Under the Red Dragon

Time, for the people of this world, has begun to lose its fixed concept. They simply watch the sun rise and set each day to know that another day has passed.

A massive city wall, constructed from irregular rocks fitted together seamlessly, surrounds the entire Valyrian peninsula, following the undulating coastline of the island.

This enormous project was built by the remaining Valyrians who had sided with the Golden Empire, wielding dragons, using their flames and the remnants of magical power.

The dense grains of rock covering the surface of these walls are already covered with a thin layer of frost at night, because this continent, influenced by the cold god's power from Westeros, has begun to lose its spring, summer, and autumn seasons.

Now, Essos is entering a winter akin to that of Westeros, becoming a climate with only winter. However, unlike the other continent, which is completely covered in ice and snow, the Valyrian peninsula still has a relatively mild climate due to the protection of the Black Dragon Lord.

Along the walls, which rise and fall like a mountain range, stand guard many battle-hardened warriors, not only from the Golden Empire's legions but also from the original Valyrian legions and the surviving armed forces of the various Free Trade City-States.

There are also many people who have fled from Westeros to this place, gathering on this once-great island, rallying under the massive dragon king banner on the walls, and jointly resisting the enemy of all living things—demons.

The empire that once invaded the world has now become the savior protecting it. Even Sakaro, the leader of the sect that has converted to the ancestral Red Dragon, finds this situation quite ironic.

The Dragon Legion, which once sought to cleanse the world order, has now become a force for maintaining order.

But this does not detract from Sakaro's greater respect for the dragon he believes in. Therefore, this pontiff, who has not named his sect, always appears before the people with a codex in his left hand and a dragon horn hammer in his right.

Although the explanation given to the public is that the dragon god he worships has the benevolence of civilization and the majesty of great power, it is actually more to maintain order.

Many women and elderly people dressed in linen carry baskets woven from rattan and bamboo behind this pontiff, slowly stepping onto the city wall. In the long line, there are also armed forces of the sect escorting them.

Nalia, the former Red Priestess and now the sect's saintess, guards the rear of the food-carrying team, deterring the hungry people, preventing these pitifully lucky ones from doing anything foolish.

In the city near the city walls, huge dragons perch and nest on the towering roofs and dilapidated, roofless spires.

These massive dragons smell the fragrance of food and subconsciously open their vertical pupils, scanning the small human procession on the ground.

But when they see the familiar yet tiny dragon eye badge, the habitually restless dragons close their eyes again. Before the new battle arrives, the dragons also need to restrain their claws and recover their energy.

Sakaro gently swung his short, thick dragon horn hammer, his keen senses sweeping over every raggedly dressed starving person. Today's Valyria has gathered all the surviving people from two continents, close to a million people.

The food consumed by these people every day is a heavy burden in the current increasingly scarce environment. If the Black Dragon Lord and the high-level officials of the empire had not prepared early, scavenging a massive amount of food and materials and storing them in advance, perhaps even the soldiers in the legion would find it difficult to eat a full meal now.

With all the empire's strength focused on fighting demons, most of the internal order of the peninsula has been entrusted to this former monk who abandoned darkness and turned to the light.

Sakaro did not disappoint the empire's expectations.

He promoted the faith of the Red Dragon among these people, incorporated some believers into this unnamed sect, applied to the empire, and established the Guardian Army as an armed force to suppress the order of the city, managing the city in an orderly manner without causing any trouble for the empire.

Then, he also took the lead in complying with the food planning and distribution plan formulated by the empire, two meals a day, and these people who had not gone to battle were fed with thin rice porridge mixed with a little fish.

When the former dragon knights and dragonrider squadrons drove flying dragons and dragons out to sea to hunt, Sakaro also led his believers and followers to regularly pass through the passages in the city walls, on the other side of the peninsula, to salvage and capture whales and sea beasts on the sea as supplementary food reserves.

But even Saintess Nalia had never seen this pontiff privately eat any meat that did not belong to the ration.

This made Nalia and other followers sincerely believe in the leadership of this sect leader and respect the pontiff's lofty ideas.

But Sakaro didn't think his thoughts were so lofty. He felt that he had just developed a habit of enduring because he lived in a slum when he was a child.

Most importantly, Sakaro wanted the Dragon Empire to last a little longer. The order brought by this Dragon Empire is something that other nobles and kingdoms cannot give to those civilians. He doesn't want this last bit of beauty to be broken.

He is also like the soldiers of the Imperial Legion, looking forward to the return of the dragon that once descended into the world, leading the lost people of this world back to the paradise of their dreams.

Therefore, Sakaro habitually swallowed his saliva, then pretended not to care about the aroma from the meat and food in the baskets, and let the women who voluntarily joined the logistics team send warm food to the soldiers who were guarding and resting on the city wall. This is also what they can do in the rear.

One by one, the soldiers saw the warm food and rushed forward. After being blown by the cold wind at night, even hiding behind the battlements was a bit freezing, and they urgently needed to replenish a lot of food and energy.

Occasionally, there were a few complaints.

"Why is it still pea dried rice and fish slices? I want to eat meat!"

"I haven't had a real piece of meat in a long time."

"Come on," another soldier said vaguely, "it's good enough to have dried rice and fish slices to eat. Big pieces of meat can only be enjoyed by the most courageous Dragon Legion."

"If you dare to lead the charge into those demons like them, you can also eat big pieces of meat, and even drink a little of Grandma's brewed ale."

The complaining voice suddenly subsided, and only the sound of soldiers slurping food was heard. No one dared to doubt the courage of the Dragon Legion.

The heads of the demons hanging on the city wall, and the demon corpses that spread throughout the field of vision, were proof of the Dragon Legion's courage and martial prowess. Even the thoughts of complaining in their hearts disappeared.

Sakaro took this opportunity to look around on the city wall.

Those giant crossbows and catapults架 on the city wall are not only worn out to the point where they can barely be used after being repaired and patched up in continuous wars, but even the stock of crossbow arrows is not much. Only the materials for catapults are very abundant on this peninsula.

The arrows that were once transported in bundles are now pitifully scarce, only a small pile every three to five steps, directly placed on the open city wall passage.

It's not that these soldiers don't understand the skills of maintenance and upkeep, but once they engage in battle with demons, these soldiers can only manage to take out their weapons from behind and beside them. Any slower, and the overwhelming demons will break through the defense of the entire section of the city wall.

Sakaro heard that the Imperial Legion mages also have few remaining spellcasting materials. Those mages can rely on spellcasting materials to cast spells faster and use more powerful magic.

But when the spellcasting materials are exhausted, they can only rely on their own magic power output, which will make the casters consume faster. After a battle, they may need to replenish their magic power several times, and also take into account the recuperation of their mental power.

He can only silently pray in his heart, "Great, dragon god as dazzling as the sun, I hope your will can shine on this land again."

Sakaro silently prayed as he shuttled through the city wall with the logistics team. This section is the most dangerous section of the front line, and battles may break out at any time. Only he himself can come here to be at ease and allow these soldiers to have a warm meal in time.

Walking and stopping along the way, when Sakaro saw a young soldier falling asleep against the city wall, he would wake the other party up, "Child, wake up, it's time to enjoy a warm meal to comfort your tired body,"

This is not uncommon. Even with nearly a million people in existence, the number of people guarding the defense line of the entire peninsula seems stretched.

Many soldiers, once they step onto the city wall, never come down again, either dying here or living here, facing almost non-stop warfare.

The entire front line, dyed dark red with blood, is the home of these soldiers.

Walking and stopping along the way, Sakaro also began to put down the dragon horn hammer and codex, and began to distribute food to the soldiers.

After passing through the edge section guarded by the former slave regiments and Unsullied legions, they began to step into the most dangerous position in the entire battle line.

This is not only because this section faces the most violent impact of the demons, but also because the soldiers here are inherently dangerous.

Those rows of silent golems are resting. These heroic spirit warriors are not dangerous.

What is dangerous are those surrounded and controlled by the golem legion, those warriors with an average height of more than three and a half meters, growing huge demon wings, and whose bodies and faces are no different from some powerful high-level demons outside.

Unfortunately, Sakaro does not have rich knowledge, and is not enough to distinguish between devils and demons, otherwise he would know that there are not only demons here, but also devils.

These warriors are legion warriors with demon and devil bloodlines. In these years of battles, these warriors have killed those demons. After some demons die, their essence and souls will return to their original plane.

But after many demons die, their souls are swallowed by these special warriors to replenish their own strength and repair their injuries.

Some demons are even torn out of their bodies and eaten alive by these warriors.

After swallowing the souls and heart essence of the demons, these warriors become stronger day after day, and also become more and more distorted day after day, until the ancient bloodlines in their bodies are completely resurrected, turning them into this appearance.

The originally controllable bloodline, after devouring too much demonic power to grow, makes these warriors unable to completely guarantee that their behavior can be controlled, so this is also where they are extremely dangerous.

Therefore, these warriors prayed day after day to their Emperor, the god they served, maintaining their own positive mutations and evolution through this absolute loyalty.

So, when Sakaro led the team, these warriors, indistinguishable from demons and devils, were all bowing their heads in prayer, silently.

Only when these people carefully placed the food did Sakaro notice that Gyllenis, one of the heads of the Dragon Legion, one of the Empire's Three Heroes, was also leaning against the city wall, unusually fast asleep.

Sakaro hesitated for a moment, then turned around and quietly left. In his psychic perception, the will of these warriors remained firm and unchanged.

The flags fluttered loudly, and the sounds of the demons stirring on the opposite shore of the distant strait began to drift over.

Gyllenis sat on the ground with his eyes closed, the huge warhammer placed between his legs.

"May I sit with you?" a gentle voice asked.

Gyllenis opened his eyes. A man stood beside him. The wall was quiet, as if shrouded in mist, like being in a dream.

A face that was both masculine and gentle, red eyes flashing dark gold, a scarlet cloak draped over golden-red armor, and a faint crown, not an ornament, but seemingly born with him.

Gyllenis stood up and nodded, "It's my honor."

The man crouched down beside Gyllenis, his eyes looking out.

"Are we not outside?" Gyllenis asked the man.

The man turned his head, his unparalleled grace could not be concealed even by the hazy mist. He chuckled softly, "This is a spiritual space. You and I are in a dream."

"You have fought for a long time, just like those warriors. You are already good enough!"

Gyllenis couldn't help but ask, "Will those warriors, like me, be able to see you again?"

The man glanced at Gyllenis, picked up the warhammer from the ground, looked at it back and forth, and then handed it to Gyllenis, saying softly, "Of course, if that is the meaning you uphold!"