The Protector sat in the farthest position from the door. His seat was not at the head of the round table, but everyone's eyes would stay on him unconsciously.
He is very old, so old that no one remembers his exact age. On his head is a pair of curved, thick black horns, with fine circular patterns on the surface, like the growth rings of a tree.
His eyes are dark gold, with vertical pupils, like dragon eyes. He wears a dark gold robe trimmed with black edges.
"How could your Majesty..." the Protector spoke, his voice sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a very deep well, with a kind of anger that could no longer be suppressed.
"Damn it. It must be that black dragon that threatens Your Majesty."
The Protector's fingers tapped on the table, not hard, but the whole table shook. The silver kettle on the table jumped slightly, and the lid hit the mouth of the pot with a crisp, short clang.
A young nobleman wearing a dark green dress who sat diagonally across from the Protector chuckled lightly.
He also has horns on his head, but they are not the thick, curved black horns like the Protector's, but thinner and lighter green horns.
Like two daggers extending diagonally back from his forehead, the young man suppressed his smile at the corners of his mouth, hiding it not deep enough and revealing a little.
"Duke Protector, you are also a black dragon. Maybe you can identify your kind."
The Protector's eyelids did not rise, but his dark golden pupils turned slightly.
"Little thing, are you looking for death?"
The young man's smile froze. He realized that he had said the wrong thing. He opened his mouth to make amends, but the Protector had already looked away and no longer looked at him.
The momentary glance was so short that the others at the same table didn't even notice it, but the young man was already breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Everyone, please calm down." Duke Luer Yas, who was sitting on the right hand side of the Protector, spoke. His voice was not high and his speech was not fast, but it had a weight that made people quiet down unconsciously.
He was wearing a dark blue dress, with a gold ducal badge on his chest. He had gray hair, a slender face, and long, well-maintained fingers.
"What is happening now is beyond our imagination. Your Majesty has been defeated, which we all have seen with our own eyes.
No matter what the origin of that black dragon is, no matter what the origin of that golden three-headed dragon is, we can be sure of one thing - their power is far greater than ours."
No one refuted, not because they didn't want to refute, but because they didn't have anything to refute.
"Your Excellency, Lord Protector, don't even think about resisting directly. You have also seen that even His Majesty was knocked away with one blow." Duke Luer Yas looked at the Lord Protector, "We went up rashly, just to deliver food."
The Protector did not speak. His fingers were still tapping gently and rhythmically on the table. It was not heavy, but every tap made the kettle on the table vibrate slightly.
Lord Protector, the strongest being in the empire besides Red Dragon Emperor. An ancient black dragon, whose strength is equivalent to the level of Eighth Tier in the human magic system.
He is the shield and the spear of this empire. In the past more than a thousand years, Red Dragon Emperor rarely took action personally. Those enemies who dared to invade the borders of the empire had already fled before seeing the wings of the Lord Protector.
Those who did not escape were reduced to ashes in the Dragon Breath of the Protector. He thought that he was strong, thought that he was second only to the emperor, and thought that he was one of the few beings in the world who stood at the top... But now, that is not the case.
Silence.
"Humph." The Protector snorted and said nothing more, but his fingers stopped tapping.
"Maybe we can think about how to talk to the new emperor." A nobleman in a gray dress spoke cautiously, as if he was testing the temperature of the water, not too hot or too cold.
"No matter what, we must rescue His Majesty first." The Protector's voice sounded again, half a tone lower than before, but his tone was harder. There should be no rebellion, but at least the emperor must be brought back from the hands of those monsters.
"We have to notify each family first." Duke Luer Yas stretched out his slender fingers and lightly drew a circle on the flannel. This means that everyone here should go back and inform your families and your troops not to act rashly."
"Prepare a great gift to present to the new ruler. Whether he is willing to accept it or not, we must first make a good gesture."
A nobleman wearing a dark green dress and sitting at the end of the round table suddenly spoke. His voice was not loud, but after he said this, everyone's eyes turned to him. "What should I do with that piece of Forbidden Land?"
The round table was silent for a long time.
"Forbidden Land". A certain mountain range in the eastern part of the empire, the place Red Dragon Emperor first occupied when it came to this land more than a thousand years ago. The emperor did not allow anyone to approach.
Not because he regarded it as a private hunting ground, but because there was something sleeping there that the emperor did not want anyone to know. Now that the emperor is gone, does the new ruler know about the existence of that piece of Forbidden Land?
Will those things sleeping in Forbidden Land wake up because of the emperor's absence?
"I'll go," said the Protector.
"Wait, wait." Several people spoke at the same time, Duke Luer Yas's voice was the loudest and spoke the fastest. He had already stretched out his hand, with his palm facing the Lord Protector, as if he was stopping a runaway carriage.
"Duke Protector, you can't go. You are our strongest combat force now. If something happens to you--" He did not finish what he said, but everyone knew what he didn't finish.
Silence.
"Let the boy Lannaro Family go." Duke Luer Yas retracted his hand and his voice was a little lower. "Anyway, just watch it first."
There is no need to go in, no need to explore, just keep an eye on the outside of Forbidden Land, and report immediately if there is any change. "Lannaro Family's boy, a young and not yet famous dragon knight.
He is not very strong, but he can run fast and has a good brain. He went to Forbidden Land to perform the "stalking" mission, and even if he was discovered, it would not attract much attention.
A certain corner of the city. A dark alley. The walls on both sides are very high, blocking most of the light. There is water on the ground, and the water surface reflects the dark color of the sky. Several people in white robes are standing here.
The man in white robe put down the curtain and took out a palm-sized, flat, metal-like object from his arms. There were fine magic patterns on the surface of the metal piece, and the magic patterns glowed slightly in the dark, flickering on and off, as if breathing.
The man in white robe pressed his fingers on the metal piece a few times, and the color of the magic pattern changed from light blue to dark red.
The target has been confirmed. It's Him. Voraksa." The voice of the man in white robe was low but clear. He held a photo in his other hand, and there was a blurry, black shadow on the photo.
He stared at the photo for a few seconds, then pasted the photo and the metal piece together. The magic pattern flickered and the image on the photo was transmitted.
After he finished sending the image, he took the metal piece back into his arms, leaned against the wall next to the window, and let out a long breath.
"It's incredible." A man in white robes next to him murmured, his voice was very low, but the shock in his tone could not be concealed.
"Although there have been speculations before, this is too..." The name Voraksa has the highest circulation level within Silence Society. Only Scroll Keeper and a few senior members have the authority to read relevant information.
The information was not compiled from any known documents, but pieced together from fragments that had been forgotten by time and were not even fragments.
The spelled out portrait is very blurry, with only a rough outline - extremely powerful, extremely dangerous. Now the outline has been filled in, and what fills it up is what I have seen with my own eyes.
"In some of the few mentioned legends, He is known as 'Silencer of the Gods'." The man in white robe folded the letter and put it in his arms. His tone was calm, as calm as if he was reading a weather forecast.
He came back. He didn't wake up from the seal, but in a way they couldn't explain - he came back with a golden three-headed dragon that was bigger and more mysterious than him.
"Moreover," the young man in white robe swallowed, "He seems to be in a cooperative relationship with another, larger golden beast."
The man in white robe didn't speak, but he tapped the metal piece twice with his fingers, and the golden beast appeared.
They had seen no description of it in any known literature, not at all.
More mysterious than Voraksa and some gods, more elusive than those existences buried by time with only names left.
Judging from the size of this giant golden beast that covers the sky and the sun, as well as the aloof relationship between him and Voraksa, which seems calm but can actually fall out at any time, he is probably on the same level as Voraksa.
(Voraksa: Me, me?)
Several people were silent and looked at their companions silently.
"This world has become really fast and magical." The youngest man in white robe couldn't hold back.
The man in white robe did not respond to the young man's emotion. He turned around, took off the robe hanging on the wall, and put it on his body. After a few seconds, his voice came from under the hood.
"Where's the piece of Forbidden Land?"
"The message has been sent."
"Use more. Now that no one is paying attention, let them move faster."
"Yes."