Ember Dragon

In the distance, the sounds of wind, thunder, and rain intertwined, but the battlefield became quite quiet. No matter if they were Imperials, Seleucids, or cultists of the Church of the Dragon, no matter if they were humans, dwarves, or dragonborn, they all raised their heads and looked towards the thick dark clouds in the distance.

Even the real green dragons stretched their necks and gazed into the distance with eager and expectant eyes.

For most green dragons, the "Lord of the Swamp" is a living legend. Even most of them have only heard of the ancient green dragon's notorious reputation and rarely see its true appearance.

The cultists of the Dragon Worship Church knelt on the ground devoutly, calling out the name of the ancient green dragon and praising it with the most effusive words, as if they had seen an angel sent by the gods.

"Lord of the Swamp!"

"Ah, Lord of Shadows, who sits atop the crown of humus."

"Your scales are the glow of toadstools, and your breath is the brew of lies. You suffocate the foolish in your vines and grind the crowns of mortals into mud!"

The humans were extremely nervous. Sweat was pouring down their foreheads and backs, and even their breathing became rapid.

Even the veterans who had fought hundreds of battles, bathed in blood, and crawled out of the corpses of humans and dragon beasts were trembling all over: "Is it really him, the Lord of the Rotten Swamp?"

"Amaunator, by God!"

"He, he won't repeat that tragedy, will he?"

The Lord of the Swamp, the Emerald Miasma, the Emerald Tyrant, one of Tiamat's most beloved children, and one of the three great messengers revered by the Church of the Dragon, in charge of the Green Dragon Cult.

Three years ago, the remaining divine nobles in northwest Seleucid tried their best to seek help everywhere and gathered an army of nearly 300,000 people.

The racial composition of this army is complex, including humans, elves, dwarves, angels and metal dragons. There are tens of thousands of paladins, mages and other professionals in the army.

The coalition forces raised the banner of "destroying the Church of the Dragon and recovering Seleucia", and hundreds of thousands of people signed blood oaths, preparing for a decisive battle with the Church of the Dragon near the Sunset Plains.

But that day, dark clouds covered the sky, acid rain corroded the earth wantonly, and the ancient green dragon Erebus arrived here with his army of evil dragons.

No one can explain exactly what happened that day. People only know that after seven days and seven nights of bloody fighting, blood flowed like rivers, the 300,000-strong coalition army was almost wiped out, and the soldiers who managed to escape were also delirious and crazy.

But without exception, as soon as the nightmare name "Erebus" was mentioned, all the survivors would curl up on the ground trembling, with their eyes closed and their faces pale, so terrified that they could not utter a word.

This war was called the "Sunset Massacre" by historians such as Fianso, marking the complete fall of the Seleucid Empire and the loss of its remaining power.

From then on, the Sunset Plains no longer existed, replaced by a dark, damp, fog-shrouded swamp - now known as the Ash Swamp.

It is said that there are mountains of bones buried in this swamp, and people can often hear mournful cries, which are the dead Allied soldiers wandering in the fog.

After the war, the Ash Marsh became the residence of the ancient green dragons and the holy place of the Green Dragon Cult in the Church of the Dragon. As a result, Erebus also got a particularly resounding name - the Lord of the Swamp.

Along with gusts of chilly wind, dark clouds quickly spread over the battlefield, casting a large shadow. All the Seleucids and Imperials were on high alert. Even those huge aerospace warships did not dare to delay and activated the emergency protection system.

An invisible pressure came from far away, swept in with the cold wind, making everyone present feel their hearts tremble and their souls shudder.

Suddenly, the sky began to distort.

The dark clouds rolled like a festering wound. The thunder was no longer a roar, but the hungry roar of some giant beast. All creatures in the forest fell into deathly silence, and even the wind was frozen.

Then—he arrived.

First, a few hideous thorn-like claws and a crown appeared in the dark clouds, and then the huge forest-green figure tore through the clouds. His wings rolled up a storm of corruption, and rotten leaves and ashes swirled around him.

The terrifying shadow was cast on the earth, and the grass and trees withered instantly, as if even nature itself was defeated by his majesty.

He descended slowly, his claws digging into the dirt, venom dripping from between his teeth, making a hissing sound.

"Ants—"

The voice of the unknown existence was like a dead branch breaking, and like a poisonous snake sliding past the ear, "You have disturbed my sleep. Are you ready to face the fear?"

"God."

"Oh, great Lord of Eternal Glory, what on earth is this! How could there be such a monster in this world!"

"God, the Burning Emperor! What a terrifying green dragon!"

Under the tremendous pressure like a tsunami, the people on the battlefield looked into the distance, their eyes filled with fear, shock and panic, and they kept praying.

I saw a green dragon standing in the distant forest wrapped in the rolling dark clouds. It was at least forty-five meters long from head to tail, which was far beyond the limit of a green dragon. It seemed like a villain from a horror story told by a bard.

Dark green scales covered his huge body that was as big as a hill. Each scale was like a poisoned dagger, glowing a sickly light in the dim light.

Corrupted vines and thorns entangled his back, as if the earth itself was trying to restrain him in fear, but ultimately became his decoration.

When his wings spread, the shadow engulfed a large area of ​​forest, and the winding blood vessels on the wing membranes were like cursed runes, pulsating slowly with his breathing.

——But what is most terrifying is his eyes.

Those were a pair of narrow and cold vertical pupils, like two poisonous swamps, churning with whirlpools of greed and cunning. A strange green light was dancing in the depths of the pupils, as if it could pierce the soul and expose one's heart.

When a mortal gazes upon them, he or she feels their will dissolving, as if being slowly chewed by some ancient and malevolent entity.

Wherever his eyes reached, the air became sticky, as if drenched in poisonous miasma, and even breathing became a torture.

Eye of Tiamat.

Even the bravest and most resolute warrior would find it difficult to last more than three seconds under such a gaze. He would either faint or become a puppet controlled by the evil dragon.

"Oh my god. Is this the legendary Lord of the Rotten Swamp?"

"too frightening!"

"No, no, this is not an enemy we can defeat, help! I want to get out of here!"

"The dragon is invincible, long live Tiamat!"

A few seconds after this ancient green dragon appeared on the battlefield, he didn't even do anything, just appeared there, and the morale of the human army dropped sharply, the soldiers fled, went crazy, and even rebelled on the spot.

Although the players from the Empire had no souls and were not easy to be controlled, many of them still had their screens go black and fell into a coma on the spot.

The cultists of the Dragon Worshipping Church bowed down in worship and sang hymns more and more fanatically and passionately.

"Teach us to whisper with venom, teach us to sow faith with pestilence, until all living things kneel and shudder and go mad before your godlike gaze!"

In the distant sky, the aerospace warships all took aim, and thick beams of light shot out, densely intertwined together, bombarding the ancient green dragon standing in the forest.

"boom!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, dust and smoke rose into the sky, almost engulfing everything in the forest.

The players watching from a distance were talking about it. "Is he dead?"

"This is an elemental heavy artillery that can kill an ancient green dragon with one shot. Even this ancient green dragon would be either dead or injured, right?"

"No, according to the law of smoke without injury, the green dragon might not have been hurt at all."

"Humph, firepower is justice, caliber is truth! If it doesn't work, just keep increasing your strength!"

At this moment, a strange noise came from the smoke and dust. The huge green figure waved its dragon wings, causing a hurricane. It then soared into the sky and appeared high in the sky, surrounded by thick dark clouds.

Looking carefully through the dark clouds, Erebus's ferocious dragon body was intact and still emitting a sickly glow.

He tilted his head calmly, looked down at the warship in the distance, and said jokingly: "Is this your confidence?"

"It's a very interesting toy, but it's a pity..." The green dragon slowly stretched out its huge claws, and bits of faint light appeared at the tip of its sharp claws.

"This is useless against the offspring of the Five-Colored Dragon Queen!"

"boom--"

Five dark green beams shot out, instantly crossing a distance of thousands of meters, penetrating several layers of shields, melting the extremely hard alloy armor, and piercing through the aerospace warships.

With just one attack, several aerospace warships were destroyed on the spot, exploding one after another in the sky, falling to the ground dragging flames and thick smoke, smashing into the earth, setting off an even more terrifying explosion frenzy.

In the scorching air current, the players couldn't help but shout in fear: "What the hell, it was destroyed in one second? And several ships were destroyed in one second?"

"This is hundreds of thousands of gold nars!"

"It is said that the protection systems of those aerospace warships can withstand the bombardment of nine-ring level spells, but they were shot down so easily. How can we fight them!"

"I don't want to die if I run away."

A mage player tried to activate the teleportation spell scroll, but found that the surrounding space was blocked by some unknown force and could not be broken through.

In the thick dark clouds, Erebus waved his dragon wings and said in a cold and grim tone: "You destroyed my altar, messed up my city, and killed my descendants - and you still want to leave?"

"I will sacrifice your flesh, blood, and soul to the great Majesty Tiamat to appease her wrath! All enemies who participated in this war must die!"

Accompanied by a loud roar, rolling black clouds swept across the earth, rushing in from all directions like a surging tide, surrounding the city.

Sticky and foul-smelling muddy water gushed out from the ground, spreading at an extremely terrifying speed, creating huge waves several meters high and stretching for more than ten kilometers, as if to drown everyone and swallow them in the mud.

The moment the humans on the periphery came into contact with the mud, their flesh and blood quickly melted away with a hissing sound, leaving only a pile of eerie white bones.

Wherever it passed, the land was polluted and turned into a humid swamp filled with highly toxic substances.

"It's over. There's actually a mission like this where the plot kills!"

"Didn't expect my first death to be in a place like this? I'm not willing to accept this!"

"Dog Planner, is the difficulty of your task reasonable?"

The players screamed, helpless and powerless in this almost certain death situation.

And those human and dwarf soldiers who had been loyal to Duke Franz had fallen into complete despair. Their eyes were lifeless and their gazes were extremely dim. There was also a dead silence in the position.

At this moment, they finally knew what happened in the "Sunset Massacre" and why an army of 300,000 was wiped out overnight and turned into bones.

Looking at the ancient green dragon hanging high in the sky and releasing terrifying power, Adrian laughed bitterly: "Ms. Misha, let's leave here. This war - we have already lost."

Misha shook her head solemnly and said in a deep voice: "No, we haven't lost yet."

"Could it be?" Adrian suddenly turned his head and looked at the dragon warlock.

However, before she finished her words, Misha's tall body slowly rose up and hovered in the air. She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, her long red hair was loose and moving in the wind, and her broad dragon wings suddenly spread out from behind.

"The powerful monarch who rules the north, the dragon who controls the natural disasters, the supreme Emperor of Burning Ashes—"

"My only Lord, in the name of a humble indentured servant, I pray for your presence!"

"Shh-"

Misha suddenly opened her eyes, and brilliant flames surged in her light golden narrow vertical pupils, and even tongues of fire burst out and kept jumping.

His eyes seemed to break free from the constraints of space, spanning endless time and space, and connecting with that unparalleled powerful existence.

"Roar--"

A distant roar was heard.

At this moment, not only Adrian and his allies looked surprised, but they also glanced at Misha with shock, awe and expectation in their eyes, as if they saw a glimmer of hope for victory.

Even Erebus in the sky frowned slightly, his face solemn as if shrouded in haze, the calm and playful expression disappeared from the dragon's face: "This breath is..."

"Crack!"

Huge cracks appeared in the sky, as if there was a giant a hundred meters tall in that unknown dimension, who shattered the blocked space with his powerful force.

Immediately afterwards, raging flames gushed out from the cracks, continuously burning the surrounding space.

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, a sharp scream that seemed to be able to cut through time and space resounded through the sky.

A huge crack appeared silently, and a strange and violent scarlet light flashed at the edge, as if the door of a hell furnace was forcibly pried open.

The space itself groaned as if it could not bear the heavy burden. Fine black cracks spread wildly from the edge of the rift like spider webs, indicating that some irresistible existence was descending here.

Then, the giant stretched out a ferocious corner - five pillar-like claws were bent, covered with thick scales like ancient shields.

What followed was unimaginable heat.

The air twisted and boiled violently near the claw tips, making a sizzling sound, as if it was thrown into an invisible furnace. Every breath carried the smell of death from burning sulfur and rust.

Just a slight retraction of the claws can trigger resonance in the space fragments, as if the whole world is holding its breath and trembling for this impending existence.

Erebus was holding back the red dragon claw that came across space, his face filled with astonishment, and he couldn't help muttering:

"Tiamat is above." (End of chapter)