"ROAR!"
A roar, suppressed in its throat, erupted like a thunderclap. Even with its mouth bound by Magic Chains, it shook the surrounding houses until they humd.
It violently whipped its head, pulling several arm-thick Magic Chains taut and producing a cringe-inducing screech of scraping tal.
Its massive Dragon Tail swept out in a frenzy. The Knights guarding it were clearly experienced and imdiately channeled their Fighting Spirit to drive the chains deeper into the ground. However, the shockwave from the tail still slamd into two nearby houses.
With a thunderous crash, the wood-and-stone structures collapsed as if struck head-on by a Siege Hamr. More than half of them crumbled in an instant, sending a plu of dust and debris soaring into the sky.
The townspeople cried out in alarm and scrambled back.
Just then, the Domain Mage in the Fla Red Robe from the convoy made his move.
He didn’t even turn around, rely lifting a hand casually.
A giant hand of fla materialized out of thin air and slamd down precisely on the Red Dragon’s head.
There was no explosion, no thunderous boom.
The Red Dragon’s massive body went rigid, pinned to the ground by the giant hand of fla. Only the sound of its resentful panting continued.
The Knights sward forward and tightened the Magic Chains once more.
The Steward imdiately hurried over to Ed, an apologetic expression on his face.
"My sincerest apologies. This brute has a nasty temper. I’m sorry for the trouble it has caused your territory."
As he spoke, he pulled a heavy coin purse from his coat and shoved it directly into Ed’s hands.
"This is One Thousand Gold Coins. Please accept it as compensation and pass it along to the owners of the houses."
Ed gripped the bag of Gold Coins, his palms feeling a little hot.
Two ordinary houses, even including the property inside, would be worth One Hundred Gold Coins at the absolute most.
’To offer ten tis the amount in compensation right off the bat... they really are extravagant.’
The convoy didn’t linger. Just as they had said, they set off again after lunch and resupplying.
They turned to the northeast and soon disappeared behind the rolling hills.
From a terrace on the castle, Raylo watched them go, his eyes following until the last shadow vanished over the horizon.
"Northeast..."
He murmured to himself.
’Starting from the Thunder Dragon Duchy, heading northeast, and then crossing two Kingdoms...’
’...you would reach the holy land in the hearts of all Casters.’
’The Mage City.’
’Only a place like that would have the resources to deploy three Domain Level Powerhouses just to capture and escort a single Giant Dragon.’
The dust kicked up by the convoy settled, and Black Stone Territory seed to return to its usual tranquility.
’My wedding day is drawing near. I can’t give any hidden enemies an opportunity to strike during the celebration.’
’Rather than passively waiting for trouble to co knocking, it’s better to proactively nip it in the bud.’
’Jade Swamp, the great enemy of Black Stone Territory.’
’A... moderate cleansing is imperative.’
Once the thought took root, it spread like wildfire, consuming his every thought.
「Three days later.」
It was a cool morning at Black Stone Castle, with the sky just beginning to show the pale light of dawn.
A high, piercing cry tore through the sky as two figures—one earthy yellow, one crimson-gold—shot upward, quickly vanishing behind the thick eastern clouds.
They flew eastward, following the border between Black Stone Territory and the Jade Swamp.
Below them, on one side, lay orderly farmlands and villages, teeming with life. On the other was an endless, ink-green swamp that exuded an aura of decay, utterly lifeless.
An invisible line clearly divided civilization from the wilds.
Soon, a Snake-man settlent appeared in their view.
It was built by the water, with dozens of crude nests constructed from rough wood and mud. Over a thousand Snake-man Warriors ard with Bone Spears and Poison Blades patrolled the area. They could even see a few tad Multi-headed Snake Lizards writhing in the mud pits.
"Sun."
"Understood!"
The Golden Dragon understood instantly.
The Golden Dragon took a deep breath, its chest swelling like a golden lting Furnace on the verge of erupting.
The next mont, a golden torrent descended from the heavens.
Under the extre heat, the mud instantly vitrified. The wood turned to ash the mont it touched the Fla. The panicked Snake-n didn’t even have ti to scream before they were completely vaporized in the golden light.
Within a few breaths, the settlent was wiped from the face of the earth, leaving only a massive, charred crater with vitrified edges.
Half an hour later, they ca across another Snake-man settlent.
When the terrified Snake-n looked up, all they saw was the "golden sun" in the sky—more blinding than the real one—and the apocalypse that followed.
Sun circled triumphantly in the air.
Raylo’s gaze shifted farther east, toward a river that snaked across the land like a giant black python.
As they approached the section of the Black Water River that flowed through the southern Jade Swamp, the scene before them struck even Raylo as bizarre.
The earth below had taken on a sickly, grayish-white hue. It was hard and cracked, with massive fissures spreading out like a spiderweb, as if this part of the swamp was suffering through a once-in-a-century drought.
However, just a short distance away, the wide Black Water River continued its relentless, churning flow.
Despite being a wetland, and despite being right next to a massive river, there wasn’t a trace of moisture in the air—only a dry, scorching heat.
The land was dying.
So powerful force was preventing the moisture from the Black Water River from nourishing this land.
Raylo’s gaze went past the hardened riverbanks and settled on a much vaster battlefield.
Along a battlefront stretching for several kiloters along the Black Water River, a massive war was unfolding.
Countless Snake-n, burly Lizardfolk, Venom-spitting Swamp Multi-headed Serpents, and all sorts of bizarre Swamp Magical Beasts ford a vast and chaotic legion.
Black and jade-green scales glittered in the dim light. Their numbers exceeded twenty thousand, and they were frantically assaulting the banks of the Black Water River.
anwhile, in the water, another army was putting up a stubborn resistance.
Fishfolk with gills and webbed hands threw Bone Forks, while countless Aquatic Magical Beasts—such as schools of Cannibal Fish with razor-Sharp Teeth and giant Piranhas capable of shooting high-pressure water jets—thrashed in the river, tearing to shreds any enemy who dared to step into the water.
This was a war between the land-dwelling races of the swamp and the aquatic races.
It was a bloody slaughter between the forces of the Jade Swamp and the vassals of the Black Water River’s overlord, the Eternal Giant Turtle.
Continuing eastward along the death-shrouded Black Water River, Raylo and Sun flew for more than forty kiloters.
The war below never ceased, like an endless noose of flesh and blood stretching along the riverbank.
Finally, the river opened up into a vast lake, set into the grayish-white land like a shard of broken Obsidian.
The lake was several thousand ters wide, its deep waters an ominous, inky black.
Even from high in the air, Raylo could feel the ancient and imnse life force dormant at the bottom of the lake, like a slumbering undersea volcano.
That had to be the overlord of the Black Water River and Raylo’s ally, the Eternal Giant Turtle.
At that mont, a battle even more brutal than the one downstream was raging on the lake’s northern shore.
Tens of thousands of elite minions gathered from the Jade Swamp had ford a legion far more organized than the scattered forces downstream.
They had completely surrounded the northern shore of the lake, relentlessly charging the line where water t land.
Lizardman Warriors covered in blood-red scales swung heavy Bone Giant Axes, each chop sending up a wave of blood;
A group of Swamp Giants, each over three ters tall, roared as they hurled massive boulders into the water, which both sent up huge splashes and crushed the aquatic defenders into pulp;
Countless colorful, venomous snakes slithered through the ranks, spitting out streams of Venom and poisonous gas.
In the lake, several thousand Fishman Warriors ford the main line of defense, fighting for their lives against the charging enemy with Bone Spears and Shields studded with Sharp Teeth.
Mixed in among them were over a thousand massive amphibious and Aquatic Magical Beasts.
Giant Crocodile Turtles, clad in thick armor like mobile fortresses; packs of Serrated Crocodiles that could easily bite through steel; and various strange Water Beasts that even Raylo couldn’t na—all were locked in a grueling tug-of-war with the Swamp Legion in the shallows.
The battle had clearly been raging for a long ti.
The water near the shore was stained a dark red. Mutilated limbs and broken weapons were scattered everywhere. The thick stench of blood, mixed with the rot of the swamp, rose into the air, sickening to the extre.
Behind this chaotic battlefield, atop a towering boulder, stood three figures.
The imnse pressure they exuded was like three invisible, sky-propping pillars, suppressing the entire battlefield.
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