Chapter 16: The Old Duke Who Misled His Allies
Within the manor courtyard, the Iron Feather King glanced at Su Xiao inside the castle, smiled, and turned to walk into the darkness. He was already too old, too old to involve himself in the empire's power structure. As long as the Northern Alliance and the Abyss forces didn't attack, he wouldn't show himself. After all, every time he acted, it brought him one step closer to death.
"This country will soon fall. The Iron Feather King can't hold on much longer."
Ursula watched the Iron Feather King's retreating back. The once mightiest had grown frail, so frail that even she could sense it.
Ursula vaguely remembered that when the Abyss Serpent had once seduced the high-ranking officials of the Sera Empire, the Iron Feather King had leaped alone into the Abyss, fought the serpent for two days, and finally blinded one of its eyes. The words he spoke before leaving were still etched in Ursula's memory.
"Stay put in the Abyss, you crawling worm."
Ursula, who had been watching from the sidelines back then, heard those words and was so terrified she didn't dare leave the Abyss for decades. The Iron Feather King was simply too domineering.
Now, the Iron Feather King was old and decrepit, a hero in his twilight years. No one knew how much longer he could continue guarding this empire. Perhaps he would die of old age tomorrow, and then all kinds of monsters and demons would crawl out of the woodwork.
Watching the departing Iron Feather King, Su Xiao considered a possibility: the God Council might have chosen to act now precisely because the Iron Feather King was about to collapse. They wanted to seize full control of the empire before his death to counter the Northern Alliance.
"I have a feeling we won't meet again, so... farewell forever!"
Ursula leaped out of the window, using the toughest tone to say the most cowardly words.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment and decided not to act for now. This mobile Soul Coin wasn't hostile to him, and stirring up the Abyss forces at this point wasn't wise.
Tonight's assassination attempt by the God Council was particularly interesting. Among the groups that came, the Twelve were the weakest.
After determining the strength of the Twelve, Su Xiao's suspicion of the Old Duke dropped significantly. The Old Duke had confronted him before. If he wanted Su Xiao dead, he wouldn't have sent such pathetic assassins. As for those Death Paradise contractors, the Iron Feather King had killed them on a whim—literally, on a whim.
The Old Duke's crest was the Abyss Serpent, and more importantly, he was the first target of the assassination. Could this be seen as him trying to hide after "dying"?
That night, the Old Duke had set up no defenses in the manor at all. Yet afterward, he admitted he knew an assassination was coming. This was undoubtedly a deliberate provocation, and it was something Su Xiao still couldn't figure out.
The Old Duke's actions were full of contradictions. Given how cunning the old bastard was, he shouldn't have left so many loose ends.
Thinking about this, Su Xiao's suspicion of the Old Duke decreased significantly.
Su Xiao's head ached from all the thinking. In the end, he decided to use the process of elimination—assassinate the dukes one by one. There were only four of them, so a one-in-four chance made it easy to hit the mark.
Su Xiao pushed open the bedroom door. He had heard sounds of a fight inside earlier, but it had ended quickly.
As soon as he pushed the door open, Su Xiao saw Amu sitting on something. Baha and Bubu Wang were nowhere to be seen.
Su Xiao stepped forward, and Amu immediately stood up, revealing a simple, honest smile.
"Amu, captured alive, enemy."
Amu pointed at a lump on the floor. It was a male assassin.
"..."
"Amu, hungry."
"Stay hungry."
Su Xiao picked up the male assassin from the floor. The man had extensive fractures all over his body, and the cause of death was suffocation—he had been sat to death by Amu.
"Amu, starved flat."
Amu spoke again in his deep, rumbling voice.
"Next time, pay attention to the enemy's vital signs. There's a midnight snack in an hour."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Amu, who had been a little downcast, cheered up again. He was that easy to please.
By the time Bubu Wang and Baha returned, Su Xiao had already had the manor's servants prepare a midnight snack—enough for two hundred people.
After a simple meal, Su Xiao entered a bedroom to rest, waiting for a possible second wave of assassinations.
No more assassinations came until the next morning, when the door was knocked.
"Lord Kukulin, Lord Alfer has urgent business with you. He invites you to meet at the Holy Court."
A servant left these words at the door and quickly walked away.
Su Xiao sat up from the bed, washed up, and headed to the Holy Court.
An hour later, inside the Holy Court's inner hall.
Only the Old Duke sat at the round table, yawning occasionally. He probably hadn't rested well in the past few days.
"Something on your mind?"
Su Xiao sat in the seat belonging to the White Dragon Duke.
"Kukulin, those people from over there tried to assassinate you last night, didn't they?"
"That's right."
"Ah..."
The Old Duke let out a long sigh.
"What intel have you uncovered? I might be able to help you—unexpected help."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't respond. Noticing this, the Old Duke sighed again.
"The unluckiest thing in my life is being targeted by you. Hahaha... Who would have thought a duke's seat could be taken by force? Before you showed up, I never considered that possibility."
The Old Duke seemed to be making small talk, but in reality, he was worried about something.
"The God Council... I founded it."
The Old Duke turned his head to look at Su Xiao, his old face still wearing a smile.
"Oh? Telling me so easily?"
"You!"
The Old Duke showed a hint of anger, but after a moment, he sighed again.
"With your abilities, you'll soon find out that the leader of the God Council is among us. I'm worried that you bastard, after discovering I founded the God Council, will come straight to assassinate me!"
The Old Duke glared at Su Xiao, his cheek twitching.
"How could that be?"
"You absolutely would. As soon as you find out the God Council is tied to a duke, you'll kill us all one by one. Am I right, Kukulin?"
"You're overthinking it."
"No, you would. Absolutely."
"Oh."
Hearing Su Xiao's final "oh," the Old Duke felt the urge to jump up and hit him. He had voluntarily confessed precisely because he was afraid—afraid that Su Xiao would investigate and find the God Council connected to a duke, then assassinate them one by one. That would be a truly unjust death.
"It was over fifty years ago. A man who had just lost his wife, after discussing things with someone, learned that person couldn't hold on much longer and could no longer protect this empire for a hundred years. So, on a whim, he founded the damn God Council. In the name of the gods, to judge those high-ranking but useless Saint Blood dukes. Advocating no betrayal, no killing the innocent. Yes, that idiot was me."
As the Old Duke said this, he looked like he wanted to slap himself at any moment.
"I must have been bewitched by the Abyss back then. After all, that snake and I have an 'old friendship.' It occasionally bewitching me is just an 'old friend's' greeting."
"So?"
"Let me finish."
The Old Duke lowered his eyelids and continued:
"About a dozen years ago, the Raging Lion sensed the existence of the God Council. That guy was furious, like an enraged lion. He led his army to destroy the God Council. That was the so-called 'Undying Widow' incident. The cause of that incident wasn't the wine called 'Crimson Grace' at all. The Raging Lion just needed an excuse at the time. The Raging Lion, the Moon Wolf, the White Dragon, the Forest Duke, and I became hostile because of this. If not for my seniority, they would have jointly condemned me. Besides, the God Council back then was just a concept. I hadn't trained any assassins."
According to the Old Duke, the God Council should have been wiped out, but it still existed.
"What's even more unbelievable is that the God Council showed up again a while ago. My first thought was that the Raging Lion did it—he hadn't completely eradicated the God Council a dozen years ago. But he died the next morning. I investigated it. He was indeed dead. I even tried boiling his leg bone in a pot. That was definitely the Raging Lion's leg bone. I stake my life on it."
"Forest Duke."
Su Xiao suddenly interrupted the Old Duke.
"Yes, Forest Duke. The Iron Feather King doesn't have much time left, and Forest Duke is going crazy. The night we met, Forest Duke tried to kill me, but I sensed it and drove away the assassins hidden among the guards beforehand."
As the Old Duke said this, he breathed a long sigh of relief. He was genuinely afraid that Su Xiao would come to him at night, chop him into hundreds of pieces while he slept.
Su Xiao's earlier speculation wasn't wrong. The Old Duke was indeed connected to the God Council, after all, he had founded it.
The Old Duke had successfully misled his allies, thereby shielding the enemy. That was precisely why Su Xiao had found the Old Duke the most suspicious and Forest Duke the least. The Old Duke's skill at drawing hatred was practically perfect.
Last night, Su Xiao had felt the Old Duke's actions were contradictory for this reason. The old man had founded the God Council, but it was wiped out by the Raging Lion Duke, allowing Forest Duke to take advantage.
However, the Old Duke had realized he had misled his allies, so he immediately arranged this meeting to avoid being assassinated by an angry ally. That would be too unjust a death.
"The smartest among us, the White Dragon Duke, sensed something was wrong with Forest Duke, so he died this morning. Last night, he secretly sent me this."
The Old Duke took a branch from his bosom. In this world, there was a tree called the Dawn Tree, symbolizing light and justice. The Dawn Tree was also the crest of Forest Duke.
[Tip: The Hunter has obtained key information. The hidden mission has changed.]
[Hidden Mission: God Council (Single Ring Only)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.50 (Due to the Hunter's investigation, this mission's difficulty has been reduced by Lv.6)
Mission Information: Kill the leader of the God Council, Forest Duke.
Mission Reward: Fate Stone (Holy Spirit Grade Gem)
Mission Penalty: Forced Execution.
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