Chương 220: 220：A Hero's Reward or a Rebel's Noose?

A few hours later, inside the dilapidated, chronically drafty command post of the Crimson Moon Knights. Leona forcefully shoved the heavy oak doors open and marched directly toward the back of the room. Ignoring the utterly bewildered stares of her adjutants, she grabbed a thick, dust-covered canvas tarp and violently yanked it aside. Revealed beneath was a complex, long-range magical communication array, intricately carved from exorbitant Mythril and inlaid with high-tier magic crystals.

This was the absolute most valuable asset in the entire Crimson Moon headquarters. Because every single activation consumed incredibly rare and expensive mana crystals, Leona usually refused to even look at the thing unless the Knights were facing total annihilation. But today, she didn't hesitate for a single second. She slammed three mid-tier magic crystals, heavily pulsating with azure light, directly into the array's power slots. VMMMM! A deafening hum of surging mana erupted through the room.

The array blasted a blinding pillar of silver light upward, forcefully piercing through the dense, toxic miasma of the Misty Swamp, violently resisting the magical interference to establish a direct link to the deep rear. The silver light rapidly wove itself together mid-air, projecting a massive, incredibly clear holographic illusion. The other end of the communication array was linked directly to the Supreme Command of the Silvermoon Kingdom's royal capital. The contrast was jarring.

Rain literally leaked through the roof of the Crimson Moon headquarters, splashing onto the floorboards. Yet the illusion displayed an extravagantly opulent grand hall. Its domed ceiling was inlaid with stained glass, and the floor was blanketed in premium, imported velvet carpets.

The three men holding the absolute highest authority in the Kingdom appeared at the center of the projection: Sitting heavily upon the center throne, rubbing his temples with an expression of profound exhaustion, was The Prince Regent, wearing a golden crown. Standing to one side, draped in luxurious silk robes and sporting magical gemstone rings on almost every finger, was the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, Duke Fernando.

And seated firmly on the other side, clad in heavily battle-scarred plate armor, was the formidable former Supreme Military Commander, General Rodman. Standing in the background behind them was a flock of meticulously dressed, high-ranking nobles, already whispering amongst themselves. Facing this assembly of heavyweights who controlled the very lifeblood of the Kingdom, Leona took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing her innate, roughneck urge to draw her sword and start cursing them all out.

She took a half-step back and, in an incredibly unprecedented display, placed her fist over her heart and bowed her head, executing a flawlessly rigid Knight's salute.

"I offer my deepest respects, Your Highness, the Prince Regent. And my respects to you, My Lords," Leona announced loudly. This highly abnormal display of politeness caused the eyebrows of nearly every noble on the other side of the array to shoot upward. Before anyone could even ask a question, Leona launched into an unstoppable tirade, using the most exaggerated, flowery vocabulary she could muster to publicly and aggressively hype up her Vice Commander, Soren.

"Your Highness! I have initiated this link to report an earth-shattering triumph! My Vice Commander, Soren, is an absolute military prodigy blessed by the Holy Light itself! A genius unseen in a century!" Leona's eyes practically glowed as she aggressively painted the picture of the battlefield:"Relying on a mere few hundred ragtag soldiers and anchoring his defense at Greywater Village, he played the Orcish vanguard army entirely in the palm of his hand!"

"Over two thousand fully armed, elite Orcs were completely annihilated by him with zero casualties! The heavily fortified Bloodfang Fortress was entirely uprooted! He even severed the head of the Blood Province's Oracle and trampled it as a casual trophy of war!"

"Today, Greywater Village boasts an impregnable defense and a fiercely elite garrison! Relying solely on his own martial prowess, Soren severely crippled that century-old monstrosity, the Shadow Priest Zagar! He has seized an unbelievably brilliant, unprecedented glory for the Kingdom in this campaign!" The more Leona spoke, the more excited she became. Yet, her abnormal "blatant bragging" did not elicit cheers from the other side. Instead, the high-ranking officials within Supreme Command exchanged wary glances.

Their expressions instantly tightened with deep suspicion. A notoriously vulgar, hot-tempered female Knight—a woman who historically wasn't above literally hijacking her own army's pay shipments just to survive—had suddenly learned how to flatter? She definitely had a massive ulterior motive.

"Excellent. A truly astonishing combat record." Old General Rodman's weather-beaten face broke into a genuine, deeply relieved smile. He nodded slowly.

"To execute a campaign with such flawless precision... I am exceedingly fond of this man, Soren. You have raised a fine soldier, Leona." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Seeing the old General validate the battle record, Leona knew the stage was perfectly set. She abruptly pivoted, her tone instantly dropping into one of bitter helplessness.

"The old General sees clearly. Vice Commander Soren has indeed authored a miracle behind enemy lines. However... the sheer baseline population of Orcs in the Misty Swamp is far too massive. Warchief Blackstone's hundred-thousand-strong horde still looms over the borders. Horrifying monstrosities like Shadow Priests and [Sons of Titan] continuously emerge."

Leona raised her head, staring directly at the Prince Regent on his throne, bracing herself to throw out the true purpose of this call:"Your Highness, Soren fought to the death on the frontlines to slaughter those two thousand elites, massively pinning down the Orcs' main force. But this identically means that the surviving main body of the Crimson Moon Knights is currently bearing an unimaginably crushing defensive pressure!"

"The objective numbers of the enemy horde, combined with the extreme restrictions of the swamp terrain, mean it is completely, physically impossible for us to split our forces to occupy and hold every single stronghold we clear. Therefore..."

Leona gritted her teeth, articulating her report word by agonizing word:"The suicide mandate we swore previously—'To reclaim the entirety of the Misty Swamp within one year'—based on the current, rigid standards of absolute territorial reclamation, I fear it cannot be fulfilled on schedule." A dead, suffocating silence instantly fell over Supreme Command. Leona hurriedly sped up her speech, desperately trying to use the objective facts to explain the strategic stakes:"But please, Your Highness, look at the reality!

Soren shattered the enemy's decapitation strike in record time! In terms of pure strategic value, the absolute annihilation of two thousand elites has catastrophically crippled the morale of the Blood Province! This should absolutely be classified as an early completion of the mandate's core objective!"

"Therefore, I beg Supreme Command, in light of Soren's historically brilliant military record, to absolve the Crimson Moon Knights of the charge of breach of contract, and grant us an extension on the deadline for total territorial reclamation!" The moment those words hung in the air, the previously silent Supreme Command violently erupted into chaos. A fierce, deafening argument exploded across the hall! The upper echelons of the Silvermoon Kingdom had long been sharply divided into two deeply entrenched factions.

"Absurd! This is an absolute, farcical joke!" The first to jump out was the leader of the conservative noble faction, the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, Duke Fernando. He violently slammed his hand onto the table, his heavily jeweled fingers flashing, his bloated physique causing his silk robes to tremble wildly. Pointing a fat, accusatory finger at Leona's hologram, he roared:"Is a military mandate a child's game?!

If vows sworn before the highest authority in the Kingdom can be casually offset by throwing a few severed heads on the table, where is the absolute majesty of the Kingdom's military law?!" Fernando's stance was uncompromising, his face twisting with absolute, aristocratic arrogance.

"Supreme Command only evaluates the final, documented territorial control percentages on the exact date the deadline expires! We do not care how many enemies you slaughtered in the process! Failing to physically occupy the land equates to failing the mandate! Leona, you already have a notorious criminal record of insubordination, and now you possess the sheer, shameless audacity to try and haggle with the Crown?!"

"I propose that, in strict accordance with Kingdom military law, the Crimson Moon Knights be immediately declared officially disbanded! Dispatch the Overseer Corps to arrest this utterly incompetent Commander and drag her back to the capital for a public tribunal!"

"Bullshit! You fat pig, all you know how to do is hide in the capital and gorge yourself on luxury!" Leona's temper violently snapped, and she roared right back at him. Fernando entirely ignored Leona's curses. He understood exactly how the game of power was played. Compared to a reckless, hot-blooded female Knight, the true terror that struck absolute dread into the hearts of the traditional nobility... was that commoner rapidly and violently rising to power deep within the swamp!

Fernando turned and bowed deeply to the Prince Regent before viciously and precisely shifting his crosshairs directly onto Soren.

"Your Highness, the Prince Regent! I beg of you, do not let your eyes be blinded by a superficial battle record!" Duke Fernando raised his voice to a shrill pitch, massively exaggerating Soren's threat:"A mere commoner of lowly birth, completely lacking any aristocratic titles! Under the guise of waging war, he has broken off from the official chain of command in a lawless swamp! He is privately conscripting refugees, establishing his own sovereign territory, and even forging unauthorized military armaments!"

A dark, venomous shadow crossed Fernando's face as he swept his gaze over the assembled ministers.

"Has he ever reported his troop numbers to us, even once? Has he submitted a single copper coin of his war spoils to the national treasury?!"

"Your Highness, this man has already birthed the ambitions of an independent warlord! If we indulge him as Leona suggests, he will inevitably mutate into a colossal, heavily armed rebel faction entrenched in the South! When that day comes, this Soren will be a catastrophe a hundred times more lethal to the Kingdom than any brainless Orc!" CRASH! A violent explosion of sound completely shattered Fernando's long-winded tirade.

Old General Rodman, who had been sitting rigidly in his chair, furiously kicked over the heavy tea table in front of him, sending porcelain cups completely shattering across the floor. The veteran commander, representing the pragmatic frontline faction, erupted with a suffocating, blood-soaked aura. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared murderously at Fernando.

"Spouting absolute bullshit! Fernando, is your heart entirely rotted black?!" General Rodman was utterly enraged, flecks of spit practically hitting the Duke's face as he roared.

"Two thousand elite Orcs! The severed head of an Oracle! Do you have any bloody idea what that means on a tactical map?!"

"Soren indirectly saved the life of Grand Duke Valentine of the Holy Halycon Empire! He has secured peace on our borders and won immeasurable diplomatic prestige for the Silvermoon Kingdom!" The old General pointed a heavily scarred finger directly at the massive map of the Kingdom hanging on the wall, his voice cracking with intense, heart-wrenching fury.

"While men are out there eating ice, swallowing snow, and bathing in their own blood purely for the survival of humanity... you sit back here, warming your fat ass by a fireplace, using a worthless piece of paper to frame and execute a hero of the realm?!"

"You are actively sabotaging our own absolute vanguard! If you issue the order to disband the Crimson Moon Knights right now, not only will it trigger a catastrophic mutiny among every single soldier currently using their lives to hold the frontline, but the entire Misty Swamp defensive line will completely collapse!"

"And when Warchief Blackstone's hundred thousand troops march straight through our borders, are you going to waddle to the frontlines to block their maces with your fat face, Fernando?!" Instantly, the ministers of the two factions within Supreme Command rallied around their respective titans. A chaotic, venomous verbal crossfire erupted across the grand hall, the deafening sounds of curses, accusations, and furious shouting echoing endlessly into the night.