Extraordinary Rise: Starting Contract with the Silver Dragon Countess

Diaz showed no sign of panic at being exposed. He calmly straightened his crumpled collar, his voice carrying a chillingly menacing quality:
"General, what is my identity, and what necessary connection do I have with the businesses we've done over the past three years, the businesses that have propelled you to your promotion?"

Konnett seemed to have all his strength drained away. He limply released his grip, clutched his head, dug his fingers deep into his hair, his Adam's apple bobbing violently as he forced out a growl through his teeth:
"You complete liar!"
From the very beginning, your approach to me was a setup. Those so-called opportunities were all bait you threw out. You wanted to drag me and my family into the abyss.

You've ruined me!

Diaz smoothed out the mess on his collar that Cornelius had made, and said calmly:
"To harm you?"
General, without my connections to the Central Empire, how could your mediocre eldest son have donned the purple-gold robes and become a royal mage in the Imperial Royal Mage Corps, adored by countless young women?

Without the letter of recommendation I got for the fiery red lips, would your second daughter have been able to intern at the largest luxury goods store in mainland China?
Not to mention your mistress hidden in the villa in the south of the city, your illegitimate child in the manor in the north suburbs, and all those jewels and clothes that are spent like water—aren't they all funded by the treasury I managed?

Diaz's voice suddenly dropped to a very low hue, yet every word was piercing:

"As for the star on your shoulder... General Cornelius, without us eliminating every competitor on your path to promotion and clearing every hurdle for you, you'd still be a lieutenant colonel eating frozen potatoes in a border post!"

Cornelius's eyes widened, his pupils contracted violently with extreme anger and fear, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Clenching his fists tightly, as if he were about to pounce and tear his opponent apart at any moment, he was bound firmly to the spot by invisible chains.

Diaz took in his reaction, then abruptly changed the subject, his voice softening considerably:
"I remember that William is getting engaged next month to a daughter from a branch of the Golden Palm family in the Central Empire. The head of the Golden Palm family was once the agricultural officer of the 'Tengguanze' district."

What a wonderful match!

And your prized Miss Greerley has recently fallen for the only son of a wealthy mining magnate in the West. I hear that the young man is not only incredibly rich, but also extremely generous to Miss Greerley.”

With each name Diaz uttered, Cornett's face paled, and his breathing became heavier.

"What a wonderful marriage, what a bright future."

Diaz sighed softly, his voice low:

"General, are you really willing to watch all of this—the happiness of your children for the rest of their lives, the glory and foundation of your family for decades to come—vanish completely like a bubble, disappearing with the wind?"

Cornelius let out a desperate howl, collapsing to the ground, his trembling hands covering his face, his hoarse voice breaking through his fingers:
"But...but you're forcing me to betray my country!"

Diaz leaned down and said calmly:

"Treason?"
General, please look carefully and see who is betraying the true legitimacy and glory of this country on the land of Serene.

And who is trying to save it from the hands of the usurper?
Don't forget, your rightful old king, His Majesty Peter Thranduil, is currently imprisoned like a prisoner in a dark dungeon where there is no sunlight!
General, what we are doing now is not betrayal, but to restore the true king to the throne and to give this country a new lease on life.

A faint flame suddenly flickered in Cornet's dark pupils, and his breathing became uncontrollably heavy.

Diaz took in his wavering, his voice continuing in a convincing tone:
"As descendants of the gods, how can we allow a group of liches and demons to seize our power?"

General, rest assured, His Majesty Corleone always keeps in mind the spirit of the international treaty of friendship and mutual assistance.

Once Effie assists Princess Freya in quelling the Ceylon rebellion, the army will immediately head north to rescue Serene, which is being held by the 'Black Tomb', as liberators.

At that time, General, you will be the Chief of the Army General Staff of the newly established Kingdom of Serene.

What you have lost is but scraps from the Marquis of Lincoln's charity; what you have gained is military power over the entire kingdom!

Cornelius's breathing quickened, and his face flushed slightly.

"You, you're not lying to me, are you?"

Diaz smiled faintly:

"This counter-ambush battle on Ash Plains is the best proof."

When Efein's banner tears apart Ceylon and the Black Tomb's conspiracy, you will judge for yourself whether what I say today is true or false!

Cornelius closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently, as if he were using all his strength to force out the final decision through clenched teeth:

"Okay, let's cooperate!"

……

On the towering walls of Ash Fortress, Marshal Ofion Barrett, Chief of the Army Staff of the Kingdom of Ceylon, stood like a frozen statue beneath the fluttering banners.

The marshal put down his binoculars, but his gaze remained firmly fixed on the fortress in front of it—on the vast, desolate gray plain bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

Although all he could see were gusts of sand whipped up by the wind and swaying withered grass, this battle-hardened veteran had already clearly envisioned the horrific scene that would unfold here a few hours later.

The deafening shouts of battle and the dying wails will tear the sky apart; steel and flesh will collide wildly; and raging flames and thick black smoke will engulf the earth.

Countless vibrant lives—whether sons in their prime, fathers shouldering the burden of their families, or husbands longing to return home—will be utterly devoured by the merciless maw of war on this cursed plain, turning into cold, broken corpses that will eventually pile up into horrifying mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Even a veteran like Ofion Barrett, who had climbed his way up from mountains of corpses to the position of Marshal and was accustomed to death and war, could not escape the wrath of his troops.

On the eve of each major battle, an indescribable heaviness and a trace of almost pious compassion would still well up in his heart.

His lips moved slightly, and in a voice only he could hear, he uttered a low prayer to the gods who held sway over war and death:
"Let what needs to end end as soon as possible, and let as many people as possible go home..."

This was a habit he had maintained for many years, and it was the last glimmer of humanity he could retain when facing the enormous and cruel meat grinder of war.

Marshal Barrett's gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon, as if he could pierce through the twilight and glimpse the approaching Windbringer army.

A staff officer with the rank of major walked quickly closer, deliberately lowering his voice:

"Marshal, news has arrived from Serene."

Barrett slowly withdrew his gaze, his brow twitching slightly, and asked:
"Yes."

The staff officer presented a encrypted intelligence briefing with both hands and said slowly:

"Marshal Griffiths of Deadwood Hills and General Selal of Eagle Beak Canyon have both replied."

They stated that they would immediately dispatch elite reconnaissance units to conduct a thorough search of all areas surrounding Ash Plains where a large-scale army might be lurking.

This is their proposed reconnaissance area and timetable, and they asked if we needed any adjustments.

Barrett did not reach out to take the briefing.

He understood that the so-called inquiry was merely a polite formality between allies.

How could a Ceylonian general like him possibly interfere with the details of Serren's army deployment?

This formulaic response was less a solicitation of opinions and more a way to appease the "overly anxious" Allied commander.

He could even picture the dismissive expressions on Griffith's and Selé's faces when they sent out the intelligence.

They probably didn't believe that Efein's army could appear on this battlefield far from home without anyone noticing.

In fact, even Barrett himself had the same doubts when he first received His Majesty Gaius's secret order to be wary of Effie.

After all, it sounds like a complete fantasy.

Fortunately, everything was normal. Since Serene had already made it clear that everything at the front was as usual, he stopped dwelling on it and instead asked:
Where is the vanguard of the Windbringers?

The staff officer immediately replied:
"The latest reports from the front-line scouts indicate that the main force of Windbreak has reached the Three-Forked Wasteland and is expected to arrive at the first line of defense outside the fortress in five hours."

Barrett's eyes flashed with his usual coldness and decisiveness as he turned to face the massive fortress below the tower, and said firmly:

"Order all armies to conduct a final combat readiness check."

Ballistae are loaded, magical barriers are preheating, and all soldiers are entering a state of first-level combat readiness.

Five hours later, I will let the blood of the Windbringers stain this Ash Plains red!

"Yes, Marshal!"
……

The Ash Plains are named after an ancient secret lost to the long river of time.

Legend has it that at the end of the mythological era, this vast land, now fertile and expansive, was not a plain, but a supervolcano that occupied the entire southeastern region.

Its scale was the largest in the prime plane, with its erupting plumes of smoke enough to obscure half the sky, and its boiling rivers of lava scorching everything like the lifeblood of the earth. Later, during the war between gods and demons, the volcano was drained of all its fire essence from its core by the god of fire and lava, Fjorn Blaze, with his supreme power.

Ultimately, under the impact of the divine power of the final battle between the gods and the demons, the entire volcanic mountain range was razed to the ground.

Millions of tons of volcanic ash covered the area, and after tens of thousands of years of weathering and sedimentation, this deep and fertile alluvial plain was formed.

Every spring when the plow turns over the black soil, you can still see sparkling fragments of volcanic glass in the soil.

Later generations named it "Ashes" to commemorate this plain that was reborn after the great changes in the world.

On the boundless plains of ashes, a thin black line suddenly appeared on the horizon.

At first it was just a blurry shadow, trembling slightly on the horizon.

But as time went on, the black line gradually thickened, and eventually, accompanied by a deafening sound, it transformed into a moving steel forest.

Two hundred thousand troops from the Kingdom of Windbreak crossed the border between the two countries and officially set foot on the territory of the Kingdom of Ceylon, the Ash Plains!
The vanguard cavalry regiment's three thousand warhorses were the first to tear through the silence of the plain. Their hooves, clad in dark silver scales, trampled across the gray earth unique to the Ash Plain, raising clouds of ash.

The main force of the central army advanced in a well-organized square formation. The mobile city wall composed of 60,000 heavily armed infantrymen stretched as far as the eye could see, their spears like a forest. The enchanted armor on their bodies shone faintly, forming a dark blue halo that contrasted eerily with the gray sky.

At the very back were all sorts of engineering machines, with a huge magic cannon being dragged by a magic bull. As the axles rolled over the ground, ashes surged to both sides like waves.

Reconnaissance squadrons of three hundred mages, clad in gray-blue robes, hovered on both flanks of the army. Every two hours, they would transform into streaks of light and dart out in all directions to scout out enemy positions.

At the very heart of this army, which marched like an iron torrent, stood a massive mobile command platform pulled by eight demonic warhorses clad in heavy armor.

General Jaden Ulric, the supreme commander of the Windrise Kingdom's expeditionary force, stood before a bronze table covered with military maps.

He wore a dark blue general's cloak, and his eyes gleamed with a chilling coldness.

This renowned general, known for his iron will and ruthlessness, not only participated in the seventeenth expedition against the Kingdom of Ceylon, but also accumulated extremely rich combat experience in countless border conflicts.

It is said that his eldest son was killed in an ambush by the border guards of Ceylon, and from then on, wherever Ulrik's banner went, no Ceylon soldier was ever allowed to surrender.

Soon, a purple streak of light streaked across the sky, and a high-ranking mage landed gracefully on the edge of the command platform, bowing respectfully to Ulric, his voice tinged with solemnity:
"Commander, the Vanguard Mage Corps reports that we are still five hours away from Ash Fortress."

Furthermore, scouts dispatched by Ceylon were just spotted in the northeast direction. They were very alert and quickly disengaged and fled.

Ulrik waved his hand casually and said:
"Ignore these annoying flies. From the moment we crossed the border, this expedition was no longer a secret."

The Ceylonians knew we were coming, and now they could only cower in their fortresses.

Ever since Efein annihilated Ceylon's border legion last time, this so-called 'first kingdom on the continent' has long been crippled and turned into a paper tiger that is strong on the outside but weak on the inside!
I heard that this time, they even personally sent the pampered Army Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Orfion Barrett, to the front lines.

I wonder if this old marshal can still ride a warhorse!

The staff officer standing nearby chimed in:
"It seems that Ceylon really has no one left to use, and they actually need an old guy with one foot in the grave to boost their morale."

Ulric let out a sneer, abruptly raised his hand, and gave the order to the messenger beside him:

"Order the entire army to advance at full speed and strive to reach Ash Fortress within four hours. I can't wait to go and say hello to my dear Marshal Barrett!"

……

The siege has lasted for a full day and night.

Under the setting sun, the walls of Ash Fortress resembled the back of a colossal beast soaked in blood, covered with charred craters left by magic cannon bombardment and spiderweb-like cracks from giant catapults.

Half of the arrow towers collapsed, and suppressed groans of wounded soldiers could be heard from the wreckage.

The air was filled with the pungent smells of blood, burnt food, and magic overload.

The atmosphere in the operations room grew increasingly oppressive, and each casualty figure reported by the messenger was met with a low sigh.

Just as Ulric had predicted, the Kingdom of Ceylon, already weakened by internal strife and years of war, was powerless to resist the steel onslaught from the direction of the Crown City while dealing with the fierce attack from the direction of the Crown City.

Despite Ash Keep's reputation as an impregnable fortress as the southeastern gateway, not only are its walls forged with anti-magic alloy, but the entire fortress is also equipped with three layers of alternating magical barriers.

However, at this moment, facing the relentless attacks of the Windbringers, they still showed an unprecedented decline.

As Marshal Barrett watched the soldiers defending the city fall one by one, his grief deepened.

Especially when he saw that the Windbringers had actually mobilized over a hundred gold-tier demonic bulls and even brought out a giant magic cannon, he almost choked.

These golden-tier demonic bulls had bloodthirsty red eyes, and their thick limbs caused small earthquakes with each stomp of the ground.

The most lethal thing was the twelve Hellfire-class giant magic cannons they dragged.

Normally, only smaller, lighter magic cannons are used for sieges, but now twelve giant magic cannons have appeared.

These strategic weapons, which should have been permanently fixed on the border, were forcibly pulled to the siege battlefield by the Windbringers through the "levitation spell".

"madman!"

Barrett hissed through his teeth, explaining that each shot of this super-heavy magic cannon required crystals equivalent to the total daily magic power of an entire mage corps.

Not to mention that a hundred enchanters are needed to maintain a stable spell during the move; Ulric is trying to wipe the entire fortress and its garrison off the map.

Ulric is waging this war with the determination to annihilate their entire fortress!
Barrett wanted to retreat immediately, but he knew better than anyone that the man opposite him was watching every change on the battlefield like a falcon.

Any illogical retreat would make the suspicious Ulric suspect a conspiracy.

These sacrifices are the price that must be paid to get the hunting dogs to bite the bait.

Barrett whirled around, grabbed the command flag, and his hoarse roar pierced the battlefield's clamor:
"Third reserve team, move up! Arcane Barrier, prioritize protecting the western arrow towers! Tell the children, the kingdom's survival depends on this night!"

……

Hundreds of miles away, in a hidden area on the edge of the Ash Plains, 100,000 elite Effiin troops have completed their deployment through the teleportation array of the Skyfall Fortress.

They were stationed in batches in abandoned mines, wind-eroded rock forests, and silent swamps.

Thanks to General Cornet's secret defection, while Ceylon and Windbreak were still locked in a bloody battle at Ash Keep, Efein's army had already silently arrived on the side of the battlefield.

As dusk approached, a magnificent military camp was brightly lit.

Cohen stood in the center of the tent, the magic mirror floating in front of him clearly reflecting the horrific battlefield hundreds of miles away.

The reflection of the shattered city walls and burning banners in the mirror made him squint slightly, and he said in a deep voice:
"If I hadn't received prior intelligence, I really wouldn't have believed that the retreat of the Kingdom of Ceylon was actually a pretense."

Just ten minutes ago, the Ash Fortress, which had held out for three days and nights, finally showed signs of collapse.

The arcane barrier shattered like broken glass, and the Ceylon defenders began to fight their way back along their planned retreat route.

Field Marshal Barrett personally covered the rear, and his personal guards formed the last line of defense with their bodies, buying precious time for the main force to retreat.

The magic mirror suddenly focused on a section of collapsed city wall ruins, where hundreds of Ceylon soldiers were surrounded by a sudden surge of Windbringer heavy cavalry.

They stood with their backs to the burning wreckage of catapults, their blood-stained spear tips still forming a formidable formation.

As the Windbringer's battle banner completely engulfed the area, the last thing seen in the mirror was a one-armed soldier pulling the pin on a crystal, its blinding light illuminating the scene.

Such scenes were repeated repeatedly during the three-day, three-night siege.

The 150,000-strong defending army suffered a total loss of three-quarters. Every brick and stone of the city wall was soaked in blood, and none of the rearguard left behind when each line of defense fell survived.

Every detail of this evacuation was so real it was breathtaking.

From the straggling remnants of the army pouring out of the breach in the city wall to the heavy weapons that were forced to be abandoned.

From the commander's desperate yet desperate roar to the horrific sight of wounded soldiers dragging their severed limbs through pools of blood.

No one would doubt that this was a genuine rout; Barrett had laid a death trap with real flesh and blood! (End of Chapter)