Holy Knight Empire, northern borders, Holsworthy City

Inside Lord Arderlard's castle, Emperor Renardier and his entourage of border lords stood in front of a blue cylindrical crystal-like magic tool, which displayed an image of Queen Sybil.

At that moment, they were already in the middle of negotiating the division of land after Emperor Renardier confirmed Queen Sybil's intention.

Queen Sybil truly wanted the Kingdom of Black Rose's downfall and guaranteed to keep the other witch kingdoms from interfering in their war.

At the same time, Queen Sybil had also shown Emperor Renardier the location of Queen Henrietta's captivity through the display.

When Emperor Renardier laid eyes on Queen Henrietta's flawless figure, his heart was moved by her beauty. For a moment, his eyes glowed with desire and lust before they disappeared.

Although Emperor Renardier could put Queen Henrietta's beauty among the top of the world, he knew she wasn't a person he could have.

She was a pretty rose filled with thorns.

Nevertheless, after Emperor Renardier confirmed Queen Henrietta's captivity, their desire to conquer the Kingdom of Black Rose was strengthened.

"Name your price, Queen Sybil. What do you want in return for this opportunity you have prepared for us?" Emperor Renardier enquired seriously.

"Ironhaven, Steel Mountain, and Goldriver. Besides these three regions, I also want ten thousand sets of Rank 4 armor from the Holy Knight Empire," Queen Sybil did not beat around the bush and listed her demand.

In the face of her exorbitant demand, Emperor Renardier did not faze in the least.

However, it was hard to say whether he had expected such a big demand or the demand was not as much as Queen Sybil imagined.

That said, the people around Emperor Renardier were not as calm. In fact, they were enraged by Queen Sybil's demand.

Even so, Emperor Renardier calmly raised his hand and signaled their silence before they could voice their opposition.

It wasn't their place to speak.

"I accept your conditions, Queen Sybil," Emperor Renardier agreed.

"Great," Queen Sybil uttered before wishing the Holy Knight Empire good luck, "I will be awaiting your glorious victory and good news, Emperor Renardier."

"Just one more thing, Queen Sybil," Emperor Renardier mentioned before Queen Sybil could cut the communication. "How long can you keep Queen Henrietta in captivity?"

"Considering she is not even trying to break out, I would say indefinitely," Queen Sybil casually replied.

"However, if you want a more precise answer, then unless she suddenly advanced to Beyond Transcendent in her magic or a being with High-level Rank 5 physical strength helps break her out, she won't be going anywhere."

"Of course, there are a couple more ways in which she could get out, but I assure you the chances of them happening is almost zero," Queen Sybil stated.

Naturally, she was referring to the probability of Queen Henrietta wrestling control of the holy tree from her or if someone disrupted the anti-magic field.

Both were nearly impossible to happen.

After all, Queen Sybil was bound to the holy tree. Therefore, no one should be able to exercise greater control over the holy tree than her.

At the same time, she wouldn't let anyone close to Queen Henrietta's area of captivity. Thus, it was even more impossible for someone to break her out.

Shortly after the two rulers concluded their talk, the display within the blue crystal disappeared.

"I know it's too late to change your mind, but are you sure giving up so many Rank 4 equipment to the Kingdom of Verdant Woods was fine? They could use it against it," Lord Arderlard mentioned.

"Considering we are also doing most of the work in conquering the Kingdom of Black Rose, giving them three mineral-rich regions is too much. They only deserve one or two at most."

"Right," Baron Ranulf agreed.

"They could use those mineral-rich regions to mass produce high-quality equipment and magic tools to use against us once they reverse-engineer the process of producing the Rank 4 equipment we give them."

"There's no need to worry about that," Emperor Renardier assured them, confidently saying, "Even if they manage to figure out the refining method to produce the Rank 4 equipment, they won't be able to mass produce it."

"According to the information we've collected from the dark organizations, Ironhaven, Steel Mountain, and Goldriver only possess common mineral deposits."

"More importantly, tungsten, the primary mineral for producing the most common Rank 4 equipment, is very rare within the seven witch kingdoms," Emperor Renardier stated.

Baron Ranulf and the others wore looks of understanding after listening to the emperor. It wasn't difficult for them to comprehend why that was the case.

The seven witch kingdoms only occupied a small fraction of the whole Pangea continent. It would be strange if their land contained every mineral in the world, let alone in large quantities.

Even the Holy Knight Empire would not boast a large possession of tungsten. But unlike the seven witch kingdoms, they were open to trade with other countries.

As long as they paid the willing price, any mineral or herb could be obtained.

"However, this is so strange. The Kingdom of Black Rose and the Kingdom of Verdant Woods are much weaker than I imagined," Baron Gregory mentioned with a frown.

"The amount of high-quality equipment and magic tools determines the strength of a country. Considering these two witch kingdoms are lacking them, this war would be a breeze for our empire."

"Why haven't we found out about this sooner? If we did, we could have also conquered the witch kingdoms sooner," Baron Gregory stated.

"Heh," Baron Arderlard snickered at Baron Gregory's simple thinking.

"If high-quality equipment and magic tools were everything, don't you think the Great Ratholos Empire would have made a move on them long ago? You just don't know how destructive Transcendent Witches can be."

"Sure, we can win the war and conquer the witch kingdoms if we found out sooner. But that's only if we don't fear the consequences of offending the Transcendent Witches, among other moral complications."

"Lord Arderlard is right," Emperor Renardier acknowledged with a serious tone.

"Transcendent Witches are capable of large-scale destruction. If Queen Henrietta was not detained, she could wipe out half our army with just a few spells at the start of the war, and that's not the worse she can do."

If she fled into hiding, she could conjure large-scale curses and plague our empire with terrible famine and diseases. Our empire would surely decline from that," Emperor Renardier stated.

That's why if they were to offend a Transcendent Witch, they have to guarantee she could be killed quickly or sealed indefinitely.

"Alright, enough of that," Emperor Renardier suddenly changed the topic, focusing on the three border lords. "I heard the three of you have been somewhat close to the border lord of Dragontail, Whitebridge, and Ironhaven."

"Your Imperial Majesty, we" the three border lords immediately paled.

"I don't care what past dealings you have made with each other in order to survive on the borders," Emperor Renardier interrupted with a solemn expression and said, "I just want to know if you are confident in convincing them to surrender."

"If we can acquire the cooperation of the border lords of Dragontail, Whitebridge, and Ironhaven, we'll be saving precious time to occupy their main cities," Emperor Renardier added.

The faster they conquered territories after initiating the war, the less time their enemy had to prepare, which in turn, would minimize their casualties in battle.

"We" Baron Arderlard frowned in thought before he replied, "If we reach out to them and reveal our strength, there's a high chance they will submit to our empire."

"However, doing so would also reveal our intention to wage war on their kingdom. In that case, we shouldn't have given them seven days, Your Imperial Majesty. We should have just struck without warning to produce the best effect," Baron Arderlard stated.

"That's where you are wrong, Baron Arderlard. Any bright mind would be able to figure out our empire's intention the moment we demanded them to hand over imperial princess Dorothy," Emperor Renardier calmly stated.

"As such, seven days would indeed give them ample time to prepare for war. However, that's only true if they still had their queen to lead them."

"Without someone powerful like Queen Henrietta around to lead them, the Kingdom of Black Rose would undoubtedly plunge into chaos once they realize war is imminent. We haven't bothered hiding our strength for the purpose of fueling that chaos."

"Eventually, the Kingdom of Black Rose would become divided. The strong will have differing opinions and contend for the right to lead their kingdom's army, while the weak will try to flee."

"I estimated the end of the seven days would be when the Kingdom of Black Rose would be at their weakest and most vulnerable state," Emperor Renardier explained.

"It seems you already have it all planned out, Your Imperial Majesty. I am in awe of your wisdom," Baron Arderlard praised his emperor as he bowed his head with one hand over his chest to express his respect and reverence.

The other border lords also did the same.

However, Emperor Renardier did not feel happy with such praises and respect. Rather, he frowned with worry.

"If only everything proceeds according to plan," Emperor Renardier sighed and said, "However, the lack of information from central bothers me. There may be some unexpected variables in this war."

Nevertheless, he was prepared to alter his plans accordingly to the changes in the war.

After Emperor Renardier finished his business in Holsworthy City, he decided to visit Equinox City next.

"I hope the dark organizations updated Count Eldridge and Duke Chalfont with some useful information on central," Emperor Renardier muttered to himself.