The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

Sitting behind the desk, Edward lowered his head and flipped through the towering stack of documents, with heavy eye bags like sponges soaked in water.

From night to dawn, he even forgot when he last closed his eyes.

The Extraordinary Power at Gold Level seemed to be completely spent on staying up late, and he was only grateful that he hadn't neglected his knightly training before turning thirty, as his thirty-six-year-old self now had the capital to strive.

Just as he yawned, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." He didn't lift his head but instinctively collected his lax expression, restoring the Duke's dignity on his face.

Upon receiving permission, Sir Yang Andes silently entered and gently laid a battle report on the desk.

"Sir Wesley succeeded." Andes' voice was weary, carrying with it a familiar humility, "The west wall of Glanton Castle was breached in the artillery fire. Earl Derek and the northern vassals knew resistance was futile and have surrendered."

Edward's hand did not stop, the pen tip continued to glide over the paper, responding indifferently, "Hmm."

How to deal with Earl Derek and the other rebels had long been settled in his mind. This inevitable civil war was merely hastening what was destined to happen.

He had long prepared for this day—

The Duchy will reclaim the Earls' titles, the Earl Domain will become a direct domain of the Duchy, directly managed by the Duke and appointed officials!

After a brief silence, Andes looked at the Duke, whose expression remained unchanged, and softly continued in the background.

"And... Jelock. He did not resist, captured directly in front of the castle main building. He declared to everyone that this rebellion was planned and incited solely by him, all other nobles and their house servants, and peasants... were coerced by him."

The pen tip halted.

Edward's hand hovered over the paper, and slowly a deep black blot spread across the page, like dried blood. His eyelids quivered slightly, then slowly closed, a silent curse squeezed from his twitching lips.

This fool...

An out-and-out idiot!

Do you really think I don't dare to kill you?

Edward almost watched Jelock grow up and almost instantly saw through his younger brother's intentions—

This knight with a muddled mind, likely sank back into his stupid delusions of "self-sacrifice and saving the Duchy"!

All he wanted was to preserve the so-called noble blood, sacrificing himself to keep the fire of Extraordinary Power for Campbell Duchy.

But this guy had no idea what these so-called noble bloodlines actually brought to his Duchy!

What he's desperately trying to preserve is nothing but a pool of already putrid pus!

A sore that has long since festered!

Silence persisted again for a long time until a hoarse voice came from behind the desk.

"...Andes, do you believe what he says?"

Hearing Edward's voice, Andes paused slightly, carefully choosing his words before speaking reticently.

"Your Majesty... I dare not criticize the Royal Family, but from my understanding of knightly honor, a noble knight would never betray his lord. However, sometimes loyalty can also become a poison, exploited by worldly desires, wrongly ingested by good men. What we can do is probably only to respect and fulfill."

His speech was veiled, but he believed Edward's intelligence could understand.

And indeed, Edward could not only understand what was said but also what was left unsaid.

Jelock's intent was not rebellion; this civil war was undoubtedly manipulated and exploited by that group of old foxes around Derek!

And now, they even consider his brother as their final retreat.

Andes noticed Edward's index finger holding the feather pen trembling slightly and understood that this was not an easy decision for His Majesty.

He sighed inwardly, leaving the choice to His Majesty. Next, he still had another matter to report.

"The King of Ryan Kingdom and the Bishop have both sent us strongly-worded letters expressing their concern over the situation."

Andes took out two more letters from his bosom, gently placing them on the table.

"Under the pretext of 'guarding against Chaos Corrosion making an advantage,' they demand we 'forgive' those rebellious lords. They declare this as 'the Royal Family's civil war' and shouldn't shake the sacred and ancient contracts. Your Majesty... they seem to have guessed what we are going to do next."

The subtext of the two letters was already obvious—

You can kill, but take your own brother's head; as for anyone else, you may not touch a single one!

If touched, the Lion Heart Knight Order, currently stationed in Twilight Province, will cross Rapids Pass in the name of defending the law to eliminate the 'tyrant,' reclaiming the castles and estates for the nobles deprived of territory and titles.

Now, Campbell Duchy is like a strong warrior facing a whole pack of encircling hungry wolves alone. He can handle one but cannot fight the entire pack.

King Ryan, the Church Court, and the intricate old Noble network within the Duchy... they are all using their Strength pressures to force him to concede.

Yet if he retreats, the blood of tens of thousands of Campbell people will have flowed in vain, and he will lose the loyalty of many supporters.

Edward silently stood up and slowly walked to the window. His gaze went beyond the withering birch trees, landing on the still lush lawn in the estate's backyard.

How to deal with these traitors became an even harder problem than winning the war.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!