Ambrose sat upon the Golden Throne, suspended high above the desert.

The radiant glow below did not affect him in the slightest. The battle between the gnolls and the paladins unfolded clearly before his eyes.

Gnolls were feral, bloodthirsty creatures. But thirty of them, large and small alike, were cut down like vegetables by an assault led by two paladins. They were barely able to resist at all.

Catherine, wearing dark lenses and floating beside him, asked curiously, "What's the point of controlling those gnolls? They didn't even reach the gates before they were wiped out."

They were weak, pathetically so. A single monster-controlling spell could seize ahold of their leader, and the rest would obediently charge Sandshadow.

But what good were such creatures? They weren't even fit to serve as cannon fodder.

"No rush," Ambrose replied calmly. "The gnolls were never meant to threaten the city. I was only testing their reaction."

"They didn't even last two minutes. What did you learn?"

"Look at the gates. They were already closing before the paladins charged out. Those men slipped through at the last possible moment. But against gnolls like these, was there any need to shut the gates at all?"

"Perhaps the commander in charge is cautious?" Catherine guessed.

"A reasonable guess. But if he's cautious, why send troops to engage head-on? Once the gnolls approached, they could have simply rained arrows from the walls. How can someone be both cautious and reckless at the same time?"

"Then what's the explanation?"

"How would I know?" Ambrose shrugged. "That old man gave me no intelligence whatsoever. I'll have to probe them slowly."

The Silvermoon Knight had insisted on a perfect simulation of a foreign invasion. He had provided no information at all and even required Ambrose to leave Sandshadow and attack from outside the city.

Naturally, he had also sworn upon the Holy Light that he would give the garrison no warning. It would be a fair contest of offense and defense.

Ambrose, however, had no intention of launching a full undead siege. A direct assault would be difficult to control. Casualties would spiral, and that would make it much harder to profit from Lyon.

His goal was simple: not a single death. He would capture them all alive and sell them back to Lyon for a handsome sum.

To accomplish that, he first needed to gauge Sandshadow's strength.

"Be patient," he said. "I left something behind on those gnolls."

He traced a spell in the air. The sounds of battle below sharpened.

The gnolls fell swiftly. Soon they let out only weak, guttural whimpers before Lyon's soldiers finished them off one by one, ensuring that they were thoroughly dead.

One of the paladins leading the squad remarked to his companion, "They're just gnolls. Allen Watson is overly timid. If he's afraid to face even this, that capture must really have shaken him badly."

The other paladin chuckled. "He's just a pampered lordling. His first campaign and he runs into that terrifying legendary lich—and dragged the Knights Penitent down with him, too. That shame will follow him for life. No wonder the general left him to guard this backwater city. A blade once broken can't bear any weight."

"Well, it's not entirely his fault. Haven't you heard? They say the lich tortured him savagely. His body and mind were both broken. The fact that he can stand here again at all is impressive."

"What? Where did you hear that?"

"A manuscript that got rejected. It was submitted to a subsidiary Legendary Spellcraft periodical. Apparently the High Inquisitor himself ordered it withdrawn. A friend of mine works in the editorial office, and he told me it described Allen's suffering in captivity, written by another prisoner who was there with him. The details were... brutal. I felt sorry for him reading it. I wonder what the High Inquisitor felt, seeing what happened to his own son."

"Is that true? Lend it to me when we're back. But if Allen suffered so much, why did the High Inquisitor withdraw the bounty on that lich?"

"That must be the High Inquisitor's magnanimity at work. Whether we like it or not, that lich did save millions of human lives. Such merit deserves a reward. Despite his personal enmity, the High Inquisitor acted according to doctrine."

"Incredible. I wouldn't be able to do that. Still... Allen really doesn't deserve to be the High Inquisitor's son."

......

Catherine blinked in astonishment. "Did you really do something that horrible to that paladin?"

Ambrose coughed lightly. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The manuscript had indeed been written at his instruction by Harvey. But the contents were pure fabrication, designed only to pressure Allen's father into paying ransom. Who would have thought him so ruthless? He refused to ransom his own son and even left behind the story to serve as evidence of Ambrose's cruelty instead.

"The torture was fictional," Ambrose explained. "I was too busy to torment him. I just sent a ransom letter. It failed."

Catherine looked unconvinced.

"Believe what you like," Ambrose said breezily. "I'm a lich. Torturing a paladin would hardly be out of character. But that's not the point. The point is that Allen Watson is now commander of Sandshadow, and his own men resent him. That can be exploited."

"How?"

"Simple. We'll widen the cracks. The Silvermoon Knight's letter only saves us two or three days. I don't intend to waste time."

He dropped his concealment and descended from the sky.

Dark magic surged outward, expanding into an aura of fear that blanketed several hundred meters.

Ordinary Lyon soldiers collapsed to their knees. Some fainted outright. The two paladins reacted swiftly, activating their auras of courage and vitality and holding back much of the oppressive force.

But it hardly mattered. Ambrose was no longer the half-baked legend he once had been. Two paladins were nothing.

With a simple Human Stasis spell, they froze like statues.

Despite their enchanted armor and layered resistances, they might as well have stood naked before him.

This was the Golden Throne's power. Ambrose's spells were enhanced beyond ordinary resistance and guaranteed to land.

Against paladins of this caliber, there was no need for elaborate assassination schemes like those he had once used against Starfall. He could crush them outright, like the Dullahan Gareth in full charge. Only legends might stand against him.

If not for Sandshadow's defenses, he might even have stormed the city directly.

Instead, he spoke coldly, "Go tell Allen Watson his old friend has come to reminisce. Have him come out alone to meet me. Otherwise, I'll return all of you as corpses."

With a sweep of his hand, a whirlwind rose up. The Lyon soldiers were swept into the air and vanished into his private extradimensional space.

Only one paladin remained.

Ambrose sneered and disappeared.

Moments later, the paralysis spell faded. The lone paladin stared at the empty desert in shock, unable to find a trace of the lich.

After a fruitless search, he ran back toward Sandshadow.

Ambrose returned to the sky. "That should suffice," he told Catherine. "When he reports my message, the city will descend into turmoil. Allen lacks authority. They already doubt him. Now I've appeared claiming a personal vendetta and demanding ransom. It won't take long before chaos erupts."

Catherine frowned. "Is that enough? Are Lyon's paladins that easy to manipulate?"

Ambrose smiled. "Of course not. Paladins are rigorously trained. Their will is strong. It's not easy to shake their composure. So I need to add fuel to the fire."

"Another ambush?"

The more time she spent with Ambrose, the more impressed she grew with him. He was skilled at toying with others' minds, and Catherine felt as though she were learning an incredible amount.

"Capturing more of them would only unite them. I want internal conflict. And for that, they must lose their cool. Catherine, do you know when men are least rational?"

She shook her head.

"When they're thinking with their lower half."

She blinked, then flushed crimson. "What are you implying?!"

Ambrose seemed completely unruffled. He gave Catherine a look. "You'll be the torch that burns their sanity to a crisp. Then, they'll fall into my trap."

"Don't even dream of it! I won't do something like that on your behalf. If you toy with people's feelings, you'll end up in hell!"

Catherine refused Ambrose's suggestion outright. She was only here for grunt labor, not to sell her body. She would never accept such a thing.

Ambrose gave her a perplexed look. "What? Do you think I'm asking you to flirt with them?"

"What else could you mean?"

"When they're already arguing among themselves, you'll step in. Announce yourself as a legendary ranger who has been hunting me for a long time. Ask for their assistance. Encourage them. Inspire them to charge at me."

He looked at her seriously. "You need to weaponize your strengths. Your charisma is powerful enough to move even the undead. It transcends mere attraction. Catherine, you've been wasting your gift. With vision and ambition, you could unite this continent."

Her wide eyes filled with confusion.

Unite... the continent?