When the Black Dragon entered the unknown Underdark, on the other side of the north, the young noble Roy Brendel had also returned to Kaki at the border of Laiyin Duchy and arrived at Count Brendel's mansion.
The Brendel family had suffered heavy losses in this trip to the wilderness. As the Count's son and the commander of the battle, he had to bear the main responsibility for this fiasco.
So after witnessing the Black Dragon escape by teleportation, Roy only had time to explain some necessary matters before he rushed back to Kaki without stopping. Even after leaving the wilderness and leaving the danger zone, he had already left the main group behind and rode a fast horse back to Laiyin Duchy first.
"The Count is waiting for you in the study." The butler said.
Handing the dusty light knight's armor to the maid, Roy changed into a velvet noble's formal robe and walked quickly into the depths of the mansion.
He stood outside the Count's study, coughed, organized his words, and then gently knocked on the wooden door. "Father."
After receiving permission, Roy walked in.
Count Brendel's appearance was ordinary, and like the other Laiyin nobles, there was nothing outstanding about him. However, there was a deep gloom in the middle of his eyes, which added a bit of coldness to the Lord of Kaki's temperament.
"You look very tired."
The Count glanced at him and lowered his head to read the book he was reading earlier. His voice was low and reassuring. "It seems that the taste of failure is not good."
"You know all about it."
Roy nodded and moved his lips. "That dragon is special, it doesn't conform to our inherent understanding of the Black Dragon. And in the process of the war, it kept getting stronger. In the end, it didn't even fear the magic of the Mother of Poison, Silvia."
"So what?"
The Count raised his head from the table, a thin layer of light flashing in his eyes. He said in a low voice, "There are too many unfamiliar things in this world, the unknown things of the prehistoric era, those absurd and bizarre dreams, those indescribable existences, are they within your knowledge?"
As he spoke, the count stood up and poured a cup of hot tea for his child. He placed it in front of Roy. "Experience can only be used as a reference. The truth that people speak of is often different from the truth."
"A failure is a failure. There is no room for debate."
"I know."
Roy whispered as he looked at the steaming and swirling tea in the cup.
The count sat down on the iron chair again. "How are the losses?"
"Great Wizard Anthony has died. The main force is left with 123 people, including 11 knights. Ten armor-piercing ballistae have been completely destroyed. As for the rest of the military equipment … it's uncountable."
The Count looked at him with a smile and added, "Also, the amount of resources we've used up is uncountable."
Roy didn't say anything else.
"How about this …"
Brendel pondered for a moment. "Hand over your business to Naina first, then go somewhere else and bring back two thousand slaves.
Be careful. Don't let anyone notice and don't cause any more trouble. "
"The dragon you mentioned may return at any time for revenge. We need to replenish our strength and prepare in advance." Brendel waved his hand, indicating that Roy could leave. At the same time, he slowly stood up.
"Father, you …"
Roy was a little uneasy. His body, which had not moved even when the Black Dragon rushed to his face, was now trembling slightly. "Are you praying for its existence again?"
"That's not something you should ask."
The count turned around gloomily. His eyes were covered with a layer of weird gray fog. His voice became overlapping, making it sound very strange. "Mortals should be in awe of the great, unfathomable existence."
"In Rhine's lonely residence, in the long years of waiting, even death will also die … …" The count didn't look at him anymore. Instead, he lowered his head and muttered softly in the study.
The incomprehensible words and the strange and evil tone made the young nobleman shiver all over. Just hearing one sentence, he couldn't help but tremble.
He didn't know what his father had come into contact with. That thing had never responded to them. But just by muttering its name, he could obtain strange and unpredictable power and accomplish things that even gods couldn't do.
For example, a contract.
The young nobleman didn't dare to look or listen anymore. He was afraid that he would go crazy in the next second. He completely ignored court etiquette and decisively moved away, fleeing the count's study in a panic.
He ran all the way to the garden and was bathed in sunlight. Roy was slightly relieved. When he touched his back, it was already covered with a layer of cold sweat.
… …
He didn't expect it to rain in the underground world.
This rain had been falling for many days, covering the Underdark. The lingering rain, from afar, seemed to cover this originally gray world with a layer of gauze.
Moreover, this rain was actually acidic.
Although the Black Dragon liked the strong acid rain very much, his bloodline was naturally close to this kind of corrosive rain and smell. He felt like he was at home here. The air was moist and the smell was pleasant.
But this couldn't soothe the doubts that arose in his heart.
In such a bad situation, the plants and ferns nearby were still growing luxuriantly. This made the Black Dragon suspicious of the environment in the Underdark. He suspected that the soil products in this place were highly toxic.
This was the Black Dragon who loved to ponder. So he began his "human experiment" again. After continuous trials, he found that most of the plants were indeed toxic, but the effect was not outstanding. They couldn't affect the strong Orcs, let alone cause any harm to the dragons.
Only a fern that could cause animal frenzy was satisfactory.
I'll write it down first. It may come in handy in the future.
Black Dragon thought.
In the blink of an eye, Caesar had already stayed in the Underdark for a month with his family. During this time, he didn't immediately start his capture plan. Instead, he cautiously stretched out his tentacles and silently sized up this strange world.
After a month of familiarization, as far as the current situation was concerned, this underground world was vast, there were many tribes, and groups of monsters. It was enough for the Black Dragon to build a powerful revenge army.
However, the north and south of the Underdark showed two completely different ecosystems.
In the area where the Black Dragon was currently, the monster clans were as scattered as imagined, killing each other and fighting for themselves. In the south, which was relatively far away from him, Hogg found that there were a large number of undead rampaging in that area. The tribes living there also had their own areas of activity and rarely interfered.
Even, Hogg's Gnolls found that the clans there even had traces of hunting together when they went to investigate.
This was very unusual. Under normal circumstances, the indigenous races of the Underdark were difficult to get along with each other. Endless battles were the norm.
However, in the south, the clans there even showed signs of cooperation, and the relationship between them was not as tense as it was under normal circumstances.
There were only two possibilities. The first was that a powerful overlord had been born in the Underdark and was in the south, integrating and subduing the tribes there. The second was that other Pentashade Dragons had arrived first and entered the underground world before the Black Dragon.
Caesar was more willing to believe the first speculation.
But in any case, he had to start his integration plan. After a month of exploration and collection, he already had a sufficient understanding of the situation in the Underdark. So far, Caesar had not found a creature stronger than himself — at least not in the north that had not been captured.
It was time to start.
In 1627 of the third era of Airadia, the Black Dragon showed his claws and teeth.