Chapter 149: Decline

"The Whirlwind Eagle Count?"

"With his strength, how could he possibly defeat our family's most elite Armored Golden Dragon Legion?!"

Upon hearing this news, Li Ju instantly furrowed his brows.

The Whirlwind Eagle Count was merely a newly elevated count. Leaving aside the fact that a level 40 Whirlwind Eagle was vastly inferior in individual combat prowess to a level 48 Armored Golden Dragon, the Whirlwind Eagle Count had only acquired his Whirlwind Eagle lair a mere two years ago. In such a short span of time, he could at most have nurtured one or two Whirlwind Eagles—a quantity that paled completely in comparison to the hundreds of years of accumulation of Armored Golden Dragons by the Iron-Gold Family.

"It is Grand Duke Boulder! Behind the Whirlwind Eagle Count stands Grand Duke Boulder!" Rama said hastily.

"Initially, the Whirlwind Eagle Count was entirely defenseless against our family's Armored Golden Dragon Legion, and the family drove him back, conquering the greater part of his territory. But just as the family was preparing to strike at the Whirlwind Eagle Count's stronghold, Grand Duke Boulder intervened."

"Grand Duke Boulder mobilized a ducal-tier lair creature under his direct command, the Boulder Earth Dragon, and utterly routed our family's hitherto invincible Armored Golden Dragon Legion. More than half of the Armored Golden Dragons accumulated by the family over hundreds of years were destroyed in an instant."

"Following that, under the onslaught of the Boulder Earth Dragon, the family was driven back step by step all the way to the ancestral castle. The family's letter just arrived, stating that Grand Duke Boulder's legions have completely surrounded the ancestral castle!" Rama said.

"Grand Duke Boulder?"

"Why would he interfere in the war between the family and the Whirlwind Eagle Count? Even as a grand duke, he cannot arbitrarily violate the rules established among the nobility!"

Li Ju's fingers tapped rhythmically and incessantly on the armrest of his chair.

To prevent the nobility within the Sea Snake Kingdom from falling into mutual attrition due to fighting over each other's lairs, the royal family had specifically enacted laws prohibiting nobles from attacking one another without cause.

When the Iron-Gold Family originally decided to move against the Whirlwind Eagle Count, it was because the Whirlwind Eagle Count had first broken away from the Iron-Gold Family without authorization, which constituted a betrayal of his liege lord. Therefore, the Iron-Gold Count, acting as his former master, had the legitimate right to launch a punitive expedition.

However, without a reason that could convince the public, even a top-tier noble within the Sea Snake Kingdom like Grand Duke Boulder could not willfully target a count. Doing so would violate the unwritten rules governing all nobles in the Sea Snake Kingdom and infringe upon the collective interests of the entire peerage.

"After breaking away from the family, the Whirlwind Eagle Count secretly swore fealty to Grand Duke Boulder. This time, Grand Duke Boulder dispatched his troops under the pretext of protecting his own subordinate noble," Rama explained.

"He has completely cast away even the pretense of shame..."

Li Ju let out a long breath.

Grand Duke Boulder's excuse was utterly flimsy.

Any discerning person, upon tracing the course of the war between the Iron-Gold Family and the Whirlwind Eagle Count, could easily see that the Whirlwind Eagle Count's prior defection was a trap meticulously laid for the Iron-Gold Family by Grand Duke Boulder. The sole purpose was to give Grand Duke Boulder a pretext to move against them.

"Does Grand Duke Boulder not fear ruining his reputation entirely within noble circles, or the subsequent retaliation from the royal family?" Li Ju muttered to himself.

The various noble houses were no fools. Although Grand Duke Boulder's actions technically adhered to the letter of the rules among the nobility, such an obvious and targeted trap set against the Iron-Gold Family would inevitably arouse the wariness and hostility of the entire noble class within the Sea Snake Kingdom.

It would be one thing if Grand Duke Boulder were targeting lower-tier nobility such as barons or viscounts, but a count was already considered a mid-to-high-ranking noble within the entire Sea Snake Kingdom. Especially given that the Iron-Gold Count possessed a status inferior to no ordinary marquis, his influence was immense.

For Grand Duke Boulder to so unscrupulously target and infringe upon a noble of count rank would inevitably provoke a backlash from the entire noble stratum.

In particular, the royal family of the Sea Snake Kingdom had constantly been reining in the various grand dukes within the realm. With Grand Duke Boulder acting so aggressively now, he would undoubtedly draw the fierce attention of the royal family.

To put it bluntly, while Grand Duke Boulder might thoroughly enjoy thrashing the Iron-Gold Family in this war, once the conflict concluded, the retaliation from various factions would inevitably make life very difficult for him.

Ducal-tier nobles were powerful indeed, but the checks and balances exerted by various factions within the kingdom prevented them from acting with absolute impunity.

"The family must possess something so coveted by Grand Duke Boulder that he is willing to pay a certain price to acquire it," Li Ju thought to himself.

Unless there was something specific he hoped to gain, it was hard to explain why Grand Duke Boulder would risk incurring the hostility of multiple factions just to deploy troops against the Iron-Gold Family.

"What is the current situation at the family castle?" Li Ju asked Rama.

"According to the messenger, the family's castle is currently completely surrounded by Grand Duke Boulder's legions, and the Count along with the rest of the family members are trapped inside," Rama said with a sigh.

"Then how did the messenger escape?" Li Ju asked again.

"The messenger said that although Grand Duke Boulder has surrounded the family castle, he has merely placed it under siege without launching an assault. He only restricts the important members of the family from entering and leaving the castle, completely ignoring insignificant characters like the messenger," Rama replied.

"That's fortunate. It seems the situation hasn't reached the worst possible stage yet."

Li Ju heaved a sigh of relief.

A siege without an assault, combined with allowing the Iron-Gold Family to send out a messenger, indicated that Grand Duke Boulder's goal was not the complete annihilation of the Iron-Gold Family—at the very least, the family was safe for the time being.

While attacking a count's family and completely destroying a count's family were two entirely different matters—the former leaving Grand Duke Boulder some room for maneuver within the Sea Snake Kingdom, the latter would make him a target of universal hostility among the kingdom's nobility and provide the royal family with a justifiable casus belli to wage war against him.

As long as the current Grand Duke Boulder had not lost his mind, he would not do such a thing. Yet one must always guard against the unexpected; Li Ju genuinely feared that this generation's Grand Duke Boulder might lack sound judgment and impulsively wipe out the Iron-Gold Family.

Powerful though the Iron-Gold Family was, before a grand duke, they were nothing.

However, Grand Duke Boulder's tactic of surrounding the castle without attacking only reinforced Li Ju's belief that the grand duke had set his sights on some specific treasure or asset belonging to the Iron-Gold Family.

"Send people to keep a constant watch on any movements from the family's side. Report to me the moment there is any news!" Li Ju instructed Rama after a moment of contemplation.

The two lairs he currently controlled had only reached the baron rank; he possessed zero capability to reinforce the Iron-Gold Family. Charging into battle with his current troops would be sheer suicide, and even if he mobilized all the minor nobles under his control, it would amount to nothing in front of a grand duke.

All he could do for now was wait and watch how the situation unfolded.