Atop the towering, pristine white altar, the Red Dragon Emperor cast down his gaze, exuding an immense, suffocating pressure.
Beneath the radiant sun, an inscrutable air of sacred majesty gleamed in the Emperor's eyes, instilling within Adrian a quiet awe akin to facing the living avatar of the Sun God.
"You have finally arrived, Adrian."
A voice of sovereign might rumbled from the red dragon's throat, heavy as rolling thunder. The moment he spoke, a blast of scorching air laced with sulfur washed over Adrian, nearly choking the breath from his lungs.
"Adrian, Count of the Forna Domain in the Kingdom of Seleucia, begs an audience with the lawful sovereign of Anzeta and Thrace, ruler of northern Feanso, supreme Emperor of the Cinder Empire—His Majesty Cassius."
Adrian hastily dropped to one knee. In his fluster, he intended to offer standard Fadlan aristocratic etiquette, but instead performed the liturgical genuflection of the Church of Amaunator.
Behind him, Rolf paled in horror at the sight, yet quickly collected himself and bowed low to the ground, paying homage to the mightiest monarch in the Material Plane.
Head bowed, Adrian stared at the sweat dripping from his chin onto the white stone tiles. A tumultuous tempest of emotion churned in his chest, flooded with shock, agitation, and even an inexplicable thrill of delight.
*The Emperor actually knows my name?*
He was merely an obscure count from the Kingdom of Seleucia. Before a behemoth like the Cinder Empire, his domain could not stir the slightest ripple.
Furthermore, before this Emperor who rivaled demigods, the strength of an extraordinary paladin—in which Adrian took such pride—was utterly insignificant, like an ant that could be crushed with negligible effort.
Adrian could not conceive of any reason why this red dragon emperor would take notice of him, let alone summon him here in person.
"Dispense with the formalities. Rise."
The Red Dragon Emperor's words shattered Adrian's musings.
Before he could even react, Adrian felt an irresistible force lift him bodily from the ground, leaving him without the slightest chance to resist.
Lifting his head slightly, he saw the Red Dragon Emperor looking placid in the distance, having merely twitched a single talon.
Stunned, Adrian stood frozen in place, lost and tongue-tied, unable to utter a single word.
*What terrifying power!*
If this Red Dragon Emperor harbored any malice toward him, pressing that single claw would likely be enough for that invisible might to crush him into mincemeat.
The paladin could not even muster the thought of resistance.
The disparity was simply too vast—like a tiny ant standing before an immense giant, they did not even belong to the same realm.
"Adrian, I know you must be deeply perplexed by your current circumstances,"
Cassius said in a calm, even tone. "There is no need for tension. Speak whatever questions you have. Rest assured, I will not take your life as those chromatic dragons would."
After a moment's hesitation, Adrian voiced the question that weighed most heavily on his mind, the one he had to know: "Your Majesty, why are you aiding us against the Cult of the Dragon? After all, your nature..."
"After all, I too am a chromatic dragon, and there are even rumors that I am a 'Dragon Prince.' By all conventional logic, I ought to be a scion of Tiamat, correct?" Cassius chuckled softly, taking the words from his mouth.
"Please forgive my insolence, Your Majesty." Adrian bowed his head nervously, his forehead beaded with cold sweat. At the mention of "Tiamat," that nightmarish name, his breath hitched for several heartbeats.
"Fret not. I care little for such trivialities. I ask you only this—how do you feel within the borders of my empire? What kind of place is Isdalia?"
Recalling the sights he had witnessed earlier, Adrian answered earnestly, "I have never seen a city so prosperous, wealthy, and vast. The innovations here left me in awe.
"That so many races, long locked in mutual enmity, can live together peacefully and in orderly harmony—in my eyes, it is nothing short of... miraculous."
The Red Dragon Emperor nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "And what of the lands ruled by the Cult of the Dragon?"
Adrian remembered the endless tragedies in Seleucia. He could not help shaking his head, his expression solemn and laden with sorrow. "It is harrowing beyond description.
"There, chromatic dragons reign supreme above all races, while dragonborn stand above everyone else. Law and order are reduced to mere scraps of paper.
"There, an adult dragon can unhesitatingly scoop up humans walking the street and toss them into its jaws, or barge into a wealthy merchant's manor at will, plundering all their treasure and slaughtering every living soul inside. I once watched with my own eyes as a green dragon swooped from the sky and devoured a half-elf girl barely ten years old.
"Yet the Cult of the Dragon does nothing to stop it. They manage the aftermath, smearing the victims and witnesses as blasphemers who profaned the gods."
As he spoke, Adrian's grief gave way to fury, his throat trembling slightly.
"And the dragonborn run rampant, committing atrocities with complete impunity. If they kill a human, they pay a mere three silver coins in restitution, but if a human accidentally offends them, gouging out eyes or lopping off arms is commonplace.
"Every seven days, the faithful of the Cult of the Dragon hold sacrificial rites, casting so-called 'sinners' onto altars or into drake breeding grounds to serve as sacrifices and fodder.
"People wail and scream, but it is all in vain. They can only pray that the cultists do not choose them. Some have even thrown themselves into the wicked cult just to survive."
At the end, he took a deep, shuddering breath, a hint of despair glinting in his grief-stricken, indignant eyes.
"I think... Hell itself could hardly be worse."
Cassius was thoroughly familiar with the governance of chromatic dragons. In the slit pupils of those cruel, tyrannical, and short-sighted overlords, frail mortals were not even regarded as livestock; at best, they were walking, succulent morsels of meat.
When hungry, they would take a bite—not necessarily to sate their appetites, but merely to savor the screams of the weak and the thrill of destruction.
Tiamat was not so short-sighted a deity, but she could hardly keep those wicked chromatic dragons under tight rein. Moreover, to her, only one matter truly mattered above all else: breaking free from the Hells and descending into the Material Plane.
In doing so, she could reign over Feanso in her divine body as its supreme monarch, restoring the ancient glory of dragons.
Cassius lightly tapped his claws against the stone floor, his voice ringing with conviction. "That is the difference between Tiamat and me. I wish to forge an empire of great power and prosperous people, bringing my grand vision to life.
"Whether human, dwarf, elf, tiefling, or ogre—regardless of race, regardless of faith—so long as they can benefit the Empire, I will regard them as my subjects.
"And Tiamat? She merely desires to be a god ruling over all, keeping chromatic dragons as her citizens and treating all other races as slaves. No—if the gain were sufficient, she would readily discard even a chromatic dragon without a second thought."
Adrian's heart surged with emotion at these words. He breathed in admiration, "Your Majesty, I have never seen a red dragon like you."
Accompanied by a subtle tremor, Cassius pushed his massive limbs against the stone, slowly rising from the altar. His broad dragon wings spread wide, blotting out the sky, shimmering with radiant splendor.
Adrian and Rolf felt as though a majestic mountain had torn free from the earth and loomed over them. A colossal shadow enveloped them, exerting an indescribable, crushing weight upon their senses.
Looking down upon them, Cassius spoke in a low, resonant rumble: "I will never become Tiamat's thrall, nor will the Cinder Empire ever become a hunting ground for chromatic dragons.
"Therefore—I have no choice but to stand against the Cult of the Dragon, and against the Queen of Chromatic Dragons!"
Staring at the proud red dragon, Adrian no longer harbored the slightest doubt about his words.
Without question, His Majesty Cassius was indeed a noble, far-sighted Emperor, and his resolve to oppose the Queen of Chromatic Dragons, the Mother of Evil Dragons, was plain to see.
In this brief exchange, Adrian had deeply felt the Emperor's charismatic pull.
Had he not converted to the Church of Amaunator long ago, he would have raised his sword on the spot to swear fealty and become a proud citizen of the Empire.
Even so, his heart raced, brimming with excitement.
At the very least, he had confirmed one vital truth—the Cinder Emperor truly intended to commit his full might against the Cult of the Dragon!
With this, Seleucia finally had a glimmer of hope to escape the tragedy of weeping, slaughter, and blood.
Taking a deep breath to settle his churning emotions, Adrian raised his head and cautiously asked the second question burning in his mind:
"Your Majesty, why me?"
Not only Adrian, but Rolf as well had been utterly bewildered by this, having discussed it numerous times before arriving in the Cinder Empire.
The reason was simple: before a colossal juggernaut like the Empire, their strength was negligible.
Setting aside the Empire's invincible, ever-victorious Cinder Legion that had earned legendary renown across the continent, they might not even be able to overcome the heavily armored tiefling patrols outside the city.
What could the Cinder Emperor possibly want from them? Surely it wasn't just for Adrian's title as a count?
Facing Adrian's inquiry, Cassius merely raised a dragon claw and pointed toward the paladin.
In an instant, a radiant golden brilliance was awakened. Upon Adrian's forehead, the holy symbol of the Church of Amaunator emerged—a sunburst emblazoned with a solemn countenance.
"This is..."
Adrian stared down in astonishment. He felt a surge of warmth flood his veins as a hazy golden light enveloped his body, making him as light as a feather, lifting him to hover in midair.
"Amaunator above! Could this be the Sun God's divine will?" Adrian's expression grew ecstatic, golden brilliance swirling in his eyes.
Cassius's measured voice drifted down: "Through the folly of arrogant mortals, the Sun God fell into a long slumber. Yet you have been chosen by the angel who currently governs the Fortress of Eternal Radiance. You are destined to become a savior of the Church—or rather, one of its saints."
In the original course of history, the paladin Adrian was revered as the "Fearless Knight Draped in Sunlight."
In one battle, his comrades had been wiped out to the last man, leaving him encircled by over a hundred cultists and dozens of drakes. Facing that fatal impasse, Adrian awakened the divine power of the Sun God, carving a bloody path out by his own hand.
From then on, Adrian led the resistance in years of bitter warfare against the Cult of the Dragon, raising the banner of Holy Fadlan and rallying the metallic dragons, Mount Celestia, the Kingdom of Cassander, and numerous other factions. For a time, he had stood as the greatest obstacle to Tiamat's descent into the world.
Yet what Cassius did best was turning a mere cherry on top into life-saving help in an hour of desperate need—reaping the greatest share of benefits while winning over crucial figures.
As the golden light faded, Adrian knelt on one knee in sheer excitement and cried, "Your Majesty, thank you for awakening the seed of divine power within me, allowing me to feel the grace of Lord Amaunator once more—"
"Your Majesty..."
Suddenly, as if sensing something amiss, his words cut off abruptly.
The Cinder Emperor before him was the very one who had personally dismantled the Kingdom of Thrace, occupied the City of Sunrise, and even slain Wilhelm, the "King of Angels." What, then, was his true stance toward the Church of Amaunator?
Cassius shook his head with a faint, enigmatic smile, speaking softly: "You are thinking of the Kingdom of Thrace, aren't you? It seems the slander and misunderstandings spread by the outside world are indeed difficult to dispel."
He lowered his head slightly, fixing an evaluating gaze on Adrian, and asked in a low voice, "Do you truly believe... that I was the one who brought ruin to the Kingdom of Thrace?"
"Living far to the south, I never witnessed the truth firsthand. I would not dare presume to judge," Adrian stammered, lowering his head nervously as sweat broke out across his brow again, trickling down his chin to the floor.
The Red Dragon Emperor snapped his claws. A magnificent magical projection coalesced before Adrian's eyes.
Within the projection, a black sun hung high in the sky. Countless armored devils swarmed like dark storm clouds. The earth split open in ragged fissures, disgorging blazing chains wound with searing hellfire.
And before that profane black sun stood none other than His Majesty Wilhelm. His wings were pitch-black, his features hideous and warped, with endless madness blazing in his crimson eyes.
Opposite him, the Red Dragon Emperor held his head high, spreading his vast wings. Behind him hung a crimson sun, appearing as though cradled by the dragon itself, casting tens of thousands of golden rays across the earth.
In that tableau, it appeared as though the Cinder Emperor was the righteous champion, the true avatar of the Sun God, while the King of Angels had become a fiend of Hell, a wicked fallen angel.
"How... how can this be?"
Staring at the illusion, Adrian stood slack-jawed, muttering in disbelief.
In his mind, Wilhelm was the second son of Aragorn I, a being flowing with divine blood. How could he have devolved into such an abominable creature?
Cassius let out a soft, mournful sigh. "His Majesty Wilhelm and I had long shared a communion of minds, and our two nations dwelt in peace for years. Alas..."
"His mind was corrupted by Hell. He went so far as to bargain with Zariel, trading the lives of tens of millions of his subjects for personal power, intending to turn the entirety of Auguste into a soul pasture for the Lower Planes.
"My heart could not bear it, yet I could not sit idly by while such an earthly catastrophe unfolded. I had to swallow my grief, lead the imperial armies on a punitive crusade, and punish that power-maddened monarch on behalf of Lord Amaunator."
Chapter 774