Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire.

Chapter 187: Dance of Ten Thousand Snakes, Rage of Dragons

"Your Highness Noah, the bronze dragon egg has been found!"

When the big goblin excitedly reported the news to Noah, the group of bronze dragons were still surrounding Noah, waiting for news.

Although they are all dragons older than Noah, this is the only advantage they have over Noah. Apart from age, they are inferior to Noah in terms of strength, relationships, information channels, etc. It is precisely for this reason that they become lords loyal to Noah.

"found it?"

Noah was also slightly surprised when he heard the report from the goblin.
"How did you find it?"

He has already used his extraordinary powers to track down the whereabouts of the dragon egg. He also went to find his adoptive mother Selena and asked this legendary wizard to use prophecy to locate the dragon egg.

Unfortunately, and what makes Noah cautious, is that there is a powerful force that blocks everything related to it, so Noah can only search for dragon eggs through mundane reconnaissance methods.

However, this is a bit slow, but even though it is slow, this primitive way of tracking is indeed useful. The wind leaves a sound, and the wild geese leave a shadow. No matter how meticulous the action is, it will leave clues.

Investigation requires extremely meticulous observation and careful thinking ability to trace the results from a practical level.

But unexpectedly, before the case was solved, the dragon egg had already returned. The unexpected turn of events really caught the dragon off guard.

"It was a very strange-looking human who sent it back on his own initiative."

The human carrying the dragon egg was soon brought to Noah, and when Noah saw the human for the first time, he saw through his disguise at once.

"Orf Kenberk Castoru, meet His Majesty Noah!"

The "human" who came with three bronze dragon eggs, under the gaze of a group of bronze dragons, paid homage to Noah.

"Orff? I have some impression of this name, but I remember that he was a very old human warrior, and you are not even a human."

Noah looked down and saw that under his dragon might, the snake man could no longer maintain his transformation. When he just came in, he still had the appearance of a human, but now his legs merged together and turned into a thick, long and strong blue-black snake tail.

"But I am still Orf, Your Highness Noah. Although I have abandoned my human identity, I have not abandoned my surname, betrayed my family, and have not forgotten the help you and the bronze dragon have given me."

The snake man Orf, who didn't seem to be injured at all, spoke sincerely.

Having had many encounters with metal dragons, he knew the things to note when communicating with dragons. The first thing was not to try to lie, and every word had to be true. Even not saying anything was better than cheating.

Of course, he was also excited and inspired that this being who had been revered as a holy dragon still remembered his name, and still had an impression of Orff, an old human who had only met him once, and even identified him as a warrior. In this case, everything he did was worth it.

"It seems that you have been through a lot. Now that you are standing there, you should be willing to share it all with us. My companions are now very eager to know who dared to steal their children."

"The Setra Snake Empire!"

Orff gave the answer on the spot, and then reported to Noah everything he had learned, in detail.

The bronze dragons who had originally looked at this inhuman alien with hostility, their eyes gradually changed when they heard that this noble, who had originally chosen to become a snakeman in order to prolong his life, resolutely chose to rebel for the second time after seeing the bronze dragon egg.

"Have you ever considered the consequences of taking the bronze dragon eggs out of the Ten Thousand Snake Palace and returning them?"

Noah was not surprised by what Orff said, let alone that he would not be alarmed by something that had not been verified.

Even if it is really an empire, so what? It sounds like it is just an advance team that has not yet developed enough strength and is in the stage of hiding its head and showing its tail. What's so scary about it?

"I have considered it, but I believe that returning the dragon egg will not only repay your kindness to the bronze dragon, but you will also give me enough rewards to protect my family and allow my family bloodline to continue instead of being destroyed."

Orff said in a firm tone that the Settra Empire might be powerful, but the force deployed by the empire on the continent of Zealandia was not strong. He had already fought his way out of the Ten Thousand Serpents Palace, but no legend had appeared to stop him. This was enough to prove it.

In contrast, the metallic dragons have proven their power and their authority that cannot be violated.

The dragon clan was nearby, and the empire was out of reach. As an ignorant and short-lived person despised by the snake people, he naturally chose the option that was in line with his original race.

"Have you never considered your own fate?"

A bronze dragon asked with a strange look,

"You chose to become a snake man, but now you betray the snake men. As a betrayer, you will probably face revenge and bloodline counterattack from the snake men. This may be a problem that we cannot solve."

"The worst outcome is to calmly face death. This is the outcome I should have faced. I originally chose to escape, but this time, I am willing to face it."

Orff said frankly that he was indeed greedy for life and unwilling to accept death, but he did not want to live in such a distorted way.

If he abandons his human identity, forgets the kindness of others, loses his family's reputation, and abandons the glory of a warrior, what will he have left?
"I will send a group of dragons to protect your family and migrate them to the Kingdom of Atlas. Not only that, as a reward for your choice, I will allocate a marquisate from my name and give it to you.

As for you, you can stay here. If you like, I can invite a legendary wizard to study your snake-man bloodline and see if he can solve any hidden dangers you may have."

Any ruler would be generous in rewarding those who had turned from evil to good and returned, and Noah was no exception.

In fact, Noah can directly solve the hidden danger in Orff. Since there is a problem with the snake man's bloodline, he can just cover it with a more powerful bloodline.

Perhaps the Cyclic Snake is very ancient and powerful, but how powerful can the original blood that was given by the snake people as a reward to humans for use in transformation rituals be?
Could it suppress the true blood from the ancestral dragon? Noah thought it was impossible. The Circular Snake might not be a snake god. It might just be a being that could be compared to gods. It was just a few drops of original blood that had been passed down for who knows how many generations. Could it suppress the ancestral dragon?
Therefore, Noah's real blood can be used as the ultimate antidote. It can not only transform the life form of this snake man again, but also elevate his life level again, giving him more potential.

But he was just a rebel. Although he still remembered the kindness and returned the dragon egg, in Noah's eyes, he was not qualified for such a reward.

Noah would not give away the true blood that contains his own power so easily. Although the true blood can be restored for him, it will cause him short-term damage.

"Yes, of course I do!"

When Orf heard about Noah's reward, he was overjoyed and became more determined in his choice. He didn't have high expectations in the first place. As long as the dragons were willing to protect his family, he would be very satisfied. "But before I solve your problem, I would like to ask you to be my guide and take me to visit the Ten Thousand Snakes Palace!"

Noah was very interested in Orff's description of the magic palace hidden deep underground that could transform all living things, any powerful race, into snakes.

Because from the description, even the dragon race cannot escape such distortion and pollution.

"This is exactly what I hoped for, but I didn't dare to ask for. I am willing to be your guide and show you where the Ten Thousand Snake Palace is!"

The scene before him was exactly what Orff had imagined. Even if he sent the dragon egg back, the anger of the metal dragon clan for losing the dragon egg could never be eliminated so easily.

The dragon clan will definitely take revenge, even if it means tearing him to pieces. He would not find it strange. His only request on this trip is to protect his family.

Now that he had gotten what he wanted and received a reward beyond his expectations, he no longer cared much about how the rest of the things would develop. Even if he died in this battle, he would be satisfied.

"Then let's go!"

Noah did not summon more dragons, but led a group of angry bronze dragons and a group of elite cloud giant warriors and headed south again.

In fact, if possible, Noah would rather lead Orf alone and did not want to bring too many vassals, because for him, both the dragons following him and the forces under his command were basically disconnected from him.

Unfortunately, the bronze dragons were unwilling, so Noah could only bring more cloud giants and even recruit two dragon elves, just to protect these guys and retreat smoothly when a legendary battle occurred.

"We're too late. We're still too slow!"

There was no disappointment or dissatisfaction. The location of the Ten Thousand Snakes Hall that Orff pointed out was just a collapsed cave, with no valuable targets left.

"Are you lying to us?"

In the absence of finding the target, it was inevitable that some bronze dragons would turn their hostility towards Orf who was leading the way. This nobleman who had turned from darkness to light was suddenly at a loss.

"Twenty days ago, when I broke out of here, the palace was still here, but..."

Orff swung the greatsword in his hand and easily cut a path in the collapsed underground cave, but behind the stone was still rock, without any extraordinary objects.

"The snake people have moved. What's so strange about that? Such a long time is enough for them to react!"

Noah stretched out his dragon claws and gently hooked them. Several broken snake scales mixed with rocks and gravel appeared in front of him.
"However, there were indeed a large number of snake people active here before. They moved too hastily and missed many traces."

"I must find them. I will tear these poisonous snakes into pieces!"

The crackling sounds of lightning and thunder came one after another, and the bronze dragons could not wait to pour their wrath of thunder on the snake people.

"Go take a look at your territory."

However, Noah still controlled the bronze dragons and did not let them vent their anger. Instead, he rushed to the Kenberk Territory in the Principality of Barlov.

"This is, my territory!?"

Seeing the devastated territory and the ruined town before him, Orff's body could not help but tremble. On the thick and long snake tail, blue-black scales stood up one by one, which was a manifestation of extreme anger.

"How dare they?"

When Orf returned to Castoru City, what he saw was the family's main city shrouded in the cloud of death. It was no longer prosperous, and corpses were everywhere. Venomous snakes and pythons of different colors and sizes were scattered all over the city, devouring the remaining flesh and blood corpses.

"This is the fate of a traitor!"

In the city lord's mansion, Long Qun saw a line of words written with corpses and blood, and poisonous snakes were mating and moving around in the flesh and blood. It was a smelly and filthy scene that even Noah, who had fought against demons and devils, didn't want to watch any longer.

Not only did this place suffer a massacre, but the nobles in the city also experienced an inhumane massacre. The ground had been stained with blood. Many female corpses had mutilated limbs, leaving only the torso. The skin of some women was peeled off and disappeared.

In addition to that line of text, there were many beautiful naked female corpses placed in very strange and seductive postures, which looked like some kind of bloody ritual.

"The snake people held a blood sacrifice ceremony here. This barbaric and cruel style belongs to the primitive evil god!"

Noah defined the great snakes worshipped in the Setra Empire as evil gods and demons, regardless of whether they were snake gods or something else, as long as they encouraged blood sacrifices.

"Evil!"

The bronze dragons who pursue justice are already extremely angry. The bloody and filthy hell curtain before them is challenging their moral bottom line.

"Your Highness Noah, I am willing to sacrifice my life and soul, just asking you to avenge me!"

Orff, who was standing beside him, was crawling on the body with lifeless eyes. His voice was dry and hoarse, just like a night owl, and blood was dripping from the corners of his mouth.

When he rebelled and chose to take the bronze dragon egg, he guessed that the snake people would retaliate against him, so he arranged for some family members to leave in advance. However, he never expected that the snake people's revenge would be so cruel.

"You get out of here."

Noah's gaze was directed to the basement of the mansion, where the snake people had carried out a massacre and performed a blood sacrifice ritual, not only to avenge the traitors, but also to prepare a huge "surprise" for someone like him who was tracking down the visitor.

"immediately!"

Under Noah's scolding, the dragons and cloud giants took off urgently, because they also felt the deadly breath coming from underground. The destruction and brutal massacre of the entire city were just to please and summon the arrival of a great being.

(End of this chapter)