Chapter 400: 17. The Fire of the New Dragon Court (6k)
“Oh my god, the legendary Storm Sea has really been found by the Black Chieftain?”
It was the third day after Fisher had left when Captain Alagina hurried back to the Iceberg Queen. Before she could settle the lingering feelings from her previous encounter with Fisher, a messenger from the Black Chieftain’s ship came to deliver an extremely shocking message.
The legendary golden land of all adventurers, the Storm Sea, had appeared.
“It’s true! On the night before last, our captain suddenly noticed something strange on the sea while sailing. The time turbulence that had been troubling us suddenly disappeared, and there really is a Storm Sea!”
The messenger who boarded the ship was dressed in a short black sailor uniform, his body tanned and resembling a native of the Southern Continent. Surprisingly, he spoke fluent Northern Region Language, which probably explains why Black Chieftain chose him as a messenger.
At that moment, all the crew members on the Iceberg Queen looked at Captain Alagina, First Officer Paz, and Aoxi who stood behind them with shock. Paz had lost some weight, her formerly chubby face starting to take on more definition, though it was unclear if that had anything to do with Old Jack. She was insisting on going back to her “youthful and heroic” days.
As for Aoxi, although she still wore a cloak and maintained her usual quiet demeanor, she was no longer staying up in the mast.
Everything had changed considerably on the Iceberg Queen since Fisher’s departure.
“That’s great news! Captain Alagina, let’s go see it! The Storm Sea, I have been…”
At that moment, a girl with short golden hair, not very tall, brightened her golden eyes as she spoke to Alagina, who was surrounded by the messenger and the crew.
“Isabel, enough! Don’t interrupt, let us decide!”
“Yes, First Officer Paz!”
Paz immediately shot a glare at the blonde girl, causing her to hide behind other crew members amid laughter.
The girl referred to as “Isabel” had the standard features of a Nali person, but her skin had roughened considerably, tanned by the sea winds and sun. She had taken on a strong appearance after spending time at sea, and her skin now bore a light wheat color, reminiscent of what Old Jack had said: she was like a young leopard with the wildness of a woman from her homeland.
However, since Nali people lived by the coast, this ocean-hued appearance didn’t seem out of place on this overseas princess.
The messenger found the scene somewhat amusing but continued speaking to Alagina and Paz.
“The captain said that although they found the Storm Sea, he observed that it is dangerous inside. He needs to recruit capable individuals to explore it. He still wants to invite you to join his exploration team; however, if you are unwilling, it’s alright. The captain said that his previous promise still stands. If you want to return to the Woman Kingdom, he will arrange it when he returns to Pirate Harbor this month.”
Paz did not respond but turned to look at Alagina as if waiting for her response.
Paz knew Alagina well. The heir to the vassal state had always preferred a peaceful life filled with tranquility; it cannot be denied that for the vassal state that had been under her mother’s domineering control for many years, a ruler like Alagina was what people needed. But what would happen in other places remained uncertain.
After a moment of silence, under the watchful gaze of the crew, Alagina lifted her blue eyes and said decisively,
“I understand. Then please let us join the Black Chieftain’s exploration of the Storm Sea, but regarding the spoils of the exploration…”
It seems even the messenger didn’t expect this woman, the captain of the Woman Kingdom, would break convention and accept the Black Chieftain’s invitation. The Black Chieftain had sent him, not holding much hope that Alagina would agree, since everyone knew she had come here solely for the reward of “returning to the Northern Region.”
But why today?
“Don’t worry, the captain said the spoils would be shared equally.”
“Yay!”
Isabel from the back jumped up cheerfully, holding a dagger, while the other crew members were eager to try their luck. The warmongering and exploratory spirit of the Women of the Kingdom was evident at this moment; otherwise, who do you think would dare to hunt sea ghosts on the high seas in winter?
Paz was also somewhat surprised, but upon seeing Alagina’s determined expression, she understood.
This looks pretty similar to how I lost weight for Old Jack, doesn’t it?
Or perhaps, did she meet Fisher when they returned to Pirate Harbor for supplies?
Paz smiled knowingly and didn’t ask any more questions; the romantic ideals and aspirations of youth are too complicated. She was getting older and only knew to rely on losing weight to attract the opposite sex. Perhaps she could no longer return to her youthful days when she fought for her beloved; all she had to do was follow the captain’s instructions. Aoxi had no objections; she was just pondering what kind of place the Storm Sea could be.
“The Storm Sea isn’t far from here; the coordinates are here. Since Captain Alagina has agreed, I’ll return to the ship to report. Farewell.”
“Safe travels.”
The Black Chieftain’s messenger nodded, turned around, and jogged a few steps before jumping off the side of the deck, landing perfectly on a small boat. As he settled in and began rowing toward the Black Chieftain’s ship, he couldn’t help but look back at the massive warship, muttering,
“Strange, didn’t Ancestor say that Captain Alagina would probably return to the Northern Region? I even reminded Kexiening to prepare for persuasion. Such a…”
Indeed, this messenger with a native Southern Continent appearance was a Slime who had appeared that night when Fisher went to the borderland. He was the one who had previously conveyed information about Pirate Harbor.
He had not used value transfer but had rowed vigorously, using the bluish-green, jelly-like tentacles extending from his body to send messages back to the borderland, informing them of the latest developments.
The myriad events occurring in the world were all converging at the borderland through the information exchange among these slimes lurking around the globe. Although at this moment the curse of the Parasol Tree in the Northern Region had been removed, following the order of the Slime King, those slimes who had been operating around the world had no intention of returning entirely. They continued doing their things as usual.
As he was writing, a piece of shimmering virtual information formed by value suddenly appeared beside him,
“Hey, there are new messages from the Southern Continent. Ancestor wants to send it all to us. What’s this?”
Seeing it was a new announcement from the Slime King, he immediately set down his writing and focused on reading the value-message. The text was very short, stating,
“Today, the New Dragon Court has officially captured the city of Cardu; the war horn of the Southern Continent has already sounded.”
He looked at the phrase in a daze and turned to the southwest.
In that direction lay an ancient continent, where a flame stirred up by a crimson figure gradually swelled, unveiling a raging momentum.
“Kill them! Break down the gate!”
“One! Two! Three!”
In a corner of the boundless wilderness in the southwest of the Southern Continent, a fortress, which looked like a nail stuck out in the wilderness, was filled with the tumult of battle cries, the booming of cannon fire, the blasts of gunfire, and magical brilliance dazzling upon the city walls. These seemingly peculiar weapons had long been a reliance of humans on the Southern Continent, allowing them to seize everything from this ancient land, supported by the tall city walls.
Gold mines, populations, lands.
Even in Cardu, a religious nation that constantly recited the teachings of the Mother God, the ambition driven by the demons of greed led them to cross oceans in hopes of expansion. They rarely recruited ascetic nationals, instead opting to offer vast sums to bring in manpower from other places like Shivali and Nali, hoping to realize dreams of overnight wealth.
The lord of the city of Ruenete was just such an ambitious individual. Previously, he had been the bishop of a church in Cardu. However, in a place with such strong religious sentiments like Cardu, even a single brick thrown could take down a multitude of bishops. Not to mention he was only an obscure “marginal bishop,” confined to sitting at the edge during annual meetings and listening to the sermons like a mere transparent figure.
But as time progressed, the cultures of Shivali and Nali began to interact with Cardu, and he gradually became influenced by the brave image of Blake, leading him to spend all his wealth to recruit manpower and come to the Southern Continent four years ago, hoping to make a name for himself.
Unfortunately, whether it was the Mother God’s punishment for his greed or not, he had not found anything valuable in the first three years. He hadn’t discovered any of the rumored gold mines or gemstone mines and had to suffer daily by engaging in the slave trade with some slave traders. However, that summer, it seemed he had lucked out; he finally found the gold he had dreamed of, just fifteen kilometers from his city, in a subhuman tribe.
Yet, before he could jubilantly mine for two weeks, even before he could transport the gold to the city, his city was surrounded by a myriad of various races wielding guns and cannons, led by a female red dragon claiming to be from the “New Dragon Court.”
“Step aside!”
As the city’s defenses could not stop more and more subhumans from enclosing it, from the ranks of the New Dragon Court’s army, the red-haired Dragon Queen, clad in armor, burst forth wielding a gigantic red spear. Despite numerous magical protections applied to the city gates, the normal magic and siege weapons were basically useless. After a prolonged stalemate without breaching, Raphael could no longer hold back and rushed out with a gun in hand.
Jasmine, who had originally been behind her, hastily followed her lead. From a distance, they heard Raphael shout and then suddenly threw her spear towards the far city gate.
“Roar!”
With the spear, as if composed of blood and hotter than lava, was hurled by Raphael, the tightly locked city gates seemed to be struck head-on by countless cannonballs, exploding open and sending massive stones crashing down.
That disastrous killing power instantly caused panic among the guards on the city walls, but Raphael showed no signs of stopping. She withdrew her spear with a flick of her wrist, not losing momentum as she charged into the city.
“Follow me, just capture the city lord!! Stay outside the formation!!”
Carrying spears, riders, and the brain demon Kexiening flying in the sky took the opportunity to rush into the city just as the magical shield of the walls tore apart by Raphael’s spear. Because of her presence, the sounds of hoofbeats and incantations from Raphael and the centaurs quickly reached the ears of the fearful humans trapped within the city.
“Everyone, cease resistance! We are only here to hold the city lord accountable; everyone, cease resistance!”
Under a nearly unstoppable assault, innocent humans in the city fled into their homes, watching as Raphael advanced towards the Lord’s Mansion.
The progress of the war was rapid, yet concluding it wasn’t so simple; the work of clearing the battlefield, counting the wounded, and collecting spoils continued into the afternoon, only beginning to settle down afterward.
Raphael ordered most of the troops to stay outside the city, only a few subhumans remained in the city to watch over the humans to prevent their escape.
“According to the laws established by the Queen of the New Dragon Court, we shall impose merciless punishment on criminals, invaders, and traitors!!”
At the broken city gate, the subhumans set up a guillotine. The military lined up in formation, while some brave humans in the city cautiously stepped out of their doors. They soon discovered that as long as they did not leave the city, those fully armed, fearsome subhumans would not harm them but rather, searched through the city, confiscating all magic and communications, executing the city lord’s loyalists one by one, leaving the remaining laboring humans unharmed.
“They are!! Slave merchant Colin selling our compatriots!! Invader Ruenete!! And traitor Halil!!”
As a group of subhumans escorted a struggling green Slime, a disheveled and panicked human, and a proudly standing Dragonman up to the guillotine, the humans in the city burst into gasps, while the soldiers on the front line yelled together, raising their weapons high.
Meanwhile, on the almost collapsing walls, the red-haired Dragonman who had entered the city with the army sat quietly at the edge, observing the three criminals fixed under the enormous blade, who either whimpered in fear, shouted in despair, or remained silent.
Her emerald eyes flickered with a glint as she took in the scene before her, taking a deep breath of the lingering smoke in the air, which, although pungent, made her feel unusually liberated.
“Raphael, there you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
At that moment, her close friend, the Whale Folk girl Jasmine, effortlessly climbed up onto the city wall, speaking up and breaking the tense silence.
“Jasmine, you just returned from the wounded, I appreciate it.”
“Not many this time, surprisingly quick results.”
Jasmine sat beside Raphael, shocked that the battle had been so overwhelmingly decisive. Raphael smiled slightly, looking at the subhuman soldiers below, who were brandishing weapons and roaring.
“It was destined to be this way. We’ve worked for a full seven months for this day. Since the establishment of the New Dragon Court, our brethren have been oppressed for so long; they desperately needed a victory to release the pressure that had built up for so long. I’m not surprised by this battle’s outcome; the difficult times are yet to come.”
“The difficult times ahead?”
Raphael nodded and smiled,
“Yes, every step has its challenges. This is something I can only share with you. I do not intend to annihilate humans, not only because the New Dragon Court needs to learn improved techniques from the human artisans within this city, to refine our education through their texts, and to gain magic from them, but also because I refuse to repeat the sins of humans slaughtering the innocent.”
“I have witnessed invaders either killing children for profit or self-righteous redemption. When faced with this choice, even if there’s a risk, I must stick to my path. I will not put down the sword until I drive them all out of our homeland; but I also will not give equal treatment to those who were coerced or ignorant.”
Upon hearing Raphael’s words, Jasmine began to reflect deeply.
For her, humans were always quite complex, leaving her indecisive on which side to stand: whether to hate or forgive; it seemed that no matter which way she chose, it would feel like a betrayal to certain people or things. She didn’t know how Raphael managed to balance these nuances, but it seemed Raphael understood this much better than she did.
Jasmine expressed her doubts to Raphael, but Raphael just laughed and shook her head, pointing at Jasmine’s head,
“Silly, you can’t ask me about these things. For me, as long as I am strong enough, I will have no regrets regardless of what decision I make. Moreover, this is a conclusion I have thought of myself, so there’s no right or wrong, only having no regrets in my heart. That’s what my husband taught me.”
“Yes, my teacher also taught me that many things in this world are hard to judge right and wrong; it’s just that after experiencing these events, we grow.”
Raphael paused slightly, pleasantly surprised, and nodded in agreement,
“From what you say, your teacher—or rather, your beloved—seems to be a very wise person.”
“Not at all! Raphael’s husband is also quite the wise and kind person!”
“Hahahaha, that guy is not! He’s a super bad guy, so bad yet so good at the same time.”
In fact, Raphael and Jasmine seldom discussed their beloveds. For one, they were now separated; even if they talked about it, it would just lead to sadness. They both knew they were working hard to change themselves.
In the forward crimson sunlight, the cold gleam of the guillotine quickly fell, executing the condemned criminals below. The subhumans erupted with uplifting cheers, but Raphael did not glance over. She simply sighed and continued,
“Ah, the real trouble is about to begin. The New Dragon Court is going to get lively again. A bunch of people will undoubtedly get carried away from this victory, thinking humans are helpless, itching to march from south to north tomorrow; or they might think that this area is safe and ask to resign, wanting to return to their tribes to become local kings. It’s infuriating.”
“Wow, I rarely hear you speak with such a lack of confidence, Raphael.”
“It’s not a lack of confidence, just rather troublesome. Speaking of which, it seems since I came out of the underworld of Feima Baharon, I’ve felt my body has gotten stronger. My magic inscribing has improved significantly; it seems Feima Baharon gave me more than just this divine weapon. I just didn’t expect that the Feima Baharon dragon god we’ve worshiped for so long actually has such an ungracious side. I thought at the time that he didn’t even want to care about us. I completely forgot to thank him; I’ll wait until things settle down to thank him in person.”
No, perhaps there would be no opportunity for that.
Jasmine smiled awkwardly. When they left, Lord Ramastia had disappeared for a long time, and upon returning, that baby-like voice was always wet with cries and sobbing, and it took Jasmine a long time to comfort him before he calmed down. Only then did she realize that the dragon god, beloved by them, had passed away.
However, it seemed that Lord Ramastia had disappeared again these days; no matter how they called, there was no response. Perhaps he had returned to the underwater realm for some matter.
“Ungracious side? Isn’t that just Raphael? I think it makes perfect sense; after all, Raphael is of the bloodline of Feima Baharon, and her personality is quite similar.”
“Huh? Me? I’m not ungracious, am I?”
Seeing Raphael incredulously pointing at herself, Jasmine squinted and examined her for a moment before nodding,
“Well, sometimes at night I see you staring into space, obviously thinking about your husband. Every time I ask, you say no, but your expression gives everything away. In the novel I read in Nali, it described you as… um, tsundere! Ayaya, don’t pinch my face, Raphael!”
Raphael, flustered, pinched Jasmine’s cheeks, but since they were in the middle of a battlefield, their playful bickering was only brief. As long as Jasmine didn’t continue, it was all too… too embarrassing.
But her suitable tail partner, she hadn’t seen him for far too long, so every night when she thought of him, she would…
In a corner of this boundless wilderness, before the battlefield that was watched by both subhumans and humans, seeing the blood dripping from the executed enemies on the guillotine, the subhumans who had long been oppressed, who were numb in the dead silence, finally felt a surge of emotions, tears swelling in their eyes like never before.
Many of them had lost their homes, displaced. Perhaps they weren’t fighting for revenge, just a kind of liberation in their hearts. They couldn’t help but raise their weapons, crying out hysterically,
“New Dragon Court! New Dragon Court! New Dragon Court!”
The existence of the brain demon made that concept, shouted simultaneously in different languages, deeply engraved in the hearts of everyone present, even the humans in the inner city looked astonished at the enraged subhumans in the distance, echoing the term they might have just learned today.
Raphael also stood up, raising her crimson spear high on the tall city wall,
“For the New Dragon Court!”
Her fiery voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention to her.
“For the New Dragon Court! For the Dragon Queen!!”
The setting sun slowly descended in the distance, but at this moment, the ancient Dragon Court that had long been asleep began to rise again, carrying the beliefs of many and shaking the threads of fate, igniting this numbed continent with a burning momentum.
Beside her, Jasmine looked at Raphael, who had stood firm for quite a while, then placed her hands over her mouth and shouted loudly,
“For the New Dragon Court!!”
By the way, please vote, tip, and support; it’s very important to me!
Many thanks for your support!
()
(The End of this Chapter)
