Sorrow of North Wind Fortress

Sorrow of North Wind Fortress

Gold coins clattered from the red dragon's jaws, while the Chimera stared fixedly from outside the cave. Its greedy gaze held not only the pain of losing its treasure, but also a trace of resentment. Yet that emotion vanished in an instant; it dared not show it before the red dragon.

Keosius noticed it all, but he did not care. If anything, he felt a strange sense of accomplishment at having become a Minotaur.

For Chaotic Evil monsters like this, showing kindness was useless, because a Chimera could never be unconditionally loyal to him. Given the chance, it would do everything it could to devour its master and take his place.

As an old saying from his previous life put it: "They fear power but cherish no virtue." That was exactly how creatures like this were.

The only thing a red dragon could do was make use of its strength while maintaining an overwhelming presence, ensuring it could remain nothing more than a servant, never having the chance to turn the tables.

[Metal Scales has reached maximum level (5230/5000)] [New trait acquired: Gilded Scales] Gilded Scales: AC +3, Constitution +1 [You have consumed an excessive amount of gold element. Flowing gold will adhere to the surface of your body and deep within your heart.

You may actively activate Gilded Shell. The gold within your body will form a coating over your surface, greatly increasing your armor class and changing the appearance of your scales to gold.]

"Turn my scales gold?"

A peculiar thought suddenly arose in Keosius's mind.

As he recalled, there should not have been any Golden Dragons in Anzeta.

Could he perhaps...

In any case, he had gained another means of preserving his life, and the red dragon was delighted.

Ignoring the Chimera's deeply aggrieved gaze, he simply had it continue leading the way as they explored Giant's Maw Cave.

"Still no end?"

Keosius wondered.

This place was far more complex than he had imagined. Some sections were incredibly deep, enough to make one suspect that it was not naturally formed at all, but the work of some Dwarven Artisans.

From a narrow cave not far away, waves of scorching White Smoke billowed out, along with occasional splashes of lava. It made the red dragon feel oddly at home.

"Keep going inside."

Keosius gestured for the Chimera to lead the way.

But the life-loving beast only whimpered and begged for mercy, utterly refusing to go any farther.

"Master, hot. Dangerous."

"Will die."

After all, it had submitted to the red dragon in order to save its life.

Not to lose that life in lava. It did not possess a red dragon's resistance to fire.

"A strange place."

"But with such intense elemental reactions, I should wait until I am fully prepared before exploring it."

"As for its name, I'll call it Bottomless Cave."

After pondering for a moment, Keosius decided to leave it alone for now. No matter what, he was still only a young red dragon.

He was already struggling to establish himself as king in this wilderness, much less face the unknown monsters underground. If a powerful monster like an Eye Tyrant appeared, he was not confident he could defeat it.

"You may leave first."

"Thank you, Master."

The Chimera let out a sigh of relief.

Without even tending to its wounds, it rushed in one breath to the cave where it had hidden its treasure and hurriedly moved the Remaining several hundred Gold Coins.

It even ignored its Wings, which were nearly fractured, forcing itself to carry its gold as it wobbled through the air to the other side, where it found a place to bury the treasures.

"As expected of something with dragon blood."

"It really loves its wealth."

Keosius could not help shaking his head disdainfully.

Thus, Keosius made the outer caverns of Giant's Maw Cave his first lair, temporarily sealing off the inner passageways with rocks.

As for the Chimera, Keosius drove it into a small cave on the other side of the rock wall. As the red dragon's servant and follower, it would guard his home.

In Keosius's view, he had treated it quite well. At least he had left it some savings, had he not? Many modern companies did not offer benefits like that...

"Prestidigitation!"

As Keosius's incantation fell, an area of one cubic foot in a corner of the cave became clean and tidy, and the bloodstains that had begun to stink vanished.

Like a janitor, the red dragon used magic to clean the cave inch by inch, foot by foot.

"That brainless beast really knew how to ruin a place. In cultivation novels, this cave would at least count as some kind of blessed grotto-heaven, yet it turned it into a slaughterhouse," Keosius grumbled as he looked at the blood covering the ground.

Ahead lay another pile of bones. The red dragon was about to clear them out of the cave when he once again spotted a skull with goat horns.

The skull did not appear to have been there long, perhaps only a few weeks. Shreds of flesh still clung to it, with flies buzzing around it.

Judging by its human-like build and broken tailbone, it had been a Tiefling.

Tieflings descended from human bloodlines and were roughly similar to humans in size.

However, their infernal bloodline left clear marks on their appearance. They had horns on their heads, thick tails four to five feet long behind them, entirely solid-colored eyes, and skin in a variety of colors.

These descendants of hellish bloodlines usually gathered in Human Towns. They were not necessarily born evil, but they always saw distrust and prejudice in the eyes of others.

Keosius thought for a moment, recalling a questline from his previous life. "It really is a Tiefling. Could it be one of those from the Sorrow of North Wind Fortress quest?"

Sorrow of North Wind Fortress

[North Wind Fortress, also known as Kovahnaz Fortress, is a city located on the border of the Northern United Kingdom. Storm Highlands lies to its north. It has a population of over thirty thousand, including more than one thousand Tieflings, and is ruled by the noble Earl Lachmann.]

[However, a century ago, the aged Duke Lakeman despaired over the passing of his lifespan and made a pact with an evil necromancer, transforming himself into an immortal vampire long ago. Now he has awakened once more and agreed to offer one thousand lives to the necromancer within ten years, completing a great ascension.]

[Over the following months, many people in the city vanished without explanation, and not even their bodies were found. Brad Lachmann then took the opportunity to convene an assembly and deliver the infamous "Bloody Speech," shifting all blame onto the Tieflings, whom he called Devil's Spawn. He claimed they were sacrificing human lives to devils.]

[Thus began a "righteous" massacre. Enraged people stormed into the city, tied the defenseless Tieflings to Stakes, and burned them alive for consorting with devils, regardless of age or sex.]

[Mezhuolash, a Tiefling Paladin from the city's original defense force, swore to resist to the death. Escaping capture by the duke's soldiers, he led three hundred surviving members of his people north, to the area near Storm Highlands, where they established the Tiefling Refugee Camp known as Dilapidated Home.]

One of the players' main quests in the early game was to cooperate with the Tieflings, expose Duke Lakeman's true face, and kill the brutal vampire.

North Wind Fortress was also the most important "main city."

"Could the Tiefling Refugee Camp be somewhere near this territory? Perhaps through this questline... I can take North Wind Fortress."

This was the players' main city. Once he occupied it, he would practically gain control over the players. Having lived through several versions in his previous life and knowing how important players were, Keosius saw enormous benefits in it.

With that thought, the red dragon summoned the Chimera again and pointed at the remains on the ground. "Where did you encounter these creatures?"

The Chimera moved closer, sniffed with its lion head, and answered, "Horned humans. Not tasty."

Keosius looked at the Chimera's damaged Wings. It seemed incapable of long-distance flight now.

There was no need to rush. Besides, his own forces were not strong enough yet, so he could first bring the surrounding creatures under his command.

"Go back and recover from your wounds first."

"Yes, Master."