The eyes of the altar were two blood-crimson crystals imbued with a terrifying power, gleaming with a deep, eerie light that sent shivers down the spine.
In the air overhead, wyverns, dragonblood bats, and pseudodragons flitted in a chaotic flurry, their wings flapping incessantly.
On the stone steps before the altar, a thick river of blood trickled slowly from the dragon's maw, carrying severed fingers, bits of internal organs, and even eyeballs still clinging to optic nerves...
Below the steps, dozens of black-robed cultists knelt on the ground, praying devoutly.
Hearing the commotion at the entrance, they all turned their heads at once. Fury flared within their slit vertical pupils. "Intruders! Kill them!"
"This is the sacred place of sacrifice to the Mother of Evil Dragons! How dare you trespass!"
The lead cult priest held a torch high. "Tear them to shreds! The souls and flesh of enemies make the finest offerings!"
The unnatural flames illuminated the pitch-black underground and lit up the cavernous ceiling.
The party looked up to see the roof crawling with dragonbeasts clustered thick and dense, their bodies gaunt and menacing. Dim light flickered within countless vertical pupils, and thick, rancid drool dripped from their jowls.
Mantou felt something warm hit his shoulder. He touched it, and every hair on his body stood on end—the slime from one of those dragonbeasts had dripped onto him!
Disgusted, he shook his hand and turned anxiously toward his teammates. "Damn it, what... what do we do?"
Singo gritted his teeth, his gaze resolute. "Just our luck to stumble into their prayer service. Prepare for battle!"
"Huh?"
Mantou gulped as he stared up at the hundreds of glaring, predatory dragonbeasts. "Should we... maybe rethink this?"
Xiaye Qiuyu said, "According to my spells, there are twelve exceptionally powerful energy sources outside the dragon hatchery. Each one rivals that adult green dragon. They're likely biological weapons of the Cult of the Dragon."
Singo said, "As long as we kill these cultists, everything else will fall into place. We carry dragon bloodlines, so those dragonbeasts won't attack us on their own."
Just then, a whistling wind came from above, bringing with it a sickeningly rancid stench.
"Watch out!"
Tiansheng Zhankuang leaped into the air, driving his casserole-sized fist upward. In an instant, he smashed the head of the ambushing dragonbeast to pieces, splattering brain matter everywhere.
*Roar—*
Several more dragonbeasts lunged recklessly at the party. Xiaye Qiuyu extended her hands, unleashing a cone of roaring flames that erected a blistering barrier midair. Engulfed in fire, the beasts wailed and plummeted to the ground.
Lacking ranged options, Mantou pulled a gun from his backpack and fired into the air at the swooping dragonbeasts. Several consecutive shots rang out, and by sheer luck, one pierced right through a dragonbeast's chest.
Mantou planted his hands on his hips smugly. "Looks like my marksmanship isn't half bad!"
"Kill them at all costs!" The dragon-headed priest raised his staff, unleashing a breathtaking beam of dark light that radiated intense necromantic fluctuations.
It was a 7th-tier spell—Finger of Death!
To any target with low magic resistance, such a spell was an absolute nightmare, capable of killing instantly without even giving them a chance to resist.
"Leave it to me!"
Singo pressed a button on his bracer, and a mass of gelatinous matter shot from his wrist, positioning itself squarely in the path of the dark ray.
The gelatinous mass exploded instantly in midair, shattering into countless sticky fragments, while the dark ray vanished, extinguished into thin air.
Mantou stared in disbelief. "What was that snot-like stuff? It can even block a 7th-tier spell?"
Drawing his longbow, Singo notched an oddly shaped arrow to the string and explained casually, "A miniature slime bred by the Machine Cult. They threw in a slime launcher too. It's designed specifically to intercept single-target spells. Works like a charm."
Before his words faded, he released the string. The oddly patterned arrow shot forth, tearing through the air straight toward the cultists in the distance.
The cultists chanted a deep incantation. A dense black mist formed before them, condensing into the menacing silhouette of a dragon that clamped down on the arrow with its jaws, snapping it in two.
The cult priest glared fixedly at the distant players, his eyes brimming with venomous hatred. An eerie draconic phantasm materialized behind his back. "Why have you betrayed Her Majesty the Dragon Queen?"
Singo simply snapped his fingers. The fallen arrowhead suddenly detonated on the ground with a piercing, deafening screech, releasing visible shockwaves.
In an instant, nearly all the cultists clamped their hands over their ears. Dizziness overcame them, their minds drifting into a daze as if wild beasts were gnawing away at their brains.
This was a specially designed disruption arrow, meant specifically to break a spellcaster's concentration and shatter their focus.
"Qiuyu!"
Xiaye Qiuyu understood instantly. Floating in midair, she brought her hands together. Tremendous power surged within her, coursing through the magical patterns inscribed on her skin into her palms, where it gathered into a thick pillar of blazing white fire.
The temperature was so searing that it warped the surrounding air, instantly evaporating all the moisture from the pools of blood on the floor.
Using the dragonkin pact as a medium to channel the power of the Cinder Emperor, she unleashed a devastating breath of dragonfire. This was the most terrifying spell sorcerer players could currently master—
Breath of Cassius!
Though listed on the character interface as merely a 6th-tier spell, its power rivaled an 8th-tier evocation spell. Its scorching flames were hot enough to annihilate anyone with ease.
*Boom!*
The blinding white pillar of fire pierced through the black mist and barreled toward the still-dazed cult priest. Right before impact, the flames burst outward like a blossoming fiery lotus.
Only then did the cult priest snap out of his stupor. His eyes went wide, reflecting the blazing inferno as he muttered, "Is this... a red dragon's breath?"
Looking at the incoming dragonfire, the legendary Breath of Tiamat even flashed through his mind.
Rage and utter disbelief contorted his face. "Impossible! How could a pack of traitors—no—!"
In the next instant, the surging dragonfire engulfed the dragon-headed priest like a tidal wave. His screams and wails were instantly swallowed by the roaring crackle of the flames!
Amidst the churning torrent of dragonfire, the priest's silhouette shrank and blurred before vanishing completely, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ash.
Immediately after, Tiansheng Zhankuang roared and leaped forward dozens of meters. His battleaxe swung down in a vicious cleave, slicing four or five cultists in two.
"Die!"
With every swing of the battleaxe, a bloody storm erupted. Tiansheng Zhankuang tore into the cultists like a walking meat grinder, butchering them indiscriminately as severed limbs, blood, and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.
The cultists chanted vile, venomous incantations, attempting to invoke the divine spells granted by the Dragon Queen. But whether it was fire, frost, or acid, Tiansheng Zhankuang ignored it all without the slightest fear.
In the distance, Singo steadily drew and fired his bow, each arrow piercing clean through a cultist's skull. Floating midair, Xiaye Qiuyu used gouts of flame to drive back the dragonbeasts swooping from above.
Only Mantou skulked in a corner, firing his pistol with repeated bangs in an attempt to hit a cultist. One of his stray shots accidentally struck Tiansheng Zhankuang, blasting a bleeding hole into the knotted muscles of his back.
Locked in a bloodthirsty frenzy with crimson eyes, Tiansheng Zhankuang paid no mind to such a minor graze. Mantou sheepishly tucked his pistol away, playing dumb as though nothing had happened.
Before long, the skirmish ended like a whirlwind sweeping away scattered clouds.
Dozens of cultists lay dead in pools of blood, while their leader had been reduced to ash. Over a dozen dragonbeasts had plummeted dead from the air, and the survivors fled in panic deeper into the caverns.
Inside the cages flanking the path, the humans held as sacrifices trembled as they looked upon the four players. Their eyes were filled with shock and stirring emotion, but even more so with terror.
The dragonborn priest whom they regarded as a divine emissary—a ruler holding the power over their life and death—had been killed just like that, without even a whole corpse left behind.
"The... the lord emissary was killed!"
"What do they want to do?"
"Wait... these lords are also dragonborn, and they carry such noble bearings. Could they be new divine emissaries?"
"What emissaries? Just a bunch of cultists who deserve to be shot dead." Singo pulled out a worn-looking pistol and pulled the trigger toward the cage door.
*Bang!*
A loud gunshot shattered the lock outside the cage door. The iron door swayed and creaked open slowly.
"Everyone, make your choice."
Sweeping his gaze across their terrified, uneasy faces, he tossed the pistol into the cage and spoke coldly:
"Do you want to live as human beings, or as beasts waiting for slaughter?"
Their will to resist had long been ground to dust by one bloody sacrifice after another. They remained huddled in the cages like frightened sheep, seemingly having accepted this grim fate.
None dared to be the first to step forward. Who knew whether this was just another "test" orchestrated by the Cult of the Dragon?
Just then, a woman's voice came from the crowd, faint yet exceptionally firm.
"I want to live as a human."
A woman covered in wounds stepped out from the crowd. Picking up the pistol from the ground, she gripped it tightly, pushed open the cage door, and walked up to the four players under everyone's watchful eyes.
She said in a low voice, "Thank you. I... am not a sacrifice, and I am certainly no beast to be slaughtered at will."
"Very good."
Singo tossed out an ordinary-looking wooden box. Under flickering specks of magical light, it expanded rapidly, transforming into crates filled with firearms and grenades.
Mantou's eyes went wide. "A miniature armory from the Claubau Military Industry Group? Holy crap, you really are loaded."
Seeing all the weapons, the people in the cages began to stir, murmuring in excited whispers.
"I want to... survive."
One person stood up, followed by a second, then a third... More and more people stepped out of the cages, picking up weapons from the crates.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more dragon hatcheries like this. Let's—turn this entire place upside down!"
On the stone steps in the distance, Tiansheng Zhankuang roared toward the sky.
Swinging his battleaxe in a sweeping arc, he smashed the dragon-headed altar to pieces. Blood poured endlessly from the broken altar amid shrill wails and screeches as countless trapped souls were finally set free.
***
Green Valley Town.
People bustled through the streets; this remote, obscure town had become exceptionally lively.
Not only had players from the empire gathered here, but rebels from across Seleucia, having heard of Duke Franz's victory, had also flocked to the town from all corners of the kingdom.
Under the construction efforts of the players, the town's perimeter was now fortified with impregnable, airtight defenses, making it resemble a true fortress.
Duke Franz and Count Adrian stood atop the hill, looking down at the fully armed soldiers below. Their bright silver armor gleamed brilliantly under the sunlight, making for a magnificent sight.
Duke Franz took a step forward, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the soldiers as he spoke with ringing conviction:
"Compatriots, brothers-in-arms! The evil dragons and their kin have seized our homeland, trampled our land, and enslaved our kin and friends! They have driven us from our homes to wander the wilderness!
"But today, the time for our counterattack has come!" He drew the greatsword from his back and held it high.
"With courage and conviction, with the blades and swords in our hands, we shall sever the claws of those evil dragons, clip their wings, and take their heads!"
His beard and hair bristling, Duke Franz glared with fury. "Can you bear to watch your loved ones and friends be ruthlessly ravaged by those evil dragons, or even butchered as sacrifices?
"Can you swallow your humiliation any longer, kneeling in the dirt to beg those cruel, greedy beasts for mercy?"
"No!"
The soldiers shouted with all their might, their deafening voices echoing across the heavens.
Duke Franz slammed the greatsword into the rock and roared, "Even if it means death, we will drag those evil dragons down with us! Let them know—the children favored by the Sun are not to be trifled with!"
Adrian also stepped forward, standing by Duke Franz's side. He raised his slender silver sword, the tip blazing with dazzling sunlight.
"The great Lord of Eternal Radiance has not forsaken us! We remain the children of the Sun!
"Compatriots, fight for Seleucia! Fight for Holy Fadlan! Drive these evil dragons and their kin from our homeland!"
"For Seleucia!"
"For Holy Fadlan!"
"Overthrow the tyranny of the Dragon Cult! Glory belongs to humanity!"
The soldiers raised their weapons, thrusting their arms into the air with roar after roar that rolled like waves, endless and blood-stirring.
Nearly all of them were rebels who had escaped from territories ruled by the Cult of the Dragon.
These soldiers had bathed in blood, witnessed harrowing atrocities, and suffered the cruelest exploitation and oppression. Their will to fight was unshakable, and their hearts burned with boundless hatred and enmity toward the evil dragons.
At the command of Duke Franz and Count Adrian, they set off in a grand march toward the south, preparing to launch an assault on Forest Hawk City, hundreds of li away.
Meanwhile, within Green Valley Town, the players were also buzzing with excitement as a quest notification popped up before them:
*War Quest: Capture Forest Hawk City.*
Chapter 786