Ashen Dragon-Chapter 127 - 57: War and Rumors

After the fall of Trolo City, the entire Anzeta was in an uproar, though it was long expected.

Without the elite "Claw of the Male Eagle," how could the Rackman Family resist the claws and fangs of those Dragon Vein Monsters, especially when faced with the terrifying Red Dragon, known as the Infernal Calamity?

What they hadn’t predicted was that Trolo City, known as the "City of Virile Wind," which had stood in the Northern United Kingdom for a hundred years without falling, would be so easily breached. It couldn’t even be called a breach, but rather an effortless occupation, as Trolo City couldn’t organize even a decent resistance.

With Count Dawson killed by a mysterious weapon, the humiliating white flag fluttered at the city gate, and the centuries of glory of Trolo City vanished into thin air.

In the following months, the Ashen Nest didn’t rush to break through the capital of the Rackman Duchy, Northwind Castle, but patiently conquered the remaining eleven cities within the duchy one by one: Havertz Fort, Turner City, Mex City...

One of the three most powerful duchies in the Northern United Kingdom, the Rackman Duchy, was thus gradually devoured. This caused the nobles of Anzeta to be on edge.

During this period, many bloody events occurred, and there were rumors of Ogres and Chimeras eating people. However, under Cassius’s supervision, the Dragon Vein Descendants still maintained basic order.

Compared to the human soldiers of this era, who would burn, kill, and plunder to vent their desires when encountering war, and the noble knights who saw commoners as insignificant and often took pleasure in killing, these monsters under the Red Dragon’s "Dictator’s Rule" could already be considered disciplined. At least those Ogres only viewed humans as tasty snacks, not as targets for bullying.

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However, within the borders of Anzeta, due to deliberate propaganda, the retinue of the Ashen Nest had already been likened to legendary demons. Some bards even created a long poem called the Song of Embers.

Their evil tyrant, the "Infernal Calamity" Cassius, had become a symbol of original sin at this moment. It was said he was the Dragon of Lust, the Dragon of Wrath, and even the Dragon of Pride. He would transform into a humanoid figure several meters tall to ravage beautiful maidens and then return to his original form to devour them whole.

The steward of the Ashen Nest, the Dragon Vein Ogre Mage Ramp, was naturally depicted as the embodiment of gluttony. He would greedily devour everything in sight, and whenever someone tremblingly came to see him, he would be chewing on human remains.

The military commander, Great Goblin Dolores, was portrayed as the embodiment of envy, perhaps simply to fit the bards’ parallelisms...

Cassius neither confirmed nor denied these tales, nor did he care about them.

Before he completely conquered the Northern Kingdom, such inversions of truth were only to be expected.

Once he devoured the remaining twelve countries, all the clamor would dissipate, and he would become Anzeta’s only, supreme monarch.

"Very soon."

"Once I deal with this old vampire..."

"The next target is you, decrepit Northern Nobility."

The Red Dragon exhaled a breath of sulfur-scented heat and murmured to itself.

He was currently lying in the Council Hall of Trolo City, which was spacious and bright enough to barely accommodate Cassius’s massive dragon body.

The Council Hall had once been the place where Trolo City’s affairs were decided. The city’s noble councillors would gather here to discuss governance together. It was a proud tradition passed down through generations in Trolo City, with the flying eagles on the tall stone pillars representing courage and authority.

Now, this place still decided everything in Trolo City, but those eagles no longer symbolized power; they were marks of failure.

At this moment, it was the Red Dragon that judged everything here.

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"Master, Mex City has fallen."

The image of Dolores appeared in the hall.

One could see a city filled with smoke and fire behind him, with Dragon Vein Monsters constantly passing by and the sound of gunfire in the distance.

The Red Dragon nodded slightly: "Very good."

Standing by for a long time, Dailenna picked up a brush and crossed out the name "Mex City" on the giant map of the duchy in the center of the hall.

Besides that, ten other cities had already been crossed out, including the Trolo City where they currently stayed.

Northwind Castle was left isolated within these cities—it was the last remaining city under Rackman Duchy’s control.

Dailenna fawningly said: "Congratulations, Master, the centuries-old history of the Rackman Duchy is about to end. Their vast territories will be yours, and your great deeds will be recorded in history. The entire North will tremble under your wings."

"Now, only Northwind Castle remains."

Cassius suddenly asked Ramp: "When you conquered Mex City, did you catch those vampire variants?"

He was referring to the offspring of the Rackman Family, the most elite of the vampire variants, who often referred to themselves as the Blood Clan, like the late Baron Todd.

Speaking of Todd, the poor guy had already lost his mind after Ramp’s endless tortures and various experiments, reduced to a complete beast.

Ramp, with the academic spirit of a mage, finally cut him into fine mince when Todd lost his value after numerous tests. This time Todd never recovered, proving that not all of the "Undying Blood Clan" were truly undying.

After months of experiments and various forms of tactics, Ramp had already grasped many characteristics of these vampire variants, such as the Wounding Water.

He now had a greater interest in Duke Brad Rackman, the old vampire lurking in Northwind Castle.

Ramp honestly answered: "No."

"At Earl Caythlene Rackman’s mansion, we only found drained human corpses. The eldest son had long disappeared. The other cities controlled by the Rackman offspring were the same. I suspect they’ve all been summoned to Northwind Castle for that so-called Ascension Ritual."

"Ascension Ritual..."

Ramp thought Cassius was asking a question, not making a statement, and so replied respectfully:

"Yes, the Ascension Ritual. During the interrogation of Todd Rackman, we learned about this special ritual, similar to a sacrificial ceremony. This is the fabled ritual that supposedly allows vampires to evolve into ’truly immortal beings.’

"When the ritual is completed, vampires will no longer fear sunlight and will lose weaknesses like the Wounding Water, gaining powerful Necrosis abilities."

The Red Dragon slowly stood up and stretched its wings.

"It’s time. Time to end all of this."

"Ramp, notify all the retinue of the Ashen Nest to draw the best troops from each city and prepare to besiege Northwind Castle. I don’t want to see a troublesome Ascendant Vampire appear."

"That old guy... it’s time for him to go where he belongs."

"Yes, Master."

Ramp eagerly responded.