Chapter 264 - 115: Since You’re Here, the Black Prison Awaits

Chapter 264: Chapter 115: Since You’re Here, the Black Prison Awaits

"Heh heh..."

Hearing this, Lynch, who had been sitting calmly in his wicker chair, finally rose slowly to his feet. He scoffed, "Whether I’m rebelling or not isn’t for a mere Tier Four inquisitor like you to decide. Who do you think you are, accusing me of treason?"

The moment he finished speaking, the Skeleton Mages and Skeleton Archers on the roof immediately changed their targets, aiming their Magic Staffs and bows at the insolent Holy Knight.

The Corpse Demon let out a low roar, tossed the nearly fainted Fritz to the ground like a piece of trash, and then charged toward the Holy Knight with heavy strides.

At the same time, the surrounding Zombie Corps, Skeleton Soldiers, and even the newly possessed Ghost Guards all changed their targets and swarmed forward.

Although the Holy Knight inquisitor was quite powerful, he was suppressed by the Corpse Demon’s terrifying strength and overwhelmed by the multi-pronged assault. He was quickly beaten to the ground, his thick Armor severely deformed under the onslaught.

Esther shrieked with excitement, instantly transforming into a black shadow and pouncing on him. She ripped off his full-face helmet, revealing a terrified, middle-aged face underneath.

"No, don’t—"

The Holy Knight tried to shrink back in terror.

But he was too heavily injured and slow to escape.

Esther grabbed his shoulders, unceremoniously bit into his neck, and began to drink greedily.

The other Holy Knight inquisitor’s eyes widened in fury at the sight. He tried desperately to rescue his comrade, but was pinned down by a Skeleton Mage’s Hellfire and a Skeleton Archer’s Continuous Arrows.

The other Undead Units seized the opportunity to harass him, focus their fire, and land killing blows. Soon, he could barely protect himself, let alone rescue his comrade.

"Battalion Commander Lynch, a misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding! Please, hold your attack!"

The last man, the Holy Priest, saw the situation spiraling completely out of control, and his face turned pale with anxiety.

He withstood a rain of arrows, Fireballs, ice shards, and other Magic, desperately maintaining his faltering Holy Light shield. "People are going to die if this continues!" he shouted himself hoarse. "If a member of the House of Hohenzollern and a Holy Knight of the Inquisition die here, you’ll be in serious trouble!"

"Heh heh..."

Lynch walked to the center of the courtyard, stepping onto the scorched earth burned by Nether Flame. He sneered at the priest’s words. "Me, in trouble? How so? You people follow some spoiled brat from the Imperial Capital here, kick down my door without cause, injure my soldiers, destroy my Skeletons, and now you want to forcibly drag me—an officially invested Knight of the Empire and a Battalion Commander of the North Wind Legion—back for interrogation?"

"Damn it, do you take me, Lynch Blackwood, for some kind of pushover?!"

"Even if I am forced to rebel today, it’ll be because you bastards pushed me to it."

"I fought tooth and nail on Red Ridge Mountain—defending the border, quelling rebellions, protecting the people! Do you have any idea how much blood I’ve shed or how many merits I’ve earned?"

"I was the one who led my men to retake Rock Fortress. I was the one who broke the siege of Red Ridge Castle."

"And what do I get from you people? No rewards for my merits, just a mountain of bullshit! And you still dare to come here, accuse me of treason, and try to frame me?"

"I’ve recorded everything that happened here today with a Magic Crystal ball! From start to finish, it’s perfectly clear who struck first and who gave the order to kill on sight!"

"If I, a decorated servant of the Empire, am forced into rebellion because of the reckless actions of you idiots, then the responsibility will be entirely yours! When that time comes, my mentor, Annabella, and the Dean of our Hurst Royal Extraordinary Academy will be sure to seek justice—for me, and for our entire Academy faction!"

Lynch’s words struck everyone present like a sledgehammer.

Are you kidding? Who was Lynch now?

He was the standard-bearer of the younger generation, cultivated with the full backing of the Hurst Royal Extraordinary Academy. A true pillar of the Academy faction!

The Academy’s upper echelons—from his notoriously protective mentor, Annabella, to the unfathomable Dean himself—were all counting on him to establish a foothold in the Empire’s military, to expand their influence, and to carry the Academy faction’s banner in the world outside its walls.

And why? Simply because Lynch was a commoner by birth. His origins were clean, his loyalties uncomplicated, and he had few ties to the deeply entrenched noble houses.

Furthermore, he now controlled Lakefront Town and its surroundings, a population of nearly seven thousand fiercely loyal subjects. He could raise a trained force of over a thousand at a moment’s notice. Add to that the formidable Undead Army at his command, and he was already a power to be reckoned with.

The Empire was in a turbulent period, facing countless internal and external threats. No clear-headed ruler would lightly make an enemy of a border commander who possessed proven ability, his own territory, and powerful backing.

To put it bluntly, Lynch was now a force in his own right. Even the commander of the North Wind Legion would have to think twice before making a move against him.

Only an idiot noble like Fritz von Hohenlohe, coddled his whole life in the honey pot of the Imperial Capital, would think he could run roughshod over everyone just by invoking his family name. And only he would be stupid enough to try and arrest a man like Lynch with only a handful of guards and inquisitors.

’In my previous life, if I had read a web novel with a character this stupid, I would have cursed the author for nerfing their IQ for plot convenience.’

But reality was often more absurd than fiction.

Lynch found the day’s events absurd himself. If nothing else, the sheer level of Fritz’s stupidity had far exceeded his expectations.

’I can only conclude,’ he thought, ’that I had still underestimated the sheer decadence of some of the Empire’s nobles.’