Red meteors pierced the sky and fell toward the mountains with a low whistling sound.
The wind pressure pressed the trees along the way almost to the ground. When the smoke and dust dispersed, the dark red giant claws slowly released, and a figure staggered and rolled down.
Torfin Chapman, the ruler of the Theo Kingdom, is in a state of disarray at the moment.
He was dizzy, and there was no trace of blood on his face. The royal robe was stained with dust and scratches from gravel, and the gold embroidery looked dull in the sun.
While in the dragon's claws, the human king recalled in a trance the scene of teasing ants in the palace garden when he was young.
At that time, he was squatting beside the stone path, flicking the ants with branches, watching them running around in panic.
Only this time, the ant became himself.
Thorifen slumped down and gasped for air.
He tried to stand up, but his legs were weak, so he had to hold the ground with trembling hands. A gust of mountain wind roared, rolling up fine sand and stones and hitting his face, making him shiver and wake him up a little.
"You... what do you want to do..."
The king plucked up the courage, looked up at the giant dragon as tall as a mountain, and stammered this question.
Hearing this, Red Iron Dragon just glanced at him with lowered eyes.
His eyes didn't stop when he glanced at the human king, just like looking at a stone or a dead tree.
Then, he withdrew his gaze nonchalantly and spread his wings suddenly.
Red Iron Dragon shot straight into the sky and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a trail of clouds that gradually dissipated.
Thorifan stared blankly at the dragon going away, his mind going blank.
Am I dreaming? He was still in a daze, thinking to himself.
He pinched his arm, pain clearly felt.
Phew!
Another strong wind hit, blowing Torifon back to reality.
He looked around and found that he was on the top of an unknown mountain.
The location here is extremely high, and you can see the mountains in the distance looming in the sea of clouds.
The wind was biting, and the surrounding area was surrounded by rugged and steep rocks, with a few clumps of wild grass growing tenaciously between the rock crevices.
He struggled to stand up, carefully walked to the edge and looked down.
The bottomless sight made him tremble all over, his stomach tightened, and he almost collapsed to the ground again. The cliff was almost vertical, the rock wall was smooth, and there were occasional protruding rocks, but they could not be used as a fulcrum for climbing.
Red Emperor...
Does this terrifying dragon want to leave me here to die?
He thought to himself, and a feeling of despair began to spread in his heart.
As a king, he has experienced a lot, but he has never faced the absolute power gap like this.
In front of the unruly and arrogant Red Emperor, all his strategies, army, and wealth are meaningless.
Just then, the sky darkened.
A shadow fell over Thorifon.
He subconsciously looked up and saw the giant dragon hovering in the sky.
That was not Red Emperor, but a giant black dragon with a calming pressure.
That is a Iron Dragon. It is much smaller than Red Emperor, but its size is still suffocating.
Its scales are jet black and shiny, glowing like metal in the sunlight, and its muscle lines are as clear as hundred-forged fine steel, and each piece contains terrifying power.
Torfin's heart clenched again.
He recognized this dragon.
The second existence of the Aura Kingdom, Iron Prince, the blood brother of Red Emperor, Sorog·Ignas.
Iron Dragon landed slowly, its broad wings stirred the airflow, kicked up the dust on the ground, and looked down at the tiny king.
Torfin's heart was in his throat.
He tried hard to stand up and maintain his dignity as the king of a country, but his weak legs forced him to half-kneel and look up at the huge creature in front of him.
This posture made him feel humiliated, but it was difficult to change.
"Sorog...Ignas..."
Torfin's voice was still trembling, but he forced himself to finish the sentence: "You... do you know what you have done? Kidnapped a king?!"
He took a deep breath and said, "It's ridiculous! It's simply lawless."
"This is trampling on the bottom line of all countries! It is a declaration of war on Lothern New Federation! Let me go back immediately, otherwise..."
"How else?"
Iron Dragon's voice was as low as thunder, making the human king's ears almost ring, and also interrupted his stern threats.
Sorog asked with great interest, his huge head slightly tilted to one side. "Lothern will go to war for you? Or can your Theo, Legendary Realm, protect you?"
The king's face froze.
After a few seconds of silence, he said, "I want to talk to Garos·Ignas, and talk to the real king of Aura."
This hopes to negotiate directly with the supreme ruler to seek a change.
Hearing this, Iron Dragon couldn't help but raise his huge head, and his laughter echoed in the clouds.
"Haha, little human being, who do you think you are?"
Iron Dragon's laughter gradually subsided, but his eyes became sharper. "Are you telling a joke? If so, I must admit that I was amused by you."
Thorifon's face was as pale as paper.
He gritted his teeth and asked, "Dragon, what exactly do you want to do?"
Hearing the human's words, Iron Dragon's laughter suddenly subsided, and his eyes turned into indifferent vertical pupils.
He lowered his head slightly, and the huge shadow swallowed the king completely.
"Torfin·Chapman."
Iron Dragon directly called out his name and said in a straight voice, "You violated <Nolton Treaty>."
"Tariff barriers, arms expansion, the secret alliance with Lothern... each of them is provoking Aura's bottom line."
"That's... that's a necessary adjustment under the new situation of the countries." Torfin argued, "The war is over. Now is the era of peace. We can negotiate."
Iron Dragon grinned, revealing sharp fangs, flashing with cold light.
"Capturing you alive from Royal Court is our dragon's way of negotiating."
Torfin's heart sank.
"You... what do you want? Kill me?"
Torfin said, "That will only make the people of Theo even more angry and give Lothern every reason to unite all kingdoms to attack you."
Iron Dragon leaned forward, and the pressure was even greater.
"Kill you? You could say."
"We have decided to impose the severest punishment on the Theo Kingdom's breach of contract."
"First, execute the source of the breach of contract, which is you, King Torfin Chapman of Theo, as a warning to others. Then, the army marches on the border, tramples Theo, burns this kingdom that knows no life and death, and completely wipes it from the map."
"No! You can't!"
Torfin screamed, "This will cause a full-scale war! Lothern will not sit idly by! The entire plain kingdom will..."
At this moment, a low growl filled with impatience came from the other side.
"Insect, what are you chirping at?"
Along with the burning breath, a red figure larger and stronger than Iron Dragon landed, and the surrounding temperature suddenly rose.
Thorifan also recognized this dragon.
Fire Princess of Aura, another blood relative of Red Emperor, Red Dragon, Samantha·Ignas.
Her figure is more oppressive than Sorog, her length is at least one-fifth longer than Iron Dragon, and her shoulder height is also higher.
She wore an extremely heavy armor, which seemed to be directly embedded on her body and integrated with the scales. Even her chin was wrapped in steel. The exposed bright red dragon scales shone in the sun, like burning coals. The dragon's snout was slightly open, revealing interlaced fangs. A wisp of sparks spattered out with her breath and landed on the rocks with a sizzling sound.
The red dragon looked down at Torfin, his eyes flashing with undisguised violence and appetite.
"Sorog, what nonsense are you talking to this little bug that violates the treaty?"
Samantha stretched out his claws and pinched Torfin who was trying to argue.
The red dragon raised the human king to his eyes and looked at it. His vertical pupils shrank into a thin line. "I haven't tasted the taste of a human king. You are pampered and the meat should be relatively tender."
As she spoke, she stretched out her long scarlet tongue and licked her chin.
Then she really opened her huge mouth full of fangs and threw the human king directly into her mouth.
"No!!!"
Torfin let out a death scream, and his soul was gone.
Under the terrifying dragon's kiss and fangs, all the king's dignity and diplomatic rhetoric were crushed to pieces, leaving only the most primitive fear.
He smelled the smell of sulfur and lava, and felt the heat rushing toward his face.
He could even imagine himself being chewed to pieces.
Immediately afterwards, the dragon's kiss closed.
The king's figure and voice disappeared.
Dark.
scorching hot.
A suffocating sense of oppression.
Thorifon thought he was dead.
"Samantha, wait a moment."
The voice of Iron Dragon sounded in time, as if coming from a very far away place.
The red dragon paused and glanced at Iron Dragon dissatisfied, but in the end, she opened the dragon's kiss and spit out the human king.
Torfin collapsed on the ground, trembling all over.
His body was covered in sticky saliva, and the liquid had a pungent smell of sulfur, corroding his royal robes and leaving a burning stinging sensation on his skin.
He coughed violently, and every breath brought burning pain.
At that moment, he thought he was being eaten, and some pictures flashed through his mind quickly.
The serious expression on his father's face as he taught him how to govern the country; the glory at the coronation ceremony; the game during negotiations with the Lothern envoy; the dream of reviving Theo; and the scene of overlooking the capital from the balcony of the palace on an ordinary afternoon...
These ordinary memories become extremely clear at the moment of death.
Iron Dragon looked at the inhuman king on the ground and said slowly, "Torfin, you were brought here today, don't you understand?"
He paused, waiting for the king to regain some consciousness, and then continued to speak.
"We, Aura, are determined to start a war ourselves and let the nations burn."
"You, and Theo, are the first sacrifice."
Torfin's brain is blank.
War... sacrifice... these words buzzed in his mind, hammering at his consciousness.
He thought of the past, how Theo struggled to rebuild in the shadow of defeat, and he remembered his vow when he succeeded to the throne, to let Theo rise again and no longer be at the mercy of any force.
And now...
"The king deserves a somewhat decent death after all, rather than being eaten alive."
Iron Dragon's huge head was slightly lowered, close to the limp king.
Thorifan could almost see himself reflected in Iron Dragon's pupils.
Embarrassment, fear, and insignificance.
"We will build a high enough gallows in the square of Crimson Flame Royal City and hang you up with ropes soaked in beast oil."
Sorog calmly described. "You are much stronger than ordinary people, so you will not be hanged immediately."
"The rope will slowly tighten. You can struggle for a while, but it will not be able to hold on for too long. Envoys from various kingdoms may gather in the square, and they will witness with their own eyes the fate of the defaulters."
"After you die, we will attack Theo."
"We will kill those who resist and build obelisks with their heads; we will set your kingdom on fire with Dragon Breath and turn it into dust; your family, your ministers, and all those loyal to you will be wiped out."
"Eventually, the name Theo will be erased from history."
Iron Dragon said it as if he was describing the future that was destined to happen.
And quietly, a gleam of Psionic Energy light lit up in his eyes, making his words more penetrating and powerful, allowing the listeners to involuntarily imagine the scene he described.
"No... don't..."
Torfin's pupils were a little dilated and he murmured in a low voice.
He could see that scene, could feel the pain of the rope cutting into his neck, could hear the noise of the crowd, could imagine his body shaking in the wind... and then Theo, the burning capital, the fleeing people, the piles of heads...
His description of Iron Dragon seems to be immersive.
Just when he was on the verge of mental collapse, Iron Dragon's voice sounded again.
"However, our Majesty is kind-hearted and does not like meaningless killings."
"Theo... There is another option."
It was as if the darkness and blood-fire in his eyes suddenly faded away, and wisps of light appeared. Torfin suddenly raised his head.
He asked hurriedly, "What?"
Iron Dragon said in a low voice, word by word. "Theo who turned a rumor into reality and became Aura."
After a pause, he continued, "Abolish all covenants with Lothern and be loyal to Aura."
"At that time, Theo will become a vassal of Aura, and you, Torfin Chapman, can survive and continue to manage Theo, of course, in Aura Under the will of E, your family can be preserved and your throne can be passed down, but from now on, every major decision of Theo needs to be approved by Crimson Flame Royal City."
"It's too much trouble!"
The red dragon Samantha swung its tail impatiently, causing gravel to fly everywhere. "Eat this bug directly, and then flatten Theo. How easy! Let Garos take us and burn it all the way!"
She moved closer to Torifon and breathed on his face. "Human, do you know what I like most? It's watching everything turn to ashes in flames."
"The sight... was beautiful."
"Samantha, be patient."
Iron Dragon looked at his blood relatives and said in a calm tone, "Garos prefers conquest rather than destruction. Dead lands cannot produce food, and cities reduced to ashes cannot provide tax revenue. Give the human king some time and let him... think clearly."
After saying that, he looked back at Torfin, whose eyes were constantly changing.
"Think it over here."
Sorog pointed with his paw at the surrounding steep cliffs. "You have enough time to think. The nights here will be very cold, and you will feel hungry and thirsty, but this is all part of thinking."
"I'll come back here in three days and give me your answer."
"As a sacrifice, end your life on the gallows, and your kingdom will be reduced to ashes; or as a vassal, so that your bloodline and throne can continue."
Next to him, the red dragon tilted his head and looked at the king.
"Hey, human, I hope you are brave enough to choose to die."
Samantha said, "When the time comes, you will be able to gain my appreciation and even admiration. Although that will not change your fate of being eaten, I will also be able to get what I want and have a good meal."
"What a happy ending, isn't it?"
After the two giant dragons finished speaking, they flapped their wings one after another, gradually rose up, and disappeared into the high sky.
On the top of the mountain, only the howling cold wind and the human king with a struggling expression were left.
Torfin sat slumped on the rock and did not move for a long time.
The cold began to gnaw at his body, but he could barely feel it.
He struggled to climb to the edge and looked down the cliff. The bottomless Abyss looked even darker in the dusk.
Jump down... it's all over.
No more struggle, no more humiliation, no more hard choices.
By then, Theo will have a new king.
He will resist Aura, ask for help from Lothern, there will be a war... or, he will surrender directly.
On the other side, between the mountains.
The two giant dragons folded their wings one after another and landed next to another blood relative.
At this time, Red Iron Dragon was holding a large piece of rock with one claw and bringing it to his mouth.
A large piece of the mountain not far in front of him was already empty, leaving a clear depression on the rock wall. From the look of him, it was obvious that he had eaten it.
"Garos, what are you doing?"
The red dragon Samantha tasted the stone that Garos was chewing, and immediately spit it out with disgust on his face.
"It's really dirt. It's not a treasure that looks like dirt."
"It's really dry and unpleasant, and it reminds me of some bad memories."
She stared at Red Iron Dragon with some confusion. "It's okay to drink Black Oil. I know you can get energy from it, but why are you chewing dirt now?"
"If outsiders knew about it, they would think that we Dragons of Aura are so poor that we cannot afford normal food, and even the emperor can only chew dirt."
Red Iron Dragon paused eating.
"This is one of my new ways to exercise."
He said, "I'm trying to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and improve it. Forget it, I can't tell you clearly. Theo How is the situation over there with the King?"
The red dragon immediately shook his head, showing a sullen expression.
She even stood up on her hind legs and made the famous gesture with her front paws, imitating the frightened look of the human king.
"You didn't see the way that human looked when he was scared by me. It was so interesting."
"When I caught him, he was shaking all over, like a frightened rabbit..."
She laughed so hard that her tail flapped on the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
"Haha, my performance was flawless. He probably thought I was a mindless, crazy and violent ordinary red dragon. He wanted to eat me directly. Hey, he didn't even think about it. The little meat he had was not enough for me to stuff between my teeth. What a stupid human being."
"Do you think so? Sorog, if this human being surrenders, this dragon will be indispensable."
Under the gaze of the red dragon, Iron Dragon Sorog nodded slowly.
He has returned to his usual calm posture, with his wings folded neatly behind his back, like two huge shields.
"Well, that's almost true. Even I can't tell the truth from the fake."
He said, with a hint of ridicule in his voice.
Samantha was stunned for a second, and then his eyes widened. "Wait, what do you mean? What do you mean by acting in true colors? You mean that I am..."
"Okay."
Garos interrupted a possible quarrel.
Red Iron Dragon turned to Sorog, his eyes becoming serious. "Theo How did the king react?"
Iron Dragon restrained his smile and answered seriously, "Fearful and struggling, but he has not collapsed yet. He is still weighing it. This is a good thing, which means that he will at least seriously consider the choice we gave. If he gives in immediately, it will be untrustworthy."
He paused and continued, "However, King Theo may not necessarily agree to the choice I gave."
"If he is strong enough, he will jump directly from the top of the mountain, or simply choose to commit suicide. Some humans value dignity more than life, especially those rulers."
Garos's expression has not changed.
"It doesn't matter."
He said, "There are many people in Theo Royal House. Even if they know they are puppet kings, there are still people who are eager to become puppet kings."
Sorog nodded. "Conquering Theo is actually not difficult for us, or it is very simple."
"Under the influence of our public opinion and mouthpiece over the years, there are actually many people close to us among Theo."
He grinned, showing sharp teeth.
"Sometimes we don't even need our mouthpieces to add fuel to the flames. Theo people will naturally speak for us."
"It seems that as long as they get close to us, they can wash away their shame as a defeated country, let them feel a sense of superiority in front of their compatriots, and be able to live with their chests and heads held high."
"In addition, our scouts sent news that after the king was captured alive, some Theo people even paraded in the capital to celebrate."
"They angrily scolded their king and warriors for being too weak, praised the greatness and bravery of Aura Emperor, and wanted to join us eagerly. It's really... so stupid."
For this kind of people, Iron Dragon gave a clear evaluation.
They will indeed make it easier for Aura to rule, but this does not mean that they will be taken seriously by Aura.
On the contrary, Aura's People, who is proud of his own kingdom, will only look down on such people in his heart. Those who betray their own ethnic group will eventually be spurned by everyone, whether they are enemies or allies.
Garos listened in silence. It wasn't until Sorog finished speaking that he spoke slowly.
"Theo is not important, it is just an introduction."
"Other kingdoms, especially Lothern, are our real obstacles, so don't take them lightly."
He is in no rush to occupy Theo until the dust settles.
On the surface, Theo is just a piece of meat, but if it really goes to occupy...Lain Kingdom's end is right in front of us. Although Aura will not completely repeat its mistakes, it will definitely be implicated and affected.
Sorog nodded with deep understanding.
"Although Lothern alone is difficult to deal with, it is not a big threat."
As he spoke, his tone became solemn. "But we are the biggest aliens among the nations. Human kingdoms can conquer each other and form alliances and betrayal, but facing us..."
"I'm afraid that Lothern can really unite all countries and unite as one to attack us."
"If so... we can only give up here, which also means we will suffer huge losses."
Garos nodded slowly. "You are right, Lothern has his New Federation, which is nominally for peace and development."
He paused, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes. "And Aura will also have allies that belong to us. Strength will absorb Gravity's strength, and fear will drive unity. Not all kingdoms are willing to crawl under Lothern."
The red dragon Samantha's eyes lit up and he flapped his wings excitedly.
"Ribos! This kingdom was defeated by Lothern twice by one move. It will never be willing to crawl under Lothern!"
Red Iron Dragon glanced at her approvingly, then smiled.
"It's really interesting."
"Once upon a time, Ribos was our enemy, and Lothern was our ally."
Having said this, Red Iron Dragon's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, as if he was recalling the war years, and then he spoke again.
"However, times have changed."
"Now Lothern regards us as the biggest hidden danger, and we also regard Lothern as an obstacle."
"Ribos has become a potential ally instead. Haha, the boundary between friend and foe is so fragile in the tide of interests and power. There are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only eternal interests."
Having said this, Red Iron Dragon looked at the sky.
At this time, night has completely fallen and the stars have begun to twinkle. The Elven Moon belonging to the Nausir Empire shines brightly, and it has been like this almost every night in recent years.
"But anyway..."
"This time, we will ignite the flames with our own hands and end the war between the nations with our own hands."
He spread his wings and looked at Iron Dragon and the red dragon.
"Get ready, my brothers," he said. "The fire has been kindled, and we will harness it and make the world tremble under the wings of the dragon."