Author's Note: I finally have the time to edit the second update today. Please help me!
Walking alone in the garden of the castle's courtyard, Matthew Bard's expression gradually turned sinister and crazy.
Even the most unscrupulous Duke Muxilon, the godson of Lich King Akhan, Matthew Bard knew that he did not have much time left. Muxilon's situation was worsening, and the vampires' control over the land was slowly decreasing.
When did the situation start to spiral out of control?
Matthew Bard recalled the situation. It started around five years ago when the Muxilon flood was summoned by the Lake Fairy and destroyed the entire Dukedom of Connaught. After that, Muxilon's situation had deteriorated.
The entire Blood Knights went missing while attacking Laing's territory. Then came the battle of Turisse Castle. The Red Duke died, and Akhan tried to ambush Laing's territory but encountered an extremely terrifying existence. The entire elite army of vampires was wiped out.
This was a fatal blow to Musiron. Due to the failure of his plan, Akerman had no choice but to set out in search of the Crown of Nagash (the Sorcerer's Crown), while the Vampire Count Manfred was ordered to attack Skaven Magic City in search of the Sword of Nagash.
Otherwise, the army that Muxilon had accumulated over hundreds of years might not be able to fight against the entire Brittany, but it would not be a problem for him to deal with the allied forces of three or four dukes.
After these huge setbacks, Matthew Bard had very little troops left. He had no choice but to resort to this plan. Did Matthew Bard not know that his plan was extremely risky?
No, he knew it too well. However, he had no other choice. If he continued to be content with the current situation, he would only be waiting for death! How long had it been since Duke Lauen's army of knights attacked Muxilon? The Blood Red Duke's corpse outside Turisse Castle was still quietly looking at Matthew Bard, the new (self-proclaimed) Duke of Muxilon!
Only by gambling could he have a chance to reverse the situation. Otherwise, it would be a slow death. Matthew Bard had been taught by Akhan since he was young. He knew what he should do.
Vampires also had spies in Bordero. Necromancer Farrah and a few vampires had infiltrated and bribed Duke Bodrick's quartermaster. They bought an obsolete catapult from the quartermaster at a high price. This catapult was severely damaged and could not be repaired. It could no longer throw stones, and could only throw one or two hundred kilograms at most. The quartermaster felt that this thing was useless, and reported it to Duke Bodrick to dispose of it as scrap. The transfer at a low price was also approved.
Throwing boulders was not enough, but throwing a person was enough. The Vampires would tie Farrah to a trebuchet and use the trebuchet to throw the Necromancer into the castle from the outside. Once the Necromancer bypassed the castle's barrier, he could directly summon the Black Grail Knight lurking outside the castle into the castle!
He had just taken a look. As expected, weapons were prohibited at the banquet. Even the dukes did not carry any weapons. Apart from that damned Paladin who was still fully armed, Matthew Bard noticed that only Laing, his wife, and their little maid were carrying swords. This was against the rules, but the guards did not say anything because it was Laing.
As long as the powerful black Grail Knights rushed into the banquet, it would be a massacre.
"Ma … Dominic, what are you doing here? Washing your hands and coming to the garden? " While Matthew Bard was still thinking, the sound of high heels came from beside him. Fiona walked over impatiently. "You came into the castle to admire the flowers?"
"Why don't you stay at the banquet?" Of course, Matthew Bard would not go to the center of the banquet. He was still a little afraid of being discovered, especially by Duke Berchemund and Laing. Both Laing and Suria were real fierce people.
Fortunately, there were many people today. There were hundreds of people at the banquet.
"What's the point of staying at the banquet? A group of Grail Knights is just bragging." Fiona stared at Matthew Bard. The girl's expression changed back and forth. She then said, "Can you tell me now? Why do you have to attend this banquet? "
"Fiona, I'm sorry for what happened before. I hope you can understand. I have my difficulties, Fiona." Matthew Bard immediately pretended to be wronged. He was very dejected like a depressed wandering knight. "I'm now a fugitive wanted by the kingdom. It's only because I won second place in the knight's conference that these knights dare not publicly punish me because of their face and lack of evidence. I have to find a way to clear my name."
"I'll support you." Fiona did not quite understand how Matthew Bard was going to clear his name, but this noble lady had made up her mind to support this "poor man" in front of her.
It was not Matthew Bard who was wrong, but the entire Knight King's rotten aristocratic system. In order to clear Matthew Bard's name, Fiona was willing to face the whole world with him.
The granddaughter of Duke Berleon had made up her mind. No matter what, she would definitely stand on Matthew Bard's side.
"Let's go to the castle and see where the wizard is."
"Okay."
…
At the banquet, Laing, Berchemund, Matthew Bard, Laing Leo Cornwall and other Grail Knights were sitting around the round table in the center. This was the honor of the Grail Knights. In this country, only the Grail Knights could sit at this big round table made of cherry blossom wood.
"Laing, I've heard about your active performance in the Helmgard plague. Please have a drink." At the round table, the Grail Knights were eating and drinking. Berchemund, the Duke of the Red Dragon, raised his glass and signaled Laing to drink it all.
"Well, about Countess Eva …" Laing drank the whole glass of red wine. Before he could say anything, Berchemund broke off a big goose leg and said, "Come, taste the goose here and see if it's different from Bastogne!"
The big roasted goose leg was stuffed into Laing's mouth. Laing could only nod with a bitter face. Duke Berchemund was two generations older than him. Not only was he a direct descendant of Arthur, but he was also one of the top Grail Knights in the whole kingdom. As a junior, he still had to follow the rules.
When the goose leg was half eaten, Berchemund took a roasted lamb leg and put it on Laing's plate. The Duke had a "sincere" smile on his face and said, "What, the champion of ladies? You married Suria, and now you want to marry my granddaughter? This won't do. A knight can have many women, but he can only have one wife! "
"I didn't mean that, Your Excellency." Laing was a little embarrassed and explained, "I'm asking about …"
"Then why do you keep asking about things that have nothing to do with you? Ryan, this has nothing to do with you. If you want to talk it over, send that fellow Francois, or Julius himself, to me! "Oh, I'm sorry. What's the point of asking my son-in-law? " Berchemund laughed and said in the tone of a senior reprimanding a junior, "You can't replace Julius in the duel!"
Laing kind of understood what Berchemund meant. The Duke already had a conclusion in his mind, and he didn't need to discuss it with Laing. Therefore, he used this kind of half-joking way to politely reject Laing's probing.
Laing understood that both sides didn't overdo it. He found an opportunity to raise his glass to Fedmond and said, "Congratulations again, Fedmond."
"Cheers!" The Knights of the Holy Grail at the meeting also raised their glasses.
"To the lady! To Brittany! "
"To Bordero!"
The Knights of the Holy Grail raised their glasses and drank together.
After another drink, Berchemund said to Laing, "I heard that you and François are planning to attack the Blackstone Fortress in the Gray Mountains?"
"That's right. We're planning it." Laing nodded. Within the beautiful Bodlius Castle, seawater filled the banquet hall and the courtyard. The dolphin that symbolized Mannann tumbled in the air before falling back into the water.
"Bastogne will send two squads of Kingdom knights to support you." Bastogne wasn't far from Blackstone Fortress, and Berchemund obviously had the same concerns. "Kemmler's threat is a threat to the kingdom. The dukes have their own problems. The Chaos invasion last year greatly damaged many duchies. You and François can't place too much hope on the other dukes sending reinforcements. Laing, you have to learn how to solve problems without reinforcements."
"I understand." Laing was stunned for a moment before he replied, "Attacking Blackstone Fortress isn't a battle between knights. Please don't think too much about it. Protecting our fief is our greatest devotion to the lady."
Those words were a huge relief to the dukes who were listening. News of Laing and François's plan to attack Blackstone Fortress had already spread among Brittany's upper echelons. The dukes felt a lot of pressure because they were facing their own problems.
First of all, the northern part of the kingdom suffered heavy losses during Egil's Chaos invasion last year. They needed time to rest. Duke Ardred of Lyonasser, Duke Gisoleiox, and Duke Lauren of Connet looked troubled. It was obvious that they couldn't send reinforcements. Duke Montfort, Forcade, was still cleaning up Axe Pass and wouldn't send reinforcements either.
Then, the Bordero Duchy was currently facing a political transition, and it wasn't clear if they were willing to send troops. The Kacasson Duchy was constantly harassed by the Green Skin and Ratmen, the Bereon Duchy was in chaos, and the Parawon Duchy, Kasvann and Francois had an extremely bad relationship. No matter how one looked at it, the only one that had the strength to send troops to support them was the Bastogne Duchy.
Berchemund's words cleverly supported the dukes who couldn't send reinforcements. He tactfully said that they didn't have the energy to help them at the moment. The Red Dragon Duke was helping the dukes say what they wanted to say but couldn't. After all, Laing was the champion of the Chosen of the Lake Nymph. If he used the name of the Lake Nymph, the dukes would be in a difficult position.
Then, Berchemund did Laing a favor. He said that he would send reinforcements to help Laing. However, Laing and François still had to rely on their own strength to win the war. They didn't have to rely on the dukes' reinforcements.
After testing each other, another problem was solved. Laing thought that Berchemund wasn't as ignorant of politics and the court as people said. He just didn't care. The young Count raised his glass. "Please drink, my Duke. I wish you good health and a long life."
"Thank you." Berchemund and Laing toasted.
They seemed to have reached a tacit understanding.
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of meat, the famous stage play "The Warrior Fights the Evil Dragon" began on the stage built by the servants at the banquet. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the play.
The background of the story was very simple. In Brittany, a Knight of the Holy Grail heard that a dragon had invaded his country and decided to destroy it. The brave Knight of the Holy Grail rode on his horse, picked up his lance, and began a dragon-slaying expedition.
The Knight of the Holy Grail was a young official knight. He wore a red full-body plate armor and held a sword and shield in his hands. He looked majestic.
The ones who played the role of the red dragon were … five serfs. They lined up in a row and covered their bodies in the dragon's body made of animal skin, wood, and metal. Using all kinds of weapons, they rushed towards the Knight of the Grail with bared fangs and brandished claws.
"For the Lady, accept your judgment, Dragon! May the Lady grant me victory! " The "Knight of the Holy Grail" played by a knight began his performance. He charged bravely and fought with the "Dragon".
The "Dragon" was unwilling to be defeated. Like all the villains, it fought back with all its strength. The dragon's body turned around on the stage and whipped the knight's shield. The dragon's mouth seemed to be made with the help of dwarves. It could even breathe fire.
Laing was not interested in this kind of inferior performance at first, but the Count soon found that this was not a fake fight, but a real fight! The knight and the "Dragon" were really dueling on the stage. The dragon's tail made of iron and leather slapped the knight's face, making his face bloody. The knight's sword pierced through the body of the "Dragon" and a lot of blood spurted out. It was definitely not chicken blood or pig blood!
Was this for real? Laing was quite surprised. The Count was about to say something, but on the stage, there was a sudden change.
A serf suddenly stretched out his arm from the "Dragon's body". He held a red dagger and directly pierced into the knight's neck!
"Ahhhh!" There was a scream from below the stage. The audience was frightened by this situation. They saw the knight holding his neck in disbelief as blood spurted out from between his fingers. Then he fell down powerlessly and fell off the stage.
“？？？ Bodrick? What are you acting for? " Berchemund asked Duke Bordero strangely, "The so-called brave man fighting the evil dragon is the evil dragon using a despicable sneak attack to kill the brave man?"
"Wait a minute …" Bodrick was also puzzled. He muttered to himself strangely, "That's not right. That's not how the script is written."
The dukes were still puzzled, but the "Dragon" on the stage did not intend to give them time to think. The five serfs held the dragon's body as if they had gone mad and rushed directly to the banquet!
"Ah! God! What happened? "
"Help!"
"Run!"
The audience was in chaos. Screams, footsteps, and the sound of glass shattering resounded throughout the banquet!
"Guards! Protect the guests! Protect the Duke! "
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