Warhammer Divine Throne

In the month of May, on the Vast Ocean, the Sea God Fleet was on its way back to the Boldromanan Shipyard.

Inside the guest room of the Boldro’s Great Sailboat, Manannan’s Fury.

The afternoon sunlight was streaming into the cabin through the curtains, the salty fishy sea breeze blew into the room, and the shadows of waves crashing against the ship’s sides came one after another.

Veronica, waist aching and back sore, was lying sprawled on the soft large bed; the Dark Elf was sitting beside Laine, pouring him tea, while Laine himself was seated at the table writing something.

"Three weeks out, three battles, payment of five hundred Gold Crowns." The flush had yet to fade from Veronica’s face; the Jialan Witch said in a tone that could mean anything, "Heh~ other than that, it’s just that I’ve made out with you dozens of times. I’m wondering whether this deal is a profit or a loss."

Laine smiled at her words. He finished the letter, pressed his Ring Seal down on it, then chuckled, "If you only calculate the profits of this adventure, then of course it’s a loss. But didn’t we also finally get to go out together again? After becoming a Lord, chances like this will only get rarer and rarer."

Hugging the soft pillow in her arms, Veronica snorted through her nose, "It’s just like this sometimes. On one hand, I hope you’ll always be that dirt-smudged Ranger Knight, so I can always have you to myself. On the other hand, I want you to climb as high as possible, because that helps my future a lot. I’m a Witch, after all—there’s too many things that cost money."

"People are always contradictory. ’I want it all’ is usually just something you say." Laine nodded. The Count now carried real authority; every move he made radiated presence. Only in private did he soften a bit. Veronica often warned herself deep in her heart that in the future she couldn’t be as casual with Laine as before.

However, judging from the current situation, her man’s tastes were still the same as ever. Laine walked to the bedside and sat down, gently kneading Veronica’s slender waist and her beautiful silk-stockinged feet, enjoying the tender smooth touch, joking, "Don’t you like it?"

"Dear, can you tell me how you managed to get in with that Imperial Grand Alchemist?" Veronica’s nylon-clad, beautiful feet were in Laine’s hands being massaged; taking advantage of Laine’s good mood, the Jialan Witch asked in a coy voice, "He seems to have become your friend?"

"Geld? More or less. He and I share similar views on certain matters, and we took the chance to become friends." Laine said gently, "All you need to know is that our interests align."

After successfully eliminating the Rogue Knight and taking back the Sea God Trident, Duke Boldro Bodrick, under Laine’s mediation, met with the Imperial Grand Alchemist Geld. Geld requested that Bodrick help him go to Estalia’s Tomb to seize the Sea Gold Talisman.

Fidmund was moved by Geld’s proposal, because he clearly saw the threat Vampires posed to the human world, and letting such a large Undead Army rampage through the Southern Realm was definitely not a good idea.

But Bodrick kept a clear head. The Duke of Boldro calmly asked what the Sea God Knights would gain if they fought for Geld.

Geld seemed well prepared for this. He and his subordinates hauled out a full five chests of Estalian Cast Gold Coins, Exelants, and the Grand Alchemist told Duke Bodrick that if he and his army were willing to help, that money would be theirs.

Contrary to expectations, Duke Bodrick was deeply suspicious about whether those Gold Coins were actually real gold, and he rejected Geld’s request.

Only then did the Grand Alchemist realize that his previous unscrupulous deeds had already spread throughout the Old World. With no other choice, Geld had to switch to payment in kind, promising to exchange three hundred sets of standard-issue armor produced by the Brunswick Military Factory, plus five Mortars and twenty crates of shells, in return for Duke Bodrick’s agreement to lend a hand.

Even with Laine and the Sea God Knights’ assistance, the battle at Estalia’s Tomb was still incredibly perilous, for two main reasons.

First, facing the Undead Army led by Vampire Baron Leopold Haken, the more than ten thousand Imperial Army troops Geld brought—aside from a single Brunswick Musketeer Battalion, one unit of Vanguard Knights, and one unit of Flame Sun Knights—were hardly elite.

Biersaze Gaert was, at this point, only the Empire’s Grand Alchemist and the head of the Alchemy Academy; his seniority in the Empire was still shallow. Even though he had gained Emperor Carl Franz’s trust, he was still not the Royal Chief Grand Wizard, and could only command the Empire’s regular troops. The Musket Battalion and the Vanguard Knights were only available because Geld had good relations with the Brunswick Military Factory.

Second, the Grand Alchemist himself was not particularly skilled as a battlefield commander. Especially when Vampire Baron Leopold Haken appeared riding a Zombie Dragon and leading a swarm of Celestial Ghosts, the Alliance Army was once driven to the brink. The Corpse Demon King even fought its way right up to Geld.

The Grand Alchemist did not panic in the slightest; he unleashed Ultimate Alchemy, and that Corpse Demon King was turned into a Golden Statue on the spot amidst endless agony. In the end, Fidmund and Duke Bodrick, leading the Sea God Knights in a flanking charge, and Laine, fighting the Vampire Baron high in the sky astride his Griffin and finally cutting him down, together secured the final victory.

"That Grand Alchemist ended up getting the Sea Gold Talisman just like he wanted... That’s one of the Divine Artifacts the High Elves left behind when they departed the Old World..." Veronica still couldn’t let go of what Geld had gained; the Jialan Witch muttered, "Dear, you really... don’t know how to leave a little benefit for your female courtier. You just hand all the good stuff to someone else."