NOVPUB
Chapter 125: The King’s Dilemma
The sun was still high in the sky as the denizens of Valiard City went about their daily activities, expecting today to be no different from the yesterday. But suddenly, the appearance of a mass of black clouds in the sky shattered that routine, drawing everyone’s gaze to the sky. The black clouds rapidly expanded covering the entire city, and the once bright sunlight was blocked, casting an eerie and gloomy atmosphere over the city.
The ominous scene grew worse as the clouds began to pulse with strands of lightning, accompanied by a sudden pressure that blanketed the city. A terrifying aura swept through the air, and everyone could feel its weight pressing down on them. It didn’t take long for the people to realize what this phenomenon was.
"Heavenly Tribulation!" someone muttered in disbelief.
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Inside a luxurious grand palace filled with numerous artifacts, there is a huge throne hall. The throne hall itself appears remarkable, resembling a typical throne room found in empires across the continent. At the center of the room sits a dwarf with a dignified aura, his fierce expression commanding attention. His regal royal clothes, themselves an artifact, exude an aura that makes the hearts of the surrounding dwarves tremble.
His short stature is contrasted by his large muscles, which reflect the experience he has gained with the craft his race is most proficient in: blacksmithing. Now, the red-haired and bearded dwarf listens to a report from one of his subjects. As the king of the Forgeheart Kingdom, Douwin Forgeheart is a dwarf full of charisma. Despite the fierce expression on his face, everyone knows him to be a compassionate ruler.
At this moment, his expression is pensive as he considers the report just delivered by one of his subjects.
"What is he doing? He’s spent the last six months with a group of humans. This is the first time I’ve heard of him acting like this. What is he planning?" the king thought.
As he pondered, a dwarf entered the hall and bowed before speaking.
"Your Majesty, Duke Badin, Duke Calas and Duke Lorf wishes to see you."
King Douwin raised his head and sighed.
"Let them in," he said.
Shortly afterward, three dwarves entered the throne hall. The tallest of them, by dwarven standards, stood in the center. When they reached in front of the king, they bowed their heads.
"At ease," the king waved his hand. "It’s unusual for Duke Badin, Duke Calas, and Duke Lorf to visit the capital at this time. What brings you here?" King Douwin asked.
After raising their heads, Duke Badin, the dwarf in the middle, answered the king.
"We happened to be passing near the capital, so we decided to visit Your Majesty to pay our respects."
"What a load of nonsense. All three of you just happened to pass by the capital at the same time?" King Douwin thought.
"I appreciate your respect, shown by your willingness to visit despite your busy schedules. But I know you have something on your minds, so go ahead and tell me," the king said, addressing Duke Badin.
"Your Majesty is as sharp as ever. We admit that we have more than just respect to offer. Along with paying our respects, I’ve received a report from our sources that Duke Valiard is working on something with a group of humans of unknown origin, and it involves creating an artifact," Duke Badin said.
"Duke Valiard hasn’t left his mansion, always with one of the humans. They’ve spent all their time inside his private workshop. With the amount of time they’ve been locked away, we suspect something is brewing behind Your Majesty’s back," added the duke standing to Badin’s right. He was younger than Duke Badin but had reached the Low King stage in cultivation, showing that he wasn’t far behind the other dukes. This was Duke Calas.
"With the disappearance of Mardred Valiard, we must investigate every tiny clue about his possible whereabouts. After receiving some signs from Duke Valiard’s mansion, we suspect they’re creating an artifact that might surpass the Heaven grade. With the blueprint’s location still unknown, we must ensure what Duke Valiard is truly up to," said the last of the group. This dwarf, with black hair and sharp eyes, was Duke Lorf.
King Douwin felt a headache coming on as he listened to their reasoning, already sensing their true intent. Limiting Duke Valiard’s freedom to act was, in essence, restricting his ability to make a great contribution to the kingdom. King Douwin knew that these three dukes were the most influential nobles in the kingdom, besides Duke Valiard.
Though the three dukes do not belong to the same faction, they share a tacit understanding when it comes to suppressing Duke Valiard and the Valiard family. Ever since the rise of Mardred Valiard, the influence of the other ducal families has steadily declined. With Mardred’s sudden disappearance, it’s understandable that they would now try to persuade the king to limit—or even suppress—the Valiard family’s power.
These dukes, like many nobles, are experts in using ’legal’ means to check the power and influence of other factions or competitors. King Douwin is well aware of this, but his hands are tied. Under each of these three dukes are numerous lesser nobles loyal to their respective factions, all of which oppose the Valiard family’s growing influence.
The Valiard family certainly gained tremendous influence after the rise of Mardred Valiard and the Valiard brothers’ ability to create divine artifacts, but they still cannot simply ignore the influence of the other ducal families. This is why, even though King Douwin understands their intentions, he feels frustrated. He has to be cautious in how he handles the situation, sometimes even having to act according to their plans.
The king is wary of causing instability in his kingdom by appearing too openly opposed to these powerful nobles, which forces him into a more passive stance on the matter. The only way to silence the opposition and make the dukes accept the Valiard family’s superiority would be for Duke Valiard himself to make a significant contribution to the kingdom.
King Douwin doesn’t care how Duke Valiard achieves this, though it would be ideal if he could create another divine-grade artifact, as that would prove he is not inferior to his elder brother. To be honest, however, the king believes that the creation of the last divine artifact that now in his possession was primarily due to Mardred Valiard’s tremendous efforts, which is not entirely wrong.
Duke Valiard has long been overshadowed by his brother’s brilliance, with little he could do to change that. The sudden disappearance of Mardred, along with the blueprint, shook him deeply, leaving him to lament the loss of such a genius. However, even now, he refuses to believe that his best friend was a traitor. He knows Mardred’s integrity too well and finds it hard to believe that Mardred would have taken the blueprint to sell to other powers.
"There must be something I don’t know—something that made Mardred take the blueprint and disappear," the king had thought at the time.
But the king’s belief in Mardred’s innocence is not shared by others. The moment Mardred disappeared with the blueprint, those looking to take advantage of the situation saw an opportunity to bring down the Valiard family. They didn’t care about the reasons behind Mardred’s disappearance, they quickly branded him a traitor who had stolen their kingdom’s secret. But they couldn’t reveal the truth to the outside world, as it involved their closely guarded secrets, so they simply claimed that Mardred was in seclusion.
King Douwin felt exhausted by all the political maneuvering, but facing the three dukes, he knew he had no choice but to address the situation. He spoke:
"So, you want me to order an investigation into the humans and what Duke Valiard has been doing all this time?"
"We wouldn’t dare ask anything of Your Majesty," Duke Badin responded, bowing slightly. "We are simply concerned that the appearance of these humans might be connected to the ’Divine Sword’ blueprint. We only wish to ensure that there is no connection. Duke Valiard’s activities with those humans seem suspicious, and we hope Your Majesty can ease our worries as loyal subjects."
King Douwin silently cursed the sly old fox for his roundabout way of speaking. He desperately wanted to put an end to this charade and set things right according to his own will.
"At times like this, I wish I had the power to suppress these bastards and rule the kingdom on my own," King Douwin thought. But in the end, he knew he had to act.
"If you believe something is wrong with them, then—"
Creak
Before the king could finish his sentence, a soldier rushed in, dropping to his knees as soon as he reached the king. All the dwarves in the room were momentarily confused by the sudden interruption, but their curiosity didn’t last long.
"Your Majesty, urgent news!"
"Speak."
"The Valiard Dukedom—there’s a Heavenly Tribulation forming in the sky above Valiard City!"
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Meanwhile, Aldrian and Duke Valiard had already distanced themselves from the sword as the pressure of the Heavenly Tribulation’s clouds weighed heavily on the entire city. They stood watching as the clouds began to churn, creating countless strands of lightning, the thunderclaps also grew louder.
Aldrian looked up at the center of the swirling black clouds and, strangely, felt as if he could reach out and touch them without getting hurt. It was an odd sensation, almost instinctual, like the Heavenly Tribulation wasn’t harmful—at least to him. If anyone knew what Aldrian was thinking, they’d probably strangle him to death for daring to believe that the Heavenly Tribulation wasn’t dangerous.
"It’s coming," Duke Valiard said solemnly.
BOOM!
