Inside Teluo City, key locations such as the castellan's manor, the military and administrative hall, and the armory were immediately brought under the control of the hobgoblin army.
Sporadic ripples of resistance had flared up. Men of the city defense force swore to follow the count unto death and rose to fight back—over a hundred men charged the monster army, shouting, "For Count Dawson!" and "For the glory of Teluo City!" Yet the hobgoblins merely formed ranks in silence and leveled their muskets.
*Bang!*
After the deafening volley, all returned to silence.
Gunpowder smoke and the stench of blood drifted through Teluo City.
The fallen rebels were hung from the city walls, becoming a gruesome spectacle. As people stole terrified glances at the blood-dripping corpses riddled with holes, their hearts sank deeper into dread and unease.
"Whatever you do, don't go outside."
"Don't look..."
The residents bolted their doors and windows, shielded their children's eyes, and trembled as they muttered ceaseless prayers.
Yet before long, they were ordered to step outside and welcome their conquerors.
Fists pounded against the doors. Outside stood the savage, hideous faces of hobgoblins and lizardfolk.
Frightened children burst into wails, only to have their mouths hurriedly clamped shut by terrified adults.
No one dared to resist.
Even though the hobgoblins and lizardfolk were the most orderly and obedient to strength among all creatures in the Cinder Nest, the people could still tell that these dragonblooded monsters were barely suppressing their violent nature, eagerly awaiting any sign of defiance so they could tear the rebel to pieces.
During this process, perhaps someone was slain by a dragonblooded minion unable to contain its bloodlust, but no one would notice, much less hold anyone accountable.
Amid this pervasive terror, Teluo City maintained a semblance of basic order.
Everyone knew that the era of the red dragon's rule over Teluo City had begun.
Yet no one knew when this era would end—nor what it would be like.
The residents were herded by the monstrous army toward the central square. Once the liveliest hub of Teluo City, it was now filled with an unspoken dread.
Former nobles, soldiers, commoners, and even beggars—whether clad in fine robes, tattered rags, or coarse hemp—were all driven here by the hobgoblins and lizardfolk.
They huddled in unease, none daring to speak, like condemned criminals led to the execution grounds, quietly awaiting their final judgment.
And so they waited.
Suddenly, the recruited city guards stationed by the entrance looked into the distance, their voices trembling, as did the townspeople.
"Heavens..."
"What... what is that?"
"Gods preserve us."
Clustered tightly together like a roiling storm cloud, a dense, dark flock of wyverns approached from the distance, nearly blotting out the sun.
Yet the wyverns were mere heralds to the king.
In the sky, they parted to clear a wide passage as a colossal red dragon beat his wings, gliding down to land.
Cassius cast a massive shadow across the ground that, for a moment, seemed ready to swallow the crowd whole. Then, with a thunderous crash, he touched down in the central square of Teluo City.
His titanic figure took form in the middle of the square.
Dust billowed everywhere.
Only when the smoke cleared could the people make out his appearance.
He was a terrifying red dragon.
Colossal, muscular, the very embodiment of power.
His swept-back horns rose like a majestic crown, and his golden pupils burned as though fueled by raging flames.
As that gaze swept over them from above, a primal dread of an apex predator gripped everyone present. They could not help lowering their heads; the weaker among them collapsed straight to their knees.
The fearsome beast opened his maw, unleashing a wave of scalding heat that washed over the crowd, instantly calling to mind the rumor of the "Incarnation of Fire."
"Greetings, citizens of Teluo City."
The voice boomed like rolling thunder.
Standing at the very front with a forced smile plastered across his face, Viscount Burton slumped to the ground in sheer terror.
Cassius merely spoke in a calm, measured tone: "I know Teluo City possesses a glorious history. Your ancestors once repelled the assaults of white dragons and frost giants, and you were once renowned as the City of Valorous Might."
He paused briefly.
"Yet all of that is in the past."
"Now, this is my domain."
"Here, I shall establish a new order belonging solely to the Cinder Nest. To any who disobey, I shall grant absolute destruction."
"I shall rule here. Who supports me, and who opposes me?"
Cassius looked down upon the tens of thousands of citizens. An invisible majesty radiated from his vertical golden pupils as his gaze swept across nobles, soldiers, and commoners alike, but not a single soul dared meet his eyes.
A suffocating silence hung over the square.
Suddenly, a voice drew the crowd's attention—and Cassius's gaze.
Viscount Burton lay trembling on the ground, stammering softly, "C-Cinder King..."
Seeing the red dragon look his way, his body shuddered even more violently, sweat streaming down the rolls of fat on his face. Yet he mustered his courage, thrust his arm into the air, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "The old era has passed! W-Welcome the Cinder King to rule Teluo City!"
Ignoring the contemptuous glares of those around him, Viscount Burton scrambled unsteadily to his feet and continued to roar:
"The Cinder King!"
"The Cinder King!"
"He shall rule Teluo City, and he shall rule the world!"
First, the hobgoblins and lizardfolk raised their weapons and cheered.
Then, under the monsters' urging, the citizens of Teluo City were forced to join in this celebration paid for with the fall of their city.
Cassius watched the cheering monsters and crowds.
He could tell that countless savage desires were pent up within these dragonblooded monsters: their reddened eyes, their gaping maws venting hot breath, their gruesome scales and horns...
They thirsted for slaughter, desperate to vent the boiling blood coursing through their veins.
Only because of Cassius's restraint had they maintained a semblance of order. Had the red dragon not arrived in person, a bloody catastrophe rivaling the Fall of Northwind Keep might well have unfolded within the city—an outcome he had no desire to see.
The regime Cassius wanted to build was an orderly, multi-ethnic, pluralistic empire.
An empire that served him, possessed formidable power, and had the capacity to grow and thrive.
He had no wish to forge a chaotic force of slaughter that brought calamity everywhere, just like demons of the Abyss who were besieged by everyone wherever they went.
*Such is the brutal nature of the red dragon's bloodline. These dragonblooded minions can only ever serve as a blade in hand; I cannot rely on them to build a new order.*
*Players... I need to control more players.*
*And... I must find a way to suppress the chaos and brutality within the red dragon's blood,*
he thought to himself.
Cassius had long realized that the chaos and evil coursing through a red dragon's boiling blood had already begun to influence his mindset to a certain extent.
Cruelty, arrogance, bloodlust—he often inadvertently displayed these terrible traits, at times without even realizing it himself.
Chapter 123