Age of Adepts
chapter-235

Skandre.

As the capital of the knights' kingdom, Skandre was undoubtedly a magnificent and glorious city.

It had been built on the mountain, with no city walls to speak off. Most of the architecture had become part of the mountainous geography.

One was able to see the entirety of Skandre standing atop Mount Mingsu.

Tall obelisks and domed hall roofs could be seen everywhere in the extensive palace. Fine corridors connected the numerous buildings as maids in court dresses hurried to and fro. If one were to look at an even closer angle, they would even able to see the tiny ant-sized human figures crowded in the busy market.

The neat, orderly streets and the rowdy traffic all contributed to a pleasant and peaceful atmosphere that permeated Skandre!

Yet at this moment, something was happening within the highest palace located on Mount Mingsu. Edward VII, an elderly yet energetic man, leaned against the edge of a wide balcony, looking silently upon the vibrant city below. Behind him Knight William, dressed in his exquisite knights' armor, loudly made his reports while holding his helmet with one hand.

As a radiant knight at the peak of Second Grade, and on the verge of advancing to Third Grade, Knight William was the Captain of the Guards. And as the king's most trusted man, bore the great responsibility of the capital's safety.

These days, most of the capital's defense had been redirected from the city as the knights followed Willis and the three dragons knights into Greenland Forest to exterminate the invaders. As the capital’s Captain of the Guards, the burden on Knight William's shoulders had been getting heavier.

"Is there still no news from Willis?" Edward VII interrupted William's report with a frown on his face. He asked with a great deal of concern in his tone.

"Still no news as of yet. The last message we got was from Blue Hillock City seven days ago. Apparently, the knights have successfully found the invaders' den. Even though they have been met with stubborn resistance, the overall progress is still considerable. It is only the lack of supplies and reinforcements that keep them from crushing the enemy's last foothold. That said, Count Vanlier of Blue Hillock City has already sent all of his subordinates to help with the transportation of supplies. News of victory is expected within four or five days!"

This was clearly good news, but Edward VII still could not drive away the haze in his heart. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like there was some illusory or phantom voice from the void sending messages of warning to him.

What was happening? Even though victory was right before him, where did this lingering worry from the bottom of his heart come from?

"Have there been any odd actions from the heretics in prison?" Edward VII suddenly stopped walking about but turned and asked loudly.

"This… " Knight William betrayed an awkward expression, as if there was something he wanted to hide.

"Speak… tell me quick… " Edward VII lunged forward and grabbed William's shoulders. He was practically shouting at this point, "Has there been anything odd?"

"Those heretics that claimed to be sages and prophets have killed themselves in their cells. Almost all of them were frantically screaming before their deaths… " Knight William hesitated for a second, but finally spoke, "It seems they had all been spouting insane words like… evil befalls and the dragons betray!"

"Evil befalls, the dragons betray?" Edward VII took a step backwards in shock when he heard this and started mumbling to himself in his panic, "Impossible, this is impossible! The dragons signed the Dragon Covenant with my ancestors. There is no way… "

Before he could finish his words, a deafening dragon's roar rumbled across from the distant horizon.

Almost immediately a wave of ferocious and chilling dragon's aura instantly covered the capital.

Knight William rushed forward, grabbed the balcony railing, and looked closely into the distance. He then turned around and shouted, "My king, it's a flight of dragons. A flight of dragons… "

It had been one thousand seven hundred years since the founding of the knights' kingdom. The kingdom had a history of friendly relations with Dragon Valley and the two parties had even signed the Dragon Covenant. This was what allowed the kingdom to gain the aid of the dragons in the continuous battles against other races, as well as helping suppress the rebellious nobles. Today, several magnificent and elegant palaces had even been built behind Mount Mingsu to serve as the quarters of the dragon companions to the three dragon knights.

Despite their alliance, it was an unavoidable issue that the dragons radiated their terrifying aura of might everywhere they went. It was not something that common folk could bear. Thus, in accordance with the Covenant, no dragon was to harass or break into any city of the kingdom. And this Covenant had been properly upheld for up to a thousand years!

But today, the dragons suddenly arrived in a flight.

This… what were they trying to do?

The panicked sounds of horns continuously blared out on the mountain ridges to the side of Mount Mingsu.

Lookouts had been constructed there, and it was obvious that the diligent soldiers had also discovered the appearance of the dragon flight.

As the sound of horns passed throughout the entirety of Skandre, the citizens of the capital started to swarm out of their homes, looking about in confusion.

It was clear that they didn't understand the meaning of the warning!

Two bright spots of light flashed on the faraway horizon. Then the rocks near the lookouts started to crumble, and the soldiers stationed there fell along with the platforms they had been standing on.

Edward VII, who saw this happen right before his eyes, felt a tug in his heart.

The dragons… the dragons were publicly assaulting the kingdom's military facilities? The situation at hand was clear, even without an explanation for it!

The silhouettes of the dragons slowly expanded under the two's fearful gazes. A dense aura of strength so thick that it could drive men to suicide fell upon the city. The dragons had arrived at the City of Skandre.

The dragons that were present were obviously adolescent green dragons. Even their appearances were extremely intimidating!

Their bright and reflective dark green dragon scales were all at least as large as washbasins. They had lean bodies with protruding bones and wicked claws that gleamed with a metallic sheen. Terrifying bone spikes covered their backs from head to toe, reflecting with a chilling light under the sun.

Their bodies weren't as fat or bloated as some large beasts in the forests, and their fine scale armor grew closely against their skin. Their perfect and flowing body lines provided them with the monstrous ability to dominate the top of the food chain on this plane.

Chaos spread throughout the capital when the dense aura fell upon the city.

Countless civilians that had never experienced such aura ran about frantically, screaming for their lives as if this was a scene out of the apocalypse.

The leading dragon radiated an imposing aura and looked down upon the panicking humans as he raised his neck to let out a great roar of satisfaction.

This dragon's roar seemed to be an order!

As the roar rumbled across the sky, a dozen massive green dragons also followed his lead and let out reverberating roars, before beating their wings and flying towards the tallest or most lavishly decorated halls in the city.

From his lookout spot high atop Mount Mingsu, Edward VII clearly saw one terrifying green dragon dive downwards at the massive storehouse of a famous merchant and let out a thick green dragon breath.

The human guard stationed there instantly dissolved into a pool of green liquid amidst his tragic screams!

Having gotten rid of the pesky bug, the green dragon tackled the storehouse. It used its thick dragon claws to tear apart the roof, revealing the mountains of wealth and goods within.

The shattered beams and bricks of the roof fell down in a cascade. The dragon reached forward with its claw, gripping box after box of treasure before beating its wings and flying towards the largest square of the city.

Numerous dragons flew in every direction. All of them had a sense of purpose and direction when they flew, either heading towards merchant storehouses, storage facilities for auctions, or even the city's treasury itself. All guards and soldiers that dared to obstruct their paths would be reduced to withered bones under their poison-mist breath. Even unarmed civilians and servants were attacked if they were near where the green dragon was.

Storehouse after storehouse was reduced to debris, while treasuries were torn apart as treasure chests and mountains of gold coins were grabbed by the green dragons before being piled together at the city square.

There, three green dragons had transformed into large, muscular men. They were busy packing their spoils into boxes with neat and orderly movements!

Under Edward VII's shocked gaze, the flight of dragons beat their wings, took to the sky, and broke into his palace. They started ransacking there as well. Whenever their gigantic bodies landed on a roof, the bricks and tiles would fall like an unending rain.

Countless weak and frail princesses and princes escaped their palaces under the escort of guards and maids, screaming as they did so. He even saw with his own eyes his favourite concubine crushed under a crumbling building before she could escape.

A chaotic gale blew in front of him and Edward VII stumbled backwards.

The dragon in the lead, with the most domineering physique, flapped its wings and slowly rose from below. Its emerald dragon eyes, large as washbasins, were staring unblinkingly at the two men on the platform.

Knight William had already drawn his radiant longsword and was standing before the king. He was fully prepared to fight, but he didn't dare to make any sudden or reckless attacks against this gigantic Fourth Grade green dragon.

Edward VII also managed to stand up with the help of numerous guards that came to his side.

"Why? Why?" Edward VII screamed with all his strength, "Lord Nagupta, we signed the Dragon Covenant. Why are you suddenly attacking our cities?"

"Attacking?" A human-like expression appeared on the large dragon's thin and long face: "No, no, no, you are mistaken……this isn't an attack! We green dragons have always been noble creatures that keep their promises. We would never do such a shameless thing as breaking an agreement between the two of us."

"Not an attack? These actions are not an attack? You lead a flight of dragons right into the capital of your ally to rob and steal everything within it… and you dare say this isn't an attack?" Edward VII's voice had become completely hoarse. His frantic and angered hand waving also caused him to be unable to stand firm.

After all, he was 143 this year. Even though he had taken good care of his health, he was still an elderly man in this knights' plane, where the limit of a human's lifespan was two hundred years.

As he questioned the dragon with all his voice, his shaking right hand retrieved a red gemstone the size of a pigeon's egg from around his neck and extended it outwards at the dragon.

When Edward raised the ruby high in the sky, a shining light of energy emanated from within the gemstone, forming ancient and mysterious words within the air before them.

"The Dragon Covenant is right here! I order you to withdraw from this city!" Edward VII roared with what was left of his vigor.

"Haha… ancient covenants need to be acknowledged, but the tradition of dragons shouldn't be abandoned either. We are not here to attack you this time. Rather, we are here to collect our protection fees. Human king, you have had a thousand years of protection from the Taerar Green Dragons. It is now time for you to pay your fees." The Fourth Grade Green Dragon Nagupta's massive eyes swept across the gemstone projection with disdain as he spat out these words. He then turned and flew towards the city below.

Edward VII raised the gemstone high above his head. He coughed out purple-black blood before his body gave out and fell to the ground.