Chapter 126: War and Rumors

  After the fall of Trow City, all of Aa was in an uproar, though it was hardly ued.

  Without their elite "Eagle’s Talon," how could the La family possibly fend off the dragon-blooded monsters’ onsught, especially with a terrifying red dragon, hailed as the Sce of the Inferno, leading them?

  What they didn’t expect, however, was that Trow City, known as the “City of Valor” and standing unquered for a tury in the Northern United Kingdom, would fall so easily. This wasn’t even a proper siege; it was a casual takeover, with Trow uo mount any meaningful resistance.

  After t Dawson was killed by a mysterious on, the humiliating white fg waved over the city gates, and Trow’s turies of glory vanished like smoke.

  In the months that followed, Ember didn’t rush to capture the La Duchy’s capital, Northwind Fortress, instead methodically quering the eleven remaining cities in the duchy—Havertzburg, Turner City, Mexis City…

  One of the three most powerful duchies in the Northern United Kingdom—La Duchy—was slowly devoured, sending shivers through the nobles of Aa.

  Naturally, many bloody is occurred during this period, with rumors of ogres and chimeras dev people. Yet, under Cassius’s supervision, the dragon-blooded Sao maintain a basic level of order.

  pared to the human soldiers of this era who resorted to looting and violen wartime, or the noble knights who treated oners as fodder, these monsters uhe “Law of Dictatorship” had bee almost disciplined—even the ogres saw humans more as tasty snacks than targets for bullying.

  However, throughout Aa, the Ss of Ember were painted as demonic figures through deliberate propaganda, and bards even posed a long poem titled The Song of Ember.

  Their tyrant, that “Hellish camity” Cassius, had bee a symbol of sin. Legends told that he was the Dragon of Lust, the Dragon of Wrath, the Dragon of Pride, transf into a massive, terrifying human form to ravish beautiful maidens, only to revert to his true form and devour them whole.

  Meanwhile, Ember ’s steward, the dragon-blooded ogre mage Langpu, ortrayed as the embodiment of gluttony, dev anything in sight. Each time someone appeared before him trembling, his mouth would be full of human remains.

  As for the military ahe hobgoblin Dolo, he became the figure of envy, likely just to suit the poets' sense of bance…

  Cassius was indifferent to it all, even uned.

  Before he quered the entire Northern Kingdom, such distorted rumors were only to be expected.

  Once he swallowed the remaining twelve nations, all the noise would fade, and he would bee the sole, supreme king of Aa.

  "It’s close now."

  "Once I deal with that old vampire..."

  "The argets will be you, the deg Northern nobility."

  The red dragohed a sulfurous heat, muttering to himself.

  He was now lying in the cil hall of Trow City, a spacious, well-lit pce barely rge enough to aodate his enormous body.

  The cil hall had once been the pce where Trow’s affairs were decided, where noble cilors would gather to discuss governance, an horadition passed down feions. The s eagle oall stone pilrs symbolized ce and authority.

  Now, it still served as the deakier, though those eagles no longer represented power but rather the mark of defeat.

  Now, only the red dragon’s judgment held sway.

  "Master, Mexis City has fallen."

  Dolo’s image appeared within the hall.

  Smoke billowed behind him, indig the captured city, as dragon-blooded monsters moved about, and gunsh out in the distance.

  The red dragon nodded slightly, "Good."

  Darina, who had been standing by, picked up a brush and drew an X over the “Mexis City” bel on the rge map of the duchy in the ter of the hall.

  Ten other cities had already been marked off, including Trow City, where they now stood.

  Northwind Fortress stood alone, surrounded by those cities—it was the st remaining city under La trol.

  Darina fttered him, "gratutions, Master, the La Duchy’s turies-old history is about to end. Their vast nds will be yours, and yhty deeds will be recorded in history; the entire North will tremble beh your wings."

  "Now, only—Northwind Fortress—remains."

  Cassius suddenly turo Langpu, asking, "Did you capture those vampire progeny when you took Mexis City?"

  He referred to the La family ss, the highest-ranking vampire progeny who often called themselves the bloodline; Baron Todd had been one of them.

  Speaking of Todd, the poor fellow had lost his mind under Langpu’s eortures and experiments, reduced to a mindless beast.

  Embrag his schorly spirit, Langpu had eventually ground Todd into fine paste after tless tests, proving that even so-called “immortal bloodlines” wereirely unkilble.

  After months of experiments and various teiques, Langpu had mastered numerous characteristics of these vampire progeny, such as their vulnerability to running water.

  Now he was even more intrigued by the old vampire, Duke Brad La, lurking in Northwind Fortress.

  Langpu answered holy, "No."

  "In t Caitley La’s mansion, we found only drained human corpses. The eldest son had long since vanished. In all the cities governed by La ss, the same pattern was found—I suspect they’ve all gathered at Northwind Fortress for that so-called Assion Ritual."

  "The Assion Ritual."

  Langpu assumed Cassius was inquiring, not stating, so he respectfully expined:

  "Yes, the Assion Ritual. Through interrogating Todd La, we learned of this ritual, a form of sacrifice supposedly allowing vampires to evolve into ‘truly immortal beings.’"

  "Onplete, vampires would no longer fear sunlight or water and would wield formidable shadow powers."

  The red dragon slowly rose, stretg his wings.

  "It’s time to end this."

  "Langpu, inform all Ember Ss to draw their best troops from each city. We’re preparing to besiege Northwind Fortress—I don’t want a troublesome asdant vampire to emerge."

  "That old fiend... it’s time he went to his rightful pce."

  "Yes, Master," Langpu eagerly responded.

  FAL