"This..." Honestly, Starlily was completely stunned.
It felt like her entire worldview had just been turned upside down.
At the sa ti, Grand Duke Theodore frowned slightly as he glanced at Starlily, but out of respect for Ethan, he chose not to say anything. Instead, he turned back to Ethan with a smile.
"It is indeed the will of the Light Alliance! In that case, Count Valkarion, please co with ."
Ethan nodded and followed him out of the reception hall.
Before long, they arrived in front of a grand and imposing structure—the Hall of Radiance!
As Ethan scanned the area, he imdiately spotted at least two or three divine beings with white-feathered wings.
"Angels..." he murmured.
There was no doubt about it—these were the Castle faction’s Tier 13 Ultimate Units—Angels!
"Count Valkarion, this is the Hall of Radiance of the Alliance. Co inside with ," Grand Duke Theodore said with a smile before stepping into the grand hall. Ethan wasted no ti following him in.
Inside, towering statues of majestic, holy Angels lined both sides of the hall.
At the very center stood a massive statue—the embodint of the Light Alliance’s faith, the Holy Dragon Elrath!
"Count Valkarion, please stand here," Grand Duke Theodore instructed, pointing to a spot directly in front of the Holy Dragon Elrath’s statue.
"Alright!"
Ethan nodded and stepped forward without hesitation.
Grand Duke Theodore then began to pray before the Holy Dragon Elrath.
Buzz!
Monts later, a sacred Light Force materialized out of thin air, descending upon Ethan! His entire body began to glow with a radiant brilliance.
Ding!
"Congratulations, player Valkarion! You have received the blessing of the Holy Dragon Elrath!
Attack, Defense, Strength, and Wisdom 5. HP increased by 5%. Light Magic resistance increased by 10%.
You will now receive a random Tier 3 Light Magic spell... Randomizing, please wait!"
Ding!
"Randomization complete! Congratulations, player Valkarion, you have obtained Tier 3 Light Magic: Holy Armant!"
Ding!
"Congratulations, player Valkarion! You have officially beco a Count of the Light Alliance!
As a reward, you receive:
1,000,000 gold coins
5 units of each of the six major resources
1 Light Crystal (special resource)
1 Tier 13 Legendary Unit: Angel!"
"An Angel?!" Ethan froze for a second before exclaiming in shock.
Grand Duke Theodore chuckled and explained, "This is the standard reward for every Count of the Alliance. Earning the title of Count ans you’ve contributed greatly to the Alliance. So, Count Valkarion, this is rightfully yours. Take it."
Rumble—
At that mont, a beam of holy light descended.
A breathtaking nine-foot-tall, dual-winged Angel materialized beside Ethan, radiating divine brilliance. The Angel bowed respectfully toward him.
"Greetings, my esteed Lord."
"Uh... hello," Ethan responded absentmindedly, instinctively trying to store the Angel in his system space.
But—
It didn’t work?!
"What the hell?" Ethan froze, montarily confused.
Grand Duke Theodore seed to notice his reaction but rely smiled without offering an explanation.
"Count Valkarion, your title upgrade is complete. Let’s go," Grand Duke Theodore said.
"...Alright."
Ethan nodded and turned to leave, but as he walked, he kept glancing at the Angel from the corner of his eye, his mind racing.
Sothing about this Angel felt... off.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but the unease lingered.
Just as they stepped out of the Hall of Radiance, a voice called out.
"Grand Duke Theodore, greetings!"
Ethan paused and turned toward the source of the voice.
A red-haired, hawk-nosed elder stood before them, his expression warm and respectful.
"Oh, Marquis Lucan! Greetings to you as well," Grand Duke Theodore responded with a smile.
He then turned to Ethan and introduced him.
"Count Valkarion, this is Marquis Lucan, one of the four great Marquises of my Unicorn Duchy. Marquis Lucan, this is our newly appointed Count of the Alliance, Valkarion. You two should get acquainted."
"Count Valkarion, a pleasure to et you! I’m Lucan," the Marquis said enthusiastically, stepping forward and extending his hand.
"Marquis Lucan, nice to et you," Ethan replied, shaking his hand.
Just then, Grand Duke Theodore suddenly spoke again.
"I’ll leave you two to talk privately."
And with that, he turned and walked away without another word!
Ethan blinked in surprise.
Marquis Lucan, however, simply laughed heartily before gesturing for Ethan to follow.
"Count Valkarion, please, co with ."
But then, he turned toward the Angel behind Ethan, his smile deepening.
"And as for you, esteed Angel, please wait here."
The Angel remained silent, its gaze shifting toward Ethan.
Ethan frowned slightly.
"Marquis Lucan, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"Count Valkarion, I assure you, I an no harm," Lucan said with a mysterious smile. "But what we’re about to discuss needs to be private. Trust , this will only benefit you."
Ethan hesitated for a mont, then nodded.
"Alright."
He turned to the Angel.
"Wait here for ."
The Angel didn’t respond, rely watching as Ethan followed Marquis Lucan away.
Before long, they arrived at a secluded room within the Grand Ducal Palace.
Count Valkarion, this is a specialty of our Lucan family. Please, have a taste.
Marquis Lucan produced a jug filled with so unknown liquid, smiling as he handed it to Ethan.
Ethan took a casual sip.
Imdiately, a system notification popped up. All attributes 3.
"This actually boosts all my stats?" Ethan was montarily stunned. He quickly took another sip—but nothing happened this ti.
"Count Valkarion, how does it taste?" Marquis Lucan asked just then.
"Not bad!"
Ethan smiled, setting the jug down before looking at Marquis Lucan with a hint of curiosity. "Marquis Lucan, let’s be direct. You and Grand Duke Theodore—sothing about both of you seems... off."
"Count Valkarion, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve only recently beco a lord, haven’t you?" Marquis Lucan said with a knowing smile.
"What makes you say that?" Ethan blinked.
"Because only soone who just beca a lord would be this clueless..." Marquis Lucan waved a hand dismissively before adding, "Don’t take it the wrong way, Count Valkarion. I’m not mocking you."
"Then what exactly do you an?" Ethan asked.
"The Angel you received from the Hall of Radiance—you must have noticed sothing unusual about it, right?" Marquis Lucan said with a smirk.
Ethan’s expression stiffened, his eyes flickering with thought.
After a brief pause, he nodded. "Yeah, it does seem a little different from regular units."
"That’s because it doesn’t truly belong to you—it belongs to the Castle faction." Marquis Lucan said, still smiling.
Ethan froze.
Marquis Lucan chuckled and continued, "Think about it, Count Valkarion. To ensure absolute loyalty from your troops, you need to control the Creature Dwellings that house their souls. But the Hall of Radiance doesn’t work that way."
"The Hall of Radiance is rely a portal for the Castle faction. Whenever soone is promoted to an Alliance Count or needs a reward, the Castle faction sends units down through the Hall of Radiance."
Marquis Lucan glanced at Ethan, his smile deepening. "Now, tell —if you let that Angel stay by your side under these circumstances, what do you think will happen?"
"...A spy?" Ethan was silent for a long mont before uttering the words.
"Exactly. A spy."
Marquis Lucan chuckled. "Even though the Castle faction ’rewarded’ it to you, it will never truly be loyal. Instead, it will monitor everything happening in your castle. And one day, when the ti is right, it might just turn against you."
Ethan remained silent.
Marquis Lucan, still smiling, leaned in slightly. "So, Count Valkarion, are you interested in making a deal with us?"
"The Angel?" Ethan asked.
"Precisely." Marquis Lucan nodded. "Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get a fair price. After all, this isn’t our first ti handling this kind of business. We wouldn’t ruin our own reputation."
"We?"
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Grand Duke Theodore is involved in this too?"
"Of course!"
Marquis Lucan laughed. "Do you really think I’d act on my own without his approval?"
"But why are you doing this?"
Ethan frowned in confusion. "Isn’t that Angel a spy for them against you as well?"
"You’re absolutely right..." Marquis Lucan let out a sigh, shaking his head. "But for us in the Unicorn Duchy, there are no secrets from the Castle faction anymore."
Ethan paused, as if sothing had just clicked in his mind.
"Honestly, there’s no harm in telling you. It’s not exactly a secret. Our Unicorn Duchy was essentially established by the Castle faction in the main world."
"And what’s the problem with that?"
"Plenty."
Marquis Lucan’s gaze darkened as he sighed. "You must have noticed—Dunmire isn’t a Tier 5 castle, only Tier 4. That ans we can’t recruit our own Legendary Units."
"All the Tier 13 Legendary Units we have in the Unicorn Duchy? They all belong to the Castle faction."
Ethan was stunned.
For a long mont, he just stood there, before finally muttering in disbelief, "So basically... the Unicorn Duchy is just a puppet? A glorified errand boy for the Castle faction?"
"Exactly." Marquis Lucan gave a bitter smile.
"..."
Ethan was at a complete loss for words.
"Gifted"? What a joke. The Castle faction could take them back anyti they wanted. He had never imagined that one of the so-called Eight Great Duchies was actually in such a pathetic position behind the scenes.
This was beyond tragic.
Without their own Legendary Units, they had no independence, no real authority.
It ant they would forever be under soone else’s thumb, working for another’s benefit.
And the worst part? The mont they lost their usefulness—or if soone higher up simply decided they didn’t like them anymore—they could be discarded in an instant.
Because the souls of the Ultimate Units belonged to the Castle faction.
If the Unicorn Duchy ever turned against the Castle faction, those Legendary Units—those Angels—would unquestionably obey the Castle faction, not the Duchy.
In other words, with just a single command from the Castle faction, the Unicorn Duchy’s entire high-tier military force would collapse overnight. Reduced to nothing.
And without Legendary Units, what would the Unicorn Duchy even be?
Nothing. Not even worth ntioning.
"That’s... seriously ssed up." Ethan muttered.
...
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