Volume Dragon: Start by obtaining the Infinity Gems

Chapter 301: Ten Years

Nemesis' fingertips stroked the long table with tulip emblems. Colette's eyebrows, etched by time, were reflected on the obsidian tabletop. The setting sun shone through the colored windows, casting a shadow of blood-red irises on her shoulder armor, just like the unhealed wound ten years ago.

"Tell me about the past ten years." The voice of Juan Celong caused ripples in the air. The "Royal Annals" on the bookshelf automatically turned to the third volume. The yellowed pages exuded the smell of rust.

Colette took off her sword and laid it horizontally on the table. The silver bells wrapped around the scabbard suddenly shrieked in unison. She pulled out three emerald hairpins and slapped them on the table. There was a dried dark golden liquid on the tips of the hairpins. "That's what Princess Ethelyn used to pierce her neck the night she was murdered. At least that's what the queen wants us to believe."

"At the third year's autumn hunting feast, Princess Esther, daughter of Prince Ryan, publicly questioned the queen's order to collect fine gold." Colette unfolded a roll of blood-soaked silk with the words "Silver Moon Covered in Dust" solidified on it. "The next day, the carpet in her bedroom was soaked with blood, but her body was as pale as moonstone - except that her heart was filled with this." She pushed over a fragment of a crystal bottle with a black sticky substance stuck inside. Under the reflection of the curse fire, it exuded the stench of the holy oil of lies.

There was a sound of paper tearing from deep in the bookcase, and the execution order signed by the queen fell on the table. Nemesis's dragon pupils shrank slightly - the dense fingerprints on the edge of the parchment were all the dying curses of the nobles who were burned at the stake.

"We all know who killed the princess, but the queen arranged the scene to make it look like it was done by the followers of Mystra, and sentenced 12 nobles of Prince Ryan's line to death."

"Twelve heads were hung on the bridge in the capital, in revenge for the princess."

Colette picked up another rusty shackle with the tip of her sword. "The second son of Duke Gavin was burned to death wearing this soon after the princess."

"From beginning to end, our beloved king is like he has Alzheimer's disease and has no reaction at all?" Nemesis said in disbelief. He remembered that the other party looked very normal last time.

Colette sneered, "The king? He has long been the queen's puppet."

A patrol passed by the window, and the sound of armor clashing startled the crows. Wuermu suddenly covered his ears - the crows' cries turned out to be the creaking sound of the noose tightening. The cursed fire burst out uncontrollably, burning countless small holes in the curtains, and each hole reflected the body shaking on the gallows that year.

"The most ironic thing is this." Colette took out a Mystra holy emblem from the secret compartment. The surface was covered with fang marks. "The queen issued the "Pure Night Order" and ordered a nationwide investigation of Mystra believers. The believers were forced to swallow their own holy emblems and die." She turned the holy emblem over. The back was engraved with the number of the royal guard. "And now those wearing these numbers are the converted death row prisoners."

Nemesis' pupils shrank, and he felt incredible: "Has the queen gone mad? Didn't the Silver Moon Church have any reaction?"

Such a large-scale purge of Mystra's followers is tantamount to rubbing the god's face underfoot.

Colette shook her head blankly. "Master Elminster has come. He claims to have come with the will of God. We thought that the arrogant darkness would soon suffer the consequences, but..."

"He's missing," Losrien said calmly, "A legendary wizard, the Chosen of the Silver Flame, is missing."

"We don't know the details," Colette swallowed her saliva. "I only know that night in the royal palace of the capital - oh, the place now renamed the White Day Palace by the queen, a raging black and red flame and an extremely huge evil aura rose up."

"But soon, everything disappeared without a trace, and Master Elminster has never appeared since then."

Nemesis was silent. Elminster's reputation was well-known throughout the entire continent of Faerun. Everyone knew that he was the most powerful wizard in existence.

According to his guess, the current situation in the kingdom was caused by the queen. The other party was most likely a high-level vampire noble, or even a legendary vampire duke.

Only such a being could possibly survive a few moves from Elminster. But to say that he could defeat Elminster? Nemesis thought that was unlikely.

He shook his head and put aside this headache for the time being. He glanced at Wuermu beside him and asked Loslien: "What about your prophecy? Did you predict Wuermu's arrival?"

The blind half-elf nodded, then shook his head. "I saw a boy covered in cursed fire in the prophecy, but I wasn't sure who it was. It wasn't until I saw him that I was sure of my prophecy."

His face was pale as he spoke: "In the past ten years, the blood-sucking disaster in the kingdom has become more rampant, and there are many mountain villages full of mummies. For more than seven hundred days and nights, I have been using prophecy to explore a solution to this disaster."

He lowered his head in guilt and said, "I'm sorry, Master. We didn't manage your territory well. The vampires drained the blood of the people and also drained the territory's wealth."

Nemesis shook his head slightly: "This is none of your business. If I am not mistaken, the queen's strength is probably not something you can contend with."

"However," he smiled at his two followers, "just like I said in the short message, I am now extremely strong."

Loslien forced a smile and said, "My prediction did not find a solution to the vampire disaster, but instead saw a darker future."

"Master," he looked at Nemesis. Although his pupils were empty, the Scroll Dragon inexplicably felt that he was being watched. "I saw that with your arrival, a darker and more ancient force will come to the Kingdom of Inbutu."

"I can't see it clearly. It's a city hidden in the shadows. It floats in the sky, blocking out the sun. Even the powerful vampire queen bows her head in front of it."

"But this is not the most important thing!" Loslien became a little flustered.

"This boy," he suddenly grabbed Wuermu's shoulders, staring at him with his hollow pupils like a dry branch being eaten by maggots. "Protect him, and never let him be captured by the city in the shadows, otherwise everything will be destroyed in the unseen future."

Wuermu had already been frightened to death, and Loslien seemed to realize that he was too excited, so he stood up and pursed his lips.

Nemesis frowned. Is this boy who appeared halfway really that important? Don't be too outrageous, okay? The Volume Dragon now deeply felt that his recent experience must have been influenced by a certain god.

This is too much of a coincidence. The boy who just happened to appear is the key to saving the world? Nemesis is not the kind of movie cannon fodder who still wants to prove the evidence even when it is right in front of his face.

What made him curious at the moment was, from which divine hand did this boy come?
"Okay, let's not talk about this for now." Nemesis made the decision with a wave of his hand, and then said to Wuermu: "You heard it too. There will be countless people who want to kill you next time. If you don't want to die, just stay by my side and don't leave this castle."

Wuermu nodded honestly. He was already frightened to death.

After Nemesis cast various powerful constant spells to protect Rosa Castle, he returned to his room to rest.

That night, Nemesis, who never dreamed, had a strange dream.

(End of this chapter)