Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 1224: The Slave And Prisoner Exchange Pact [Super Gift Bonus Chapter]

Within the battlefield, time continued to pass as Asher, Saitama, and Acker thinned out the Velkarin Empire Soldiers as quickly as possible. But despite their speed, taking out thousands of Soldiers was an impossible task, as almost half a million Soldiers still remained alive.

Without their intervention, one could already imagine the entire battle taking half a day to conclude.

At this moment, Asher was already out of Astra Energy. Virelass had already transferred her own reserves to him, but it still wasn’t enough. No matter how ridiculous his reserves were, it was still impossible for them to go around indefinitely.

As he continued attacking, an enormous pressure suddenly descended from above, slamming into everything and everyone. Asher, who had been floating in the air, plummeted before he could catch himself, his body slamming into the ground below. He tried to stand, but it was impossible. With a thought, his Light Affinity came alive as he simply made himself weightless, bypassing the increased gravity as he finally rose to his feet.

But he wasn’t the only one. All around him, almost a million people collapsed to the ground, each of them struggling to rise. It didn’t matter whether they belonged to the Algorith Frontier or the Velkarin Empire.

Asher raised his head toward the sky, and there, standing in the air, he could see four people floating.

Damian Wargrave, Vanessa Thorne, Ryuk Silverleaf, and Michael Novrak. They all stared down upon the battlefield like gods about to address mortals.

Michael Novrak had already been healed by Damian, his demeanor as a Vice Commander restored.

”Soldiers of the Velkarin Empire, your Grand Regent has been erased from existence by me, Damian Wargrave. And your First Regent, Second Regent, and Third Regent have all been killed by my three Vice Commanders.”

Damian’s voice rang out, sounding like thunderclaps in everyone’s ears as his words reached them regardless of distance.

The Soldiers of the Velkarin Empire lay stunned, unable to believe what they had just heard. Their Grand Regent and their First, Second, and Third Regents had all been killed? How much time had passed? Three hours? They had been killed so soon?

It was shocking to them, as they had believed their Grand Regent could take on the Commander stationed there, especially since they had been told that she had been deployed to personally deal with the Frontier Commander.

With that, their morale and fighting spirit vanished. What was the point of fighting? With the Commander and Vice Commanders present, they could all be killed with nothing more than a thought.

”As you all know, after battles between various Empires, those who remain alive are taken as prisoners or slaves of war, and that is what shall become of you.”

Damian continued speaking, unbothered by their thoughts and expressions.

As Damian had said, after any skirmish between two or more Empires, the defeated side’s surviving Soldiers were taken as slaves or prisoners of war. Slaves would work without getting paid, although they would be fed regularly and provided with barely adequate shelter.

In return, they would work for the enemy Empire, which, in this case, was the Zarethorne Empire. Once they completed their assigned years of labor, they would be released and returned to their Empires, provided they didn’t die while carrying out their assigned tasks.

As for prisoners of war, they weren’t fed regularly, perhaps once every few days or once a week, depending on the whims of their captors. They would never bathe, never see the sun, and never experience natural light. They would remain chained inside their prisons at all times until they died. There was no option of suicide unless one possessed the will to strangle oneself with one’s own hands or smash one’s head against the walls and steel bars of their cell.

And with each person possessing a longer lifespan than an ordinary human, the suffering they would endure within those prisons could drive them into madness and psychological breakdowns.

Although it might seem as though slaves were treated better than prisoners, that wasn’t necessarily true, as the Empire would extract every ounce of physical strength they had to offer. When they were injured, they wouldn’t be healed.

What slave possessed the status to receive treatment from a healer?

None.

And if their injuries killed them, then so be it, as no Master would waste gold coins on mere slaves.

But at least they would still get to see the sun, eat, and bathe once in a while, even if they had to work in chains.

As for escaping? Wishful thinking.

”But I know that some of you would rather die than become slaves and prisoners of the Zarethorne Empire. So, being the most generous Wargrave to ever exist, I will grant you all the choice to kill yourselves right here and now.”

He stated in finality, staring down upon them as though he were granting them mercy.

But alas... he was granting them mercy, as those who had never experienced the horrors of being a prisoner or slave would never understand how suicide could become a release and a blessing.

Damian understood this. When he called himself the most generous Wargrave, he genuinely was at that moment, as people like Morthern, Azaron, or Malrik wouldn’t grant them such an option.

And besides... most of them, if not all, would be tortured for information about the Velkarin Empire.

Death was truly a blessing.

The Velkarin Empire Soldiers frowned at what they had just heard. They had all heard stories about prisoners and slaves. They even had slaves from the Zarethorne Empire, Vandross Empire, and Thalvorn Empire back in their own Empire, but they rarely visited them to see how they were doing, as who would bother checking on a slave?

After a couple of seconds of contemplation, they immediately dismissed the thought of suicide. With the impending war, they were sure they would be released one way or another, and maybe the Velkarin Empire would send someone to save them.

Their thoughts were half correct. While the Velkarin Empire wouldn’t send anyone to save them, meaning they were wrong about that part, they could still be released one way or another through the war.

After almost every war, both opposing Empires ended up with slaves and prisoners from the other side. To allow Empires to recover their people without resorting to death, the Slave and Prisoner Exchange Pact had been established.

The Slave and Prisoner Exchange Pact didn’t operate according to the number of Soldiers exchanged but according to how powerful or useful a Soldier was. After all, the Zarethorne Empire couldn’t give the Velkarin Empire a Dust Crownstar Life Ranker in exchange for a Blazestar Life Ranker. That would be stupid and foolish.

Unless that particular Blazestar Life Ranker possessed significant status, such as being a Prince or Princess, or the child of a Ducal Household.

Therefore, if the Velkarin Empire had no prisoners or slaves to exchange, the fate of these Soldiers would remain sealed until the next war.

And even if the Velkarin Empire captured prisoners and slaves of war during the next conflict, these Soldiers might still not be freed, as the Zarethorne Empire could simply choose not to participate in the prisoner and slave exchange if it wished.

Seeing that nobody wanted to commit suicide, Damian simply nodded, neither smiling nor displaying any expression.

”Chain them.”

He stated indifferently.

At his words, all three Vice Commanders vanished from the sky. Within a mere second, all five hundred thousand Black Soldiers were chained by the neck and all four limbs. The moment the chains clicked into place, their Astra Energy was sealed, and their physical prowess dropped by a staggering fifty percent.

Damian removed his pressure, allowing the Soldiers of both the Frontier and the Velkarin Empire to stand.

With that, he snapped his fingers, and everyone vanished from the battlefield, returning to the Algorith Frontier.

But with their return and victory, various locations within the Zarethorne Empire descended into utter madness as the Velkarin Empire launched its attacks after receiving the message from its Emperor, Emperor Horace Sol Virelle.

Asher Wargrave, Damian Wargrave, Vanessa Thorne, Ryuk Silverleaf, and Michael Novrak, who had believed themselves to be ahead of the Velkarin Empire’s schemes, were in for a rude surprise.

But alas, they couldn’t be blamed... they could never have guessed that a Sinvaira, Halemir, the Sinvaira of Control, had been keeping an eye on every underground bunker across the entire Zarethorne Empire. He and the other eight Sinvairas had considered the possibility of being exposed before the Velkarin Empire could launch its attacks, and had prepared accordingly.

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