Chapter 341

Chapter 24 of Light and Darkness

When speaking of the Eastern Continent, apart from the settlements in the land of Moxiang, where two copper coins could get you to sleep with a prostitute named Valkyrie, and the desert holy land that was rumored to be sanctified by dancing birds and camels, there was an evil cult that the people of the Western Continent most feared and would never hear about from the lips of drunk men.

Its name was “The Gate of Truth.”

Duke Lex knew some rumors about them. They were a group of bloodthirsty fiends who had abandoned even the most basic human morals and emotions.

As his interactions with the black-robed men deepened, he began to think that perhaps these people were indeed The Gate of Truth. Their words and actions, their occasional cryptic remarks, and the rigid thinking typical of their followers, all indicated that the black-robed men had an unwavering faith—more important than life itself. Yet, it was obvious that they did not belong to the Holy Church.

Since they were not part of the Holy Church, whether they were The Gate of Truth or not, they were still damned heretics.

Yet, they maintained close ties with the esteemed nuns within the church…

Damn religious conflicts.

After realizing this, Duke Lex understood for the first time what it meant to be unable to rest or eat. He angrily called his son and berated him harshly, accusing him of ruining the family and reputation he had built over a lifetime. His naturally arrogant son was indignant, but he seemed unaware of the error he had committed.

Duke Lex stripped him of all power and ordered him to be imprisoned.

Afterward, he pondered for a long time.

Crimes of faith were among the gravest offenses under the religious laws of the Holy Church. Once violated, one would lose everything, be sent to an underground prison, and suffer torment until death. This matter could implicate the entire family, himself or his son included, none could escape.

What should he do?

Duke Lex wished to sever ties with those people immediately and even considered reporting them to the church himself, allowing the so-called priests to deal with the black-robed men.

But then he thought, if he did so… perhaps he would spend the rest of his life hiding in Fleresk Castle, always looking up at that little girl on the throne.

Moreover, Duke Lex had been assisting the heretics for quite some time. If the church investigated, there would be no way to clear his name; he would have no defense.

Since things had come to this…

He might as well flip a coin and take a gamble, seeing if it lands heads or tails.

Duke Lex spent more than ten days making this decision. That night, he found the black-robed men and clarified many matters. They talked through nearly the entire night. At dawn, Duke Lex returned to his grand castle, sat alone on the soft sofa in the empty reception hall, and pondered deeply.

To this day, he still remembers how he felt back then.

Heartbroken and timid, yet agitated.

In the days that followed, he began to prepare nervously, plundering the treasury more recklessly, using generous salaries to attract young, strong men, and even knights, to join the Iron Guard, recruiting extensively, and not even pretending to hide it anymore—though he spread false information.

The capital only knew that the Iron Guard had over twenty thousand personnel. But in reality, by the end of last year, the Iron Guard had grown to almost fifty thousand.

At the same time, Duke Lex’s cooperation with the black-robed men became even closer. He did everything in his power to provide them with everything they needed, reasonable or unreasonable demands, including bringing more children. After that night’s long conversation, their trust in him deepened, and they began to reveal more to him.

For example, Duke Lex once witnessed them torture a child.

He remembered it was a little girl, no older than ten. Long-term starvation had left her emaciated, skin and bones, barely able to stand, yet they still drew much blood from her—despite her struggling and screaming, the black-robed man ignored her and slashed her throat with a knife, the blood gushing like a fountain into a dirty wooden basin.

The last time Duke Lex saw such a scene was when he watched a shepherd slaughter cattle outside the castle.

After draining the girl’s blood, the black-robed men stripped her naked, chopped her into pieces, put them in a sack, and fed them to stray dogs, while keeping her heart, liver, and other organs, boiling them in water, adding spices… they even asked him if he wanted to taste it.

That night, Duke Lex couldn’t sleep.

Closing his eyes, his mind was filled with the image of the girl’s wide mouth and dilated pupils.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with killing.

In fact, he had seen more dead than alive, and the number of people he had killed was countless.

But even with blood on his hands, after seeing such a scene, Duke Lex felt extreme chest tightness, nausea, and severe physical discomfort. For a long time afterward, he became a vegetarian.

Damn heretics…

Their behavior was akin to beasts, and the rumors about them were true; he finally saw how far humanity could degenerate.

Those black-robed men had lost all sense of human decency and morality; they were unambiguously demons, no longer deserving to be called humans.

They should let the church burn these things…

Such thoughts lingered in his mind for only a moment.

Ultimately, Duke Lex said nothing and did nothing. He decided to turn a blind eye to the black-robed men’s actions, pretending he knew nothing and saw nothing, continuing to provide fresh “blood” and continue to consort with the devil.

Because the black-robed men told him that this blood was used to destroy Boswell.

, it was in the practice of testing whether theoretical methods were feasible, significant progress had been made.

They were about to succeed.

Duke Lex did not understand why it had to be done this way; why destroying divine relics required the blood of children, and why he had to commit such inhumane acts.

He did not want to know more, to avoid adding to his worries and sorrows.

Even though he cursed daily in his heart and despised it, faced with the increasingly excessive demands of the robed men, Duke Lex still chose to comply.

He told himself that, for the sake of his grand plan, there was no other choice.

This was…

an unavoidable matter.

After winter, those homeless children would die from starvation or cold anyway.

As for those robed beasts…

after everything was over, they should be killed.

Such things should not remain in this world.

Having made his decision, Duke Lex continued to treat the robed men as before, meeting all their requests, which led to the matters progressing smoothly.

Until one day, Elizabeth suddenly cut off his source of wealth. She had actually allied with the church to revoke the treasury management bill previously designated by the dowager empress and implemented new regulations in the capital.

The doors of the treasury were no longer open to him. His nephew, who served as the Minister of Finance, was soon imprisoned.

Many who supported him and benefited from it began to retreat and switch sides after hearing that the church had intervened, aligning themselves with Elizabeth and turning against him, attempting to eliminate his entire influence and establish a new council.

Damn opportunists, damn Elizabeth…

I have so many people under my command; does she want an uprising at Fulersk Fortress?

This is to make me die.

But not long after, he heard another piece of bad news: the church had noticed the goods being sent to the capital, and two Papal Knights had arrived in the city, one of whom was the famous Abyss Wanderer, Carlos Gonzalez.

They must have come because of these robed men…

Duke Lex was completely panicked.

The arrival of the two Papal Knights made him realize that the situation was far more serious than he had imagined. Just when he was at a loss, the robed men unexpectedly brought good news.

One evening, they approached him and said that the plan was nearing its final stage. Soon, Boswell would vanish from the world entirely.

This was almost…

divine assistance.

They informed him of what was about to happen in the capital and asked him to help them with one last task.

To send out some “item” from Isenbel.

Lex knew how delighted he was inside, and he agreed without hesitation.

In any case, he had no intention of keeping his promise.

Duke Lex did not know what they were desperately trying to send out, destroying divine relics in the process. He assumed it would be another terrible calamity. He did not want to help these inhumane creatures; after everything ended, none of the robed men would survive. For now, he just needed to keep them stable.

And then, his great undertaking would enter its final critical phase.

There were only two things to consider.

First, how to escape the accusation of colluding with heretics. The second was the financial crisis at Fulersk Fortress.

As for how to wage this war… if both issues were resolved satisfactorily, once Boswell was destroyed, taking the city would be effortless, requiring no further concern.

After all, this was his forte. He believed no one in Isenbel could surpass him in this field. Old Reckmon couldn’t, nor could the inexperienced young girl.

He had long since thought it through.

However, the current expenses of the armored guards were too high, and the accumulated gold in the fortress could barely sustain until the end of April… no, perhaps even mid-month was uncertain.

Due to hasty recruitment and lack of strict control, most of the armored guards were merely there for the pay, including many mercenary armies and ruthless desperados. These people lacked loyalty and honor, and once they stopped receiving payment, they would surely turn on him.

Duke Lex had to find a new source of wealth quickly, at least to see him through the siege… this was no small amount. After much deliberation, he decided to use the method he was best at and fastest—robbing others.

Whom should he rob?

Under the condition of not violating war crimes, Duke Lex had only one option.

It seemed… it was time for that woman to die.

To exploit her remaining value.

Duke Lex wrote a letter to the dowager empress in the capital overnight, forcing her under the charge of “poisoning the king” to do as he instructed, in exchange for the safety of mother and daughter—he understood that with that woman’s foolish brain, she could never cause trouble for Elizabeth, who had him at a loss.

Duke Lex had no expectations of her; he just wanted her to act, to divert Elizabeth’s attention, to lull her into complacency, spreading false information to delay Elizabeth noticing his actions.

Afterward, he summoned his most excellent and trusted assassin, offering generous rewards to send someone back into the capital.

Duke Lex knew what was going to happen in the capital, and he knew that many lives would be lost. To appease public sentiment, the church and Elizabeth would inevitably hold a grand funeral ceremony, making sure everyone in the city saw it.

He instructed the assassin, word by word, on exactly what to do to frame the dowager empress with the charge of colluding with heretics.

After settling all affairs, Duke Lex and his now compliant son set out north to the homeland of that pitiful woman.