Duke Eden stared closely at the bronze dragon portrait on the ancient book, murmured to himself, and clapped his hands:
"Great, great, I didn't expect such an unexpected surprise."
Duke Aiden closed the "Fanthor Dragon Guide" in his hand and placed it on the table in front of him.
Then, he stood up from the sofa, stood with his hands behind his back in front of the wall hanging with the princes of the Silver family, opened his arms, and couldn't help but sigh:
"My daughter, you may bring us the friendship of an ancient bronze dragon, which is simply priceless!
In the following hundreds of years, the Silver family may benefit from this! ”
Hearing his father's excited words, even Heloise, who had always been indifferent to emotion and anger, stood up, raised the corners of her mouth, and smiled happily.
Duke Eden turned around and continued pacing in the hall: "Heloise, you should have seen that magical image from the north, right?"
Heloise nodded slightly: "Yes, father, Mr. Kaushik showed me that video a week ago.
If that is not an illusion, this can only mean that the Red Dragon Emperor of Anzetta is extremely terrifying, far from being a mortal being that can match it, it is simply like..."
Recalling the giant dragon with its wings that covered the sky and the sun, even Heloise's purple pupils showed a hint of fear.
She paused before continuing: "It's like a monster in myths and legends, like the world-eating snake or the hundred-armed giant.
It should not have appeared at all in the Third Age when the gods were isolated and mortal beings ruled the earth. ”
Duke Eden sighed and said in a rather serious tone: "Yes, we cannot compete with such a giant dragon.
If the Holy Fadlan Empire remains glorious, I would feel a little more relieved. But now, the three kingdoms are in constant dispute, and the Ember Empire from the north is eyeing it. I’m afraid.”
Duke Eden raised his head and looked solemnly at the huge map of the Fiansol continent on the wall:
"I'm afraid that one day in the future, the red dragon will invade south and annex the Thracian Kingdom, and then we will completely lose the northern barrier.
And Victoria Harbor is the most prosperous and wealthy empire in the entire Silver Moon Bay. After the greedy red dragon takes control of the north, you can imagine the fate of our Silver family. ”
He looked at Heloise and said seriously: "Faced with such a red dragon, only those ancient metal dragons can compete with him.
Heloise, you may have found the only way out for the Silver family. ”
Heloise said: "Father, His Majesty Wilhelm of the Thracian Kingdom is a noble and powerful angel god, no worse than a giant dragon.
What's more, it is still unknown whether the Burning Ember Empire will move south. Some dragon scholars claim that the dragon is just a money-grubbing lord. As long as enough gold coins are given, he can live in peace with it. ”
Duke Eden smiled bitterly and said: "I hope I am worrying too much.
The dragon in the north, the three kingdoms in the east, the Dragon Witch Cult in the south, the Nagas in the sea, the demons from the abyss, and the undead who are disrupting the situation.
The Fianso Continent is now in chaos, which really makes me worried. I can't sleep day and night, for fear that the Silver family's hundreds of years of foundation will be ruined in my hands. ”
Heloise came to Duke Eden and said softly: "No, father."
In the hearts of the people of Victoria Harbor, Duke Eden of the Chief Mercenary Corps has always been a majestic and indifferent nobleman. He devoted all his tenderness to his only daughter.
Only when he was with Heloise did the Duke show his rare smile.
Duke Eden suddenly noticed traces of dust on Heloise's body.
Only then did he remember that his eldest daughter had just encountered a long-planned ambush. If the "hermit" hadn't taken action, he might have been responsible for it.
Duke Eden's expression suddenly changed slightly, and there was a coldness in his eyes: "By the way, Heloise, can you describe the situation of that cult again?
I am really tired of living if I dare to ambush the caravan of our Silver family near Victoria Harbor. ”
His tone was extremely cold.
Heloise replied: "Father, these cultists call themselves the Order of the Lord God, claiming that their gods are omniscient and omnipotent.
The leader of the cult has powerful psychic power, which can at least reach the level of an archmage. The power of the black hole he creates is not inferior to that of Mr. Kaushik's spell. ”
"The God of Dominance seems to have heard of this name."
Duke Eden stroked the neat beard on his chin and lowered his head in thought.
After a while, he called the housekeeper who was standing at the door and gave a brief and powerful order:
"Vicente, go to the family archives and find all the information about the so-called 'Lord of Lords'."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."
Upon hearing the order, Vicente nodded in agreement, turned around and left again, quickly heading to the archives room.
As the largest and busiest port city in the entire Silver Moon Bay, Victoria Harbor is a mixed bag, with hundreds of armed forces present at the same time, and countless cult groups.
As the leader of the "Mithril Hand" mercenary group responsible for city security, Aiden stores all the intelligence collected by his men in the archives to prepare for emergencies and to better control the situation in the city.
Within a moment, Vicente pushed open the door and walked in, holding a stack of documents in his hand, including newspapers, search warrants, reward warrants, etc.
The butler reported: "Your Excellency, basically all the information about the Order of the God of Dominance is here.
This cult group that believed in the 'Lord of Lords' first appeared eleven years ago. At that time, it only absorbed some poor lower town civilians.
For the past ten years, this sect has been relatively unknown, far less famous than cult groups such as the Church of the Deep Sea Dominators, the Returners, and the Baal Order. ”
Vicente took out a stack of documents and continued: "But since July last year, the activities of this sect have become extremely active, with twenty-one disappearances and twelve murders related to it.
The Mithril Hand has conducted many pursuits, but has not found their lair. Outside the city, they seem to be attracting goblins, ogres and other monsters as believers in large numbers.
Your Excellency, the information about the ‘God of Dominance’ cult is probably like this. ”
Vicente presented all the information to Duke Ayden, then bowed slightly and stood quietly to the side.
Duke Ayden flipped through the information casually and said in a deep voice: "Recruiting a large number of monsters as an army outside the city?
That makes sense, and it's no wonder that many caravans on the northern roads have been robbed recently. It turns out that well-established monster legions have appeared.
"Crack."
Duke Eden slammed the information on the table with a cold voice.
Haha, if they dare to do this near Victoria Harbor, they must have someone behind them. It is unforgivable that they even want to kidnap my daughter. ”
"Simon Amorim."
"My lord."
The "Hand of Mithril" knight who had been guarding the door for a long time pushed open the door, strode over, and half-knelt in front of Duke Eden respectfully.
Simon looked to be in his thirties, tall and strong, but had a scar covering half of his face.
He was adopted by the Silver family during the war and received the best knight education since he was a child. He has followed Duke Eden for more than 20 years.
He is also known as "the sharpest sword of the Silver family". He has irrefutable strength and is said to be close to legend.
Duke Aiden threw the stack of documents in front of Simon and ordered: "Simon, I want you to use the most elite power of the Mithril Hand to thoroughly investigate this so-called 'Lord of God' Order.
He paused and then said: "But don't alert the snakes, and try not to be discovered by them."
Simon picked up the paper on the ground with the information about the God of Dominance printed on it, quickly browsed the text on it, and said firmly: "Yes, sir." He always did things neatly and only followed Duke Eden's orders, without any scruples about anything else.
Suddenly, Heloise seemed to remember something and reminded: "Father, I suddenly remembered something——
The hermit master called those cultists "worms" and seemed to be quite familiar with them. This might not be the first time he met them. ”
"Oh?"
Duke Eden suddenly frowned and his expression became more solemn.
You must know that the "hermit" as an ancient bronze dragon has been sleeping for at least four hundred years! Before he fell asleep, not even Victoria Harbor existed.
If he is also familiar with this, it means that the Cult of the God of Dominance is not a cult with a shallow foundation, but an ancient force that appeared hundreds of years ago.
The new cult is completely different from the ancient cult that has existed for hundreds of years. It was only two hundred years ago that the Silver family arose during the war.
Thinking of this, Duke Eden's face became even more ugly, and he asked in a low voice: "Heloise, is the Hermit still in Victoria Harbor?"
Heloise replied: "Yes, Mr. Hermit said he wanted to take a stroll in Victoria Harbor."
"Can you contact him? It's time to meet this person who may become a future ally of the Silver family."
"Of course."
Heloise took out an ancient green coin from her pocket: "This is the token given to me by Mr. Hermit. He said that as long as he throws it up, he will appear here."
Duke Eden raised his hand: "Wait, don't use this token yet."
He turned his head and ordered Vicente: "Call Mr. Kaushik and the remaining two knight captains over."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."
Soon, a mage wearing dark blue robes and holding a mithril scepter pushed open the door and bowed elegantly to Duke Eden.
He looked to be in his forties, and he was extremely clean and tidy.
"Good day, Lord Eden, I kept you waiting."
He is Kaushik Hayden, the chief mage of the Silver family, the owner of the Coastal Mage Tower, a disciple of the great sage Traflalano, and a learned great mage.
You must know that the existence that can be called the "Arch Mage" in the Fiansuo Continent is only one step away from the legendary mage. The only difference is a little inspiration and accumulation.
"Mr. Kaushik."
Lord Eden nodded to the spellcaster, then looked at the door again.
Immediately afterwards, two knights in silver armor, a man and a woman, also hurried over and half-knelt in front of Duke Eden.
"Your Majesty the Duke."
They are the other two leaders of the "Hand of Mithril" mercenary group, the equally loyal and powerful Feodor Pate and Jenny Aldis.
Kaushik looked at the two captains who came in a hurry with sweat on their faces and said with a smile: "Duke Ayden, you must have something important to do with us gathering here."
"Of course.
This is not only an important matter, but also very likely to change the fate of the Silver family. ”
Kaushik's expression suddenly became serious, and the three captains also looked solemn, waiting quietly for the Duke to speak.
Duke Eden nodded slightly, looked around at the people in the hall, and said loudly: "Today, we are about to welcome a special guest.
His identity is probably something you would never expect - an ancient bronze dragon that has awakened from a slumber of more than four hundred years. ”
"What?"
Several people in the hall who had just heard the news suddenly looked surprised, and Kaushik couldn't help shouting.
Kaushik tightened his grip on the mithril scepter and added with a trembling tone: "Duke, with all due respect, I want to correct your conjecture.
As far as I know, ancient dragons are only eight hundred to one thousand years old, and a bronze dragon that can sleep for more than four hundred years at a time must be at least an ancient dragon. ”
An ancient bronze dragon.
As a disciple of Traflalano, he knew very well the significance of the appearance of a dragon of this level in the world.
The "Silver Wings" Oszedro, who had solved the crisis in the main material plane and resisted the invasion of the abyss many times, was only a silver dragon in the ancient dragon stage.
And even his teacher Trafalenlo wanted to treat this "Silver Wing" as a guest, and even entertained him warmly with a low profile.
Being able to ride on an ancient bronze dragon is definitely a high achievement for the Silver family in Victoria Harbor.
Thinking of this, Kaushik's breathing became a little rapid, and he began to adjust his clothes, for fear that there would be something indecent.
The servants brought a large amount of gold, and also found many items that the bronze dragon might like based on the information in the "Fianso Dragon Guide" and decorated the hall.
After a period of discussion and Kaushik's instructions on various etiquettes for entertaining the dragon, everyone in the hall was ready to face the distinguished visitor.
Duke Eden combed the beard around his mouth again and trimmed it neatly, and then told his eldest daughter: "Heloise, get ready to start."
"Yes, Father."
Heloise nodded, took out the ancient bronze coin under everyone's nervous gaze, and gently tossed it up.
"Ding——"
The crisp metal sound sounded, and everyone held their breath, waiting for this moment to arrive.
The space in the hall gradually distorted, and then shattered like glass.
The many prohibitions and early warning spells that Kaushik had arranged in the castle were silent at this moment, as if they were easily bypassed by the mysterious existence.
Suddenly, a gentle, deep male voice appeared in the hall.
"Miss Heloise, I've kept you waiting.
But you are right, Victoria Harbor is indeed a good city, and I like it very much. ”
Everyone quickly followed the sound and saw a man holding a bronze scepter and wearing a gray cloak walking out of the crack in space. (End of chapter)