A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

89 – Cheating

“Karia, sir?”

Chertu and Karia had occasionally met before. If it was in the Portu commercial city, Karia would have greeted Chertu with a smile and a handshake, but now the two were at Dangamba. The Grand Sorcerer was perched on Chertu’s shoulder.

“The Grand Sorcerer you requested. And Crack says there are no living Ailam civilians left in the Crescent Triangle. Crack and the Toi tribes have also withdrawn from the Crescent Triangle.”

Now that there were no Ailam civilians in the Crescent Triangle, it meant that wiping out the Karamba civilians posed no problem.

“Well done, Chertu. You can rest now.”

“Yes.”

After Chertu left, Karia smoked a cigarette and ordered the soldiers to take the Grand Sorcerer to the barracks. Then, Karia seated the Grand Sorcerer and securely tied his legs.

“What are you going to do to me!”

A Grand Sorcerer who couldn’t even use magic was just an ordinary person. Karia silently smoked his cigarette, staring at the Grand Sorcerer. Then, as she twitched her chin, a magician who had been waiting approached the Grand Sorcerer and placed his hand on his head.

“Nerve Shock.”

A torture-specific magic developed against the strong demand of the former emperor. It stimulated the sensory nerves intensely and, wickedly, simultaneously cast healing magic to maintain the body’s normal state while inflicting extreme pain, making it a very efficient torture magic.

“aaargh!!! aaah!!!”

The Grand Sorcerer wet himself. After 3 seconds of torture, he slumped, trembling. The Grand Sorcerer raised his head and desperately opened his mouth towards Rashid, who was quietly sitting on one side, watching the whole scene.

“Prince Rashid! P-Please stop! I-I don’t know anything! I know nothing!…….”

“You know nothing?”

A fierce glint appeared in Rashid’s eyes.

“If a traitor from Amir’s inner circle, who betrayed the execution unit and caused the deaths of many Karamba people, doesn’t have important information, then they should die. Isn’t their life worthless?”

“Rashid! Aren’t we both Karamba people? Please, prevent that Eastern witch from torturing me!!”

“Innocent Karamba and Ailam people’s blood was shed. At that moment, you ceased to be my compatriot. I do not see you as a human.”

Rashid’s words cut like a blade. But Karia didn’t just speak.

“Take off your pants.”

At her command, the soldiers stripped the chief sorcerer of his urine-soaked pants. Karia began to stomp on the exposed male genitalia with her military boots.

The strength of a dragon’s avatar was unbearable for a human, and the chief sorcerer, pressed to his limits, began to scream in agony.

Karia grabbed the chief sorcerer’s face.

“I don’t care why the bastard Amir’s right-hand man rebelled. I don’t want to know. What I do know is that innocent Ailam people, who lived their lives peacefully, are dead. That’s why I’m quite angry right now.”

“I-It’ll explode!! It’ll explode! aaargh!”

“It won’t explode. If it were to explode, I’d make it more painful. Tie each testicle with wire and slowly pull them apart. I’ll let you faint and wake up multiple times in agony. In the meantime, I’ll cast nerve shock spells on you. You’ll lose control of your bowels and bladder.”

Karia exuded a terrifying aura.

“If you want to see such a filthy sight, keep your mouth shut.”

“I truly know nothing!…….”

“Do you expect me to believe that someone who served by Amir’s side as his right-hand man knows nothing? If it’s the truth, you should make up lies even if they don’t exist and spit them out. I am a person of action.”

The chief sorcerer looked at Karia with a pale face. Despite this, the chief sorcerer remained silent, prompting Karia to lift her foot.

“Wrap wire around both testicles. Let’s slowly remove them. Cast the nerve shock.”

“N-No, stop!!!!………aaargh!!!!! You, you have no ethics or morals!!”

“Ethics and morals were thrown away the moment Ailam blood flowed on your blades. Let’s begin.”

The wire was wound around the testicles, and the slow pulling commenced. The chief sorcerer writhed in pain, and when he passed out, he was shocked back to consciousness.

In the end, the chief sorcerer had no choice but to speak.

Just before the left testicle was about to come off, he frantically opened his mouth.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!!!!!”

“We don’t have time. Speak quickly.”

And so, the chief sorcerer spilled all the plans. Why they unleashed the orc and what they planned to do in the next few hours. After hearing all the stories, a silence fell inside the barracks.

“Is that really the plan?”

“Yes. I’ve revealed everything, so please…..please spare my life…..”

Karia seemed to have no intention of executing the supplicating chief sorcerer.

She looked worriedly at Rashid.

Rashid’s face seemed devoid of any soul.

After a long pause, he looked at Karia.

“Summon the remaining six dragon avatars of Ailam.”

“Prince Rashid?”

“I will personally convince the tribes of the Western Great Plains. Disregard the sacrifice of Karamba civilians and immediately set Amir’s army ablaze.”

It was unimaginable that such words could come from Rashid, known for his love of the people.

But this situation warranted such words.

“The resurrection of the Skull Lord. Amir…has gone mad.”

Even if it means sacrificing civilian lives, if we don’t stop Amir, there won’t be any humans left in the western plains of Karamba and the Crescent Moon Triangle. Only the undead will remain, endlessly wandering the plains.

The information Karla obtained was immediately relayed to the Emperor through me. Upon hearing the story, the Emperor summoned the remaining six dragons scattered throughout the land, excluding the Red Dragon.

Karla then proceeded to share all the information she had uncovered with everyone.

Upon hearing the full story, the six dragons all expressed shock.

“Prince Rashid has requested the immediate arrival of all six dragons to Karamba, to annihilate Amir’s army.”

“It’s absurd. To think there are humans crazy enough to seek the resurrection of the Skull Lord. Of course, we must go.”

Even the notoriously lazy Blue Dragon, known for throwing comic books around, had a serious expression. Due to the rush, Karla hadn’t gone into detail, so neither I nor the Emperor knew what the Skull Lord was.

The history of Karamba was not something everyone knew in detail.

“Who exactly is the Skull Lord? Great beings.”

At this, the Gold Dragon shook its head ominously.

“The remnants of the pride and madness of the most powerful dragon in history.”

“What does that mean?…”

“The Black Dragon Cayat. During the time we were hatchlings, there was one dragon who had reached the Ancient tier even before the age you humans called the Mythical Era.”

Being a being from an era even before the Mythical Era meant it must have been incredibly ancient.

“Being so old, during our Wyrm phase, Cayat’s natural lifespan was over. It was natural considering how long it had lived. However, he did not wish to die. So, he went to the far west of Karamba, where the most potent source of Elixir was known to exist, and began preparing a 10-Circle spell to wish for immortality.”

“And it… failed?”

“It did. The 10-Circle spell was beyond the control of dragon magic. But if it had failed completely, there wouldn’t have been an issue. It failed ambiguously, causing a problem. Cayat’s soul perished and vanished, but his body… became immortal. Along with all his entourage and even the monsters around him.”

Thus, mindless and soulless skeletons turned into grotesque monsters.

“He led his army to invade the territories of humans and Karamba’s people. There was no way to resist. Humans were mercilessly slaughtered, and as they were driven to the brink of extinction in Karamba, the unstable 10-Circle spell caught up with Cayat.”

“Because the spell was unstable?”

“Yes. When he became unstable and momentarily weakened, human shamans who witnessed it squeezed all their power to devise a way to stop his rampage. That was the Crown of the Skull Lord. With that, they could command Cayat. One of the human shamans wearing the crown ordered Cayat to return to the western end and bury himself underground.”

“It seems that order was obeyed. Given that Karamba’s land is now full of undead.”

“Yes. Thankfully, it was obeyed. He led his undead army to the western end, buried himself and his entire army underground, and fell asleep. Humans then sealed the crown thoroughly to prevent any new being from wearing it and giving new commands, passing it down through generations to manage their lord.”

Every story that flowed out was vivid, as if experienced firsthand.

“How… How do you know all this?”

“Because we helped a lot of Karamba’s people. To stop the rampaging Cayat’s bones, which would slaughter even our fellow dragon kin without distinction, we had no choice.”

“You were there in person? Shouldn’t you have destroyed Cayat instead of sealing him?”

The Green Dragon sighed.

“The 10-Circle spell emanated from his dragon heart. It was an extremely unstable magic, but it was a 10-Circle spell. We couldn’t kill him even with our power. The only way to kill him was to invest a long time to continually weaken the 10-Circle spell until it left his heart.”

“At that time, when the magic’s power was still very much present, sealing was the best option. Having suffered so greatly at that time, we believed that humans, who record and pass on history to future generations, would manage it well.”

“That crown! Can it perfectly control the undead dragon?”

“It’s an item imbued with powerful enchantments cast by us, so it’s possible. But… it’s been thousands of years since then. Even magic has an expiration date. Enchantments are no different. And thousands of years is by no means a short time from our perspective.”

The Emperor and I paled upon hearing this.

So…

Planning to revive the undead Main Dragon, who was once stronger than any other dragon to confront Ilam’s dragons and wyverns, who once cast a 10-Circle spell, which might be uncontrollable?

“…They are truly insane.”

“Conquering Ilam is not the issue. If the Skull Lord resurrects, all humans across the continent could perish.”

A dire situation.

A happy ending was slipping away.

The Emperor, I, and the six dragons all exchanged simultaneous glances.

“We must move immediately. Right now!!!!!”

At the sound of my shout, six dragons turned their heads towards me.

“We’ll go there ourselves and intercept. Even if we have to be a little crazy. We can’t afford to unleash the undead, who could potentially destroy the entire continent.”

The six dragons grinned at me and the Emperor.

“As citizens of the Empire of Aylam, we have a duty to protect the empire.”

Their smiles were reassuring beyond measure.

The six dragons launched their coordinated attack.

Sorry to say, but not even his much-vaunted powerful elephant legion would survive this.

The downfall of the Amir Legion seemed inevitable at that moment.