Punishment

The battle outside the city left behind a massive corpse.

If such a gargantuan carcass wasn't dealt with quickly, it would easily rot and potentially cause an epidemic, especially considering it was a venomous creature.

However, this behemoth also represented a significant fortune.

The flesh and blood of magic beasts were highly nutritious for ordinary people.

Of course, some magic beasts tasted terrible, and others were completely inedible.

But this seven-headed serpent happened to be the edible kind.

Luo Li steered her dragon toward the ground, hovering about five meters above the surface.

She looked down at Nar.

"Knight Nar."

"I am here, Your Highness."

Nar quickly dismounted and bowed his head. Had he not been wearing armor, he would have likely knelt on the spot.

"You played a key role in resolving this magic beast incident. Have this magic beast butchered; send half to the Temple, and the rest is granted to your unit to share among your subordinates."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

This magic beast was truly massive, likely weighing well over two hundred thousand tons.

One might wonder why a dragon of similar size only weighed about five thousand tons.

A dragon's weight on a scale didn't reflect its actual physical mass because they were constantly enveloped by mana elements.

Even if a dragon died, a large amount of elemental energy remained within its flesh.

This elemental energy supported the body against gravity, making it impossible to accurately measure a dragon's true weight.

For instance, if one were to put the frost dragon Shalin on a scale, she would weigh five or six thousand tons at most.

Purebred dragons were almost all capable of flight.

This was due to that unique power inherent in their physical bodies.

Clearly, that massive amount of flesh weighed far more than five or six thousand tons, yet they never suffered from being overweight.

Consequently, compared to other flying species, dragons were exceptionally light, requiring only a small amount of elemental support to fly.

This was precisely why the dragon race had dominated the skies for so long.

The sky was like a home to them.

Luo Li had learned all of this from Ligeia.

She had even managed to obtain a piece of dragon bone that was still active.

Using a special method, she had purged the elemental energy from the bone.

It was a femur.

After weighing it, she obtained an accurate figure: about five thousand tons.

From this, it could be calculated that the true weight of an adult purebred dragon was roughly two hundred thousand tons.

The seven-headed serpent they had just killed appeared slightly larger than a frost dragon.

Subtracting the hollow parts of its bones, it also weighed roughly two hundred thousand tons.

With so much magic beast meat, it seemed the entire city wouldn't have to worry about a meat shortage for the next two months.

At the moment, the knights behind Nar numbered just over a thousand.

Even if they ate until they burst, they couldn't possibly finish a hundred thousand tons of meat.

However, besides eating it, they could sell it.

As mentioned before, magic beast meat was very nutritious for humans.

Ordinary people consuming the meat of such a high-level magic beast would receive immense health benefits.

This stuff was as precious as a hundred-year-old mountain ginseng.

Naturally, it could fetch a high price.

And as luck would have it, it was currently winter.

Once the meat was butchered, it could be preserved for a short time and shipped to other regions.

In any case, such a massive magic beast was bound to be worth a fortune.

At the very least, smiles were already breaking out on the faces of the knights.

This was a significant windfall.

Whether they gifted it to their elders or sold it, it was well worth it!

Each of these thousand knights could be allocated at least seventy or eighty tons of meat.

Even if a ton sold for only ten gold coins, that was still seven or eight hundred gold coins per person!

"Thank you, Your Highness!!"

At the thought of this, the group of knights couldn't help but cheer their slogan happily.

Of course they were happy; who wouldn't be happy about a windfall?

"Very well. Nar, you will handle the butchering yourself."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Once the matter was settled, the girl rode the holy white dragon back to the Temple.

Behind her, the Dragon Knight Corps followed Ligeia back to Dragon City.

Dragon City was no more than twenty kilometers away from Brilliant City.

At that distance, it shouldn't have taken the Dragon Knight Corps more than five minutes to arrive at top speed.

But in this battle, the Dragon Knight Corps had clearly been delayed.

It had taken them nearly ten minutes.

Before Luo Li had even woken up, the frost dragon Shalin had already been fighting the seven-headed serpent for some time.

That duration was definitely over five minutes.

Nara wasn't guarding the door day and night.

The news had to travel from the outside to Lola, then from Lola to Nara, and finally to her.

That process alone took at least five minutes.

Therefore, it could be concluded that it took roughly ten minutes for the Dragon Knight Corps to arrive after they were first notified of the incident.

As the holy white dragon landed, Luo Li hopped off its back.

Nara came running toward her.

"Your Highness, are you hurt?"

Seeing the look of anxiety on her face, Luo Li shook her head with a smile.

Before she could say anything, Momoka's voice came from behind her.

"Don't worry, she's fine."

Hearing this, Luo Li instinctively looked back.

"Momoka, why are you... behind me?"

Momoka gave a helpless smile.

"I was behind you the whole time. I intended to step in if the opportunity arose, but I didn't expect that I wouldn't be needed."

As she spoke, she turned to look at the shadow behind Luo Li.

"Izumi, come out."

"Yes."

As soon as she spoke, the shadow at Luo Li's feet, which had been motionless, suddenly blurred.

Immediately after, the figure of a young girl appeared behind Luo Li.

Luo Li stared in stunned silence.

"When... when did you start following me?"

Luo Li hadn't sensed Izumi's presence at all; she didn't even know when she had joined them.

"I followed you before Lord Nar even discovered you, Your Highness."

Sensing that her explanation might be insufficient, Izumi added:

"I can use dark elements."

So that was it.

Light and dark elements were the most unique of the six major elements.

The other four were natural elements.

Light and dark elements each had their own characteristics.

Specifically, the greatest characteristic of dark elements was their very peculiar abilities.

There were also many branches.

This shadow-related ability was similar to the one used by that one-eyed demon general Luo Li had encountered on the demon island.

Among the sub-categories of dark elements, there was a shadow branch.

Presumably, Izumi's ability belonged to that category.

However, it was still quite hair-raising.

To be honest, if it hadn't been Izumi but someone else launching a sneak attack just now, she might have died before she even had time to react.

This was the eerie nature of dark elements.

Not only that, but most mental interference abilities also fell under the dark element category.

"I see. Thank you, Izumi."

"You are too kind, Lady Luo Li. Protecting you is my lady's command, and my lady's command is my duty."

Luo Li nodded. Since she had put it that way, there was no need to say more.

This Izumi indeed had some skill.

Compared to leading an army into battle, she was better suited for secret operations like assassinations and gathering intelligence.

But thinking about it, Izumi didn't seem like a general at all; she seemed more like a ninja.

Good grief, can this game scriptwriter be a bit more serious?

A game is a game, and this is a Western setting; why do they have to insist on adding shrine maidens and ninjas? What's that all about?

Forget it, I won't worry about her.

She turned to look at Lola.

"Lola, give me a report on the situation."

Luo Li walked as she spoke, passing by Lola and tossing out the request as she continued inward.

Lola quickly turned to follow, adjusting the bridge of her nose.

Wait, something felt wrong.

She immediately pulled a glasses case from her pocket, took out her gold-rimmed frames, and put them back on.

"November 18th, 2:33 AM. The duty officer for today, Knight Nar, suddenly discovered an anomaly. Simultaneously, the frost dragon Shalin left the city to engage the enemy."

November 18th?

So it had only been ten days since that incident at the vanguard camp?

Why did it feel like over a month had passed?

"2:40 AM. The battlefield between Lady Shalin and the magic beast began shifting toward Brilliant City. At the same time, Your Highness received the news and recklessly departed for battle."

The silver-haired girl walking in front paused slightly and let out a light cough, choosing to ignore the word 'recklessly'.

"Continue."

Lola calmly adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, her eyes seemingly carrying a hint of reproach.

Her Highness had grown clever; she was learning how to play dumb!

"2:45 AM. Lord Nar's knightly order engaged the magic beast head-on. Subsequently, Lady Shalin delivered a killing blow, ending the battle. Simultaneously, the Dragon Knight Corps arrived."

In other words, the entire process lasted about twelve minutes.

"I see. Lola, when did you notify the Dragon Knight Corps?"

Lola glanced at Lancelot, who was following behind the group, her voice remaining calm.

"Replying to Your Highness, it was at 2:35 AM."

Meaning it was exactly as she had calculated.

A twelve-minute total duration, and the Dragon Knight Corps was notified two minutes after the event began.

It took the Dragon Knight Corps ten minutes to reach the battlefield.

If this magic beast hadn't been held outside the city by Shalin for nearly ten minutes, the Temple might be a pile of rubble by now.

Wasn't the Dragon Knight Corps' reaction speed a bit too slow?

For a skysoar dragon, which specialized in flight, a distance of ten kilometers should have taken less than five minutes.

There were no storms tonight.

A skysoar dragon's top speed could exceed one hundred and sixty kilometers per hour.

That was roughly 2.6 kilometers per minute.

Ten kilometers should take about four minutes.

"Lancelot, based on the distance, the Dragon Knight Corps should have arrived at Brilliant City in only four minutes. Why did it take ten minutes to reach the battlefield? Where was the night shift? Why didn't they arrive immediately?"

The Dragon Knight Corps resided in Dragon City and was divided into day and night shifts.

Even in the dead of night, at least half the units were on duty.

Once a problem arose, the night shift should have been deployed immediately while the day shift was woken up to take over their duties.

If the Dragon Knight Corps had reacted instantly, they should have arrived in six minutes at the very latest.

Why did it take ten minutes?

Do not underestimate that four-minute difference.

If a knightly order within Brilliant City suddenly mutinied, those four minutes could very well cost Luo Li her life!

In the high-pressure, every-second-counts environment of a battlefield, four minutes was enough to decide victory or defeat.

Setting aside whether the Dragon Knight Corps was an elite unit or not, Lancelot was someone Luo Li held in high regard.

And now, this incident had revealed a flaw.

Luo Li felt a mix of disappointment and relief.

Relief because this issue was discovered during an event that wasn't critically important.

At the very least, it was better than a four-minute delay occurring at a life-or-death moment.

Disappointment was for Lancelot.

As the commander of the Dragon Knight Corps, he had failed to maintain the army's operational efficiency.

"Your Highness, I have failed you."

Lancelot frowned slightly. He didn't offer an immediate excuse but instead dropped to one knee to admit his fault.

Luo Li let out a soft sigh.

"What exactly happened?"

"Allow me to explain."

Before Lancelot could speak, an elf with long green hair walked into the hall.

It was the advisor to the Dragon Knight Corps, Ligeia.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

"Yes, rise. Lancelot, you rise as well. I want to hear what happened before I decide anything else."

"Yes."

Lancelot stood up and stood to the side with his head bowed, remaining silent.

Ligeia stepped forward, glanced at the others, and finally fixed her gaze on the figure on the sacred bed.

"Your Highness, there is something wrong with this dragon calamity."

The girl's brow furrowed slightly.

"Are you trying to say... that this dragon calamity has already begun to affect the skysoar dragons?"

"Precisely, Your Highness."

Ligeia didn't mince words and admitted it directly. Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, she explained:

"This dragon calamity is quite different from previous ones. A few days ago, I noticed that some skysoar dragons were becoming irritable. Therefore, we have been spending the last few days soothing their temperaments."

She looked up at Lola.

"Bishop Lola should remember this; I spoke with you about it."

Lola adjusted her glasses and nodded.

"Yes, Your Highness. Lady Ligeia spoke to me about this two days ago."

"You knew two days ago, yet I wasn't informed?"

Luo Li's brow was tightly knit.

How could such a major issue not be reported to her?

"Your Highness, your workload has been extremely heavy these past few days. I intended to report it to you tomorrow morning. I didn't expect such an incident to occur tonight."

At this point, Lola turned and dropped to one knee.

"Regarding the issue with the Dragon Knight Corps tonight, I am guilty of failing to report critical information. I ask for Your Highness's punishment."

Luo Li took a deep breath.

If she had reported it tomorrow, it might have been fine.

But as fate would have it, something happened tonight. Regardless of whether Lola had good intentions, she had to bear the responsibility for tonight's failure.

"Announce it: Bishop Lola has withheld military information. She is to be fined one year's salary as a deterrent."

There was no other way; she had to set an example for the outsiders.

Since it was for show, there was no need for further explanation.

"Ligeia, tell me about the situation over these past few days."