Six-Armed Serpent Demon

Page 128

Meanwhile, Ivy Beatrice is strolling through the streets of Keogu Port, dressed as a red-haired beauty.

Over the past six months, a large influx of northern residents has arrived in Keogu, bringing significant changes to the coastal city-state. They are mostly humans and kobolds, with a small number of mixed-race dragons. They come from the more northerly inland regions, many of them refugees from Haysconti, the capital of the Northern Federation.

The Silver Dragon paladins executed all the fleeing red dragons without any explanation, hanging their heads on the city walls and docks, and resettled the remaining refugees in the port area ravaged by the Invincible Fleet's cannon fire.

This also explains the Silver Dragon's attitude towards the Red Dragon Lord.

As the population increased, the port area was filled with makeshift shacks and construction sites, and the sounds of hammers, chisels, axes, and saws echoed everywhere. In the last month or two, the noise in the port area has subsided, and all sorts of new buildings have sprung up. The traces of artillery fire are being gradually erased and covered up.

Ivy Beatrice watched this unfold, and couldn't help but recall the burning of Harbor after the attack by the two-headed evil dragon.

The paladins of the Bronze Dragon and Silver Dragon are equally awful in their own way.

The Silver Dragon's paladins and administrators actively organized manpower for construction and production recovery every day. They showed no mercy to those who disobeyed, employing extremely cruel and ruthless methods. Even the slightest defiance was a capital offense. Ivy-Beate witnessed more than once refugees who were too slow in their work being dragged to an open field and beheaded or tortured to death.

Of course, in Keogu, taxation is levied through armed duels, let alone anything else.

Daily food rations are determined per person.

Ivy-Beate observed that some refugees, after receiving their food, disguised themselves and tried to obtain an extra portion from the staff. The next second, they were spotted by the Silver Dragon Paladins maintaining order, captured, locked in cages, doused with seawater, and hung on poles.

After a few days, it was dried into jerky.

Ivy Beatrice also remembers the burning harbor refugee camp she saw while chasing Patrick.

After the two-headed dragon's attack, the bronze dragon paladins didn't use any torture on the refugees. They fenced off a piece of land on the fire-ravaged port as a camp, threw all the refugees into the camp to fend for themselves, and then ignored them, not knowing how many would survive.

During this time, the Medusa Tavern, which had been razed to the ground by artillery fire, was also rebuilt.

However, the new Medusa Tavern is somewhat misnamed. Medusa girl Stewart is busy running errands for Ivy Beatrice, so Edra has become the new tavern owner.

Ivy Beate entrusted the task of running the tavern to Adela, a member of the bomber squadron. She gave Adela a large sum of money, allowing her to buy not only the old tavern site but also the surrounding land. Above ground, a three-story building was rebuilt, continuing to operate as a tavern and inn. Below ground, the dinosaur Raphael nearly dug an entire dungeon.

Ivy Beatrice once considered changing the way Medusa Tavern was run, turning it into a casino hotel, but later abandoned the idea.

The tree catches the wind.

Ivy-Beate, with her access to the Mandeh dynasty's hidden gold reserves, was far from short of money and had no interest in the complexities of casino management or gang conflicts. It would be better to continue running the tavern and, while she was at it, gather more information about the northern interior.

But this idea didn't come to fruition either.

The new tavern wasn't expensive, and it was always packed with newcomers. The new proprietress, Edra, seemed very curious about Haysconti, often chatting with the new residents and asking why they had moved to Keogulai. But strangely, no one could explain what had happened in Haysconti, and even the patrons were hesitant to discuss it. Whenever Edra steered the conversation in that direction, the patrons immediately changed the subject.

Ivy Beatrice desperately wanted to take down the devil Zaire, but to do that she first had to go to the bar with three boots hanging at the door in Hesconti, go in and order ten cups of milk in a row, and then meet with the red assassin's troll friend in order to get information about Zaire's weaknesses.

But I never expected that I wouldn't even be able to take the first step.

So when the Deinonychus finished digging the dungeon, Ivy-Beate entrusted the task of torturing Zachasa to Edra.

Edla only copied, he didn't ask.

The first thing the woman, who had lost her husband and children, did after taking over her enemy's forces was to cut out the admiral's tongue. Then, deep within the dungeon, she tortured Zachara every day, using every imaginable method. Even Ivy Beatrice, a demon herself, couldn't bear to watch in the end.

After several months of this, Ivy-Beate stopped Edra from indulging in creating new punishments and told Zachasa that he could choose to confess and die with a clear conscience, with the chance to go to his lord's divine kingdom after death, or he could refuse to confess and continue living like this.

She then used the "Regeneration" scroll to cast a spell, causing Zachasa to grow a tongue.

Before Ivy Beatrice could ask any questions, the general, eager to die, immediately told her everything he knew.

Chapter 167 The Demon Lord's Puppet City

According to Zachasa, on the very day the two-headed evil dragon, missing its head, flew back to the Haysconti Mountains, red clouds enveloped the city of Haysconti.

The entire city was then sealed off by a force, and the space around the city was distorted.

In just one night, the souls of everyone in the entire block vanished without a trace, leaving only tens of thousands of still-capable bodies.

These bodies, devoid of spirit, retain the same memories and logic as their original owners, like a data storage hard drive. They will continue to work and live as before. However, they will no longer grow, have no learning ability, and will not generate new memories.

Every morning, the memories of the bodies are automatically cleared, returning to the moment when the two-headed evil dragon flew back to the mountains.

Then came the second block, and the third block…

Haysconti is the capital of the Northern Federation and one of the largest cities in the northern part of the Shedan continent, with a population of 1.2 million.

When Zacharsa received the Lord's decree to find the dragon head, at least 200,000 people had already become soulless shells.

These were all messages received by Zachasa from the Heisconti side. During this time, the admiral had been at sea and hadn't returned to Heisconti for a long time.

A Red Dragon Guardian as loyal as Zachasa not only had no ulterior motives about the fate of those 200,000 people, but was actually quite envious.

"That was a gift from the lord."

Zachara said with unwavering conviction and fervor, “Their souls are directly received into the Lord’s Kingdom, leaving only their physical bodies to continue serving the Lord in this world. When the Lord needs them, He will naturally release the souls of the believers from the Kingdom back into their bodies!”

He then laughed heartily before being brutally beaten by Edla.

Ivy Beatrice felt increasingly uneasy listening to it.

Considering the "orb" that Demogorgon created with his soul power, that creature was eating people in Haysconti, and in large numbers, devouring entire blocks of them. It consumed tens of thousands of souls, most likely to heal its own wounds.

As for the souls of believers being released back into their bodies when necessary…

Ivy Beatrice recalled her experience fighting Patrick for the "Dragon's Madness Lock" in the dark cabin of the Ottocan family's cruise ship.

At the time, "Red Assassin" Patrick opened his mouth to an unusually wide extent that was difficult for ordinary people to achieve, but what came out of his mouth was the sound of Hesslater.

"I am one, and I am two," he or it roared and chuckled, "I am Patrick, and I am also Heslaty, and most importantly, I am the invincible Demon Lord Demogorgon!"

—Which one returns to the body, the believer's soul, or Hesladi's or Demogorgon's consciousness? Who knows?

However, there is another point of doubt.

According to Zachasa's confession, the two-headed evil dragon's most valued followers had all received the lord's "gifts," which meant consuming large amounts of "jewels" to enhance their power.

If that's the case, a soul as vibrant as Zachasa's should be the best remedy for the two-headed evil dragon Hesladi's healing. But it didn't take Zachasa's soul.

There must be a reason for this.

—Is it because Zachasa is responsible for the command of the Invincible Fleet and has to find a leader for Heslati?

Ivy Beatrice silently speculated.

She immediately rejected the previous reasoning.

The two-headed evil dragon Hesrati once possessed Patrick and fought with her in the hold for the "Dragon's Madness Lock"; the lingering resentment of the severed red dragon head directly took over the body of the treasure-hunting ship sailor Glendale; of course, the injured Hesrati could also possess Zachasa to continue serving as a naval admiral and searching for his lost dragon head.

—Or perhaps it's because...the distance is too far?

She felt like she had grasped the key point.

Just as Patrick and his companions were possessed by Heslaty, the two-headed evil dragon arrived at Fire Harbor and engaged in a fierce battle with the bronze dragon, Gilejin, and Zaire, almost directly above her and their pilgrimage ship.

The reason why the remnant soul of the Red Dragon Head was able to take over Glendale's body was because the treasure ship salvaged the red crystal fragments of the dragon head.

Compared to the previous two, Admiral Zachasa had been leading his fleet on the high seas, either quelling rebellions in coastal city-states or searching for the lost dragon head. His geographical location was far too far from the two-headed evil dragon.

Having figured this out, Ivy Beatrice looked at the blood-soaked Zacharsa with pity.

—This guy was completely fooled by Haislati. With that kind of intelligence, he was sold out and he's still helping the seller count the money.

With such pity, Ivy Beatrice handed him over to Edra.

At the same time, he kept complaining to himself.

Inside the pilgrimage ship's cabin, she battled three Hysladi or Demogorgon avatars, followed by the sailors on the treasure ship whose bodies had been taken over by the red dragon's head.

Every battle was hard-won.

Now, if she wants information about Zaire, she has to go to the city of Haisconti and find that Shibaragu at the bar with three boots hanging in front of the door.

But Hesconti had become a puppet city of Demogorgon.

That means she would have to face at least 200,000 avatars of Hesslati or Demogorgon, well, that's a conservative estimate, the upper limit is the entire population of Hessconti, 1.2 million avatars.

—Fine, then let's forget about it.

—I don't want to die. Goodbye, Brother Shibaraku.

Ivy Beatrice backed down without a second thought.

Having already vented her anger by killing that bastard twice, she felt she had finally been reborn and was of high quality. There was no need for her to risk her life for a bastard; that would be giving him too much credit.

Besides the city of Haysconti, the outspoken Zachasa also revealed a lot of valuable information.

For example, the entire Invincible Fleet consists of 491 warships. In addition to the main fleet personally commanded by Zachasa, there are seven other squadrons, each with its own base and influence at sea.

While searching for the dragon's head, Zachasa only ordered the other four squadrons to assemble, leaving three squadrons unmoved. After the dragon's head was stolen and disappeared by Ivy-Beate, Zachasa disbanded the fleet, sending the squadrons back to rest. He only reordered the assemblies after the main fleet was defeated by the Silver Dragon and forced to retreat from Geog. By the time Ivy-Beate launched her storm attack, only two squadrons had arrived; the others had lagged behind and failed to arrive.

This was because the successive defeats had diminished Zachasa's prestige. Moreover, the fleet's daily expenses, ship repairs, and sailors were all supported by the coastal city-states. Seeing that Zachasa had been driven out of Kyog by the Silver Dragons again, the commanders of several squadrons, supported by the coastal city-states, began to have their own ulterior motives.

What Zachasa didn't know was that when news of the main fleet's annihilation arrived, the other two squadrons also suffered heavy losses, and the remaining squadrons each chose to join a different faction.

The vast ocean has transformed from a situation where an invincible fleet held absolute dominance into a battleground for numerous powerful forces vying for supremacy…

Ok?

As Ivy-Beate strolled through the port area, deep in thought, she frowned and then activated "Advanced Teleportation".

The next second, the red-haired beauty appeared at the ruins of the Four Symbols Tower on the central hill of Beiate Island.

Standing atop the mountain, overlooking the sea and facing the wind, its emerald green vertical pupils gaze down the mountain.

In the past six months, Black Sail Town, a small thatched village that once housed thousands of pirates, has now been transformed into a small town with a population of over ten thousand, nestled against the mountains and by the sea, thanks to the concerted efforts of Medusa Steo and others. This is the territory of Beate.

However, at some point, two warships with ill intentions appeared in the bay, squeezing the fishing boats and merchant ships anchored in the harbor into the middle.

Ivy Beatrice raised her eyebrows.

On the masts of these two warships, there were bronze dragon banners that she knew all too well.

Author's Note: This is to make up for last night's chapter; there will be another chapter tonight.

Chapter 168 Our Protector

The former mayor of Blacksail Town, now the acting governor of the Beate Territory, the goblin Maui, was swaying back and forth in his chair in the study, as if sitting on pins and needles.

He unconsciously stroked his meerschaum pipe, which had turned a yellowish-brown color, repeatedly, his large palms sweating profusely. At this moment, despite the tall, half-ogre bodyguard standing behind him, the goblin felt no sense of security whatsoever.

This was because three fully armed bronze dragon paladins stood opposite him, and even more so because of the two warships from the City of Flame Earth moored in the harbor.

"I'm not negotiating with you."

Gulerian Ottokan looked at the inferior race before him with cold, disdainful eyes. He had been in a foul mood lately for well-known reasons.

“Don’t think I don’t know your true colors, pirate,” said Gullarian-Otukan. “From today onward, you must worship the Bronze Dragon, you must designate the Otukan family as your protectors, and seventy percent of your income must be handed over to the Otukan family, which is me. Today, pay off the debts from the past sixty years. Every year at this time, I will send my brother Iren to meet with you.”

He pointed to his paladin companion standing on his right.

The bear goblin Maui wiped the sweat from his black fur.

"But this city doesn't belong to me, I don't—"

Guller-Lian Ottocan raised a hand, signaling him to shut up.

The bronze dragon paladin smiled at the bear goblin, revealing his white teeth: "You can say no to me, that's your right. But I suggest you seriously consider my proposal."

The location of Blacksail Town is no secret to those who make a living on the high seas.

In Gullarian-Otucan's memory, this island was still a haven for pirates and smugglers. He had grown tired of standing guard for that adulterous couple's live sex show during his time at sea, so he suggested to the two envoys that they might as well come here to wipe out the pirates, which would also add some fun to their boring sea voyage.

When they arrived at the island, sharpened their swords, and prepared to carry out justice, they were surprised to find that it had been transformed into a small trading town on the sea.

In reality, if Gullarian-Otucan were to simply label the island's inhabitants as pirates, confiscate all their valuables, and kill them all, that would be the end of it.

However, the code of conduct for paladins does not allow him to do so.

The Bronze Dragonflight allows its warriors to conquer the lands of heretics, slaughter those who do not follow its teachings, or sell them into slavery. However, this is contingent on the heretics explicitly refusing to submit to the Bronze Dragonflight's rule and refusing to convert to its faith.

As a paladin of the Bronze Dragon, Gullian-Otucan must follow procedures.

—Hurry up and say one more word of refusal.

Guller-Lian Ottocan fiddled with the hilt of his sword, waiting hopefully.

—My sword of justice is thirsting for blood.

After a few seconds of silence, the goblin suddenly sat up straight. A look of surprise and delight appeared on its ugly, black-furred face, as if it had received some kind of revelation.

Then he spoke cautiously: "Your Excellency, we have long been followers of the great bronze dragon of the City of Flame."

"Oh, so you're refusing..."

Guller-Lian Otucan suddenly got stuck.

He blinked rapidly, recalling the goblin's words again, and doubted his ears. "Huh? What did you say?"

So the bear goblin carefully repeated, "Your Excellency, we have long been followers of the great bronze dragon of the City of Flame."