Under the Red Dragon

The winter climate is harsh, especially for ordinary people. A worn sheepskin coat is a treasure for many to survive the cold.

Qiao Luo shivered as he lit the charcoal in the brazier, carefully coaxing the embers to a glowing warmth. Only then could he feel the meager heat from his thin, old sheepskin coat trapping his body's pitiful warmth.

Once his hands, stiffened by the damp cold, had warmed up, Qiao Luo slowly opened the door of the small station. The cold wind outside made him shudder, and the 56-year-old man couldn't help but curse.

"Dogshit weather, as disgusting as those dogshit nobles, and those dogshit monsters from the north," Qiao Luo spat, the spittle landing at the feet of three middle-aged men dressed as hunters who were approaching through the dust.

The three middle-aged men laughed heartily. One of them, a man with curly whiskers, boomed, "Old Qiao Luo, you didn't need to be so enthusiastic to welcome us."

"All resources are scarce now, that spit of yours is worth a cup of water!"

"Heh, those nobles are still having grand banquets in their castles and mansions. The wine they spend every day would be enough for me, old Qiao Luo, to swim in," Old Qiao Luo retorted dryly, while ushering the guests inside.

This dilapidated, drafty little station was nestled in a wind-sheltered mountain hollow, surrounded by verdant hills. There were few residents nearby, and it was more than twenty miles from the capital of the Koriya Kingdom, making it virtually uninhabited.

Doing anything in such a place was inconvenient, and life was difficult, let alone doing business. Even the most foolish person wouldn't choose to spend a penny here.

But now it was different.

This small station, originally built by mountain hunters and woodcutters to store emergency supplies and a few necessities, was now one of the most popular places outside the Koriya Kingdom's capital for ordinary people.

For the citizens of the Koriya Kingdom, the war waged by the Northern Kings was quite distant, at least until a few months ago.

But no one expected that the war would only last a month and a half—not even enough time for ordinary humans to travel back and forth across that distance—before the threat from the northern dragons and kings was so close at hand.

The Northern Golden Empire and the central allied forces of giants and elves took only a single day to break through the supposedly indestructible defense line.

Then, they crushed the resistance of several kingdoms in a destructive sweep, surging aggressively into the borders of the Koriya Kingdom. Countless legionnaires were stationed on the Koriya Kingdom's great plains, with their forces at the foot of Ella City.

Those great villains and evil dragons that only occasionally appeared in ordinary people's stories and legends were now soaring in droves across the sky, their eyes burning as they looked down upon the prey on the earth, thirsting for blood and flesh.

Those evil giants, who had almost disappeared, were gathering in the thousands, like weeds suddenly sprouting from the spring soil, wanting to trample the order and everything of human civilization.

Even the elves, who usually played a positive supporting role in stories, showcasing human heroism and beauty, had joined the evil camp, wanting to trample human kingdoms.

Such terrifying deterrence and oppressive impact made everyone in the Koriya Kingdom feel as if they were in a terrifying nightmare, unbelievable and unreal.

During this time, countless citizens in the Koriya capital were using handcarts and emaciated livestock to carry their meager belongings, trying to escape from the capital to the outside of the city.

In past wars, ordinary people always hoped to be protected by a city surrounded by a solid wall, but in this war, these ordinary people only wanted to escape to the mountain corners outside the city.

Not only commoners, but also many high-ranking nobles and some officials were quietly sending their family members and descendants to other places, wanting to escape the Koriya capital, a city that might be destined to be destroyed and occupied.

Commoners may not have noble backgrounds or a good education, but they are not stupid most of the time.

However, the Koriya capital issued a strict ban the day after the mass exodus of citizens, restricting the people of the capital from leaving.

Without the consent of some city defense bureaucrats, even the big merchants and people from merchant associations who usually had connections in the eyes of ordinary people could not leave the Koriya capital.

In any kingdom, those from ordinary families are the best soldiers, and the children from ordinary families are the most suitable reserve soldiers.

That's why people like old Qiao Luo exist.

Cats have cat ways, and rats have rat ways. Old Qiao Luo is an insignificant link in this rat way.

"Got anything to eat, old Qiao Luo? Get something for us three brothers. We hid under the vehicles transporting supplies out of the city for two whole days and nights, and now we could gnaw two pounds of tree bark."

The oldest man, acting as if he knew the place well, beckoned his brothers to sit down on the dilapidated chairs, rubbing their hands around the bright yellow charcoal fire. The chair under his buttocks creaked constantly as he shook his leg.

Old Qiao Luo returned behind the narrow counter and, in just a few minutes, concocted three bowls of 'food' that were difficult to distinguish in color. The mushy 'food' looked like various finely chopped seasonings crushed and mixed with some cold water, even skipping the step of cooking it over charcoal.

The youngest man took the bowl that old Qiao Luo handed him, took a big gulp, and couldn't help but spit it out.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey," the young man said, his eyes red from the taste. Coughing, he said, "What the hell is this, old Qiao Luo? Even a sea monster's snot tastes several times better than what you're selling!"

Old Qiao Luo rolled his eyes and glared at the young man, took out a dilapidated wooden bowl, squatted on the ground, and shoveled the 'food' that the young man had spat out little by little, the dust on the ground mixing with the sticky 'food' into one color.

"It's good to have something to eat now," Old Qiao Luo muttered, putting the bowl of 'food' back into the counter. "Even those with a lot of wealth don't eat much better than you when they come here. I just add a small pinch of coarse salt to theirs."

The young man's face turned green. He looked at the food in his bowl, the color not much different from the way old Qiao Luo had taken it back.

He couldn't help but complain, "Those wild dog nobles, I don't know what madness they're up to, they just have to provoke those northern monsters."

"Well, we haven't enjoyed what those nobles enjoy, but the troubles those nobles provoke are all pinned on the heads of us ordinary people."

The oldest man swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty, his face dark, and then said vaguely, "Those nobles are certainly dogshit, but those northern monsters are not good things either, especially the Golden Empire ruled by the chromatic dragons. Relying on the strength of their country, many merchants come here and steal our jobs..."

Rumble,

Before the older man could finish his words, he felt as if the sky outside had suddenly darkened, followed by a loud, ear-splitting wind and booming sonic boom.

Then came an uncontrollable, instinctive panic that was born and surged in the hearts of those in the small station, reaching into their limbs and bones.

It was like an ordinary person standing on a beach facing a giant wave hundreds of meters high crashing down on them—the kind of fear that cannot be controlled. But these people didn't need to see the giant wave coming; their souls could feel it.

Bang,

With a violent crash, the thatched and wooden roof of the entire small station was instantly overturned and swept away by the huge force of the wind.

The few people whose eardrums had been shattered could no longer hear the violent sound, but they could imagine it.

It was dragons, wyverns, and draconic beasts whose enormous size was difficult for mortals to measure, streaking across the sky, blocking the winter light—the sun. Each flap of their huge wings created near-visible shadows of wind currents in the sky.

Wherever the huge bodies of those dragons passing through the sky went, even the dense forests on the green hills were separated to both sides by the wind and waves from the flapping wings.

In ancient times, there were legends of saints separating the waves of the sea to reveal the land beneath the sea, but today, a group of dragons crossed the sky, separating the green waves everywhere on the earth.

In the eyes of these few people, it felt as if the mountains were being shaken and distorted by such terrifying momentum.

Even separated in the air, the continuous stench and strong dragon blood aura enveloped the entire mountain hollow, making it impossible for them to breathe deeply.

It wasn't until the traces of the last wyvern disappeared in the distant sky that these people, who were unconsciously trembling, came back to their senses.

"That was, a dragon!"

"Why are the northern empire's dragons here? Could it be that all the cities in front of the Koriya capital have fallen?"

No one could answer old Qiao Luo's words, and no one could hear the sound coming from old Qiao Luo's moving lips.

The oldest man's dark face had long been as pale as transparent. He knelt on the ground and prayed in a low voice to the departing figure of the dragon in words that only he knew: "Thank you for the dragon's mercy..."

But the dragon's mercy will not favor everyone.

A convoy drove a long line of carriages along the Koriya Avenue, the carriages loaded with various supplies transported from nearby areas to the Koriya capital.

During this time, in order to resist the threat from the Northern Kings, the entire Koriya capital was gathering countless daily necessities and military supplies from all over.

A mid-level officer led his warhorse on the right side of the convoy, and teams of soldiers drove the carriages toward the Koriya capital.

The current Koriya Kingdom had long given up the confidence and idea that Ella City and the several cities on the front line could resist the Northern Kings' advance.

Because even the higher-level duchies did not have the strength to build relevant magic defense systems for every city, and only a few extremely important cities could have complete magic defense systems.

Because the magic defense system that could protect the entire city was not only expensive to build, but the magic materials required for its construction were themselves a huge consumption, not to mention the wealth consumed to build the entire system.

Moreover, a complete magic defense system was not something that could be worry-free forever after it was built. Every year, the rulers of various countries also needed to spend a lot of money to have those spellcasters inspect and maintain the defense system, so as to avoid loopholes and damage in the long run.

Therefore, the ruling royal family of the Koriya Kingdom could only hope that the high walls of the Koriya capital could resist the Northern Kings' advance, relying on the magic barrier system that the Koriya Kingdom had built during its most prosperous period, which once belonged to the most solid in the northern territory of Akania.

Therefore, not only Ella City, but even the supplies from the other cities on the front line were forcibly requisitioned and gathered in the Koriya capital, wanting to use abundant material reserves to exhaust the Northern Kings' patience and strength as much as possible, and it was best to be able to drag down the Northern Kings' offensive.

However, such thoughts had nothing to do with this mid-level officer. He was only concerned about himself now.

As a member of the material operation system who had some power, he also belonged to a link in the 'rat path'.

As long as he was given money, he could safely bring those who wanted to escape the Koriya capital out.

He was calculating how many gold coins he should get these days when the transcendent's intuition made him suddenly raise his head.

The sky beyond the entire firmament was like the most dazzling sunset glow in the evening, with layers of clouds dyed red, patches of scarlet.

An extremely terrifying aura, like a meteor streaking across the sky, burning with a fiery tail, crashed toward him.

Yes, even though the terrifying figure was still high in the sky, this officer still subconsciously felt that he would be crushed by the rolling, tidal wave coming head-on.

In the long line of carriages, those warhorses and packhorses that had been tamed for a long time and were docile suddenly seemed to awaken the wildness of running on the grasslands hundreds of years ago, frantically neighing and wanting to break free from the restraints and shackles of the reins and carriages.

Several mad packhorses even pulled the heavy goods that forced them to pace forward step by step and began to run wildly toward the forests outside the avenue.

The fact proved that the instinctive wildness of animals, in most cases, was more trustworthy than human intuition.

The terrifying meteor that streaked across disappeared into the eyes of these stunned soldiers, but the wind wrapped in stench swept through the entire convoy.

Some people wanted to escape, but could not escape the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

Everyone was swallowed by the smelly wind in an instant, leaving only scattered goods on the ground.

It is difficult to make dragons, wyverns and dragon beasts restrain themselves, and restrain their source desires.

But it is very simple to let these monsters release their desire to kill, just a slight nod from Kalon.

But these innocent warriors are just footnotes.

In the winter of the fifteenth year of the Dragon Calendar, Dragon Emperor Kalon Gorgomora of the Golden Empire personally led ten thousand dragons to knock on the gates of the Koriya capital!