“Bring it in!” King Ron’s voice echoed. Eliott Garner immediately stepped forward, taking the diplomatic letter from Earl Woods’ hands, before turning and walking away.
Quickly, Eliott Garner, holding the diplomatic letter, appeared within the underground shrine beneath the Hall of Throne.
King Ron was still seated cross-legged atop the jade pillar in the center of the shrine, eyes closed, remaining utterly motionless.
Eliott Garner slightly bowed, his demeanor most respectful. He didn’t dare to lift his head, raising the diplomatic letter above him with both hands, he signalled, “Your Majesty, please review.”
“No need!” King Ron didn’t open his eyes, and casually said, “You, read it to me.”
“This…” Eliott Garner hesitated.
King Ron impatiently said, “Just read it!”
“Yes!” Eliott Garner took a deep breath, carefully unfolded the diplomatic letter, glanced over it briefly, his expression immediately turned slightly unsightly. Evidently, he was shocked by its content, hesitatingly he said, “Your Majesty, perhaps you should…”
“Read!” King Ron coldly said, “Skip the formalities, just directly state their ceasefire terms.”
As for the contents of the diplomatic letter, King Ron didn’t need to look to guess the general idea. Ignorance is bliss! If he were to look at it, it would only be asking for trouble!
“Alright!” Even for Eliott Garner, reading such a diplomatic letter in front of King Ron made him swallow nervously in secret, his forehead breaking out in a fine sweat from the tension.
“Their conditions, there are three in total,” Eliott Garner said, staring at the letter. “First, the Northern War has been ongoing for many years, consuming a lot of manpower and resources of the North Kingdom, severely hindering the economic development of the North Kingdom…”
“Therefore! The North Kingdom requires war reparations amounting to five hundred billion!”
“Also! Nearly one hundred thousand North Kingdom soldiers have died in the northern battlefields, they want to use the blood and lives of our northern soldiers to honor the spirits of those North Kingdom warriors!!!”
Upon hearing this, King Ron’s eye twitched fiercely.
Five hundred billion! In wars, one often kills a thousand enemies and sustains eight hundred casualties. Over the years, countless soldiers of the North Kingdom have been killed or injured, their economy severely burdened. But isn’t the Shirine Empire in the same situation???
Not to mention whether five hundred billion is a lot or little!
If the Shirine Empire pays the war reparations, it would be tantamount to admitting defeat in the war!!!
Paying money! And also paying with the lives of those northern soldiers!!!
Suppressing the anger in his heart, King Ron, eyes still closed, said in a deep voice, “Continue reading!”
His voice was cold as ice, almost squeezed out from between his teeth!!!
“Second…”
Eliott Garner stealthily wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then continued reading, “It says here, Sean has retired and has become a traitor to the Shirine Empire, his life hanging by a thread!”
“Without Sean! No one can stand against the North Kingdom’s cavalry, the fertile plains of the north, are already in the bag for the North Kingdom!”
“Therefore! The two nations need to redraw the national borders along the North River!!!”
To put it bluntly! The first condition is reparations, the second is ceding land!!!
The fertile plains north of the North River, with a vast area, account for nearly one-fifth of the entire territory of the Shirine Empire!
And this! Is also why the North Kingdom has frequently harassed the north in previous years, and even initiated border wars!
What’s more important! Once the Shirine Empire cedes the fertile plains north of the North River to the North Kingdom, then the North Kingdom will definitely station a large army there. At that time, with only the North River separating them, defense will be even more difficult!
What if! The North Kingdom turns ruthless, continues to invade southward, their sharp cavalry will directly threaten the capital of the Shirine Empire!!!
“Scoundrels!”
King Ron was instantly enraged, finally unable to bear it, he suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with murderous intent, he roared, “They are audacious! They all deserve to die!!!”
As he spoke, an incredibly powerful bright energy erupted from his body, causing a sudden gust of wind within the underground shrine!
Eliott Garner’s expression dramatically changed!
Whoosh! King Ron’s right hand suddenly reached out, making a grabbing motion in the air towards Eliott Garner. The diplomatic letter in Eliott Garner’s hand was instantly swept up by the gust of wind, flying towards King Ron!
In the blink of an eye, it fell into King Ron’s hand!!!
As a Bright Realm practitioner, Sean, who justentered the Bright Realm, could manifest bright energy into swords and blades to kill from a distance, but he couldn’t control it as freely as King Ron, who could release and then retract the bright energy at will.
Clearly! Just like the Dark Realm is divided into early stage, middle stage, late stage, and complete stage, the Bright Realm also has differences in strength, and King Ron, who has been in the Bright Realm for many years, is far stronger than Sean, who just entered the Bright Realm!
This! Is even the case when King Ron’s core is damaged!
If! King Ron’s core could be fully restored, how strong would his peak combat power be???
Eliott Garner stood there, not daring to even breathe, his mind was in turmoil. King Ron had been in seclusion for many years, although he was the grand commander of the royal guards, he had never seen King Ron take action before!
Just now! This was the first time, even though he was nearly ten meters away, even though King Ron merely released some of his bright energy, even though King Ron did not attack him…
Nevertheless! Eliott Garner clearly felt an immense, almost terrifying pressure! He felt the huge gap between him and King Ron! As insurmountable as a chasm! He had no doubt that if King Ron wanted to take his life, he wouldn’t even have the chance to escape!!!
“Tribute?”
“Pay homage?”
After King Ron got the diplomatic letter, he opened it and glanced over it. When he saw the third ceasefire term proposed by the North Kingdom, his eyes almost popped out of his head from anger, his eyes, filled with extreme anger, almost shot out flames!
The diplomatic letter clearly stated:
After the ceasefire, the Shirine Empire must pay tribute to the North Kingdom every year!
And King Ron! As the Padishah of the Shirine Empire, must personally go to the city of the North Kingdom every year to pay homage to the king of the North Kingdom!!!
What kind of ceasefire agreement is this? Ceding territory and paying reparations is one thing, but the so-called paying tribute and homage, basically treats the Shirine Empire as a vassal of the North Kingdom! In other words, they’re indirectly annexing the Shirine Empire!!!
How could King Ron endure this?
Before this! When he agreed to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with the North Kingdom, King Ron knew that the Shirine Empire was in a disadvantageous position, and the North Kingdom would definitely take advantage of the situation to make a big demand, so he had already mentally prepared himself!
However! He never expected, the North Kingdom’s ambition was so big, the ceasefire terms were so harsh, they were pressing hard, taking it too far, this was cutting off the lifeblood of the Shirine Empire!!!
“Your Majesty!” Eliott Garner plucked up his courage and said, “The North Kingdom has proposed these humiliating ceasefire terms with no sincerity at all. If we agree, it would be almost the same as destroying our nation!”
“Therefore!”
“I request to fight!”
“As long as Your Majesty gives the order, I will go out now, kill all those bastards of Earl Woods right in front of the Hall of Throne, let them know, our Shirine Empire is not to be trifled with!”
“After killing them!”
“I am willing to personally lead the army, to replace Sean, to go to the north to protect our nation and guard our territory!!!”
Every word Eliott Garner said was filled with righteous indignation, resounding powerfully!