The royal capital of Falun is in the center of the southern part of the continent, from here, with the sight of the ancient silver dragon, you can get a glimpse of almost every inch of the territory he owns, and while the dragon still rules here, except for his children, those he favors, whether they are warlocks, mages, or priests, are not allowed to use teleportation spells to appear in the shadows of the royal capital where they can touch, a law that is as inviolable as steel. Of course, after the dragon left and the dynasty collapsed, this law became a legend for a long time, and few people remember it now— Arthur and Maren arrived directly from the portal to the royal capital under the guidance of a dragonborn warlock, and the courtyard used to receive and greet these spellcasters can be said to be a relatively complete and neat place in the entire royal capital, with maids and attendants, the spellcasters are waiting to meet the emperor in twos and threes, and six of the ten robes on their bodies are gray, three are red, and only one is black.

A gray robe took the lead to come over and salute Maren, because of the relationship between magic and drugs of negative energy for a long time, the gray robes usually have a thin face, gloomy expression, dull and pale skin, here, such a bright and lovely person as Arthur's appearance is not only not respected, but may be hostile (just like the dead hate the living), then Mullen realizes that they have reversed Arthur's identity with himself, they believe that Arthur is his apprentice, and he is Arthur's mentor, he does not know how to explain it, but Arthur has accepted it happily- As an undead who has been out of the world of the living for a long time, the emotions of the living are similarly reduced to almost nothing in Arthur, and he doesn't care what these weak people think of him - not even a single resident of the Seventy-Seven Islands appears here, well, except for him and Maren. More accurately, it was supposed to be two poor fellows on the edge of the Seventy-Seven Islands, who had been sacked by Arthur and Maren's mentor after accepting the invitation of Emperor Falun, and who were probably now reminiscing about their past in the thousands of feet of deep sea.

However, the Emperor's attendants and maids liked Arthur very much, and compared to those gray robes who looked like they would fall to the ground and turn into a skeleton at any moment, Arthur looked like a gentle and even a cute young man with a little innocence if he was not wearing a gray robe. "If you wish," said one of the maids to Arthur in a whisper, "we can put your place first, and when you have seen the Emperor, we can leave here first......"

"Isn't it good here?" Arthur asked in the same whisper.

"This ......," the maid muttered for a moment, "you should know that this was once the place where the royal family of Falun was killed, and it is said that the blood of hundreds of descendants of dragons flowed in the depths of the temple, and the alabaster there was stained with flesh and blood, and they cursed loudly between deaths, and anyone who dared to occupy this place was bound to fail, and died in pain and humbleness." Of course, our Emperor is an exception, after all, he is the only descendant left here, and he can be blessed here, but—" He didn't know whether to say it or not, but continued under the urging of Arthur's smiling eyes, "There are powerful ghosts here, and they have all died miserably in their own rooms when the Grey Robe tried to subdue or imprison them. ”

"It does sound very dangerous. Arthur said softly, "Thank you, my lady, and I will thank you if we can meet again." ”

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The Emperor sat on the cold throne, the throne looked extremely magnificent, it seemed to be made of pure gold and mythril, exuding a soft silver-blue light, and on the back of the chair, the armrests and the legs of the chair, there were fine carvings of humans and animals, their eyes were precious stones, and made a gesture of submission, and at the top of the throne was a silver dragon with its wings outstretched, looking down at the emperor and the people— These were made according to the poems of the bards and the records in the scrolls, but what the emperor did not know was that it was a fake, both pure gold and mythril were only thin on the surface, and the gems were glass, and the inside was cheap stone and black iron. If a true lord, the Grand Duke and the King sat here, perhaps he would soon find the perfunctory and mockery, but the Emperor was not so much an emperor as a puppet, a puppet, and he received a poor and old-fashioned education, and what he had been indoctrinated with, that is, the laughable pride, the hatred of rebellion, and the desire for power, which made him exceptionally impulsive, stubborn, and easily manipulated.

"Do I have to see these grey robes?" he said, as a living being, and a descendant of a noble ancient silver dragon, he didn't feel the need to see the necromancers, he even felt a little filthy and indescribable, he just didn't say it.

"You'd better meet them," said the subject of his inquiry, gently, not as if he was not annoyed by the Emperor's foolish actions and thoughts: Encourage them and give them some rewards, for now they are your subordinates, your tools, and you are going to command them to do things for you like a sword, and trust me that when they mention your name, they will make a stronger impression on people, and believe me, with irresistible pain and death, you will return to the Dharma and your reign will become known to as many people as soon as possible. ”

"But will people hate me for it?"

"May I ask you that the fox is worried because of the screeching of the rabbit?, your majesty, you are a descendant of the silver dragon, and you need not hesitate for any reason, for the curse of mortals and the weak is a glory to you, just as your ancestors did, and people fear him, respect him, and love him, is it because of his kindness? No, it was because he was strong enough to cover the land like the morning light, and only a weak ruler would succumb to the threats of the people and constantly cede the power he deserved, which is not the posture of an emperor. ”

"Yes," the Emperor's spirit finally relaxed a little, "I should have frightened them." ”

"Don't worry," the shrill voice continued, "and no one can hurt you with me. ”

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When the meeting was over, Arthur glanced back at the closed door, and if he was not mistaken, the little devil was really everywhere.

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Under the lonely arrow peak, there used to be a circle of white and silver buildings, just like all the royal cities, the emperor's descendants, relatives, and courtiers who were fortunate enough to be close to the emperor all lived around the royal court, and no one could share the royal city with the silver dragon here, so people retreated and replaced it with the arrow peak, which was once inhabited by millions of people, so the buildings had to be like the ripples around the island, constantly expanding to the surrounding areas, and each time it expanded, a wall was erected around the buildings inside, so this place was also once called the ring city。 It was only after the death of the royal family of Falun that curses and plagues spread like water to the bottom of the mountains, and the people around the city either died in their mansions or far away, they were once possessed by thieves, they were once regarded as nests by goblins and monsters, and there were ambitious lords who wanted to build new cities here, but in the end they all died.

Man-made arson, natural wind and snow, and growing plants everywhere eventually destroyed the place, and when the candidates for the squire arrived, they saw a green ruin.

"What about the slaves?" asked one of the mercenaries dissatisfiedly, "Is there still a shortage of slaves for the Emperor?"

"Slaves had a more important use. The man who led them answered them like this, and then when the mercenary who asked the question stepped forward threateningly, and tried to grab him by the collar, he just waved his arm slightly, like dusting off a little dust, and knocked the mercenary straight out of the way, and then a thud was heard, and the beams, which were not very strong, suddenly collapsed, burying the mercenary under the rubble.

"Anyone else wants to ask questions?" the squire asked, and he was silenced for a moment, so he smiled with satisfaction and walked away.

But that's not the worst, for ten days after that, they didn't see the second person, and they were like forgotten. The mercenaries tried to loot food, slaves and cloth from the surrounding villages and cities, but when they went out, they found that there were no cities or villages for nearly a hundred miles around, because this was once a ring city, and after the people abandoned it, there were only ghosts, monsters and thieves here, and no one wanted to approach it. They survived the days by the deer, birds, and berries in the ruins, and even though the elves never minded staying in the wilderness, they were distracted by the constant conflict and noise.

Thirty days later, a knight and a mage arrived, and the knight was probably the most extravagant and gorgeous of all the mercenaries had ever seen, with steel armor engraved with golden curly grass and coats of arms, a cloak of snow bear skin, a broad sword hanging from his waist shimmering with a glimmer of magic, and a bunch of down feathers spurting upright like bright red blood on his helmet that stood tall like a mountain— The attendant who had left them reappeared, bringing the Emperor's condolences, and in addition to the restored mansion of the mages, there was also a dagger that was said to have performed magic, and that dagger had been given to fifty men.

Neither the elves nor Kremar got the daggers, and the mercenaries looked at each other, and easily found that the reward was actually for those who seemed particularly irritable and dangerous in the ten days, and around them, whether they were companions or strangers, there were inexplicable disappearances, but at this time, not many people in this place would pursue - they went to check the mansion again, and found that the room inside could not accommodate the hundreds of people here even if all the mercenaries were erected.

When the inhabitants of the mansion were finally settled, the mercenaries were a little less numerous, and then the attendants came again, and this time he brought in charming maids, who served only those who lived in the mansion, and wine, barbecue, and bread, all of which belonged to the victors. At night, and even during the day, the smell of the ruins became more distinct, and some clever mercenaries tried to leave, but the next day their heads appeared in front of the people.

"It's like having a dogfight. One of the mercenaries complained, looking at Cremar and the others with a hint of envy in his eyes that his companions had either been killed, betrayed and abandoned him. However, there were nearly half of the mercenaries like Cremar and the others, both strong and weak, and they were unmoved when the reckless ones were desperate to show their abilities, but as far as Cremar said, it was not difficult for them to get the mansion, and he was sure that two of the groups had spellcasters in the same group.

On the twentieth day, the mercenaries outside the mansion were taken away, thinking that they could no longer be chosen to be the emperor's attendants, but waiting for them was a group of dragons and their knights, who were sent to the dragons, and then to the top of the Arrow Mountain, the outskirts of the royal city, they bent their bodies, careful not to be blown away by the frenzied wind, "How can they stand up straight in such a strong wind?" muttered one of the mercenaries.

"Adamantite in armor and weapons. A voice replied.

The mercenary was startled, he thought he would be able to get an answer, but in the rush of the wind, he could not find the source of the sound, but it was definitely not a hallucination, and the mercenary looked at the guards standing straight on either side of the corridor for a moment under the hood, and estimated the weight they had to bear to estimate their combat ability, forgive me, it was entirely his occupational disease - and he came to the conclusion that it was better not to fight the guards head-on if he could.

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The squire watched the dragons take the mercenaries away, and he turned back to the mansion, and the mercenaries in the mansion looked resentful, wasn't it their way of testing to take possession of this mansion?

"You still have a chance," the squire said, spreading his hands so that they could see the dagger in his hand. "I've only taken back thirty-seven of these daggers, and thirteen of them, and they're all you need to get your hands on. ”

As soon as the squire's words fell, someone heard the familiar gurgling, a thief standing, his eyes full of astonishment and anger, but he was powerless to resist and retaliate, he could only point to a place at the last moment, where stood the man who had taken his dagger, and the crowd suddenly boiled, not only did the person who did not have the dagger chase the person with the dagger, but the person with the dagger was also hunting other people - they were already enemies of each other, and it would not be a mistake for the dagger to pierce anyone's throat or heart.

By the time the squire retrieved the thirteen daggers, only five people were left standing.