Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 257 Origin
Time no longer has a fixed concept for the people in this world. People here only know that another day has passed by watching the sun rise and set.

A huge wall built along the island's undulating coastline, constructed from irregular rocks yet seamlessly stitched together, surrounds the entire Valyrian Peninsula.

This huge project was built by the remaining Valyrians who defected to the Golden Empire, riding dragons, using the dragon's flames and remaining magical power.

The densely packed rock particles on the surface of these city walls have been covered with a thin layer of frost at night. Because this continent has been affected by the power of the God of Cold in Westeros, it has begun to have no spring, summer, and autumn seasons.

The continent of Essos is now entering the severe winter like the continent of Westeros, and the climate has become one of only winter. However, compared to the other continent that is completely covered by ice and snow, the Valyrian Peninsula still has a relatively mild climate due to the protection of the black dragon lord.

On the city walls that undulate like mountains, there are many battle-hardened warriors guarding, including not only legionnaires from the Golden Empire, but also the original Valyrian Legion and the remaining armed forces of various free trade city-states.

There are also many people who have fled here from the continent of Westeros, gathering here on this once huge island, gathering around the huge flag of the Dragon King on the city wall, and working together to resist the enemy of all living things - the devil.

The empire that once invaded the world has now become the savior who protects the world. This situation seems quite a reversal even to Sakaro, the leader of the sect who converted to the ancestral red dragon.

The Dragon Legion, which once wanted to cleanse the world order, has now become the party that maintains order.

But this did not prevent Sakaro from respecting the dragon he believed in even more. Therefore, this Pope, who did not give his sect a name, always appeared in front of the people with the code in his left hand and the dragon horn hammer in his right hand.

Although the external explanation is that the dragon god he believes in has civilized benevolence and great power, in fact it is more for the purpose of maintaining order.

Many women in linen and the elderly and weak followed the Pope, carrying baskets woven from rattan and bamboo, and slowly stepped onto the city wall. In the continuous team, there were armed forces from various sects escorting them.

The former red-robed witch, now the sect's saint Nalia, stood at the end of the food delivery team, intimidating the hungry people and preventing these poor lucky ones from doing anything stupid.

In the city near the city wall, on the towering roofs and the dilapidated topless towers, there are huge dragons climbing and living.

These huge dragons smelled the fragrance of food and subconsciously opened their vertical pupils to scan the tiny human marching group under the ground.

But when they saw the familiar yet tiny Dragon's Eye emblem, the habitually restless dragons closed their eyes again. Before a new battle came, the dragons also needed to restrain their minions and restore their energy.

Sakaro gently swung the short and thick dragon horn hammer, and his sensitive perception swept over every ragged hungry person. Now Valyria has gathered all the surviving people from the two continents, nearly a million people.

The food consumed by these people every day is already a heavy burden in the increasingly scarce environment. If the Black Dragon Lord and the high-ranking officials of the empire had not been well prepared and plundered huge amounts of food supplies and stored them in advance, perhaps even the soldiers in the legion would have difficulty in having a full meal.

With all of the Empire's strength focused on fighting the demons, the internal order of the entire peninsula was mostly entrusted to this former monk who had turned from darkness to light.

Sakaro did not disappoint the empire's expectations.

He spread the belief of the Red Dragon among these people and recruited some believers into this unnamed sect. He applied to the empire and established a crusading army as an armed force to suppress the order in the city. He managed the city in an orderly manner and did not bring any trouble to the empire.

Then he took the lead and complied with the food planning and distribution plan formulated by the empire. For two meals a day, these people who had never gone to war filled their stomachs with thin rice porridge mixed with a little fish fillet.

When the Dragon Knights and the Dragon Regiment rode their dragons and magic dragons out to sea to hunt, Sakaro also led his believers to pass through the passages in the city wall at regular intervals to the other side of the peninsula to salvage and capture whales and sea beasts in the sea as supplementary food reserves.

But even Saint Noria had never seen the Pope eat any meat in private that was not part of the ration.

This made Nalia and other believers sincerely believe in the leadership of the sect's leader and respect the Pope's lofty ideas.

But Sakaro did not think that his ideas were noble. He felt that he had developed the habit of enduring because he lived in the slums when he was a child.

Most importantly, Sakaro wanted the Dragon Empire to last a little longer. The order brought by the Dragon Empire was something that other nobles and kingdoms could not give to the common people, and he did not want this last bit of beauty to be broken.

Like the soldiers of the Imperial Legion, he is looking forward to the return of the dragon that once descended into the world and leading the lost people of this world back to the paradise of his dreams.

Therefore, Sakaro swallowed his saliva habitually, and pretended not to care about the aroma of meat and food in the baskets, and asked the women who volunteered to join the logistics team to deliver warm food to the soldiers who were guarding and resting on the city wall. This was also what they could do in the rear.

When the soldiers saw the warm food, they all rushed over. After being blown by the cold wind at night, even those hiding behind the battlements felt a little cold and were in urgent need of replenishing large amounts of food and energy.

Occasionally there would be a few complaints.

"Why is it pea rice and fish fillets again? I want to eat meat!"

"I haven't eaten a piece of real meat in a long time."

"Come on," another warrior said vaguely, "It's good enough to give you dry rice and fish slices to eat. Large pieces of meat are only for the most courageous dragon legions."

"If you dare to rush into the demons like them, you can also eat big pieces of meat and even drink some beer brewed by your grandmother."

The voices of complaints suddenly subsided, and only the sounds of the soldiers slurping their food could be heard. No one dared to doubt the bravery of the dragon army.

The demon heads hanging on the city walls and the demon corpses everywhere in the field of vision were proof of the courage and strength of the Dragon Legion. Even the thoughts of complaining in their hearts disappeared at this moment.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sakaro looked around on the city wall.

Those giant crossbows and trebuchets mounted on the city walls had not only been worn out by the continuous wars to the point where they could only be patched up and barely used, but there were also only a limited supply of crossbow arrows. Only the materials for the trebuchets were in sufficient supply on this peninsula.

The arrows that were once carried in bundles are now pitifully scarce, with only small piles every three or five steps, placed directly on the open-air corridors of the city wall.

This is not because these warriors do not know the skills of care and maintenance, but once they engage in battle with demons, these warriors can only take out weapons from behind and around them in time. If they are a little slower, the overwhelming demons will break through the defense of the entire city wall.

Sakaro heard that the Imperial Legion mages had few spell materials left, and those mages could rely on the spell materials to cast spells faster and use more powerful magic.

However, when the spellcasting materials are exhausted, the spellcasters can only rely on their own magic output, which will consume their magic power faster. After a battle, they may need to replenish their magic power several times, while also taking into account the recuperation of their mental strength.

He could only pray silently in his heart, "Great Dragon God, as dazzling as the sun, I hope your will can shine on this land again."

While praying silently, Sakaro led the logistics regiment to move back and forth on the city wall. This section was the most dangerous section on the front line and fighting could break out at any time. Only if he came here could he feel at ease and allow these soldiers to have a warm meal in time.

They walked and stopped along the way. When they saw a young soldier sleeping on the city wall, Sakaro would wake him up and say, "Wake up, kid. It's time to enjoy a warm meal to comfort your tired body and mind."

This kind of thing is not uncommon. Even with nearly a million people left, the number of people is still insufficient to guard the entire peninsula.

Many soldiers never came down from the city walls once they stepped onto them, and either died there or lived there, facing almost endless wars. The entire front line, stained dark red with blood, was the home of these soldiers.

Stopping and walking along the way, Sakaro began to put down the dragon horn hammer and codex and started distributing food to the warriors.

After passing the edge areas that were once guarded by the slave groups and the Unsullied Legion, they began to step into the most dangerous position of the entire battle line.

What we are facing here is the Valyrian Road, which can allow thirty-six luxurious six-horse carriages to pass through simultaneously. It is also a magical creation that was once the pinnacle of Valyrian civilization. It is also the only channel on land for demons to attack the only remaining civilization on this continent.

The dragon's royal flag flies here and has never fallen, because here is stationed the most powerful dragon army.

Although these dragon legions always have their own names and divisions, such as the most proud Blood Scale Fury Warband, the most violent Demon Hunter Warband, the most cruel Dragon Devil Warband, the Thousand Sons Warband with various warriors, and the Flying Dragon Warband.

But in the eyes of the people in this world, they are all warriors of the dragon god. Even those boundless demons are afraid of these powerful warriors.

Two huge and terrifying dragon pythons were coiled under the dragon's royal flag. Their scales were darker than the deep night and seemed to be able to absorb even the rays of the rising sun.

The nearly thirty-meter-long body was covered with traces of battle, and a pair of ferocious horns stood toward the sky on the heads of two dragon pythons.

Sakaro couldn't help but stop and salute the two Titan dragon pythons: "Sir Greenek, Haninek, good day!"

These two Titan Dragon Pythons are not only powerful in combat, but also have special identities. Although they claim to be the adopted sons of the ancestral red dragon and are treated as pets by others, they have also won respect with their powerful combat power.

"Good morning, Xiaosa," Haninek opened his mouth lazily without opening his eyes. He still lay on the ground, not wanting to waste any energy.

Although Greenek did not open his eyes and did not answer, he stretched out his head, opened his mouth, revealing his hooked fangs, and moved in front of Sakaro.

Sakaro put a meal that he had prepared long ago into the mouth of the greedy demon python. Grenec swallowed it in one gulp, then smacked his lips like a human, retracted his head, and muttered, "Today's breakfast tastes so-so, not even as good as those demons."

Sakaro smiled, and after getting permission to pass, he led the team forward.

They arrived at the most dangerous section of the front line, but the soldiers here were the most relaxed on the entire section of the city wall.

The warriors wearing newly-forged heavy armors, leaning on their cross swords or claw hammers and other heavy weapons, sat lazily on the city walls, without any tension about the battle that could break out at any time. Occasionally, they would crack a few unfunny jokes from under their dull visors.

Only when Sakaro arrived did these warriors take off their helmets, revealing pairs of heterochromatic pupils and resolute faces. They sat there blankly, waiting for the logistics personnel to place the food in front of them before they began to eat in silence.

Sakaro did not have any communication with these warriors. He knew that although the warriors of the Dragon Legion were proud in their hearts, they would not show it in such places. Instead, these warriors would save any energy consumed in a long battle and would not waste it on any unnecessary movements.

After passing these Dragon Legion warriors, Sakaro and the logistics team's expressions suddenly became serious, because they were about to step into the most dangerous area.

Not only because this area faces the most violent attack from demons, but also because the warriors here are dangerous themselves.

The rows of silent golems were resting; these heroic warriors were not dangerous.

The dangerous ones are the warriors who are surrounded and controlled by the golem army. They have an average height of more than three meters and five centimeters, and have huge demon wings. Their bodies and faces are no different from those of some powerful high-level demons outside.

Unfortunately, Sakaro does not have a wealth of knowledge, nor is he able to distinguish between demons and devils, otherwise he would know that there are not only demons but also devils here.

These warriors are all legion warriors with demon and devil bloodlines. During the years of fighting, these warriors killed those demons. After some demons died, their essence and souls would return to their original planes.

But after many demons died, their souls were devoured by these special warriors to replenish their own strength and repair their injuries.

Some demons even had their hearts ripped out of their bodies and devoured by these warriors.

After devouring the souls and heart essence of the demons, these warriors became stronger and stronger day by day, and also twisted day by day, until the ancient bloodline in their bodies was completely revived, making them become like this.

The originally controllable bloodline, after consuming too much demonic power to grow, made it impossible for these warriors to completely guarantee that their own behavior could be controlled, so this is also where they are extremely dangerous.

Therefore, these warriors pray to their emperor and the god they serve day after day, and with this absolute loyalty, they maintain their own benign mutation and evolution.

So when Sakaro led the team here, these warriors, who were no different from demons and devils, all bowed their heads and prayed in silence.

When these people carefully put down the food, Sakaro noticed that Gilenes, one of the leaders of the Dragon Legion and one of the three heroes of the empire, was also leaning against the city wall and had fallen into an unusual state of sleep.

Sakaro hesitated for a moment, but turned around and left quietly. From his telepathic perception, the will of these warriors remained firm and had not changed.

The flags fluttered loudly, and the sounds of demons' restlessness from the other side of the strait began to be heard in the distance.

Gillespie sat on the ground with his eyes closed, the huge hammer placed between his legs.

"Can I sit with you?" a gentle voice came.

Gillenis opened his eyes and saw a man standing beside him. The city wall was quiet, as if shrouded in fog, as if in a dream.

A masculine yet gentle face, red eyes flashing with dark gold, a red cloak draped over the golden and red armor, and a faintly visible crown, which is not a decoration, but seems to be born with it.

Gillianis stood up and nodded. "It's my pleasure."

The man squatted beside Gillespie, his eyes looking outward.

"Aren't we in the outside world?" Gillianis asked the man.

The man turned his head, his extraordinary demeanor made his face even more invisible than the hazy mist. He smiled softly and said, "This is a spiritual space. You and I are in a dream."

"You have fought for a long time, just like those warriors, you are good enough!"

Gillenis couldn't help but ask: "Can those warriors see you again like me?"

The man glanced at Gillianis, picked up the heavy hammer from the ground, looked at it over and over, then handed it to Gillianis and said softly: "Of course, if this is the meaning of your perseverance!"

(End of this chapter)