The size of the underground of the Lut Gholein Palace was beyond Abel's expectation. The second floor was decorated in the same style, but there were even more art pieces. It was at least 10 times bigger than the first floor.
Lut Gholein was located at the edge of the desert. The climate was dry and hot, and this kind of underground structure was perfect for avoiding the heat.
It wasn't hard to understand why the Lut Gholein Palace had such a large underground structure.
Lut Gholein was a port city that shocked Abel again. Whether it was the wealth on the ground or the first floor, it was only the tip of the iceberg of the Lut Gholein Palace.
In the huge space of the second underground floor, there were exquisite works of art everywhere. If it weren't for the presence of hell creatures, this place would be like a museum.
Abel carefully cleaned up the hell creatures. He didn't want to use the "instantaneous movement" to move forward. He needed the artwork here. Everything here was already his.
He wanted to clean up all the hell creatures here and take the art pieces with him. They would become his spoils of war.
Abel's life seemed to have returned to the days when he rested during the day and entered the Dark World to fight at night. His life had stabilized again.
It was time for the winter wheat harvest in the human world. This year's harvest had been delayed by half a month due to the poor growth of the winter wheat.
In the end, the harvest of winter wheat showed a large reduction in production. The reduction was so great that it almost reached 70%.
In the Holy Continent, the harvest of winter wheat was only 30% of the previous year's harvest. Many non-agricultural duchies were facing a huge shortage of food.
Of course, these duchies had their own food reserves, but they couldn't last long with such a harvest.
Normally, the food reserves of a duchy were set according to the amount of food they consumed in a season. This could allow a duchy to survive a natural disaster and wait for the next season's harvest.
However, the situation was different now. Almost everyone had accepted the once-in-a-millennium crop shortage. Since the previous year's harvest had decreased, many duchies had used up a portion of their food reserves.
When there was a huge shortage of food, conflicts began to appear among the human race.
If the strength of the Orc Empire had not decreased, even if there were conflicts within the human race, it would not be too serious. This was because the oppression of foreign enemies would make the human world more united.
However, the Orc Empire had already been weakened by the battle at the Miracle Wall. Abel had also dealt a heavy blow to the Orc Empire not long ago, killing six advanced orc priests.
Within a short period of time, the Orc Empire had lost seven advanced orc priests and a large number of elite warriors. They had no choice but to build high walls to separate the human world from the Orc Empire.
This was supposed to be a glorious victory, but now this victory brought about an unexpected result.
Humans had lost their greatest enemy. At least for the next hundred years, the Orc Empire would not be able to threaten humans anymore.
However, the conflicts within the human race suddenly became prominent after the external oppression disappeared. At the moment, there were only some small conflicts between castles because of the food harvest.
In early June, at the border between the Duchy of Tex and the Duchy of Keyen, an army of Knights was heading towards Dejo City in the Duchy of Keyen.
This was an army of 200 official Knights and 3000 trainee Knights. No noble family could have this many knights. Only a Duchy could command such a large army of Knights.
Head Knight Captain Job was the commander of this army. He was the most powerful of the 3 Head Knight Captains in the Duchy of Tex.
The Duchy of Tex was a mining duchy. The natural mineral resources made the Duchy of Tex rich in iron, silver, gold, and even magic stones.
With such rich mineral resources, the Duchy of Tex became the wealthiest of the 7 duchies under the Kingdom of Saint Ellis. Because of this, the Duchy of Tex was extremely powerful.
The Duchy of Keyen used to be an extremely powerful duchy. Since there was a Wizard Union branch in the Duchy of Keyen, there were a lot of wizards there.
However, because of Abel's destructive attack on the wizard circle in the Duchy of Keyen, the Duchy of Keyen had become the weakest of the 7 duchies.
If there was no shortage of crops, the Duchy of Keyen would be able to recover in a few hundred years. However, the shortage of crops made the Duchy of Keyen a fat piece of meat.
There were 4 other powerful duchies around the Duchy of Keyen that were eyeing it. However, they were afraid of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis, so they didn't dare to make a move.
The Duchy of Tex didn't want to be the first to make a move, but the shortage of crops was the most direct hit to their duchy. They didn't have enough food to last until next season's crops were ripe, and they didn't even know how much they could harvest next season.
Under these circumstances, the Duchy of Tex had to make a move. Just like that, an army of Knights that was powerful enough to wipe out the Duchy of Keyen was sent out.
Since they were all Knights, this army of 3000 people moved extremely fast. They arrived at Dejo City in the Duchy of Keyen before the sun was even above their heads.
"Knights, our request to buy food from the Duchy of Keyen has been rejected. The Duchy of Keyen would rather watch our people starve to death than sell us food. If they don't want to give us food, we will take it ourselves. The Duchy of Keyen is right in front of us. I need you to fight for the Duchy of Tex. Fight for the people of the Duchy of Tex!" Head Knight Job yelled.
"Fight for the Duchy of Tex! Fight for the people of the Duchy of Tex!" Head Commander Job's words made the 3000 knights' blood boil. They all began to yell.
"Honor is my life!" Head Knight Job yelled as he pulled out his Knight's big sword from his side. Under the reflection of the sun, the sword shined with a golden light.
"Honor is my life!" The Knights yelled as well.
Head Knight Job took the lead, and the 3000 Knights followed closely behind. The well-trained Knights naturally formed an arrow formation as they ran.
Although Dejo City was on the border of the Duchy of Keyen, there weren't many troops stationed here. It had been countless years since the Duchy of Keyen had a war with another Duchy, so the guards here had forgotten that this was a dangerous border city.
The garrison here was led by Head Commander Nelson. There were a total of ten knights and five hundred warriors. The biggest battle this garrison had experienced was just exterminating bandits.
Annelin was a scout. Since there had been no war for a long time, all he could do was stand on the city wall and watch. Since he slept late last night, he was a bit tired today.
Just as he was about to doze off, the ground suddenly shook and startled him. When he raised his head to look outside the city walls, the scene in front of him instantly woke him up.
Under the sun, an army of fully armored Knights was rushing towards Dejo City. Thousands of war horses galloped, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. It looked like this army of Knights was carrying the power of heaven and earth.
"Enemy attack!" Annelin yelled as he pulled the alarm bell next to him. His voice was trembling from nervousness.
Head Knight Horatio was sitting in the dining hall, elegantly tasting his red wine. The beef and vegetable salad in front of him emitted an enticing aroma.
Just as he was about to pour the red wine into his mouth, the alarm bell made his hand shake. The red wine spilled all over his body, but he didn't have time to care about it.
The alarm bell was not rung randomly. If you rung it by mistake, you would be hanged. Therefore, no one would joke around with the alarm bell.
"Prepare the horse!" Head Knight Horatio yelled as he rushed out of the dining hall.
He didn't have time to put on his armor, so he directly put on his casual clothes and rode out of the mansion.
On top of the city wall, Captain Nigel woke up from his afternoon nap when the alarm bell rang. He was sleeping in the guard room above the city wall, so when he woke up, he saw the knights charging towards the city wall through the window as soon as he sat up.
"Close the gate!" Captain Nigel yelled as he hurriedly put on his clothes.
By the time Captain Nigel reached the city gate, there were already a dozen city guards closing the gate after hearing the commotion.
The city gate was made of huge sturdy wood. It was 30 centimeters thick and covered with iron sheets. There were iron nails on top of the iron sheets for reinforcement.
The entire gate was very heavy. It would take at least 20 soldiers to close the gate, and it would take at least a few minutes to completely close it.
Be it Captain Nigel or the other warriors, all of them felt a little flustered as they listened to the horseshoes that sounded like a tsunami outside the city. The action of closing the city gate that they were so familiar with became stiff at this moment.
Head Knight Job saw the gate of Dejo City slowly closing, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
He didn't expect the guards of Dejo City to react so quickly and close the gate immediately. Before the attack, he had learned about the situation of Dejo City. The guards here had not been in battle for many years.
If the gate was closed, the Knight he brought would be able to attack the city, and the speed of the attack would be greatly affected.
If they wanted to attack a city like this, they would need siege equipment. If they waited for the equipment to arrive, the lightning attack plan of the Duchy of Tex would be greatly affected.
With that thought in mind, Head Knight Job unleashed his combat qi. His combat qi wrapped around his body and his horse, and he unleashed the charge skill of a Head Knight.
His warhorse was like a bolt of lightning, quickly breaking away from the front of the army and rushing towards the city gate.
"Quick, quick, close the gate!" Captain Nigel yelled as he commanded the soldiers to close the gate.
The gate was about 2 meters away from closing. As long as they closed the gate, the Knight legion outside would not be able to break into the city in a short amount of time.
However, just as Captain Nigel saw hope, a beam of light rushed in from the gap of the gate. Just as he was about to yell, he felt a flash of light pass through his body.
The power in his body suddenly disappeared. He was shocked to find that his upper body was separated from his lower body.
Head Knight Job rushed into the gate. He was holding a Knight's big sword, and a long whip of combat qi was quickly swung. In just a moment, there was no one left behind other than him.
"Honor is my life!" Just as Head Knight Job was about to turn around and push the gate open, a roar came from behind him. Head Knight Nelson was rushing towards him with his big sword.
It was a fearless charge, but it was also a deadly charge. A head Knight without a shield and knight only had a big sword in his hand. Attacking a head Knight with full armor and combat qi was inevitable.
It was like a wave crashing against a giant rock. Head Commander Job casually struck, and head commander Nelson's body left his horse and fell heavily to the ground. On head commander Nelson's chest, there was a sword mark that took away his life force.
Head Knight Job's strike was very careful. He did not damage Head Knight Nelson's body. This was a sign of respect for a true knight.
After the city gate was opened, more than 3000 knights rushed in. Dejo City no longer had the ability to fight back. After half an hour, Dejo City, which had protected the Duchy of Keyen for countless years, was completely lost.
Head Knight Job left 200 Knights to guard Dejo City. He did not stay in Dejo City for long. He wanted to capture as many cities as possible before the news spread to other cities.
Forff City and Dunya City, the two closest cities to Dejo City, were also taken down in just 2 days. When Head Commander Job was about to attack Erlue City, the news had already reached here, and all he saw was a city with its defenses fully opened.
Head Knight Job had to stop his attack. After a few days of continuous attacks, the powerful Knights were exhausted. They set up camp outside of Erlue City.
"Father, the Duchy of Tex has attacked the Duchy of Keyen. They have already captured 3 cities!" In the palace of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis, Prince Derek was reporting the latest news to Emperor Ambrose.
The Duchy of Tex's attack was too fast. Every time they attacked, they used lightning tactics without any prior notice. This was completely against the rules of Knight.
Also, the Duchy of Tex's intelligence system had interfered with the attack. Even the Kingdom of Saint Ellis's intelligence system did not receive accurate information until 2 days later.
"Your majesty, the Duchy of Tex is challenging the Kingdom of Saint Ellis. We should send troops to punish them immediately!" A minister lowered his voice.
"Your majesty, I think the Duchy of Tex had no choice. We should just reprimand them and make them give up their land!" Another minister stepped out and said.
"Did you take money from the Duchy of Tex? Why are you still trying to defend it?" The minister who spoke first glared at the minister who spoke just now and yelled.
"Can't we have a different opinion in the Kingdom? Did you take money from them? "The minister who was being questioned did not get mad. Instead, he asked back.
However, he did take money from the Duchy of Tex. All he had to do was defend them in the palace, and he could get so much wealth. How could he not be tempted?
"Alright, stop arguing!" King Ambrose waved his hand and stopped the ministers from arguing.
He knew that it was unacceptable to send troops at a time like this. The Kingdom of Saint Ellis needed a large amount of food to support it. The Kingdom of Saint Ellis did not have enough food to start a war.
The Kingdom of Saint Ellis originally had more food than the other duchies. It was enough to last them for a few years. However, the war against the Orc Empire had taken too much of the Kingdom's resources, including food.
When a large number of knights were mobilized, the food that the knights and the warhorses ate had to be transported. The transportation also consumed food. In addition, during the preparation period for war, the warhorses' food had to be consumed to ensure the knights' training.
It could be said that the war against the Orc Empire had taken away almost half of their food reserves.
The amount of food reserves in the Kingdom of Saint Ellis was a secret. The ministers present did not know, but King Ambrose knew.
"Send a messenger to the Duchy of Tex. Ask them to follow the rules of the Duchy of Tex and retreat!" King Ambrose lowered his voice.
The messenger from the Kingdom of Saint Ellis was warmly welcomed in the Duchy of Tex. However, the Duchy of Tex did not follow the Kingdom's order immediately. Instead, they used the excuse that their troops were too spread out and needed time to retreat.
This was the Duchy of Tex testing the bottom line of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis. King Ambrose's attitude was surprisingly soft. He only sent out a few messengers to mediate. He was not as tough as the Kingdom of Saint Ellis should be.
The Duchy of Tex's actions and the attitude of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis were like a lit oil barrel. While the Duchy of Tex was arguing with the Kingdom of Saint Ellis, the Duchy of Larvid, the Duchy of Laka, and the Duchy of Rohr also sent out their troops in a short period of time.
This was a feast. A feast to divide up the Duchy of Keyen. If it was just the Duchy of Tex, the Duchy of Keyen would be able to hold on for a while if the Duchy of Tex didn't send out any wizards.
However, with 4 duchies attacking at the same time, the Duchy of Keyen's weak military could not support 4 battles at all. In just a few days, the Duchy of Keyen was only left with its capital, Billy City. It was now a city on its own.
Inside the palace of the Duchy of Keyen, King Kenneth looked at the map in front of him with a gloomy face. The map used to be the land of the Duchy of Keyen, but now it had become the land of the other duchies.
The Duchy that had been passed down for countless years was now only the capital, Billy City, in his hands.
However, he knew there was still a glimmer of hope. The Kingdom of Saint Ellis had been trying to mediate. He needed to give the Kingdom of Saint Ellis enough time. Also, the Wizard Union might get involved, which would help the Duchy of Keyen survive.
There was one thing he needed to do. The Duchy of Keyen had to be able to defend Billy City.
At this time, the nobles that had escaped from their lost lands had brought back a large number of knights and warriors. Normally, nobles wouldn't run away in a war like this. Although the war would affect the nobles, no matter which side won, it wouldn't affect the nobles too much.
However, this time was different. The 4 duchies needed food, not the nobles.
Historically speaking, there had never been a war like this one. All the resources on the occupied land were looted. The nobles were driven away, the city residents were driven away, and everyone who could consume food was driven away.
Only the farmers who could grow food were left. Because of this, Billy City was filled with nobles. Many Knights and warriors could be seen everywhere. There were so many citizens chased away that Billy City could not fit them all.
Outside of Billy City, many citizens from other cities had no choice but to build temporary tents. Luckily, the weather was hot, so all they needed was some shade.
However, the food problem was getting worse and worse. Everything that could be eaten was eaten by the starving people. There was not a single thing that could be eaten within a few miles of Billy City.
The atmosphere in the palace of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis was a bit tense.
"Father, let's send out the troops. If we don't send out the troops, the dignity of our kingdom will be lost!" Prince Derek begged to his Majesty Ambrose.
His Majesty Ambrose gazed at Prince Derek. How could he not know? If this continued, the entire kingdom would be separated.
As long as the Duchy of Keyen disappeared, the Kingdom of Saint Ellis would lose control over the other kingdoms. This would be a huge blow to the Kingdom of Saint Ellis's power.
Once the vassal states were out of control, the war between the vassal states would probably continue and eventually develop into a great war.
It was not like the Kingdom of Saint Ellis had no enemies. Whether it was the Kingdom of St Pierrt or the Kingdom of St Anwall, once the Kingdom of Saint Ellis lost a lot of power, these two kingdoms would not hesitate to attack them.
The only problem right now was food. As long as there was enough food, they could send out troops to suppress the 4 duchies and force them to withdraw their troops.
At this moment, none of the ministers in the hall made a sound. During this period of mediation, they all understood one thing, and that was that the Empire could no longer afford a war.
It didn't matter what side the ministers were leaning towards, under such a serious situation, they no longer had any other ideas. They all knew that if they couldn't handle this properly, the Duchy of Saint Ellis would be in big trouble.
"Derek, I remember you said the Duchy of Carmel had a lot of food. Is that true?" His Majesty Ambrose turned to Prince Derek and asked.
"Yes, father. According to the intelligence department, all the food stores in the Duchy of Carmel have been directly supplied by the Duchy of Carmel. Although there is a limit to the amount of food they can buy, the supply has always been very good. According to the reports from the big stores in the Duchy of Carmel, the amount of food in the stores is not less than before!" Prince Derek bowed and replied.
"What if we buy some food from the Duchy of Carmel?" His Majesty Ambrose asked without much confidence.
As the Emperor of the Empire, His Majesty Ambrose had unparalleled power. However, he couldn't do much about Abel in the Duchy of Carmel. The only way was to negotiate.
He knew better than anyone the role Abel played in the war against the Orc Empire. In that war, Abel alone killed a terrifying number of elite orc warriors.
Even now, he was still shocked by the amount of military achievements he had. He definitely couldn't use his power to suppress someone as powerful as Abel.
"The Duchy of Carmel has always been an important source of food. After Guru Abel became the Emperor, the Duchy of Carmel didn't reduce the amount of food they were supposed to give to the Empire. They didn't use gold or other resources like the other duchies either. Therefore, I think the Duchy of Carmel doesn't lack food." Prince Derek analyzed.
Prince Derek controlled the information system of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis, so his analysis was the most convincing.
"Derek, go to the Duchy of Carmel in my place to buy some food. You can tell Guru Abel the truth!" His Majesty Ambrose lowered his voice.
"Father, I'll go now!" Prince Derek knew time was tight, so he bowed and left the palace.
In Bakong City, Duchy of Carmel, Abel met with Prince Derek in the side palace of the palace. This was a private meeting, so other than Steward Burbage, there was no one else present.
"Guru Abel, you should know about the war in the Duchy of Keyen right?" Prince Derek asked directly.
"Yes, I've heard about it!" Abel nodded and said.
As he controlled the Duchy of Carmel for a long time, the information system had been developing rapidly with the support of large amounts of gold coins. Especially the stable and rich Duchy of Carmel, everyone wanted it. This kind of unity made the information system develop even better.
The relationship between the Duchy of Keyen and Abel was not good. Because of Abel, the wizard system in the Duchy of Keyen had basically collapsed. This was why the 4 big duchies dared to make a move on the Duchy of Keyen.
Without the protection of wizards, the Duchy of Keyen was like a child walking on the streets with gold coins in his hands.
"Guru Abel, the Duchy of Keyen cannot fall. If it falls, it will break the rules of the duchies, and the human world will fall into chaos. Wars will continue to happen!" Prince Derek lowered his voice.
"Prince Derek, I am only the king of a Duchy. I cannot stop a war between 5 duchies with my own power. What you are saying is far from what I can do. The kingdom is the sovereign state of the duchies. It is the duty of the kingdom to protect the rules of the duchy!" Abel shook his head and said to Prince Derek.
The sovereign state would collect a certain amount of resources from the other duchies every year. This amount was directly related to the power of the duchy. For example, the Duchy of Carmel had to hand over a certain amount of food every year in exchange for protection.
Now that the Duchy of Keyen was being invaded by 4 other duchies, it was the duty of the Duchy of St Ellis.
"Guru Abel, the Kingdom of St Ellis had already used up too much food in the last war with the Orc Empire. We don't have enough food left to support another war!" Prince Derek said helplessly.
If the Kingdom of St Ellis wanted to suppress the 4 duchies, they would need to send out an army strong enough to threaten them. Even with this scale, it would take a lot of food.
"Prince Derek, what request does the kingdom have?" Abel asked straightforwardly.
"Guru Abel, the kingdom can buy some food from you at the market price. Please help the kingdom, and the kingdom will repay you well!" Prince Derek begged.
Buying food at the market price was not the price in the Duchy of Carmel. It was the price in the Holy Continent. The price of food in the Duchy of Carmel had always been low, so no one would go hungry.
Abel didn't want the human world to be in chaos. It was also beneficial for him to have a good relationship with the kingdom. As for food, he just didn't have a reason to sell it.
Although he had a lot of food, it was only enough for 2-3 duchies. If he sold this amount, it would attract unwanted attention.
He wasn't afraid of war, but he wanted to minimize as much trouble as possible. Also, the Duchy of Carmel was still too weak. It needed time to grow.
"Ok, Prince Derek. Give me a specific amount, and I'll ask the officials to prepare it for you!" Abel thought for a moment and nodded.
"Guru Abel, your help has earned the friendship of the kingdom!" Prince Derek said in excitement.
In the capital of the Duchy of Keyen, Billy City, knights, warriors, and ordinary citizens were all arranged to go up the city wall. Countless defensive resources were also sent up the city wall. Under the pressure of having their wealth plundered and their country destroyed, under the threat of survival, the nobles in Billy City were unprecedentedly united.
Outside the city wall, the armies of the 4 duchies had arrived. Their target was the last of the wealth of the Duchy of Keyen. Because of their drive, all the wealth of the Duchy of Keyen had been gathered in Billy City.
Just when a war was inevitable, a super Knight legion of 20,000 Knights from the Kingdom of Saint Ellis left the kingdom and headed towards the Duchy of Keyen.
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