The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

"If the plan is successfully completed, Mary, this heart that belonged to Tuobert will be your reward. As for the rest of you, continue to distinguish yourselves, and perhaps the heart of Fomuir will belong to one of you."

Just wielding a big stick can indeed make the blood servants revere you, but it doesn't necessarily make them give their all.

However, with the carrot added, I believe these vampires will exert all their strength for the tasty heart of a pureblood vampire.

But by looking at the expressions and eyes of Bloody Mary and the four blood servants, one can tell that the tactic has worked.

Send away the blood servants.

Liszt sat on the mount that originally belonged to Deborah, concentrating as he summoned the Smoke Mission.

As early as when he was bathing, he had already received the task completion prompt: "Complete the task, reward an unknown number of Little Minor Elves."

The ransom issue with Deborah had not yet started negotiations, so the reward for this task was still unclear.

But Liszt wasn't in a hurry, he even planned to intentionally delay the ransom exchange, numbing Marquis Nuta to complete the plan of attacking Three Dragons City and Trapped Dragon Mountain, ultimately squeezing out time to transport the iron ore—the quantity of iron ore was immense, and even with a large number of ships called in, it would still be difficult to quickly remove so much iron ore.

Shipbuilding technology in this world was not advanced—the Ming Dynasty's Zheng He's treasure ships could allegedly reach a tonnage of 2500 tons; even a ship one-tenth the size could carry 250 tons.

Alas, here a two-masted merchant ship's cargo tonnage is usually a little over a hundred tons, and a million tons of iron ore would require tens of thousands of trips—The Tulip Family probably had around a hundred merchant ships, the Long Taro Family about seven hundred, and the Golden Wheat Sheaf Family probably had about one thousand one hundred, making up a total of around two thousand ships.

However, transporting the iron ore to the mouth of the Roaring River, the commander-in-chief of this Pioneer Mandate, the First Prince, will surely organize more fleets to come and assist with the transportation.

With over a hundred years of experience with Pioneer Mandates, the Duchy of Sapphire has turned this kind of operation into an instinct.

Liszt didn't need to worry about the final transportation, he just needed to secure approximately ten days' time—ensuring the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine is emptied before any Dragon Knights could arrive, then assist the First Prince in transporting the iron ore back to the realm, and the military merits of this battle would be completely his.

"I will delay the news for one more day if possible... with the help of the Long Taro Family and the Golden Wheat Sheaf Family, block off the banks of the Roaring River and sever the connection between Trapped Dragon Mountain and Lock Dragon City. Furthermore, dispatch blood servants to assassinate any knights who attempt to carry messages; I believe this could delay things for a while."

If the delay is successful, then the Dragon Knights would need time to receive the news and time to travel. By the time they would arrive and return, the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine would have long been cleared out.

He looked at the Smoke Serpent Script that was already appearing before his eyes.

"Task: As the scale of the war grows larger, and you as a future Dragon Knight have larger combat plans to control, this is a mandatory course for a Dragon Knight. Please comprehensively oversee the operation to plunder the iron ore and capture the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine. Reward: Advanced Dou Qi Manuscript."

The task reward was nothing surprising; with the "Rising Sun Blaze"Secret Manual in hand, he does not need to practice any more.

Besides, he also had the Earl's "Giant Wave Breaks the Tide"and the reward for killing Count Sned, "Thousand Thunderstrike Sky Flash"— any more would just be for reserve.

What he focused on was the task itself.

"Even the Smoke Mission is urging me to plunder the Trapped Dragon Mountain Iron Mine. This battle plan, I absolutely cannot afford to fail! Whether it's the Long Taro Family or the Golden Wheat Sheaf Family, they must strictly follow my instructions, or else I do not mind revealing a bit of the 'Ghost Swordsman's' prowess."

The battle with Marquis Nuta made him realize his own strength was not strong enough. If it weren't for his archery prowess, this time he might have faced utter defeat and lost everything.

The war made him temper his arrogant attitude.

But since he ultimately achieved victory, he still retained a bit of the spirit of adventure in his heart, unwilling to cower and feign incompetence—this is probably the dignity of a Dragon Knight, not allowing him to continue being low-key.

...

At Little Riverheart Castle at night, with the solemn cremation ceremony ending at dusk, the knights found their joyous spirit once again.

Drinking heartily, shouting loudly, celebrating the victory of the war.

To have defeated the stronger Roaring Knights with a weaker force, it was naturally a matter to be proud of—although a large part of the credit belonged to Liszt, they still had made significant contributions, withstanding the charge of the Roaring Knights and ensuring the battle did not collapse one-sidedly, providing Liszt with the opportunity to turn the tide.

"To this toast, I wish for Lord Liszt to ride a dragon soon and reach the pinnacle of knighthood!"

"I wish for Lord Liszt to ride a dragon soon!"

"May the Lord ride a dragon soon!"

The knights were howling, spilling beer everywhere. Riding a dragon was a beautiful wish that was on every knight's lips. They had witnessed with their own eyes how Liszt had turned the tables and killed the powerful Marquis Nuta. In their hearts, if the Duchy of Sapphire were to have a new dragon, then the next person to ride it would undoubtedly be Liszt.

Of course.

Deep down, none of them really believed that Liszt would ride a dragon. Dragons were simply too rare, and the difficulty of riding one was just too high—even many had no clear concept of what a dragon was. Those nobles who had dragons always preferred to keep it a secret, ensuring the nobility and authority of dragons remained unshakeable.

Or rather, nobles were very cautious about keeping any secret that could potentially shake their status.

The cultivation of elves, the training of knights, the training of Iron Knights, cultural knowledge—all were kept secret. But the most secretive of all were the dragons.

At this moment.

The very Liszt they were vocally blessing was in his bedroom, chatting with the resting earl.

"The battlefield has been cleared up. We have lost a little over five hundred men, but have taken more than eight hundred prisoners. I have replenished the Black Horse Island Knights Order and used the majority of the knights to make up for your losses. Viscount Jonas and Viscount Trik are satisfied with this allotment."

"You already have the authority that they dare not violate. Of course, they have no objections to your distribution, and I trust your decision." The earl looked gravely injured, but in fact, most of it was superficial. After some rest, his complexion started to return to normal, and he would be fully healed in a few days.

"The plan to snatch the Trapped Dragon Mountain iron mine is already in preparation, just waiting for the Long Taro Family and the Golden Wheat Sheaf Family to be ready, and then we shall begin execution."

"Given that you were able to defeat Marquis Nuta, the likelihood of success of the plan will greatly increase. I have no objections."

"The feasibility of the plan is indeed very high, all within my control. However, I need you, father, to coordinate more with the Long Taro Family and the Golden Wheat Sheaf Family, to prevent them from holding me back."

"Don't worry."

"By the way, Father, have you learnt anything from my sword duel with Marquis Nuta that you could teach me?" Liszt was preparing to ask the earl about being a Domain Knight.

However, the earl's face fell gloomy: "I have nothing to teach you. Your sword duel with Marquis Nuta is beyond my understanding."

"Father, you fought in the Pioneer Mandate wars for many years. Haven't you ever encountered a Domain Knight like Marquis Nuta?"

The earl looked lost as he said, "Domain Knight?"

"A Completion Level Sky Knight, once resonating with a Knight Order, can condense a Dou Qi Domain and thereby augment their power. Such Completion Level Sky Knights are known as Domain Knights. There are quite a few Completion Level Sky Knights in the country, and Grandfather is one too. Don't they practice Dou Qi Domain?"

"Perhaps when Roderick arrives, you can ask him…." The earl leaned against the pillow, staring at the ceiling with a very confused look, "I have fought in nearly twenty Pioneer Mandates, but I always deliberately avoided clashing with the forces of marquises. If it hadn't been for your insistence, I would not have agreed to confront Marquis Nuta head-on."

The implication was clear: Li Weiliam always adhered to the strategy of "bullying the weak," raiding for resources.

Therefore, he may have clashed with Completion Level Sky Knights, but he had never fought against one in a large-scale Knight Order charge. Hence, he had never witnessed the power of a Domain Knight, nor did he know that there was something beyond the Completion Level: the Domain Knight.

He sighed deeply.

Suddenly turning his head, he looked at his young but mature second son: "When Roderick and Mesiro arrive, they will likely ask you why you are so powerful. Maybe you should tell me how the glory of a knight has favored you."

Liszt remained silent for a moment.

He solemnly spoke, "Initially, I didn't plan to say it, but since you asked, I have nothing to hide… I have inherited the Ghost Swordsman!"