Throne of the North.

Chapter 453: Dragon Slavery, the Never-Ending Dragon Chosen

Ryan was not in a hurry to get the information about Nidhogg quickly. The land ruled by the dragon made it impossible for him to get the information directly.

So they could only send bards to find out the news from the villagers bit by bit.

As they gradually became more familiar and in-depth, bards began to appear in the city called Odin.

"All humans in Nidhogg are servants of the dragon. The noble dragon king rules the entire Nidhogg. Odin City belongs to Lord Drummond, including the dozens of villages and towns around Odin City."

"The Dragon Monarch will start a war. Every year on the day of sacrifice, slaves will be sacrificed and become servants of the noble Dragon Monarch and powerful dragon soldiers."

"They will bring war, a war of dragons against dragons."

"In Odin City, eighty percent of the people have participated in the war between the dragon monarch Drummond and another dragon. The war ended because the dragon Drummond killed the other dragon."

"Will there be war between giant dragons?"

Ryan was surprised, listening to the information collected by the bard. What is the difference between this Nidhogg dragon and humans?
The most powerful among them is the dragon. In human civilization, the king is naturally the most powerful, because he has terrible power and a huge army.

"What's the war for?"

"do not know."

The bard shook his head. He didn't know the answer either. It could even be said that the dragon slaves in Odin City didn't know the answer either.

The mental state of the humans in Odin City was not much better than the villagers Ryan had seen at the beginning. Numbness and godlessness were common, because the dragons would not treat them differently based on the differences between cities and villages.

The city of Odin has been traumatized time and again by the wrath of the dragon lord Drummond, so the city has been charred and dilapidated for years, without any of its splendor.

Every time the dragon destroyed something, the human slaves had to repair it again. Therefore, under Drummond's rule, humans continued to become tools.

Tools of war, tools of farmland and breeding farms.

Because the dragons here never fall asleep, they are always awake, which means that they need to eat a lot of food every half a month.

Dragons are not keen on eating vegetarian food. In order to save their lives, humans can only raise cattle and sheep. Humans themselves cannot eat all the meat raised.

Therefore, the bard had never seen any strong human being. The humans in that world were all thin and weak.

Nidhogg, the most powerful alien dimension Ryan has ever encountered, but the humans within it are the weakest he has ever met.

"The only way for humans to become strong is to sacrifice themselves to the dragon monarch and become dragon soldiers. Through ancient sacrificial methods, they are transformed into savage monsters and fight endlessly on the battlefield."

"After being sacrificed and turned into monsters, these humans...are no longer human. They can't even remember the names of their relatives or what they look like."

"They are like stones in the dragon lord's cave. Only the dragon's command can bring them back to life."

"The land to which Odin City belongs is called Ethir, located in the north of the world. Their enemies seem to be in the land to the south, which is called Muspel. The elders in Ethir said that they once served the Great Dragon God, not the Dragon Lord Drummond."

"And in Muspel to the south, the people there seem to be serving the dragon."

Through the bard's description, Ryan gradually got an outline of the world of Nidhogg.

That world was complete, the north was not obvious, and only in the coldest winters would the ground be covered with snow, and the last time there was snow to this extent was a hundred years ago.

Then there is Nidhogg being divided into the south and the north.

The land in the north was called Ethir and the land in the south was called Muspel, with each side occupying half of the land.

The dragons are also divided into camps because of these two names. Of course, the more likely possibility is that the land is divided because the dragons have camps.

Humans are not qualified to be on equal footing with dragons. Their only status in that world is slaves. The role of slaves is to provide dragons with food, soldiers, and everything else that dragons need but humans can afford.

There is only one connection between human slavery and dragons, and that is the warrior who is converted into a dragon's follower through sacrifice, and is called a dragon soldier.

Fight for the dragon.

At present, it seems that there are still several problems here.

That is the purpose of war. There is no reason for the dragons to start a war without reason, because after winning, a dragon does not rule over another dragon's land. For example, the dragon monarch Drummond returned to the court after winning and did not declare sovereignty over another piece of land.

The second question is why these dragons can turn humans into their followers. Logically speaking, only great beings, that is, gods, can achieve this effect. Those dragons are just legends, so why can they accept sacrifices of human slavery?

Regarding the third question, there are two great beings mentioned in total, namely the dragon god representing the southern and northern lands and the evil dragon.

Among them, the name of the Dragon Emperor does not seem to be mentioned.

The last problem, and the most crucial one, is that these dragons are too much like humans.

"Regarding the dragon monarch Drummond, what kind of dragon is it? Do you have any clues?"

Ryan asked, after all, Areris is a standard frost dragon, while Earl Clayton, his father's mount, Christman is a fire dragon.

They all belong to the ranks of elemental dragons.

But Ryan still doesn't know what kind of legendary dragon the Drummond Dragon King who rules the city of Odin is.

It is a legend, that is inevitable, judging by the villagers' description, that dragon cannot be just a sanctuary.

"not yet."

Humans, or rather the human slaves in the world of Nidhogg, cannot contact dragons, and the information they have is incomplete, so they cannot tell the bards what the entire world looks like.

"Go look for it. Also, we need to find out how many cities like Odin City there are in that world. And whether every city is ruled by a legendary dragon."

Ryan needed to know this news. If there were not many dragons, then it might not be too difficult to capture Nidhogg. But if Nidhogg was like a dragon's lair full of bloodlines at the top of the food chain, then Ryan could not think of any way to rule such a different world full of legends and high-level combat power.

As for the traces of the great existence, Ryan had no intention of touching them for the time being. He could only rely on his luck. It would be bad if the Dragon God and the Demon Dragon were sleeping and were awakened by him.

"And one more thing."

Ryan's voice made the bard listen attentively.

"Let's find out what the Chosen Dragon is and why those dragons are looking for it."

Nidhogg, Odin City.

The city is circular. Sven, a bard who often sees Master Ryan in the frozen land, has many ancient stories in his mind, but he still finds it hard to imagine how this tall city, where each stone weighs thousands of pounds, was built by a group of human slaves who don't even have much muscle on their bodies.

Moreover, this city is not flat. Odin City is built around the mountain. The upper city is halfway up the mountain, and the lower city is at the foot of the mountain. As for the top of the mountain, there is terrible dragon power, which is the palace of the Drummond Dragon King.

This was his second time here. The depressing atmosphere of Odin City was incompatible with the bard Sven. He didn't seem to be from this world. This was the first impression of Sven by everyone around him.

Because of this, Sven did not encounter many obstacles. The slaves were instinctively afraid of those who looked noble, whether of their own kind or different species.

"Grandpa Zion, we meet again."

"Welcome, Mr. Sven, the traveler from afar."

A white-haired old man is Sven's target this time. The information he had received before, especially the news many years ago, was told to him by this Zion.

Sven did not directly ask what kind of dragon monarch Zion was, nor did he ask how many Odin cities there were in the world, because if there was an answer, the other party should have told him last time.

Although the old man in front of him appeared to be wiser than the others, he was still too immature compared to the bard Sven.

"Grandpa Zion, where is your granddaughter?"

"Millie, I don't know where she ran off to."

Grandpa Zion's granddaughter Millie, in Sven's opinion, is more like a human being than the other human slaves in this world, because although she is also thin, she is more innocent and active.

"That girl is always causing trouble."

Uncle Zion was not too worried. Perhaps it was because this world was too slavery-ridden, so many of the insidious and cunning things in human civilization did not exist. In other words, the people here were numbly simple.

"I'm very interested in your story. Last time you only talked about how the Dragon Lord Drummond led you to defeat another Dragon Lord. I don't know the rest."

"There's not much to say about what happened afterwards. Master Drummond has ruled Odin City for many years. Every day since the war has been no different from today."

"But I'm really curious, Grandpa Zion, tell me, how about I help you herd sheep?"

Sven said this and Zion shook his head and laughed.

"You think I don't know. You just asked others to help you put it on. In fact, you didn't do anything."

"But you don't have to go out to herd sheep, right?"

"Young man, sometimes curiosity is not a good thing. It can kill you."

"If I can understand the world better, then what is there to fear about death?"

"I'm not afraid of death, but I'm afraid of living like a bird in a cage." Sven looked at Uncle Zion's hand, where there was a cage with a magpie with yellow fluff on its chest.

He did not choose this old man, Mr. Zion, at random, but he felt with his bard instinct that this old man had a story.

"Master Zion, do you know the Chosen Dragon?"

The old man stared at Sven with his cloudy eyes for a long time.

"I was in a village outside the city and heard them say that the Dragon Lord once asked them for the Dragon Chosen, but they couldn't give it to him, so Lord Drummond burned most of the village."

Uncle Zion still looked at Sven, somewhat dazed and bewildered.

"It turns out that fifty years have passed."

He spoke in a hoarse, low voice, then shook his head and sighed.

"Grandpa Zion, can you tell me about the Chosen Dragon?"

Sven asked with curiosity in his eyes. This was not a performance, but as a bard, he really wanted to know the story of this world, all the stories, everyone's story, and the story of every dragon.

Dead or alive, as long as there is a story, they are the targets that the bards pursue madly.

And he already knew that the old man in front of him really only wanted the Dragon Chosen.

"Dragon Chosen..."

Zion stared at Sven. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't say a word, but the young man in front of him gave him a kind of vitality that no slave had.

Very similar, really similar.

"About fifty years ago, there was news of the appearance of the Chosen Dragon in this land."

"Gone."

"Gone?"

Sven opened his eyes wide. The story had just begun, and it was over?
"Only news of the Chosen Dragon came from Drummond's land. I have never seen the Chosen Dragon."

"What does the Dragon Chosen do?"

“And when did they start keeping records?”

"Fifty years of Dragon Chosen, is this the first Dragon Chosen?"

"Legend has it that every fifty years, a chosen dragon will appear. They will inherit the will of the great gods and restore prosperity to the world."

"As for when it started..."

Zion looked at Sven and said solemnly:

"Since the existence of the Dragon Monarch, a Dragon Chosen has appeared every fifty years."

"Every fifty years? What about the Chosen Dragons? Where did they go? Or were they all killed by the Dragon Lords?"

"Are they usurpers? People who want to replace the dragon monarch and become the new ruler of mankind?"

Sven asked quickly. In his opinion, it was unreasonable that humans in this world were ruled and oppressed by dragons. So it became a legitimate and natural demand for humans to rule themselves.

The Chosen Dragon may be such a human king, leading humans to peace like a noble, without the need to sacrifice people to dragons.

"Young man, are you really so curious about the Chosen Dragon?"

"That will kill you very quickly."

Uncle Zion said warningly, but Sven's eyes remained firm.

"Grandpa Zion, I've already said that I'm not afraid of death. What I'm afraid of is dying in a daze and without knowing anything."

"That would make me feel that there is no meaning in my life."

"There is no meaning in living..."

Zion lowered his head and suddenly laughed, with tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Yes, that's what my son said at the beginning."

He looked at Sven and said calmly:

"My son, Millie's father, is a follower of the Chosen Dragon."

"That year, after hearing the news about the Chosen Dragon, he only thought about it for one night before he decided to leave Odin City to look for the Chosen Dragon."

"He told me that if he lived like this and became a servant of Master Drummond one day, he would live in pain forever."

"He left to follow the Dragon Chosen One. He believed that the Dragon Chosen One could bring light into the eyes of humans."

"I never heard from him again until more than a decade ago, when he came back and brought me a child, Millie, and told me she was my granddaughter."

"Then he left again."

"At that moment I knew he would never come back, because he was bleeding a lot. He had found the Chosen Dragon, but they were about to fail."

"I begged him to stay, and he got on his knees and begged me to let him go."

"He told me that if he could follow behind the Chosen Dragon, even if it meant certain failure and death, he would be willing to devote his all."

"I know he is right, and I don't have the courage to stop my son from reaching for the sky."

Uncle Zion said a lot, and Sven didn't ask, but Uncle Zion had suppressed these things in his heart for too long, and he needed someone to talk to. Some people don't want to hide any secrets in their hearts, especially in the last period of their lives.

He didn't know who to talk to, and the man in front of him, Sven, gave him the only chance to confide in others.

"After that, I started looking for news about the Chosen Dragon."

"At that time, I was still young, and many of my old friends and elders were still alive. They knew more than I did."

"Later I found out that the Chosen Dragon was a challenger to the Dragon Monarch. The purpose of the Chosen Dragon was to kill the Dragon Monarch."

"Every fifty years, the Chosen Dragons appear. They are the people chosen by the gods and they challenge the Dragon Monarch endlessly until one day, the Chosen Dragons win and kill the Dragon Monarch."

No one knows the legend after killing the Dragon Lord, because the legend of the Dragon Chosen will always remain at this endless stage. Every fifty years, they will appear and then fail.

"My son died in such a war. The Dragon Lord killed him."

"Because he is a follower of the Chosen Dragon."

Zion looked at Sven and finally smiled easily.

"Young man, you should run for your life. Leave as soon as possible. The farther away from here, the better."

"Escape to where the dragon can't find you."

Sven blinked and wanted to ask the reason, but Zion said:
"You are different from us. You are so different from us."

When he said this, Sven reacted. Yes, he did not belong to Odin City. There was a huge gap between him and the dragon's slaves. His spirit was as vibrant as the morning sun, his clothes were bright and beautiful, and his behavior was not what a slave should have.

Someone from this city will go to pay tribute to their honorable dragon monarch Gaomi.

"I'm leaving, Grandpa Zion."

Sven turned and walked towards the door. When he stepped over the threshold and turned back to close the door, he saw a girl with dark skin due to lack of nutrition squatting next to the door.

She raised her head, her little hands curled up on her knees and in her arms, her eyes sparkling.

"My grandfather never told me about my father."

"Because he wants you to live happily."

"Will you die then?"

"Me? I don't know."

Sven closed the door, turned and left, deliberately turning a corner before walking to the street. He stood on the street. The humans around him stayed far away from him and did not dare to approach him. Until a certain moment, the sky dimmed, and the wings of a giant dragon crossed the sky. The Drummond Dragon Lord fell from the sky, landed on the street, and slowly walked towards Sven.

It had amber dragon eyes, which were different from the pupils of the giant dragon that Sven had seen with Ryan before, and the dark dragon scales and skin on its body made it impossible for him to tell its species.

The sharp claws approached Sven's heart.

(End of this chapter)