Kingdom of Seleucia, Forest Hawk City.
The air hung heavy with a pungent stench of blood, foul decay, and stinging acid. Bloodstains covered the ground, and many buildings lay in broken ruins, as though the city had been struck by an earthquake.
Piles of dragonbeast dung and rotting, severed limbs were heaped in street corners, giving off a rancid odor.
The wide streets teemed with grotesque, vicious-looking dragon scions. Some had horns sprouting from their heads, while others bore sparse, dark green scales across their skin. Dressed in either plate armor or luxurious robes, they strutted about with pompous arrogance.
Humans, by contrast, were mostly dressed in rags and filthy from head to toe. They crept timidly along the edges of the street with lowered heads and hunched backs, treading with utmost caution, terrified of even stepping on the dragon scions' shadows—an offense punishable by flogging for ordinary mortals.
Before true dragons, they would bury their faces even deeper, kneeling in the filthy dung along the roadside and trembling, never daring to look up.
Such was the rule of the Cult of the Dragon. Under this brutally rigid hierarchy, any mortal who wished to survive had to surrender all dignity and become the most abject slave to true dragons and dragon scions.
Flanked by the escort of dragon scion guards, Mantou looked around at the scenery. On the outside, he maintained his haughty posture, but privately, he was firing off messages in the party chat.
Wo Qu Chi Mantou: *Holy crap, this is literally hell on earth. I can't believe a place like this exists in the Material Plane.*
Tiansheng Zhankuang: *Mm... Based on my experience, the environment in the Bronze Citadel of Avernus was a whole lot better than this.*
Singo: *The doctrine of the Cult of the Dragon is to bring Tiamat back into the world so true dragons can rule the earth. To them, humans are mere livestock. Think of those people as chickens, ducks, and pigs waiting to be slaughtered on a farm, and you'll understand how this city functions.*
Xiaye Qiuyu: *The NPC AI in Elezerg is very advanced—their thought processes are barely distinguishable from real people. Even if it's just game data, it still looks horribly cruel to me.*
Tiansheng Zhankuang: *Sigh, seeing living people treated like cattle leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. If we get the chance, we've got to turn this whole place upside down.*
Wo Qu Chi Mantou: *By the way, was that scroll you gave to that cultist genuine?*
Singo: *It's genuine. It just doesn't lead to any "Dragon Blood Altar," but rather to the Machine Cult's live-experiment research facility. They're short on test subjects over there. Every person tricked into going fetches a finder's fee of seven or eight gold dinars, which is enough to buy several teleportation scrolls.*
Wo Qu Chi Mantou: *Tsk, tsk. I've heard of that research institute—a famous gathering spot for perverts. You're ruthless, man. Turning around and selling him off, and making a tidy profit to boot.*
Singo: *What do you know? The wealthier you get, the more meticulous you have to be. I wouldn't pass up even copper, let alone gold dinars.*
Xiaye Qiuyu: *Look, everyone. We're about to enter the inner city.*
Mantou looked up. Before them loomed a towering inner wall, its surface carved with crude, arcane runes that exuded a profound and sinister aura.
After some communication, the heavy iron gate in the wall slowly ground open, allowing their party to enter the inner reaches of Forest Hawk City.
Hardly any ordinary humans could be seen here. If any appeared at all, it was only as pitiful "sacrifices" marched in columns heading toward the dragon hatchery.
Mantou noticed that the woman he had saved earlier was among the prisoners. Bound in bloodstained, heavy iron chains, her face was ash-pale and filled with despair, as though she had already resigned herself to the fact that she was about to become an offering.
The silhouettes of green dragons frequently crossed the sky above the inner city, bickering over plunder raided from all around and gorging on the freshest, most tender live prey.
In Grutar's eyes, the inner city harbored his most elite dragon scion legions and was overseen by numerous green dragons; this frightened little red wyrmling couldn't possibly escape his grasp.
He never could have guessed that Mantou and his party's true objective was actually the dragon hatchery deep within the dungeons.
Before long, the cult priest led the group before a soaring tower. They entered, traversed a long, narrow corridor, and arrived at the end of the first floor.
"Please. This is the temporary residence Lord Grutar specially prepared for you."
Having apparently reached their destination, the cult priest smiled and made an inviting gesture toward a rather spacious room.
Calling it a room was generous; in truth, it resembled a prison cell.
The interior walls were lined with hardened steel, the door was inscribed with the incantations of Arcane Lock, and more than twenty fully armed dragon scion soldiers patrolled the corridor outside.
Stone dragon heads jutted out from both sides of the corridor, designed to fire arrows coated in green dragon venom should any intruder be detected.
Furthermore, cult priests were monitoring the area through magical crystal balls; at the slightest disturbance, elite forces stationed nearby would swarm in.
Taking advantage of this precious window, pro players like Singo and Tiansheng Zhankuang sharply observed their surroundings, identifying traps and mapping escape routes.
Mantou, meanwhile, stayed in character as a brainless red dragon, glaring at the cult priest with haughty indignation.
"You mongrel, you'll regret this! Do you have any idea who my father is? He's a legendary ancient dragon! Out of my way, I demand to see—"
"My lord, please get some rest early."
After a brief standoff, the cult priest chuckled nervously and stepped outside. The dragon scion soldiers finally herded Singo, Tiansheng Zhankuang, and Xiaye Qiuyu into the room.
The door clicked shut with a crisp snap, and ethereal chains conjured by magic wound tightly around it, locking it fast.
Only when the footsteps of the priest and guards faded into the distance did Mantou and the others begin to talk.
Singo scattered a handful of powder from his pouch, instantly filling the room with a white mist. "This is powder that disrupts divination spells. It'll block their surveillance and keep our movements undetected."
Mantou finally dropped his dragon form with a sigh of relief, reverting to human shape. Collapsing onto the floor, he panted with a pale face. "Finally over... Sustaining that ability drains dragon blood for too long. I feel like I've gone practically anemic."
"Can we just use a teleportation spell to escape from here?"
Xiaye Qiuyu shook her head grimly. "The spatial fabric inside this tower is locked down, covered by an invisible magical membrane. Teleportation spells won't work here at all."
Tiansheng Zhankuang's interest was piqued at once, and he rubbed his fists together eagerly. "Then let's smash right through the wall and carve a bloody path out! I've been itching to tear into these bastards who exploit humans anyway!"
Singo shook his head. "There are at least twenty green dragons and over a hundred cult priests in this district. If we cause a major commotion, we'll be surrounded and wiped out for sure."
Mantou asked in confusion, "Then what do we do?"
"I checked out the situation outside earlier. Those dragon scion guards are all fighters—none of them can see through illusions or invisibility. We'll slip out under stealth."
Singo pulled out a crystal displaying a detailed record of the corridor. Pointing to it, he explained carefully:
"Here and here—these are pressure-plate traps. Stepping on the flagstones triggers poison arrows from the walls. And up on the ceiling is an Arcane Eye; if it detects the slightest noise, it sets off a chain reaction..."
Mantou listened with lingering fear and clicked his tongue in admiration, thinking to himself that sneaky bastards really did think alike.
After a brief discussion, the party resolved to make their move. Xiaye Qiuyu raised her hand and cast Mass Greater Invisibility, rendering all four of them completely transparent.
Another magical glow manifested on her hand as she invoked Knock.
*Click.*
With a faint snap, the chains wound around the door shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments, dissolving into specks of light and leaving the door slightly ajar.
"Now's the time."
Treading softly, the four slipped outside without making a sound. Unexpectedly, heavy footsteps echoed from down the hallway, accompanied by the tense voices of dragon scion soldiers:
"My lord."
"Lord Grutar, what brings you here in person?!"
A massive green silhouette appeared at the far end of the corridor, striding unhurriedly toward their room—none other than the adult green dragon, Grutar.
Under the green dragon's hulking frame, the corridor seemed ridiculously cramped, leaving only enough room on either side for one or two people to squeeze past.
Mantou froze, too terrified to move, and hastily typed in the group chat: *Holy crap, that green dragon is back! What do we do? We're about to run smack into him!*
Singo: *Hold your breath and slip past him quickly! Don't let that dragon detect us!*
Watching the dragon approach, Mantou clenched his teeth and held his breath, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out across his forehead under the crushing draconic aura.
The looming silhouette grew larger and larger before his eyes, its overwhelming pressure intensifying with every step.
"Three, two, one..."
"Now!"
Mantou held his breath and darted through the gap beside the dragon like a mouse that had just stolen grain.
The green dragon merely felt a slight breeze brush past his flank. His steps paused briefly, but without giving it much thought, he kept walking forward—he wanted to humiliate that red wyrmling face-to-face.
He never noticed that a hidden group had already slipped away down the corridor right past him.
Shortly after, a furious roar echoed through the tower: "What? They're gone?!"
"Useless! You incompetent trash! How long has it been, and you let them all escape?!"
"My lord, we really..."
Shrill screams followed, mingled with the sickening crunches of crushed flesh and shattered bone. Several dragon scion guards inside the tower were brutally slaughtered by the raging green dragon, serving as mere outlets for his wrath.
...
Deep within an alleyway of Forest Hawk City, the four players gradually phased back into view.
Mantou was thrilled. "What a rush! I can't believe we pulled that off! That green dragon was right next to me—I almost bumped into him!"
Singo turned to Xiaye Qiuyu. "Did you pinpoint that woman's location?"
Xiaye Qiuyu nodded. "She should already be down in the dungeon. The dragon hatchery is beneath the inner city. Follow me."
"Let's move."
The four slipped into the sewers. Guided by Xiaye Qiuyu, they arrived before a cracked, moss-grown wall.
"Smash it open."
"On it!"
Tiansheng Zhankuang grinned savagely. Eager for action, he swung a fist the size of a clay pot and slammed it brutally into the wall.
*Boom!*
Dust billowed and rubble sprayed as the ancient wall collapsed. On the other side stood a squad of armored Cult of the Dragon soldiers leading dragonbeasts. They stared blankly at the four intruders, having not yet registered what had happened.
"What are you waiting for? Strike first!"
Singo drew the longbow from his back, nocked an arrow crackling with lightning, and fired.
*Whoosh!*
With an ear-piercing whistle, the arrow punched straight through one soldier's skull. The remaining cult soldiers snapped back to their senses and tried to raise the alarm.
"Intruders! Quick, go—"
The next instant, however, with a violent crackle, blinding lightning erupted from the arrowhead. Arcs of electricity leaped out, instantly blasting several nearby men into charred, unconscious heaps.
The dragonbeast let out a guttural roar, baring fangs and claws as it lunged toward the four. Unfazed, Tiansheng Zhankuang stepped forward and dropped into a slide directly underneath the beast's belly.
Gripping his battleaxe in both hands, he dragged the razor edge across its thick hide, eviscerating it. A mess of gory, steaming viscera spilled from its underbelly, pooling onto the ground in an ugly puddle of red, white, and yellow.
Under the soldiers' terrified gazes, the blood-soaked battleaxe swung like a cyclone, instantly tearing into them and carving human bodies into mangled pieces.
Xiaye Qiuyu was even more devastating. Raising a slender hand, she sent scorching rays of fire lancing from her fingertips, punching cleanly through the forehead of a soldier twenty meters away and leaving only a charred, smoking hole.
"Count me in!"
Mantou charged forward brandishing his longsword, only to find not a single enemy left standing—nothing remained except mangled and scorched corpses strewn across the floor.
He scratched his head awkwardly. "I guess true masters only strike at the very end."
Singo rolled his eyes at him and whispered, "Move. We can't linger here. They're dead, but these bodies will be discovered sooner or later. We need to slip into the hatchery while their guard is down."
"Here it is," Xiaye Qiuyu said in a low voice, pointing to a stone door.
She ran her hand along the door's surface, magic gleaming at her fingertips as she unleashed a high-tier Dispel Magic, unraveling every ward and seal binding the stone door.
*Boom!*
Another deafening crash rang out as the stone door shattered under Tiansheng Zhankuang's absurd brute strength.
The next moment, a chilling scene greeted their eyes.
Tens of thousands of humans were crammed into narrow cages, covered in filth and blood like a horde of uncivilized savages. The ground was piled thick with excrement, blood, and rotting scraps of food.
Their eyes were dull and hollow with numbness. When they saw Mantou's group approaching with draconic traits, the captives scrambled in frantic terror toward the back of their cages, shoving and trampling one another.
"The divine emissaries are here!"
"They've come to pick sacrifices again! No, don't throw me in! I want to live!"
Their cries were choked with sobs. A few could still form coherent words, but most only let out senseless, panic-stricken shrieks, like terrified lambs.
They also spotted the woman they had saved earlier. Covered in whip welts, she huddled despondently in a corner, weeping in silence.
This... this was...
What could have reduced them to such a state?!
Mantou looked into the distance. At the end of the path stood a colossal altar sculpted in the likeness of a vicious green dragon's head. Its gaping, bloody maw plunged into abyss-like depths, as though ready to swallow everything in the world.
—It was the altar of Tiamat, and the heart of the dragon hatchery.
Chapter 785