Imperial Crown.

Chapter 583 The Dragon Slayer Akori
Angelo hails from the royal capital, Minagar. Although he's only of free citizen origin, he possesses a unique sense of superiority. After all, he's a true "King of the Capital"—what right do these stinking outsiders have to compare themselves to him?

Moreover, he had previously participated in the war against the Insa Empire, and this merit helped him obtain a divinely bestowed potion, allowing him to successfully awaken the Seed of Life and become a first-order transcendent.

It was precisely this sense of superiority that made Angelo look down on Akori, who came from the borderlands and was an illegitimate child. However, Akori's strength was too great, and Angelo could only curse him in private. On the surface, he could only be respectful. In Angelo's view, the battle Akori fought alongside Raven in Eivor was completely incomparable to the Insa campaign he himself had participated in. How large was the Insa Empire? How fierce were the Insa soldiers? Conquering such a tiny country as Eivor was, at best, a minor skirmish. Why did they boast about it so much? Therefore, Raven didn't deserve to be made a marquis. Akori was even less worthy of training them.

This suppressed anger made Angelo increasingly frustrated. So when he faced his nine comrades in the same squad, all from out of town, his veteran status, his extraordinary position, and his sense of superiority... all erupted to the fullest. And then... he was rejected. He didn't become the leader of ten. As an extraordinary being, he was still just a common soldier.

Those damn out-of-town bastards! They always call him "Master Beijing," but behind his back they've conspired to get him. ...Damn it, they deserve to die.

So, during this operation to eliminate Raven, Angelo was filled with a burning desire. He was determined to kill as many people as possible, accumulate military merits, and become a centurion... no, a hundred-man commander!
However, what had just happened shattered Angelo's illusions. Raven actually had dragons under his command! And these dragons were just as powerful, evil, and terrifying as those described in the stories he'd heard and the comic books he'd read since childhood! A single breath of dragonfire had burned nearly ten thousand of his comrades to death! Ten thousand people! Not ten thousand ants! Fortunately, their squad was 4-500 meters away from the dragon's breath, which saved them from certain death. Even so, five of their comrades were either burned to death by the splashing dragon's breath or crushed to death by the debris from the explosion.

This also made Angelo realize for the first time that this was not an easy battle! Raven was far stronger than he had imagined, even more difficult to deal with than the Insa Empire!
Having personally witnessed the dragon's rampage, Angelo's legs were still trembling. The frigid borderlands contrasted sharply with the warmth inside his leather armor. Yes, he wet himself. He was so terrified by the dragon's horrific attack that he wet himself. What were those so-called "Master Jing" or "Transcendent" figures compared to a dragon? They weren't even ants.

Fortunately, the dragon's attack came and went quickly. Angelo and the others were roused to begin clearing the battlefield. In reality, not many were screaming or injured. At least 80% had been completely vaporized. The remaining 18% also showed no signs of life, turning into charred corpses. Only about 2% of the wounded soldiers needed treatment. Their primary task, however, was to extinguish the fire.

Yes, the entire military camp was ablaze. Flames soared into the sky, making it as bright as day.

"Angelo, you're extraordinary, go and fetch two buckets of water! Go and come back quickly!" Captain Mosen shouted at Angelo.

“Yes!” Angelo reluctantly agreed, his scalp tingling. His “damn popularity” always got him the dirtiest, most tiring, and hardest jobs.

Angelo quickly got up and ran towards the city. But for him, it was actually a good thing. He just needed to splash water on himself, and no one would know he had wet his pants. Angelo ran quickly, pleased with his cleverness.

ahhh-

However, before Angelo could run into the city wall, he heard another pitiful wail behind him.

Angelo looked back and saw yet another dragon! Only this one was much smaller than the previous one. This dragon flapped its wings, its mouth wide open, spewing forth its orange-red breath as if it were free. Wherever it passed, the earth quickly scorched and cracked, and soldiers screamed as they melted away…

What terrified Angelo even more was that after spewing its breath, the dragon didn't leave. Instead, it slammed down like a meteor, continuing its carnage through the crowd! With each swing of its claws, four or five human soldiers were crushed to death. With each flap of its wings, hundreds more soldiers were sent flying! And the spears and swords in the soldiers' hands were like scratching an itch on the dragon's body!

Seeing this, Angelo threw down his spear, spread his arms, and ran like a madman towards the castle! He wished his parents had given him two more legs! "Dragon!" "The dragon is coming!" he shouted as he ran, alerting the city's defenders.

Before long, Angelo finally scaled the collapsed city walls and ran into the city. He hid behind the walls, panting heavily, secretly grateful for his good fortune. If the captain hadn't ordered him to carry water to put out the fire, he would have been vaporized alive by that dragon's breath, just like Mosen and his teammates. Turned into nothingness, not even a single hair would remain.

"This can't go on." Angelo poked his head out, watching the dragon still rampaging through the camp and ravaging the soldiers, and thought to himself. He was now weaponless, and if caught, he would be beheaded by the overseers. Fortunately, the area inside the city walls was also in a mess. Angelo picked up a broken sword and headed towards the castle.

The larger dragon had been driven away, causing most people to relax their guard and lower their guard. They were completely unaware that another dragon had arrived. Both the military camps outside the city and the garrison inside were in complete chaos; the more than 20 troops were utterly paralyzed. He had to report this, preferably to Akori.

It must be said that, as the illegitimate son of Grand Marshal Ferdinand, this despicable identity gave Akori more power than any other executive officer.

Carrying the broken sword, Angelo ran for another half hour before finally arriving at the castle, where he was able to meet Akori, who was guarding it.

"Instructor!" Angelo shouted, "Another dragon has arrived outside the city! It's slaughtering the army camp! Send reinforcements immediately!"

Over the years, Akori had long since broken through to the fourth rank. Upon hearing this, he was shocked. "Impossible!" "The escaped dragon has been slain!" Ferdinand had specifically told him about this when he returned earlier. The reason he was left to guard this place was because he was not allowed to be disturbed.

"Really?! It's true!" Angelo was so anxious he was almost in tears. What kind of time was this? This country bumpkin was still questioning his information! Hadn't he heard that there were no jokes in the military? "It's a smaller dragon!" "It's not the same dragon as the one we just saw!"

"What are you panicking about!" Akori glared at Angelo with displeasure. Over the years in the capital and military camps, there were quite a few arrogant young masters like Angelo. Anyone who broke through to the Transcendent level dared to treat him coldly and glare at him. If they dared to hold any title, they were even more ruthless, making sarcastic and mocking jokes about his status as an illegitimate child. This was also why Akori was so eager to change his surname from "Gassia" to "Vandoria".

Returning to the city walls with Angelo, Akori indeed saw the giant dragon wreaking havoc on the military camp outside the city. "So it was just a young dragon," Akori thought, feeling a little relieved. "It seems the intelligence was correct; Raven not only has one dragon, but also several young ones." But the next moment, Akori's heart burned with excitement. This was a golden opportunity! A chance to become a dragon slayer and make a name for himself!

"You stay here," Akori coldly said to Angelo, then climbed the city wall and walked away into the distance.

Angelo gazed at the military camp outside, his heart aching. In just over an hour, less than two hours, the young dragon had gone berserk, slaughtering at least ten thousand soldiers! And it showed no signs of stopping! Several visible wounds appeared on its body! It seemed that extraordinary soldiers had intervened! Of the 23 soldiers, only 7 to 8 remained in the city. At least 15 soldiers were stationed in the outer camp. Many of them were Angelo's relatives and friends! Brothers he had grown up with in the royal capital!
"Damn Akori!" "Damn out-of-towners!" "They don't care about our lives at all!" Angelo cursed inwardly. Boom!

However, Angelo was quickly dumbfounded. He heard the sound of magic crystal cannons! Akori was actually firing cannons at the military camp to kill this dragon?! Shouldn't they have called in many extraordinary beings to go down and surround and kill this dragon?!

The power of the magic crystal cannon was self-evident; with a single shot, Smaug's dragon body was instantly blasted away, emitting a tremendous wail and howl. His left wing was completely blasted off! He lay on his back, unconscious. And buried with him were the fearless human soldiers; this single shot wiped out at least several thousand more.

"Don't move! Let me do it!"

Akori's roar rang out. The excitement and exhilaration in his voice were clearly audible. He obviously wanted to be the dragon slayer, but was afraid of being overshadowed by someone else.

Angelo felt a pang of sorrow. He couldn't put it into words.

A surge of battle aura emanated from Akori; his martial spirit was a humanoid phantom wielding a sword, devoid of facial features. "Could it be related to his years spent on the border, fighting with orcs?" Angelo wondered silently. He saw Akori leap swiftly down the city wall, rush to the young dragon's side, raise his greatsword, and roar, "Dragon Slayer—Akori!" Then, he slashed at the lifeless dragon's neck.

With a "splat," a huge wound appeared on Smaug's neck, and blood gushed out.

The surroundings were quiet, save for the crackling of the flames and the groans of the wounded. There was no applause or cheers. Akori paid no heed, and after shouting "Akori the Dragon Slayer!" once more, sheathed his sword and turned to leave.

Angelo climbed out from behind the city walls and approached the young dragon. He was partly curious to observe the dragon up close, and partly determined to find his teammates. Although Angelo's relationship with his teammates wasn't good, they had shared meals and lodging for so long, and some bond had developed. He searched for a long time but couldn't find any of them. They were probably either killed by the young dragon or blasted to pieces by the magic crystal cannon. Not even a corpse remained. It was as if these people had never existed.

Sizzle
Angelo suddenly felt a chill in his chest. Looking down in disbelief, he saw the broken tip of a sword, confirming it wasn't an illusion. A sword had indeed pierced his back and reached his chest. Angelo turned to look and saw a person completely clad in armor. A muffled voice came from behind: "Your killer, Magd."

Magde sheathed his longsword, and Angelo rolled to the side, lifeless.

Magdalene walked to the young dragon's side, and when he saw Smaug, he knew his leader Thor had also arrived. After all, Thor and Smaug were usually the closest. "Rest in peace..." Magdalene closed the young dragon's wide-open eyes. Without much emotional fluctuation, he walked away into the distance.

Magd is Koru's son. Koru is also the political official of the Holo Territory. During this time, it was Koru who served Raven. Koru's background was extremely tragic; Koru's mother, who was also Magd's grandmother, had been violated by the lord, resulting in Magd being constantly ridiculed and humiliated from a young age. He was incredibly ashamed. Magd could never forget these humiliations. Everything changed after Marquis Raven arrived. Therefore, Magd always wanted to repay this kindness. This is also why he joined this seemingly crazy and suicidal act without hesitation.

"kill!"

Magd did not choose to infiltrate the city. Instead, taking advantage of the chaos in the outer military camp, he appeared like a ghost behind the panicked soldiers, reaping and slaughtering them with each strike of his sword. In just over half an hour, he had killed 26 people.

But his good fortune didn't last long; his actions were exposed. People kept calling out, urging him to join them in attacking him.

Magde then ran off into the distance.

啾啾
A hippogriff swiftly flew out from within the city walls. The third-tier transcendent, Lezson, coldly stared at Magd's fleeing figure. "Without the dragon, you still dare to come here and act like a fool." "You deserve to die." Lezson quickly caught up with him, leaping down from the hippogriff. His greatsword blazed with battle aura, slashing down with overwhelming force towards Magd's head.

"Bone-chilling frost!"

Seeing that she had nowhere to escape, Magd hardened her heart, turned around, and used her battle technique to clash with Lezson. The color of her battle aura suddenly changed, turning into azure, and ice spikes as thick as a calf followed Magd's longsword, shooting out with a rustling sound.

"court death!"

Lezson roared, neither dodging nor evading, his body rapidly enveloped in a protective aura. He chose not to use any combat techniques! He had been observing this person from the city wall for a while and had long since realized that the other party was only a second-tier transcendent. That's why he rode his griffin out to chase after him.

Boom——

The two men's weapons clashed, producing a deafening sound.

……

(End of this chapter)