You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 179 Guarantee
The banquet was lively and noisy.

Grand Duke Crack Armor sat in the chief seat, while Grand Duke Raging Tide sat in the second seat.

The ministers were seated at the bottom.

A nobleman sent rare and precious treasures.

There were forty or fifty noble knights sitting in the hall of Dragon Castle. The inner circle consisted of nobles, and the outer circle consisted of knights. There were no ordinary people here.

There were vassals with broken armor, vassals with raging tides, and the rest were lords and the knights they brought to conquer.

Berchtes is one of the feudal lords, and his presence here is in response to the call of the Duke of Fury, which is undoubtedly a great honor.

He had a gilded box brought in, and when the waiter opened it, a hundred pounds of bright red crystals were piled up inside.

Salt was priced in copper coins, but blood salt could only be measured in gold coins.

This is a unique resource controlled by the Berchtesgaard family.

Grand Duke Crack Armor didn't care about such a small thing, but he couldn't leave it unsaid, so he nodded slightly to Berchtes.

The head of the Berchtes bowed in greeting and turned to chat with other nobles.

The Grand Duke of Fury's appeal is extraordinary.

The banquet, from its announcement to its execution, took more than half a year to gather these important figures who could influence the situation on the land, in order to launch a war that would soon sweep across most of the land, with the aim of maintaining the order of the conquerors.

Andrew from Iceland and Ister from the Hot Summer Islands discuss the differences between the north and south coasts; Earl El, a vassal of the Raging Tide, is trying to rekindle his old flame with Sir Grass, the first knight of the Grand Duke of the Raging Tide; Laurent, the swamp lord of the Muddy Swamp, and Berchtes discuss business matters; Beast Carter and the Rock Lord of the Highlands drink heartily and clink glasses repeatedly...

"Are you in a bad mood?" Pine asked.

The noise of the banquet drowned out their conversation; they were high enough and far enough away.

“Moya should be here.”

"Your rebellious vassal family? Gale and Markel went to Ironflower County with your will. They said that Earl Moya, seeing that the plot had been exposed, struck first, so they had no choice but to kill him."

The Grand Duke said coldly, "Because that's all they dare to say!"

His body was bloated, and his weight made him sometimes breathless when he spoke. Now his words were full of unfamiliarity and coldness.

“If they dare say that Moya was wrongly killed, I will strip Gael of all his rights, expel you from Dragon Keep, and then…”

"...Paine, are you going to start a war between us?"

"No, please believe me—I fear no one on this land, but I have no desire to wage war against you. I have never forgotten that my father abandoned me, and it was you who raised me."

"I wish you really thought that way! They all say that the people of the Fury Tide family are unpredictable and unfathomable. No one can predict the direction of the deep ocean currents, so no one can see through your thoughts. I know that's the nature of your Fury Tide family... But what did I do wrong to make you treat me like this, to plot against my vassals?! I ask you, is the Moya family loyal?"

"Yes!"

He already had a definite answer, but upon hearing the admission, his vision went black, and he closed his eyes in despair.

He wanted to see his vassals.

They seized the opportunity to kill him, strip him of his honors, and fabricate baseless lies, causing him to die unjustly.

Is this as it should be?

How could he explain to others that his eldest son and the Duke of Fury conspired to harm his loyal subjects?
His folly and incompetence led to all of this.

He had neglected state affairs for too long and was no longer sensitive to them. He had been indulging in a life of pleasure and debauchery for years, and was completely unaware that the external situation had developed to such an intense degree.

How can he retaliate against their despicable acts?

Once the liquidation is initiated, a massive earthquake will occur throughout the entire Black Iron Land.

This was like the final nuclear bomb for the already precarious and collapsing Conqueror Order. He was powerless to settle scores; he had no strength left, only grief and indignation.

If Aaron Moya were still alive...

If his knight were still alive...

"Why?" he asked.

“Because of you…” A dark undercurrent surged in Payne’s eyes, stirring up waves of emotion.

The members of the Rage Tide family all have different personalities, but they each have their own rules and bottom lines. However, they are always very careful not to let others know their weaknesses.

“I have no choice but to do this. I need the power of the Rift Armor family, but the Guardian is an insurmountable obstacle. That family only listens to you. Whatever the Rift Armor Grand Duke says, they do. A single stubborn Guardian is enough to hold me back for months, and we don’t have much time left. I need your support.”

“Paine, I will support you in doing many things, you know that. I will help you with anything I can. But what you want now is precisely what I am unwilling to support. What do you want to do? You actually thought from the bottom of your heart that I would oppose you?” A chill ran through the heart of the Grand Duke of Rift Armor.

Payne looked at his adoptive father.

His weathered face looked somewhat frightening, with a palpable sense of decay.

This is true for all members of this family; the older they are, the more severe the skin peeling becomes, with new skin quickly turning into old skin, layer upon layer.

Ultimately, it resembles weathered rock, rough and worn.

He was taciturn and had a deep sense of terror about him; even his closest friends and family didn't know what he was thinking.

“I have the decrees of the Iron King, and I must uphold the order of the conquerors,” he said.

"This is not your ultimate goal! Child, you can't fool me now." The Archer was very sad.

"...As you know, my army is going to blockade Sinnoh, and I can't be away for too long, but someone has to maintain the order of the Conquerors, and Gale is the best and most suitable candidate."

"So you're going to help Gale become the new Archduke of Cracked Armor?"

"You disagree?"

No, I agree.

He seemed to have lost all his strength, all his weight pressing down on the chair like a piece of embedded fat.

“I can give the Grand Duke's seat to Gale. But, Payne, can you and Gale guarantee me that?”

"...What guarantees?"

He took a deep breath. "I guarantee that you will uphold the ancestral teachings and abide by the covenant signed with the Conqueror's family! I want you to swear an oath to the Conqueror and his family, to all the people of the Seven Kingdoms, that you will maintain the Conqueror's order, that you will protect humanity, that you will suppress the Papacy, that you will guard the Dark Sea, that you will aid the Elves, Dwarves, and Dragons to defend the frontier, that you will keep your promises, that you will never betray..."

He couldn't finish his sentence; his current physical condition wasn't strong enough to support him speaking such a long passage.

Grand Duke Cracked Armor gasped for breath, weakly gazing at Grand Duke Raging Tide.

"can you do it?"

Amidst the commotion, Payne nodded. "I can, Ulster, I can..."

“If only you could do that! Then I could step down with peace of mind! But I don’t trust you, Payne, I don’t trust you.” His face was full of regret.

"The three great families have never fought each other. You've broken that tradition, all for some idea in your heart that I don't know, but is certainly crazy. How can I trust you? Payne! Do you know what you've ruined?"

Grand Duke Fury stared intently at Ulster, his words resolute:

"I know!"

(End of this chapter)