"This is the grand duke's plan? To organize a red wedding?"
Fang Yuan did not appear to have the slightest awareness of being contained. Instead, he looked around.
Around Grand Duke Stan, many nobles had gathered. Floren, Messiah, Rance… almost all of the nobles of the duchy were present.
Among them, the lowest ranked was a viscount. Together with the country, they had gathered enormous wealth and influence.
Of course, with the passage of time, there was not much of the original knights' loyalty left. Most of them even conspired with outside forces.
Although having internal stability before resisting foreign forces is indeed logical, where does Grand Duke Stan's great confidence come from? To be able to quell the country without causing chaos.
A unified nation would naturally be able to gather greater strength to resist foreign invasion.
However, if there was chaos due to the cleansing, it would be no different from inviting trouble.
In this respect, merely relying on the Church of Death, it would still be beyond him…
Fang Yuan had the cold eye of a bystander.
As a True God's church, even if it had declined greatly, it would definitely be able to produce a Legend. Perhaps this was the source of the grand duke's confidence?
Fang Yuan, who had promoted to a Legend, clearly knew a Legend's destructive power.
At this point, he indeed saw some soldiers secretly adjusting their positions, forming an encirclement.
Floren and a few other nobles seemed to sense it. They gathered their private soldiers, and each of them had something bulging out of their waist bags.
In this environment that was calm on the surface but had turbulent waves beneath, the Pope's voice resounded, "… here, in the name of the True God, I witness you as husband and wife!"
Clap! Clap!
Around, the nobles had false smiles masked over their faces as they clapped warmly.
At the venue, a lot of fireworks shot up into the sky and exploded into many bright and beautiful sparks.
"Now, you may kiss your bride!"
Under the eyes of many nobles, the slightly shy Timo went forward to peck on Amerie's lips.
The atmosphere of the venue reached its peak, but the cheers and whistles of civilians concealed everything.
"Truly… dazzling."
Fang Yuan covered his eyes and could immediately feel the jubilitation around him. The noisy atmosphere filled him with an unreal feeling, just like being in a dream, separating him from the surroundings. "This is a spell? Grand Duke Stan's layout?"
He immediately looked at Grand Duke Stan and realized that he had a similarly astonished expression. "Something's wrong!"
"Ah!"
Just then, an ear-piercing scream was heard.
The eyelids of the Pope of Death twitched as he looked at the newly wedded couple in front of him.
After kissing, their cheeks became a horrifying color of dark reddish-purple. Sinister-looking veins had surfaced. Both of their hands were at their own throats, as if they were suffocating.
"Holy Spell: Dispersion!"
As soon as his thoughts moved, the golden crown on the Pope's head emitted a glaring brilliance.
As the leader of a True God church, Pope Garrett was naturally a Legend caster. Not only this, he was also in charge of an artifact given by a True God. The mere interference spell technique was instantly broken.
Promptly, he looked at the couple who were on the brink of death. With a snap of his fingers, many high-level holy spells spread.
"Dispel Poison!"
"Cure Serious Wounds!"
…
The dense brilliance of holy spells instantly appeared on Timo and Amerie's body.
As the head of the pastors, Garrett's technique was first-rate. Not even mentioning being poisoned, even if it was death, as long as the soul was still present, he could also perform the resurrection spell and pull them back from the Death God Nation.
But at this time, something shocking happened.
Under the many high-level spells, the condition of Timo and Amerie did not improve at all, even collapsing onto the ground as they fainted.
"Poison that even Greater Heal cannot affect!"
The color on Garrett's face drained. "This is… Kiss of the Death God!!!"
Kiss of the Death God was an extremely famous poison in the Monger World. It was widely used in the assassinations of many kings, thus its rise to fame. It acted rapidly and directly on the soul. It was well-known for spells being ineffectiveness on it.
Most crucially, it was from the Church of Death itself!
Someone betrayed me, someone at least at the archbishop level!
In an instant, the Pope's blood ran cold.
He looked at the newlyweds in front and suddenly stopped.
It was very difficult to save them from the Kiss of the Death God. Even though it was spread from the Church of Death, many complicated procedures were needed to save them.
He clearly did not have the time on his hands right now and could not waste his precious magic on this.
After all, the potential danger lurking in the darkness was much more terrifying!
So, with a snap of Garrett's fingers, giant ice formed and immediately froze the unlucky newlyweds inside.
After finishing, he was no longer concerned about it. Instead, he focused on observing the situation around him.
Kaboom!
After a split moment of stagnation, a water screen-like brilliance suddenly rose. It joined together in the sky and completely separated the nobles from the others.
This was the layout of the ruling family, the magical array passed down by the first Grand Duke Stan.
However, the timing of the activation and the peculiarity from before gave people an ominous feeling.
"Daughter!"
The eyes of Grand Duke Stan turned red as he looked at his lovely daughter's current state. He then glared at the court magician. "Baines, what's happening?"
"Grand Duke… I-I don't know…"
Baines looked flustered.
Suddenly, a sword emerged from his chest.
Fresh blood flowed out of his mouth as he collapsed onto the floor.
"Grand Duke, it's simple. It was done by us."
While sighing, the heads of Floren, Messiah, and Rance Families stepped out. "Back then, this 'Water God Sanctuary' array was created by the first Grand Duke and all of the Legend knights together. It can prevent the attack of a Legend, but how is it possible that the ancestors wouldn't leave behind any insurance for their descendants? Looks like it was indeed foresight!"
Whoosh!
While they were talking, the nobles' private elite soldiers charged into the magic array and confronted with the troops of the Duchy. It was obvious that they had access privileges.
Grand Duke Stan's original plan was to make use of the sealing power of the magic array to gain an advantage in strength. Then he would suddenly attack and efficiently get rid of the noble traitors for good.
However, the magic array that he wanted to use to stop their reinforcements was used as a cage for him instead!
Grand Duke Stan was reeling. He pointed at Earl Floren and bellowed, "Wasn't this all because of you? You violated the original oath of loyalty and conspired with outsiders to topple my family's rule!"
"Grand Duke!" Earl Floren exhaled a long breathe. "This is also the last time I'm calling you this. The so-called nation doesn't ever only belong to one person. For the glory of your own family, you want us to be buried along with you. Who would be willing to?"
To the nobles, Grand Duke Stan was inviting death.
Therefore, they were unwilling to continue on this sinking ship.
Although it was betrayal to Grand Duke Stan, it was survival to them.
"You… this is mutiny! Guards!"
Grand Duke Stan knew that they had reached the state where one of them had to die for the other to survive and waved his hands roughly.
For this day, he had meticulously arranged loyal guards that had yet to be bribed by the other side within the array. At the moment, all of them drew their weapons out and confronted the nobles' private soldiers.
"Garret!" the Grand Duke Stan shouted out again.
The Pope of Death frowned and sent out a signal.
Instantly, the priests ripped apart their black robes to reveal black armor.
This was the Church of Death's elite force, the death knight. Although they were rare, they were mostly all high-level professionals. With the Legend caster Pope, they would be able to kill all the noble rebels.
"Your Holiness, you want to help the Grand Duke?"
Earl Floren said loudly, "As long as you're willing to step aside, we will accept all of the conditions Grand Duke Stan has previously promised."
Pope Garrett shook his head. "Sorry, but the collaboration between me and Grand Duke Stan has gone through the acknowledgement of the True God Oath!"
In fact, there might be a way to reverse the oath witnessed by a True God.
However, the situation was currently a mess, and even he himself could not determine who the final winner would be. Grand Duke Stan might even have the hope of winning…
Because they still had a card in their hands. This secret was only known to him and the grand duke.
"Then it's really regrettable!" Earl Floren shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands.
Behind him, some of the nobles' private soldiers tore down their disguises to reveal tanned muscles and very strange, spear-like weapons.
"Storm warriors?" Looking at this, Garret furrowed his brows. "You really colluded with the Noether Kingdom?"
"Grand Duke, please make your move!"
Floren bowed to the people behind him. From the center of those warriors, a warrior with a large build strode forward. Every step was as heavy as a thousand jun, as if he was stepping on everyone's heart.
"Legend warrior, 'Storm' Ollie?"
Garrett's gaze was solemn when he recognized the identity. "You were actually bribed by the nobles?"
"You know they can't bribe me, Garrett. But the people behind them can!" said Ollie's mature yet slightly hoarse voice. "Your Holiness, do you really want to be enemies with this power?"
"…"
Garrett went silent.
Although their forces were similar to his, stray dogs driven away from the core of human civilization, a broken ship still had three nails that could be used. They truly had some foundation.
However, after they had plotted against the Noether Kingdom, many people were satisfied. Those that were spying on the Stan Duchy were the losers among the losers. The church was weakened, so they had the confidence to gamble along with the church.
"Your Excellency Grand Duke!"
Thinking about that, he immediately looked at Grand Duke Stan. It was time to use the card in their hands.Ancient unit of weight in China.