Being a knight is not easy

Chapter 184 Thief
Lady Aisha unfolded the newly arrived royal decree, her purple eyes narrowed slightly: "Lebaton's actions are faster than expected."

Leo took the decree and glanced at it quickly, a cold look flashing across his pale pupils. "He actually demands that all nobles in the Western Territory come to the Imperial City for an audience within three days? This is clearly an attempt to wipe out all enemies!"

"That's not the case." Lady Aisha's fingertips erupted in a violet flame, and the decree instantly turned to ash. "He's forcing us to take sides."

She stepped out of the tent. On the scorched earth of the Western Territory shrouded in darkness, the Bauhinia Knights were escorting the last batch of surrendered nobles.

These lords who were once so powerful now looked terrified, and the thorn collars around their necks glowed with the cold light of magic-suppressing runes.

"Leo, what do you think..." Lady Aisha suddenly chuckled, "What would happen if we deliberately let a few nobles go now and let them 'accidentally escape' the imperial edict?"

Leo narrowed his single eye, his tone calculating: "They will flee in all directions like frightened birds, spreading panic throughout the east and south."

"That's right." She flicked her fingertips, and several runes flashed, and the collars of several nobles quietly loosened. "Only in chaos can we see who the true opponent is."

Meanwhile, Robin and Wind Chime have reached the edge of the Bone Burial Ground.

The biting wind carried gravel, scraping Robin's face like a sharp blade. The Tang sword at his waist trembled slightly in its sheath, as if some unknown power was calling it.

Feng Ling quickly scanned the rugged mountains ahead, and data streams flashed wildly in his eyes: "Energy readings are abnormal, there is a strong energy field ahead!"

Robin's knuckles turned white from the exertion. He quietly activated the Dragon Devouring Breathing Technique, and his aura became fierce. "Melinda's 'gift' is right there."

In an instant, a ray of blood-red moonlight penetrated the thick clouds and fell directly on the ancient altar in the center of the mountain.

On the surface of the altar, the dragon blood emblem meanders like a living thing, emitting a strange dark red luster.

In the center of the altar, a rusty spear was inserted diagonally into the ground. Although the dried golden blood on the tip of the spear had faded, it still revealed a heart-pounding majesty.

Feng Ling's mechanical pupils suddenly contracted, and her voice trembled unconsciously: "That is..."

"Dragon Slaying Spear." Robin lowered his voice, his tone filled with shock that was hard to conceal. "Legend has it that the last dragon was slain by this spear."

Robin's fingertips were still an inch away from the Dragon Slaying Spear when the spear suddenly vibrated and rusty iron chips fell off.

Winding dragon scale patterns appeared on the gun barrel, and those patterns were exactly the same as the dragon scales on Robin's neck that appeared due to the dragon-eating breathing technique.

"This isn't a weapon." Feng Ling's mechanical eyes quickly focused, magnifying the golden bloodstain on the tip of the gun. "This is... a dragon horn."

The moment Robin's palm touched the gun barrel, the Dragon Devouring Breathing Technique took effect on its own.

Gilded lines spread from his arms to his entire body, and the scene before his eyes suddenly distorted.

In that blurry vision, ancient pictures flashed by like a kaleidoscope.

According to legend, in ancient times beyond human language and memory, a gigantic dragon god launched a horrific war on the continent of Pavel, and the shadow of the dragon clan enveloped the earth.

In this desperate moment, the sky of Solamnia shone with dazzling light. The holy knights responded to their inner desire for light and, under the protection of the gods, forged dragon-slaying spears that could pierce the souls of dragons.

This spear wasn't made of ordinary iron, but rather from the horns of a mighty dragon, embodying the dragon's power and the knights' faith. The Dragon-Devouring Breathing Technique originated from a bright ascetic obsessed with combat and a veteran mercenary. To combat powerful wizards, they jointly developed a crude breathing technique based on a regular breathing rhythm and corresponding movement training.

Later, after research by multiple forces and cruel human experiments involving wizards, the breathing method and potion system gradually took shape.

Among them, animal breathing has become the first choice for most combat professionals because of its strong combat effectiveness and not easy to cause people to collapse.

Until the rise of the Knights of Light, they created the lineage of the Knights Templar based on the theory of the connection between body and spirit, abandoned potions, and focused on honing the training of faith and spirit through breathing techniques, gaining spiritual power based on the words of God, breaking the dilemma of not being able to break through to the heroic rank through simple breathing techniques.

Although the dragon-devouring breathing technique practiced by Robin has undergone many evolutions, it seems to be inextricably linked to the Dragon Slaying Spear.

The illusion dissipated like broken glass, and Robin slammed one knee down on the altar, a rough gasp escaping his throat.

The Dragon Slaying Spear vibrated violently in his palm, the metallic resonance sound perfectly coincided with the heartbeat frequency, as if some ancient life was awakening.

"Hold on!" Feng Ling quickly supported Robin's shaky body and quickly cast a spell to check his vital signs. "The gilded lines are eroding the nervous system!"

Before she could finish her words, Robin suddenly grabbed her wrist, and the scorching heat from his fingertips made her skin burn slightly.

"So we've all been living a lie." He spread out his palm, the gilded lines flowing slowly beneath his skin like liquid metal. "The so-called dragon-devouring is nothing more than a clumsy imitation of the dragon race's innate breathing rhythm."

"But this cannot explain the secret of the royal family." Feng Ling shook off his hand, her eyes projecting holographic projections, and the cold blue light illuminated her suddenly shrunken pupils.

The secret files of the Mechanicus scrolled rapidly:
In the year 237 of the Guangming calendar, the Knights Templar secretly experimented with the "Dragon Breath Resonance Project."

[After the Shadow Council intervened, the breathing technique and potion system merged, giving birth to the first generation of dragon-eating potions]

"Wait—" Robin suddenly pressed the projection, his fingertips sliding across an encrypted file. "This time point coincides with the rise of the current royal ruler."

"You are really lucky." A cold female voice came from the shadows.

A strange woman appeared in the moonlight, the black mist wrapped around her fingertips devouring the surrounding light. "No one who touches the Dragon Slayer Spear survives more than three minutes." Her eyes swept over the spear in Robin's hand, and a playful smile curved her lips. "It seems the dragon clan is more hungry than I thought."

Feng Ling quickly assumed combat form: "Have you known the secret of the royal dragon blood for a long time?"

"I know more than you think." The woman casually threw out a ball of black mist. Robin instinctively raised his gun to block it. A dazzling golden light burst out where the tip of the gun collided with the black mist.

"This gun is a curse of the dragon race," she stared at the dragon scale pattern on Robin's neck, "and your dear royal family are nothing but thieves who stole the breathing method."

As the earth shook, the rock layers of the burial ground were torn like pieces of paper.

A hundred-meter-long silver dragon skeleton broke out of the ground, and golden flames leaped in its empty eye sockets.

That was the light that appeared when Robin's breathing method was working.

(End of this chapter)