The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Enjoyable it was.

But not far away, Little Fire Dragon Leo let out a dissatisfied roar, objecting to Liszt's ever-growing number of dragons. This put Liszt in a difficult position, and he gradually felt drained of energy.

A common Dragon Knight needs a lifetime to manage a single dragon, yet he had to develop so many in such a short time, which was indeed challenging.

Now he could only hope to quickly imprint his presence in the minds of some resource dragons, and then find suitable knights for them—or as they might cheekily be called, poop scoopers.

For now, Emily was tentatively assigned as Light Green Gem Dragon Ethan's Dragon Knight, and Ethan was also close to forming a Mind Brand.

"Still not enough, having only Emily does nothing to alleviate the burden of caring for the dragons on me. It seems I must select a group of exceptionally talented orphans to train upon my return, hoping that in a few years, or a decade or so, some from this group could become qualified Dragon Knights."

The qualifications for becoming a Dragon Knight were exceedingly difficult, and all the major kingdoms had contingency plans for Dragon Knights. However, not every dragon could find a suitable knight.

Many dragons had even been neglected for decades, if not a century.

Without Dragon Knights for cooperation, just relying on the Mind Brands left by the First Dragon Knights posed a serious issue—the kingdoms couldn't command these dragons at will. Some dragons, when they got into a temper, wouldn't even give the King face, and a significant amount of resources had to be provided for the dragons' daily consumption.

"It would be best to issue a few Smoke Missions regarding talent, so as not to let the good seeds go to waste."

In any case.

The more dragons he had to ride, the more Liszt suffered in his pleasure.

Day and night went by, and in early June, Liszt left Mountain Copper Dragon Mata and Light Green Gemstone Dragon Ethan to rest in a forest, recalled Little Fire Dragon Leo, and rode the Formless Dragon Bard with Ach directly to a designated coordinate.

It was a small city in the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy.

The domain of a viscount.

Pretending to be part of an Eagle Kingdom Adventure Fleet, Yevich Water Peanut had struck up a deal with this viscount to discuss border smuggling matters, and thus he had taken temporary residence in this small city, known as "Bulb City"—named after a large, colorful bird resembling a chicken, famous for its abundance in Bulb City.

The Viscount of Bulb City, Kansas Qingke, was the landlord here, and he owned a Qingke Sprite—where Qingke was quite similar to barley, although whether they were the same species was uncertain.

At a manor outside the city bought by Yevich, Liszt and Ach, having crossed the material boundary, met Clear Water Sword Saint Yevich Water Peanut, whom they hadn't seen in over half a year, along with two other Sky Knights, and a large number of Adventure Fleet members.

"Your Highness!"

Seeing their Lord Landlord in a foreign land thousands of miles away, Yevich and his Adventure Fleet members were thrilled.

"Yevich, you have been diligent and responsible during your voyage, to my satisfaction, and you have also made great contributions to the establishment of new territories for the Flame Kingdom. I now formally confer upon you the title of Earl and, once the Flame Kingdom is founded, will grant you land and nobility immediately," said Liszt without any pleasantries, offering the carrot first to reward his knights.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Yevich almost burst into tears, "Thank you for your favor, Your Highness, Yevich is willing to charge into battle for you!"

He had become famous in his youth through the Dragon Knight selection program but went through twists and turns, nobility problems, and poor relations with several landlords. He thought his life might never amount to anything and yet, unexpectedly, was granted the title of Earl in the yet-to-be-established Flame Kingdom.

"This is the title and land you deserve. The future Flame Kingdom will still need your enthusiastic contribution."

Liszt consoled Yevich, then turned to the other two Sky Knights, who had surrendered to him during the battle at sea, and then later joined the Adventure Fleet. They had contributed to the discovery of the Third Archipelago, supplied the Great Island, and conducted investigations in the Yellowstone Kingdom, and were therefore also bestowed the title of Viscount.

Essentially, their titles from before their surrender were restored.

The distribution of land would also wait until the founding of the kingdom.

The other knights of the Adventure Fleet were variously bestowed the titles of Honored Knights or Barons, and the serfs who came from sailor backgrounds were also promised by Liszt the restoration of their Freeman status and granted land—in fact, anyone of Flame People origin would gradually be arranged by him to become Freemen, paving the way for the future Knight Class.

The indigenes known as Moon Slayers would form the primary serf class.

However, he would also cultivate a group of Knight Class from among the Moon Slayers to differentiate them. Even if there were exceptionally talented individuals among the Moon Slayers, it was not impossible for them to be promoted to Dragon Knights—like the young girl named Hippolyta, who was among the first batch of Moon Slayers trained by Liszt.

Because he sheltered a few elves, he had a good impression of Hippolyta and had already decided to set her up as a future noble.

The little girl's magical talent was very poor, and she had already switched to learning Dou Qi. It was uncertain whether she could achieve anything.

"Your efforts need not worry about no gains, as your Lord Landlord, I will not forget any knight who has fought for me—land, wealth, women, elves—as long as you follow and dedicate yourselves to me, I can grant you everything you desire!"

"Willing to charge for Your Highness!"

The knights, who had just been promoted to nobility or had their titles elevated, shouted enthusiastically, eager to immediately mount their horses and charge into battle to repay Lord Landlord with their lives.

After the commotion had subsided.

The knights were dismissed to continue doing what they should be doing—gathering information.

Liszt kept Yevich and the other two Sky Knights with him to inquire about the detailed information they had gathered during this time.

Yevich narrated, "As per Your Highness's instructions, we have conducted detailed investigations on the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy and the Yellowstone Kingdom. However, due to constraints of time and manpower, most information is garnered through local noble channels, which may not be very accurate."

In an era where knights primarily relied on foot travel, the sparsity of population greatly restricted the circulation of information.

The knights of the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy probably didn't even know about the existence of the Duchy of Sapphire in the open sea, let alone that a battle of dragon slaying had occurred there. There were no official diplomatic or trade channels between the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy and the Eagle Kingdom.

"Give a general description."

"The Yellowstone Kingdom has six vassal states; the situation with dragons and Dragon Knights is unknown. Among them, the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy is within the northern border of the Yellowstone Plains, but due to the Ice Field acting as a barrier and the fact that the Eagle Kingdom has never cultivated its south side, there is little communication between the two countries. The main communication channel between Yellowstone and the Eagle Kingdom is through its other vassal—the Dragon Spring Lake Grand Duchy."

The Dragon Spring Lake Grand Duchy allegedly has two dragons. It borders both the Eagle Kingdom and the Blast Furnace Fortress Kingdom, serving as the sole official channel between Yellowstone and the Eagle.

Because of the distance, it's difficult to gather information about that area, and Yevich doesn't know much.

His main understanding is of the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy, which is mostly situated on the highlands. The country's name originates from the perpetual snow and mountains.

The surname of the Dragon Rearing Family is Cicada, with the current duke being Scora Cicada. The cornflower is a common blue flower found throughout the Legendary Continent. The Cicada family is not named after this little blue flower but because they rear a Cornflower Gem Dragon.

Cicada blue refers to a shade deeper than ordinary blue.

The Snowstorm Mountain Duchy is poor, the Knight Class is poor, the duke is poor because their only trading partner is the Yellowstone Kingdom. As a result, the country's products, including the cornflower sapphires, are undervalued by the Yellowstone Kingdom, leading to a very difficult and backward life. If one wished to conquer it, they would simply need to employ a strategy backed by gold to definitely win over half of the knights.

Even to the point where giving enough money could embolden the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy to rebel against the Yellowstone Kingdom—Duke Scora once initiated a war against the Yellowstone Kingdom.

Although he ultimately lost and was forced to compensate with a large amount of goods.

Combining this information, Liszt felt that he could completely absorb the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy in the dark, just like how he initially took over the Grey Iron Duchy in secrecy.

Then, using the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy as a cover, he could rapidly establish a foothold on the Legendary Continent.

"Yevich, do you plan to return to work on Flame Island or are you willing to continue working here... I plan to snatch the vast barren land by the sea at the junction between the Eagle Kingdom, the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy, and the Yellowstone Kingdom, incorporating it as part of the Flame Kingdom. From there as a foundation, we shall commence trade with the two great kingdoms or, perhaps... war!"

On the rudimentary map just sketched by Ach, he casually drew a circle, encircling an area of millions of square kilometers.

Then he conveyed one intention—seize!

The sea no longer satisfied his ambition; it was time to start claiming land. Of course, it wasn't yet wise to brazenly rob land, risking getting sandwiched by two great kingdoms.

After stabilizing his base on Flame Island over the next few years, it would be convenient to implement this plan.

"On the side of the Yellowstone Kingdom, we can start by establishing contact with the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy and claim land in the name of the duchy. As for the Eagle Kingdom, a battle seems inevitable sooner or later. When that time comes, forget the consequences; at the worst, we'll just have a few more dragon-slaying wars!" Liszt pointed out territories on the map.

With eyes full of ambition and an undeniable presence of authority, he proclaimed, "I have the Formless Dragon, I have several dragons, and nothing can stop me from getting what I want!"

Yevich and the two Viscount Sky Knights were inevitably left breathless—Lord Landlord's formidable power and boundless ambitions were precisely what knights desired in a leader to chase glory because only through war could knights gain all the riches and status they sought.