Red Dragon, but chosen by all four gods

Downstream from the Baihe Valley lies the vast Weierding Plain, meaning "lush garden."

Indeed, this plain has unique advantages, with villages and towns of all sizes scattered along the banks of the Baihe River, whose streams irrigate countless fertile fields.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the produce from the Weilding Plain alone in a year would be enough to feed the entire Gem Islands.

At this moment, if one were to stand on high ground, one could see that in the northern part of the plain, near the main channel of the Baihe River before its branching, the sky was shrouded in dark clouds, with countless plumes of black smoke billowing up, revealing the colors of blood and fire.

……

Ridholo is a village located on the upper reaches of the Baihe River.

Old Toby witnessed the entire process of how his home was destroyed.

The first thing to change was the daylight.

The warm sunlight suddenly dimmed.

He thought it was going to rain, so he quickly hid in the shack by the field.

But after waiting for a while, he didn't see any raindrops; instead, he felt increasingly hot.

He stepped out of the shack and saw that the dark clouds in the sky were stained with a rusty color, like a dirty red cloth covering the sky.

The air gradually filled with a pungent smell. When he inhaled it, he felt both bitter and spicy, and couldn't help but cough.

He thought there was a fire somewhere, so he rushed back to the village—his three children and wife were still at home.

Then, he saw hell.

……

The dragonborn guards pushed aside the charred wood, revealing a pit underneath, from which sharp screams immediately rang out.

When they saw the pale gold scales on the dragonborn guards, they realized they were finally saved.

Then came the wailing of survivors.

Such scenes were frequently repeated near the village of Ridholo.

There are as few as one or two people in a pit, and as many as five or six.

This is their unique way of surviving.

The inhabitants here inherited the bloodline of the halflings of the Golden Age. In addition to being skilled in farming, they are also exceptionally adept at hiding and concealing themselves.

Macalos stood on high ground, quietly waiting for his men to dig out the villagers, search for those who could still be saved, and then gather and compile intelligence.

In addition, more dragonborn guards scattered to hunt down the fleeing demons.

In short, they arrived too late.

Macalos never expected that the Abyss Rift would appear twice in a row.

When the noble lord's envoys set out, only one village had experienced the abyssal rift.

He rode swiftly to Longting, arriving in just two days, after which Macaros immediately led his troops to set off.

The Dragonborn Guards traveled at full speed and entered the area of ​​the Wildding Plains in just half a day.

However, as soon as they entered the plains, they saw a second abyssal rift opening.

By the time they arrived at the village of Ridholo, the abyssal rift had already disappeared due to the self-repairing of space.

This indicates that the space here remains stable.

The abyss rift could not have appeared on its own; someone must have deliberately created it.

"Opening the abyss rift twice in three days... the ritual was held so hastily that there must still be traces left behind."

Macalos slammed his life-sized staff down, and an invisible magical force emanated from him.

In an instant, the surrounding light was disturbed like ripples on water.

Looking back!

Makaros's vision became hazy, and then it was as if he had traveled through time and seen scenes from the past.

However, the image only shows blood and flames, which are painted in large swaths, making it look like a graffiti painting, obscuring the specific details.

"They used prophetic magic to create a barrier; they're very well prepared."

Macalos frowned, then waved his staff again, and his vision shifted once more, suddenly dropping from a high vantage point to a low angle.

This is not prophetic magic, but necromancy. He used the soul of a recently deceased person who had not yet departed to glimpse everything he saw.

The person in sight was running from the fields toward the village.

His field of vision was low; even tall ears of wheat would block his view.

He finally ran out of the field and saw that the village seemed to have been torn open in mid-air with a bloody gash.

Small creatures with membranous wings emerged in droves from the opening, whistling as they swept across the rooftops, casually tossing out clusters of dark red fireballs.

Despite his fear, he still ran frantically toward a house that had not yet caught fire.

Inside the house, the cries of women and children drifted through the thick smoke, intermittent and intermittent.

He rushed into the house and saw that the cowardly demons with sharp snouts and claws had already surrounded the children and women.

He fearlessly picked up a scythe and fought the demons. In the end, only one woman and one child managed to escape.

His vision gradually dimmed; clearly, this was his last memory.

Macalos closed his eyes.

Peering into the memories of the soul can easily lead to being influenced by the obsessions and emotions hidden within it.

Although the farmer's perspective was limited, just glimpsing that crack was enough for Makaros to gather a lot of information.

—A very obvious sacrificial ritual.

Using black magic to perform sacrifices, offering mortal flesh and souls as offerings to forcibly open abyssal rifts, the effective range of such simple rituals is usually not very large.

Macalos summoned one of his men and ordered him to lead a group to search for an altar near the village.

The dragonborn guards obeyed the order and soon discovered the hastily buried blood sacrifice altar in a farmland that had been burned to ashes.

After a careful examination, Macalos quickly determined that the altar was not a temporary structure.

That means it wasn't a sudden idea from an outsider black magician or some kind of sorcerer.

Someone had already prepared all of this for them.

The person who holds the ceremony is most likely hiding within the territory.

In addition to that, there is another problem.

Although the ceremony was very successful, few clues were left behind.

But what was the culprit's purpose?

The destruction of just one or two villages is nothing to the Gem Islands as a whole.

Simply opening the abyssal rift won't have any effect.

Such a large-scale undertaking could not possibly be a conflict of interest between lords and nobles.

Once they discover even the slightest clue, the wrath of the Golden Dragon Court is enough to burn any challenger to death.

Macalos let out a soft breath; he needed to think about it.

The task of finding the culprit is clearly not something that can be accomplished immediately.

He speculated that this matter was very likely related to foreign enemies.

As the time for the master to sleep with the dragon drew closer, those petty villains who had previously been intimidated by the master's power became increasingly impatient.

Once their master successfully completes his dragon slumber and enters adulthood, they can only hide in despair under his power, with no hope left.

"Send word to all the noble lords of the plains, informing them of the altar, and order them to search the villages under their jurisdiction. If any similar situation is found, destroy it immediately and report it to me."

"yes!"

……

"Mom, you don't need to worry anymore. The Dragon Lord's warriors have arrived, and I'm safe now."

A boy was talking to his mother alone.

His mother no longer answers him.

To get him to hide in the pit, the mother lured the demon away herself.

He first lost his father, then his brother and sister.

Then she lost her mother.

An elderly man approached and said, "You must be old Toby's son. Don't be sad. We can rebuild the village. If we work together, we can get through this."

"The Dragon Lord's warriors say that this disaster is not a natural one, but was brought about by an evil sorcerer."

"Yes," the elder sighed, "the Dragon Lord's warriors will surely make them pay!"

"Grandpa Andorn, I also want to become a warrior of the Dragon Lord."

"The Dragon Lord's warriors are all incredibly powerful. We only know how to farm, hide, and reproduce. That's how we've survived for so many years."

The elder seemed surprised by the boy's idea and still tried to persuade him:

"Little Corleone, your slender arms are not suited for fighting. You will perish in the mouth of a demon... Then all your parents' sacrifices will have been in vain. Perhaps you should follow the ancient tradition..."

"Perhaps I am not a typical Veldinian."

Corleone looked at the dragonborn warriors in the distance, picked up the scythe beside him, and chased after them.

That was the weapon my father used when he fought the demons. Perhaps he should have picked up a scythe and fought alongside him back then.

But in any case, he's picked it up now.