Chapter 482: 403 Chapter 482: 403 The Gloomy Region, Dragon Shadow City.
This place was eternally shrouded in night, never knowing the day.
Once ruled by the Shadow Dragon, the city hung precariously over an imnse abyss, where the wind cutting through the chasm always scread.
The city bore the marks of scorching flas everywhere, heavy ash blanketed it all, and the broken walls and ruins quietly recorded the Red Dragon’s ruthless razing, preserving the buried history.
“Whoosh—”
The cold wind howled through the city’s crevices with a piercing shriek, akin to the wailing of lost souls.
But atop this wasteland, a new city had been built, its architecture simple yet grand, full of strength—a clear hallmark of the Empire.
Within this newly built city on the ruins, it was common to see Half-Dragons, Humans, and Great Goblin Soldiers coming and going, but the most prevalent were the mindless low-level undead skeletons.
Even so small traders appeared within the city, selling lanterns, canes, and boots—items frequently needed in the Gloomy Region.
“Ssss… sssss…”
A spine-chilling sound.
Outside the city, enormous skeletal Bluefoot Dragon-snakes slithered and crawled along the ground, tearing any intruders to pieces like a moat.
On the new city wall, Hart stood silently, overlooking the bottomless Howling Abyss.
“I once had a beating heart. I once could savor fine food and wine…”
The Corpse Demon sighed.
He possessed all of Hart’s mories, obsessions, and even hatred from his previous life, yet he lost that living body and original emotions.
The Corpse Demon, awakened by the obsessions and hatred of his previous life, was a fragnted soul sustaining his decaying corpse.
Hart’s lips trembled, and his two pitch-black eyeballs glimred in the darkness.
“But… this isn’t so bad either, eternal and undying, killing one enemy after another, conquering the vast Gloomy Region for my master.”
He was a new existence.
Different from the original Hart, and unlike an ordinary Corpse Demon.
Hart forced his pale lips into a grin, trying to show a smile, though it appeared extrely eerie to Pang Ren.
“Old… General Hart.”
A familiar voice called.
“What is it?”
Hart turned his head and spoke calmly.
—It was his colleague, a living person, more precisely a Half-Dragon, also one of His Majesty’s retainers.
His na was Zaiko Granger, an elder mber who joined the Empire back in the Ashen Nest days, now an Imperial Count, equal in rank with Hart.
Interestingly, he was originally one of the slave traders and had once been under Hart’s command.
Due to his undead nature, Hart did not beco the Governor of the Gloomy Region for the Empire; the cabinet ministers preferred a profitable Gloomy Region—not an undead wasteland.
If Hart were alive, he would be furious, but the “Hart” with a cold heart felt indifferent to all these.
Behind the scenes, all he needed to do was lead the Immortal Legion into battle, obey orders, and slaughter bravely. As for the concerns of the rear personnel…
Zaiko perused the docunts, speaking in a low voice, “Lady Ingrid is about to return to the surface; she has already dispelled the Shadow Curse of Dragon Shadow City for us.”
“Following the strategic plan, we will build near the Howling Abyss…”
Ingrid.
Hart, or rather the Corpse Demon, rembered this na.
He had seen that woman, radiating a nauseating aura of Holy Light, and her hostile gaze made him quite uncomfortable.
If Ingrid were not an envoy of the Empire, he would have gladly decapitated this priestess and hung her head atop the city walls.
Thinking this, Hart abruptly interrupted.
“You know, Zaiko, I don’t care about these things; I don’t need you to tell , nor do I want to know that damned priestess’s whereabouts.”
“I only need you to tell one thing—where does His Majesty want to conquer, where I can freely slaughter the living.”
The Corpse Demon’s pitch-black eyeballs glimred faintly in the darkness, making the battle-hardened Zaiko feel a slight chill.
“Ha…”
Zaiko’s lips twitched slightly but he couldn’t utter a word.
Hart was, of course, brutal and selfish, but to the forr slave traders of humble origins, Hart played the role of “family” in their hearts.
The Corpse Demon sneered self-mockingly, then spoke hoarsely, “Hart has long been dead, at least the Hart you knew.”
“Now, the one in front of you is rely an undead monster craving to slaughter the living, born to serve His Majesty.”
“…”
Zaiko was silent for a long ti before pulling out a docunt and slowly unfolding it:
“Near Dragon Shadow City, there’s a place called ‘Dark Wings,’ governed by the Jezreel Clan, Shadows descendant Drow Elves of Mortifael.”
Mortifael, of course, he had heard of this na.
It was the legendary “Nesis of the Emperor,” wielding vast influence in the Gloomy Region, torn apart by His Majesty Cassius in the New Calendar 1785.
“After the fall of Dragon Shadow City, the Jezreel Clan, once under the Shadow Dragon’s control, began rapid expansion, taking over the Shadow Dragon’s forces and trade relations. Their scouts have even appeared around Dragon Shadow City.”
“This is undoubtedly a provocation to the Empire and an insult to His Majesty Cassius.”
Zaiko closed the docunt solemnly.
This was, in fact, a declaration of war—although he knew the scout had been captured hundreds of miles away.
The Ashen Empire rely wanted an excuse to showcase its presence in the Gloomy Region and to uproot Mortifael’s descendants to prevent future troubles.
Zaiko said, “General Hart, you should know what to do.”
The Corpse Demon rely turned his head, gazing at Zaiko with his pitch-black eyes, and asked nonchalantly, “Can I slaughter the entire city?”
Zaiko did not answer directly but instead introduced, “Dark Wings is the main stronghold of the Shadows’ descendant Drow. Sixty percent of its population are Shadows’ descendants Drow.”
He took a new letter stamped “Top Secret” from his pocket and handed it to the Corpse Demon.
Hart opened the envelope and imdiately saw the words inside.
[Special Decree]
[Hereby approved to conduct a thorough purge of Shadows’ descendant Drow. Ensure it is done cleanly. —Pri Minister Ramp]
“Good, I understand.”
Hart’s bloodless lips curved slightly, his pitch-black eyes bent into a strange arc.
He drew the Scepter of Bones from his waist, ascended to the top of the city wall, and raised it high.
In an instant, the hundreds of skeletal Bluefoot Dragon-snakes and tens of thousands of undead skeletons outside the city converged into a white torrent.
The ancient bones scraped against each other, producing a crisp “click-click” sound, sending shivers down spines.
Hart leapt from the wall into the sea of bones, mounting the largest skeletal Bluefoot Dragon-snake, and swung the Scepter of Bones.
“Boom…”
Hundreds of skeletal Bluefoot Dragon-snakes erged together, slithering and roving over the land.
The ground of the Gloomy Region trembled, as if even the black sky was crying out mournfully, with the white torrent standing out starkly against the dark earth.
“Co on, Immortal Legion…”
“Slay every living creature that dares stand in the way of the Empire’s expansion.”
Thus spoke the Corpse Demon.
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