Surprise Attack

By the time Andres returned to the City Lord's Manor, night had fallen. Gerant was still standing guard outside the council hall.

This time, when he saw Andres, he did not stop him. Instead, he gestured for Andres to follow him.

Andres followed Gerant into the council hall.

Inside, Mars and the others were gone. Only Inori remained.

When Inori saw Andres, her expression was somewhat cold, as if she was displeased that he had come to Black Mountain City without authorization.

Yet the instant Andres saw Inori, his heart skipped a beat.

Inori was no different from six years ago. As a Level Eight Warrior, she could live for three or four hundred years. Six years was far too short to leave any noticeable marks of time on her.

But the information about Inori in Andres's mind had changed.

"Target: Inori Demian."

"Talent: Fire Elemental Lesser God."

"Binding Quest (determined by the target's innermost desire): Deep-Seated Ambition."

"Completion Condition: Help Inori become the Queen of the Oga Kingdom."

Andres was secretly shocked. The completion condition for Inori's Binding Quest had changed from helping her become Duke Demian to helping her become the Queen of the Oga Kingdom.

Clearly, as her strength and status rose, Inori's ambition had expanded as well, and the Binding Quest had changed accordingly.

The system could only accept one quest at a time. Once a quest had been accepted, its completion conditions would not change.

Before completing Teresa's Binding Quest, Andres could not accept Inori's Binding Quest and could only let it continue changing.

Naturally, helping Inori become the Queen of the Oga Kingdom was far more difficult than helping her become Duke Demian.

Though the Demian Family possessed royal blood as well, their place in the line of succession was extremely low. They had virtually no chance.

Unless every direct member of the current royal family died, the throne would never pass to the Demian Family.

The only way Andres could think of was for a Saint Realm expert to fully support Inori, or for Inori herself to enter the Saint Domain.

After all, the Oga Kingdom's royal family still had a Level Nine Expert. Only someone in the Saint Domain could absolutely suppress a Level Nine Expert.

Though Inori's altered Binding Quest had deeply shaken Andres, he remained impassive on the surface.

"Miss!" Andres gave Inori a respectful yet unyielding bow.

The coldness on Inori's face suddenly faded. She sighed and said, "Andres, you have disappointed me. Why did you leave Black Iron Castle without my orders?"

Andres was not sure whether Inori's suddenly softened expression was an act or genuine, nor did he bother looking into it. He said calmly, "I received word that the Beastmen are coming in force this time, so I came specifically to help you, Miss."

At those words, Gerant, who stood nearby, silently sneered.

Inori shook her head as well. "Andres, this is different from what happened six years ago. You may not be able to help much this time."

She paused before continuing, "How about this? Since you are already here, return to the guard unit and follow Gerant's command."

When Gerant heard Inori tell Andres to return to the guard unit, his expression changed at first, as he thought he might lose his position as captain. Then, upon realizing that Andres would become his subordinate, his expression immediately relaxed.

Hmph. Acting on your own serves you right. You've lost Miss's trust, Gerant thought.

In his view, Inori was clearly dissatisfied with Andres's actions.

Andres himself did not care. He answered, "Yes," and said nothing more.

His target was Resior. As long as he could stay in Black Mountain City and wait for an opportunity, nothing else mattered.

"Enough. It is getting late. Gerant, have someone arrange a place for Andres to stay," Inori said.

Gerant bowed to accept the order and was just about to lead Andres away when—

A dragon's roar came from the direction of the city gates.

"What's going on?"

All three of their expressions changed as they quickly rushed outside.

In the night sky above the city gates, a red glow appeared. It was a dragon-shaped magical beast seventy or eighty meters long, with a pair of fleshy wings spread fifty or sixty meters wide. Flames coiled around its body, and its fiery-red scales shone brilliantly beneath the nightfall.

"It's a Fire Dragon!" Gerant cried out.

The Fire Dragon race was considered a middle-tier race among dragons. Ordinary Fire Dragons were Level Eight Magical Beasts, though exceptional individuals could surpass the limits of their race and become Level Nine Magical Beasts.

But this one was Level Eight.

"It's Resior's magical beast!" Inori's expression turned grave.

Andres's expression shifted. Before this, he had not known that Resior possessed a Level Eight Fire Dragon.

Resior himself is already at Peak Level Eight. He also has a Level Eight Magical Beast, other Level Eight experts under his command, and an army of Beastmen. No wonder the Oga Kingdom is treating this like a great enemy and has even deployed half the Kingdom Knights. It won't be easy to kill Resior, Andres thought.

As Andres considered how to kill Resior, the Fire Dragon in the night sky above the city gates swooped toward the soldiers defending the walls. When it was twenty or thirty meters from the wall, it opened its jaws and breathed out a scorching stream of dragon breath.

The fiery dragon breath swept across the walls. Countless soldiers were burned into charred corpses and fell from the ramparts, their screams echoing through the night sky.

"You three, immediately notify the commanders of every unit and prepare to meet the enemy!"

As Inori gave orders to the guards around her, she charged toward the city gates.

In truth, there was no need for the guards to deliver the message. The soldiers throughout the city had already moved into position.

When the Fire Dragon launched its attack, the soldiers stationed on the walls had sounded the horns.

The horn blasts spread through all of Black Mountain City.

The soldiers had already been preparing for battle during this period. The moment the horns sounded, they swiftly entered combat positions under the leadership of their commanders.

Above the city walls, the Fire Dragon continued to spew dragon breath, but the soldiers began organizing a counterattack as well. Countless arrows shot toward the Fire Dragon.

These arrows were made of excellent materials and all infused with Battle Qi, making them quite powerful.

One or two arrows might not threaten the Fire Dragon, but once their numbers increased, even a Level Eight dragon would not dare take them head-on.

The Battle Qi-infused arrows shone with lights of various colors as they streaked toward the Fire Dragon with flaming tails, like a meteor shower rising from below.

Driven back by the countless arrows, the Fire Dragon beat its wings and flew high into the sky.

But it did not retreat. Instead, it circled overhead, searching for an opportunity.

"Kill!"

Outside the city, a vast army of Beastmen surged toward Black Mountain City like a black tide.

Under cover of darkness, the Beastmen army began its siege.

Andres followed Inori up onto the city wall. Mars, Daniel, and Alisson had already arrived as well.

"Attack! Attack!"

Under their commanders' orders, the soldiers of the Oga Kingdom continuously fired arrows down below.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sounds of arrows slicing through the air rang out in succession, and many Beastmen soldiers fell in response.