Fate and Slumber

"Let us now welcome His Your Majesty Keosius, the sole ruler of the Anzeta Great Wasteland and the Embers of the Burned Emperor, to present the award to the champion!"

Instantly, everyone's attention was focused on the high platform again. The 100,000 people in the Great Arena all looked up at the figure on the throne, and they held their breath.

The man was dressed in a magnificent crimson robe and wore a luxurious crown. His pale golden eyes were incredibly deep, exuding an aura of absolute control.

Compared to the enormous Red Dragon itself, this young nobleman was more likable, and people's respect for him outweighed their fear of him.

Like a god.

This word simultaneously appeared in the minds of hundreds of thousands of people in the venue and left a deep impression on them.

"Your Majesty Keosius!"

"Long live the Emperor!"

"Keosius! A man among men, the epitome of masculinity."

People's eyes became fervent, and they shouted and cheered with all their might.

However, even when shouting, the players' lines are always so "unique," but thankfully the imperial subjects below the stage and Keosius on the throne are already used to it.

Amidst the thunderous cheers, Keosius smiled slightly, rose from his throne, first surveyed the arena, his gaze sweeping over the many eager-looking citizens of the empire, before finally looking at the victor in the center of the arena.

Steel Frenzy, you stood out from 100,000 contestants and proved your bravery and skill to me.

The Embers of the Burned Empire will not mistreat any capable and ambitious citizen, and you—you deserve the Empire's attention.

His voice wasn't loud, but everyone present could hear it clearly; every word was exceptionally clear.

People held their breath, watching the scene with fervor, wishing they were the ones receiving such an honor.

"Congratulations, Dragon Flame Champion."

That's what Keosius said.

Steel Frenzy immediately understood. He quickly knelt down and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. Your kindness will be remembered for the rest of my life."

"My achievements are insignificant, but you are the eternal leader of our country and people." At this point, he even took out a small piece of paper from his pocket, glanced at it, and continued, "For His Your Majesty Keosius's Fighter and students— the Imperial People —it is their duty and obligation to always wholeheartedly support his immortal achievements and to serve the Empire to the death. "Steel Frenzy's tone was exceptionally sincere, even a little nauseating, as if he wanted to write a tens of thousands of words acceptance speech.

This is a rare opportunity to boost the Faction Leader's "favorability," something others would love to have but don't.

The players, Tiefling, Hobgoblin, and ordinary humans in the audience were used to this and even expressed their support.

After all, loyalty is the highest level of "Political Correctness" in the empire, and one has no choice but to accept it.

"Clap clap clap clap clap!"

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted and echoed throughout the spacious hall, lasting for a long time.

On the high platform, Lang Pu stroked his chin, nodding repeatedly with satisfaction, thinking to himself that this Starfallers was truly capable and worthy of cultivation.

Even he hadn't prepared a speech in advance, but he didn't expect that Steel Frenzy would notice such a small detail.

On the throne, Keosius's smile froze on his face, his lips twitching almost imperceptibly.

Good heavens!

"These players are getting more and more fluent in their lines."

While he did need to gather faith, the scene was rather strange, but fortunately, he was a seasoned veteran.

No matter what, you must maintain your dignity!

After hesitating for a moment, Keosius still increased the favorability of [Steel Frenzy] by 15 on the panel, while maintaining his expression.

[Use Faction Leader privileges.][You will grant player [Steel Frenzy] a special faction title: [Dragon Flame Champion]] Keosius raised his arm, pointing it at Steel Frenzy from a distance of over a hundred meters.

"Steel Frenzy, you will receive the unique gift of a champion."

A golden flame flew from his fingertips, streaked across the sky, and finally merged into the body of the Steel Frenzy.

Instantly, rapidly flowing golden flames covered his entire body, gradually condensing into magnificent armor, and then—

"Boom--"

With a loud cracking sound, two fiery wings suddenly unfolded behind him and began to flutter slowly.

The nickname above Steel Frenzy's head also displays the golden title text: [Dragon Flame Champion].

"I'm invincible!"

Steel Frenzy looked down at his hands, which were covered by golden-red armor, then turned to look at the wings on his back, his face full of pride.

The increased combat power is secondary; the most important thing is—this outfit is really cool! Thinking of this, Steel Frenzy raised the Chainsaw Sword in his hand, flapped his fiery wings, and struck a dashing pose for the audience.

"Holy crap?"

"So handsome?"

"The official team is usually so stingy when it comes to rare equipment, but this time they've given us such a great item!"

"I'm really envious! Who's coming with me to tie up Kuang Chao Ge?"

"Anyway, I can't beat them."

The players in the audience were immediately filled with envy and jealousy, and the Overlord of the Kingship Guild was even more furious.

This was the grand spectacle he had always dreamed of! On his throne, Keosius thought to himself that this was something he had created in half an hour, using up the energy of one breath.

If he wanted, he could even mass-produce this kind of fashion, which would be another good way to Leeks.

The special title is a unique privilege granted to Faction Leader, but it requires a certain number of slots and is almost free.

"Master, it's almost time."

Lang Pu, who was standing to the side, leaned over and whispered a reminder.

"I understand. Have you made any arrangements?"

"Of course, Master. We began preparations several months ago after learning about your information."

Our specially trained replacements will take over the positions of the Starfallers to ensure that their disappearance does not have a significant impact on society.

but"

Lang Pu paused for a moment.

"The current empire has only a little over seven million people, and when you add the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, the working-age population is less than five million."

The Starfallers will make up 400,000 of them, and they never tire, making them an extremely high-quality workforce. One of them can do the work of three, and they are crucial to the development of the empire.

Therefore, after the Starfallers departs, the Empire is likely to experience a slowdown in development, economic stagnation, and even a labor shortage crisis.

"Let's try our best to adjust. We'll give them a year to stop those factory owners from rushing to expand production."

"Yes, Master."

Keosius looked at the panel and saw that there were five minutes left before the second server shutdown.

In other words, version 1.0 of "Erezege" [Northern Lands Feng Yun] is about to end.

The players seemed to have realized this as well and started discussing it.

"Holy crap? Look at the system, it looks like the servers are about to shut down!"

"Yes, less than five minutes left."

"I was so engrossed in the game that I didn't even notice that the [Northern Lands Feng Yun] version was ending in five minutes!"

What will the next version be like?

"You guys are talking about when that time will be, how much time will have passed in the game? Won't all your assets be gone when you come back?"

"I don't know. No matter how times change, I will always be His Your Majesty Keosius's loyal servant!"

Singo hung his head, looking dejected and listless. "Next time, I definitely won't lose to Steel Frenzy."

Keosius watched the numbers on the panel jump around and muttered, "There really isn't much time left."

Amidst the intense attention of the crowd, Keosius soared into the air, transforming into his true form as a Red Dragon high above the venue, his massive figure appearing in the sky above the hall.

That is...

"It is His Your Majesty Keosius in his true form!"

Red Dragon, over forty meters long, spread its broad wings, almost obscuring the sun, casting a huge shadow that enveloped thousands of people.

Under the sunlight, the crimson scales gleamed, almost blindingly so.

Even knowing that it was their own Faction Leader, the dragon's might that was unintentionally emanating from him still made everyone feel suffocated—it was a fear of a powerful being that came from the depths of their souls.

Keosius looked down at the player with his golden vertical pupils, slowly flapped his wings, and spoke in a booming voice.

"When you return, chaos and calamity will once again descend upon the land. Be prepared to face it all. As long as you fight for the Empire, the gates of Anzeta will always be open to you."

So, Starfallers, see you next time.

He blinked.

The players in the audience immediately erupted in a cacophony of discussion that filled the venue.

"Holy crap? The boss knows we're shutting down the servers?"

"You know how intelligent the NPCs in Erezege are. I've been outsmarted before. They must have realized we were missing for so long last time."

Is this a preview of the Main Storyline?

"The servers aren't even shut down yet, and I'm already looking forward to the next time they open."

"Hey, official developers, hurry up and update! I feel like there are ants crawling on my heart if I can't play Erezege for a day."

"The countdown has begun!"

Someone exclaimed.

All that could be seen was the countdown on the screen, ticking away second by second.

"10, 9, 8"

"3, 2, 1"

0.

The number is reset to zero.

Without any warning, the noise in the venue came to an abrupt halt in that instant.

Whether it was the triumphant Iron Maniac, the dejected Singo, Steamed Bun Mantou filming footage, or the tens of thousands of ordinary players discussing it enthusiastically, they all turned into tiny particles of light at that specific moment and then disappeared without leaving a trace.

The once crowded auditorium is now empty, with large vacant seats in the venue that can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.

On the Istaria City, the player who was directing the workers in construction has disappeared, leaving behind only design blueprints.

Where did the foreman go?

Inside the Church of the Machine God Research Institute, the mechanical monk who was conducting an experiment in front of a large instrument disappeared, while the native assistant next to him continued to record data, seemingly having expected this.

"The results of this experiment are very consistent, it's a pity that my supervisor has temporarily left."

Inside the Imperial Propaganda Building, the players were no longer seen diligently writing in front of the mountains of manuscripts.

Several Bard approached with sorrowful expressions, picked up the unfinished manuscript from the ground, and sighed deeply.

"They left behind seven months' worth of work, seven months!"

Inside the northern ruins, the Deinonychus felt its food, which it had just swallowed whole and hadn't had time to digest with its acid, suddenly disappear. Puzzled, it scratched its head with its long, sharp claws.

"Huh?"

Keosius flapped his wings, looked down at the somewhat empty stands, and then took to the air.

"It's finally over."

In his memory, at this time in his previous life, the players had just helped the the North kingdoms defeat the demons and celebrated all night with battlefield heroes such as Earl Jacob and Duke Leo.

Meanwhile, many people in the the North still live under the corrupt rule of the Northern Nobles, enduring cold and hunger, and suffering the same hardships their ancestors had endured for thousands of years.

Now, the world's trajectory has been completely altered. The North kingdoms have been utterly destroyed, and a new empire is rising by devouring their remains. Even the demons have been eliminated by Keosius in advance and have had to retreat temporarily.

However, the Anzeta Great Wasteland is ultimately a remote region, and its impact on the situation on the continent is extremely limited.

Selling arms, controlling the Caspar Region, and balancing the power of the three nations are the limits that the Empire can achieve.

When the Three Emperors' War reaches a stalemate, that will be the best time for the Embers of the Burned Empire to step onto the grand stage of Fei An Suo in a brand new guise.

"It'll be soon, very soon."

The Red Dragon flapped its wings, creating a powerful hurricane, and continued to climb upwards, seemingly in no hurry.

The people of Istaria City looked up at the dragon soaring higher and higher, clasped their hands in prayer, and even prostrated themselves in worship.

Those were the founders of the empire, their emperors, their—gods.

Keosius flew higher and higher, and had already reached above the clouds.

The Red Dragon flapped its wings, and the powerful hurricane easily dispersed the thick clouds, causing the clouds to billow and revealing the earth in its entirety.

Istaria appeared as a narrow, small place in his field of vision, from the snow-covered Storm Highlands to the north, the Matra Great Farmlands, to the Okaglar Plain to the south, and even the distant Anstica Mountains. It had been a long time since Keosius had looked down upon the land so closely.

When he first looked down upon this land, he was a Wyrmling, struggling to make ends meet and living in constant fear, worrying about his future.

Now, more than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye, and he has built his own empire, becoming the sole master of this Anzeta Great Wasteland and the renowned "Red Emperor" of the continent.

Keosius gazed at the land for a long time, then stretched out his enormous claws as if to grasp it in his palm.

"Fate is not a fixed, unchangeable predetermined path."

"It can also be influenced by me, or even controlled."

"Keosius said to himself."

For some reason, he hated fatalism and enjoyed the feeling of changing everything.

Three days later, on the outskirts of North Wind Fortress.

"Roar--"

The Red Dragon hovered above the Iron Dragon Wing Palace, flapped its wings, and let out a long roar, spreading the power of imperial authority.

The ground trembled continuously, making a rumbling sound, and the mountain peaks suddenly rose up, becoming even larger and more majestic.

The caves in the mountains have become more spacious, with hot lava flowing inside and steam rising from them, making them more suitable for dragons to live in.

Then, the Red Dragon entered the cave, coiled up in the surrounding lava, and slowly closed his eyes—he was about to begin his third slumber.

This time, Keosius had even greater control. The terrifying energy was contained within his mountain-like dragon body, flowing and circulating constantly with the rise and fall of his breath.

"It is your honor to serve His Majesty!"

"How many times has your spell model gone wrong? If it malfunctions again, don't bother coming back!"

Outside the cave, Lang Pu was leading hundreds of mages in setting up protective spells, occasionally bursting into curses.

However, Keosius now has complete control over his surroundings and possesses almost godlike authority, so these protective measures are more symbolic than practical.

As Lang Pu stared at the sealed-off cave entrance, for some reason, the scene of his first encounter with the Red Dragon more than a decade ago flashed through his mind.

Back then, he was just a Ogre with food on his mind. Compared to other Ogre, Lang Pu seemed to be no different except for being a little smarter.

But the appearance of the Red Dragon gave his life a new meaning, making him realize how vast the world was and that the wasteland was not the whole world.

Thinking of this, Lang Pu gripped his staff tightly, bowed in that direction, and whispered, "Master."

"I promise you that when you wake up, you will see a more powerful empire."