Ashen Dragon

Back in the day, Duca plundered all the treasures from Black Forest Town and presented them to the Ancient Green Dragon to gain such a precious opportunity.

Mantou signaled to his sides, and Singo immediately stepped forward, pulling out a scroll and taking out a steel pen.

"Write down everything you know about Lin Ying City on here, and if you follow my instructions, I can give you the chance to become a Dragonborn."

Raider was momentarily stunned.

This... Is this a trap for his intelligence?

No, this is a Red Dragon, the most favored among the five-colored dragons, surely also a follower of Tiamat like him.

Soon, he thought of another possibility—it's known that the Dragon Worship Church also has factions.

They all belong to the Green Dragon Sect, followers of the Lord of the Rot Swamp, while this Red Dragon likely follows "Deep Red Embers" Kazuul!

There is conflict between the Red Dragon Sect and the Green Dragon Sect. It's said that a few days ago, the Mature Green Dragon Grotar was attacked by the Red Dragon Sect and has not recovered yet.

But the Red Dragon Sect there refused to acknowledge it, clearly intending to escalate the conflict.

Mantou squinted his eyes, pretending to be about to explode: "What—unwilling?"

If it were those insidious and vicious ones

Such an opportunity must not be missed!

Raider gritted his teeth, took the scroll handed over by the Wyvern Knight, and wrote everything he knew about Lin Ying City all at once.

"If I find out that you've faked anything, your fate will be the same as that human just now!" sneered Mantou.

"N, no way, my lord." Raider's voice trembled slightly.

Mantou took the scroll, nodded slightly, and casually handed Raider a Teleportation Spell Scroll, saying, "Human, when you get there, mention my name Mantovsky, and you'll get a chance for baptism."

"Thank you, my lord, thank you!"

Raider was overjoyed, carefully tucking it into his robe.

This must be the scroll to the southern Seleucid! Once there, he could undergo the baptism and become a powerful Red Dragon Clan!

After all this, Mantou instructed: "Let's go, speed up, I need to reach Lin Ying City before sunset."

"Yes, my lord!"

Feeling the scroll in his pocket, Raider felt stronger walking, even quickening his pace.

From now on, he too was a superior Dragonborn!

...

Lin Ying City is a military stronghold of Seleucid and one of the largest cities in the northern Kingdom.

It is surrounded by towering forests, with frequent cries of hawks and falcons, once home to the Divine Descendant Legion with eagle heads and human bodies, which earned the city its name.

However, a few years ago, the city was taken over by "Lord of the Rot Swamp" Erebos and became a base for the Green Dragon Sect within the Dragon Worship Church.

Every day, large numbers of cultists come from all directions, bringing human sacrifices, gold, and silver treasures to Lin Ying City, offering them to the greedy and devious Green Dragons.

All of northern Seleucid is under the cruel oppression and exploitation of the Green Dragons, with Lin Ying City as the center of this system.

The city walls of Lin Ying City are tall, made of wood and stone, surrounded by thin poisonous mist, with numerous wyverns circling above casting sinister shadows.

It is the largest and most prosperous trading city-state in the Sword Bay region, its mix of nobles, commoners, and thieves, resulting in a "breeding ground for conspirators" according to adventurers. Bod Gate's name comes from a hero, the Gray Harbor adventurer Bodlan, who, after exploring the continent beyond the Sword Sea, returned with fortune and led a team to build the city here. Divided according to the resident's status, Bod Gate is split into the Noble Upper City and Commoner Lower City, along with the Outer City scattered around Chenyi Mountain, separated by a gate called Bod Gate, thus naming the city, and also serving as a monument to the city's founder Bodlan. Currently, Bod Gate is governed by a four-member council, all Great Dukes, one of whom is the council leader; if votes tie, the Great Duke Elder Ravenclaw makes the decision. The Upper City is policed by the elite official police force, the Watch, while other areas are patrolled by a mercenary corps named the Flaming Fist. The Great Duke Elder Ravenclaw is also the highest leader of this mercenary corps, headquartered at Bodlan Sea Tower, the strongest fortress against maritime invasions, and as the economic core of Bod Gate under a crescent moon—Gray Harbor, hundreds of trade ships come and go daily, bringing gold coins, as well as greed and sin. The Upper City is higher in elevation, composed of the Castle District, Temple District, Manoburn District, and Wide Alley District, with numerous religious buildings. The Miracle Hall and Supreme Miracle House are the Church centers for the God of Craft, Gund, in Bod Gate, showcasing Gund's great inventions in Miracle Hall, while which together serve as both a place of worship and workshop. Buildings in the Lower City are mostly stone houses, comprised of six districts: Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, Branpton District. Middle-class people typically reside in Blonrich District near the elite Upper City, while East Road District near Stone Lizard Gate to the Outer City has a more mixed population, hosting lively bars and cheap inns. Sea Tower District is where the Flaming Fist is stationed, with the mercenary's headquarters located on the largest rocky offshore island near Sea Tower District, where they built Bodlan Sea Tower. Branpton District and Steep District are relatively rundown, home to sailors and laborers. The Outer City spreads along the Chong Sar River, filled with temporary buildings and slums, with a landmark stone bridge crossing the Chong Sar River—Flying Dragon Crossroad, which is filled with vendors and even expanded with wooden planks, filled with buildings above it. Law and order do not exist here, and the Flaming Fist's protective range is limited, with poor or criminal individuals gathering in this area. The moss on the sewers arches glows a ghostly green under dim phosphorescent lights, murky sewage splashes over boots, creating thick "blubbing" sounds with each step. Purple-black slime oozes from wall cracks, converging at the drainage hole like veins—this is the unique neural corrosive substance of the Spirit-Sucking Monster nest, causing hallucinations in ordinary people who inhale it, as if numerous tiny tendrils writhe in their ear canals. Suddenly, from a broken cast-iron pipe comes the sound of bones misaligning, as if something was twisting through a narrow space. The monster bursts from beneath the water, its pallid humanoid body covered in rot, its octopus-like head's tendrils vibrating rapidly, releasing visible purple mind shock waves. The foremost guard's helmet dents, and his eyeballs burst into a bloody mist under increased skull pressure; the second person doesn't scream before tendrils pierce his ear, his spinal cord extracted like a string puppet. The remaining survivor stumbles back, the crack of a misfired firearm overshadowed by the collective sub-frequency screeches of Spirit-Sucking Monsters, which are evidently tactically trained. Two feigning attackers use tendrils to splash the water, raising a mist infused with corrosive liquid to obscure visibility; a third hangs from the ceiling, using suction cups to adhere to a guard's cranium, tendrils deftly piercing the skull's foramen magnum—not immediately lethal, but instead forcing the puppet to turn around like a marionette, reload ammunition for his companion with trembling hands. At this moment, a fourth Spirit-Sucking Monster uses bone blades made from its knuckles to cut open a downed guard's chest, extracting the warm liver to feed its maw, pale yellow digestive fluid drops from its chin, corroding the ground into wisps of blue smoke. Three patrolling guards just raised their lanterns when suddenly, the sewage explodes! The four being parasitized had not completely died. The remains of the guards twitch, crawling up, translucent Spirit-Sucking Monster larvae protruding from neck wounds, pupils dilating into murky milky white. He seized a dagger, stabbing his former comrade while forcing synthetic alien sounds from his throat: "Skulls... for the Mind's Hall..." Yet the real horror had just begun to unfold—farther afield, sewage begins to boil, as more pallid figures rise from the water surface, dragging thirteen or so prisoners wrapped in mucus cocoons, their human faces twisted into silent screams beneath the shell.