I am a wicked dragon, and you want me to fall into goodness?

Chapter 122 The Death of Moses (3.5k)

three days later.

The night was deep, and fine rain pattered on the Duke of Moses’ mansion. Two tallow candles burned in the study, their flickering light casting a warm yellow glow throughout the room.

Moses shed his daytime arrogance and sat on a soft chair covered with animal skins.

The wine in the glass swayed, and sitting opposite him was Virgil Hudson, a long-established nobleman of the Levi tribe.

Although these people were not recognized as nobles by the Starshine Kingdom, as the rulers of the Levi people for hundreds or thousands of years, they still tried to maintain their dignity even in their decline.

"Lord Moses, the news has been going around like wildfire for the past three days. Her Majesty Kavemas actually dared to take action."

"The entire Holy Radiance Empire delegation was wiped out; even Earl Austin perished under the dragon's claws!"

Virgil's voice still trembled slightly: "That's a count from the Holy Radiance Empire, an envoy, the face of the empire."

"The Holy Radiance Empire has always been benevolent, but once news of the annihilation of the entire delegation reaches Holy Radiance, our Starry Kingdom is likely to face a great calamity!"

These words struck a chord with Moses's deepest anxieties. He slammed down his wine glass, his eyes filled with an unyielding gravity as he gazed out the window at the impenetrable rain: "His Majesty Kavemas's will will not be swayed by the starlight."

"Virgil, now that you have the protection of the Star Kingdom, you must pay the corresponding price. Besides, this matter is already settled."

Upon hearing this, Virgil picked up his glass and gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, but the pungent liquid couldn't quell his irritation.

He slammed his wine glass down on the table, his tone full of undisguised sarcasm and resentment.

"We accept the price of protection, but the commotion Karen has caused is blatantly trampling on the honor of the Levi nobility!"

"He's actually going to implement that damned reclamation order, allowing those peasants to go west to reclaim wasteland, and even saying he'll reduce taxes based on the number of people?"

"This is utterly ridiculous!"

The firelight illuminated his flushed face, his eyes filled with class arrogance. He leaned forward: "What are commoners?"

They were born to be dependent on nobles, to farm and serve as vassals!

"They are incapable of fighting; only under the protection of nobles and knights can they survive the invasions of monsters and beasts!"

He grew angrier and angrier, as if he wanted to crush the cup in his hand: "I'm only fit to spend my whole life holding a hoe and toiling in the fields for a living. Why should I own land?"

"Land is a symbol of bloodline and honor. If even peasants can own their own land, then what's the point of having nobles like us?"

"Are we supposed to lower ourselves and sit on equal footing with those lowly people covered in dirt?"

He was already somewhat drunk, and the more he spoke, the more agitated he became. He tapped his finger hard on the table, his tone full of disdain: "That kid Karen must have been bewitched by that blue dragon and forgotten his noble bloodline!"

"He completely disregards the interests of us old nobles. If he continues like this, it won't be long before the racial hierarchy is completely thrown into chaos."

"The lowly ride roughshod over the heads of the nobles."

Moses picked up his slightly chilled glass of wine, took a sip, and slowly nodded: "You're right, Karen is still too young and doesn't understand the fundamentals of governance."

"The world should be divided into classes: nobles hold power, knights protect, and commoners labor. This is an immutable law."

They didn't see anything wrong with it at all; nobles were the controllers and rulers of their territories, and knights were the protectors of those territories.

Those commoners were tools of their labor, vassals of their land.

Without powerful nobles and knights to rule them, can commoners resist those powerful monsters and beasts?

No.

Only with the protection of nobles and knights could those tools find a place to survive.

"The common people have no land, so they submit to us. Only when we control fertile land and resources can we unite our strength and maintain our rule."

"Once those ordinary people have land and confidence, who will listen to us? When order collapses, that will be the real catastrophe."

The two chatted back and forth, finding themselves getting along very well.

The conversation ranged from the absurdity of the pioneering order to the hidden dangers of the Holy Radiance Empire, and then to the wavering collateral nobles within the clan.

Every word and sentence defends aristocratic privileges, criticizes Karen's radicalism, and also hides anxieties about the future.

The candlelight gradually dimmed, and the rain outside the window grew finer and finer, the pattering rain locking the two whispers firmly within the mansion.

I don't know how much time passed.

Virgil raised his hand to rub his heavy forehead, glanced at the deep night outside the window, and stood up to bow to Moses.

"Lord Moses, it's getting late and the rain is pouring down, so I should take my leave now. We can discuss the current situation of Starshine with you another day."

Moses also stood up, a touch of polite warmth appearing on his aged face, and raised his hand to help him up.

"Virgil, it's raining heavily tonight. Why don't you stay here for the night and leave tomorrow?"

Virgil thought that he might be able to finalize a few more ideas with Moses to counterbalance Karen, and immediately agreed, his face showing gratitude.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Your Grace."

He exchanged pleasantries as he walked out of the living room, his mind racing with thoughts of how to contact more nobles the next day to put pressure on Karen.

Moses smiled and nodded, Virgil thanked him again, and the two walked out of the living room together.

Just as Virgil was about to take a step, a whooshing sound suddenly rang out, so fast that no one had time to react.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and he instinctively tried to turn to the side to avoid it.

But the arrow was much faster than he expected. With a muffled "thud," a cold, gleaming iron arrow pierced his chest with pinpoint accuracy.

The arrowhead pierced through his back, and the splattered blood instantly stained his magnificent robes.

A sharp pain swept through his body; Virgil let out a hoarse sound, his eyes wide open in disbelief and terror.

He instinctively wanted to look down at the arrows in his chest, but then came the second, the third—

The iron arrows were incredibly accurate, all aimed at his chest. With a series of thuds, five iron arrows were densely embedded in his chest, pinning his body firmly to the cold blue brick wall.

Blood gushed out, meandering down the wall and forming a pool of blood on the ground.

The strong stench of blood, mixed with the dampness of the rain, quickly filled the air.

Virgil's body convulsed violently a few times, his hands gripping the arrow shaft to his chest tightly, and mouthfuls of blood gushing from his mouth.

He tried to shout, but could only make a muffled sound of blood and foam. Finally, his body went limp, and his wide-open eyes still held the bewilderment of his dying moments.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that even the rain falling from the sky hadn't had time to fall.

Moses was struck dumb, his blood seemed to freeze instantly, his aged body trembled violently, and he staggered back two steps.

His eyes bulged with terror as he stared intently at the five iron arrows lodged densely in Virgil's chest.

The silver leaf patterns engraved on the arrow shaft are the exclusive mark of the Levi Silver Leaf Knights.

This is the emblem used to protect the Levi royal family and the Knights of the Pendragon family!

Before he could recover from his shock, the sound of something cutting through the air completely stopped, and a tall figure slowly emerged from the shadows in the corner of the corridor.

Karen held a longbow, her clothes soaked through by the night rain and clinging tightly to her body.

The force of his arrow had not yet dissipated; his knuckles were bluish-white, and his face was expressionless.

There was neither murderous intent nor any sign of emotion, as if the person just shot was not an old nobleman of the Levi tribe, but merely a stray dog ​​blocking the road.

Those eyes, once brimming with passion, were now nothing but bottomless pools of cold water, and even the way they looked at Moses was utterly indifferent.

"Kay—Karen?!"

Moses finally regained his voice, and with an uncontrollable tremor, he looked at his nephew in disbelief.

"It was you? How dare you—how dare you lay a hand on a noble of your own race!"

Karen slowly lowered her longbow, casually handing it to the knight waiting behind her. Her eyes swept over Moses's pale face and then over Virgil's cold corpse on the wall.

Moses felt a sudden chill run down his spine, a cold sensation shooting from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He suddenly realized that during the few hours he had been talking privately with Virgil in the study, the mansion had already been quietly taken over.

Those servants and guards who used to treat him with utmost respect have vanished without a trace, replaced by Karen's trusted henchmen.

The Silver Leaf Knights' troop rotation was carried out without anyone noticing, and he, the duke, became a prisoner in his own mansion!

Yes!

Within the Silver Leaf Knights, his nephew's prestige was already far greater than his uncle's, and he could easily command anyone.

Karen's voice was calm and indifferent: "Uncle Moses, have you forgotten again? There are no nobles in the Starshine Kingdom yet."

He finally stood before Moses, looking down at his white-bearded uncle.

There was no trace of filial piety left in his eyes, only the ruthlessness forged by power and expansion.

In Moses's vision, in the dim glow of the lanterns, Karen's cold, hard features gradually overlapped with the soft, sweet child in his memory.

At that time, Karen was only waist-high to him, with a head of soft brown hair, and she always liked to grab his clothes and run around the study with him.

When she was hungry, she would tilt her little face up and ask for honey cake. When she was scolded, she would pout and hide under the eaves. Sometimes she would smile with her eyes crinkling, her eyes full of pure light.

How did it turn out like this?

Moses, devoid of his ducal authority, now only displayed the desolation of a frail old man: "You—Karen, you've come to kill me?"

Karen's hand, which was hanging at her side, moved almost imperceptibly, and her eyelids drooped slightly.

He stood there silently, raindrops dripping from his hair and hitting the bluestone slabs, without giving a single word of response.

But this silence itself is the cruelest answer.

Moses' legs went weak, and for the first time, his usually arrogant head bowed low: "Karen, I'm your uncle, the last bloodline of Pendragon—please—please don't kill me?"

"I will never hinder pioneering again, I—"

Oliver, the leader of the Red Fang Knights, strode forward with a sharp longsword in hand, his face cold and stern, and bowed to Karen.

"Your Highness Karen, now is not the time to be soft-hearted. Keeping him alive will only cause future trouble. I will take care of it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Oliver stepped forward with his sword, its blade gleaming coldly, pointing directly at Moses.

If this guy doesn't die, those who could be won over will still be wavering.

Anyone can live.

Only Moses had to die.

"etc----"

Karen's voice suddenly rang out, and Oliver's sword stopped just half an inch in front of Moses. He stopped in response, bowed his head, and awaited instructions.

He stepped forward and took the longsword offered by Oliver with both hands. The cold blade felt heavy in his hand, making his fingertips feel slightly sluggish.

Oliver stepped aside upon seeing this.

Karen gripped her longsword and walked step by step toward Moses, clearly intending to take action herself.

Moses slumped against the pillar, his aged back hunched over, the majesty of his former rule over the Levi nobility gone, leaving only the decay of old age.

He gazed at his approaching nephew, at the long sword gleaming with a chilling light, and could only sigh in his heart: the victor is king, the loser is villain; such has always been the way of things.

He clung to the old system and privileges, trying to maintain the foundation of the aristocracy's rule, but ultimately he could not overcome Karen's ruthlessness and the upheavals of the times.

They lost completely, leaving no room for argument.

Karen stopped in front of him.

Moses stopped pleading, and the fear gradually faded from his cloudy eyes, leaving only relief and expectation.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the completely transformed Levi Pendragon before him.

The longsword fell, piercing through his chest.

His breath grew weaker and weaker, his chest heaving violently. With his last ounce of strength, he gazed intently at Karen and murmured his final wish.

"Karen—you will become—a qualified monarch—a qualified king."

Blood continued to gush from the corner of Duke Moses' mouth. He opened his lips with difficulty, his voice weak and feeble, carrying the last words and prayers of his bloodline elders.

"Young eagle of the Pendragon family—fly—fly higher!"

Moses died.