Ember Dragon

"Marshal, news has come from the Fourth Army Corps that progress is going smoothly and that they have captured the city of Kafal."

"Didn't I send them out to explore and scout?"

In the former Duke Salin's mansion, now the headquarters of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, the dragon vein goblin Doro stopped writing the documents in his hand and looked up with some surprise.

The messenger chuckled dryly and added, "The Church of the Dragon no longer has any organized troops. When they arrived in Kafal, the cultists there were gathered together for a ritual, so the Fourth Legion simply wiped them out."

"Truly worthy warriors trained by His Majesty with His Majesty's bloodline," Doro exclaimed.

The messenger continued, "The Fourth Army is maintaining order in the area. They are requesting that headquarters send troops over immediately and that you provide them with overtime pay, since they claim they have exceeded their targets."

Dolo's face immediately darkened: "Bullshit! They're disobeying orders! The frontline military budget is so tight, with hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Seleucia, consuming vast amounts of resources every moment—all of which is His Majesty's wealth! And they're demanding compensation?"

"Then how to reply?"

"Get them out of here!"

Dolo waved his hand impatiently and continued examining the documents in his hand.

Today, the allied forces have controlled most of the Seleucia region, while the Empire controls the entire allied forces, but the situation in this land is far more complex than they imagined.

The Seleucid aristocratic natives—the "Second Falden Front," led by Duke Adrian—have been trying to regain control of the allied forces and restore the former Seleucid kingdom.

However, since the guns were ultimately in the hands of the empire, these Seleucids dared not turn against them on the spot. They could only secretly win over the people in various places and get them to support them.

Meanwhile, the Church of the Dragon has been in power for a long time, and many local forces have colluded with it for their own interests. There are also many forces that believe in Tiamat hiding in the shadows. The empire needs to carry out a thorough purge from top to bottom.

In addition, the handling of the Faria clan after their submission was also a major problem.

It should be noted that as the largest blue dragon clan in the Taliro Desert, many blue dragons in the Faria clan have a blood feud with the Seleucids within the Allied Forces.

After the Battle of Locke Rift, calls for punishment of the blue dragons who participated in the war grew louder, and some even held demonstrations demanding the execution of all blue dragons who had participated in the war.

However, the Faria clan was the first true dragon clan to submit to the empire, which was of great symbolic significance. The research value of their bloodline was also extremely high, and the imperial high command would never take drastic measures against them.

For days, Dolo has been mediating between the two sides, trying to resolve the conflict and ease the hatred. In the words of His Majesty Caesus, he is "playing the peacemaker," and he is extremely busy. This is a torment for someone who only likes killing.

"If His Majesty hadn't said that we should try to maintain the stability of Seleucia before defeating the Red Dragon Cult, I would have executed these troublemakers long ago!" Doro angrily crumpled a document into a ball and tore it into pieces.

Just then, an officer from the staff rushed in and said:

"Marshal, something has happened again over at the square!"

"Say, what's the matter?"

Dolo tossed the torn paper aside, his tone somewhat impatient.

Seeing this, the officer cautiously said, "It's that group of old Seleucid nobles. They're demanding that the Empire execute the twenty-three blue dragons associated with the Blue Dragon Church and hand over control of the city to them."

"This is outrageous! Who gave them the audacity?!"

Dolo slammed his fist on the wooden table, shattering it. He stood up abruptly, gritting his teeth, and said, "If it weren't for His Majesty's orders, I would have sent them to the gallows long ago! They don't even have the slightest sense of being puppets!"

So you mean...

"Let's go! I want to see where they get their confidence from!" Dolo strode forward, kicked open the door, and headed angrily toward the council hall.

Inside the council hall of Salim.

Seleucid noble officers, clad in armor and wielding silver swords, gathered in front of the city square, their voices resounding with passion and indignation: "The Seleucids belong to the Seleucids!"

"Return power to the people, slay the dragon!"

"Those blue dragons should pay the price for their atrocities! This matter cannot be let off so easily; it is the blood and tears of the Seleucids!"

The Seleucid people also gathered here, their anger surging, raising their arms and shouting: "Revenge! Revenge! Make those evil dragons pay the price!"

Adrian, the Seleucid commander within the allied forces, stood in the crowd. Unlike the others who shouted excitedly, he stood with his hand on his sword, a worried expression on his face.

Rebel against the empire is undoubtedly a dangerous thing.

But as someone who experienced the Dragon Plague firsthand, Adrian also believed from the bottom of his heart that those tyrannical blue dragons should be executed and that control of the cities of Tarriro should be returned to the Seleucids.

Suddenly, a surprised and noisy shout came from afar.

"Look, it's Marshal Dolo!"

"It's that great goblin, the supreme commander of the Empire, who has arrived!"

Surrounded by numerous half-dragons and dragon vein goblin guards, Doro walked slowly from a distance, his heavy, powerful steps causing the ground to tremble slightly. His nearly five-meter-tall, muscular body still exerted a strong sense of pressure on everyone.

In an instant, the crowd that had been shouting earlier fell silent, not daring to even look up and meet their gaze. Even the noble officers who had been shouting the loudest swallowed hard, their legs trembling.

Dolo looked around, grinned, revealing what he thought was a "friendly" smile: "Why are you all gathered here? Is there something you need—my dear Seleucia ally?"

The goblin's calm tone carried an intense pressure that made everyone breathless. These Seleucids even recalled the panic and despair they had felt when facing the dragon.

Under intense pressure, the noble officers who had been shouting the loudest earlier fell silent, lowering their heads and daring not to respond, afraid of meeting Dolo's gaze.

Instead, it was Duke Adrian who stepped forward and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Good day, Marshal Dolo."

"We simply want to take this opportunity to discuss two issues that are of utmost concern to us Seleucids—administrative power throughout Tarilro, and the trial of the surrendered Blue Dragons." Dolo completely dropped his pretense, his face darkening as he spoke coldly:
"These matters can be discussed in the council hall; there's no need to gather them here and waste the allied forces' resources. The war isn't over yet, and the Red Dragon Cult in the south remains powerful. Are you all so eager to divide up the spoils of war?"

"You should know that our empire has always practiced a democratic system, and we will consider your opinions as appropriate."

A tall, thin, middle-aged man with silver-rimmed glasses and a scholarly air stepped forward and mustered his courage to rebuke, "Marshal Dolo, the so-called council hall established by your empire is nothing but a trick to fool us!"
After discussions, we submitted more than a dozen petitions and proposals, but not a single problem was resolved, and you didn't even show up in person.

"Amannatta, Marshal Dolo, it seems you've treated our proposals as worthless scraps of paper! You've only used the council chamber as a tool to appease us!"

“Of course, those things are not even as good as waste paper. In His Majesty’s words, they’re so bad that you wouldn’t even want to wipe your butt with them,” Dolo thought maliciously to himself.

But Dolo lowered his head and said in the gentlest tone possible, "Of course not. His Majesty Caesus has always taught us to treat our allies with the principles of freedom, equality, and mutual benefit."

Your Seleucid Kingdom is an important part of the allied forces and a mainstay of this war. How could we abandon you?

A fake smile appeared on the grotesque face of the Dragon Vein Goblin, instantly sending chills down everyone's spines and making their scalps tingle. It was even worse than his previous gloomy expression.

The thin scholar's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground. Although he was helped up by the people behind him, he was still in a sorry state, as if he had seen a ghost.

"You, you can't scare us!" the man said weakly.

"Cowardly humans!"

Dolo cursed inwardly, but still suppressed the urge to stomp the man to death, and said, "Gentlemen, let's go to the council hall to discuss this in detail, let's not waste time here."

"it is good."

Adrian nodded slightly. In his view, it would be a success if the Empire could make some concessions.

Although he was in awe of the empire and the emperor's terrifying power, he did not want to become a complete puppet and hoped that the Seleucids could have some autonomy.

Under the protection of the imperial army, both sides entered the council hall one after the other. This hall was converted from the former governor's mansion of Shalin City. It was quite spacious and could accommodate hundreds of people at the same time.

Seleucid officers and Imperial officers lined up on either side, while Dolo, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, sat at the very top with his hands crossed and a solemn expression, giving off a strong sense of oppression.

After discussion, Khalid Quirk, a Seleucid noble viscount from the Tarilo region, stood up and said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency Doro, I do not believe that the Empire needs to govern all regions for us. Seleucids belong to the Seleucids. We have our own responsibilities and are fully capable of handling our own affairs. The Empire does not need to spend too much money on this."

One of the Imperial's half-dragon officers suddenly sneered, "Responsibility? I think it's greed and lust. You old French nobles are all birds of a feather!"

It was George who spoke.

Now he is an Imperial Earl and a Major General in the Army. He rose from an ordinary soldier to his current position and is regarded as an inspirational idol by many soldiers. He is already a well-known "big shot" in the army.

Khalid was taken aback and was about to retort when George interrupted him again: "It is still wartime. The Red Dragon Cult in the South is still eyeing us covetously, ready to take back control of the North at any time."

"If you were put in charge of controlling various regions, would you be capable of thoroughly investigating and eliminating spies within the Church of the Dragon? Would you be able to coordinate the defense of local armies?"

"us."

Khalid was speechless for a moment, wanting to refute but unable to utter a word.

George retorted mercilessly, "If you don't have one, then shut up! It was the Empire that helped you reclaim this land, allowing you displaced trash to return to your homeland. And yet, before the war is even over, you want to divide up the spoils. It's utterly ridiculous!"
I tell you, even without you old nobles, the Empire could still win this war! And it would win even more decisively! We only did this because of His Majesty."

"enough."

Dolo slammed his hand on the table, his face serious as he dissuaded George, "George, how can you slander our Seleucid allies like that? They are an indispensable force in the Allied Forces!"

The two imperial officers, one playing the bad cop and the other the good cop, left the Seleucid nobles blushing and speechless.

After a long silence, another Seleucid nobleman stood up and said, "Lord Doro, we have another request—to execute the evil dragon of the Dragon Worship Church and avenge our fallen brethren!"

“Yes, during the reign of the Church of the Dragons, these evil dragons brutally murdered countless Seleucids. This matter cannot be simply wiped clean!”

"And why should the Allied Forces trust them? The Blue Dragons are a bunch of thugs who worship Tiamat! They could launch a surprise attack on us at any time and affect the course of the war!"

The Seleucid nobles in the council hall became enraged, shouting angrily as if they had found an outlet for their frustration.

"They are clearly the enemy!"

"We should strip them of their scales and dragon skin to make armor, cut off their heads, and hang them in the square to proclaim our victory over the Church of the Dragon!"

"Why did these brutal dragons join the coalition? What contributions have they made to the coalition?"

Just then, a clear female voice came from outside the council chamber, her tone unusually cold and hostile.

"Hmph, what contributions have you made to the coalition forces?"

Everyone turned their heads to look at the source of the voice, and their expressions changed drastically. A young woman wearing a magnificent and heavy long dress, with scales faintly visible on her cheeks and deep blue vertical pupils like a snake, walked in.

That was Christina Faria, the young blue dragon who had taken human form and was the one who had brought the Faria family under her control.

Khalid immediately stood up, his eyes blazing with fury. He drew his silver sword from his waist, pointed it at his opponent, and shouted:

"Filthy dragon, son of Tiamat! How dare you stand here so brazenly! We Seleucia will never forget the suffering you have brought us! One day, I will make you pay for your crimes in blood!"

As a nobleman in the Taliro region, Khalid harbored deep hatred for the Faria family, especially during the Blue Dragon Cult's reign, when an adult blue dragon struck his father with lightning, turning him into a charred corpse.

Now, seeing the blue dragon from the Faria family, he felt a surge of hatred, as if meeting an old enemy. (End of Chapter)