Blood Holy Scripture: True Ancestor Charlotte de Castel
Chapter 392: -140- Declaration of War!

Chapter 392: -140- Declaration of War!

The changing situation in the Northern Land took the Third Prince by surprise, but it simultaneously solidified his resolve to head north as soon as possible, seizing the optimal opportunity to declare war on the Northern Land while Castel was still not fully successful in quelling the rebellion.

Count Gaston had already betrayed him, and the Third Prince was certain that Castel must have also learned about his faction’s plans by now, so he had to launch the attack before the opponent’s main forces could return.

Luckily, with the pretext of military exercises, the Violet Duchy had already assembled their troops, and even the elite standing forces from the Bold Duchy had been transported by ship to Violet.

To combine the strength of the two duchies was staggering; even without mobilizing the nobility, and only calling up the conscripts and standing forces from the directly administered domains, they had gathered a mighty force of twenty-five thousand men.

Among them were twenty thousand from the Violet Duchy, commanded by Count Linte, heir of Violet, and five thousand from the Bold Duchy, led by the Third Prince, Philip, who was also the nominal commander-in-chief of the allied forces of the two duchies.

In the Violet Duchy’s troops, there were five thousand elite regulars, with an astonishing Transcendent ratio of 40%, significantly exceeding the minimum 30% Transcendent ratio standard required to form a Transcendent Army Formation, including more than forty tier-entering men and no fewer than five Second Tier Silver Moons.

The forces from the Bold Duchy were even more formidable, composed entirely of Regular Transcendors.

These included three thousand five hundred Regular Transcendors from the original Bold forces, with a Transcendent ratio of 30%, similar to the stationed forces in the Tulip Count Domain, as well as one thousand five hundred men from Prince Philip’s Personal Guard.

The standards of the Prince’s Personal Guard were in line with those of the Kingdom’s Regular Army, with a Transcendent ratio even exceeding 50%, and their combat effectiveness was somewhat stronger than that of Bold’s elite standing forces.

Moreover, the tier-entering count from Bold also exceeded thirty, including three Silver Moons.

In other words, among the allied force of twenty-five thousand from the two duchies, just the troops capable of forming a Magic Energy Formation numbered ten thousand, including four thousand who were genuine Transcendents.

The total number of powerful tier-entering men was more than eighty, with eight Silver Moons.

Aside from not openly utilizing the power of the Blazing Sun, this scale of mobilization was already on the level of a duchy-level war.

In a duchy-level war, it’s the Regular Transcendents who are the main force.

And their opponent was merely a Count Territory whose standing army numbered only three thousand, lacking Enchanted Equipment, and with a Transcendent ratio of less than 20%.

Oh, no.

Now... perhaps there should be included a Tulip stationed force with a Transcendent ratio of 30%, and a strength of three thousand.

But what of it?

Even if all nobility in the Northern Land were summoned, in front of the formidable regular forces of the Duchy, they were nothing but a disorganized rabble.

Castel had money, indeed, but in terms of military preparedness, it was still a bit too weak.

On this, the Third Prince saw very clearly.

"Send out the orders, the Castel family has long been without a male heir, and the last Count did not specify an heir; thus, the current succession of the title is illegal,"

"Charlotte de Castel, the current head of the Castel family, shows disrespect to the Lord, refuses to swear allegiance to the new Duke, publicly violating the ’Holy Code’..."

"According to Chapter 17, Article 4 of the ’Holy Code’, the Castel family has gravely breached the Nobles’ Contract and no longer possesses the qualifications to inherit the Count Castel Domain."

"According to Chapter 24, Article 11 of the ’Holy Code’, given that the Castel family lacks the qualifications to inherit, the Bold family, being part of the Castel clan, has the right to reclaim the domain and strip the Castel family of their title."

"In the name of the Bold Duke, a final ultimatum is issued to the Castel family, demanding their abdication within five days and handing over control of the domain to the Bold family."

"Should there be noncompliance... it will be considered as rebellion!"

The Third Prince ordered the mages of the Mage Tower.

Five days’ time was actually the estimated time it would take for the allied forces of the two duchies to reach the border.

In other words, the Third Prince had no intention of negotiating with Castel.

He was ready for war, and regardless of Castel’s response, he would lead the great army directly to invade, heading for Castel’s Capital Mansion, North Port!

In other words, this so-called ultimatum was, in fact, tantamount to declaring war.

"Furthermore..."

The Third Prince paused, then continued:

"Send a message to Bold, to seize all of Castel’s manors, castles, mansions, and shops in the duchy proper, confiscating all property!"

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes, his gaze growing colder:

"From this day forth, there shall be no more Castel in Bold."

...

The movement of the allied armies of the two duchies was swift.

After the Third Prince resolved to immediately head north, the well-prepared army quickly set off.

It took only five days for the mighty army to arrive at the border between the Violet Duchy and Count Castel Domain.

By this time, ten days had already passed since the battle at the Don River, where Count Castel’s rebellion had taken place.

The Third Prince, Philip, as the Commander, stood on the hillside, observing the intersecting waterways and the well-arranged towns of the Castel Domain in the distance, a flicker of light passing through his eyes.

This was his first visit to the Northern Land.

Although he had not yet seen the famed North Port, the sight of the scattered towns already conveyed to him the prosperity of Castel, which rivaled the heartland of the Kingdom.

"Do you see, my beloved wife, in the future... this shall be my Directly Administered Domain."

He turned his head, saying this with a smile to the silent Duchess Eleanor of Bold by his side.

Upon hearing the words of the Third Prince, a slight tremor ran through Eleanor, her head bowing even lower.

However, as the Third Prince gazed towards Castel, dreaming of his future, Count Linte came riding up to him in haste, accompanied by several nobles.

"My uncle, you seem to be in poor spirits, what has happened?"

The Third Prince remarked with a smile after glancing at the furrowed brows of the other.

Count Linte glanced at Eleanor, then refocused on the Third Prince with a complicated expression:

"Your Highness, my question may be offensive, but considering that we are allies and relatives, there is something... I wish to confirm with you."

"Have you... had any dealings with the Blood Demon Sect?"

Hearing Count Linte’s words, the Third Prince was momentarily stunned, his smile fading slightly before he narrowed his eyes and asked:

"Uncle, who told you this?"

"Your Highness, I only require a yes or no answer," Count Linte said sternly.

The Third Prince watched him for a moment and then burst out laughing, saying:

"My dear uncle, many nobles within the Kingdom are more or less connected with the Blood Demon Sect, of course... most of the time, it’s business transactions."

Count Linte frowned:

"So, you really have had interactions with them?"

"Nothing but trade, rest assured, I know what’s important and have never trusted those lunatics. It’s just that sometimes one needs to borrow their power to achieve certain goals," the Third Prince said nonchalantly.

Count Linte’s frown deepened:

"Your Highness, you are playing with fire. The Blood Demon Sect is no benign force, getting too close to them is bad news, and it will hand the Second Prince a weapon against you!"

A realization dawned in the Third Prince’s heart, his smile finally faded:

"What has happened?"

Count Linte sighed and gestured towards the nobles behind him:

"Let your man tell it."

The Third Prince turned his attention to Count Linte’s retinue and recognized the liaison officer responsible for communication with Bold.

As the liaison officer caught the Third Prince’s gaze, he quickly bowed his head and presented a parchment scroll with trembling hands, saying:

"Your... Your Highness, we’ve received word from Bold, Castel has declared war on us."

"What did you say? Castel has declared war on us?"

The Third Prince was taken aback and then burst into laughter uncontrollably:

"Haha, hahaha!"

"She actually declared war on me!"

"This little beauty from the Castel family is really something, does she think that just because she suppressed a rebellion, she can contend with me?"

As he spoke, he took the parchment scroll from the hands of the noble liaison officer.

But as soon as he read the contents of the scroll, his expression suddenly changed.