What did it mean to charge people for rescue?
It meant that the unfortunate people who fled to Tiepoh would have to pay a huge fee for being saved when the Lesser family stepped in to stop the monster tide.
Out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth.
The value of a human life is hard to measure, but when someone's life hangs by a thread, its value naturally rises many times over.
As for the price, wasn't that entirely up to the Lesser family?
Once those people reasonably owed the Lesser family such an enormous debt, they would have no choice but to stay in Tiepoh.
With debts that large, there was no way they could leave.
They could only remain in the advanced city of Tiepoh, working day and night as cheap labor for the Lesser family.
Until every last bit of value was squeezed out of them.
Tiepoh was an advanced city, so its cost of living went without saying.
One sentence summed it up.
Hell for ordinary people. Paradise for the rich.
Want to live in Tiepoh, work to repay your debt, and still have enough left over for living expenses?
That was nothing but a dream.
In a city like the advanced city of Tiepoh, ordinary people working for the Lesser family could barely earn enough to survive.
They would never save a single extra coin in their entire lives.
And those people forced to flee Godin Lima would become slaves to the Lesser family for life.
At that moment, everyone finally understood Leopold's true intention.
Their whole bodies trembled as they imagined the miserable fate awaiting those people.
In today's Empire, where slavery no longer existed, Leopold had cleverly found such a vicious way to profit the Lesser family.
What he was doing was almost the same as creating refugee slaves.
Those people wouldn't be slaves in name, but once Godin Lima fell, their fate would be no better than that of slaves.
Unless they died in the City of Adventurers after the monster tide invaded.
But if they had a chance to live, who would willingly choose death?
He had used the tiny hope those residents had of staying alive, treating every one of them equally as tools to make himself money.
Leopold's cruelty and malice filled everyone with rage.
One noble could no longer suppress his anger. Blood rushed to his head, veins bulged, and he shouted at Leopold, "You... beast!"
Leopold merely smiled and turned his head.
His mysterious eyes, flowing with golden sand, looked toward the furious noble.
At that moment, the noble who had been furious suddenly began trembling all over.
It was as if he had sensed something.
He was so frightened that he couldn't say another word.
Still, he couldn't calm everyone else's anger.
At that moment, every eye in the hall was fixed on Leopold.
The overwhelming fury seemed ready to swallow him whole.
Yet Leopold remained completely relaxed.
Without any hurry, he said calmly, "A merchant lives for profit, and dies for profit."
"With such a huge opportunity placed before you, I don't believe any of you could overcome your own greed."
"Bullshit! We'd never do something like that!"
One noble couldn't hold back his anger and loudly refuted Leopold.
But Leopold's gaze remained calm.
His golden eyes slowly swept across everyone present before he replied with a smile, "That's because you've never had such an opportunity."
Those words left everyone stunned once again.
At the same time, Liya sat in her chair and nodded in agreement.
Deep down, she believed that if it were her, she would never do something so completely heartless.
But just as Leopold had said, human desire was impossible to satisfy.
Especially for merchants.
If a chance to become unimaginably rich were really placed in front of someone, who could guarantee they wouldn't be influenced by greed?
Besides...
"Opportunities are something you create yourself, aren't they?"
Leopold finally revealed an arrogant smile.
He opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth stretching almost to his ears.
An endless madness flashed within those golden eyes.
By now, every noble present had gone numb.
They stood where they were like statues, completely motionless.
Perhaps now they finally understood one thing.
Why had Leopold supported the First Prince?
Don't forget, he was a merchant.
The smartest merchant in the entire Empire.
The greatest deal he had ever made was marrying the former Emperor's daughter.
That was why he was called the Empire's Number One Merchant.
And merchants never allowed themselves to lose money.
So Leopold chose the Empire's south as the Lesser family's base.
Specifically, the southernmost location besides Godin Lima.
Tiepoh happened to surround Godin Lima perfectly.
If the First Prince became Emperor, the Lesser family would continue receiving strong support from the royal family and grow even stronger.
But if he failed to become Emperor, then things would turn out exactly like they had now.
The Lesser family would deliberately increase the threat of the monster rifts, forcing residents to seek shelter and making an enormous profit from it.
As long as the monster rifts erupted, everyone in the south would be in danger, and the nearest shelter would be Tiepoh, ruled by the Lesser family.
Either ask the Lesser family for help, pay an enormous amount of money, and have them wipe out the monster tide.
Or flee Godin Lima and escape to Tiepoh.
Either way, they still had to pay.
Otherwise, they would become slaves completely.
No matter which outcome it was, Leopold would make a fortune.
This had always been the situation he had carefully planned for himself.
Thinking this through, several nobles became completely blank.
They lowered their lifeless eyes and muttered, "A merchant... ruining the nation..."
Fortunately, things had taken a turn.
This massive disaster never happened.
The First Prince had asked the Clavenna family for help in advance.
With the Clavenna family's powerful demi-human forces, they defended Godin Lima and stopped Leopold's ambitious plan.
After hearing everything, Gwen slowly drew her silver sword filled with icy wind.
Shing!
A flash of cold light appeared as the blade pointed straight at Leopold.
Cold and determined light shone in her eyes, as fierce as the northern wind.
"Leopold Lesser."
Gwen declared coldly, "You ignored human rights, looked down on human life, and endangered the safety of the Empire's border."
"I am placing you under arrest on charges of endangering the Empire's security and violating the human rights of its citizens."
The moment they heard those words, the nobles' anger exploded.
They raised both hands high into the air, waved their fists excitedly, and shouted, "Arrest him! Arrest him!"
"Throw him in prison!"
"He must be executed! Execute him!"
Amid the furious cries, only the First Prince lowered his head and stared at his palm.
His vision was still blurry, and he couldn't quite believe what had happened.
At that moment, Leopold cooperatively raised both hands above his head as if surrendering.
The knights quickly surrounded him, preparing to restrain him.
But suddenly, Leopold spoke again, "Wait. Don't arrest me just yet."
Everyone present froze in confusion.
What was Leopold doing?
He was about to be thrown into prison.
What else could he possibly have to say?
Leopold turned toward Viktor.
His golden eyes locked onto Viktor's deep black ones.
"Mr. Viktor, it's unfortunate that you discovered me, but..."
Looking at Leopold, who had already been judged guilty, Viktor casually kept both hands in his pockets and calmly watched him.
Leopold suddenly narrowed his eyes and smiled with ease.
"Don't you want to see what these hypocrites look like after they're consumed by greed?"
The instant he finished speaking, an enormous abyss suddenly surged through the grand banquet hall.
Black waves rose from every direction, trying to swallow everything.
The ground shook violently.
The nobles could barely keep their footing.
They looked around in confusion.
What was happening?
The elves, equally confused, also sensed an overwhelming feeling of danger.
Terrified, they scattered in every direction, desperately searching for somewhere safe.
The violent shaking also put Cocotte on alert.
She immediately straightened up, her expression turning serious as she frowned.
"Wow... What a disgusting presence."
Within the layers of the abyssal whirlpool, ripples slowly spread outward.
A noble figure gradually emerged.
Black waves slid from his shoulders back into the dark river below.
His silver hair shook off the black slime.
A calm smile rested on his face.
One hand was behind his back while the other rested before his chest, giving him an elegant air.
Standing straight, the Second Prince bowed slightly toward Albany.
"Long time no see, Brother."
The moment Albany saw Owiser appear, an intense feeling of discomfort rushed through his body.
His whole body became dizzy and wracked with pain, as though an invisible force were crushing him.
Owiser straightened up and calmly looked around.
His gaze even swept across each elf.
Then he suddenly took a deep breath and smiled.
Along with his laughter, an enormous toad leaped out of the abyssal whirlpool.
Its massive body nearly covered the sky.
The demonic toad opened its giant mouth.
Half of the banquet hall disappeared into it in an instant.
Its jaws snapped shut.
Half of the brilliant golden banquet hall, along with countless thick tree trunks and the sea of flowers, vanished completely.
A foul stench quickly spread across the ground.
A dark green aura reflected in the nobles' eyes like thick fog.
Almost at the same time, a blue teleportation spell descended from the sky.
Glowing blue patterns gathered overhead, forming a dazzling pillar of light.
The magic circle disappeared.
Viktor appeared in the courtyard outside the banquet hall.
As the light faded, the black trench coat behind him slowly settled.
Behind him stood countless nobles and elves, all safely gathered in the courtyard.
When they opened their eyes, they found everything around them covered in darkness.
Only faint lights glowed nearby.
Above them was a deep black sky filled with countless stars.
Ahead of them, half of the enormous banquet hall still shone with dazzling golden light.
Everyone stood frozen in shock.
Only the black crow perched on Viktor's shoulder narrowed its eye as it stared ahead.
Its deep, single eye carefully examined the gigantic, foul-smelling demon.
The sky-covering toad demon smacked its lips while chewing the half of the banquet hall it had just swallowed.
The rumbling sounds mixed with the grinding of its teeth echoed continuously.
The Second Prince stood atop the demon's head.
His twisted mouth stretched wide, and his eyes bulged open, filled with blood-red veins.
Under the pitch-black sky, accompanied by the sharp wind carrying a foul smell, snowflakes and ice crystals drifted through the air and fell to the ground.
"I'm back."
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