Underdark area, Dragon Shadow City.
It's always dark here, and I never know what day is.
The city once ruled by shadow dragons hangs above a vast abyss, and the cold winds across the abyss forever scream.
There are traces of scorch everywhere in this city, and thick ashes are everywhere. These broken walls quietly record the past of the red dragon's brutal burning of the city, and record the buried history.
"Hoo——"
The cold wind blew through the gaps in the city, making a harsh scream, as if the remaining souls were wailing.
But on top of these ruins, a brand-new city was built. The architectural style was simple, majestic, and full of power—it was obviously an imperial style.
In this new city on the ruins, the common half-dragons, humans, and hobgoblin soldiers come and go, but the most common ones are unconscious low-level undead skeletons.
Some vendors even appeared in the city, selling lanterns, walking sticks, leather boots and other items commonly used in the dark areas.
"Hiss"
A mind-numbing sound.
Outside the city, huge skeletal green-footed dragon snakes squirmed and crawled on the ground, tearing all intruders into pieces like a moat.
On the newly built city wall, Hart stood quietly, overlooking the bottomless roaring abyss.
"I once had a beating heart, and I was able to taste delicious food and wine."
The corpse demon sighed.
He has all the memories, obsessions and even hatred of Hart during his lifetime, but he has lost his living body and his original emotions.
The corpse demon relies on the obsession and hatred during life to awaken the fragmented soul and support the decaying body.
Hart's lips trembled, and the two dark eyeballs flashed in the darkness.
"However, this is not bad, immortality, killing enemies one after another, and conquering the vast dark area for the master."
He is a new being.
It is different from the original Hart, and also different from an ordinary corpse demon.
Hart stiffly opened his pale mouth and tried to show a smile, but this expression seemed particularly weird to Pang Ren.
"Old General Hart."
A familiar voice came.
"What happened?"
Hart turned his head and said calmly.
——That is his colleague, a living person, more accurately a half-dragon, who is also His Majesty's dependent.
His name is Zaiko Granger, and he is also a veteran member who defected to the Empire during the Ember Nest period. He is now an Imperial Earl, on the same level as Hart.
But what's interesting is that he was also one of the original slave traders and was once Hart's subordinate.
Due to his status as an undead creature, Hart did not become the governor of the Empire in the Underdark. The cabinet ministers wanted a profitable Underdark instead of an undead realm.
If it were Hart alive, he would be furious, but "Hart", whose heart has already become cold, doesn't care about this.
The situation in the rear is like this. He only needs to lead the undead army to devote himself to the battlefield, obey orders, and kill bravely. But the people in the rear have to consider things.
Zajko flipped through the documents and whispered: "Ms. Ingrid is about to return to the surface. She has helped us dispel the shadow curse of Dragon Shadow City."
"According to the plan given by the Strategy Department, we will build near the Howling Abyss"
Ingrid.
Hart, or rather the wight remembers this name.
He had seen that woman, and her whole body was filled with the aura of Holy Light that made him sick, and the hostile look in her eyes also made him feel quite uncomfortable.
If Ingrid was not a special envoy sent by the empire, he would be happy to chop off the head of the female priest and hang it on the top of the city wall.
Thinking of this, Hart interrupted bluntly. "You know, Zaiko, I don't care and I don't need you to tell me this, let alone know the whereabouts of that damn priest."
"I just need you to tell me one thing - where His Majesty wants me to conquer, where I can kill living creatures without mercy."
The dark eyeballs of the corpse demon shimmered in the darkness, making Zaiko, who had been on the battlefield for a long time, feel a little shuddering.
"Ha"
His lips moved slightly, but still no words came out.
Of course Hart was cruel and selfish, but for the former slave traders who also came from humble backgrounds - Hart played the role of "family" in their minds.
The corpse demon sneered at himself, and then said in a hoarse voice: "Hart has been dead for a long time, at least the Hart you know is like this."
"What appears in front of you now is just an undead monster that is eager to kill living creatures and was born for Your Majesty."
"."
Zaiko was silent for a long time, then he pulled out a document and slowly unfolded it:
"There is a city called 'Dark Wings' near Dragon Shadow City, which is run by the Jezlade family, the descendants of Mortyfer and the shadow dragonborn drow."
Mortyfair, of course he had heard the name.
It was the legendary "Enemy of the Emperor" who had vast power in the Dark Territory and was torn apart by His Majesty Cassius in 1785 New Year.
"After the destruction of Dragon Shadow City, the Jezlade family, which was once under the control of the Shadow Dragon, began to expand rapidly, taking over the power and trade relations of the original Shadow Dragon. Their scouts even appeared around Dragon Shadow City."
"This is undoubtedly a provocation to the empire and an insult to His Majesty Cassius."
Zaiko closed the document and said solemnly.
It was a declaration of war - even though he knew the scout had been captured from hundreds of miles away.
The Burning Ember Empire just wanted to find an excuse to show its existence to the Underdark Region and eradicate the descendants of Mortyfer to prevent future troubles.
Zajko said: "General Hart, you should know what to do."
The corpse demon just turned its head, stared at the other party with its dark eyes, and asked casually: "Can you massacre the city?"
Zaiko did not answer directly, but said in an introductory manner: "'Dark Wings' is the base camp of the Shadow Dragonborn Drow, and 60% of the population are Shadow Dragonborn Drow."
He took out a brand new letter stamped "Top Secret Document" from his pocket and handed it to the zombie demon.
Hart opened the envelope and saw the text inside at a glance.
【Charter】
[It is hereby approved to carry out a thorough elimination operation against the Shadow Dragonborn drow, and it must be done cleanly. ——Chief Minister, Trump]
"Good, I understand."
Hart's bloodless lips were slightly raised, and his dark eyes were slightly bent, showing a strange arc.
He took out the skeletal scepter from his waist, went to the top of the city wall, and raised it high.
In an instant, hundreds of green-footed dragon snake skeletons and thousands of undead skeletons wandering outside the city gathered together, forming a forest-white torrent.
Those old bones rubbed against each other, making a crisp "click, click, click" sound, which was eerie.
Hart jumped off the city wall, jumped into the sea of bones, sat on the head of the largest blue-footed dragon snake skeleton, and waved the bone scepter.
"Long"
Hundreds of skeletal green-footed dragon snakes emerged at the same time, crawling and wandering on the ground.
The ground in the Underdark was trembling, and the dark sky seemed to be wailing, and the white torrent was particularly conspicuous on the black ground.
"Come, undead army"
"Kill all living creatures that dare to stand in the way of the empire's expansion."
The corpse demon said so. (End of chapter)