City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Banishment

“A secondary plane?” the Blackgold asked suspiciously, “You randomly just ran into royal elven warriors on a secondary plane?”

“I’ve always had good luck.”

“Whatever,” the grey dwarf shrugged, “If these thunder cannons were given to these long-ears, then the recoil… Oof, they’re how strong? Are you sure these aren’t silvermoon elves?”

“No…?”

“It’s not that easy to fool me, kid.”

“Does it matter what kind of elves these are?” Richard asked helplessly.

“Bah, forget it. It’s none of my business. I’ll make it for the damned long-ears, but it’ll reduce the power of each shot by a bit. I’ll up the fire speed to compensate, there shouldn’t be a significant change in total output. You said one variant, what about the other?

“That one needs to be big, no need to consider recoil,” he rapidly sketched an image of the winter soldiers, jotting down any relevant data.

Blackgold marvelled at the information, “And you just managed to subdue extremely powerful barbarians from another plane, too?”

Richard shrugged, “Like I said, I’m lucky.”

The grey dwarf snorted, “And power?”

Richard pointed to a rune knight dummy, “One shot.”

Blackgold immediately drew a breath of cold air, breathing out slowly. This allowed him to pry into Richard’s wild ambitions.

……

The two spent the entire night discussing details. In the end, the total requirement for the first batch was dropped to 1,000 thunder cannons; Blackgold certainly wanted to make more, but he just didn’t have the required manpower. On top of that, some key components required materials that were specially procured and he didn’t have the supply lines ready.

In the midst of their discussion, Richard realised he had overlooked an important detail when asking for the 3,000 guns— ammunition. Taking only a second to finish off a disk, these thunder cannons required astronomical amounts of ammunition to maintain their firepower. Although the process itself was simple enough to be finished by an apprentice alchemist, the process was physically draining. 3,000 guns without ammo were just metal rods.

Outside of the thunder cannons, Blackgold also agreed to prepare a design for night elf armour. The process of manufacturing wouldn’t require the Deepblue’s expertise, so the blueprints would be shipped off to Noelene’s workshops instead. The output there was more than enough to satisfy his requirements.

Just before leaving, Richard gave the grey dwarf a million gold in magic crystals, tasking him with recruiting more smiths, alchemists, and apprentice mages. The thunder cannons would be paid for in offerings, a much more effective currency than gold or magic crystals.

The thunder cannons really were a huge surprise, but they weren’t omnipotent. Dwarven gunpowder had limited power, posing little threat to saints no matter how much it was improved. To suppress the true high end, rune knights were still the way to go.

Having settled the night elves’ equipment, Richard now had to substantially strengthen the planar portal to the Forest Plane, extending the timescale as well. This required more offerings, leaving him feeling like he was getting tied to the Eternal Dragon further. The fact irked him, but he still contacted Macy on his return trip.

“What’s the matter? My time is precious, and calls are expensive!” Just as expected, Macy’s face was ugly when she showed herself. She couldn’t be blamed; after all, he had defeated and humiliated her in the past.

“I’m the one footing the bill,” Richard smiled gently.

She snorted, “Then should I end things now to save you money?”

“No, no. I’d like to use your family’s channels to offer some sacrifices at the Church.”

“Huh?” Macy was stumped, but she quickly gathered her wits, “At what scale?”

“At least one top-tier offering.”

This meant serious business. Despite her loathing, Macy put her feelings aside, “There should be no problem. This exceeds my authority, give me a minute and I’ll confirm the cost with Father.”

“I’ll wait,” Richard nodded.

While the woman hurried off, he wondered what Prince Tumen would ask for. It wouldn’t be anything huge, but some things were more annoying to procure than others. At this point, the prince was his best way to access a Church of the Eternal Dragon; he couldn’t exactly return to the Sacred Alliance, and the Sacred Tree Empire obviously was still discussing whether to wage war on him.

A few minutes later, Macy returned with a strange look on her face, “Father has agreed to your request. The price will be making me a grade 4 rune.”

“Reasonable,” Richard nodded, “Would it be custom-made?”

“Yes.”

“Looks like he has high expectations of you. Then please, make your preparations, I’ll be over in three days.”

Macy bit her lips and nodded reluctantly.

……

When Richard stepped through the portal, Macy and several of her family elders were waiting for him. One grand mage looked at the time and exclaimed, “Less than a minute of error. Your grasp of space truly is astounding, Your Excellency.”

“It’s nothing special, let’s not keep the Prince waiting,” Richard smiled. Long-distance portals, be they within planes or outside them, often led to deviations in time. The greater the distance, the greater the deviation. He had basically arrived on the dot, and that accuracy directly implied his power.

The meeting with Prince Tumen was only a formality. After some simple greetings, the Prince sent some men to escort Richard to the Church of the Eternal Dragon.

The Millennial Empire’s Church was far grander in scale compared to that in the Sacred Alliance, its construction more intricate and delicate. However, the grand priestess who received Richard was also especially arrogant, muttering under her breath, “A peasant from the Sacred Alliance.”

Richard’s brows arched up at this provocation. Prince Tumen’s men seemed to have no intention to defuse the immediately-tense situation, and while he hadn’t come here looking for trouble Richard wasn’t someone to back down. He sighed, “Mm, ever since Ferlyn and Flowsand left, the Church back home only has some useless dregs.”

The priestess’s expression warped. Ferlyn and Flowsand were the only Chosen in all of Norland, and both were beacons of power. The First Light of Dawn was one of the strongest clerics in the history of Norland, known for her tyrannical power even before she became Chosen, and Flowsand was someone who could mediate sacrifices even outside the Church. Both had emerged from the Sacred Alliance, and with their departure Norland was left with no Chosen at all. When Richard talked about useless dregs, this grand priestess was certainly included.

“You dare insult the Dragon of Eternity?” the middle-aged woman raised her voice.

“I’m only appraising the priests objectively,” Richard replied calmly.

“Blasphemy! Every member of the clergy is an incarnation of the Eternal Dragon in the mortal world. We are the embodiment of his great will! How dare you—”

“You can shut up with your self-inflation. Offering ceremonies are between the dragon and those who have things to give. You priests aren’t even involved, stop thinking you can make any decisions on his behalf.”

“You…” the priestess’s face flushed with rage as she pointed at his face.

Richard slapped the hand away, “Either host the ceremony, or find a replacement. Stop wasting my time.”

“You still want to offer sacrifices here? As long as I’m present, don’t think of ever stepping foot into the Church again! Let me show you what an ambassador of the Eternal Dragon is! Banishment!” The last word had been spoken in divine tongue, drawing on the timeforce within the Church.