novelraw Chapter 400: The Fire of the New Dragon Court
Chapter 400: The Fire of the New Dragon Court
"My goodness, the legendary Stormsea was actually truly found by the Black Chieftain?"
On the third day after Fisher's departure, Alagina finally rushed back to the Iceberg Queen Ship in a boat. Before she could sort out the lingering afterglow from her previous encounter with Fisher, the Black Chieftain Ship, sailing even deeper into the ocean, sent an envoy to bring them an extremely shocking piece of news.
The El Dorado of all legendary adventurers, the Stormsea, had appeared in the world.
"It is absolutely true. Just the night before yesterday, while our Captain was sailing on the sea, he suddenly discovered an anomaly on the distant sea surface. The Spatial Turbulence that had previously troubled us suddenly vanished, and the Stormsea truly exists inside it!"
The messenger who boarded the ship wore a short black sailor outfit. His body was tanned completely dark, looking like a native of the Southern Continent. Yet it was unknown why he spoke fluent Northern Border language. Presumably, this was the reason he was selected as a messenger by the Black Chieftain?
At this moment, all the crew members on the Iceberg Queen Ship looked with rather shocked expressions at Alagina, Pakhz, and Aoxi standing behind them on the deck. Pakhz had been losing weight recently, and her originally chubby face had begun to gain more contour. It was unknown if it had anything to do with Old Jack; anyway, she rigidly stated something about "returning to my Heroic And Valiant Posture of my youth."
And although Aoxi still wore a cloak as usual, adopting the appearance of a taciturn person who silently listened, she no longer stayed atop the mast all the time.
Since Fisher left, everything on the Iceberg Queen Ship had changed quite a bit.
"That sounds great! Captain Alagina, let's go take a look too! It's the Stormsea, you know! In the past, I..."
At this time, among the crowd of crew members surrounding the envoy from the Black Chieftain Ship, a not-so-tall young girl with short golden hair had her golden eyes light up slightly, and she immediately spoke as such to Alagina."Isabel, that's enough! Don't interrupt; let us decide!"
"Yes, First Mate Pakhz!"
Hearing this, Pakhz immediately glared at the blonde girl who had spoken, causing her to hide behind others amid the roaring laughter of the surrounding crew members.
The girl Pakhz called "Isabel" had a standard, contoured Naris appearance, though her skin was much rougher now. The sun and wind on the sea had quickly dyed this princess from the Golden Palace with a resilient color. Now, her skin had tanned to a light wheat color. Just as Old Jack had said, she was like a little leopard possessing the wild nature of a woman from the Sardin Matriarchy.
But after all, Naris people lived by the sea. This color dyed by the Ocean didn't seem all that contradictory on this princess wandering overseas.
The envoy watched this scene, finding it somewhat amusing, but still continued speaking to the Alagina and Pakhz before him,
"The Captain says that although they found the Stormsea, based on his observations over the past few days, it's very dangerous inside. He needs to recruit capable individuals to properly explore it. He still wishes to invite you to join his exploration team. But if you are unwilling, that's fine too. The Captain says his previous promise still stands. If you wish to return to the Matriarchy, he will make arrangements for you when he returns to the Pirate Harbor this month."
Pakhz didn't respond, merely turning her head to look at Alagina, seemingly waiting for her reply.
Pakhz had always understood Alagina clearly. This heir to a Vassal State had never liked rushing about, preferring peaceful and tranquil days. It undeniably couldn't be denied that for that Vassal State which had been tyrannized by her mother for many years, a feudal lord like Alagina was exactly what the people needed. But if she were placed elsewhere, that would be unknown.
Alagina fell silent for a moment. Under the quiet gazes of the crew members, she raised her azure eyes and decisively said,
"I understand. Then please let us join the Black Chieftain's exploration team for the Stormsea. But regarding the proceeds of the exploration..."
Perhaps even the messenger who had come to deliver the letter hadn't expected this Matriarchy Captain, who only ever did what was minimally passing, to actually unprecedentedly agree to the Black Chieftain's invitation. When the Black Chieftain sent him, he hadn't held out much hope that Alagina would agree. After all, everyone knew Alagina was only here for that "return to the Northern Border" reward from the Black Chieftain.
But why today...
"Don't worry, the Captain says the proceeds of the exploration will just be split equally."
"Alright!"
In the back among the crew, Isabel laughed and jumped up, raising her dagger. The other crew members were also eager to give it a try. The combative and exploratory blood of the Matriarchy's women was undoubtedly revealed at this moment; otherwise, where did you think their custom of sailing out to sea to hunt Sea Ghosts in winter came from?
Pakhz was also somewhat surprised, but after turning her head to look at Alagina's resolute appearance, she roughly understood.
This appearance... doesn't seem to be any different from me losing weight for Old Jack, right?
Or could it be, when we returned to the Pirate Harbor for resupply this time, she met Fisher?
Pakhz smiled knowingly and didn't ask further. The romance and goals of the youth were ever so complicated. She was already old, only knowing to lose weight to attract the opposite sex. She probably couldn't return to the time in her youth when she would fly into a rage for a beau. It was enough to simply follow the Captain's orders. Aoxi basically had no objections either; she was merely wondering exactly what kind of place the Stormsea was.
"The Stormsea isn't far from here, the coordinates are here. Since Captain Alagina has agreed, then I will return to the ship to report, farewell."
"Take care."
The Black Chieftain's envoy nodded. He turned around, ran a few quick steps, and leaped off the side of the deck, landing exactly onto a small boat. When he sat steady, grabbed the oars, and began rowing toward the Black Chieftain Ship, he couldn't help but look back at the massive warship behind him again and muttered,
"How strange. Didn't Zu Zu say Captain Alagina would most likely return to the Northern Border? And to think I even reminded Kexiening to prepare to rope her in, really..."
Yes, this Black Chieftain crew member who had the appearance of a Southern Continent native was the Slime who had appeared that night when Fisher went to the Borderland. The news regarding the Pirate Harbor had previously been spoken by him.
He didn't use Value to teleport. He merely continuously rowed with all his might. While rowing, he used the blue-green jelly-like tentacles extending from within his body to send a message to the Borderland, informing them of the latest trends here.
The various affairs occurring in the world converged in the Borderland through the information exchange of this group of Slimes lurking everywhere in the world. Although the curse of the Wutong Tree in the Northern Border had already been removed at this moment, per the Slime King's orders, the Slimes who had been operating all over the world for a long time didn't all intend to return. They continued doing their own things as before.
While this Slime was writing and hadn't even finished yet, a virtual message formed from sparkling golden Value suddenly popped up beside him.
"Huh, there's new news in the Southern Continent? Zu Zu even broadcasted it for all of us to see... What is this?"
Seeing that it was new news publicly announced by the Slime King, he immediately put down the action of writing intel and focused on reading the message on this Value. The sentence on it was very brief, reading,
"Today, the New Dragon Court officially captured a city of Kadu; the horn of war in the Southern Continent has already sounded."
He stared blankly at that sentence and turned to look toward the southwest.
At the end of the firmament in that direction lay an ancient continent. At this moment, a fire whipped up by a crimson figure flourished bit by bit, gradually gaining the momentum of a prairie fire.
"Kill! Smash the gates open!"
"One! Two! Three!"
"Bang!"
Back then, in a corner of the southwest in the Southern Continent, amidst the boundless wilderness, a city that abruptly pierced into this wilderness like a nail was currently echoing with heaven-shaking cries of killing. Countless roaring artillery, firing muskets, and flashing traces of magic light struck formidable blows upon the city walls. These rather strange weapons had always been the reliance that the humans used to Smash Like Rotten Wood in the Southern Continent. Relying on these high-built city walls, they extracted everything upon this ancient land deeply into the marrow of their bones.
Gold mines, population, land...
Even a religious nation like Kadu that constantly recited the Mother Goddess's dogmas had the ambition to travel across the oceans to pioneer here driven by the devil of greed. They rarely recruited their ascetic compatriots, instead recruiting personnel from other places in Chevalie and Naris with heavy promises of gold, hoping to realize the dream of getting rich overnight...
The City Lord of Lunet City was precisely such an ambitious person. He was once a bishop of a church in Kadu. However, in a place with such a thick religious atmosphere like Kadu, a brick randomly tossed in the Holy City could smash a huge swathe of bishops, let alone an Unknown To The Public "fringe bishop" like him—the sort of transparent figure who could only sit on the fringes listening to scriptures during annual meetings.
But with the development of the times, the surrounding cultures of Chevalie and Naris continuously exchanged with Kadu. Consequently, he was also gradually infected by a heroic image like Blake. Four years ago, Losing Everything, he recruited personnel and came to the Southern Continent, hoping to greatly display his talents.
It was just unknown whether it was the Mother Goddess's punishment for his greed, but for the first three years, he had never found anything valuable. He didn't discover a single one of the gold mines or gemstone mines people rumored about. He had no choice but to eke out a meager living engaging in the slave trade with some slave merchants. However, this summer, he seemed to have experienced a stroke of luck. In a Demi-Human tribe less than fifteen kilometers away from his city, he finally found the gold he dreamed of.
And then, before he could gleefully mine it for two weeks, before even the gold transported to the city had been shipped away, his city below was surrounded by a Demi-Human army composed of various races, wielding muskets and cannons, led by a female Red Dragon-kin, calling themselves the "New Dragon Court"...
"Make way!"
As the artillery on the walls could not stop the increasing numbers of Demi-Humans from encircling the city, from within the formation of the New Dragon Court army, that armored, red-haired, arrogant Dragon Queen charged out from the ranks, holding a giant Red Spear single-handedly. The gates of Lunet City had many magics attached to them, making ordinary magic and siege weapons basically useless. Having been at a stalemate for a long time without breaking through, Raphaela finally couldn't sit still and charged out hefting a spear.
Seeing this, Jasmine, who was originally behind her, hurriedly spurred her horse to follow. From afar, she heard Raphaela let out a great roar and then fiercely hurl the longspear in her hands at the distant city gate.
"Roar!"
As the longspear, seemingly composed of blood yet hotter than magma, was hurled by Raphaela, the strictly locked city gates instantly seemed to be struck head-on by countless artillery shells, directly blowing through the entire city gate and raining giant boulders all over the ground.
That terrifying lethality akin to a natural disaster instantly caused the defending forces on the city walls to become Frightened Out of One's Wits. Yet Raphaela still didn't stop. With a flick of her wrist, she withdrew her longspear and charged into the city without losing momentum,
"Follow me, we only capture the City Lord!! Stand by outside the formation!!"
The Centaur Race wielding spears, and the flying Brain Demon Race, Kelili, also flew into the city taking advantage of the instant the magical barrier on the walls was torn by Raphaela's longspear. Because of her presence, the galloping hooves and chanting sounds of Raphaela and a crowd of Centaur Race members rapidly transmitted into the city, heard clearly by all the Struck With Panic humans trapped within,
"Everyone, cease your resistance! We only settle accounts with the City Lord! Everyone, cease your resistance!"
Under an almost unstoppable offensive, the innocent humans in the city fled into their houses one after another, watching Raphaela kill her way all the way to the City Lord's Manor.
The progress of the war was rapid, but the aftermath of the war was not so simple. The work of sweeping the battlefield, tallying the wounded, and confiscating spoils of war lasted well into the afternoon before the busyness finally ground to a halt.
Raphaela ordered the vast majority of the army to stop outside the city, only keeping a minority of Demi-Humans in the city to watch over the humans to prevent them from escaping.
"According to the laws set by the Queen of the New Dragon Court, we shall carry out merciless punishment upon criminals, invaders, and traitors!!"
At the gate of the shattered city walls, the Demi-Humans erected a guillotine. The armies lined up in proper formation ahead. While some braver humans in the city tentatively walked out their doors, they quickly discovered that as long as they didn't leave the city, those fully armed, terrifying Demi-Humans wouldn't do anything to them. They merely confiscated all magic and communication devices cleanly from the city. After killing off all the City Lord's die-hard loyalists one by one, the remaining humans engaged in production emerged completely unscathed.
"They are!! Colin, the slave merchant who sold our compatriots!! Lunet, the Invader!! And Haril, the traitor!!"
As a group of Demi-Humans escorted a lump of green slime, a disheveled and Struck With Panic human, and a Dragon-kin who still kept his chest puffed out onto the execution platform, faint gasps drifted from the humans in the city behind. Meanwhile, all the Demi-Human soldiers at the front of the formation shouted enthusiastically, raising their weapons.
And on that nearly shattered city wall, the red-haired Dragon-kin who had led the army into the city was currently sitting quietly at the edge. Seeing those three criminals secured beneath the massive heavy blade—timidly begging for mercy, or shouting hysterically, or peacefully remaining silent...
A glint flashed in her emerald eyes. She only looked at the scene before her and took a deep breath of the air where gunpowder smoke had yet to dissipate. Although it choked her nose, it seemed to lighten her entire body.
"Raphaela, so you're here. I looked for you for a long time..."
Right at this moment, behind her, the Whale-kin girl Jasmine, who she was on very good terms with, easily leaped onto the city wall. Looking at her friend's back, she spoke up, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the place.
"Jasmine, you just came back from the wounded, right? Sorry to trouble you."
"Fortunately, there aren't many wounded this time. Even I didn't expect it to be this fast."
Jasmine sat down next to Raphaela, somewhat surprised that the battle had been so completely Smash Like Rotten Wood. Raphaela smiled slightly. Looking at the Demi-Human soldiers below roaring loudly with raised weapons, she spoke,
"It was already a swelling momentum. We spent a full seven months preparing just for this very day. Since the establishment of the New Dragon Court until now, our compatriots have been oppressed for so long, they all urgently needed a victory to release the repression that had built up for so long... I'm not surprised by the result of this battle. The difficult matters are still to come."
"The matters to come?"
Raphaela nodded and smiled,
"Yeah, every step has its own difficulties. I'm only saying these words to you. I have no intention to Exterminate Completely the humans. Not only because the New Dragon Court still has to learn improved techniques from the human artisans in this city, improve our education from their texts, and acquire Magic from them, but also because I am unwilling to repeat humanity's sin of massacring the innocent."
"I have seen invaders lay murderous hands on children either because of profit or hypocritical salvation. When I am faced with this choice right now, even if there are future troubles, I must stick to my path. I will not put down my butcher's knife until they are all driven out of our homeland; yet I will also not over-correct and treat those who were forced or ignorant as equals to the rest."
Hearing Raphaela's words, Jasmine also began to ponder along with her.
Regarding humans, her feelings had always been extremely complex, rendering her stuck in the middle and completely unsure of which side to take. Whether it was hatred or forgiveness, taking either side seemed like a betrayal of certain people or certain matters. She didn't know how Raphaela managed the delicate balance, but in her eyes, Raphaela seemed to know far more about this aspect than she did.
Jasmine expressed her doubts to Raphaela, but Raphaela merely smiled, shook her head, and tapped Jasmine's head.
"Idiot, how can you ask me about this kind of thing? As for me, as long as I am strong enough, no matter what decision I make, I won't regret it. Besides, these are all conclusions I arrived at through my own thinking. Of course, there is no right or wrong, only having a clear conscience. This is... the principle my husband taught me."
"...That's true. My teacher also taught me that the right and wrong of many matters in this world are unclear. Rather, it's that we grow after experiencing these matters."
Raphaela blanked slightly and nodded, very much finding the words useful. She praised,
"Seen like this, your teacher, or rather your sweetheart, must be an extremely wise person."
"Not at all, Raphaela's husband is too. He sounds like an exceptionally intelligent and kind-hearted person."
"Hahaha, that guy isn't... He's a super big bad guy, the kind that is very, very bad, but also very, very good."
In fact, Raphaela and Jasmine rarely discussed the person in each other's hearts. First, they were currently separated from each other, so even if they talked about it, it would only lead to sadness. They merely knew that both were striving to change themselves.
In the blood-like setting sun ahead, the heavy blade glinting with a cold light fell rapidly, directly killing all the judged criminals. The Demi-Humans below erupted into heaven-piercing roars, but Raphaela didn't look in that direction at all. She merely sighed and continued speaking,
"Sigh, the next part is the troublesome bit... It's going to get lively inside the New Dragon Court again. A bunch of people definitely had their heads turned by this victory, feeling the humans can't even withstand a single blow, wishing they could fight from the south all the way to the north tommorrow; or else there definitely be those who feel the vicinity is safe after fighting, and will tender their resignations to me, and simply return to their tribes to be bandit kings. It gives me such a headache..."
"Huh, it's rare to hear Raphaela speak with such little confidence."
"It's not a lack of confidence, it's just rather troublesome... Speaking of which, it seems after we came out of Fafnir's underground palace last time, I felt my body seemingly grow stronger, and engraving magic became much, much faster. It's like Fafnir gave me more than just this divine weapon. I just truly never expected the Dragon God Fafnir, whom we worshipped for so long, to actually have such an unfrank side. It made me think he didn't want to care about us at all back then, and I even forgot to thank him... I'll go thank him face to face after things quiet down."
No, there probably won't be an opportunity for that.
Jasmine smiled awkwardly. Back when they departed, Lady Ramastia had disappeared for a long time. Upon returning, everything said in that baby-like voice was carrying wet, crying whimpers, sobbing for a while after speaking a while. It wasn't until Jasmine comforted Him for a very long time before He quieted down that she realized His beloved Dragon God Fafnir had already passed from the world.
But these past few days Lady Ramastia seemed to have disappeared again, with no response no matter how she called. She wondered if He had returned to the seabed for some matter.
"An unfrank side? Isn't that just you, Raphaela? I actually find it quite logical; Raphaela possesses Fafnir's bloodline, and your personalities are very similar."
"Huh? Me? I'm not frank?"
Seeing Raphaela pointing at herself with a face full of disbelief, Jasmine narrowed her eyes and observed for a second or two before nodding and saying,
"Yup. Sometimes at night when I see you spacing out, you're clearly thinking of your husband. Every time I ask, you say no, but your expression completely exposes you... In the storybooks I read in Naris, they say you are... um, tsundere... Ah ah ah ah, don't pinch my face, Raphaela!"
Flustered and Exasperated, Raphaela pinched the cheek of the Jasmine before her. But after all, this was before the army formation, so their horseplay was merely Stop After a Brief Attempt anyway. As long as Jasmine didn't continue speaking, it was fine. This was truly far... far too humiliating.
But my Tail-Compatible Partner... I haven't seen him in far too long. So at night, whenever I think of him, I always...
Right in this corner of the boundless wilderness, before this battlefield closely watched by Demi-Humans and humans alike, seeing the blood flowing from the executed enemies on the execution platform, that group of Demi-Humans who had been oppressed for a long time, hoping for dawn amidst their numb deathly stillness, finally felt a tearful emotion Absolutely Unprecedented to them.
Many of their homes had been destroyed, rendering them Homeless And Wandering. Perhaps it wasn't for revenge, but merely for that sliver of liberation in their hearts, that they uncontrollably raised the weapons in their hands, shouting entirely Hysterical,
"New Dragon Court! New Dragon Court! New Dragon Court!"
The existence of the Brain Demon Race allowed this concept, shouted simultaneously in different languages, to deeply engrave itself into the hearts of everyone present. Even the humans in the Inner City looked with some astonishment at the indignant and agitated Demi-Humans in the distance, a term they might have only just learned today echoing in their minds...
Raphaela stood up as well, raising her crimson spear high upon the lofty city walls.
"For the New Dragon Court!"
Her high, fiery voice instantly spread a very long distance, drawing everyone's gaze onto her.
"For the New Dragon Court! For the Dragon Queen!!"
The distant setting sun sank bit by bit. Yet here and now, the ancient Dragon Court that had slumbered for a long time was once again slowly rising. Carrying the beliefs of many, it caused the threads of Destiny to shake, igniting this continent that had been numb for a long time with the momentum of a prairie fire.
Beside her, Jasmine looked at Raphaela for a long time. Subsequently, she also placed her hands before her mouth and shouted loudly,
"For the New Dragon Court!!"