Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 334: The Meeting of Kings: The Beginning

The North, the Principality of Lukepass in the South.

The weather today is very pleasant. The early summer climate has caused the temperature in the entire northern continent to gradually rise.

The Grand Duke's Castle in Tyrol, the capital of the Principality of Lukopas, has an architectural style that resembles those of the ancient and elegant nobles: extravagant and complex, luxurious and arty.

The castle built on the highest ground in Tyrol is like those nobles, high above, overlooking the city.

The tall and thick castle walls blocked the prying eyes of the civilians and serfs in the city.

The armored guards patrolling outside the castle walls also keep out adventurous wanderers and so-called "heroes".

This tall castle rules over all mortals in the Principality of Lukepass. In the past, not many people were able to step into this ancient castle.

But today, there is an endless stream of luxurious carriages on the avenue leading to the castle, and the guards in front of the castle are lined up along the avenue all the way to the foot of the mountain, guarding the castle tightly.

Because a noble banquet and meeting was taking place in this castle.

Although these luxurious carriages heading to the Grand Duke's Castle are spacious and tall, their exterior colors are almost deep dark, just like the elegant black art that the nobles admire.

Rule all beings openly and control everything secretly.

Only those senior scholars who are well versed in aristocratic heraldry can recognize the true origins of these noble visitors from some of the hidden emblems painted on these carriages.

Among them is not only the Glorious Principality founded by the descendants of a high-ranking official of a certain divine church, the origin of this ancient principality is no secret in the eyes of most northern nobles.

However, thanks to the status of the ancestors in a certain church of gods, the Principality of Glow in the North, although located in the middle of the southern part of the North, still has close ties with some powerful kingdoms on the central continent.

It is also said that the Grand Duke's Scepter of the Glowing Principality still possesses powerful power even when the gods do not respond. It is the national treasure of the Glowing Principality and the proof of the Grand Duke's inheritance rights.

There is also the Rose Duchy. The name is so simple, taking the rose flowers in the territory as the name and spiritual symbol of the duchy, but its strength should not be underestimated.

Many mortals don't understand, but take the example of fully armed, armored cavalry with armor on both horse and man.

Hundreds of ordinary people lined up, which seems small in the eyes of ordinary people, but four armored cavalry squares with forty knights occupy a larger area than hundreds of people.

When a hundred armored cavalrymen charge in formation, the pressure is many times greater than when thousands of people charge together.

It is said that if there are thousands of people, the earth will be connected to the sky; if there are tens of thousands of people, there will be no limit.

It does not describe ordinary people crowded together, but the terrifying pressure and shock brought by an organized army arrayed in battle formation.

An armored cavalry soldier needs to be equipped with at least two regular war horses and at least three auxiliary militiamen or laborers.

The auxiliary militia that accompanied these armored cavalrymen were known as the Knights' Reserve.

At a critical moment on the battlefield, deploying a thousand armored cavalrymen could easily decide the outcome of a war involving tens of thousands of people.

The Rose Knights of the Rose Principality have a total of 2,000 registered knights, all of whom are heavily armored knights with both horse and armor.

If this knightly order were to go out, it would require at least 4,000 strong war horses, 6,000 auxiliary militiamen, and 20,000 people to supply food and supplies.

And this is only the most elite part of the Rose Principality's strength. One can imagine the strength of this seemingly ordinary principality.

There is also the Principality of Nayalas, which is also a powerful duchy.

As for the Principality of Marino, which borders the southernmost territory of the Hobis Empire, even though the monarch of the Hobis Empire, Charal Caesar, has great power and courage, he has not attempted to attack and wipe out this formerly hostile principality.

Although this would cause unification and unrest among the entire southern noble alliance, it also proved the strong strength of the Principality of Marino.

In addition to those powerful duchies, many representatives of small and medium-sized noble forces also came here.

The emblem of the Modil family, which once escorted the dragon to the Golden Empire for delivery, also appeared here, but this does not mean that Modil betrayed the friendship of the Golden Empire.

Although Modil has friendly economic and trade relations with the Golden Empire, this is the style of the nobles that has been passed down for thousands of years. Speculating on both sides is just a normal operation. They only care about profits.

This banquet included almost all the nobles in the North, big and small. Even the Rose City in the southernmost part of the Northern Continent sent its own representatives and envoys with certain decision-making power.

The envoy of the Hobis Empire was also among this group.

Although the situation in the Northern Golden Empire changed suddenly in chaos overnight or within a few hours, the transmission of information is time-sensitive and limited.

These gathered aristocratic forces only came here according to previous plans.

The lamp oil consumed by the candles lit every day in the tall castle is enough for an ordinary family of three to live a comfortable life for a whole year.

The exquisite carpets that line the corridors of the castle are consumables that ordinary people cannot afford even if they save for years.

Those gorgeous screens, precious furniture, and gold and silver utensils on the banquet table were all engraved with the emblem of the Grand Duke Teveri family of the Principality of Lukepass. They were so exquisite and luxurious that ordinary people could not imagine.

However, these did not attract the attention of other nobles, because all nobles were almost the same, and a life of luxury and debauchery was just their daily routine. The only difference was the amount.

There were already voices in the castle, and discussions were going on in the spacious banquet hall.

The impacts and changes that the Golden Empire is experiencing today are within the expectations of these nobles, because they are the self-righteous masterminds.

These nobles united together for their own interests. In the eyes of outsiders, they were the Northern and Southern Nobles Economic Alliance, but within these noble alliances, they called themselves the 'Anti-dumping Economic Alliance'.

Dumping refers to the act of a country or region selling products to the markets of other countries or regions at prices lower than the normal or average price in the domestic market or even lower than the cost price.

Its purpose is to defeat competitors, seize markets, and plunder economic benefits.

Anti-dumping is a countermeasure taken by other countries against the predatory behavior of the dumping country.

Since before the founding of the Golden Empire, it has been vigorously developing the industrial revolution of magic and technology, replacing handicrafts with machine industries based on magic and technology.

After the founding of the country, magic technology machines had been applied to various industrial production departments of the empire.

During the long-term rapid development, the raw material production areas opened up by the Golden Empire brought about the accumulation and transformation of a large amount of resources, making these aristocratic countries in the north and south victims.

Especially after the Steel Dragon Midir took office, this clever dragon took advantage of the highly cohesive organizational power of the Golden Empire to formulate relevant economic and trade policies, making the territories of many nobles become dumping markets for the Golden Empire's goods.

This had a huge impact on the economy of those nobles, which was a combination of near-feudal colonialism and traditional agriculture, and the economic and trade exchanges with the Golden Empire have been in serious deficit.

Therefore, from a certain perspective, the alliance of the southern nobles was actually just a natural reaction to protect the economic interests of their own territories. To a certain extent, these nobles could actually be just.

At this moment, the nobles in this luxurious castle are discussing their plans. The success of the "anti-dumping bill" and the plan to divide the benefits depends on the determination of these noble alliances. Moreover, although the twenty-one countries of these noble alliances have had frictions with each other, in order to fight against the Golden Empire in the far north, they have also formed a closer relationship through long-term economic exchanges and political communication.

As the nobles drank and chatted, they reached important agreements and simple alliances.

Grand Duke Tifferi of the Principality of Lukepass is very satisfied with the current atmosphere. The gathering of these nobles in the castle of his kingdom also means that the Tifferi family will have a certain dominant voice in the division of interests in the near future.

"If the rule of the Golden Empire collapses, the alliance of southern nobles will organize an army to march north and reap the fruits of victory we have achieved with wisdom."

Grand Duke Teveri raised his glass and said with a smile: "If the Golden Empire can still maintain its dignity after this incident, then our Southern Anti-Dumping Alliance will send a large army to threaten the rulers of the Golden Empire from afar and force them to sign our 'Anti-Dumping Act'."

"After this incident, they will certainly be severely weakened and unable to resist our offensive and oppression."

"Then our cake will be topped with a delicious and rich cream!"

The other nobles all laughed and raised their glasses to take a sip.

"If you ask me, it's a pity for the rulers of the Golden Empire. They created such a powerful country, but in the end they couldn't avoid the fate of being divided up."

The representative of the Glowing Principality said with a smile: "The kingdom of dragons, which is rarely seen in a thousand years, belongs to the kingdom of order, but it has been disrupted by those stupid metal dragons. If they hadn't contacted us, we wouldn't have such a good opportunity."

“Hahaha, those metal dragons are all hypocritical idiots who think they are smart. Otherwise, why would they only be able to hide in the corner of the southern continent? In fact, it proves that in the world of Ekania, wisdom can control everything.”

The envoy of the Principality of Nyarras laughed and said, "Those stupid lizards and reptiles should just hide in dark corners and let their scales and horns become our decorations."

Some representatives of the Church of God at the edge of the banquet also laughed, including members of the Holy Knights.

The churches of these gods are not qualified to preach in the Golden Empire. Without the approval of the Religious Administration Department of the Golden Empire, no sect of gods can establish temples or strongholds in the kingdom of dragons.

This also made many of the leaders of the churches of gods deeply dissatisfied.

Of course, this does not mean that the members of these churches are so devout and have such faith in their own gods.

Rather, it is because of profit that almost all churches give a sacred surface meaning to the oppression and plunder of believers, but they are no more merciful than those vampire nobles.

"It's a pity that the Dragon Kingdom in the north has returned to order. Otherwise, we could use justice to overthrow evil and brutality, and we would get help from many 'just' people."

"They actually put the noble aristocrats on an equal footing with those lowly untouchables. This is truly a destruction of justice and order."

This is a representative of a church speaking.

Amid the heated condemnation, a servant dressed in decent clothes quickly walked from the banquet hall to the side of Grand Duke Teverly and whispered, "My lord, there is important news from the Golden Empire."

The originally noisy hall suddenly became quiet, and all the nobles stared at it.

News about the Golden Empire is attracting everyone's attention at this moment.

Archduke Teverley nodded and listened attentively.

The waiters around him were all elderly men who had served for many years and knew the rules of etiquette. Unless the news was extremely important, the waiters would not rashly disturb the gathering of the nobles.

There was a crisp sound. "What?"

Grand Duke Teverly looked extremely shocked and lost his composure for a moment.

The good news that the other nobles were expecting turned into bad news at this time, turning the originally hot atmosphere in the hall into cold.

The Dragon Emperor of the Northern Empire displayed incredible power that night. Not only did he kill and capture several legendary golden dragons and Titans, he also faced two supreme gods overnight.

The projection of the consciousness of the Platinum Dragon God Bahamut was shattered by the roar of the terrifying Dragon Emperor. Even the divine punishment brought down by the Immortal Queen Tiamat could not do anything to the ancestral red dragon that could never be understood by these nobles.

Many people who were paying close attention received the news one after another, just like the nobles who had gathered according to the plan.

Many powerful creatures also observed the shocking battle in various ways. The power displayed by the ancestral red dragon Kalon Gogmora during this mutation was enough to make others unforgettable.

The influence of this unique and special red dragon is gradually spreading.

But these nobles all knew that there would definitely be a glorious page in the history of Ekania, where the story and legend of the red dragon would be preserved.

Perhaps it's not just the world of Ekania, these nobles thought.

The failure of the plan made these nobles regretful, but the Golden Empire's declaration of revenge made these nobles start to worry.

"What pretext does the Golden Empire have to go to war with us?" The envoy of the Principality of Marino said, "Even the dragon hunters don't know our exact identities. Those who have come into contact with the dragon hunters are all well hidden. Moreover, the Golden Empire has not yet captured the dragon hunters."

These nobles forgot that the previous excuse for clamoring to attack the Golden Empire was not a correct name, and the "anti-dumping war" was just a gimmick that could barely be used.

"In any case, we should be prepared for both scenarios," said the envoy of the Rose Principality. "If those dragon hunters are able to escape, we need to control them immediately, no matter what means we use."

"If these dragon hunters can dispel the anger of the Golden Empire, then let these dragon hunters die."

The words spoken by the envoy of the Rose Principality were immediately agreed upon by all the nobles.

Although there are many legendary warriors and other kinds of strong men in the dragon hunters' teams, not all of these nobles are extraordinary people.

However, the mentality of being in a superior position, their false arrogance, and the powerful background of controlling a country made these nobles regard those dragon hunters as tools that could be disposed of at will.

After all, in the eyes of these nobles, even a legendary warrior cannot directly resist the attack of a reorganized legion.

"Besides, the Golden Empire is under attack from all sides," the envoy of the Rose Principality said in a deep voice, "whether it is the barrier of the God-Forsaken Mountains, the threat from the rear of the Frost Giants, or the coercion of the Orc Kingdom in the east, all of these can make the Golden Empire dare not easily send out a large army."

"Are we, an alliance of so many countries, afraid of a small-scale war with the Dragon Kingdom? Ridiculous! No matter how powerful that red dragon is, can it defeat us on its own? If they dare to come, we will completely wipe out the Golden Empire's army."

As a result, the atmosphere in the huge banquet hall became lively again.

These nobles all agreed with the words of the Rose Principality's envoy. Even if the Golden Empire's legions could rely on their giant ships to wage war, it would be impossible for them to march across the border in large numbers. The carrying capacity of the ships was very limited, and the navy that the Golden Empire had developed in just a few years did not have the ability to deploy on a large scale.

"Then let them come!" a noble said in a resounding voice, attracting the attention of several ladies.

The lively sounds rang out again, and the music was everywhere.

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(End of this chapter)