Chapter 789: A Surprising Conclusion

The battle had already ended for quite a while when the sun rose above the horizon.

It seemed like a rare first victory for the Country of Light ever since the Undead Army started attacking them. Although the Light Parliament appeared formidable and should be making known of their achievements to boost morale, the truth was otherwise. After the battle ended, the furious military commanders complained to the Light Parliament that Rhode ordered his barrier troops to attack the other soldiers from the rear!

Even though Andre knew what Rhode was planning, the other idiots couldn't figure him out at all. They were sure that they couldn't have resisted the enemies and would have seized the chance to flee. However, they didn't expect that the barrier troops blocked their path and requested them to return to the battlefield. The soldiers who finally had this chance to escape refused to obey their orders and as a result, they were annihilated on the spot by the barrier troops. The other soldiers who were about to flee the battlefield gave up on this thought after witnessing their plight.

It was impossible that they didn't harbor any grudges against them and this was especially so after the battle ended and the Light Parliament interrogated. However, the answer that they received was that... It was all Rhode's command.

"I was worried that the northern battlefront would crumble under the enemies' constant attack. Therefore, I specially sent troops to provide 'assistance'," Rhode said. He leaned back and watched the ashen military representative who clenched his shivering fists. No one knew if Rhode purposely emphasized on the word 'assistance'.

"Even though we belong to different camps, our goals are aligned and that is to defend the Winter Castle, stop the infiltration of the Undead Army, and protect the people from death threats. For the sake of this goal, we should abandon our differences in opinions and work together. I was extremely worried when the northern battlefront almost crumbled to the Undead Army, so I had to take some extreme measures to ensure that our victory was secure from the foolish actions of some people... In fact, the truth has proven that my judgment was right."

The military representative gazed silently with an ashen expression. In fact, this was the truth. Many had witnessed the injured soldiers retreating with intentions of fleeing. However, after the others witnessed their unfortunate plight, they had no choice but to change their opinion and continue battling. If no one was watching them from the rear, perhaps they would have already escaped. No matter what, they had secured their victory now and didn't sacrifice the direct army of the Light Parliament. Rhode's method could be considered to have preserved the military's honor.

However, the problem was that Rhode's brazen behaviors showed no respect to the military. Of course, they knew that Rhode didn't need to react to their objections. But they just couldn't tolerate such a treatment which explained why they reported the matter directly to the Light Parliament. The Light Parliament was overjoyed when they heard the report and asserted to the church that Rhode had violated the agreement because it was agreed beforehand that the military couldn't command Rhode and Rhode couldn't intervene with the military's orders. His actions had clearly nullified this agreement!

Rhode calmly expressed that he didn't intervene with their orders because he didn't give any commands to the northern battlefront. As for why he sent the barrier troops to the rear of the northern battlefront, he also gave a firm answer.

"I want to ensure that the southern battlefront wouldn't be affected."

In the end, the church didn't accept the Light Parliament's accusation and declared that the agreement was still in effect because Rhode didn't directly suggest or command the Light Parliament's army. Not only that, but the agreement also didn't specify the consequences for launching attacks on the Light Parliament's direct army, so it wasn't within the church's concern. This left the Light Parliament utterly speechless.

As the core member of the anti-parliament forces, Rhode was always up on his feet against the Light Parliament. A few moments after the Light Parliament raised their objections, Rhode requested from the church for the pension that the Light Parliament had agreed!

In the earlier battle, Rhode had generously sacrificed 4500 Magma Guards and their self-explosions broke down 30,000 troops of the Undead Army, which was a cost-effective trade. On the other hand, only 500 Ocean Elves narrowly escaped. Rhode had plans for Agatha and the Ocean Elves to gain EXP here and wasn't foolish enough to send them to their graves. However, it was another matter for the fire elemental creatures...

The Light Parliament was undoubtedly unwilling to fulfill his request because according to the agreement, the pension per casualty was 3000 gold coins!

3000 gold coins!

In the Light Mainland, the pensions for ordinary soldiers were estimated to be a few hundred gold coins and yet he requested 3000 of them! This was one of the main reasons why their negotiations weren't successful in the beginning. The Light Parliament believed that even if Rhode's soldiers were made of gold, they wouldn't even be worth 300 gold coins, not to mention 3000! Of course, Rhode wouldn't go easy on them. He even mentioned that his precious soldiers were priceless and 3000 gold coins was a steal. If not, he would have asked for at least 5000 gold coins.

As a result... It meant that the Light Parliament had to compensate Rhode a total of 13.5 million gold coins!

Of course they weren't willing to. Perhaps they might still accept this truth if Rhode had sacrificed 4500 elite human soldiers. After all, the high quality equipment and amount of training spent on them was worth quite a lot. But for 4500 fire elemental creatures... What was this all about?

There was no meaning in objecting because they would have done so earlier. Back then when Rhode had just arrived at the Winter Castle, the Light Parliament thought that they could use the chance to nullify the agreement. However, the church disagreed because there wasn't any specification that the reinforcements must be humans. What could the Light Parliament say now? Of course, they could only tell bald-faced lies that Rhode's reinforcements weren't effective at all and weakened their importance. But was that possible? The problem was that this was an alliance and everyone was clear that if it weren't for Rhode's forces and the Holy Maiden Statues that he brought, they could only dream about annihilating the enemies.

In the end, the Light Parliament had no choice but to fork out the pension. Initially, they looked forward to Rhode sending someone to collect the money so they could vent their frustrations. However, they waited, waited, and finally, it was the church's representatives that arrived. They came to verify the amount of pension and transport it to Rhode.

From the start until the end, Rhode didn't give the Light Parliament a single chance to vent their anger.

Rhode didn't give a damn about the financial situation of the Light Parliament. Even though the commercial trade in this world wasn't as advanced as in the real world, it wasn't considered too backward either. The other reason why he had gotten the church to receive the pension on his behalf was so he didn't need to show himself as he could make use of the church's financial network. The 13.5 million gold coins were instantly transferred into the Land of Atonement fortress. Of course, this didn't mean that the church had to physically transport 13.5 million gold coins with them. The Dragon Soul Continent had its own mature financial system. Normally, gold, silver, and copper coins were used for daily transactions. However, platinum coins and diamonds of equal values were used when the transfer amount was large. If the amount was astronomical, they would use the unique currency of various large forces such as the heaven coin of the Light Mainland which was made of platinum and magical crystals. A single heaven coin held the same value as 10,000 gold coins. Therefore, the church only needed to transport 1350 heaven coins to the Land of Atonement. When Rhode used to wish them, he could exchange them into platinum coins or gold coins. Of course, he wouldn't even need to exchange if he directly used them in his construction system...

However, the currency value was different for each unique force, just like the heaven coin for the Light Mainland and spirit coin for the Dark Mainland. The former was made with platinum and magic crystal while the latter was made with spirit prisms. They were considered currencies that were available in the Dragon Soul Continent. But on the contrary, the blood coin that was worth a few copper in hell was meaningless. The church completely unified the different currencies and formed a complete financial circulation system in the Dragon Soul Continent. From a certain aspect, it could be said that the Country of Law had dominated this world.

However, this wasn't a problem for Rhode to be concerned about. After defeating the Undead Army, he didn't return to the Land of Atonement immediately. Firstly, Lilian was heading toward the Winter Castle now and he had to meet her. Secondly, he was also waiting for Sonia's report.

Sonia visited him in the name of the Light Parliament's representative. Of course, on the surface, she was here to represent the military to oppose him. But in fact, she was here to report about the insider news regarding Lilian's delayed schedule to the Winter Castle.

However, the conclusion of Sonia's investigation astonished him.

"Are you sure?"

Rhode sat on the chair and gazed at her with knitted brows. Sonia nodded and gave a firm answer.

"Yes, Master, I'm sure. The reason why Her Majesty Lilian hasn't arrived at the front line was due to safety reasons. The Light Parliament thinks that it is too dangerous for her to come to the Winter Castle when a war is brewing. This was why they delayed her schedule and she also accepted their reason to come only after the war ended."

This wasn't any different from the rumors that he had heard. However, it was due to this that he found it amusing because this reason was... too, too, too... How should he put it? He didn't know how to explain. Back then, he thought that the Light Parliament was incomparably clumsy to bring out this excuse. But now, he realized that this was the truth and learned that Sonia was truly loyal to him—if not she definitely wouldn't bring out such an idiotic investigation result.

But... How is this possible?

Rhode couldn't figure it out. Lilian was the Creator Dragon Soul, where even Charlie might have a hard time facing her if he were present, not to mention an insignificant Necromancer. Safety issue? This was clearly an excuse. But it seemed that this was the truth. Could it be that the Light Parliament was so unprofessional in finding an excuse for themselves?

Rhode had a doubt in his mind.

"Sonia, is no one in the Light Parliament worried that Lilian would defeat the Undead Army and recover her position?"

"Defeat the Undead Army? Her Majesty Lilian?"

Sonia gazed with an astonished expression. She dazed for a few seconds and puckered her brows.

"This... Master, I'm sorry. I've never heard such discussions within the Light Parliament."

"Not even from the official parliament members?"

"No, Master."

"What do they think about Her Majesty Lilian's strength?"

Rhode gazed at Sonia and asked.

"Strength?" Sonia pondered for a while and finally said, "Master, Her Majesty Lilian is only a child..."

"Do you think that she's stronger than a Battle Angel?"

"I..."

Even though Sonia didn't reply, Rhode knew her answer through her perplexed expression and this surprised him. As a secondary member of the Light Parliament, Sonia knew nothing about the strength of a Creator Dragon Soul?!

At this moment, Rhode had a surprising conclusion.

Could it be that the Light Parliament knew nothing about Lilian's true strength?

If that is the case, this situation may be more interesting than I thought...

Rhode returned to his senses and looked at Sonia with a smile.

"You did well, Sonia."

"Ah..."

Sonia's eyes glinted. She bit her lips gently and gazed back with desire. Then, she heard the answer that she had yearned for for days and nights.

"Be a good girl and stay in your room tonight. I will give you the reward you've always wanted."