Chapter 304：

On August 18th of the Holy Calendar, the recuperated Arda army resumed its march. On the 20th, they crossed the border of the Duke's direct domain again and headed straight for Center.

On the 19th, Maltz Kent once again assembled an army to stop the army of Arda, but was still defeated. Since then, the road to Center has been unimpeded.

The news that the usurper had no more soldiers quickly spread throughout the Northwest Gulf, and the other lords in the coalition also resumed their offensive. They simply bypassed Fort Bidow, leaving only a small number of troops to watch over the defenders inside.

In late August, the three earldoms and other large and small independent lords, who had always maintained a neutral position, announced their support for the coalition forces and denounced Maltz Kent, the usurper, for his wrongful position.

However, many lords who were originally attached to Maltz Kent changed their courts and announced their surrender to the coalition forces. Those who did not surrender formally also secretly sent people to negotiate with the coalition forces. Paul Greiman was the most sought-after one. Everyone knows who is here The greatest contribution in this war.

On the evening of August 25, the Duke's Mansion received news that Arda's army was less than 20 miles away from Center. If there is no accident, they will arrive in Center tomorrow.

At this time, Center City—the largest city in the Northwest Gulf—is already in a state of turmoil and panic, and the Duke's mansion in the center of the city is even more miserable.

In the past, this place was full of people, and dignitaries and rich people from all over the world lined up to visit, but now it is empty.

What's even more frightening is that people in the mansion have disappeared or died frequently recently. Those who were found dead were all shriveled and had lost all their blood. As a result, rumors spread in the market, and the more they spread, the more exaggerated they became.

His Excellency, the Duke of Malts Kent, seemed to be too busy dealing with the horrific battles, and he had no time to manage these matters, allowing the rumors to spread more and more widely. The servants in the Duke's mansion lived in fear all day long but did not dare to escape in private. Before the enemy captured Center, the Duke was still the supreme authority here, and there were still a group of family knights who were loyal to him.

The situation of the soldiers approaching the city and the mysterious terrorist incident made the residents of the entire Center City feel uneasy.

At noon on the 26th, Arda's army arrived outside the city of Center. Together with the auxiliary soldiers recruited again, the strength of the troops was close to 6,000, and they tightly blocked the three gates of Center. After the whole army took a break for lunch, the bombardment of the city began at 2 pm.

The artillerymen were naked to the waist, sweating profusely, firing shells one after another. In order to avoid the scorching in summer, a shade canopy was set up on each artillery position. But even so, being in the artillery position is like being in a stove. The barrel of the artillery will become hot after a few shots, and you need to pour cold water on the body of the artillery to cool it down.

The use of artillery bombardment is just a cover. For a strong city like Center, the efficiency of conventional siege methods is too low, and there must be huge casualties. Paul's plan was to dig a tunnel close to the base of the city wall, dig a large hole in the wall, put a large amount of gunpowder in the hole, and then detonate and explode the city wall.

So a large number of soldiers took their shovels and began to do more underground work, digging towards the city wall of Center bit by bit.

…

Maltz Kent sat alone in the empty hall of the Ducal Palace.

He was reminiscing everything after Barnett's plan started, and scenes flashed in his mind.

Six months ago, it was in this hall that the lords of the Northwest Gulf gathered to celebrate the birthday of the then Duke Ferdinand. It was also on that day that the old Duke announced that he had been chosen as his heir. Maltz still clearly remembers the shocked, terrified and unwilling eyes of the Duke's younger brother, Viscount Henry.

It was probably at that time that a conspiracy against him had already begun to brew.

Price Parker, Paul Greiman, Molly Malcolm... one counts as one, the rats in the sewer, the maggots in the latrine must be staying in the corner of the hall and looking at themselves with jealous twisted eyes .

Ah, at that time, these guys should have been thrown directly into the prison, maybe there won't be so many bad things later, let alone the current situation.

Speaking of prison cells, the secret escape route of the Ferdinand family actually has an entrance in the cell of the Duke's Mansion. Since that idiot Henry escaped, he sent someone to almost tear down the walls and floor tiles of the dungeon, and finally found the secret tunnel. Damn it, I didn't expect this possibility to come true.

However, I'm afraid that even without Henry Ferdinand, the guys like Parker and Greyman would find other reasons to raise troops against him. These villains will not allow him to sit securely in the duke's seat.

Hmph, you didn't let me comfort you, and even killed my son, I won't make it easier for you either.

Maltz Kent, thinking about the plans he had already made in his mind. Yes, he did fail in the frontal confrontation, but the good show has just begun. He will become a nightmare and become a lingering terror for the rest of his opponent's life.

"Hehe, Your Excellency the Duke is so leisurely and at ease..."

Just as he was thinking about it, a slightly mocking voice sounded in the hall.

Maltz stood up abruptly, and with his keen sense now, he didn't notice anyone entering the hall.

A man in a black cloak appeared at the door, and slowly took off his hood, revealing a young face. This is a handsome young man with an earring on his right ear, but his eyes are slightly frivolous, which makes people feel uncomfortable.

And wearing a black cloak in summer, is this person sick?

Obviously, this is not an ordinary person, he walked slowly to the front of the main seat, and Maltz was only separated by a low table.

Maltz thought for a while, and asked tentatively, "Are you... from the Secret Society?"

The young man smiled and nodded.

"Where did Mr. Barnett go?"

The young man shook his head: "That adult's whereabouts are secretive, and we don't know."

"Andy has already gone back? He asked you to help me?" Before the other party could answer, Maltz roared angrily: "Why did you come here? It's too late now."

The young man spread his hands: "Help? My lord, you may have misunderstood something. I'm sorry, I don't want to talk nonsense, but something unpleasant happened next."

"Hahahaha!" Maltz let out a burst of hysterical laughter So I have no value to use, come here to kill people to cover up your existence? Anyway, I also have a bill to settle with you. "

Maltz suddenly jumped up, his right hand clawed at the young man, the speed was so fast that people couldn't see the movement clearly.

However, just when his fingertips were about to touch the young man's face, his whole body stopped abruptly. Maltz still maintains the attacking posture after the explosion, but it seems to be still for an instant.

The young man took a step back unhurriedly, and said mockingly: "Your Excellency, you are only partially right. The more important reason is—"

His eyes turned cold instantly, and he said in a serious tone: "How dare you threaten a wizard, even if he is just an apprentice."

Threat? The scene where he forced Andy to seek help from the Arcane Society flashed through Maltz's mind.

The young man put his hand on Maltz's shoulder and pressed down lightly. The Duke's forward-leaning body couldn't maintain his balance, and he fell heavily on the table below him. There was a candlestick on it, and the sharp horn used to place the candle pierced through Maltz's heart, and then pierced through his back.

The Duke's stiff body didn't even struggle, and he gradually lost his breath.

A smile returned to the young man's face, he put on the hood, turned and left the hall.

More than an hour later, several servants carrying food came to the entrance of the hall, and found that the guards on guard were sound asleep, so they hurriedly woke them up.

The guards were extremely ashamed. They were all the elite around the Duke, and they made such a low-level mistake collectively.

Maybe it's because I've been too tired lately.

The first servant enters the hall, and the sight inside scares him so much that he drops the food on the floor.

Ten minutes later, the news of the Duke's unfortunate and accidental death spread throughout the mansion.