The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Bloody Mary was singing Liszt's terrifying praises to Crimson Peggy, while Liszt watched the Smoke Mission in the bathhouse. Bathing only took five minutes; he was mostly thinking.

Thinking about the Vampire incident, thinking about the Pioneer Mandate war.

Also thinking about the new mission.

"Mission: Not only bats emerge in the Dark Night, but also a considerable number of rats. They mingle within the departing Knight Order, and perhaps the battle intentions at Roaring River Mouth will soon be revealed by them. Please crush the Grand Magician's port baptism. Reward: a hand-drawn Ruins Map."

This was the content of the new mission. He set aside the reward of the hand-drawn Ruins Map for now and considered the information revealed by the mission content.

"Rats?"

"So, does this mean that the Duchy of Sapphire's plan to attack Roaring River Mouth will be uncovered?" he frowned. "The plan was just confirmed in the daytime meeting. Even if the rats knew the direction of the attack, it would be difficult to deliver the information in time... unless they took a fast sailing ship that could arrive at Roaring River Mouth one day ahead of the regular fleet."

The Duchy of Sapphire would not reveal the direction of the attack in advance for each Pioneer Mandate war.

Rather, the Grand Duke himself would issue the order on the eve of the attack.

This was a good way to avoid the Eagle Kingdom's rats and the possibility of obtaining the battle intentions. After all, sea invasions differ from land attacks; rats can run fast but still need ships. And naturally, the Court Fleet of the Grand Duke is the fastest, capable of launching an attack before the rats spill the secrets.

By the time the attack starts, it's too late for the rats to pass on the information.

So, espionage and the like hardly have any advantage— even if there are rats with flying mounts, they cannot fly continuously over the sea without stopping to dock.

"Unless the rats took a ship first, and then released homing pigeons or something while onboard... No, that can't be right, pigeons have fixed flying ranges, how can the rats ensure that the pigeons' destination is the direction of the fleet's attack?"

Setting sail from Port of Bull Hoof City on Iron Hoof Island.

It's a six- to seven-day voyage to the coast of the Eagle Kingdom, spanning over a thousand kilometers. This distance ensures the suddenness of the fleet's attack cannot be anticipated. Unless a Dragon Knight flew tirelessly on a dragon, perhaps they could traverse the sea without stopping.

Other flying Magical Beasts simply cannot go a thousand kilometers without resting.

"There's another possibility, to take a ship first, enter the range of a flying magical beast, and then fly to deliver the message. This way, the information may indeed arrive one or two days in advance... However, even if the information is sent three days ahead, what kind of defense can be organized?"

Every year at a fixed time, the Duchy of Sapphire launches an attack; it's a tradition.

Yet the Eagle Kingdom can never block it—without the King's coordination and command, the landlords from various territories cannot unite to organize a defensive system. Mixed with various interest entanglements, the Pioneer Mandate is like a gluttonous feast between enemies and allies happening in the hinterlands along the coast.

"The key point is, there are several coastal cities at Roaring River Mouth, all of which are possible locations to launch an attack. The Bull Hoof City meeting only determined the general direction of the attack, without a specific target. The detailed attack plan would be discussed again during the voyage."

Therefore.

The possibility of the Duchy of Sapphire being ambushed is very small.

"If my guess is not wrong, this mission is more likely to be the ill fate of a mission failure, leading to an accident where the rats accidentally deliver the message to the port city I'm about to attack, and then face the port baptism by the Grand Magician—undoubtedly, powerful magic awaits."

He stood up and wiped the water off himself, "Tomorrow morning, I'll communicate with the Earl, and then send out a vampire squad to scout the port cities before the attack. I believe this mission won't be hard."

When he walked out of the bathhouse, he already had a complete plan in mind.

Even if a Grand Magician did cast spells, with his Dragon Dou Qi, crushing the Grand Magician's magic was effortless—back in his territory, he had once shattered Ach's release of the exceptionally strong Water Magic - Whirlpool Convergence with a single sword strike, and that was on the high seas.

After all, a Half-Step Dragon Knight!

…

It was nearly dawn at this time.
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The noisy port was very quiet. By the time Liszt returned to his room, there were already five vampires sitting there. Seeing him arrive, Bloody Mary was the first to stand up, and the other four vampires were not slow to react, following her lead and standing up, their gazes all converging at the doorway.

Standing at one meter and eighty-nine centimeters, Liszt wore a well-tailored, appropriate lounging attire, though slightly different from the usual noble attire.

But it undoubtedly highlighted his tall and slender figure, exuding an imposing nobility.

"You've all already come?" He walked to the table and sat down directly, not inviting the five vampires to sit. His gaze slowly surveyed the new vampires, "Bloody Mary, introduce these four vampires to me."

Bloody Mary quickly said, "My lord, this is One-Eyed Uso…"

There wasn't much to introduce. They were all mixed-blood vampires, roughly the same strength as Bloody Mary—Grand Magician level at night, falling to Magician level during the day. They had the ability to transform into bats, making them suitable for the role of "scout," but their "assassin" abilities were not outstanding.

Unless someone was acting drunk like Liszt.

Otherwise, even a Sky Knight asleep would maintain some alertness; Advanced Dou Qi would run slowly and naturally, any disturbance capable of waking them.

Should the vampire assassination fail, they might even be counter-killed. After all, they were only casters; transforming into a bat was suitable for escaping, but the sweeping moves of a Knight's attacks were still very dangerous—close-quarter combat between a caster and a knight was simply foolish.

The five vampires, three males and two females.

After the introductions.

It was the turn of the four new vampires to report their own situations, especially the results of their search for the Goat Assembly's Grand Magician on Iron Hoof Island—their intelligence was much the same as Bloody Mary's, with none of them able to find those Grand Magicians. Also being mixed-blood, they had no contact with the core of the Black Knight Family.

The information they could reveal was limited.

"Very well, I've now met all of you, and you should also recognize me," Liszt said without any superfluous words, "Your hearts are in my hands; from now on, follow my orders and serve me… I do not care about your loyalty, as long as you show your value. Even if you want your hearts back, it's not a problem."

The five vampires' eyes swiveled rapidly.

Liszt smiled faintly, "Your hearts have been placed by me in a very secret location. You may try to steal them from me, but let me remind you, you only have one chance, because failure will result in being erased by me. Also, I must point out that I like to dream of killing people while I sleep, don't say I haven't warned you."

Having said that.

He shook the bell on the table.

Servant Thomas pushed the door open and entered, "My lord."

"Arrange rooms for these five magicians, they are my new followers."

"Yes, my lord," Thomas elegantly gestured with his hand, "Magicians, please follow me."

As they were about to leave the room, Liszt added, "Thomas, remember to prepare a few robes for the magicians, ones with large hoods." The large-hooded robes could very well conceal the pale complexion and blood-red eyes of the vampires.