The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Just as Liszt had finished his meal and counted the spoils of the battlefield, preparing to explore the abilities of the Ice Seal Domain of the Ice Soul Dragon-Slaying Sword in the afternoon.

The Blood Servant who had been dispatched for several days finally returned.

"My lord, we have thoroughly investigated the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine. There indeed lies a vast iron mine, piled with mined iron ore, amounting to over a million tons. Guarding the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine are two Sword Saints and eight hundred elite knights."

"Over a million tons of iron ore?" Liszt's eyes shone brightly.

Initially, when the Earl had plundered two hundred thousand tons of iron ore, he thus accumulated the military merits of an earl. If a million tons of iron ore could be seized this time, wouldn't it be possible to vie for the title of a marquis in one go? After all, a million tons of iron ore could probably sustain the needs of the Sapphire for the next decade.

He quickly calculated in his mind, "Seizing a million tons of iron ore, plus my 'Ghost Swordsman' heritage, I believe the Grand Duke, as long as he is not foolish, should grant the Tulip Family a reasonable position. I can't guarantee the same treatment as the Marquis of Bull initially received, but it definitely wouldn't be worse than those six marquises."

With the Marquis of Bull from Iron Hoof Island, Andy Sapphire, having defected and been captured, there were six marquises left in the Sapphire.

Four Feudal Marquises — Marquis of Red Crab Island Merlin Taro, Marquis of Deep Throat Island Wallace Pineapple Green, Marquis of Golden Island Roderick Gold Wheat, Marquis of Leather Island Ramirez White Glutinous Rice.

Two marquises from the Blue Blood Alliance — Red Maple City Marquis Glendenton Red Maple Leaf, Quicksand City Marquis Nesta Dahua.

Once a million tons of iron ore are indeed snatched from the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine, even if half of the military merits are distributed to the Golden Wheat Sheaf and Long Taro Family, who are planned to be responsible for the distraction and transportation, Li Weiliam's military merits would still be enormous, certainly occupying one of the three marquis titles of Iron Hoof Island.

"If the earl is conferred as a marquis, the Tulip Family will likely take their followers to cultivate Iron Hoof Island. As one of the earl's followers, I must also move there... Fortunately, there will be three to five years of preparation time before relocation. With such time, I should have succeeded in dragon riding, and it will be time to have a showdown with the Grand Duke."

Thoughts flashed by.

Liszt didn't delve further but continued to inquire of the vampires about the situation at Trapped Dragon Mountain.

The Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine is subordinate to Lock Dragon City, which in turn is part of the domain of the Lotus Hill Count, which means the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine belongs to the private property of the Lotus Hill Count.

"My lord, you would never guess who the master of the title 'Lotus Hill Count' is, his other title is 'Summit Marquis.'" Bloody Mary licked her lips, seemingly in thought, "We Blood Servants didn't expect it either, that the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine would actually be the private property of the Summit Marquis."

"Summit Marquis?" Liszt's gaze sharpened, "Mary, I've told you before, not to be coy in front of me."

"I beg your pardon, my lord," Bloody Mary reigned in her expression, "The real identity of the Summit Marquis, the Lotus Hill Count, is Prince Alonso Xenkelai, the Kingdom's Dragon Knight and the master of the Black Knight Family... In fact, we also found a Pureblood Vampire in the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine."

His brow raised.

Liszt felt he had quite the fate with Alonso Xenkelai.

The behind-the-scenes instigator of the Marquis of Bull's defection was likely Alonso Xenkelai, the secret financier of the Goat Assembly was Alonso Xenkelai, and the master of the Vampire Black Knight Family was also Alonso Xenkelai. Now, even an iron mine planned for seizure still belonged to Alonso Xenkelai.

"Am I to thoroughly offend a powerful Dragon Knight before I have succeeded in dragon riding, or will I declare my Dragon Knight identity one day, and the most likely to initiate the Dragon Slaying War is this Dragon Knight from the Eagle Kingdom?" The thought emerged in Liszt's mind, and he couldn't help but ponder deeply.

Whether it was several wars or the Smoke Mission, they all roughly pointed the finger at Alonso Xenkelai.

Perhaps, this man truly was his destined opponent in the future Dragon Slaying War — not every Dragon Knight necessarily faces a Dragon Slaying War, but a Dragon Knight who wants to establish a kingdom, carve out his own power, and change the world power structure will certainly provoke the intervention of other Dragon Knights.

Maybe one, or maybe several, coming forward to test the waters.

If 150 years ago, Andrew Sapphire hadn't survived the Dragon Slaying War, the Grand Duchy of Sapphire might never have come into existence.

This was a huge wake-up call for Liszt.

His gaze rested on the five Blood Servants.

Liszt had already immersed himself in his own thoughts, "Prince Alonso Xiankelai is the strongest threat in the dragon-slaying battle, and the tasks I've completed before are more or less related to him. This could be a chain of tasks, preparing me for victory in the dragon-slaying war!"

He suddenly thought of something, stepped out of his contemplation, and asked aloud, "The dragon possessed by Alonso Xiankelai is a Bronze Dragon, isn't it?"

"Yes, my lord."

Liszt couldn't deny it and fell back into thought: "Alonso's dragon is a Bronze Dragon, while mine is a Fire Dragon—the Gemstone Dragons and Metal Dragons that are of a productive nature are essentially equivalent to militiamen, while Elemental Dragons are comparable to regular soldiers—as long as I build up enough strength, Alonso may not be a match for me!"

He had his own understanding of strength accumulation.

Weakening the opponent's resources is akin to increasing one's own chips: "Considering the future dragon-slaying battle, it seems that I absolutely must seize the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine!"

He was not one to hesitate indecisively; after only a few moments of deliberation, he had already made up his mind.

He then suppressed his thoughts and returned to the reports from the Blood Servants: "Did you just say there are vampires stationed at the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine?"

"Yes, my lord, the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine is guarded by the pureblood Fomuir Black Knight. His strength is on par with that of Tuobert Black Knight, though he is an original pureblood. He also has three mixed-blood subordinates under his command: Enchantress Phoebe, the man in black Vansa, and Fang Seth."

"Only three mixed-bloods?"

Bloody Mary replied: "Typically, a pureblood vampire would cultivate two or three mixed-blood subordinates. Tuobert brought the five of us because of a mission, but only I and Hamil are his true subordinates."

Liszt couldn't help but mutter: "Vampires are a problem..."

At that moment, Bloody Mary suddenly said, "My lord, if you plan to attack the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine, perhaps we Blood Servants can assist you in eliminating Fomuir and his three subordinates."

Liszt lifted his eyelids, looking at Bloody Mary with an expressionless face.

Only after seeing Bloody Mary tense and at a loss did he speak in an indifferent tone, "As servants, my first requirement of you is not to overstep."

Bloody Mary immediately knelt on one knee: "I'm sorry, my lord. Mary sincerely apologizes. I should not have taken the initiative without your command!"

Her expression did not seem to be feigned.

Seeing this, Liszt did not pursue the matter further but calmly said, "Do not let it happen again... Tell me your plan, how you will assist me in eliminating these four vampires."

"We can pretend to be invited by Tuobert, asking Fomuir to leave Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine and go for a secret meeting in Three Dragons City. Along the way, my lord, you can strike directly and kill him. Once you find the three hearts he carries, those three vampires will naturally prostrate themselves at your feet."

The plan was simple and brutal.

But after a brief consideration, Liszt readily agreed.

He always liked this type of straightforward approach; intricate schemes and plots weren't his forte—he often felt that the more elaborate the plan, the more likely it was to go wrong.

————

It's the end of the month, seeking monthly votes!