I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

"……so?"

Marjorie didn't understand how this had anything to do with what he had just asked.

"That person has lived for nearly four hundred years, and there are only a few kinds of blood in this world that he has never tasted."

Which ones?

"The blood of the Agorians, the blood of the Demon King, and... the blood of the Yan people."

"I can understand the first two..."

Marjorie seemed thoughtful.

Agor lives in the water, appearing and disappearing without a trace, and it's even unknown whether he exists or not. Moreover, he's too far from Kazdel to be worth going to.

The Demon Lord is the pinnacle of all Sarkaz; even the Blood Demon Lord cannot ask for blood just to have a taste.

But the people of Yan... they are all dissatisfied.

"The Yan Kingdom is... a very strange place."

Xida looked up at him and poured half of the soup from the tin box into a cup.

Here, have some.

"Oh! Thanks."

Marjorie took the cup with delight and took a sip without caring whether the soup was hot or not.

"Whew! That feels great!"

A sip of hot soup warmed me up completely.

"Xida, you haven't finished yet. Why can't we touch the blood of the Yan people?"

"Because we can't beat them."

Sida sat beside him, leaning against the stone wall, his eyes fixed on the fire.

"Because we, the Demon King Kazdel, cannot defeat the Yan Kingdom."

"The Yan Kingdom has protected its people... they call them commoners over there. The Yan Kingdom has protected its commoners too well."

"The people of Yan will not ignore the insults done to their compatriots, will not tolerate the plundering of their people by foreign tribes, and will not let go of anyone who invades Yan."

"Xida... what's wrong?"

Marjorie felt that something was off with his teammates.

He doesn't usually talk this much.

"Majori, the war..."

"war?"

Cedar looked away from the fire, glanced at his young companion, and sighed.

"They took so many Yan people, so many young people... Where do you think the old and the young went?"

"They were either killed or drained dry by them. Those blood demons do nothing but evil every day, how could we possibly let them go?"

"Do you think the Yan Kingdom will not react at all after such a big incident?"

"Do you think... given their protective nature, they'll let the Sarkaz go?"

"so……"

Marjorie looked at him, a bad feeling creeping into his mind.

"Yes, Marjorie. War is coming."

and……

Does Kazdel truly possess the ability to confront that mysterious ancient kingdom?

Xida didn't know.

“Majori, if you have family… ah, I forgot, you’re an orphan.”

"Huh? Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

Although what the other party said was true, Marjorie still felt like he was being insulted.

"An orphan is a good thing. At least this hatred won't be passed on to your next generation."

"Hey, Cedar, what are you talking about?"

“Look up at the sky, Marjorie.”

"what?"

Although a little confused, Mariori still raised his head.

"what happened?"

There will be a shooting star today.

"what?"

Marjorie gave Cedar a strange look.

What nonsense are you talking about? The clouds tonight are blacker than a crow's feather. Forget about a meteor shower, there's not even moonlight...

Is it pretty?

"what……"

Marjorie did not answer.

He thought his teammate was amazing; he could make a shooting star appear whenever he wanted.

"But, Cedar, don't you think this shooting star is a bit strange?"

Looking at the clouds that resembled bread sliced ​​open with a knife, Marjorie asked him a question.

"Strange? It's just... karma."

Xida lowered his head, blew on the soup that had long since gone cold, and drank it all in one gulp.

He didn't tell Marjorie what he saw in the flames.

Crashed mountains, torn earth, broken towers...

and also……

"boom--!!!"

The village was crushed into dust.

"Not here..."

Raising his hand, he summoned Buzhou back. The true dragon slightly raised his blue eyes, his face as cold as frost.

"Fifty-six...that's barely enough to take down one of my Great Yan's men."

"Sida, Sida?"

“It’s so noisy, Marjorie.”

Xida twisted her waist and got up from the ground.

"There are still so many clouds today. It's a cloudy day, but it's not raining, and we can't even get any sunshine..."

Looking at his heartless teammate, Xida shook his head helplessly. He should have known better; there was no point in talking to this brainless idiot.

"Let's go, Marjorie. Time for patrol."

"Oh."

Emerging from the ruins, the wind blowing in her face made Xida pull her coat tighter.

"After such a storm passes, the Blood Demon Lord's isolated fortress will probably be completely destroyed, not even a single brick will remain."

But what does that have to do with him?

It's just a pity...

He really wanted to see the conjunctivitis patient kneeling on the ground begging for mercy... just like his father had once begged him.

"Xida! Hurry up!"

"Ah."

I will surely grant your request, my friend!

"Is this your source of confidence?"

"A fragile tower, a bunch of worthless dregs?"

"With such a weak foundation, who dares to invade my territory and harm my people!"

The Blood Demon, lying on the ground, could not answer.

His tongue had been forcibly pulled out, and his limbs had been crushed into dust.

At this moment, his body was filled with fear and resentment, and his reason vanished like water from a broken jar.

Why... did the retaliation come so quickly...?

Half an hour ago, he was still happy about his 400th birthday, watching the younger members of the clan and other elders present him with gifts and blessings. He was waiting to take a bath and change clothes so he could go alone to admire the moon and enjoy wine...

In an instant... everything was gone.

The ancient magic that the Blood Demon was so proud of, the powerful blood magic, was like dust in his eyes...

He had never hated the Blood Demon's powerful regenerative abilities so much. His severed limbs had already scabbed over, giving him no chance to bleed to death.

"Perhaps the years of recuperation and development in our Great Yan have made us appear too benevolent, causing some fools who cannot see the truth to lose their minds and forget how their arrogance was crushed."

He muttered to himself. Then, he grabbed the blood demon by the neck, dragged him toward the center of Kazdel, one step at a time.

Behind him was a new road, a road he had paved with his own flesh and blood, stretching it all the way from the northern border of Kazdel.

He will burn the ashes of his fallen compatriots and send them back to their homeland, so that they may return to their roots.

He will not stop here; he will continue his advance until the Sarkaz court is destroyed.