Under the Red Dragon

The sun disappeared below the mountains, and the earth was a yellowish-brown color.

As the entire triumphal ceremony and founding ceremony came to an end, the city's hustle and bustle returned to each household, lights gradually came on, and cooking smoke billowed.

But the summit of the mountains became unusually noisy.

Climbing the mountain ladder to the Giant Dragon King's Fortress, blazing torches burned on both sides, looking up from the bottom of the mountain like specks of light connecting the entire sky and earth, deep into the twilight-dyed clouds.

Even after a day of fatigue, groups of people still formed companions, chatting and laughing as they climbed up the wide white stone steps.

Although these people's tone was relaxed and natural, the slight excitement on their faces and the pride suppressed in their hearts could not be erased.

Because they were all ruled by the entire territory of the empire, and were the lucky ones invited by the Dragon King who ascended the throne today, the supreme ruler of the empire, Kalon Kogmora, to attend this important banquet.

This meant that their achievements were noticed by the Dragon Emperor sitting high on the throne, and given extra recognition in this way.

In the past, many people regarded being invited by the master of the Giant Dragon King's Fortress as the highest honor.

Many people, after leaving the Dragon's Fortress, now the royal court, kept boasting about the palace high in the mountains.

Legend has it that this palace is the most luxurious, widest, and most majestic palace in the world.

There, you can enjoy all the world's finest wines and delicacies, and see the most beautiful women, all kinds of rumors.

Some bards even compared the Dragon's Palace to the gods' temporary palace on earth, with everything you can imagine and everything you can enjoy.

Even the devils in hell and the demons in the abyss are jealous that the Dragon can have such a palace.

Some poets who specialize in writing lewd stories even wrote in their stories.

The powerful and brutal Red Dragon, in order to satisfy his lust, actually imprisoned angels from heaven and succubi from the abyss in the depths of the palace, tormenting and whipping them day and night.

Cries of angels and screams of succubi, as well as the arrogant and triumphant laughter of the Red Dragon, could be heard in the palace day and night.

Even some of the subjects who had never climbed the mountains deeply believed such rumors. After all, the monarch's generosity and tolerance were enough for the territory's subjects, and it would be more majestic for the Red Dragon to be more brutal to the outside world.

Those officials who had the opportunity to step into the palace were proud to boast to their colleagues that although they had only tasted a breakfast and argued for a few hours before being driven down the mountain last time they entered the Giant Dragon King's Fortress, it did not prevent them from showing off to others as the first comers.

Among these people who climbed the mountain one after another, there were the commanders of various legions of the Dragon Legion, Jackal Yugu, Barbarian Jibu, Centaur Chiron, and Bartoli and other important military officers and some senior officials.

There were also some warriors who had won major merits awards in the war with the orcs, who were also invited to attend this banquet.

In addition, some scholars and mages who had made achievements were also in the ranks of those invited, such as Alchemy Professor Tichy, and several scholars who had made breakthroughs and optimizations in dragon blood potions, and the goblin inventor Bangbang was also on the list.

Also present were the goblin Shining and several heads of the dragon business groups, who had arrived in the territory before today, and these talents who earned wealth for the dragons were naturally also among those invited.

Count Raines from the Secret Forest Kingdom created by the Vampire race and representatives of various noble forces were all invited to participate. For these forces who took the initiative to extend an olive branch to the dragons, even if the dragon's empire would not form an alliance with them, it would maintain good relations with them.

"Damn guys, they're so damn annoying, ah, ah, ah, ah!"

Watching rows of people climb to the top of the mountain, Sally, a former capable assassin in the Crimson Rose Mercenary Group and now an outstanding intelligence officer in the Dragon Group Empire, glared at the backs of her teammates, cursing fiercely.

The golden-haired mage captain was invited to the banquet because he made some breakthroughs in researching the magic alloy used to make magic-powered battle armor.

The shield warrior, a powerful Saint-tier warrior, now the centurion of the Second Company under the First Army of the Dragon Group Empire, was also on the list for the banquet because of his bravery in combat, killing six Orc warlords and one Orc Grand Warlord, and winning the Medal of Combat Hero.

And young Bill, this Saint-tier assassin master, now the vice minister of the Empire's Unified Planning Department, was also invited to attend the banquet as a high-ranking official who had made achievements.

And the team's druid and logistics master were also lucky enough to become lucky ones because of their contributions. In other words, of the original Crimson Rose Mercenary Group, only this unlucky fellow, Sally, was the only member who failed to reach the top.

The palace on the top of the mountain had long been transformed into a brightly lit divine palace in the night. Under the advance arrangements of Charlize, the chief maid who was once Kalon's capable little assistant in government affairs, hundreds of maids had already properly arranged the first floor hall of the royal fortress.

Several metal dragons had been locked to the wide corridor pillars outside the first floor of the royal fortress, guarding the gate of the royal fortress.

Silver Dragon Chris, this holy female Valkyrie sought after by many metal dragons, was now suffering the greatest humiliation in her dragon life. Her head, which could be raised high during the street parade, was now deeply buried between her claws.

Two bronze dragons also turned their heads and remained silent. Although dragons do not have feelings of shame, they value face very much.

Only the ancestor golden dragon Obiras, this unlucky but lucky golden dragon, chose to go to sleep on the spot due to heavy injuries, which undoubtedly avoided great embarrassment.

Although Kalon had said on the battlefield that he would do so, some people who had some connections with those metal dragons still couldn't believe that the red dragon monarch would really do so.

Because in their opinion, although the red dragon wears a body of red scales, it is more rational and intelligent than the smartest gold and silver dragons, and would not make such an unwise choice.

Moreover, this is also an extremely excessive humiliation for those proud metal dragons. Besides, the famous Good Dragon Alliance has countless powerful metal dragons, and it is impossible to let these dragons be chained like dogs in front of the red dragon's castle gate to watch the door.

Although this made them realize that the Dragon Emperor who ascended the throne would do what he said, they would occasionally worry about the newly established Golden Empire.

However, when they stepped into the palace-like royal fortress, all their worries were left behind.

They had never been to the gods' palace, so they didn't know how it compared to the red dragon monarch's palace.

But standing in the palace, under countless dazzling lights, they didn't seem to be able to see the exquisite and gorgeous dome above their heads. The giant marble pillars carved with exquisite patterns were like pillars supporting the sky.

Even gathering thousands of people only occupied a small part of the hall. The vastness of the space seemed to be endless under the illumination of the lights. Even the empty King's throne seemed infinitely high and unreachable in their eyes.

The hall of the royal fortress had been filled with long tables made of precious wood, covered with layers of exquisite silk cloths, and countless tempting foods were placed on delicate gold and silver tableware.

White-horned wild cattle, rock antelope, wild boar, mountain deer and other wild game, lamprey, sturgeon, pike, river perch and other river delicacies and sea treasures, swans, wild chickens, herons and other mountain birds, either roasted or cooked, were dazzling.

There were also milk wine, mead, fruit wine and other wines, and even the quite expensive Hippocras sweet wine purchased from southern trade was transported up in barrels.

Among them, countless spices were also placed in exquisite silver utensils, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, etc. Even saffron, which was enough to buy a normal horse with just one pound, and sucrose which could be exchanged for a good horse with ten pounds, were supplied without limit.

Even so, slender and beautiful maids continued to bring up various foods like flowing water. This luxurious scene made even Count Raines, a vampire count accustomed to extravagance, dumbfounded.

You should know that the Dragon Group's territory had also experienced a war that lasted for several years. If it were another human kingdom, a slightly poorer country might not even be able to guarantee that the king could eat meat for several meals a day.

This shows how wealthy the Dragon Group once was.

After these people were shocked by the luxury and vastness of the palace and the prosperity of the Dragon Group, they noticed that giant dragon lords were entrenched on the distant separated thrones, talking and laughing, speaking freely, discussing policies or talking about interesting things.

This was also influenced by Kalon. He and the dragons in the Dragon Group hated those cumbersome procedures and excessive etiquette, so they tried to be as casual as possible in private.

However, the young red dragon Cadilos and other dragons who joined the Dragon Group later did not have the title of giant dragon lords, so these dragons were just lying on exquisite and soft carpets.

In front of them were placed huge tables, on which were placed the favorite foods of dragons of various scales.

Some officials and dependents were still thinking of going forward to pay tribute to the giant dragon lords, but they were driven back by the impatient giant dragon lords.

As the Dragon Emperor, Kalon had innate dignity, and these giant dragon lords were the same.

So they did not need to deliberately show and maintain their dignity. What should be shown now was the tolerance and easy-goingness of the dragons.

And those officials and invited guests quickly relaxed in this atmosphere, discarded their restraint and talked loudly.

Except for some specific personnel, everyone could find their favorite seat at will.

The guests attending the banquet arrived one after another, so the maid waiting outside the gate of the royal fortress gently rang the golden bell hanging on the wide corridor, which also meant that the banquet officially began.

Fortunately, Kalon did not make others wait long. He did not need to deliberately put on the airs of a ruler. At the moment the golden bell stopped, the figure of the red dragon monarch had already stepped into the hall from the back garden of the royal fortress and ascended the throne.

The sound in the hall disappeared without a trace in an instant. The giant dragon lords stopped talking, all the guests stopped talking and laughing, and looked at the calm and dignified monarch.

But to everyone's surprise, the red dragon sitting high on the throne was extremely straightforward.

Kalon raised the huge golden cup, glanced the audience, then raised the corners of his mouth, revealing his white and thick and long fangs.

"The first cup of wine is to all the dragons in the Dragon Group who fought for the empire, to their noble courage and fearless determination."

"Respect the Dragons!"

Everyone echoed, clinking glasses, even the dragons raised their huge bucket-like wine glasses and glug glug poured a bellyful.

When the chief maid beside him refilled the wine, Kalon raised his glass again: "The second cup of wine is to all the warriors of the Dragon Group, to their loyalty and bloody courage!"

"Respect the loyal warriors!"

The dragons echoed, everyone chimed in, and raised their glasses for another drink.

Kalon nodded slightly and continued: "The third cup of wine is to all the officials of the Dragon Group, to their hard work and wisdom!"

"Respect the hardworking wisdom!"

Kalon raised the last glass of wine and laughed loudly: "Respect the dead heroes of the Dragon Group, respect their sacrifice and unyielding!"

"Respect the unyielding heroes!"

The atmosphere in the hall gradually became heated under the repeated raising of glasses.

The copper dragon Alfred's vertical pupils rolled around. He raised his glass again when Kalon put down his cup and said loudly: "And one more cup, respect the leader of the Dragon Group, the monarch of the empire, Kalon Kogmora!"

The dragons stood up, all the guests stood up, and they raised their glasses together.

"Respect the leader of the Dragon Group, the monarch of the empire!"

Kalon smiled faintly, raised his glass again, "Everyone drink together, respect our future!"