Chapter 297: Aftermath of the Kilrun-Mizalas War
After learning the horrific truth of what the higher-ups of the Mizalas did, they all did not want to be here any longer than necessary.
After some discussion between the five, they all agreed to find and destroy the Demonic Art, as there is no way something like that is not demonic.
Thankfully, it was easy to find the place where the Art was performed and subsequently where the Demonic Art was stored in the form of a scroll. Unfortunately, it was easy to find the place of the Art, or ritual more like it.
If not for the fact the five people are used to blood and death, they would have emptied their stomachs, cultivation be damned, at the sight in front of them.
There are shriveled bodies all over the place, with the blood seeming to be new, indicating there had been some sacrifice happening in the span of a few days. Or whatever the Art is it makes the blood not decompose or it is the blood of powerful experts.
They did not need to say anything as Ryker wordlessly burned the place down, destroying the scrolls containing the information of the Art. After they were sure everything was burned down, the group looted the treasuries of the Mizalas.
After taking everything and leaving nothing behind, they left the building, which soon was destroyed by the Duke with a single palm.
They then converged with the other group and listened to what they discovered. To their shock, there are also some blood pools in the city, though, on second thought, the soldiers needed somewhere to increase their cultivation realm.
They then told the others what they learned, and the outraged expression of the other Genesis Sea experts perfectly conveyed their thoughts on the matter.
The group then began to loot the city, not intending to let anything with value remain.
After the Mizalas Capital City was ransacked cleanly, they did the same to the other cities, gaining more than enough treasures, resources, and genesis stones and crystals for the rebuilding of the duchy.
-x-
"But still, where did they find that Demonic Art?" one of the great families' leaders asked.
When the rest looked at him, he defended himself, "I just wanted to know because I don't think the Duke has any abilities to create such an art. They must have found it somewhere,"
Ryker then remembered something, looking at the General of the frontier, "General," he called the man, who looked at him, puzzled.
"You once said there is a rumor that the Mizalas Duchy found a secret realm, correct?" he asked.
"Yes?" the General answered, though it seemed like he was asking something.
"I think, that the Duchy did find something, but instead of a secret realm, it is a hidden realm, created by a demonic cultivator who then stored some of his Art and Techniques there," he said, making the other's eyes widen.
"T-that make sense, as it would be a perfect place to discover any Art or Technique if the creator of the hidden realm used it put his or her lifelong possession," the Duke replied.
"Then the other Duchy might have other Art or Techniques as well and they might use it against the neighboring nations!" the Grand Advisor exclaimed, seeing the possibilities no one did.
"Should we send a message to the other bordering nations and see if they have any issues with invasion, my lord?" the Marshal asked.
The Duke shook his head, "Not yet. We should discuss this matter with the officials from the Kingdom first before we go through any plan. Not to mention, what we will do with the territory," he answered.
Before any of them could ask him, the Duke continued, "We will discuss this after we get back. We do not want to be attacked any more people, especially if they send a stronger Noble expert," he reminded them.
The rest nodded before the Duke carried them back to the Kilrun Duchy.
-x-
After they arrived at Kilrun Capital City, the Duke sent some messages to both the neighboring nations and the Birak Kingdom. For the former, it is to tell them that their civilian could return. For the latter, it is to discuss what is to be done with the territory of the Mizalas Duchy.
As they waited for the arrival of the envoy of the Birak Kingdom, the higher-ups of the Kilrun Duchy, Ryker included, began to discuss what they would demand.
"My lord, we should try to hold on to the territory. If we could have the resources of territory doubled of our original sizes, we could increase the resources we could collect over," the Marshal stated, pointing out the benefits of having a larger territory.
To his and the other surprise, the Duke shook his head, "While on paper it sounds like a good idea, do not forget we have suffered casualties from the siege and the bandit's uprising. We simply did not have the soldiers to even protect our territory, much less expand our territory.
Not to mention, developing the territory is another problem altogether. If there are civilians populating the cities and towns, I might have reconsidered it but with the entire population of Mizalas Duchy being non-existent, it is impossible for us to develop it, not without doubling our population,"
Hearing the Duke's rebuttal, the Marshal lowered his head, "Apologize, my lord, I am too hasty with my decision,"
The Duke gave the man a nod. "It is understandable as we have won the battle but we must remember that we need to think of everything, from whether we could even hold the territory and everything related to it.
As of now, we simply cannot do such a thing. As such, I plan to sell the territory to the kingdom in return for some extra resources. We need a lot of those to rebuild the towns, cities, and settlements.
After we are done relocating our people then we can think of grabbing some territory, namely the bandit's hideout and maybe even the territory of the two baronies,"
As the Duke told the higher-ups of his plan, they nodded in agreement, seeing it to be the most logical plan for now. Expansion of the Duchy's territory could be thought of at a later date.
For now, the soldiers of Kilrun Duchy take a well-deserved break while the higher-ups wait for someone from the kingdom to appear.
-x-
"It seems the people of Kilrun Duchy already heard the news and began to move," Ryker said to himself, looking at the message from one of the Generals.
The General had led some soldiers to the neighboring nation to help their citizens move back to the Duchy. Thankfully, the presence of bandits had been diminished, if they were not destroyed already.
Even if some powerful bandits attacked the populace during the move, the General has a duplicate of the Duke's Noble Tower, the small replicate has enough power to even kill a peak Genesis Sea expert.
As he mused over the thought, he sensed a powerful presence coming from the north. He did not have to look to guess they must be the envoy of the kingdom.
"Well, hoping it did not go out of hand,"
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