Bronze Dragon: Tyrant's Road to Conquest

squeak~

Sharp and harsh sounds came from far and near, coming from the dimly lit sky. Cage, the hunter who returned from the mountain forest with his hounds, looked at the several bats hovering over the village with an ugly expression.

Different from ordinary bats that feed on mosquitoes, or even pollen and fruits, what hovers over the village is a ferocious bat that is as tall as a person. It is a bloodthirsty monster that is difficult for ordinary people to fight against.

However, a few bloodthirsty bats are not qualified to show off their violence in a village that is mainly about hunting. Let these beasts show off their power over the Orion village, making other more terrifying existences. These bloodthirsty monsters are just their slaves. , or pets.

"Uncle Cage, they are here again."

Seeing those bats, the young man following the old hunter came out of the jungle. Unlike Cage, who had anger and helplessness in his eyes, this young man looked at those bats with longing, eagerness to try, and even some impatience.

"Can you wake up a little bit? That's a monster. It's a monster that eats us humans like beasts. It's a different species from us, but it has a similar appearance to us."

Seeing his closest blood-nephew showing such an unbearable attitude, the old hunter Cage kicked him in the butt hard.

The young man who was kicked suddenly staggered and ran forward a few steps. Then he rubbed his butt nonchalantly and showed a rather silly smile, not caring at all.

At this moment, his mind has already flown to the village, eager to see the noble tax collector. He wants to feel the wonderful feeling of his body being so light as if he is about to fly when the blood is being drawn.

"well!"

Looking at the young man with an unsightly expression who had already begun to trot, the old hunter could only sigh, carrying the four-eared gray rabbit he had just shot, and walked heavily towards the place shrouded in the shadow of the monster. Walk to the village.

After entering the village, the old hunter looked at the villagers gathering in the small square in the center of the village. He saw that there was almost no sadness on their faces, and the expression on their faces became even heavier.

Not long ago, when human aristocrats ruled, whenever tax collectors came to the village, the village would become like a tomb, and occasionally there would be cries and pleas.

Sometimes some villagers would be deprived of their status as free citizens and demoted to slaves because they were unable to pay taxes on time. Others would be beaten to death because they angered the tax officials. Of course, the latter are still a minority. More often than not, those who could not pay the taxes were taken away and sold as slaves.

It is no exaggeration to say that under the oppressive and exploitative rule of the nobles, even hunters with extremely rich hunting experience had an extremely difficult life. Sometimes they had to chew grass roots and eat tree bark.

This difficult situation was changed three months ago. The noble lord, who had been ruling them for generations and seemed to be exploiting them forever, suddenly fled from the towering castle with the knights and all their servants.

After a short gap period, new nobles moved into the castle of the original noble master. They looked the same as human beings, but they were handsome men and beautiful women. They also looked more aristocratic than the original noble master. .

However, what frightened many people was that this group of nobles soon revealed their true nature, or rather openly revealed their identities. They were not human beings, but the legendary vampires, or vampires.

For the common people and farmers at the bottom, these monsters, which could only be heard from the mouths of bards who occasionally passed by, suddenly replaced the original noble masters and became lords.

After panic spreads, riots are inevitable, but anyone who wants to escape will be surrounded by bloodthirsty bats and turned into a mummy, without exception.

Under the threat of death, those who are thoughtful but have not yet taken action can only hide uneasily at home or in the cellar, but the vast majority of people can only wait indifferently.

The uneasiness or fear was greatly alleviated when the new lord promulgated a new tax decree. On the day the decree was announced, some people even took to the streets to cheer and tell each other.

The vampire lord, who is called a monster among the bards, has added a new blood tax. Those who pay the blood tax do not need to pay other taxes.

This blood tax alone eliminated a lot of fear and uneasiness, especially after the first round of taxation, the vast majority of farmers and freedmen began to live peacefully and contentedly, no longer thinking about escaping.

For the docile farmers who have been exploited by human nobles for hundreds of years, the blood tax that can offset all other exorbitant taxes is simply a gift.

It's just that a part of the blood is taken away. Although you will lie in bed for a long time, you don't have to pay any money or food. This alone is worth celebrating.

Not to mention that when paying the blood tax, some lucky people can even get the opportunity to be absorbed by those noble blood clan masters personally. The pleasure is better than anything else. Anyone who has experienced it once will find it difficult to extricate themselves from it, even if the body is weak. I can't even walk steadily, but I still want to do it again.

"Damn monster!"

Hunter Cage, who walked into the village square, looked at the female vampire standing on the high platform of the square, commanding two blood servants to collect the blood tax, with a flash of resentment and helplessness in his eyes.

Because today, there are only a few people who are hostile to this group of vampires who look almost the same as humans, like him. Most people still have great gratitude and respect for these humanoid monsters, and even yearning for them.

The life goals of his nephews and nephews who were raised by him have changed from becoming a noble knight's squire to becoming a blood servant.

There are many similar young people in the village, and it is said that there are more in the city. Some young people are proud to become an exclusive blood slave enjoyed by the vampires.

Because this is the fastest way for humans to become vampires, the vampires who absorb blood are the most excited. In this state, there is a very small probability that the vampires will give their own blood and transform into servants.

But in the same way, the vampires in an excited state will indulge their desires and will no longer have any restraint. If they are not careful, they will suck people dry.

But even with such a miserable end, there are still many people who want to become exclusive blood slaves of the vampires, and young people are even flocking to it.

During the reign of human nobles, there were no fewer people who were executed for various minor things that angered the noble masters, and even more.

As a different kind of vampire, the bloodthirstiness and cruelty that they inadvertently showed seemed too merciful compared to the rule of the previous lord, so merciful that most of the people were grateful.

Except for a very small number of people with extremely tough attitudes and firm positions, most people even hope that the rule of the vampires can last longer than that of the human masters, and it would be best if it could continue forever.

"Lord Anlin, can I become your exclusive blood slave?"

Among the people queuing to pay the blood tax, a young man bravely stood up and asked the female vampire who was supervising all this, with fascination and longing in his eyes.

As soon as the voice fell, several eyes with strong hostility swept over, and then looked at the vampires on the high platform with the same expectation.

That was a young woman with long smooth chestnut hair, a good-looking face, and smooth and delicate skin. Such a face and skin, even without looking at the clothes on her body, was enough to crush a group of village women.

This is also the reason why young people are extremely eager to become a member of the blood clan. As long as they can get the first embrace of any blood clan, they can also have a better appearance, which is a change from the reborn.

Of course, for many men, they are more eager to become blood slaves of female blood clans, because under the stimulation of blood, once female blood clans enter an excited state, they don’t mind something happening with their blood slaves, and this is exactly what the young people expect.

"Your current strength is still too weak. When you have mastered the breathing method proficiently and become an entry-level warrior, come and ask me."

Facing many expectant eyes, the female blood clan, who seemed to have a smile on her lips, did not change her expression. She encountered similar questions almost every day, and her answer was always the same.

Seeing his nephew who was so eye-catching, and the young people in the village who were equally unbearable to look at, the old hunter Kane's eyes were bulging with anger, and he wanted to pull out the hunting knife at his waist and kill them happily, but reason suppressed his impulse, so he could only clench his fists and bite his teeth.

In his eyes, these blood clans were sinister and despicable. They concealed their nature as monsters, picked up wine glasses, put on gorgeous clothes, restrained their desires, and behaved more like nobles than human nobles.

Not only that, they were so generous that they spread the breathing method that could become a professional. Any human who could produce aura before adulthood, or even enter the rank, was qualified to become a blood slave.

This was simply digging at the foundation of the human race. If it continued like this, even if there were people like him who wanted to resist among humans, there would be no way to gather enough resistance.

These ruled human races were more docile than the animals in the sheepfold, and they also worked hard to practice to make their blood more delicious and nutritious. They were so depraved that even if there were external forces intervening, they would probably not bother to save them.

"What should I do?"

When he was young, he had gone out to explore and broaden his horizons. He knew how bloodthirsty and brutal the vampires, a monster lurking in the dark, were. The old hunter had a deep sense of powerlessness, which soon turned into despair because of his own lack of strength.

Because young people all want to become vampires, once these vampires take root, their power will grow like a snowball, under the support of countless humans, and these rebels of the old times will gradually extinguish like a candle in the wind, making this land completely fall into the rule of darkness.

"Just watch, you can't change anything with your own strength."

A gentle and magnetic voice sounded beside him. The old hunter, who was already wrapped in negative emotions, suddenly raised his head and looked at the extremely abrupt tall and strong young man.

"Who are you?"

The old hunter's voice couldn't help trembling. He was obviously close at hand, but at such a close distance, even if he had seen the other party, he didn't feel a trace of breath.

The tall young man in front of him seemed out of tune with everything around him, but he also perfectly blended in. The old hunter Kane had an impulse to kneel down on the ground and kowtow to him.

This was a feeling that was hard to describe. Facing the vampires who were impossible to defeat, he wanted to draw his sword and fight to the death.

But looking at this phantom-like existence, even if he guessed that the other person was probably an inhuman existence, he just wanted to kneel on the ground.

"Is this important to you?"

Tyrell looked at the old hunter who asked persistently and couldn't help but smile. Then he patted him gently on the shoulder. A different kind of vitality suddenly burst out in his body, restoring his youthful adventure. The trauma he suffered was an injury that cut off his future and forced him to return to his hometown and become a hunter.

"you!"

Feeling the changes taking place in his body, the old hunter was even more shocked, but what shocked him even more was that the vampire on the high platform didn't even look in their direction, and he seemed to have ceased to exist.

"Don't worry, your life will get better and better!"

After a word of comfort, Tyrell took a step and then disappeared directly into this inconspicuous village.

This is the territory of the original Bultan Kingdom. This kingdom has been declared destroyed. Most of its territory has been occupied by the dark race that rushed out from the underground.

These are basically just races that can be called monsters. After coming to the surface, sacrifices and massacres are common. Especially the drow elves, who are twisted, perverted and crazy. They have suppressed the darkness underground for a long time. After breaking out of the surface, they indulge in freed.

What he did was enough to easily destroy the minds of ordinary people. Even Tyrell didn't notice. His order to his subordinates was to kill all the drow.

As for things like illithids or beholder tyrants, there is no need to say more. Just swing the butcher knife and kill without thinking at all.

But there are always exceptions. Even among the dark tribe, there will occasionally be some outliers whose behavior is incompatible with other monsters.

According to the information detected by his shadow soldiers, the territory under his feet at the moment is ruled by a blood prince. He obtained this land not even half a year ago, but he has stabilized the land. order.

There is no way, what the human nobles who previously ruled this land did was not human at all, so that when the blood-sucking monsters came over, as long as they restrained themselves a little, they would do better than them, so that most of the human race had no intention of resisting. .