Ember Dragon

Chapter 775 The old forces who resisted
On the edge of the Ash Marsh, near the Dragon Cult stronghold "Greenscale Nest"

"Where is he!"

"Quick, find them!"

Hearing shouts from afar, Adrian half-knelt in the stinking swamp and gasped softly. He thrust his one-handed sword deep into the mud, and the dragon claw scratches on his silver armor oozed dark red blood.

He hid in the bushes in the swamp, not daring to make even the slightest sound.

"Lord Adrian, they should have left." The warrior in leather armor next to him came forward and lowered his voice.

Hearing this, Adrian looked around first, and after confirming that there was no one around, he felt relieved and exhaled deeply.

He took off the dagger from his waist, and first fire appeared in his hand, which heated the dagger red, and then he gritted his teeth and cut off his flesh and blood infected by the poison.

"Hiss—Damn it, these reptiles are everywhere!"

The red-hot blade slashed across his arm with a crisp sound, cutting off a large piece of purple-black flesh.

Adrian threw the dagger aside and opened his five fingers. A golden light emanated from his palm, healing the wound that was constantly bleeding.

"Sir, I just got news through magic that our base in Mal Town has been discovered by them, and the area within dozens of miles has been occupied by the Dragon Cult. Where should we go?" A wizard in a tattered robe sighed, with despair on his face.

They are all members of the "Second Fadran League".

Several years ago, King Elodi Aragon was deceived by the Dragon Church and devoted himself to Tiamat. The Seleucid Kingdom fell into chaos and panic, and the hideous and huge shadow of the dragon loomed in everyone's heart.

In recent years, the behavior of the Dragon Worship Church has become increasingly brutal and rampant. Not only have they looted and robbed gold, silver and jewelry, they have also treated civilians as slaves, sacrifices and even food for dragon beasts, causing countless people to rise up in resistance.

People who missed the Fadlan Empire and hated the Dragon Worship Church gathered together and spontaneously formed the so-called "Second Fadlan Alliance" to stop the Dragon Worship Church's atrocities through ambushes and assassinations.

Adrian was once a paladin of the Church of Amaunator and a count of the Seleucid Kingdom, and should have lived a wealthy life.

But in the turmoil several years ago, his mansion was looted by the Dragon Cult, his earldom was occupied by them, and his family was brutally murdered by them.

From then on, Adrian resolutely joined the alliance and vowed to destroy the Dragon Cult and avenge his relatives and friends.

However, just three hours ago, his team was ambushed while raiding the Dragon Cult's sacrificial site - the intelligence was that it was a trap, and the wanderers in the team had already been controlled by the Dragon Cult's priests' "mind corruption".

At this moment, the bodies of their companions were hanging on the charred dead trees in the distance, becoming sacrifices to the ancient green dragon "Green Scale Poisonous Miasma" and "Lord of the Rotten Swamp".

Adrian raised his head and looked at the ferocious dragon beasts flying through the dark clouds in the distance. He gritted his teeth and said, "There's no hope here. Let's go north and leave Seleucia!"

The wizard said in a deep voice: "My Lord, have you forgotten? The Thracian Kingdom has been destroyed. Now it is a country ruled by dragons. If we rush into the north rashly, it will be like walking into a trap."

"Then go west to the Taliro Desert, where you can seek refuge from the metal dragons." Adrian said.

The people accompanying them all fell silent. The Taliro Desert was a well-known forbidden zone for life, and it was also the area where the battles between the five-colored dragons and the metal dragons were the most intense.

Only by crossing the towering mountains west of the Taliro Desert can one reach the relatively safe Silvermoon Bay, which has not yet been invaded by the Dragon Cult.

The journey was more than a thousand kilometers long, and it was a life-threatening journey. Moreover, they were being pursued by the Dragon Worship Church and their lives were in danger at any moment.

At this moment, the wizard's face suddenly changed, and his eyes were filled with fear: "My lord, this is not good, it is the fluctuation of the prophecy spell, and its target is us!"

"Give it up, pathetic rebel, lowly human being."

Three black-robed monks wearing scale armor walked out of the shadows. Their pupils had vertical snake-like lines, and the bone staffs in their hands were wrapped in poisonous mist.

"You should feel honored to be the sacrifice for the great Dark Lady's resurrection. Why do you want to resist stubbornly?"

The leading acolyte sneered and raised his dry fingers.

Along with a gurgling sound, three skeletons burned by dragon breath suddenly crawled out of the swamp, and sticky green liquid seeped out from the gaps between the bones - this is the "Dragon Plague Corpse Puppet" unique to the Dragon Worship Cult, and every blow could cause the wound to fester to the bone.

"Damn reptiles, it's you who betrayed humanity and became the dragon's lackeys!"

Adrian shouted angrily, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, and the holy emblem of the sun on his chest glowed with a faint golden light.

He whispered the oath, but felt the divine power flowing obscurely - this swamp had been polluted by the "blasphemous barrier" of the Dragon Worship Cult, and its response to the sun was particularly weak.

At this moment, an ambushed burrowing dragon suddenly rose from the mud. Its bloody mouth full of messy sharp teeth went straight for the head of the holy warrior, and the stench of blood hit his face.

"Roar--"

At the critical moment, a thick arrow shot out, pierced through the dragon beast's left eye, and nailed it directly to the mud next to it.

Then, five dwarves in animal skin cloaks rushed out from the mist of the swamp. They held battle axes engraved with runes, and the axe blades trembled like roars when they chopped.

The leading female dwarf warrior swung her axe to smash a corpse, then turned around and growled, "Quick, run northeast! To the underground tunnel under the stone cairn!"

Adrian recognized the emblem on their breastplates: the Dragonfang Dwarf Tribe of the Frost Iron Mine—a race once enslaved by the Cult of the Dragon, now allies of the resistance.

He gritted his teeth, waded through the filthy quagmire, and staggered towards the north. The acolyte's scream came from behind him: "How dare you go against the will of the Dragon Queen? The Lord of the Rotten Swamp will crush you..."

Before he could finish his words, a deafening roar was heard from the depths of the swamp, and a huge, ferocious figure emerged from the fog.

"This is."

I saw a green dragon over 20 meters long tearing through the fog. Its scales were like rusty copper coins, and the acid it spewed turned the grass and trees along the way into charred smoke.

——That was the collateral descendant of the "Lord of the Swamp", the middle-aged green dragon Grutar.

Grutar flapped his tattered dragon wings, and the bloody wind blew away the mist. He walked over slowly, and the mud under his feet made a splashing sound.

"Pathetic mortals, are you still making fearless struggles?"

"Hahaha, tremble and shudder in front of the powerful Grutal! Grandfather said that it is normal to accidentally eat one or two humans during the hunt."

With a loud roar, a cone-shaped breath of acid spurted out of the throat of the middle-aged green dragon, rushing towards the crowd in an overwhelming manner.

Just as the acid dragon's breath was about to drown everyone, the sky suddenly lit up with a red light, and the air was distorted due to the extremely high temperature. Water vapor was steaming and surging above the swamp.

A pillar of golden-red fire dropped from the sky, forcing the green dragon to fold its wings and dodge, letting out a roar of shock and anger.

"Who are you?! This is the territory of the powerful, wise, and extremely noble Lord of the Swamp! Who allowed you to trespass here without permission!"

A red-haired woman appeared in the rain of fire. She had long horns on her forehead, red scales faintly appearing on her cheeks, and her pupils were narrow and golden vertical pupils like those of a snake, full of dragon characteristics.

She stepped on the floating platform made of lava, and the dragon crystal inlaid in the staff in her hand burst into dazzling light. The invisible dragon power spread rapidly, causing the dragon worship monks present - even the middle-aged green dragon - to tremble in their hearts and their legs to weaken.

“Such dragon power... How is it possible?!” The acolyte raised his head, looked at the woman in the sky, and muttered in disbelief.

This woman is clearly just a dragonborn, how can she possess a dragon power stronger than that of a real dragon? This is not magic at all!
"Who are you anyway?"

After feeling the dragon's might, the green dragon was stunned for a long time before it let out a roar of shock and anger.

"The power of the fire element. Are you a subordinate of the Crimson Embers 'Kazuel'? Strange Dragonborn, you shouldn't be here.

Ash Marsh is the territory of the Lord of the Rotten Swamp. Do you want to disobey the order of Majesty Tiamat and attack your allies at this critical moment?"

"ally?"

The woman sneered and raised her slender hand: "You are worthy? I will never have such ugly and dirty allies. They are just like a group of maggots emitting a sour and smelly smell. They are disgusting."

"Lord Kazul doesn't need so-called allies!"

The flames shot out like a dancing red snake, carrying terrifying energy and attacking the green dragon and the Dragon Worshiping Cult members with the crisp sound of the air exploding.

"boom!"

"Sir, we are not your enemies!"

The black-robed acolyte's voice trembled. He raised his skinny fingers, and a dark ball of mist appeared in his palm.

The black mist flew out with the monk's action and transformed into a roaring black dragon, blocking everyone.

But the flames instantly pierced through the giant black mist dragon, raising a scorching gale, and appeared in front of everyone. The green dragon flapped its wings and dodged backwards.

The humans and dwarves fled frantically in the direction of the stone cairn, shouting, "Hurry up! Both sides are minions of the evil dragon. If one of them wins, we won't be able to escape!"

The leading acolyte knelt down in panic and shouted, "Don't kill me! I am still useful!"

"Oh?"

The dragonborn woman smiled, clenched her fists, and let the flames linger in the distance, staring at her eagerly: "What value can a mere lowly hybrid human have?"

The acolyte kowtowed frantically and shouted without thinking: "I can help you deal with the Lord of the Rotten Swamp! I have served him for a long time and know a lot of information!

Besides, I am also the servant of Her Majesty the Dragon Queen. If you kill us, Lord Kazul behind you will not benefit either!"

"Traitor! Humans are truly shameless bastards. They cannot be trusted at all! You betrayed my grandfather's trust!"

The green dragon in mid-air roared, but instead of attacking the dragonborn woman, it spewed acid breath at the acolyte.

Caught off guard, the monks kneeling on the ground had no time to react and were swallowed by the acid.

With a hissing sound, the dark green acid corroded the monk's robes, skin and even flesh.

"Do not--"

"Sir, I was wrong!"

Their faces were distorted, they howled in pain, and they kept struggling and twisting their bodies, revealing their white bones.

Soon, the acolytes disappeared, leaving behind only a few broken skeletons in the muddy ground of the swamp.

"What a pity." The dragon woman shook her head and looked at the middle-aged green dragon, fire surging in her eyes.

In an instant, a strong wind carrying flames swept across the sky, burning the green dragon's scales and wing membranes, causing it to stagger in mid-air and become shaky.

The green dragon turned around with a look of fear on his face, gritting his teeth and saying, "Dragonborn, you are nothing but a human bastard, and in the final analysis you are just a slave serving the dragon clan!

Do you want to kill a real dragon under the watchful eyes of Her Majesty the Dragon Queen? Even that madman Kazul can't save you!"

The dragonborn woman sneered again, the look in her golden pupils became even more dangerous and breathtakingly beautiful: "If I kill everyone present, who will know who did it?"

"Don't worry, I will report to the Lord of the Rotten Swamp that you died heroically in the fight with the golden dragon."

Grutar was furious and yelled, "Mads! The red dragons under Kazuel - including himself, are all complete lunatics!"

Seeing the raging fire about to burn his body, the middle-aged green dragon gritted his teeth, tore off a scale engraved with runes from his chest, and broke it into pieces with splashes of blood.

"Click."

A crisp sound was heard, and the runes on the scales lit up. Ripples continued to appear in the surrounding space, and a dark crack appeared in the air.

Grutar looked extremely embarrassed. He ignored the flames all over his body and rushed in impatiently: "I will definitely report this to my grandfather! You are declaring war on the Lord of the Rotten Swamp!"

"By then, not even Kazul, that guy with a head full of magma, can save you!"

The green dragon's angry roar echoed in the swamp forest, attracting flocks of crows to fly up and make noisy calls.

"They have decided the winner. The Dragonborn from the Red Dragon Cult has won. No matter who wins, it will not be a good thing for us. We have to speed up!"

Deep in the forest, Adrian said hurriedly.

As a rebel who had fought against the Dragon Worship Church for several months, he had a certain understanding of the internal structure of the Dragon Worship Church.

Although all churches worship Tiamat, they are divided into five different sects, corresponding to the five colored evil dragons.

Within the Cult of the Dragon, the most powerful are the three sects of the Red Dragon, the Blue Dragon, and the Green Dragon. Behind them is a Chosen One of Tiamat, who is comparable to a demigod.

Adrian felt quite lucky about what happened today. After Grutal's arrival, they were all doomed to die.

But at this critical moment, he happened to encounter the internal struggle of the Dragon Worship Cult and was able to escape from the claws of the green dragon.

"The Talos Cairn is just ahead! Once we reach the underground cave, we will be safe for now!" the female dwarf shouted.

But at this moment, the mage's expression froze again. He pointed his staff into the distance and said tremblingly, "You, you look quickly."

Adrian looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a dragon-born woman with red hair and golden eyes floating above the stone tomb, looking down at them with a smile.

Allergic rhinitis has attacked me. I didn’t sleep well all night and I feel so tired. What should I do about it?

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(End of this chapter)