Chapter 1289 - 552: Kulona Gathering (Part 2)

"Mathew Bade! Why are you so obstinate?" At this moment, the most hot-tempered Duke Bohemond stepped forward and scolded angrily; "Look at what you have done! You laid a treacherous hand on your own father! You've allied with the Undead to harm the Kingdom's peasants and nobility! And now, you even recruit those Rogue Knights, rebellious traitors, and despicable bandits attempting to attack our Royal Capital? I've never seen such a shameless knight! Do you actually have the audacity to ask for the throne now?"

"If the first Duke of Connet, one of the twelve original Holy Grail Knights, the respected Caliod the Brave knew there was a disgrace like you in his family, he would kill you himself!" Bohemond's angry voice echoed throughout the outskirts of Kulona, his eyes wide with fury, as he raged.

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill this bastard!" The young knights were all furious, roaring and shouting to completely kill Mathew Bade.

Bade responded with a cold laugh, his eyes filled with malice and hatred: "You sufferers of Chivalry Syndrome, you will never understand what I've been through, but it doesn't matter, soon enough, I will dance atop your corpses."

Laine raised a hand to stop Bohemond from continuing his angry questioning; he knew Mathew Bade had decided to walk a path of darkness, there was no turning back for him now, discussing Knightly Path or familial bonds with him would do no good now except heighten his madness.

Instead, Laine focused his attention on the gathered knights behind Mathew Bade, that large phalanx from Southern Leonais, composed of former Musillon Nobles: "Brothers of Leonais knights, what has happened to you? Why do you ally with this madman Mathew Bade?"

Seeing Laine's questioning, along with Bohemond's fury, many in the human army composed of roughly a thousand knights and knight's escorts bowed their heads in shame, but some knightly nobility chose to respond directly in their agitation.

"Because of injustice!" Immediately, a knight rode forward, angrily saying: "That's right, my family and I were once a knight family of the Musillon Duchy, and we were quite pleased to be rescued from the tyranny of the Mad Duke Merovin, but in fact, we haven't received just treatment!"

"Since being incorporated into Leonais, we have been greatly ostracized! Our fiefs and farms were seized by those Northern people! Our hunters were harassed within their own territories!"

"We have repeatedly attempted to plead our case in the Duchy courts but were always oppressed, always excluded from the most important meetings!"

"We've had enough, our lands belong to us, we have always been nobles of Musillon!" the knight said loudly: "We should enjoy a rightful status, we must unite to resist the current injustices!"

Upon hearing this, Richard, as the Knight King, let out a low sigh.

The lands of Southern Leonais were the territories annexed from Musillon. These regions were very prosperous, with dozens of small rivers running through, forming lakes in the low-lying areas, where most of the castles and villages were established on islands within the lakes.

Since being annexed into Leonais, these former Musillon nobles have been ostracized and oppressed; over five hundred years, they successively lost many fiefs and estates, were annexed by Northern Leonais nobles, and were frequently excluded in Duchy meetings, this discontent has been accumulating for a long time.

Richard had once realized this issue, and discussed it with the previous Duke of Leonais, Dalheid, contemplating how to resolve this serious discord.

However, while recognizing the discord was easy, resolving it was extremely difficult. The local Leonais knightly nobility already distrusted and ostracized the former Musillon nobles, even the Duke himself did not trust them, these conflicts accumulated over hundreds of years could no longer be resolved through peaceful negotiation, the only way to resolve it is through civil war within the Duchy.

But Richard is not like Bohemond, who rushes into battle when dissatisfied, nor is he like Francois, particularly skilled at handling internal relations; he instinctively refused to incite civil war within the Leonais Duchy, this issue could only be dragged on until now.

At this moment, the elderly King suddenly saw a figure beside Mathew Bade, he widened his eyes in shock: "Charles? Why are you in the traitor's ranks?!"

Richard's legitimate son, Charles, was horseback beside Mathew Bade; his face was pale, and his eyes bloodshot; upon hearing Richard's questioning, Charles angrily responded in kind: "Because I can no longer wait! Father! I cannot wait any longer! If it weren't for surrendering to Lord Mathew Bade to gain the life-extension Magic, I would almost be dead already!"

Charles raised the Great Hammer in his hand, pointing it at Richard:

"Is there a Crown Prince who sees seventy years?!"

"Good! Very good!" Richard's hands trembled, his murky eyes overflowed with tears: "Unexpectedly, Lorne's son ultimately opposed him, and my son also chooses to oppose me. Charles, have you ever considered whether you are qualified to inherit the throne?"

"That is no longer important, Father." Charles, pretending to be strong, swung his Great Hammer forcefully: "Lord Mathew Bade promised me, once it's done, I will be the new Duke Le Anglong!"