Four Grand Dukes and Three Electors

The winter of war provided Grand Duke Mayers with a suitable opportunity to turn his attention to the north of the empire.

Every nobleman has his own interests, and the interests of Grand Duke Mayers are closely related to the Northwind Province.

All their feigned indifference was merely a cover for their true answers.

The Mayers Family is facing a huge hidden danger.

The root of the problem lies in their blasphemy.

The nobles of the empire are all Blasphemers. After the War of the Deities Across Planes, they stole the Divine Essence of fallen Great Being for their own bloodline and for creating Extraordinary Legion.

This is not without its price; the price has always existed, but in the case of Grand Duke Mayers, the price will erupt in an incredibly terrifying manner.

There are differences between the Extraordinary Legion, and the costs vary greatly as well. If it were Dragonblood Warrior Legion like Count Soron's, Count Soron would only have to bear the hostility of the Dragons.

But no one knows what terrible curse Grand Duke Mayers Meyers suffer behind the powerful Nightmare Knight Legion Nightmare Knights.

Great beings will not favor any mortal who dares to steal their Divine Essence.

The great nobles of the empire, especially the Four Grand Dukes, all had some problems to varying degrees, but the disaster befell Meyers was about to become uncontrollable.

Thirty years is the limit that Grand Duke Mayers set for himself, meaning that in a maximum of thirty years, the terrible consequences of all his previous blasphemous acts will come to an end.

The Grand Duke naturally did not want this outcome, and he tried every means to prevent Meyers ' downfall.

Only two people knew about this: the father and son.

"Ryan is smart. If we build a tower on the land of Northwind Province, he will be suspicious. Besides, Ryan... this guy is very mysterious."

"How could a Baron from the Northlands be so powerful as to rival a great noble? Has he really discovered so much wealth in the Northlands?"

"The sacrifice... there's no way to hide it from him."

Chrysus lowered his head and said this. He had no better way to gain power in the Northwind Province so that Meyers's plan could proceed smoothly. They wanted to purify the terrible curse deep in Meyers's bloodline through sacrifice, but this process was too easily disrupted.

If the Empire knew—no, if all the nobles of the entire South lands knew—that they would not stand idly by while their horrific sacrifices were taken, they would not stand idly by, unless they could end it all before everyone could react and punish Meyers, thus allowing Meyers to become even greater.

Ryan stood in their way, leaving them helpless. What gave a Baron from the Northlands the right to do this?

Chrysus was somewhat exhausted. He had already had enough on his plate lately: the various resources needed by His Highness Elector Volvo, the war in the South which was taking up most of Meyers ' energy, and the empire's growing desire for a meritorious emperor.

Let Meyers choose their ambitions and pursue their own interests. If there were no conflict between divine and Royal Authority, the immense power that Grand Duke Mayers could wield would easily crush the Baron of the Northlands.

But that won't work now. Even the Nightmare Knight Legion have suffered heavy losses, and the war between Twilight Fortress and the Orc Royal Court has caused Meyers to suffer devastating losses.

"Think of a way... to kill him."

The elderly Grand Duke spoke with a profound gaze, causing Chrysus to widen his eyes and look at his father in disbelief.

"Father... after all, he is a nobleman, a Baron personally crowned by the emperor."

"Kill him, and the entire empire will turn against us. Meyers won't be able to stop it."

Chrysus felt that his father had gone mad, actually wanting to kill a nobleman.

"In the era I have lived through, more than a hundred years ago and more than a hundred years later, I have witnessed the fall of Deities and the deaths of too many nobles. In fact, during the initial internal strife against the Church, I personally killed many nobles."

"Killing him is not a difficult thing to imagine."

Grand Duke Mayers looked at his child, and seeing the still unaccepting expression on the child's face, he couldn't help but sigh.

He lived through the most brutal and darkest period of the empire, a time when events so profound that the Imperial House was able to continue using Columbus's surname.

"Chrysus, do you know why we chose Volvo Elector?"

Upon hearing this, Chrysus instinctively uttered what Meyers had observed about the Elector over the years.

"Of the three Elector, His Prince Volvo the most skilled in aristocratic political struggles. He is able to win over the most nobles to his side, and he has the potential to become a better emperor than the current one."

"His Prince Freud too reckless. He wants to resolve everything through war. He idolizes Lord Lais, the original Blasphemers. He is not fit to be a proper emperor."

"As for His Highness Viking... he is too perfect, and he is too eager to build his ideal empire. Of the three Elector, he will be the one who is destined to fail."

After Chrysus finished speaking, the Grand Duke nodded. This was their analysis and understanding of the three Elector over the years.

"You're right, but my initial choice wasn't actually Volvo."

"It's just that Russell is too eager to help Volvo become the king, but you know, Russell and I have never gotten along. He's been against me since your mother's time."

"Once he makes his decision, we will be in a very passive position."

"Elector Volvo, never knew that Russell actually admired him, so we beat them to it."

Chrysus's eyes widened. "Such a thing is possible?"

The Four Grand Dukes of the Empire— Meyers, Fleming, Russell, and Rodriguez —occupy half of the empire.

The relationships between the Four Grand Dukes were neither particularly good nor particularly bad, and varied from person to person. For example, the conflicts between the current Grand Duke Mayers and the current Grand Duke Russell from their youth continued, and they did not get along very well.

If given the opportunity, Grand Duke Russell would not pass up the chance to kick someone when they're down.

" Of the Elector, I can't understand the thoughts of that little Viking. I actually admire Floyd the most."

"He's reckless? But Chrysus, you should know that the Empire was able to survive and even become as powerful as the Church during the War of the Deities Across Planes precisely because of its recklessness."

"The courage to gamble everything—that's a radiance even the Deities would admire. Do you think we, the earliest Blasphemers, didn't have the help of Great Being who appreciated us?"

The Grand Duke spoke of certain secrets that may never be revealed, but Chrysus was entitled to know them.

"Elector Volvo could make the Empire more prosperous, but we all feel that Floyd can lead the Empire to greater strength."

"It's like..."

Chrysus picked up where his father left off.

"Just like the current emperor, right?"

"Yes, he did what even his father couldn't do, didn't he? Under our suppression, the Church of Dawn has lost the arrogance it had a hundred years ago. Last year and this year, in the war in the South, I even saw hope that we could achieve final victory."

"Why?"

"Because the Church failed to defeat our army in a short time."

The Grand Duke laughed. How terrifying was the Church in the past? Wherever the Church's army appeared, it was invincible. No noble could compare with it. It was because of this invincible power that the Church became so corrupt and bloated.

But it is precisely because they are powerful that they have the right to be corrupt.

The old people who had lived under the rule of the Church were all terrified of the Dawn, but now... they were helpless against the Empire.

That Pope spent his days raging on the Holy Mountain, and the clergy, no longer as devout as before, spent their lives hunting down the traitors of the Dawn.

Perhaps one day, they can truly overthrow the Holy Mountain and build a radiant Holy Mountain belonging to the empire.

Chrysus fell silent. He could barely understand the reason, after all, he had also read about the horrors of the ancient the Church during his top-notch education, and what kind of civilization the Eternity Deities above had shaped.

only...

"Why would Father abandon His Prince Freud?"

Just because he wanted to get ahead of Grand Duke Russell?

"Because of you."

Grand Duke Mayers finally got back to the main topic.

"I have already seen my end. Whether I succeed or fail in the end, I will be swallowed up by the great being, and if all goes well, I will be led into His Kingdom of Heaven."

"In short, I am destined to leave. The power of Legendary and the origin of divinity do not allow me to have a long life."

"At that time, you will be the new master of Meyers, the new Grand Duke Mayers of the Empire."

"But... your personality is closer to Volvo than Floyd."

"If I choose Floyd, then you and he won't have a very pleasant relationship after I leave."

"Just like the current conflict between Fleming and the Emperor, the Count Clayton is more favored by the Emperor Fleming."

"This is not a good thing. The reason why Fleming still can't control the three of us is because he and the Emperor don't have that much chemistry."

"You can't do this, but you can't adapt to Floyd's methods. You've grown up, and I can't reshape your personality and inner self, so... change is the only option."

"The Elector chooses his followers, and the followers choose their Elector."

"This is the answer between us and Volvo."

"If you weren't so shocked today, maybe I would have tried to choose Floyd again, but you can't."

"Chrysus, you must believe that the death of a nobleman is not an unbelievable thing."

"Even Deities fall, let alone mortals?"

"We blaspheme, we steal the Divine Essence of the Great Being, not for our own immortality, but for our name, our bloodline, for Meyers to endure, we are to become a new ancient bloodline."

"Anyone who stands in our way is our enemy. We will do everything in our power to kill our enemies and make them the Nightmare of their bloodline."

As the Grand Duke spoke, dark flames were already burning around his body, making him appear sinister and terrifying. In the flickering firelight Chrysus vaguely saw countless eyes, countless Nightmare Knights staring at him.

"Many nobles have died in the past, and the nobles of today are very sensitive to the deaths of nobles. The murder of Marquis of Northwind is still being debated, and the elders even want to launch a full-scale war to avenge Marquis of Northwind."

"Therefore, we cannot openly kill that Northern Baron."

The Grand Duke said this, and then thought for a moment.

"I heard that he was assassinated during the process of taking over his territory?"

"Yes, because of this incident, the nobles were particularly angry about the death of Count Weiss of Northwind Province. After his death, they stripped Count Weiss of his Noble Title. His descendants are currently on the West Coast, and their wealth has been greatly affected. The nobles refuse to associate with them."

"There was also the conflict between the two viscounts of the Northwind Province. If the two viscounts hadn't died together in the war, the Imperial Capital sent troops to imprison them."

The Grand Duke laughed and pointed at Chrysus, saying:

"You see, that land has always been a troubled place, hasn't it? The ancient Curse of Northgar has kept the Northwind Province in turmoil."

"We also have many ways to kill the Northern Baron."

"All enemies who stand in the way of Meyers's renewed greatness will pay a bloody price."

"Death will embrace all your enemies."

"You are invincible."

"You are destined to be king."

The Dragons's greedy roar echoed in Ryan's ears. It was on that magnificent golden mountain, trying to tempt Ryan little by little to accept the wealth beneath it and inherit its evil intentions.

You're right.

Ryan remained unmoved, even using this method to solidify his resolve.

"Whatever Meyers wants to do, if he wants to stop me from ruling this land, then they will pay a price, an incredibly heavy price."

"But it's too early to discuss the war between me and Meyers."

"The most important thing now is to strengthen ourselves."

"If you weren't weak enough, you wouldn't have died at Arryris's hands. You two were sworn enemies, weren't you? But this time you lost. Arryris kept getting stronger, while you remained stagnant. In the end, even your heart became my food."

"There's an old saying in my hometown: 'To forge iron, one must be strong oneself.' If you're not strong enough, nothing you say will work."

"You keep tempting me to fall, why don't you hand over your power to me as soon as possible? What are you unwilling about? I am the human chosen by the Dragon Emperor. There is no one more pure than me among the Dragon Chosen. I have even inherited His authority."

Ryan reversed the process of brainwashing his inner Dragon's Will, which remained silent and actually made Ryan absorb the Dragon Heart a little faster.

"You said I'm invincible, which is equivalent to you being invincible too. I'll help you get revenge and beat Arryris to a pulp."

The life essence brought by the entire heart of a Legendary Flame Dragon was unimaginably abundant. It only accelerated the refining process slightly, yet Ryan felt a dazed sensation of being satiated.

He wanted to sleep.

So he collapsed into the house filled with piles of Gold Coin and fell into a deep sleep.

Even in his deep sleep, his heart pounded strongly and powerfully, and the bright red blood on Ryan's body surface actively released and boiled, which was difficult to suppress, propelling Ryan's Knight Breathing Technique forward continuously.

He was Sky Knight, and should have remained at this level for a long time, but now he was rapidly improving.

(End of this chapter)