Ashen Dragon-Chapter 150 - 79 Ruling by the Giant Dragons

Chapter 150: Chapter 79 Ruling by the Giant Dragons

The residents of Northwind Castle would never forget that morning.

The “Infernal Calamity” Cassius stood on the century-old city wall, his enormous wings shrouding the sunlight.

The Red Dragon looked down upon the thirty thousand city citizens gathered there, proclaiming the establishment of the Ashen Kingdom and the demise of the country they and their ancestors had known.

“Who agrees? Who opposes?”

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The spears of the Great Goblins glimmered coldly.

There was no room for negotiation; it was merely a dispassionate notification.

Thus, the era of dragon rule began.

At first, people were terrified and anxious, locking their doors, fearing that these monsters would commit heinous acts just like the “Song of Embers” described, insult and devour their wives and daughters, burn their homes.

But things did not develop as many feared, nor as the northern nobility outside Northwind Castle anticipated.

The crimes of Duke Brad Rackman were made public, with solid evidence within the bastion. During his two hundred years of rule, tens of thousands were tortured to death, and countless disappearances were all his doing.

“This is complete slander!”

“They want to destroy our history!”

There was an uproar among the residents. Their immediate reaction was to suspect that this was Ashen Kingdom’s slander.

But as more evidence surfaced, the piles of bones and heaps of corpses beneath Rackman Castle came to light. Even the most stubborn and dragon-hating individuals within the city had to admit that the Duke they once revered was indeed evil and tyrannical.

Only the northern nobility continued to stubbornly insist that this was fabricated evidence from the Ashen Kingdom, even claiming that the Red Dragon had cruelly murdered these people, despite the Ashen Kingdom having only taken Northwind Castle a few days ago.

Panic and dread soon followed.

After the Ashen Kingdom took control, the law-abiding Tieflings had become the main force of Northwind Castle’s city defense, and among the city’s residents, many had blood on their hands from Tieflings.

Judgment indeed arrived, with Tieflings arresting all who knew the truth and still helped commit crimes among the nobles, putting them on trial in Parliament Square, and beheading dozens.

That day, blood stained the square red.

But for the ordinary residents who knew nothing, although some still harbored hatred and looked for revenge, the Tieflings did not take further action.

Contrary to his usual image to the outside world, Mezulash was not an extreme avenger but a pragmatic individual willing to do anything for the continuation of his race.

Thus, during the wartime years exiled to Stormy Ridge, he promoted many hawkish supporters of revenge to maintain the might of his race and ensure the ability to resist externally. But after truly reclaiming Northwind Castle, he chose to align with the previously unpopular doves advocating for peaceful coexistence with humans to balance those hawks.

Mezulash stood on the city wall, overlooking Northwind Castle which had already resumed its functions.

The streets were bustling with humans, Tieflings, and even Great Goblins. Although human and Tiefling coexistence was far from harmonious, they were no longer mortal enemies, nor engaged in racial massacres.

“Lerisa, you should have realized this long ago.”

“War.”

“Only war can bring peace.”

Mezulash murmured to himself as he watched everything.

Those blue, lake-like beautiful eyes seemed to appear before him again, filled with innocence and kindness.

He often felt regret and guilt but never remorse, for it had been a rational choice at that time.

Only rationality could save his race.

Mezulash never let irrelevant emotions control him. He also understood clearly that if he had cruelly massacred humans as the hawks wished, the Tiefling Tribe would have no place in the Ashen Kingdom.

The dictatorial Red Dragon would not tolerate any race disrupting his order, even if it was the Tieflings, who were gradually becoming the kingdom’s main pillar.

…

“Fresh raw meat!”

“Big size leather pants, special supply for Great Goblins!”

“Selling former Rackman Duchy standard Silver Swords!”

The once war-stricken streets finally regained some liveliness, though far from what it had been.

For the tens of thousands of residents in Northwind Castle, regardless of who was ruling above them, be it vampires or Red Dragons, they had to look forward and continue their lives.

They were surprised to find that these dragon vein monsters were not as brutally terrifying as they had imagined, at least not after they divided up the nobles’ hidden wealth of wine, meat, and treasures to satisfy their greed.

But who could say what the future would hold?

“Theft is prohibited in the city.”

“Private brawls are forbidden in the city.”

“Murderers within the city shall be put to death.”

Cassius temporarily resided in the Council Hall, issuing one succinct “Dictator’s Rule” after another.

Though he could not enforce “immediate death” upon violation among the original residents as he did with players, he only subtly influenced them to follow subconsciously, and that was enough.

Under Cassius’s dictatorial laws, even the dragon vein monsters temporarily suppressed their deeply buried cruelty and savagery, refraining from excessive behavior and producing quite a few farcical situations instead:

For instance, an Ogre named “Bighead” ate up the tavern’s stockpile and ran off without paying, only to be caught by the security team and sentenced to three years of unpaid labor at the tavern, with no room and board provided during the period.

People were even more surprised to find that, due to the rigorous searches by the “Ashen Claws” security team and the “Nocturne” forces, the criminal gangs that operated in the power vacuum and colluded with the nobility vanished. Secret groups like the “Nine Fingers Guild” and the “Devil Gang” were eradicated, and public security in Northwind Castle actually improved significantly.

The previously arrogant nobles had fallen from grace under the Ashen Kingdom’s new system, no longer able to oppress the common people, and even faced trials. Those once-oppressed slaves regained their freedom, and small boys were rescued from basements.

Players too rushed into the city, eager to seize opportunities. The “Mechanical God Cult” guild players made magically powered steam engines and started building mechanized factories. The “Magic Coin” guild used spells to provide services to residents and earn gold coins, bringing spellcasters, once lofty and rare, closer to the people’s daily lives. The “Royalty” guild even brazenly bought a hall and claimed to accept all commission tasks.

Some thought these were merely Ashen Kingdom’s attempts to win over people’s hearts while secretly planning to contact the outside world to resist the empire’s tyranny. Yet others gradually got used to this life and abandoned past traditions…