Ember Dragon

Chapter 654 Dead Warriors

The hot air blew in his face, mixed with the pungent smell of sulfur and gunpowder. Beads of sweat flowed down Lun's forehead, and emotions such as tension, anticipation, and fear filled his heart.

He closed his left eye, held the crossbow and aimed at the gap in the left chest of the wyvern, his finger already on the trigger, ready to pull the trigger at any time.

At this time, the wyvern was less than 400 meters away from the dwarf, and it would swoop over in a matter of a moment.

Brun knew that he only had one chance. If he failed to accurately hit the heart and kill the dragon-blood monster with one blow, then what awaited him would most likely be death!

Brun murmured to himself: "Father Moradin bless you"

Looking at the wyvern not far away and feeling the hot wind blowing towards him, the dwarf's muscles tensed, the hand holding the crossbow trembled slightly, and his heart beat violently as if it was going to burst through his chest.

Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters
It's very close.

Brun thought that in just a breath of time, the wyvern would be within his safe shooting range.

"Roar--"

Along with the earth-shaking roar, Smaug's figure became larger and larger in the eyes of the dwarf warrior, almost occupying his entire field of vision.

"Dwarf, I told you - you will pay the price!"

Smaug exhaled hot flames and steam from his mouth and nostrils, and his golden eyes spewed anger. He spread his wings and swooped down towards the dwarves with tremendous momentum.

"Die, dragon!"

And it was at this moment that Brun let out a roar and pulled the trigger with great determination. With a "click" sound, the taut crossbow string was finally released!
In an instant, the dwarf steel crossbow generated extremely powerful kinetic energy, causing the jet-black dragon-killing arrow to tear through the air, making a sharp explosion, and attacking the left chest of the pterosaur.

"Shh-"

Looking at the black arrow flying through the air, Brun's face showed excitement. He also had a strong premonition. It was his intuition as a legendary warrior telling him: this black arrow was about to hit!
As expected by the dwarf, under his precise control, the black arrow seemed to have eyes and flew straight to the gap on the left chest of the wyvern.

Brun's anticipation was even greater. He seemed to have seen the black arrow piercing through the skin without scales, penetrating the thick flesh, and finally going through the huge and hot heart.

The huge monster in front of him would fall from the sky with a loud wail and crash into the ground.
However, things did not develop as the dwarf expected.

Smaug was also keenly aware of the danger, but at this moment he was too close and had no time to dodge, so he could only let the black arrow shoot into his chest.

But after noticing the target of the black arrow, a strange smile appeared on the face of the wyvern again.

"Keng——"

The sound of metal clashing resounded through the sky. After the black arrow shot into the gap in the left chest, the arrowhead was twisted and deformed, and the arrow shaft even turned into powder under the strong impact!
Suddenly, Brun's face changed and he was horrified: "How is this possible? I clearly hit it!"

"what exactly is it?!"

But it was too late. Smaug had already arrived in front of the dwarves with raging flames, opened his bloody mouth, and fierce flames gushed out of his throat.

Brun looked desperate and murmured, "This is impossible."

The scorching wind came like a tsunami, and in the last moment of his life, brilliant flames were reflected in the dwarf's eyes.

"boom--"

Then, Smaug breathed with all his strength at a very close distance, and the furious dragon flame gushed out, engulfing the dwarf warrior and also setting the entire arrow tower on fire.

But the dragon leader always remembered Cassius's teachings and understood the importance of finishing off the enemy, so he leaped into the sea of ​​fire and swept hard with his front claws with wide wing membranes.

Sure enough, Brun was not dead yet.

The dwarf warrior's entire body was burning, and he made crackling sounds as if he was about to explode.

"Monster! I'm going to kill you—"

He let out a heart-wrenching roar, used up his last bit of strength to raise the giant sword above his head, and swung it fiercely at the flying dragon's head.

Smaug used his front paws to strike from the side, directly knocking away the giant sword that was about to chop down, and the dwarf warrior holding the sword was also knocked away, his body still burning.

However, Smaug showed no mercy. He swung his tail in mid-air, and the sharp tail hook broke through the air and pierced the dwarf's chest accurately.

"Stab!"

The sound of flesh being torn was heard, and the dwarf warrior's strong and sturdy body was pierced on the spot, and blood splattered everywhere.

Smaug's movements were smooth and flowing, adhering to the principle of cutting the grass at its roots, leaving the enemy no chance to resist.

His master, the Burning Emperor Cassius, once taught him that dragon villains like them must never take these tiny guys lightly and must crush them into pieces.

Until his death, Brun's face was still filled with surprise and disbelief.

——He clearly hit the target, so how could it have no effect at all?

Smaug lowered his head and looked at the gap in his left chest. He felt somewhat fortunate and his admiration for Cassius increased.

If the black arrow had hit any other part of his body, it would have very likely caused him fatal damage, but unfortunately the unfortunate dwarf chose the left chest.

Smaug exclaimed with admiration: "My master is so wise and intelligent. Fortunately, I have the adamantine armor he gave me."

In fact, this is also a reflection of Cassius's bad taste. In order to restore Smaug in his memory, he deliberately pulled out a scale from the left chest of the wyvern.

However, as compensation, Cassius ordered the imperial craftsmen to inlay a whole piece of refined gold armor in the gaps between the scales, and specially painted it black so that no one could see it.

According to Cassius's solemn statement at the time, instead of waiting for the other party to find his loopholes, it would be better to create the illusion of "weakness" to confuse the enemy.

All we can say is that fate is fickle. Unexpectedly, Cassius's unintentional act full of bad taste actually helped Smaug win on the battlefield and kill a legendary enemy.

"Roar--"

Smaug perched on the top of the burning tower, holding high his tail with the dwarf's corpse hanging on it, then spread his wings, raised his head and let out a roar that made all of Avendeldan tremble.

"Lord Brun is dead!"

"He was a hero who killed a dragon! How could he die like this?"

"God of Moradin, how could there be such a monster!"

On the walls of Avendeldan, the offensive of the Burning Empire became more and more fierce. The dwarves were overwhelmed by the dense firepower of the Empire's infantry, and seeing Brun's death, the despair in their hearts became even greater.

A legendary dwarf warrior died, and even his body was hung on the tail of a wyvern as a trophy, and was proudly displayed to the dwarves. The entire Avundaldan was shrouded in smoke, the city walls were burning, and there were ruins everywhere. The bodies of dwarves were piled everywhere. The whistling of artillery fire continued, wyverns roared in the sky, ladders were set up on the city walls, and countless soldiers swarmed in.
Such a scene was despair to the dwarves. For thousands of years, the city of Aywendeldan had always been a symbol of tenacity and indestructibility.

The dwarves never imagined that this fortress would become precarious and about to fall one day in the future.

But at this moment, such a scene was happening right in front of them and in the eyes of every dwarf.

After a fierce siege, the Empire has occupied most of the city walls and is advancing in an orderly manner, and is about to completely capture Avendeldan.

The dwarves suffered heavy losses. Not only did they lose a legendary dwarf warrior, but even the team of nearly 10,000 people was reduced to less than 4,000.

"We haven't lost yet!" Ed stood on the top of the city wall, raised his hammer high and shouted angrily.

The dwarf king was majestic, with corpses of imperial soldiers lying at his feet, including a dragon-scale monk who had been smashed beyond recognition.

To this day, the dwarves are still able to maintain their defense, mainly due to the strength of this king alone.

"As long as one of us can stand up, as long as one of us can swing the hammer, Avendeldan has not fallen, and the Mountain Kingdom has not perished!"

Ed rushed into the position of the Burning Empire amidst dense bullets, waving his war hammer like a gale, dancing with the stones and flying sand all over the sky. He took away hundreds of lives in an instant.

"Lord of the Mountains!"

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"Avenderdan shall never fall!"

Seeing the king so brave, the morale of the dwarf warriors was boosted again. They followed Ed for the umpteenth time and launched a tenacious counterattack.

"Come on!"

"We will follow His Majesty!"

"Counterattack! Retake Avondeldan!"

The dwarves waved their weapons and followed Ed's steps, rushing towards the tower occupied by the Empire in front.

"Da da da da——"

The muzzle of a machine gun protruded from the window of the tower, continuously spewing out tongues of flame and pouring out dense bullets like raindrops.

Ed could withstand the shells with his physical body, but his people could not do the same. They had a strong will but not tempered bodies or royal blood.

Soon, under the firepower of the imperial soldiers, the dwarf king advanced bravely, but the soldiers behind him fell one after another in the hail of bullets.

"boom!"

Ed jumped high and smashed the tower with a hammer, instantly collapsing the wall and crushing the imperial soldiers hiding behind the bunker.

"Fire!"

"Kill him, he's a dangerous man!"

The surrounding imperial soldiers immediately pulled out their pistols and fired at the Dwarf King from different directions, but Ed burst out with tremendous strength and blocked the bullets in an instant.

As usual, Ed rushed in with great force, killed all the enemies in the tower, and once again captured the position alone.

"We won!" After smashing the last half-dragon soldier on the city wall with his warhammer, Ed turned around excitedly.

But this time, there was no one behind him, only corpses lying all over the ground. The guards who had accompanied him through life and death all fell under the machine gun fire and artillery bombardment.

Eddard climbed to the top of the city wall and looked around. He saw his dwarf people wailing in the flames and struggling in the thick smoke.

Under the sharp guns of the Empire, the war was almost one-sided. The dwarf warriors were helpless and kept dying, while the Imperial soldiers could easily occupy one tower after another.

"No, it shouldn't be like this." Ed couldn't help but shake his head. This was definitely not the ending he had imagined.

In Eddard's imagination, Avenderdan might fall, but he will be remembered by the people of the continent of Feansor, and the heroic posture and unyielding resistance of the dwarf warriors will become the talk of the town.

The Mountain Kingdom should not perish so easily.

Remember, the war had only been going on for two days so far, and the Empire had easily broken through the dwarves' defenses.

Faced with the Empire's army, the dwarves' usual methods of dealing with the orcs were all ineffective, and their resistance was simply a joke.

In the eyes of the dwarves, Eddard, as the Lord of the Mountains, has always been a symbol of omnipotence and invincibility, but this time, even he felt a little confused.

Faced with such an army - is their resistance really meaningful?

But soon, a loud dragon roar echoed in the sky, interrupting Ed's thoughts and making him nervous again.

"Ow—"

In the distance, a wyvern was seen flapping its wings, creating gusts of hot wind, looking down at the dwarf king, with a fighting spirit revealed in its golden pupils.

After killing the legendary dwarf warrior, Smaug felt very proud and thought he was invincible.

——And soon, the wyvern noticed the Dwarf King Eddard, who had caused great losses to the empire. This was an opponent worth fighting.

Before this war began, Smaug had heard of this name, the powerful dwarf king, the noble lord of the mountains, but now, the wyvern only felt that this was a huge credit.

"Lord of the Mountain. Sounds really impressive."

Smaug could not help licking his lips and blowing out a puff of white smoke. If he killed this dwarf, his master would surely value him more.

Ed raised his head and looked at the wyvern in the sky without fear, and he also felt the desire to fight.

"This is the monster that killed Brun."

As a king, Ed knew Brun's strength very well, and he was particularly sorry for his death.

Brun not only developed a strong physique, but also traveled extensively and had extensive combat experience. He once killed an adult blue dragon in the Taliro Desert and was revered as a "dwarf hero."

Just from its huge size of more than 20 meters long, it can be seen that the dragon that killed Brun is definitely a tough enemy. Even Ed will not take it lightly.

"Come on. I will kill you to avenge Brun and the people who died in the sea of ​​fire!"

Ed clenched the metal hammer in his hand and stared at the wyvern, bright yellow light bursting from his eyes.

(End of this chapter)