Chapter 496 You’re Not Worth Two Million BP [Part 1]

The once prosperous city of Eden had turned into ruins.

It had become a battlefield and the burial site of tens of thousands of people, most of whom were their enemies from the Aurelion Army.

What they witnessed that night was a view they would never forget in their life.

An Elemental Queen had descended and one-sidedly massacred those who had dared to set foot in her domain.

The barbarians called her the Earth Mother. And since that day, no one would deny her existence.

Not the members of the Lost Paradise and Orion Troupe, who worshiped the Goddess of Light, Aine.

Not the Aurelion Army, who worshiped the God of Wind, Stribog.

The surviving soldiers of the Aurelion Army numbered nearly twenty-four thousand.

More than half of their army had died several hours ago. Those who survived had lost all will to fight.

At first, Troy and Hagen wanted the survivors to be executed.

They believed doing so would best ensure that the High King of the Aurelion Empire understood that he had made the greatest mistake of his life when he decided to send warriors to conquer the Holy City of the Barbarians.

However, Godwin, Malik, and the chieftains of the middle-ranked tribes insisted on waiting for Leone to decide the fate of their prisoners of war.

Fortunately, Leone had regained his consciousness a few minutes after his Elemental Queen’s summon duration had ended.

"Much blood has already been spilled," Leone said calmly. "We will spare them and take them back as prisoners of war in Aslan City."

Had Leone still been under the influence of the crimson aura that had gripped his heart due to the sadness and anger he felt after Gundar died, he might have ordered that all the soldiers who surrendered to them be executed.

But now that his mind has gotten a bit clearer, he decided to spare them all.

He spared them not out of mercy, but because he knew his Great Uncle wouldn’t want him to treat human lives as if they were weeds that he could cut down with impunity.

"Daedalus, can you make contracts for all of them?" Leone asked.

He then told the grimoire what kind of contract he would like to enforce on the survivors of the Aurelion Army.

Daedalus handled the clauses and conditions of the contract, making sure to add everything Leone had mentioned.

"Making them all sign the contract is possible," Daedalus replied. "But we’ll need to spend at least 192,000 BP for a magical contract that would bind them properly. Is that fine with you?"

The magical contracts that Leone had used to bind the Gryphon Riders and their Gryphons had also cost BP.

This was the same for the Black Hawk Riders that they had recently added to their arsenal.

Binding powerful people had its pros and cons.

If the magical contract wasn’t strong enough to bind those powerful people, there was always a chance that they could break free from its influence.

Of course, Daedalus had no intention of letting this happen with the survivors of the Aurelion Army. It made sure that the moment they signed the contract, they could no longer pose a threat to Leone and his people.

"Do it," Leone answered.

For now, he didn’t care how much BP would be used to turn these survivors into his subordinates.

In fact, he even felt numb that he just let his common sense decide right from wrong.

Daedalus immediately produced the magical contracts and directly sent them inside Kael’s storage ring.

The grimoire then told the shaman that he and the other chieftains should handle the signing process for now and not disturb Leone for the time being.

Kael obeyed and followed the order given to him without a voice of complaint.

The shaman knew that their Great Chieftain wasn’t in the right condition to deal with the aftermath of the war.

A good distance away from Leone, three people were looking at him with a complicated gaze.

They were none other than Conall, Hyacinthe, and Dominic.

All three of them were leading their own people to help the barbarian tribes win their war. But after witnessing what happened several hours ago, their impressions of Leone had changed drastically.

Several hours later, the sun finally shone from the east.

As the young man looked at the light slowly illuminating the world, he remembered the time when he watched the sunrise with his Great Uncle in Grimjaw Mountain.

Back then, Gundar had said a few words to him that Leone didn’t understand. But now, seeing this sunrise made him understand what the Great Shaman of the Borderlands was trying to tell him.

"The rising sun does not erase the sins of yesterday," Gundar said softly. "Nor does it promise a brighter tomorrow. It simply gives the living another chance to live one more day and live their lives to the fullest."

After experiencing one of the bloodiest wars he had taken part in, Leone understood that his Great Uncle had never expected him to become a saint who would always make the right decisions.

Gundar knew that the world was cruel, and that there would be times when Leone would be forced to make choices that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

There would be times when he would have to kill to protect the people that he cared about.

There would be times when he would have to choose between the lives of the few and the lives of the many.

And there would be times when his hands would be stained with blood no matter which path he chose.

Even then, he must never allow the darkness in his heart to consume him.

Yuni hugged Leone from behind, supporting his body at this important moment.

Neither of them had slept since the battle ended. There were still far too many things to do, and Leone was the leader of the barbarians.

Everyone was looking up to him.

Everyone was worried about him.

So, the only thing he could do for now was show them that he was fine, despite the sadness he was feeling.

"Great Chieftain, everything has been settled," Kael reported. "Lord Azar has also finished creating the teleportation gate that would lead back to the Aslan Tribe. And last but not least, we have successfully captured Zepharion. He is now bound by Adamantine Shackles. What should we do with him?"

After hearing the name of one of the people who had driven his Great Uncle to death, Leone felt a spark of anger in his heart.