Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 439 The Missing Grand Duke

In the Golden City, the capital of Saint Valen, inside the Grand Duke's court.

The tall, white-haired Duke Ralph paced back and forth on the garden corridor, angrily saying to the pale-faced royal attendant, "Where on earth has His Majesty gone? I can't believe that even the Queen doesn't know where he's gone!"

After being attacked by the extraordinary assassin sent by Harvey, Duke Ralph was completely frightened. In line with the noble principle of turning to the Church as soon as possible when encountering a hostile spellcaster, he immediately asked for help from the Glorious Bishop in Fengyuan City... But the reply he finally received was that the extraordinary forces of the Church in Saint Valen were currently fighting against Daeus in the border area and had no spare energy to send anyone to protect the safety of His Excellency the Duke.

Archbishop Fengyuan even made a cautious suggestion, asking the Duke to hide his whereabouts and secretly go to the royal capital for temporary refuge, and not to alarm his subjects and family members, so as to ensure that the news would not leak out along the way.

The Duke, who had long been like a frightened bird, naturally obeyed... But who would have thought that just after he secretly arrived in the royal capital, the gate of his hometown Fengyuan City was blown down by an artillery fire. After only one night of fighting, his elite Fengyuan Knights were almost destroyed, and all his family members were captured.

That was the rich fiefdom that Ralph's family had managed for generations. If he really gave it away, Ralph would probably lose his prestigious position as the Duke of the Kingdom.

He was eager to seek the support of Grand Duke Saint Valen, but since arriving in the capital, he was told that His Majesty the Grand Duke had already arrived at the front line... When he sent people to rush to the front line, he was shocked to find that His Majesty was not there at all.

Grand Duke Saint Valen disappeared in full view of the public.

"Your Excellency the Duke, His Majesty has been very close to the Church in recent years. Before the outbreak of the war with Daeus, he lived in a palace very close to the Royal Cathedral. Except for the priests and personal attendants of the Church, he did not meet anyone else..." In other words, if you want to see His Majesty the Grand Duke, you may have to find out his specific whereabouts by contacting the Church.

"This is ridiculous! Does a vassal need permission from the church to meet his king?" Duke Ralph said in disbelief, his eyes wide open.

The Prime Minister and the State Ministers who came in a hurry also brought many of their subordinates and blocked the corridor of the royal court. Not only Duke Ralph, but these confidential ministers had not seen His Majesty in person for more than a year. If they did not often see documents stamped with His Majesty's blood seal being sent out of the royal court, it would be hard not to suspect that His Majesty had been secretly murdered.

A group of dignitaries spent most of the day in the royal court, but a tall, thin and old figure slowly walked out of the inner courtyard - it was Archbishop Saint Valen!

The archbishop, with white hair and beard but a face resembling a middle-aged man, looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, I have told you more than once that His Majesty the Grand Duke is not in a position to meet with his subjects at the moment. All government affairs must be handled through consultation with the ministers and the officiating priests..."

Before the ministers could speak, Duke Ralph pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, his face gloomy as he asked, "Your Majesty, why is he unwilling to see me? If I hadn't obeyed his call and sent most of Fengyuan City's knights and troops to reinforce the border, my fiefdom wouldn't have been left defenseless and nearly murdered by an assassin!"

He slapped the sword at his waist and said through gritted teeth, "If Your Majesty is unwilling to send troops to help me retake my fiefdom, that's fine... I request that the knights summoned to the front lines be recalled to Fengyuan City to fight that abominable Mage Lord to the death!"

A regiment of two thousand regular knights, coupled with the cooperation of a large number of experienced mercenaries, is a force that cannot be underestimated anywhere in Saint Valen. Duke Ralph naturally has the confidence to do so.

The Archbishop frowned and said impatiently, "Our war with Daeus is at a critical juncture. Even the Holy City of Goris is continuously sending reinforcements. Yet, Your Excellency the Duke wants to withdraw his knights at this moment?"

He paused, looked around at the dignitaries and said angrily: "What? You guys are planning to sit back and watch His Majesty the Grand Duke and the Church be defeated, and those lawless spellcasters of the Federation make a comeback, repeating the mistakes of the outbreak of the plague in the royal capital, right?" The ministers looked at each other and lowered their heads... Compared to the arrogant spellcasters, of course, the church that is closer to the nobles is worth joining forces with, especially since they can always respond to requests in times of crisis.

Grand Duke Ralph persisted, "But you're not going to care about our rear areas? Fengyuan City is indeed my fiefdom, and it's a good place... but that damned Mage Lord occupied it. Add to that the Grizzly Territory on the northern border, and that's a full third of the Duchy's territory!"

He glanced at the archbishop and snorted coldly, "Furthermore... I've heard that the Mage Lord is extremely hostile to the Church. Whether it's the priests and pastors you stationed there or the Knights of the Inquisition you sent over... they've all been expelled, imprisoned, or even publicly hanged!"

These words finally prompted a young high-ranking priest behind the bishop to speak up. "Your Excellency, if you hadn't refused to listen to Bishop Fengyuan's advice and hadn't proactively dispatched troops to harass the surrounding civilians before they even showed any hostility, ultimately leading to the complete annihilation of that so-called [Special Force] in the northern border, Fengyuan City wouldn't have fallen so easily, right?"

His Majesty the Grand Duke did instruct him to keep a close eye on the wizard lord on the northern border, but Duke Ralph, who always believed that he held great power, naturally regarded the other party as fat meat that could be bullied and plundered at will. It can only be said that his defeat was not unfair.

The Church and the Saint Valen coalition's original plan to suppress the Federation forces in Daeus first and then turn around to focus on dealing with the Mage Lords on the northern border was also thwarted by Duke Ralph's underestimation of the enemy and his reckless advance... Now the situation has reversed, and they are being attacked from both sides.

"But there's no need to panic. Our Judgment Legions stationed in Isengard and Goreth are always on standby, ready to quickly reinforce the battle on the border of Saint Varen..."

Before he could finish his words of reassurance, a combat priest in charge of intelligence transmission hurried in to meet him. "Archbishop, my Lords... We've received intelligence that in the fallen city of Fengyuan, that pagan... that Mage Lord Harvey is crossing the Ralph River and continuously sending reinforcements into the city!"

Fengyuan City is located in the plain area in the central part of Saint Valen. The Ralph River runs across it from east to west, and there is also a straight stream running from north to south. There is no doubt... the other party's action is aimed at the royal capital Jinhui City, which is located downstream of Fengyuan City.

"Can you estimate the current enemy strength in Fengyuan City?"

"This...the enemy's soldiers aren't stationed in the city, but have set up a heavily fortified camp at the riverbank. Our spies have no idea what's going on inside, but judging by the ships that have arrived in the past few days, they have at least three thousand troops."

The Archbishop narrowed his eyes and pressed the issue, "It's said that the Mage Lord's soldiers all fight on foot, without any regular knights or extraordinary warriors. They rely solely on a magical weapon capable of long-range attacks to kill the enemy?"

The young high-ranking priest who had spoken earlier seemed quite familiar with this and took the initiative to explain, "Your Excellency, the soldiers under that fellow's command are indeed mortals, but the weapons they use appear to be provided by the Federation... They are similar to the magical weapons they used against the demons in the Evil Moon Mountains."

He paused, glanced at Duke Ralph with disdain, and continued, "As for the battle that took Fengyuan City, the rumored powerful magical weapon capable of causing a violent explosion...was simply the result of spies sent in advance to plant dragon flame powder at the Fengyuan city gates and in the military camp. Once detonated, the defenders were thrown into disarray, unable to organize an effective defense and were instantly defeated."

The hidden meaning in his words was naturally a veiled criticism of Duke Ralph himself, mocking his cowardly act of abandoning the city and coming to the capital alone to seek refuge.

The group discussed the impending war for a while, but the Minister of State suddenly tugged at Duke Ralph's sleeve. Ralph immediately understood and exclaimed, "Did you notice? After all, they still won't let us see His Majesty."

(End of this chapter)