's hands, he was tortured until he was covered in wounds. Mind and body, he was completely broken. It's a wonder he can even stand here today."
"Huh? Really? Where did you hear that?"
"It was a rejected manuscript. Originally, it was submitted to the supplement of Legendary Spells, but then Lord Supreme Arbiter had it rejected. I have a friend working in the editorial department. He told me it described the abuse Alan suffered while held captive, written by another captive who was with him. The way that article described it... sigh, it was truly horrific. Even I felt bad for him reading it. Who knows what Lord Supreme Arbiter felt, seeing his own son subjected to such abuse?"
"Are you serious? Lend it to me when we get back. But if Alan was abused so badly, why would Lord Supreme Arbiter rescind the wanted bounty on that lich?"
"That is Lord Supreme Arbiter's magnanimity. Whether we want to admit it or not, that lich did save tens of millions of human lives in the end. Such a righteous act naturally deserves a corresponding reward. Even if Lord Supreme Arbiter bears a personal grudge against him, he did not violate doctrine for personal vengeance."
"Truly admirable. I probably couldn't have done that if it were me. Sigh, that boy Alan really doesn't deserve to be Lord Supreme Arbiter's son."
...
Listening to this gossip, Catherine said in astonishment, "Did you really do horrible things to this paladin named Alan?"
Anbaixiu felt a little awkward.
That submission was indeed something Anbaixiu had told Harvey to write, but the contents were entirely made up just to pressure that chief editor into paying a ransom. Who would have guessed that the Ryan leader was ruthless enough to abandon his own son, turning that manuscript into his "proof of guilt"?
Anbaixiu could only explain, "The torture was fake. I was busy out of my mind back then and had no time to torture a paladin. I just had someone write a letter to his father hoping to get some ransom, but it failed."
Catherine gave Anbaixiu a suspicious look.
Anbaixiu said nonchalantly, "Believe it or not, it doesn't matter. I'm a lich; isn't torturing a paladin standard procedure anyway? The main point now is that Alan Watson turns out to be Sandshadow City's defending commander, and his subordinates are at odds with him. That's something we can exploit."
"What do you plan to do?" Catherine asked curiously.
"Very simple: widen the rift between them. That old Silvermoon fellow's letter of recommendation will only save us two or three days, and I don't want to waste too much time here."
No longer concealing his presence, Anbaixiu descended straight from the sky, landing on the battlefield.
He stopped holding back his dark mana, which took the form of a fear aura, covering hundreds of meters around him.
The ordinary Ryan soldiers were terrified to the point of weak knees, and some even fainted on the spot. But the two paladins reacted with lightning speed, immediately activating their Aura of Courage and Aura of Vitality, negating most of Anbaixiu's immense pressure.
Yet it was of little use. Anbaixiu was no longer the cut-rate legend he once was; a mere pair of paladins was nowhere near a match for him.
Anbaixiu simply cast Hold Person, and the two paladins were thoroughly suppressed like statues.
Despite wearing full sets of magical gear, their various magic resistance effects proved completely useless, as if they were stark naked.
Such was the power of the Golden Throne; spells empowered by it simply could not be resisted through ordinary means.
Once a mage's spells were guaranteed to hit, he became a true master of the arcane.
Dealing with these paladins no longer required laying all sorts of assassinations like he did with Fanxing; he could simply crush them in one fell swoop like Gareth the Headless Horseman. No one beneath the legendary tier could stop him.
If not for Sandshadow City already having a complete municipal defense system, Anbaixiu would have marched right into the city and laid waste to everything, which might have resolved things even faster.
"Go back and tell Alan Watson that his old friend has come to catch up. Tell him to come out of the city alone to find me—otherwise, he can prepare to collect their corpses."
With a wave of his hand, Anbaixiu whipped up a whirlwind, sweeping up all the Ryan soldiers before sending them into his private demiplane.
Only one paladin was left on the battlefield.
Anbaixiu sneered, then vanished.
With Anbaixiu's departure, the Hold Person effect on this paladin dissipated as well. Yet looking across the empty desert, he couldn't find a single trace of Anbaixiu.
The sudden appearance of such a formidable enemy left him in shock. After searching to no avail, the paladin had no choice but to turn around and run toward Sandshadow City.
Returning to the sky, Anbaixiu said to Catherine, "That should about do it. Once that paladin returns to the city, he ought to relay my words faithfully. Alan Watson lacks prestige, and the others already don't respect him. Now that I've claimed to be targeting him specifically and told him to pay the ransom in person to get his men back, it won't be long before Sandshadow City falls into chaos."
Catherine said skeptically, "And that will sow discord between them? Are people from the Ryan Empire really that easy to dupe?"
Anbaixiu smiled and said, "Of course it's not that easy. Paladins undergo rigorous training and have exceptionally steadfast willpower; making them lose their composure isn't simple. That's why I need to add more fuel to the fire."
"Add fuel to the fire? Are you planning another ambush?" Catherine asked, thoroughly intrigued.
As they spent more time together, Catherine's admiration for Anbaixiu had grown. This lich was truly formidable when it came to manipulating people's minds; she felt she had learned a great deal from him.
"Ambushing them to take more captives is pointless. It would only reinforce their unity against a common foe. What I want is internal strife, which means we can't let them calm down. Catherine, do you know when men are at their least rational?" Anbaixiu asked.
Catherine shook her head. As a homebody, she hadn't studied such things in the slightest.
"Very simple: when thinking with their lower halves, men have no rationality whatsoever."
"Their lower halves?" Catherine pondered for a second, and her face instantly flushed red. What nonsense was this perverted lich babbling about?! Was this even something appropriate to discuss?!
Anbaixiu, however, showed no hesitation at all. He said to Catherine with profound gravity, "You are that fire. You will burn away the last of their reason and lead them straight into my trap."
"Don't even think about it! I won't help you do something like that! People who toy with feelings go to hell!"
Catherine refused self-righteously. She was only here as a hired hand; she had never considered selling her feminine wiles. To Catherine, that was utterly unacceptable.
Anbaixiu asked, baffled, "Toy with feelings? Do you think I'm asking you to bat your eyelashes at those paladins?"
"What else could it be?" Catherine demanded.
Anbaixiu said, exasperated at her obtuseness, "While they're in disarray and quarreling amongst themselves, go tell them you're a legendary ranger who's been hunting me for ages and needs their help. Go inspire these paladins and give them the courage to charge at me!
"Stop thinking of yourself as a mere ornamental doll. Your charisma is something even the undead can barely resist; it transcended petty mortal instincts long ago. Catherine, you've been wasting your natural gifts all along. If you set your sights far enough, you could even unite this continent."
Catherine's large eyes filled with bewilderment.
Unite... the continent?
Chapter 160