It Can Deceive Oaths, But Not Me!

With a desert coyote as a mount, the ratman envoy reached the outskirts of the Shalin region in less than two hours. This was despite having to detour several times due to encountering groups of undead; otherwise, it would have arrived even faster.

"Roar!!" The leader of the desert coyotes growled at the ratman envoy before it and its pack headed back towards the Golden Oasis.

Watching the coyotes disappear into the distance, the ratman envoy felt a sudden pang of regret. Golden Gryphons were high-tier mounts, far beyond its reach, but owning a desert coyote would make it content.

"If I manage to accomplish this task..." it thought, "maybe the generous lord will reward me with a desert coyote."

"Damn, I shouldn't be thinking this way!" the ratman envoy cursed itself. Even if it died, it wouldn't betray the Ratman Kingdom.

Just then, the ratman envoy heard the distant sounds of battle cries. Climbing to the top of a stone hill, it looked towards the source of the noise.

It soon saw a fierce battle raging in the Shalin region. The Ratman Kingdom's army was engaged in combat with the undead horde. The scene was a bloody chaos, with elite ratman warriors falling in pools of blood and undead creatures being destroyed.

After a while, a figure appeared high above the battlefield. Wielding a magic staff, it unleashed large, dark spheres that exploded upon hitting the ground, creating devastating waves of dark energy. The undead were obliterated in its path, even the higher-level ghouls and undead knights couldn't withstand the onslaught.

"Such powerful magic!" the ratman envoy marveled. "That's the envoy who always accompanies King Aubrey!"

The ratman envoy recognized the figure in the black robe. Despite limited interactions, the high-ranking members of the Ratman Kingdom knew this human mage was incredibly powerful.

"With this envoy's help, the undead crisis in Shalin might actually be resolved."

"Too bad," it thought, "if this undead wave caused significant losses to the Ratman Kingdom, then the lord..."

"Damn it, I must be out of my mind!" the ratman envoy shook its head, trying to dispel the dangerous thoughts. It then left the hill and used a hidden underground passage to return to the Ratman Kingdom.

Soon, it was summoned by King Aubrey.

Sitting on his throne, King Aubrey looked down at his minister and asked, "Did you complete the task? What's the situation at the Golden Oasis?"

The ratman envoy quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the Golden Oasis has indeed undergone some changes, but they are insignificant."

"I didn't see any Golden Gryphon Knights there, only a human lord."

"The lord is very willing to cooperate with our kingdom and promised to send the Golden Gryphon Knights to help us after clearing the undead around the oasis."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, that's all."

King Aubrey was not satisfied with the envoy's answer. He had sent the envoy to gauge the strength of the Golden Oasis and understand why the Golden Gryphon Knights were in the region. The returned information seemed trivial.

"Are you hiding something from me?"

"I wouldn't dare!" the ratman envoy said fearfully. "You are our king, and I am your loyal servant. I wouldn't dare deceive you. I've told you everything I know."

"What about your escorts?"

The ratman envoy explained, "We were attacked by undead multiple times along the way. They all died. If I hadn't run fast, I wouldn't have made it back either."

"I see. You may go," King Aubrey said coldly.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The ratman envoy quickly left the hall.

Watching the envoy's hurried departure, King Aubrey felt something was off. However, he didn't doubt the envoy's loyalty. Betrayal was unthinkable in the Ratman Kingdom; he was confident about that.

...

Back in its quarters, the ratman envoy's first action was to plant a trusted aide in the team that delivered food, to gather information on the dragon Charles's condition.

As a high-ranking member of the Ratman Kingdom, it had the means to do so.

"Later, I'll meet with the seventeenth concubine," it thought. "I'll have her steal the keys to King Aubrey's treasury..."

"She's my sister, she won't refuse!"

"No, no, no! I can't do that!"

"King Aubrey is my sovereign!"

The ratman envoy constantly reminded itself to remain loyal and never do anything to betray the kingdom or King Aubrey.

...

[It can deceive itself, deceive oaths, but it cannot deceive me.]

This was the message Haotian received from the Lord System.

...

"A saint-level dragon?" Haotian frowned. Even an injured saint-level dragon was incredibly powerful. Saint-level beings wielded the power of domains.

Preparing for the worst had indeed been wise. It confirmed that forming the Ace Squad was the right strategy.

"In two days at the latest..."

"My Ace Squad will all reach the extraordinary level!"

In recent days, the Royal Gryphon Knight Army had not hunted magical beasts in the Shalin region but had killed numerous undead. All the experience went to the Ace Squad, accelerating their level-up.

Additionally, Haotian's own level had increased. He was now at the mid-level of the extraordinary rank.

The Lord Talent [Holy Saint] showed that the number of undead kills had surpassed eighty thousand and would soon reach one hundred thousand, triggering another level-up. This would further increase the Royal Gryphon Knights' damage against undead.

Overall, the undead disaster turned out to be a boon for Haotian.