The sunset burned on the horizon, dyeing the entire sky a dark red. Viewed from a high altitude, the eastern territory of the Vagrian Empire spread out at your feet, with mountains, rivers, plains, and forests, like an oil painting carelessly painted by God.
The wind blew from the west, strong and steady, lifting his scales slightly.
He has been flying at this altitude for a long time, flying from afternoon to evening, and from evening to dusk.
Valerirus flapped its wings and flew eastward at an altitude of several thousand feet, its body drawing a smooth arc in mid-air with almost no visible ups and downs.
The development of things has exceeded his expectation.
He originally thought that after he retired from the throne, he could stay quietly at Forbidden Land, watch the sunset, enjoy the breeze, and occasionally have a drink with old friends.
The empire is governed by Senate, and there are veterans who have worked under him for countless years. What is there to worry about?
It turned out that he was too optimistic.
The Protector is his most trusted and reassuring minister. He has lived for thousands of years, seen countless storms, and dealt with countless crises, and has never made any mistakes.
But this time, he didn't stop Weitestan.
It wasn't that he wasn't capable enough, it was that he didn't expect it. He didn't expect that a kid who had just grown up and had never been on the battlefield would bypass his interception, fly to the capital alone, break into the palace, stand in front of His Majesty Caesar, and speak nonsense.
Then it was chopped into charcoal by a bolt of lightning, carried by a wyvern like a dead fish, and sent back to Forbidden Land.
Valerirus It was difficult to tense up when he thought of the little red dragon thrown in front of him, covered in charred black, emitting white smoke, and still twitching slightly.
The corner of his mouth twitched, the frequency of flapping his wings was also chaotic for a moment, and his body swayed in the air.
Are they stupid?
He usually didn't care about it, but now he doesn't care about it, and everyone has some amazing wisdom...
Don't use your IQ to make fun of it!
"Why didn't I see you so loyal when I was in power?"
Those nobles who behaved like cats in front of him, those guys who he never scolded or even said a harsh word - he managed the empire in an orderly manner during his reign.
Let them collect rent, open mines, and do business to make money in their own territory safely.
Did they thank him? No.
They take it for granted.
Now that he is gone and a new emperor has come, they have become "loyal".
I started to miss my old master, and started to complain about His Majesty Valerirus. I started to feel that that position should be inherited by the blood of Valerirus, not a golden dragon with three heads that appeared out of nowhere...
Really bad.
Valerirus sprayed out two streams of hot air from his nose. The air quickly cooled in the cold air and condensed into two white mists, which were quickly blown away by the wind.
With my own flying speed, I hope I can arrive before the enthronement ceremony begins, or at least hold down those idiots before they cause more trouble.
When the time comes, you should admit your mistakes, punish those who deserve, and kill those who deserve to be killed. He has lived for thousands of years, but he still has this sense of propriety - huh?
He suddenly tilted his head. He wasn't looking at the sun - it was because his perception captured something.
As one of the oldest beings on the continent, he has a very keen sense of powerful magic.
This ability was not something he deliberately cultivated, but was an instinct gradually honed over the long years and through countless confrontations and games with beings of the same level.
In his consciousness, somewhere in the far east, there was a strong, unfamiliar magic power that he had never felt before.
Valerirus narrowed his eyes.
Something went wrong?
Forbidden Land There is a seal over there. The devil is suppressed and there will be no problems.
Farther to the east was a mountain range whose name couldn't even be found on the map. There might be something sleeping there that even he didn't know about, or someone might be doing something they shouldn't do. He wasn't sure.
Anyway, I can't make it to the capital today, so let's take a look. Maybe I can find something novel that I can offer to His Majesty.
Valerirus adjusted his direction slightly and flew in the direction of the surging magic power.
The wings flapped faster and faster than before, and the body drew a new arc in the sky, extending in the east-north direction.
Somewhere close to the mountains.
Rumbling - not thunder, but vibrations coming from the ground. The ground was like a blanket that was pushed up hard by someone below, rising from the middle and cracking on all sides.
The cracks extend in all directions from the center, with varying widths and depths, like a big, ferocious, irregular mouth that is opening.
Mud and gravel poured out of the cracks and accumulated on both sides of the cracks.
The vibrations became more and more violent, and the roar from the underground became louder and louder, changing from a dull roar to a sharp roar, and then - the ground collapsed.
The ground in that area seemed to have had its support removed, and it fell downwards completely, neatly, and without any hesitation.
Then, a huge figure rushed out of the collapsing pit.
Purple light gushed out from the shadow's body, as if someone had lit a purple sun underground.
The light was so dazzling that several people standing in the distance squinted their eyes at the same time, and some even subconsciously raised their arms to cover their faces - the outline of the figure in the purple light became clear.
Black, steel-like, not scales, but real steel - no, harder and thicker than steel, and even less like something a living thing should have.
It was something that could be called "armor", but it wasn't something you put on, it grew on your body.
It grows from its muscles and bones and covers the surface of the body, glowing with a cold and ominous luster in the purple light.
Two pairs of wings.
It is like countless thick bone spurs made of steel arranged in an array.
There is no wing membrane connection between the bone spurs, only purple light flowing in the gaps.
Its head resembles that of a lion. It is a lion's head that is enlarged countless times, covered with black armor, and has a mouth full of fangs.
The fangs protruded from its upper and lower jaws, crossed and staggered. Each fang was longer than an adult's arm and glowed with a dark yellow light.
Its eyes are purple, like two shapeless flames burning in the dark.
Its body is covered with thorn-like iron bones, protruding from the gaps in its armor.
The King of Warcraft--Aiyileiyas.
The old man stood on a raised rock in the distance, looking at the huge figure rushing out of the pit, his voice was very soft.
Kertison stood behind him, his expression had not yet completely recovered from the shock, but his fingers were firmly pressed on the side of the recording prop.
The key steps of activation, spells, changes in the surrounding environment, and the entire process of the appearance of monsters are all recorded.
When you return later, give these to the clan leader.
The value of these materials is so great that the clan leader may meet him in person, that his name may be written into the organization's internal history, and that his colleagues who once looked down on him and thought he was just a lucky middle-level boss will look at him in a different light.
"That's right." The old man's voice floated from the front. He did not look back, his eyes still fell on the huge figure in the distance that was flapping its wings and slowly rising into the sky.
"We hope to cooperate further and borrow another piece of Demon God's flesh and blood."
Kertison's pupils shrank and his fingers paused on the side of the recording prop.
Borrowing another piece, he thought that after awakening Aiyileiyas, the cooperation was over. They provided the flesh and blood of the demon god, and the old man provided the awakening ritual and summoning spell, and the transaction was completed.
But the old man's request is not "cooperate again", but "further cooperation". Further means more transactions, deeper binding, and more inseparable interweaving of interests.
"No, I have to report it to the clan leader."
"I believe your clan leader will agree. After all, after obtaining this summoning ritual, its value is not much less than the remains of the demon god." The old man's tone was still calm.
Kertison's pupils shrank. This old man is stronger than he thought.
But he didn't say anything.
He knew that once he handed this record into the hands of the clan leader, the clan leader would most likely agree to continue cooperation.
Not because he knows the patriarch, but because he knows that the patriarch is a person who is always looking at the future.
The patriarch will not care about those things that have been lost. The demon god's remnant body will be used as long as it can be exchanged for further prospects and broader possibilities. The patriarch will not hesitate.
"No need to get excited, we just want to cooperate. Haha."
Kertis looked at the old man's back and wanted to say something, but a huge roar came from the giant beast in the distance.
Roar--Aiyileiyas's mouth opened, and those jagged, crossed fangs with a dark yellow luster were exposed to the air.
The roar reverberated between heaven and earth, and the sound waves turned into air waves visible to the naked eye, spreading outward. The gravel on the ground beat in the air waves, and the woods in the distance were bent down by the air waves.
Aiyileiyas's eyes swept across the ground. Purple flames were burning in the eye sockets. They had no pupils and no focus, but they seemed to be able to see everything.
Its body was burning with flames. It was not the flames erupting from its body, but the purple light seeping out from the gaps in its armor. It burned after contacting the air and adhered to the surface of its body, like a coat woven with flames.
It has no words.
Its mouth closed, the purple light deep in its throat extinguished, its giant wings flapped, and it slowly began to take off.
Its head slowly fell from the angle pointed at the sky, staying in the direction of due west. It looked in that direction...
It's going there.
Its head was filled with this voice.
It was not its own voice, but a will that was older, more powerful, and more irresistible than it was whispering in its mind.
That voice had no shape, no temperature, no emotion, only one instruction - "Go. Complete your mission."
It doesn't know what the mission is, but it has to go.
Aiyileiyas flapped two pairs of huge wings composed of steel spurs and rose into the sky.
Its body looks like a rising, ominous star in the purple light.
The gravel on the ground was picked up by the airflow stirred up by its wings, and hit the rocks in the distance, the corners of the old man's robe, and Kertison's feet.
Then it flew away, heading due west.
The old man stood on the rock and looked at the getting smaller and smaller figure. He was silent for a moment, then turned around and waved to the person behind him.
Those people began to pack things - folding the stand, putting away the rune tablets, and checking the sealing of the magic-sealing device.
Kertison stood next to the rock, with an inconspicuous piece of gravel kicked over by him at his feet.
But what he saw was not the gravel, but something next to the gravel. A small black ball, like a flame, but not a flame.
Kertison squatted down, stretched out his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then lightly touched the black "flame" with his fingertips.
My fingertips didn't feel any temperature, neither cold nor heat, just a feeling of "nothing", like reaching into a vacuum, and the touch completely disappeared at that point.
He looked at the black mass. It was burning, burning silently in the air in a way that did not require oxygen or fuel and completely violated the laws of physics.
It was probably caused by the King of Monsters - residual magic power, or a side effect of some kind of summoning ritual.
Kertison stood up and no longer wasted time, he had to go to Forbidden Land now.
No one noticed that the black "flame" jumped slightly after Kertison turned around.
It's not blown by the wind, there's no wind there.
Dusk enveloped the capital of Vagrian.
In the palace hall, King Ghidorah was lying on the ground. Not lying on the throne, but lying on the ground.
His three heads were placed on his front paws, and his body extended from the front of the throne to the door of the side hall. His tail wrapped around a stone pillar and rolled up in a circle on the ground of the side hall.
He is looking at the floor.
There is a small piece of black stuff on the floor. It's not a stain, it's not a crack, it's not a visual error caused by light and shadow - it's a small black ball, like a flame, burning automatically and silently on the gray stone floor without wind.
He didn't notice when it appeared, but when he walked back into the temple from outside the temple and lay down, he caught this small patch of distinctive black with his peripheral vision.
Is the air leaking? No, where does the "air" come from?
The tips of his claws scratched over the black mass. There was no temperature, neither cold nor heat. It was just a hole that existed visually but completely disappeared from the touch.
What the hell? King Ghidorah hung the tip of his claw on the black mass and sensed it penetrated - there was no energy fluctuation.
It is like a burnt hole in a piece of paper. Through the hole, you can see the stone slab behind it, but the stone slab is complete and the hole is empty.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty--" Lavas's voice came from the direction of the side hall, the footsteps were rapid, and the old man's robe made a rustling sound as he walked quickly.
He held a thick notebook bound in dark brown leather in his hand. The cover had no title, only a line of dates written in silver powder that glowed slightly under the light.
His breathing was rapid, not because he was tired, but because he was excited.
"I have fulfilled my mission. With the help of several old friends, I have solved the origin and value of most of the treasures.
I have sorted out a document." He held up the notebook as if it were a rare treasure.
The head in the middle of King Ghidorah turned around, looked at Lavas, and then looked at the notebook. "Okay, you can take it out and talk about it tomorrow during the enthronement ceremony."
Lavas was stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth and wanted to say, "I have prepared a report."
But when he saw that the three heads of King Ghidorah were not looking at him, and that their golden vertical pupils had fallen back on the small black, flame-like shape on the floor, he swallowed the words that came to his lips.
"Ah, yes, yes. Ascending the throne."
He almost forgot what day tomorrow was.
In the past few days, he had been spending time in the laboratory with his old friends. Apart from eating and sleeping, he was studying those treasures every day.
His mind was filled with all kinds of ages, names, and uses, and he almost forgot even the year he was born.
"I will go back and study it carefully first to ensure preparation for the ceremony."
Lavas Holding the notebook, he bent over and took a few steps back, turned around and walked towards the side hall.
The hall was quiet again.