Chapter 358: Dragon Tooth Contract

The White Dragon Lord sat in his chair at the far end of the Central Castle's main hall, carefully reading the parchment scroll in his hands. Every so often, he furrowed his brow and tapped his fingers lightly against the desk.

After thinking it through, he wrote down his decision on the parchment, signed his name, and set it on the desk with the finished documents before immediately picking up another unread scroll.

These scrolls contained the endless trivial matters the lord of Blackrock Fortress had to handle. They ranged from yesterday's total gate tax collection to intelligence reports from the Alliance Headquarters, mixed in with the latest news brought in by adventurers.

Normally, the White Dragon Lord left these trivial matters to Gurgalu, but the ogre had marched out with the army today, forcing him to handle the paperwork himself.

The unread scrolls dwindled. Finally, as the three suns were about to set, the White Dragon Lord finished processing all of them. The stack of finished scrolls on his desk now reached his shoulder.

A towering ogre guard walked in and carried all the scrolls away. These processed documents would be handed over to Blackrock Fortress's management department, and once reviewed, they would be destroyed.

Ooooom—!

The deep blast of a war horn echoed—the signal that the army had returned.

The White Dragon Lord abandoned his plan to stand and settled back into his chair to wait for Gurgalu. However, the Gold Dragon arrived a step ahead of the ogre.

The Gold Dragon—Leopold Chodmartin—descended slowly into the courtyard outside the main hall. His massive body shrank as he landed, shifting into dragonborn form before he strode inside.

"Leopold, how was it? Did you have to intervene?"

"No, there was no need for me to intervene," Leopold said. "Your subordinates took care of the enemy with overwhelming superiority."

The Gold Dragon threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug.

"It was unbelievable! Gurgalu is a dual-class Legendary Rank! He instantly obliterated the demon leader! The demons were scared out of their wits, and a pitched battle turned into a one-sided massacre..."

The Gold Dragon continued to recount the events enthusiastically, while the White Dragon Lord listened in silence until Gurgalu's footsteps rang out.

"Ah, the star of the show has arrived."

The Gold Dragon sat down in a chair beside the hall. Gurgalu walked in and bowed respectfully to both the white and gold dragons.

"My lords!"

He then began his official report to the White Dragon Lord.

"...in this battle, the casualty ratio between the White Castle and the demons was one to twenty-five."

For every White Castle soldier who fell, twenty-five demons were slain. The White Dragon Lord was extremely satisfied.

"You did very well, Gurgalu," Amos said. "Tell me, what do you think was the main reason for this total victory?"

"The enemy commander underestimated us. That foolish Flame Demon split his forces to deal with the Steel Golems, which allowed me to find an opening to obliterate him in one strike. Otherwise, the Demon Army wouldn't have collapsed so quickly. Furthermore, the golem legion played a huge role. They drew a massive amount of fire, creating a relatively safe battlefield environment for the Warriors; otherwise, the army's casualties would have been at least five times higher."

Gurgalu answered smoothly, indicating that the victory hadn't gone to his head. He had clearly analyzed the battle on the march home. The White Dragon Lord nodded in satisfaction.

"Excellent. The damage to the golem legion was worth it. Send the golems that need repairs to the White Tower; the ghost steward will issue you fresh replacements."

"Yes!"

In the White Tower's storehouses, the White Dragon Lord had stockpiled vast numbers of assorted golems precisely so they could be replaced and replenished at a moment's notice.

The damaged golems from the battlefield were not completely useless, either. The next time he communicated with the Overseas Archipelago via messengers, the White Dragon Lord would have the couriers transport the damaged scrap back to the Afiaiv Kingdom's golem factories for salvage or repair.

Gurgalu left through the hall's side door. By this time, the light outside had begun to dim. The blood moon was about to rise.

...

The next morning, a Harpy landed in the courtyard of Blackrock Fortress's Central Castle.

She walked into the center of the hall, where the high-ranking officials of Blackrock Fortress were seated.

"My lords," she reported. "Following their crushing defeat yesterday, a group of surviving demons from Camp No. 1 is falling back toward Demon Camp No. 2. It appears they intend to merge their forces. Furthermore, our scouts ran into adventurers from Riverrun. We learned from them that Riverrun attacked Camp No. 3, and both sides suffered casualties in a major battle."

"Mm, you may step down."

Her intelligence delivered, the Harpy withdrew.

"Everyone, we will decide our exact course of action after I communicate with Mage Sular Grey Dove of Riverrun," the White Dragon Lord announced.

He made his way up to the secret room on the castle's second floor. Inside, six circular daises were arranged in two rows, each bearing a translucent orb two meters in diameter. The orbs intermittently emitted a hazy, spiritual light—the glow of the complex magical arrays operating within them.

This secret room was the absolute nerve center of Blackrock Fortress, and the orbs were the central hubs controlling the various Arrays. Each of the six orbs served a distinct function; the one he approached now was the Communication Core used for contacting other city lords.

The White Dragon Lord channeled his mana into the Communication Core and guided it with his spiritual will to select Riverrun.

Moments later, a three-dimensional projection appeared before him. The figure in the projection was Mage Sular Grey Dove, who had traveled to the Abyss alongside him.

"What do you need me for?"

Sular Grey Dove was affiliated with the Black Robe Wizard's Association. Most individuals in the evil faction were ruthless figures who didn't mince words. Sular Grey Dove got straight to the point, and the White Dragon Lord had no desire for idle chatter either.

"Lord Sular," the White Dragon Lord began, "I sought you out to verify a piece of intelligence. Yesterday, did Riverrun attack an Incineration City demon camp?"

"That is correct," Sular Grey Dove replied. "Incineration City's demons blockaded the border, causing dissatisfaction among Riverrun's adventurers, so I ordered an attack on a peripheral demon camp. Riverrun came out slightly ahead. Is there a problem?"

"No problem," the White Dragon Lord said. "It's just that Blackrock Fortress also attacked a demon camp. Today, scouts discovered that the surviving demons have begun converging on Demon Camp No. 2—the central encampment. For convenience, we numbered the three demon camps, and the one Riverrun attacked was Camp No. 3."

"I see."

Sular Grey Dove nodded.

"Our scouts also discovered that the remnants of Camp No. 3 are falling back toward Demon Camp No. 2. It seems someone in Incineration City has issued an order to consolidate their forces."

"Lord Sular, are you interested in collaborating?"

Hearing this, Sular Grey Dove frowned in thought, appearing somewhat troubled.

Before long, he looked up.

"My apologies, Lord Amos, but my army suffered over thirty percent casualties yesterday. It is not appropriate to dispatch troops again so soon. I must decline your proposal."

"That's fine, it is understandable. Then I wish you the best of luck."

With a polite nod, the White Dragon Lord deactivated the magical array and returned to the castle's main hall.

"Everyone, Riverrun attacked Camp No. 3 yesterday. Now the routed soldiers of both demon camps have concentrated in Demon Camp No. 2. I have run the numbers. Assuming all three demon camps were garrisoned equally, and factoring in Riverrun's army killing forty percent of the demons in Camp No. 3, the current Demon Camp No. 2 contains roughly fourteen Legendary Demons alongside a Demon Army of two hundred thousand. Unless we mobilize High-Tier Legend combatants, we cannot swallow this piece of meat."

Gurgalu considered this for a moment.

"Master, what about collaborating with Riverrun?"

"I already proposed that to Lord Sular. But after defeating the demons at Camp No. 3, Riverrun suffered certain losses of its own. Lord Sular refused to dispatch troops again."

Everyone in the hall frowned in thought. If they did not break the demonic blockade, ordinary adventurers who lost their source of income would certainly leave Blackrock Fortress. Losing this important demographic of adventurers would cause Blackrock Fortress's overall strength to plummet.

But if the White Castle Army attempted to force its way through Demon Camp No. 2 right now, it would pay a disastrous price. Weighing the gains and losses made for a difficult decision.

"Amos, why don't we mobilize the adventurers?"

The Ancient Gold Dragon, who had remained quiet until now, finally offered his opinion.

"We could issue a public notice, calling upon the major adventuring companies to come to Blackrock Fortress and attack Demon Camp No. 2 together. You must realize, the comprehensive strength of some large adventuring companies is no less than an average city's. As long as we can attract them, we are entirely capable of clashing head-on with the demons."

The White Dragon Lord arched a brow. Hiring adventurers required a commission fee, and massive adventuring companies numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands commanded steep prices. He calculated in his mind whether doing so would be worth it.

Ultimately, he realized that as long as they could deal a heavy blow to Incineration City, Blackrock Fortress would face no further opposition ahead, allowing them to advance directly into the demon heartland.

"Leopold, what kind of reward would it take to hire a large adventuring company like that?"

"You misunderstand me," Leopold smiled. "I said attract, not hire."

The Gold Dragon paused before continuing.

"The abyssal lands are vast and boundless. Aside from the demon cities, there are also some Legendary Demons who claim territory in the Abyss as kings. Just as ordinary adventuring squads hunt lone demons, a large adventuring company's prey consists of the factions established by these Legendary Demons."

"But here on the Blood War Battlefield, factions established by this type of Legendary Demon are exceedingly rare, so the primary hunting grounds for large adventuring companies are the other abyssal planes."

"If Blackrock Fortress is willing to take the lead and assemble adventurers to hunt Demon Camp No. 2, I imagine a demonic faction composed of over a dozen Legendary Demons and a Demon Army of two hundred thousand will be highly attractive."

The White Dragon Lord understood the Gold Dragon's meaning.

"Good, then that is what we will do," he declared. "Gurgalu, go prepare the notice. Ensure the news of the hunt reaches every city in the Alliance within a single day."

"Yes!"

The ogre stood up and turned to head toward the door.

"Wait! Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Sman Wolfheart suddenly rose from his seat. Hearing this, Gurgalu halted, looking back at the gnoll in confusion.

The White Dragon Lord also looked down at Sman Wolfheart in confusion. The gnoll had kept his head bowed in silence this entire time, only to suddenly stand up now.

Still, the White Dragon Lord did not lack the patience to hear him out.

"Speak your mind."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sman said.

The gnoll stepped into the center of the hall.

"Just now, I kept feeling that something wasn't right, so I kept thinking we might have overlooked something. When Lord Gurgalu turned to leave, I finally figured it out."

"We have been fixated on how to defeat the demons in Camp No. 2, but we neglected to ask why the demon lord would consolidate the demons from all three camps. You must realize, with such a long border, adventurers could entirely bypass Demon Camp No. 2 to poach demons in the rear."

"If so, the blockade loses all meaning!"

The gnoll's words struck like a thunderbolt, jolting everyone in the hall awake. Everyone instantly realized that the consolidation of the three demon outposts was probably not so simple. They began to contemplate the demon lord's true goal.

Given a demon lord's personality, after taking a loss, they would either withdraw their entire army to cut their losses in time, or fly into a humiliating rage and launch an all-out war. Yet the lord of Incineration City, the fire demon Rabmodo, was consolidating his forces in a single central point.

Was he preparing to retreat, or planning an attack?

"We need more intelligence!" the White Dragon Lord barked. "Lomana Ironfeather, I want you to monitor Demon Camp No. 2 day and night. Report any movements directly to me."

"Understood!"

Lomana Ironfeather took flight, soaring out of the hall.

The White Dragon Lord looked down at the gnoll in admiration.

"Sman! You reminded us just in time. Well done."

"It is merely my duty as a subordinate," Sman replied.

The White Dragon Lord grew even more satisfied as he watched the gnoll sit back down, recalling the information on the Wolfheart Clan.

The Wolfheart Clan was a gnoll clan he had subdued shortly after conquering the Skull-Crusher Ogres. Normally, a mid-sized clan like the Wolfheart Clan wouldn't catch the White Dragon Lord's eye, but they were a glaring exception.

It all stemmed from their unique combat habits. Unlike other gnolls, who fought like mad dogs, the gnolls of the Wolfheart Clan tried their best to maintain their rationality during combat. They took pride in fighting calmly.

Such a distinctive combat style had reached the White Dragon Lord's ears early on, but it hadn't warranted much attention at the time. It wasn't until twenty years after the founding of the nation, when two legendary powerhouses emerged from the Wolfheart Clan, that the clan was thoroughly remembered by the White Dragon Lord.

One must realize, even the Riverpaw Clan, heavily favored by the White Dragon Lord's resources, had only produced two Legends. Yet the Wolfheart Clan, having never received special treatment, had matched the Riverpaw Clan in their number of legendary powerhouses.

From then on, the Wolfheart Clan's treatment was elevated to the same level as the Riverpaw Clan's.

"Sman, how much military merit have you accumulated?" the White Dragon Lord asked.

"Your Majesty, your subordinate currently holds sixty thousand gold-tier merit points."

The White Dragon Lord had modeled the White Castle's military merit system after the Council's point structure. The military merits were divided into three tiers: gold, silver, and copper. Each tier corresponded to exchange privileges for different levels of rewards.

"Not bad. Keep working hard."

"Yes!"

Sman Wolfheart cast a fanatical look up at the White Dragon Lord before swiftly bowing his head, though the burning fervor in his eyes looked ready to burst forth.

Because once a soldier accumulated one hundred thousand gold-tier merit points, they could petition the White Dragon Lord for the Dragon Tooth Contract trial.

The White Dragon Lord shed only a limited number of Scales each year, and Dragon Teeth were even scarcer. Thus, the method of exchanging military merit for a Vassal Contract was implemented.