People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 652 Demonic Dragon
Edirne (Adrianople), prisoner cage inside the city.

Mahamut II stood in a huge arena, overlooking the "big show" that was about to take place below.

Dozens of rebels who were found to be collaborating with Orhan were pushed and shoved by fully armed Janissary guards and expelled into the huge amphitheater.

The Janissary Corps was similar to the Mamluks, an elite force trained from pagan youths, but their source was often not purchased slaves, but rather "blood taxes" levied from the Christian territories they owned.

Mahamud II's Janissary Guard was similar to the Kheshig Army, and included many hostages sent by Christian princes. They were trained in the palace since childhood, and many of them even grew up with Mahamud II.

Vlad III, Skanderbeg and others all came from this personal guard.

"Your Majesty, I was wrong. I was just blinded by the butter for a moment. Please forgive my sin."

"By the Holy Fire, I am your most loyal servant, Your Majesty!"

"Mahamu, you are cruel and tyrannical. On the first day of your succession, you strangled your infant brother to death. How are you any different from a beast? Sooner or later, the Holy Fire will punish you and send you to hell forever, where you will be punished by God for ten thousand years!"

There were a variety of voices, some were begging, others were cursing.

But as a loud bang was heard from the dark and deep cave in front of them, almost everyone shut their mouths immediately, leaving only the occasional sobbing of women and children.

A Janissary guard who was guarding Mahamu drew his bow and tried to shoot the old man who had just insulted Mahamu, but he raised his hand to stop him.

"It's nothing, it's just the barking of a loser."

Mahamut II did not care about this harmless accusation at all. The former Ottoman king, Lightning Bayezid, was defeated by Timur, which led to a ten-year vacancy in the Ottoman Empire. The princes fought for power and almost turned the entire country into ruins.

Compared with such a tragic price, he could afford the infamy of killing his brother.

boom--

The heavy footsteps became louder and louder.

A strong smell of sulfur filled the air.

Inside the Colosseum, at some point in time, clusters of sparks flew up and landed on the prisoners, immediately causing a burst of shrill screams.

The next moment, the iron door was slammed open, and an unimaginably hideous head popped out from the cave, swallowing several screaming prisoners into its mouth in an instant.

"Ah."

Mahamu couldn't help but smile: "Throw some weapons to them."

More than a dozen Janissaries immediately took down their spears, flails, hammers, swords and other weapons from the Colosseum and threw them into the open space.

"Quick, run!"

"Fight that beast!"

Some of the prisoners picked up their weapons, but some were so frightened that they shrank to the corners, hoping that the dragon would ignore them.

boom--

Another black dragon head popped out and swallowed all the cowards hiding in the corner into its mouth.

All I saw was the pitch-black cave.

An extremely huge figure walked out slowly with heavy steps, and every step it took was like an earthquake.

Finally, it walked out of the cave, allowing people to get a glimpse of its entire appearance.

It was a black dragon with three huge heads, two of which were still leisurely chewing the flesh in their mouths. Under the cutting of two rows of sharp teeth, several human limbs were cut off and fell to the ground with a snap, as if hitting the hearts of these prisoners.

What followed was pure massacre.

The dragon wasn't trying to fill its own stomach at all; it was more like a cat playing with a mouse.

This brutal execution method can not only demonstrate the monarch's inviolable majesty and deter all disobedience, but also please his dragon partner. Why not do it?
At this time, a messenger came and handed over a letter.

"A letter from Hunyadi?"

Mahamu frowned and opened the envelope.

"The armistice agreement you and I signed was signed by the former Hungarian regent, not by Hunyadi today. If you insist on attacking Constantinople, I will lead the coalition forces of Hungary, Wallachia, and Serbia to fight you."

Mahamu II laughed angrily: "How arrogant! Does Hunyadi really think I'm afraid of him? If he hadn't been lucky in the battle of Kosovo, he would have been my prisoner long ago!"

The White Knight Hunyati came from a humble background (knight class) and was valued by Sigismund, the then King of Hungary and Holy Roman Emperor. He defeated the Ottomans many times. Because he often wore silver armor and fought bravely, he was called the "White Knight". He was the Ottomans' biggest enemy.

Although the Crusaders were badly defeated in the Battle of Varna, they had been in the upper hand in the war before that and forced the Ottomans to sign a humiliating treaty, agreeing to return the occupied Hungarian lands and pay a large ransom.

However, the commander of the Crusaders, Władysław, the King of Poland and Hungary at the time, tore up the armistice treaty at the instigation of the church envoys, and recklessly charged forward in the Battle of Varna, trying to take down Mahamu II directly. In the end, he was burned by dragon flames and died on the spot.

But in this battle, Hunyadi, the then Governor of Transylvania, and the "Transylvanian" Legion he commanded still left a deep impression on Mahamu II.

In addition, Hunyadi was a member of the Order of the Dragon (also known as the Order of St. George), founded by Sigismund.

Although the Dragon Knights do not have the blood of dragon tamers like the Osmanoglu family, they can give birth to a magically constructed virtual dragon as a mount with the "Dragon Knight Ring" passed down by Emperor Sigismund.

Even though its duration is limited and the magic dragon is not as ferocious as the true dragon passed down by the Mahamu II family, the Dragon Knights have more than three or five members. In their heyday, there were more than twenty princes and nobles joining.

Vlad III the Impaler, Grand Duke of Wallachia, who was once a hostage in the Ottoman court, was also one of them.

Beside him, the Grand Vizier reminded him, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. In my opinion, the White Knight is just bluffing. In the past, when Kosovo was defeated, Hungary lost more than 20,000 soldiers and generals, which was already a serious blow. The White Knight's prestige was also greatly damaged. Now that he has resigned as regent and is despised by the Hungarian King Laszlo, how can he lead the coalition forces and attack me?"

Mahmud II breathed a sigh of relief: "Once I conquer this tempting red apple (referring to Constantinople), I will take up arms again to conquer these despicable and faithless pagans."

...

Constantinople.

The royal garden has long been abandoned, with weeds and ruins everywhere. Many rare birds and animals that were once collected here were lucky enough to escape into the mountains and forests, while the unlucky ones were left with only their white skeletons scattered among the ruins.

Constantine XI did not station any garrison here, allowing residents to enter to hunt or cut down trees. This was a damage to the emperor's authority, but it was no longer a big deal.

Lothar found that there was really little he could do. Compared with Constantine XI, he was just more careful and would not make such a low-level mistake as forgetting to close the city gate.

When he saw the "giant dragon" with light blue scales and long claws trapped in the dragon circle, he couldn't help but sigh: "This clawed dragon is really... skinny."

The empire has gone bankrupt, the treasury is empty, and there are not even a few mice. Feeding a dragon beast that needs to eat a lot of meat for every meal is already a heavy burden.

This sharp-clawed dragon, including its tail, is only five meters long. Looking at its skinny appearance, it is unknown how much strength it has left.

Orhan held a piece of fat meat in his hand. The bag he carried was mostly filled with viscera, offal and other cheap meat. He stuffed it into the cage with a flattering look in his face: "Little darling, come here and eat meat."

The sharp-clawed dragon walked over slowly and swallowed the fat.

Then, it looked fierce and bit Orhan's hand that tried to touch its head.

Fortunately, Orhan was alert and withdrew his hand in time.

Hearing the crisp sound of teeth colliding, Losa couldn't help but frowned: "You can't do this."

He ignored the attempts of his attendants and eunuchs to stop him and jumped into the dragon's circle, which frightened Orhan so much that he rushed forward and said, "Your Majesty, don't do that!"

However, it was beyond everyone's expectations.

Lothar flipped into the dragon circle, but the hungry Sharp Claw Dragon did not pounce on him excitedly immediately. Instead, it seemed as if it had met an extremely terrifying beast. It arched its body, tensed its muscles, and retreated repeatedly.

But the dragon circle is not big to begin with, where can it retreat to?

As Losa pressed forward step by step, it quickly shrank into a corner, trembling and whimpering, as if begging Losa not to hurt it.

The eunuchs, Orhan and others standing by were stunned.

This sharp-clawed dragon is a low-level dragon with a low IQ and is extremely ferocious. Many times, even if they are full, they will kill for fun, not to mention this sharp-clawed dragon that has not had a full meal for more than half a year.

Orhan warned, “Your Majesty, be careful of the cunning of this beast.”

Losa, however, showed no hesitation. He strode forward, patted the trembling claw dragon on the head, and chuckled, "Little thing, serve me well, or I will kill you today and give Giovanni and the others a welcome."

In yesterday's world of giant ships, the habit of driving dragons and giants to fight has a long history. Although this claw dragon is only a low-level dragon, it is also a good combat force on the battlefield, and can also inspire people and deter the enemy.

Although he can transform into a giant dragon, when the war really comes, he will definitely have to focus all his energy on fighting Mahamu II and his black dragon, and will have no time to take care of other battlefields.

At that time, generals like Orhan and Giovanni would be needed to take action.

Afterwards, people saw this sharp-clawed dragon, which was known for its ferocity, whimpering softly, lowering its head, and crawling on the ground, just like a docile hound, expressing its obedience to their emperor.