Keosius's Threat

In the short span of a few months since the Embers of the Burned Empire invaded the south, the situation in the north of the Feanso Continent Feng Yun, leaving countless people astonished and incredulous.

First, the North Aisel Duchy was occupied by the Empire, then the High Mountain Dwarf Kingdom, which had been passed down for thousands of years, was destroyed by the Empire, and finally even the orcs of the Ugo Great Prairie were slaughtered by the Empire.

After the Ugo Great Prairie was incorporated into its territory, the Embers of the Burned Empire had almost completely controlled the northern part of Fei An Suo —that is, the land north of the Radiant Mountain Range. Only the small countries and the Thrace Kingdom were left trembling under the empire's terrifying power, unable to bear the burden.

In the Empire's conquests, the Divine Descendant Duke of Fadlan died by Self-Destruction, the master of the Silver Heaven fell from the sky, and the incarnation of a god was killed. Each battle caused the sky to crack and the earth to collapse, enough to shake the entire Material Plane, but there was only one victor in each battle— the Embers of the Burned Emperor, Keosius.

The name Keosius appeared repeatedly in secret letters from various countries and powerful forces, and in their Magic Image, causing many kings and generals to tremble with fear and break out in a cold sweat.

Of course, Keosius's name also appeared in newspapers in various countries, in the songs of Bard, and in the horror stories that parents in the South used to frighten their children.

History always repeats itself. In the eyes of the people throughout Fei An Suo, the Red Dragon has become a monster that does all kinds of evil, a cruel tyrant, and a slave owner who controls the north.

In the propaganda of various countries, the Red Dragon cruelly enslaves the people of the north, and the cunning and treacherous Half-Dragon and Kobold overseers whip the humans there, forcing them to forge guns in the cold wind. Even half-grown children are dragged into the army to become cannon fodder in the empire's conquests.

In the writings of those Bard, the conquest of the Embers of the Burned Empire was portrayed as even more cruel and terrifying, with a touch of bloody grotesqueness.

It is said that every time the soldiers with the blood of evil dragons conquered a place, they would select a thousand tender children, cruelly devour them, and sacrifice their pure souls to the emperor—this is said to be the secret to the invincible imperial army and the Red Dragon Emperor's ability to Contend Against the gods.

There are also rumors that the reason why the weapons sold by the Empire are so cheap yet so powerful is because the brutal Imperial People imprisoned the souls of human craftsmen in the gun barrels, and every whistle of gunfire was a tragic cry of innocent souls.

Many righteous people have stepped forward, calling on all forces to stop buying weapons from the Empire, and sharply pointing out that every rifle purchased is funding the Embers of the Burned Empire, making them even more unscrupulous in their aggression.

Unfortunately, the countries turned a deaf ear, already mired in an arms race. Every time the empire upgraded its equipment, they would rush to buy it, otherwise they would be at a disadvantage in the next war.

The Wilson Duchy is a small country near the Black Rock Mountains. Its territory is mostly mountainous and hilly, hence it is also known as the "Country of Hills".

Seventy years ago, the legendary paladin Seyder Wilson pulled the sword from the stone and slew an evil giant over thirty meters tall. As a result, he was granted the title of Grand Duke by the Emperor of Fadland, and the city was named Stone Sword City.

However, times have changed, and the Duke of Wilson had long since died in the war, and the Sword in the Stone had disappeared without a trace.

The duchy's geographical location is extremely awkward. To its south lies the Thrace Kingdom, and to its north, the ever-watchful Embers of the Burned Empire. Caught between these two behemoths, it is always at risk of being crushed.

At this time, in the Wilson Duchy, the wind howled through Stone Sword City, and only the whistling of the wind and the crisp footsteps of guards patrolling the streets could be heard. Every household had its doors and windows tightly shut.

In a stone house in a secluded corner of the city, a middle-aged man and a woman sat facing each other, their faces filled with exhaustion and worry. News of the Embers of the Burned Empire's conquest of North Aisel and its destruction of the High Mountain Kingdom had already spread throughout the city.

The Wilson Duchy, where they lived, was one of the few remaining independent states in the north.

Leien sighed deeply, his rough thumb rubbing the table repeatedly. "Ailin, how long do you think this will last?"

The woman put down her needlework, shook her head, and the kerosene lamp illuminated the fine lines on her face with exceptional clarity. "I had no idea. Those Noble Lord are quite afraid, and they dare not let us leave the city."

Leien looked out the window, his eyes filled with deep fear. "It's said that the army of the Embers of the Burned Empire kills a thousand children every time they conquer a place. I'm scared."

"Ah!" The daughter, who had just come out of the cellar, cried out in surprise. Her face was pale, and her thin, sallow body, which was thin due to malnutrition, trembled slightly. She was so frightened that she almost fainted.

"Ellie!" The woman stood up anxiously, wrapped the girl in a blanket, and hugged her tightly with a look of heartache. She scolded, "I told you not to talk about this at home! Ellie would have heard it already!"

The man looked at his daughter, who had fainted from fright, his face grim. "But... keeping this a secret isn't a solution. One day, those brutal Imperial People will conquer this city."

The woman lamented, "But what can we do? Thrace's borders are heavily fortified, and the rest of the country has been occupied by the Embers of the Burned Empire."

The man looked out the window, his gaze hardening, and his throat bobbed. "Stone Sword City is now a giant prison. We must escape—for our Ellie."

Such conversations occurred countless times within Stone Sword City. The city's inhabitants were terrified of the Embers of the Burned Empire and desperately wanted to flee to the Thrace Kingdom in the south.

Halfway up the mountain north of Stone Sword City, a magnificent fortress was shrouded in the oppressive atmosphere before a storm. It was the mansion of the Wilson Family, a castle named after their ancestor— Side Fort.

The heavy oak door creaked and groaned in the cold wind, the emblem of the Sword in the Stone on the gilded chair back faded in the candlelight, and in the hall of Side Fort, the current Duke, Ily Wilson, sat at the end of the long table, his hands clasped to his chin, his face solemn.

"My lord, the signal fire has been lit at the northern watchtower." The captain of the guard knelt on the carpet, his voice cut off by the crackling resin in the fireplace. "Our sentries have spotted the trail of the Embers of the Burned Empire's Wyvern Knight."

"They've come after all, those damned Imperial People!" Ily gritted his teeth, but his trembling fingers betrayed the deep fear in his heart.

He asked anxiously, "Where are the people of the Thrace Kingdom? His Majesty Wilhelm promised to send troops to support us!"

The captain of the guard shook his head solemnly. "Our messengers have all been stopped outside the border, my lord. I think His Majesty Wilhelm has completely given up on us. He doesn't want to offend the Embers of the Burned Empire because of us."

"How... how could this be?"

Ily's face was deathly pale. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing the family ring on his hand with his fingers, and murmured, "His Majesty Wilhelm is the son of the Sun Emperor, a king with Divine Blood flowing through his veins. How could he be afraid of a Red Dragon?"

The old steward, with his gray hair, who was standing beside the Duke, sighed and explained, "The Three Great Kingdoms are still at war. If we offend the Embers of the Burned Empire, the Thrace Kingdom will have to face pressure from both the north and the south at the same time. That stingy and shrewd His Majesty will not do that."

Moreover, the Embers of the Burned Emperor —no, that evil dragon from the north—has already proven his terrifying power in a series of wars of conquest; no one in the Material Plane dares to claim they can defeat him.

Hearing this, Ily was already drenched in sweat and almost collapsed in his seat. He asked weakly, "Then what should we do?"

The steward paused for a moment before replying, "Submit to that Red Dragon, show submission to the Embers of the Burned Empire. Or..."

The captain of the guard picked up where he left off, and said in a deep voice, "Fight to the death, and live and die with Stone Sword City and the Wilson Duchy."

"No!" Ily suddenly stood up and turned to look at the portrait on the wall, which was of his grandfather, the founder of the principality— Side Wilson.

The portrait depicts a middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed mustache, clad in armor, wielding an ancient greatsword, looking spirited and imposing.

But now, the Sword in the Stone that symbolized the family's glory has disappeared, and Ily is just an ordinary, down-on-his-luck nobleman, far inferior to his powerful ancestor.

Thinking of this, Ily mustered his courage and puffed out his chest, saying, "This, this is the legacy left to me by my grandfather. Our Wilson Family has been a renowned family of heroes since we slew the giants. How can we submit to a dragon!"

After a long silence, the head guard asked in a deep voice, "Your Grace, are you willing to die for the honor of your family?"

Ily wanted to answer "yes," but the thought of being torn apart by the dragon's claws and burned by flames made him tremble and his throat quiver. The words that were on the tip of his tongue just wouldn't come out.

He retorted in a low voice, "Can't we just stay alive and defend Stone Sword City?"

The butler sighed and said with a wry smile, "Even the Angel Divine Descendant of Fadlan could not withstand the offensive of the Embers of the Burned Empire, so how could we possibly do it? Not to mention that Red Dragon. Even if Lord Seid were to be resurrected, he would still be unable to defeat it."

He and the captain of the guard had watched Duke Ily grow up, and they knew his character very well—weak, cowardly, afraid of death, yet he liked to put on a brave face in order not to lose face.

Sure enough, Ily pointed somewhat irritably at the door and asked, "Is that Red Dragon really that scary? We're the Wilson Family!"

"Whoosh—"

Suddenly, a strong wind arose, blowing open the heavy oak door. The chandeliers in the hall swayed and made a series of crisp sounds, and the glasses on the long table fell and shattered one after another.

Ily, who had just been furious, was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, at a loss for what to do, and could only hide behind the captain of the guard.

"Hello everyone—"

A thunderous sound echoed above Stone Sword City; just hearing that sound was enough to make countless people tremble.

Ily cautiously raised his head and peered through the crack in the door, only to find that the sky had suddenly darkened.

" By On Amanata, is that... that is the Embers of the Burned Emperor?"

The duke was deathly pale and slumped to the ground, his fighting spirit completely shattered, replaced by endless fear.

He didn't last more than a few seconds before his eyes rolled back and he fainted, his lower body becoming wet.

A colossal red dragon appeared in the sky, its body larger and more magnificent than mountains. Its Dragon Wing blotted out the sky, obscuring the sun's rays and enveloping the entire city.

"O gods!"

"That's... that's the Embers of the Burned Emperor! He's here!"

"Damn it—he'll burn this city to ashes! How can there be such a dragon!"

The people in the city were in a panic, with wails, cries and screams filling the air. The Wilson Family guards were unable to maintain order, and even they themselves were terrified.

What a magnificent dragon it was!

Before today, they could never have imagined that a giant dragon could cover the entire city with its wings! They could not even imagine how many people that gaping maw, big enough to swallow the tallest tower in the city, could swallow, or how terrifying the dragon flames it could spew.

The story of the Red Dragon eating a thousand children wherever it went—it doesn't seem to be a fabrication.

Leien and Ailin hugged each other tightly, wrapping their trembling, crying daughter in their arms. Their voices trembled as they said, "Ellie, don't be afraid. We won't let that thing in the sky eat you, we absolutely won't."

The Red Dragon looked down at the people in the city from its high position, its vertical pupils, like golden pools, revealing a coldness. It flapped its wings and slowly spoke.

"I believe you should know me. I am the emperor of the Embers of the Burned Empire, the ruler of the Anzeta Great Wasteland, the North Aisel Plains, and the Ugo Prairie, and the master of the northern part of the Feanso Continent."

Today, I am here to inform you that the land beneath your feet will be incorporated into the Embers of the Burned Empire, and you—will become glorious Imperial Citizen.

And it wasn't just Stone Sword City; the Red Dragon's silhouette appeared in the skies above more than a dozen small countries and hundreds of cities in North of Feian Suo, all of which had received the Embers of the Burned Empire's "final ultimatum."

Moreover, this was not merely a threat; the Empire's Red Scale Conqueror and Wyvern Legion had already assembled and were flying in droves to various cities in the north, ready to crush any resistance.

"Your Grace, are you alright?"

The head guard stepped forward and asked with concern.

Ily opened his eyes groggily, the scene that had just terrified him so much that he fainted seemed to reappear before his eyes, and he thought of that terrifying Red Dragon.

He instinctively grabbed the captain of the guard's leg, crying out, "I absolutely cannot let that Red Dragon get near me! It's a monster!"

The head guard's lips twitched slightly as he said, "Sir, Embers of the Burned Emperor has left. He issued us an ultimatum, demanding our unconditional surrender. I wonder if you..."

"I surrender! I surrender! That guy is too terrifying; no ordinary person can defeat him!" Ily said anxiously.

"Yes, sir."

Thinking of the Duke's bravery and seeing his disappointing descendants, the butler behind him sighed, but also felt a sense of relief.