Chapter 223: Night of the Alliance

When Duke announced publicly that he would donate 1 million Arathor gold coins on behalf of Stormwind to compensate the soldiers of the Alliance, the entire banquet hall erupted in excitement. You might say that Duke was showing off, but he was doing it with style. As Marco and his men wheeled in cart after cart of gold coins to the plaza outside the banquet hall, opening the chests to reveal the dazzling gold, the only thing left for the crowd to do was to marvel.

Instead of handing the money to someone else, Duke gave it to Archbishop Alonsus Faol of the Church of the Holy Light.

Long ago in Dalaran, a missionary from Lordaeron tossed a copper coin into a fountain and made a wish: "I hope one day I can spread the path of the Holy Light to every commoner, and teach them the meaning of the three great virtues."

That missionary was the future Archbishop Alonsus Faol, whose footsteps could be found in every city on the continent. His saintly reputation had already been recognized throughout the land. It was no exaggeration to say he was the embodiment of righteousness and holiness in this era.

Duke earnestly said, "I believe the Archbishop will distribute these funds fairly."

Every king was willing to trust Alonsus' character. Suddenly, the potential losses from the Horde invasion didn't seem so painful.

What did 1 million gold coins mean? In the seven kingdoms, this was already the annual revenue of a mid-tier kingdom. A smaller mountain kingdom like Alterac only had a few hundred thousand gold coins in their treasury each year. Of course, this was related to the fact that the Barov family was wealthy while the king's territory was poor.

Those who could casually contribute 1 million gold coins were Kul Tiras, with their worldwide maritime trade; the extravagant mage kingdom of Dalaran; and Lordaeron, the most fertile and prosperous land.

Duke's move to donation of both a fleet and money was like adding fuel to the fire. It immediately awakened the kings' competitive spirits.

"Kul Tiras, 2 million," King Daelin, who had just benefited, raised two fingers.

The Dalaran leader, the wealthy Antonidas, grinned and raised three fingers.

Seeing the smaller kingdoms show off, Lordaeron's king, who considered himself the best in the world, thunderously raised an open hand.

The nobles gasped, and naturally, applause followed.

11 million gold coins—a staggering sum!

Just thinking about it sent shivers down their spines.

But upon further thought, everyone knew that Terenas was cunning. Lordaeron would likely provide the most troops and suffer the most losses. In reality, the money might just circle back to Lordaeron's hands.

Regardless, the desired effect had been achieved.

Initially, the meeting hadn't determined which kingdoms would provide how many troops. These matters were left to Lothar, the Alliance's supreme commander, to negotiate. This was the purpose of the banquet diplomacy. Lothar hadn't expected Duke to pull off such a spectacle, greatly lightening his workload.

Archbishop Alonsus seized the moment: "For the future of humanity, for the future of this world, those with money contribute money, those with soldiers contribute soldiers. This is a good thing, isn't it?"

"Of course, as the leader of the Alliance, I declare that the first deployment of troops from Lordaeron will be led by Duke Alexandros Mograine, with General Abidis as his deputy, and a force of 100,000."

One hundred thousand soldiers—what audacity!

This was definitely the most exaggerated standing army among the kingdoms not yet fully engaged in war.

Keep in mind that Stormwind, which initially had only 20,000 to 30,000 standing soldiers, could now muster 50,000 elite troops. The war potential of Lordaeron, of course, far exceeded that.

The other kings who couldn't afford to contribute funds were left red-faced.

Stormgarde's King Thoras bellowed, "Arathi Highlands won't need knights for the time being, General Lothar. You will see the Stromgarde Highland cavalry within a week."

Genn Greymane, the gruff King of Gilneas, said, "You will see the First, Second, and Third infantry regiments of Gilneas."

At this point, even the usually shrewd and smooth King Aiden of Alterac couldn't save face: "The Royal Alterac Gryphon Knights will be under your command within a week, General Lothar."

Knights and cavalry were two different concepts; though both rode horses, knights were more than a notch above the cavalry.

Every knight had to start as a lowly squire, often as an attendant, learning horsemanship, combat, and etiquette from a full-fledged knight. Then they had to provide their own warhorse and suit of armor.

Do not underestimate a suit of armor; a qualified knight's armor, unless inherited, would be unaffordable for most people in their entire lifetime.

To put it in terms Duke would understand from his past life, it would be equivalent to providing one million "soft sister coins." Mind you, this was just the cost of the armor and didn't include the horse. Not just any horse could become a warhorse. With the weight of a person plus armor reaching several hundred pounds, ordinary horses couldn't possibly bear it.

To endure such weight, as well as sprint at high speeds, a warhorse was far from cheap. In terms of "soft sister coins," it would amount to around five million.

Generally speaking, if a horse's height at the withers was less than 170 cm, it wasn't a warhorse.

Therefore, maintaining a knight regiment was at least equivalent to maintaining five infantry regiments. These knight regiments were the precious jewels of each kingdom, rarely seen in public. The Kingdom of Gilneas lacked horses, so they directly pulled out their main infantry forces instead.

When Archmage Antonidas stated that a 200-member mage group led by one of the members of the Kirin Tor's Council of Six would be assigned to Lothar, Lothar couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. He gave Duke a thumbs-up.

"Thank you, child. I see the divine radiance in you, and you have a heart more brilliant than gold," said Archbishop Alonsus. The next instant, when Alonsus's wrinkled hand touched Duke's shoulder, Duke's entire body seemed to emit a gentle, platinum glow.

This was the result of Duke inheriting the integrity of a certain arcane deity.

"Heh, child, I never expected that besides your extraordinary talent in the arcane arts, you also possess unparalleled potential in the path of the Holy Light. If one day you can no longer walk the path of the arcane, the doors of Stratholme's Cathedral will always be open for you."

Duke was stunned! So, by inheriting Medivh's integrity, he could also become a Holy Priest?

Duke had always thought of himself as a realistic modern traveler, and even if he were to become a priest, it would only be as a Shadow Priest.

This revelation was utterly bewildering!

Not only Duke, but also the other nobles were pointing and whispering about Duke. No one had expected that Duke, who had burned 100,000 orcs to death, would have the heart of a saint.