I became a legion lich

214 War slave

Valk didn’t care about appearances and grabbed a pillow, an eye mask and an earplug, sleeping in a corner of the room while letting the others argue.

The air elder’s golem was still standing on top of the table as if it were a statue, but it was just repeating noises of agreement every 10 minutes, the elder had probably left and left the golem on auto mode.

‘I swear that if this torture doesn’t end soon, I will kill all four of them.’ Eirin thought and stranged at the lack of a sarcastic response. ‘Brother?’

‘Oh, sorry, I was sleeping. I couldn’t stand this useless discussion and deleted it. What I lose?’ Canan spoke while mentally yawning. They were able to sleep whenever the other took over.

‘You left me alone in the middle of this torture? And you still call yourself a good brother?’ Eirin said indignantly, but Canan just laughed at her grief.

‘It’s too early to start complaining. Take a look at the number of pages.’ Canan spoke in a sleepy voice, before going back to sleep.

Eirin nearly wept with despair as she realized they were still on page 146 and this torture would go on for another half day.

She saw that the discussion had temporarily stopped as the elders moved on to the next case and realized that this would be her chance to get a little break.

Eirin clapped her hands to draw attention to herself and prevent them from moving on to the next crime. “We’re going to take a little break now so everyone can get something to eat and drink and maybe even take a shower.”

.....

She spoke the last part looking specifically at the light elder, who was sweating profusely after hours of non-stop arguing.

Everyone was mentally tired as their bodies were strong enough to withstand fighting for a whole day without rest.

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They took a break for an hour, before resuming their discussion for nearly 12 hours, spending more than an entire day just reviewing all the crimes the dark elder had committed. Or at least every case the water elder could gather, as everyone was sure he had committed even more crimes than was revealed.

In the end, over 1000 heinous crimes had been revealed and the dark elder was found guilty of nearly 800 crimes. The 200 crimes he was cleared of were due to lack of evidence or crimes that some of the elders in the water elder faction had committed and they were trying to frame the dark elder.

“Assassinations, kidnappings, inhumane experiments, terrorist attacks against all three kingdoms, mass genocide, massacre of villages to gather undead and subjects for experiments...” Eirin started to read some of the worst crimes from the extensive list, realizing that the dark elder had done more harm to humanity than dozens of demihuman tribes over the centuries.

‘Are you sure you still want to let this guy pay for his crimes on the battlefield? This guy deserves to spend the rest of his days inside the dungeon of the forgotten being tortured to death like the monster he is.’ Canan spoke furiously, seeing the abominable crimes that Louis had committed.

‘I hate this bastard as much as you do, but we need him. But let’s make sure that bastard dies after he outlives his usefulness.’ Eirin spoke, her anger matching Canan’s.

“With so many crimes, he should be sentenced to life imprisonment and tortured until he dies naturally, with all his belongings being confiscated by the order and shared among the elders.” Eirin passed her sentence and the water elder faction cheered while Yami bit his lip in frustration.

He had done everything possible to cover his ally and prevent him from losing his political support, but in vain.

“Or so I would say in any situation, but we are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis.” Eirin continued, causing a light of hope to shine in Yami’s eyes and the enemy faction to frown in displeasure.

“The Caria empire, the empire’s longtime ally, is under attack by the filthy undead of the Nytrer continent, while the territory we conquered on the Setlan continent by sacrificing thousands of mages is under attack by the Fae alliance.” Eirin spoke and the elders of the water elder faction didn’t like the direction the speech was going.

“As if that weren’t enough, evolved Demihumans come from Doravon and attack the human kingdoms on the Caprio continent. We’re in an emergency and need all the help we can get. I suggest that instead of just arresting him and torturing him, it’s best to put it to good use on the front lines when the battle starts.”

“Wait a moment, supreme elder! A criminal with such an extensive list cannot be let loose. He is a danger to all of humanity and must be held captive or executed to ensure that no one else has to die in his madness!” Thersec rose from his chair and shouted indignantly.

‘I didn’t spend years silently collecting evidence and waiting for my golden opportunity to get rid of Louis only to have him get away with it right in front of me!’ Thersec thought angrily and similar thoughts were in the minds of the earth and mana elders.

“He won’t be free and he won’t get away just by fighting, water elder. All of your laboratories will be thoroughly investigated and all of your resources will be taken by order. Furthermore, the dark elder will be forced to share his knowledge with us.” Eirin spoke conditions that made everyone gasp.

“In addition, tracking spells will be placed on the dark wyrm and each of his undead generals and we will have two masters of magic constantly watching over them. The equipment he will use in combat will be provided by the order and will also have tracking spells.”

“Finally, the white fangs, the assassins who joined the order and work under the dark elder’s command will be disbanded and its members worked for the order, far from his jurisdiction.” Eirin continued to impose conditions until Yami was unable to accept any more.

“Wait a minute, supreme elder! Aren’t these conditions a little too unfair? Louis won’t be more than a war slave at this rate.” Yami cried out in concern as he got to his feet, but Eirin just gave him a cold smile.

“That’s exactly what he will be from now on. We are not covering his crimes, just using a resource that cannot be wasted. He remains a criminal, but he will be able to reduce his sentence or obtain minimal rights as long as he continues to fight on the lines of front.” Eirin said in a cold voice, making Yami cringe internally.

He weighed the options, thinking of the best way to lessen the damage for his faction.

‘On the one hand, executing him would brand him as a traitor and destroy one of the pillars of our faction. On the other hand, having him as a war slave, maybe even serving our enemies might be an even worse blow, but at least it gives me the time I need to figure out a way to get him out of this situation.’ Yami thought and relented, realizing that his only hope was to find a way to restore Louis’ position in the meantime.

Thersec was thinking along similar lines and came to the same conclusion as Yami, frowning in annoyance.

‘Although the idea of making that bastard Louis my slave is tempting, I don’t want to risk him regaining his position, despite the slim chance of that happening.’ Thersec thought and the elders of his faction thought similarly.

They objected to her request, saying it would be too risky to let someone as powerful and crazy as Louis go free, even partially.

But the two elders who only slept until now supported her idea, much to Thersec’s chagrin.

“If Louis joins the war, I will need to spend less time on the battlefield and more time in my laboratory, so I support the supreme elder’s decision.” It was Air Elder’s final word.

“I agree. We can use that bastard as a weapon and discard him when he becomes useless.” Valk responded aggressively, sealing Louis’s fate.

Yami naturally supported the decision and between three elders and the supreme elder, there was nothing Tharsec’s faction could do. Even if they tried to vote, all they could do is humiliate themselves.

“Then it is decided. Louis has lost his position as a dark elder along with all his rights and will become a war slave until he pays for all his crimes or dies in war.” Eirin announced and everyone nodded, though some reluctantly.

Eirin called to the guards stationed outside the room and ordered them to bring prisoner Louis Zahara into the room.

The guards found the order strange, but did not let it show and passed the orders through their communicators.

Louis was brought in in less than five minutes, surrounded by six guards in adamant armor and chained with enchanted steel chains that prevented mana from escaping the core, preventing the use of abilities and magic.

Louis looked haggard, his thin body from lack of food looking even older.