Chapter 246: 246. Schemes In Motion

"Oh?" Jake frowned.

Opening his eyes, he slapped the exposed booties of the women in his arms. Immediately, they slipped from his lap and crouched below the throne.

Jake then sank the nail of his thumb on his forefinger. Deep red blood oozed out, quickly igniting into a crimson flame which had a flickering rune in it.

Chanting a strange word, Jake thought of Zevik and moved his lips.

"Follow him, this is a good chance to isolate one of the church's powerhouses."

"But he is at the fifth-"

"I know. You alone aren't enough." Jake clicked his tongue.

"The second wave should've arrived at Nuving. Just lure him to the border. I'll ask the others to set up an ambush."

"I understand." Zevik replied and reported the matters about what happened earlier.

"Hm." Hearing that Splennar had been purified, Jake was a little disappointed. Thankfully, the court mage was smart enough to not appear in the palace.

"Tell Heath, Isobel and Emory to initiate their plans tomorrow evening. The military is bound to notice the second wave by that time. I want them distracted."

After saying that, Jake contacted Minerva. At the same time, he grabbed the ponytail of a girl sucking his rod.

Thrusting roughly, he plugged her stretched mouth and streamed a load of cum through her throat.

As the sun disappeared behind lush hilltops, the monster wave finally left Alediff.

Now, only a few towns and two noble territories remained on the way to Driftin City. Gaephia province still stretched further west but Jake didn't need to go that far.

He was already very close to completing his quota of gathering a hundred thousand mortal souls. By the time he conquered Driftin, that number would double or at least reach more than 150 thousand.

Only with that much surplus did Jake want to attempt his advancement and awaken his new bloodline.

"I'm a little behind schedule…" Jake muttered, opening his inventory and checking the ritual requirements.

…

Ardin Province.

The nobles who had territories on the coastal areas had all gathered at Cheshire tonight. Even some from the inner region had come.

With Count Renly, Baron Ernst, Viscount Stevenson, Baroness Felicia, and even Countess Margaret present, the nobles could tell something big was happening.

After Marquis Jones successfully captured this city, many noble families accepted his invitation to celebrate this occasion. Though a few bigwigs only sent their representatives.

The rest, who didn't come, thought that the Marquis was overstepping. Once the royal family got word of it, they would surely try to make an example out of him. Perhaps Sir Bors himself would make an appearance.

However, those nobles had no idea about the happenings in the kingdom. Also, they hadn't learned how exactly the marquis sieged the city.

The main reason so many nobles supported Jones right now was because of a certain woman who stood beside him.

"Ah, Lady Pristina. I wonder what her story is…" Countess Margaret sipped her wine, standing inside the brightly lit city hall.

"Such demeanour can't be cultivated by a rogue pirate. She must've come from a different nation to support Lord Jones." A nobleman commented and went toward Pristina.

However, his advances were swiftly rejected.

"Scram." The pirate woman snorted in disdain, walking upstairs.

This scene caused other nobles to secretly laugh.

"That Baron Ernst really thought he could mingle with the likes of her…"

While the party went on, Pristina couldn't bear with all these nonsensical etiquettes. Every so often, a noble would approach and try to butter her up.

Pristina knew that they only wanted to take advantage of her. Being born in a duke's family, she had a better idea of these nobles than anyone here.

After being a pirate for so long, she quite liked the freedom of being able to do whatever she wanted.

If not for Jake's orders to help Marquis Jones gather a coalition of nobles, she would've already left this hall.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," At this moment, the marquis raised his cup and addressed the crowd from the second floor balcony.

"I would like to thank you all for attending this party. I'm sure you still have some doubts about this undertaking, but tonight I shall clear everything."

Jones looked at the sexy gothic woman and continued, "Aside from Lady Pristina, I have other followers as well. As we speak, our forces are marching toward the capital."

The nobles, various representatives and military heads were expecting this but they didn't think a coup would be happening right now.

As the hall became noisy, Jones then told everyone about what happened to the Ravenners and the Lupins. This piece of information had only been known to the nobles who'd attended the King's Summon.

But now, as the rebelling nobles learned that two of the strongest pillars of Grimbow had already fallen, their confidence in Marquis Jones skyrocketed.

However, a few were naturally skeptical and sent their servants to verify this fact. Seeing that, Jones simply smiled and let them go.

Once the truth comes out, even those who had a wait-and-see attitude would beg to join him. After all, you had to pick a side in this war.

If the royals fell, the noble families who didn't contribute would surely be eradicated.

…

At Ulford, a pale silhouette floated above the circular city.

It was already deep into the night and that boy from the Isenwing clan was nowhere to be seen.

"Hah, is he scared?" Jacob shook his head in disappointment, and created golden energy wings behind his back.

Just when he was about to head out alone, a shadow suddenly flickered beside him.

"I didn't think you'd come." The High Paladin smiled as Zevik appeared wearing a white cloak.

"His Majesty is worried about the influence of, uh, the dungeon in the kingdom… Ahem." The old assassin began bullshitting.

'I'm not good at this.' Zevik sucked in a breath of cold air, hovering beside the paladin. After Jacob left the palace earlier, this assassin had first escorted Ivan out of the city.

The Court Mage radiated a mana signature familiar to every royal powerhouse stationed in Ulford. But with Zevik's concealment abilities, masking that sign was relatively easy. Still, it took a few hours to fool the other mages.

Also, Zevik had informed the clan heads about Jake's orders. Without him, taking hostages from the royal family wouldn't be so easy.

"Those three know how to kill, but to abduct living people is a different matter…"

Looking back at the brightly lit palace, Zevik pulled the hood of his cape which fluttered in the midwinter wind.

"Let's depart, Your Grace."

"Hmm." Jacob looked at the moon hidden behind thick clouds and nodded after a while.

'Huh?' Zevik was confused but didn't press the matter.

As the two fifth circlers flew out of the city's premises, the midnight bell rang like a distant melody.

Right below the bell tower, the Archbishop stood while holding a cross pendant.

He gazed toward the southeastern sky and muttered, "Brother Jacob, I hope you are right about this young man."