"What's that?"
Sylvia raised her head abruptly and looked at the night sky in the distance.
Noda, who was fighting Daugen for the wine flask, let go of his hand and followed Sylvia's gaze. Then, he stood up abruptly.
"Moon Goddess above …"
He muttered to himself.
"Clang!"
The wine flask in Daugen's hand fell to the ground. He looked at the sky in the distance speechlessly.
Henry walked out of the shadows and whispered to Sylvia, "It's a small-scale forbidden spell. It should be cast by Salia. Don't worry. Since a Magician can cast such a large-scale high-grade spell, it means that they have sufficient confidence."
Sylvia nodded in realization and gave Henry a grateful look. Her heart was beating wildly as she missed that figure.
"Have a good rest. We'll be arriving at Sith's Court tomorrow."
Henry turned around and said to the people in the camp. Noda and the rest nodded. Even Becky and Susan, who were sitting in the corner, nodded.
Henry's charisma as a leader was convincing. Along the way, thanks to his deployment, the entire team had been advancing in the most efficient and reasonable manner. So far, there were no refugees left behind.
However, Henry seemed to be frowning. It was obvious that he had encountered something unpleasant.
After passing through two villages along the way, Henry found that the lives of the villagers were very poor. But the abnormal thing was that the land here was very fertile. According to Henry's understanding, these villagers could live a rich life just by relying on farming. Even if they were not rich, at least their living facilities should be complete.
But what he saw made his heart turn cold. After asking around, he found out that the reason for the poor lives of these commoners was because of the extremely heavy taxes in Klimt!
This immediately made Henry's heart burn with anger. How could a noble let the people of his territory live in such poverty?
If conditions were limited, such as the impoverished territory of Saint-Rames in the Londor Empire, the current situation of starvation wouldn't have happened.
No matter how poor they were, Henry's uncle, Viscount Bodinar, had never allowed his people to live like this.
What made him even angrier was that Klimt's Count had been implementing the current tax policy for more than 20 years!
It was even adjusted once!
Along the way, Henry had not seen any officials from Klimt's ruling department. Other than a few poor village chiefs, there was not even a single guard in the village.
Henry had once asked what they would do if the village suffered a disaster or was attacked by Magical Beasts. The answer he received was that the village would "take care of it themselves"!
As for a Magical Beast attack?
The village chief's answer was to let the sturdy lads deal with it. As Klimt had also restricted the forging and sale of weapons, the lads could only use their hoes and sickles to deal with the beasts that destroyed the crops.
Because of this, every year, there would be lads who should have been the pillars of their families who died in the mouths of Magical Beasts.
This was a corrupt, incompetent, and cruel noble!
This was Henry's evaluation of the lord of Klimt's territory.
Count Jarl was the first person to make the duke so angry.
Looking at the fiery red light in the dark night sky, Henry sighed and turned to walk towards Princess Florora's carriage.
No matter what, the nobles had the obligation to protect the royal family. The princess seemed unwilling to talk to anyone these few days, and Henry did not want the eccentric princess to do anything unexpected. Everything was important to Henry, and this was what he valued the most.
Henry did not approach the princess to greet her. He only glanced at the slightly luxurious tent that was protected by guards from afar. After confirming that the princess' scent was in the tent, he turned and walked towards the tent where the refugees were staying.
Along the way, the soldiers spontaneously saluted the reticent figure. The refugees even bowed respectfully to show their respect — there was no other reason. Sleep was not essential to Harry who was originally an undead. But for the past few days, he had not rested for the past three to four days under the watchful eyes of the group!
In the eyes of ordinary people, this was absolutely inconceivable. Because the conversation between Henry and the princess that day did not spread, everyone still regarded Henry as a noble in their hearts. Moreover, he was a true noble who could be called noble.
Every time the group stopped to rest, Henry and Noda would patrol the entire group of refugees, making sure that those who could not support themselves or those who had contracted diseases due to exhaustion were picked out. After Becky treated them, many of them could recover their strength in the carriage for the rest of the journey.
Henry collected all the food from the villages along the way, and used it as a supply for the group. The refugees could receive sufficient food every night, and the elderly, women and children were well taken care of. This made everyone's heart filled with respect for the soldiers who protected them and this hooded 'mysterious' leader.
At the same time, they also knew that the original baron actually went to stop the undead army alone. This made many of the young lads in the group admire him, and at the same time, they silently clenched their fists.
Everyone had the dream of being a hero, not to mention these young lads.
Rather than wielding a hoe to plow the land, swinging a sword to kill the enemy would make the blood of these young lads boil!
In front of a great enemy, a real man should be at the front!
These days, there had been countless young men who volunteered to arm themselves and protect these refugees, but they were all flatly rejected by Henry.
"The Empire has not yet reached the point where civilians should do what soldiers should do."
Some of the smart young men immediately understood the meaning of Henry's words, and silently pulled their companions away, but no longer took the liberty to ask about the matter.
Looking at Henry's back slowly disappearing into the shadows, all the refugees were deeply grateful for the noble who made them feel "concern" from the bottom of their hearts.
※ ※ ※
West Kervier Peak.
This was the highest mountain in the entire Roslorian continent. The Bollier Mountains, where it was located, stretched endlessly across the land, connecting the territory of the Vatican of Lambas and the Strait of Howling Wind in the south of the Empire of Saint Reims.
The average altitude of the entire Bollier Mountains was more than three thousand meters, and about 60% of the peaks were more than five thousand meters, and this main peak was even more than nine thousand meters high!
Looking west from the top of the St. Sico Cathedral, the landmark of the Holy Land of Garan, when the weather was clear, one could vaguely see West Kervier Peak swaying in the clouds.
But no mortal had ever been able to climb this towering snow mountain.
Because it had another name — "Dragon's Territory."
This was the forbidden area of the dragons. When mortals entered this place, they would see a stone tablet at the entrance of the snow mountain. It was not written with words like "No Entry" or "Forbidden Area." Instead, it was written in the common language of the continent, with the names of all the Tenth Grade powerhouses who had broken into this place but were killed by the dragons!
The densely packed names were all over the stone tablet, but not all of them were written. The dragons were always waiting for mortals who were willing to leave their names on this stone tablet.
Today, the top of West Kervier Peak was unusually sunny, but the thin air and the biting cold wind were enough to make people shrink back.
The highest peak of this continent looked very dangerous, and it could even be said to be straight up and down. Its flattest part of the mountain had an inclination of nearly sixty degrees. If a mortal climbed it with their body, it was estimated that they would not be able to climb far before they would be blown down into the abyss by the never-ending high altitude cold wind.
As a Dragon's Territory, there were indeed many dragons here.
From time to time, huge figures would pass through the sky, and there would also be loud or low dragon roars. However, these dragons had a tacit understanding and did not approach West Kervier Peak, because it was the resting palace of the Red Dragon patriarch who was in charge of the elements.
Due to the difficulty of reproduction, it was very common for dragons of different lineages to marry each other. The four most primitive dragons — Black Dragons, Red Dragons, Gold Dragons, and Green Dragons — currently had very few pure-blooded descendants.
The Black Dragons were in charge of the rules, the Red Dragons were in charge of the elements, the Gold Dragons were in charge of time and space, and the Green Dragons were in charge of nature.
In a great war three thousand years ago, the patriarch of the Gold Dragons, Heqi, who was in charge of time and space, was controlled by a supreme powerhouse of the Abyssal Race at the beginning of the war. He forcibly opened a space-time door that connected two planes, which led to a large-scale invasion by the Abyssal Race. At the end of the war, the retreating Abyssal Race imprisoned the patriarch of Heqi and forcibly brought him to the Abyssal Plane. The Gold Dragons were almost wiped out during the final operation to save their patriarch, so to this day, the pure-blooded Gold Dragons had completely disappeared.
The Green Dragons suffered a similar tragedy. After Roslolian used the super forbidden spell "Nature's Wrath," the Green Dragons lost the power of nature that they relied on for survival for a long time. At the same time, this caused their lifespan and power to decline. Until now, the Green Dragons could be said to be in decline, and it was rare to see a Green Dragon active on the continent.
However, their former patriarch was forever remembered by the world — he was the guardian, Roslolian.
Carolina's figure appeared on the periphery of West Korver Peak. After flying around West Korver Peak three times, Carolina in her dragon form suddenly flew to the ground and landed on a flat ground.
Her huge body stood in the cold wind — this was the place where the Red Dragons lived. The cold wind seemed extremely cold, but it was separated by an invisible magic shield around Carolina, so it did not cause her any trouble at all.
In front of Carolina was West Korver Peak, which seemed to pierce straight into the sky. She looked at the peak in front of her, but she did not intend to fly to the peak. In fact, Carolina could not fly at all. The thin air at high altitudes and the magic barrier that had existed since ancient times would prevent any uninvited intruders.
In front of her was a high cliff, which looked ordinary and covered with snow.
Carolina stood quietly in front of the cliff. After a flash of light, she turned into her human form and began to recite a long incantation in the dragon language.
The low and gentle incantation was hidden in the wind, and there seemed to be something faintly floating in the air along with her incantation.
Slowly, the cliff in front of Carolina changed!
The thick snow on it began to melt at an extremely fast speed, and then revealed the rock layer inside — but this was not the end. The surface of the rock layer suddenly burst into a burst of golden light, and after the light faded, there were countless flashing magic patterns, and then a cross-shaped gap appeared in the middle of the rock.
A low sound of stones rubbing against each other was heard, and the cliff opened from the middle like a door!
Rather than a door, it was more like a stone corridor, because the cross-shaped stone door that slowly opened was more than ten meters thick!
Carolina walked into the stone door without the slightest hesitation. The stone door was engraved with flashing magic patterns that symbolized the elements between heaven and earth, flashing with colorful light.
After walking along the stone corridor, the magnificent door slowly closed. Then, ice and snow covered the rock in an instant, and it was tightly frozen together, as if nothing had happened.
Carolina walked forward, and after leaving the stone corridor, she entered a long tunnel. The surroundings were carved with multicolored stones that were as smooth as mirrors, and Carolina's graceful figure was perfectly reflected in them. Her steps were light and full of vitality, and she was completely different from when she first received the news of Nairíos' death.
Her eyebrows involuntarily raised slightly, and the corners of her mouth curled up imperceptibly. Karolina, who had always maintained a noble demeanor in front of mortals, revealed an excited expression that only a little girl could have.
After walking out of the tunnel, Carolina's vision suddenly opened up, and the panoramic view of the interior of West Korver Peak appeared in front of her eyes.
No one could imagine what it would be like after the interior of the most majestic and magnificent peak in the eyes of the world was completely hollowed out.
However, this scene that mortals could not even dream of now appeared in front of Carolina.
It was like an unimaginably large well. At this moment, Carolina's figure stood at the bottom of this large "well" with a diameter of more than tens of miles, and she was as small as an ant!
This unparalleled wonder was not created by the dragons. Other than the missing golden dragon chief, Heqi, and the only living red dragon chief, Evelyn Carolina, did not know who created such a magical place.
Perhaps only the God of Creation knew.
After walking out of the tunnel, Carolina's figure floated straight up and flew toward the top of the "well".
From Carolina's point of view, it did not seem large, but its actual structure and area were comparable to a city!
The surrounding stone walls were smooth and clean, as if they would not be stained with any dust. The surface looked smooth and clean, but if one looked closely, they could see that it was densely packed with characters.
These were the first words of the dragons.
In other words, these were the words left behind by the God of Creation.
The reason why the dragons could stand at the top of the continent for tens of thousands of years was due to the contributions of these characters.
Carolina raised her head slightly and flew toward the top. After flying for nearly ten minutes, she reached the lowest point of the cone-shaped stone house, which was the sharp head.
Her figure passed through the sharp end of the stone hole without any delay. This stone hole had a diameter of 20 meters. When Carolina passed through it, a layer of faint ripples swept over her body, then disappeared without a trace. This was the last and most powerful defensive array of the entire red dragon clan.
Carolina's feet touched the ground lightly, and she walked on the pure white stone path to the upper level of the stone house.
Along the way, she met a few red dragons in human form. These dragons all bowed slightly to Carolina — because she was the direct descendant of Evelyn Carolina, Carolina's status was higher than ordinary dragons.
After politely returning the greeting, Carolina went straight to a simple and unadorned door.
This door was circular, but it was not made of any material. Instead, it was made of the purest magic elements in the world. It was like a complete, large diamond. It emitted a dazzling brilliance, and its countless facets refracted colorful rays of light. At the same time, it blocked the view behind the door.
Karolina stood quietly in front of the door. In less than three seconds, the dazzling elemental door gradually dissipated into nothingness, revealing the core of the entire West Korver Peak. It was also the highest stone chamber.
She stepped into the stone room lightly. There was a soft but unknown light in the room. A faint fragrance floated to the tip of her nose, making Carolina feel much more at ease.
But as soon as she entered the door, she saw a huge red magic crystal. This magic crystal was as big as Carolina's body!
It floated silently in the center of the circular stone room, flickering with a dim red light.
Upon closer inspection, the magical crystal seemed to be rhythmically releasing waves like a heart. This familiar wave caused Carolina to be stunned, and her figure froze on the spot!
"What did you gain from your trip, my Laney?"
A gentle greeting rang in her ear, and Carolina suddenly woke up.