Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 194 - 30: Starting a New Era_2

Chapter 194: Chapter 30: Starting a New Era_2

They rushed toward him.

"Father..." "Alster..."

"Someone has assassinated the Grand Duke!"

"Who did it!! How could such a thing happen in Dragon Castle!!"

"Imperial Physician! Bring the jade! The Grand Duke has been poisoned!"

"Ihe, quickly, detoxify the Grand Duke!"

"It’s... it’s too late... The poison has reached the brain; bloodletting can’t resolve this..."

Noise, chaos, terror—all blended into a tumultuous uproar.

At the brink of death, Alster was remarkably calm.

Surrounded by his people, he spoke with difficulty and slowness, "Ihe, fetch some paper and write this down: I appoint Gael as the next Duke of the Riptide Family..."

Everyone knew this was the Grand Duke of the Riptide Family’s will, and all the noise subsided.

"Some things were predetermined long ago, now... they can be overturned. I confess to the All Gods at this moment, I wronged... Moya. I am an incompetent... Monarch. I commanded Gael to harm them, but they... had no intention of rebellion. Gael... you must... must restore their family’s... honor..." Alster’s voice was faltering.

"Father, who was it!" Gael cried out in anguish, "Who was the assassin! I will never let them go! Never!!"

He was like an enraged old lion, rage drowning his reason, even forgetting the family inheritance he had craved for decades.

"There was... no assassin... you must go... restore Moya’s... honor..."

"I will do it, I will do everything! Father, tell me, who sought to harm you!" Gael’s expression was grotesquely fierce. He saw his father’s pale face, blood flowing, with black strands spreading from the wound like a spider’s dark web stretching across the skin.

"Ihe! I’m asking you, who plotted against my father!" His eyes were bloodshot, vowing to get to the bottom of this.

Ihe was struck with panic. He recognized the remnants of the dagger’s mark, as well as the traces of the malevolent poison. But could he really speak of it?

He found it impossible to believe, yet the evidence was right before him. How could he deny it?

"The Witch! It must have been the Witch who murdered the Grand Duke! Witches are adept at assassination! Skilled with poisons! Despicable! Shameful!"

Someone else recognized the source of the poisons.

Who else could silently infiltrate Dragon Castle and plot against the Duke?

Ihe was even more horrified.

He sensed a great conspiracy looming over Dragon Castle at present.

Alster’s lips moved slightly, but he could not muster any significant motion.

Ihe saw it, but he couldn’t explain; he had neither the authority nor the power to prove that it wasn’t the work of the Witch.

The Grand Duke of the Riptide Family’s expression was desolate, his eyelids heavy as if they weighed thousands of pounds.

The toxin was eroding his brain nerves. He grew drowsy, aware of what Pine was about to do but too powerless to stop him, too overwhelmed to think anymore.

In the end, he closed his eyes, never to open them again.

From birth to death, it is a cycle, a loop.

At his birth, he seemed to hear many people talking, their voices growing louder and clearer.

Now in death, he seemed to hear many people talking again, but their voices were fading away, becoming more ethereal.

He felt as though he stood at the starting point, about to walk the path again.

...

"Who is the darling of the age? There’s only one answer! That is I, the Duke of the Black Iron Land—Alster Riptide!"

That was him in his youth, carrying the Large Bow, full of youthful pride.

...

"Witch, I have sought you out for a long time. Your hidden power is terrifying, not inferior to any Black Iron Duke. You were able to assist the Conqueror, becoming his court witch, then you can also aid me. My Dragon Castle will welcome you, come help me!... What do you mean my era has not yet arrived?"

"Alster, since you wish to know, then I shall give you the vision. Sooner or later, you will see those things. You have the eyes of the Riptide, able to see what ordinary people cannot."

That was him in front of the Magic Mirror, all his ambitions seen through, all his desires laid bare, as if naked.

...

"The Riptide Family should maintain the Conqueror’s order... What should I do, this era lacks the soil for Bramble and Thorn. Fury Family has a child coming to visit, Grand Duke Tuwin dislikes the child? Then let him stay here, I’ll nurture him, I shall treat him as my own."

That year, at the age of seven, Pine arrived at Dragon Castle on the first day, chasing Gael across the fields, while he, tall and noble, watched from the hall.

...

"Witch! Witch! Give me the prophecy, when will the new age arrive?"

"It will come... it certainly will... The new age is approaching you, drawing closer."

"When will I be able to welcome it... no! It should welcome me!"

"A few years, ten years, a few decades... you will see it, it will see you, all that is needed is waiting. When the time comes, you will naturally remember these words..."

That was him consulting secretively with the Witch.

...

"I have dispatched Aaron to find that sea route, the route the Conqueror took when he left."

"You should not have done that. You will stir the Devils in the mist!"

That was his gamble.

...

"Aaron died, I saw that damaged shield, it came drifting ashore."

"A High Rank Guardian Knight comparable to the First Duke, an existence capable of defeating the Dragon Clan, meets such a fate. I hope you can maintain your Persistence, Alster."

That was his regret.

...

"The Conqueror brought back three Divine Artifacts from the Land of Divine Fall, left them to his followers to guard, a decision that determined the Destiny of the Human Clan."

"The Conqueror named his era, this era, the Black Iron Age. And in the future, the Black Iron Age will eventually pass."