Chapter 223: The Oathgold

Inside the prayer room, Morgianna lay flat on the bed, with the Lake Goddess Witch sweating profusely from her forehead. Her small hand was tightly grasping the bedsheet, and her other hand clenched Ryan's hand firmly.

The white gown had been undone, and on Morgianna's abdomen, which was as smooth as white jade, Ryan's fingertips were sparkling with the power of lightning. He concentrated his psychic energy on his fingertips, gently imprinting a silver pattern onto her skin.

Ryan was fully focused on imprinting his psychic energy onto Morgianna's body. The Lake Goddess Witch bit her lips lightly, holding Ryan's hand tightly, enduring the pain of the imprint and a strange sensation.

After enduring for a while, the pain gradually faded away, and a warm and comfortable feeling made the Lake Goddess Witch grip Ryan's hand tighter. She did not use a pillow to cover herself this time and said to Ryan with a flushed face, "Is it... done?"

"It'll take a little longer, my princess." Ryan began to infuse psychic energy into the imprint, activating the seal.

"Okay... okay." Morgianna's gentle eyes looked at Ryan, who was also slightly sweating. She softly said, "No rush... take your time."

So, the process lasted for over ten minutes. When Morgianna's delicate feet arched for the second time, the seal was remade.

The silver heart pattern had beautiful wings spread on both sides, with a sword and shield emblem in the middle, shining under Ryan's psychic energy activation.

After the process was completely finished, Morgianna's hand finally relaxed. The Lake Goddess Witch gasped softly, her face all flushed.

"My princess, please rest well." Ryan covered her with the blanket and was about to leave. He always felt a bit odd staying in this prayer room, feeling as if the statue of the Lady of the Lake was watching him with a mocking and playful gaze whenever he turned his back on it. Yet, when he looked back, it seemed like an illusion.

Morgianna nodded lightly, saying weakly, "Good night~ Ryan~"

"Good night~"

...

The next morning, Morgianna left on her unicorn, Silfaren, returning to her Lake Goddess Tower in the Duchy of Carcassonne.

Ryan woke up later, changed his clothes, gently kissed Olica, who was well-moisturized and radiant on the bed, and then headed outside the castle.

"Where are you going, dear?" Just as he was about to leave the castle, Ryan was stopped by Veronica. The Witch of Garlon also had a charming flush on her face. Last night, she and the Dark Elf had meticulously divided their time. After a whole night, the Witch of Garlon went to rest, satisfied and massaging her waist.

"I'm going to find my brother, I have some things to discuss with him." Ryan spoke gently.

"Since you're going to find Angmar, I won't bother you. I need to hurry up with building my wizard's tower, which will probably take a year or two." Veronica nodded, her steps light as she headed towards the construction site of the wizard's tower.

Following the Shinon River to the north side of Redfish Village, then along the newly built road towards the depths of Charlon Forest.

The springtime Charlon Forest was filled with the chirping of birds and fragrant flowers. The climate in Brittany was mild and pleasant, making Ryan understand why the elves had colonized this area extensively in the past.

About two hours later.

In a canyon deep within the forest, hidden by inconspicuous vegetation, a clear stream flowed out from between the canyons. The path to the canyon was blocked by many stones, indicating that the master of the canyon did not welcome outsiders. At least the heads of two goblin chieftains and seven beastmen beastlords proved this point.

The canyon was lush with primitive vegetation, steep cliffs, waterfalls, babbling streams, and ancient vines. Fish swam in the stream.

"I like this place. I like the tranquility and the beauty here. It allows me to calm down." Next to the stream, Ryan and Angmar were grilling meat, with two Emperor's Guard turning the spit. A huge wild boar was roasting on the spit.

Ryan and Angmar each held a leg of the boar, the other hand holding a large wooden cup, with a huge barrel of wine nearby.

The leader of the Guard, "Big Guy," was not wearing his helmet. Several people sat on the rocks by the stream, tearing into the pork voraciously, listening to Ryan recount his fight against the Great Demon of Chaos.

"Nurgle's Great Demon?" Angmar said softly, biting into a large piece of golden-roasted pork. "As you know, I was once the Prince of Excess, and even before that, I was a Primarch. I've killed countless Great Demons. Ryan, my brother, you've done well. You've achieved your first kill of a Great Demon of Chaos. You know, as Primarchs, which of us hasn't killed a dozen Great Demons?"

Big Guy nodded in approval: "Prince Ryan, you're only twenty-six years old. Defeating a Great Demon of Chaos is an impressive feat."

"It's not something to be too proud of." Ryan ate heartily, not showing much pride. "First of all, the Winds of Magic were very weak at that time, limiting the power Nurgle's Great Unclean One could exert. Furthermore, the Lady of the Lake's confrontation with the Chaos Gods further weakened the Great Demon. With so many Grail Knights and White Wolf Knights attacking, relying on the White Wolf Elector's holy sword and Duke Laun's assistance, I barely managed to banish Nurgle's Great Unclean One after paying such a huge price."

"Hahaha!" Angmar laughed heartily, patting Ryan on the shoulder. "Ryan, you're growing fast enough. Do you know there's a guy from a choir who didn't kill any Great Demon from the start of the Great Crusade and almost got stomped to death by a Titan? Even after his fall, his strength was so weak it was laughable. If I wanted, I could crush him into a meatball with both hands!"

"I know who you're talking about." Ryan licked his lips, his nostrils flaring. "I still don't like to brag."

"Nurgle, the God of Decay, is different from Khorne, the God of War. Nurgle's strength is not inferior to Khorne's, but he is inactive and does not initiate wars. Nurgle's favorite hobby is to research new virus formulas in his realm all day long." Angmar downed a large cup of wine, then said, "Even so, one should never underestimate the power of Nurgle's Great Demon. You've done well to achieve this, Ryan. A weakened Great Demon is still a Great Demon."

"Nurgle is what you might call the god of couch potatoes." Ryan raised his head, the corners of his eyes twitching.

"Couch potato? God? Ha, that's quite apt!" Angmar thought for a moment and burst into laughter. "Yes, fat and lazy, truly the god of couch potatoes."

The Emperor's Guard sitting aside, hearing the two Primarchs joking freely about the Chaos Gods, felt a sense of heresy. Under normal circumstances, the Guard might have acted to obliterate the scene for blasphemy.

But the individuals involved were Primarchs, after all.

"Ryan, I've recently discovered something... quite interesting." Angmar led the way to a safehouse he and the Guard had built.

Inside the safehouse were many of Angmar's trophies, including a large amount of gold and silver, and numerous heads. The room was dimly lit until Angmar opened a window to let in light, showing Ryan his recent collection.

Angmar handed Ryan a stone that looked like a gold coin, but was much larger than any coin. "What do you think this is?"

Ryan took the stone, which was golden and inscribed with mysterious runes. "It looks like the work of dwarves."

"Exactly, brother." Angmar pulled out a bag containing several such runic gold stones. Their exquisite craftsmanship, the mysterious diamond-shaped runes, and their neat edges all pointed to dwarven mastery.

"Where did you get these, brother?" Ryan handed back the runic gold stone to Angmar, curious.

"In the depths of the Charlon Forest, near the side of the Ogham Mountain Range, we found a few hidden goblin strongholds." Angmar pulled out a map, his thick finger pointing deep into the Charlon Forest.

Though the Charlon Forest's area was not as vast as the Athel Loren, it was still the kingdom's second-largest forest, covering approximately 50,000 square kilometers across four duchies. Deep within the forest were many beastmen and goblin encampments.

"I took two Guards with me and wiped out all the goblins in that stronghold in five minutes." Angmar pointed to a group of goblin brutes' heads. "I forget which one it was, but one of them, and then I got this bag of Oathgold. According to one of the goblin brutes, their chief had hidden lots of treasures, not just a bit but a whole lot, shiny and very satisfying, heh, all mine now."

"I caught a goblin scribe, then used a little... persuasion to make it tell me what this is." Angmar held the runic gold stone. "These are called Oathgold, a high-grade currency among dwarves, representing blood debts and vengeance. Brother, I think my weapon might have to involve these coins."

"It's easy to explain their origin to dwarves; taken from goblins." Ryan nodded repeatedly, his face sporting a mischievous grin. "We're avenging our dwarven brothers. We are the righteous."

"Exactly, we're avenging the dwarves!" Angmar grinned, playing with the Oathgold in his hand. "We can't just take things from dwarves, because they are our allies, but we can take from goblins."

"Alright, I'll go ask the Delron craftsman if he can forge a battle axe made of vibranium, how much of this Oathgold he'd need." Ryan took an Oathgold coin from Angmar's hand.

"Remember to emphasize we got it fair and square from the goblins." Angmar and Ryan left the forest, as Angmar's new mount, a Griffon named "Nukeria," screeched and swooped down into the canyon, enjoying its meal of roasted pork.

"By the way, brother, how did you catch this Griffon?" Ryan looked enviously at the massive Griffon.

"I caught it on my way to the Grey Mountains. It was fighting a wyvern trained by goblins. Look, that one." Angmar pointed at a dragon head hanging from the cabin's roof.

"I think I understand how it went." Ryan walked along the stream with Angmar. "I'll take care of the Oathgold matter. If there's nothing else, I'll head back."

"There's one more thing."

"What is it, brother?" Ryan stopped.

"You should get married, brother. When you're out fighting, someone needs to manage the household. I'm ultimately a warrior, not Kilimanjaro. He was both an excellent commander and a politician." Angmar spoke to Ryan. "But I'm not. I can help patrol your land, train soldiers... that's about it."

"...Actually, I already have someone in mind." A gentle and beautiful figure flashed through Ryan's mind, along with her long golden curls.

"I think she's the most suitable too." Angmar understood Ryan's choice.

...

Leaving the depths of the Charlon Forest, Ryan first visited the riverside craftsman's workshop to find the rune craftsman master, Delron-Feinsen.

The workshop was filled with the sound of bellows and hammering. The dwarf, wearing a pair of glasses, carefully examined the Oathgold in his hand. "This... My baron, could you tell me how you acquired this Oathgold?"

Ryan took out a goblin brute's head from a bag. "The goblin said they were hiding treasures, a lot of treasures."

"Ah!" Delron-Feinsen sighed regretfully. "The glorious age has passed, and now all that's left are ruins and lost homelands. The mountains are no longer a home and safe place for dwarves. The ley lines connected our world but have become playgrounds for goblins and skaven."

"Oathgold is a symbol of the dwarves' peak during the glorious age, crafted by rune master craftsmen from purified gold using special secret methods, nearly indestructible. Each Oathgold coin represents a blood debt and ancient rune technology. It's priceless to us dwarves."

"I'm sorry." Ryan spoke calmly. "Mr. Delron-Feinsen, I'm willing to return all the captured Oathgold to the dwarves."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Delron-Feinsen thanked him profusely, touching his beard. "Human brother, the dwarves appreciate your efforts. We won't let you suffer. Bring us more Oathgold, and we're willing to trade with all our resources. Any dwarf king would trade with Oathgold."

With a handshake, a new trade agreement was reached.

After making rounds outside, it was already afternoon when Ryan returned to his castle.

He found the steward, Carstenberg, anxiously waiting at the door.

"What's the matter, Carstenberg?"

"My baron, just now, a witch claiming to be your friend wanted to enter your castle. I told her the baron was not in, but she barged in very domineeringly." The steward said innocently. "She had your letter, so I didn't dare to stop her."

"What does the witch look like?" Ryan dismounted and asked.

"A tall witch with a purple staff and long black hair down to her waist." Carstenberg replied.

"Alright, let me go in and see."

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