The Duke's Death

"Lucian's Special Turquoise Stock Solution (Grade B) * 67 vials."

"Lucian's Advanced Healing Holy Water (Grade B) * 119 bottles."

"9 vials of Lucian's Top-Grade Turquoise Stock Solution (Grade A)."

"Crystal of Extreme Transcendence *7"

A range of high-level potions, along with various royal treasures, now lie in Lister's system Inventory.

Sure enough, the profits from theft are huge.

The royal family's years of accumulated wealth from war ultimately benefited him.

It's a pity that with so many potions, including the precious Grade A potions, Lister can only use a few bottles at most.

Once the four-dimensional attributes reach the barrier limit of 60 points, they become useless.

After all, this is only the Kingdom of Lucian during the first three acts, so even the enhancement effect of A-grade potions is only effective before the second class change.

After the second job advancement, Lister could only search for new usable potions in alchemical ruins and even the galaxy.

The remaining items in his Inventory could be used as quest rewards when he asks players to do quests.

After three days of travel, Lister finally returned to the Duchy of Will.

There was no rush to take the medicine along the way. The royal city was in chaos, and the noble territories were crowded with people.

It's best to take it at home to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

But the closer Lister got to the Weier Main City, the more acutely Lister sensed something was amiss.

Under the powerful perception of the Killing Intent Wave, a bloody smell kept wafting into my nostrils, growing stronger and stronger.

Sure enough, corpses began to appear outside the city not long afterward.

There were Class Holder and civilian soldiers.

Upon reaching the outer city, they found the city gates wide open, all the guards dead, and piles of corpses nearby.

Lister stood outside the city, briefly scanning the corpses.

The majority of the corpses were ordinary people, with only a few belonging to Class Holder.

Continue to assess the situation within the city; two armies are engaged in a fierce battle.

This made him start to speculate.

Could it be that Quint made his move beforehand?

That was incredibly fast!

Is it unnecessary to attack the city now, since Will II is still alive?

Or was it a preemptive attack on Lucian by other countries?

Filled with doubt, he quickly rode into the outer city, only to find that the once bustling outer city was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around, the nearby streets were deserted, with only piles of corpses.

After sensing the situation, Lister realized that the common people were simply hiding indoors and in inconspicuous corners of the city, too afraid to show themselves.

As for the two fighting teams not far away, one of them was fully equipped, with neat and orderly attack movements and strict discipline, clearly Duke Will's army.

The other unit, while not outdated in equipment, lacked a unified standard and had a very haphazard offensive style, with each unit fighting independently, clearly composed of newly recruited soldiers.

Based on this, it's impossible that they are from other countries; the only possibility is that they are from Quint.

After Lister and his party of six entered the city, they caused virtually no disturbance.

The two armies were already bloodthirsty and had no time to spare for him.

The next moment, another army appeared not far away, and this army was also dressed in full uniform.

Although they are outnumbered, with only fifty or sixty people, the proportion of Class Holder is much higher than that of the two teams currently engaged in combat.

Instead of Duke Will's men, another somewhat defeated and disorganized force joined the battle.

Lister examined the insignia on the army's armor and realized they were from the Conner Family.

Could it be that the duchy is truly embroiled in internal strife, as he suspects?

With such a large-scale battle taking place, could it be that Duke Will is dead?

Otherwise, given the Conner Family's modus operandi, they wouldn't easily take action.

But this shouldn't be happening!

Lister remembered the task Hughes had given him that night: to urge Will II to gather 2,000 Class Holder and head to Royal City of Bode for war preparations.

Since Hughes gave him this task, then Will II should still be alive.

Unable to figure it out, he decided to stop thinking about it for now and continued heading towards the inner city.

Relying on his powerful aura, Lister saved himself a lot of trouble, as no soldiers or Class Holder dared to cause him trouble.

It wasn't until they entered the inner city that they discovered the fighting there was even more intense.

The army consisted entirely of Class Holder; one side resembled an allied force of multiple families, while the other was Duke Will's army.

Brilliant fireballs, vines covering the ground, mud pits, and various traps, etc.

Battles between Class Holder are far more intense than ordinary battles.

The combatants, primarily magic-based Class Holder, were clearly an allied force led by the Conner Family, unleashing a barrage of wide-ranging magical attacks.

On the other hand, the army of the Duchy of Will was also well-defended, with dozens of shield warriors of rank two or above at the forefront.

Each person was fully equipped with advanced plate armor and heavy armor. Facing attacks from all directions, they fearlessly raised their shields and withstood the damage.

A large group of heavily armed warriors behind him were taking the time to recover, and the battle seemed to be at a stalemate.

"Lister?"

Not far from the allied mages, a figure clad in heavy silver armor was waving at him.

Lister recognized the silver heavy armor, especially the faint knife marks on the breastplate, which were clearly his work.

Accompanied by several attendants, they quickly approached Quint's direction.

Inside the makeshift tent, Lister saw a group of old acquaintances.

The heads of the Six Great Families, led by Count Connor, were all present, and now, with him included, Seven Great Families were gathered.

Quint had taken off his helmet, and his blond hair was plastered to his scalp with sweat.

His face looked tired, and there were a few small scars at the corners of his eyes.

He is no longer as handsome as he used to be, but he gives off a much more resolute and mature vibe.

"What's going on in the Duchy? Your father isn't dead yet, is he? Why are you already vying for the title?"

Lister asked Quint.

His gaze was already fixed on Count Connor sitting behind him.

He sat quietly in his chair, dressed in a Crimson robe and holding a glass of red wine.

He didn't seem very interested and lacked his usual enthusiasm for Lister, only giving him a faint nod.

"It's earlier than expected, but not in the way you think."

"The Duke is dead!"

Is he really dead?

Lister turned to look at Count Connor again, and received a nod from him once more.

I thought that Kingdom of Lucian's early start of the war was already a major change.

Unexpectedly, the changes in the Duchy of Will were even greater, and such big news was unknown even to Hughes.

Quint, who is only level 33 and has just entered the fourth tier, is already competing for the title of Duke.

Knowing that Lister still had questions, Quint nodded to the people inside the tent and then pulled Lister to a separate tent next door.

"How did Duke Will die? Is my family alright?"

"The people of your Merick Family, Count Connor, have already been moved elsewhere."

"As for this war, I also find it sudden, but now it seems unstoppable."

Quint flicked the hair off his forehead and poured him a glass of wine.

Even during wartime, alcohol consumption remained abundant, and in some cases, it increased several times over.

Two weeks ago, the Duke sent men to assassinate Lawson Connor outside the city...

The trigger for the whole incident is clear: Will II murdered Count Connor's eldest son, the future heir to the Conner Family, outside the city.

This caused Count Connor's long-held composure and rationality to vanish instantly. After luring Will II out of the castle, he attacked and killed him in the street.

With the death of Duke Will II, the entire city descended into chaos.

Upon receiving the news, Quint naturally seized the opportunity and quickly led his troops from the Rai Territory.

Although the business has only been developing for a short time, the profits from the turquoise mines have allowed them to build a team of dozens of Class Holder.

With the support of Count Connor and the Class Holder trained by the Seven Great Families, the struggle for the dukedom began ahead of schedule.

"Why would Duke Will assassinate Lawson for no reason?"

Lister never expected that it was Will II who had initiated this whole affair.

"It wasn't just Lawson who was assassinated, but me too!"

Quint spoke calmly, and it's no wonder he no longer called Will II" father," but simply "Duke."

"Because of the recent mobilization for foreign wars by the Kingdom of Lucian, the mining of large turquoise veins within my territory has suddenly increased, and the frequent movement of convoys has led to the Duke eventually learning the details of this mine."

"Furthermore, with the recent conscription missions of the kingdom, the duchy hasn't been able to recruit enough Class Holder, and Count Connor is unwilling to contribute, ultimately..."

The Kingdom of Lucian has requested 2,000 Class Holder from the Duchy of Will.

Duke Will's own followers, including the Class Holder he trained, numbered only around 900.

Including the Class Holder recruited by the new nobles in the city, as well as the power of the feudal nobles in the duchy, there are only a little over 1,300 people.

After all, the recruits are Class Holder, Duchy of Will currently has 1,300 Class Holder at its limit.

But the Kingdom of Lucian wouldn't listen to these reasons. They were still 700 short of the required number for the conscription mission, and only the Class Holder from the Seven Great Families could make up that number.

This is also why King Hughes did not force Lister to be the general of the Sixth Army, but instead agreed to let him return to the Duchy of Will first and assign him tasks.

The core of the mission was not at all about urging Will II to recruit.

It was calculated that after he returned, he would persuade the Seven Great Families to send their elite Class Holder to prepare for the kingdom's war.