"Your Holiness, let me suggest you open the city gates now and surrender. Let's not continue this pointless fight."
"Those few soldiers of yours aren't even enough to satisfy our appetites, brothers. But eating you, on the other hand... hehehe~"
The mercenaries burst into lewd laughter.
They showed absolutely no fear.
"We can take this city in less than half an hour, with only minimal sacrifices on our side."
"We even have other methods at our disposal."
The vice commander of the Black Beast Mercenary Group spoke with a cold expression, his words as venomous as a snake's poison.
"All those villages surrounding us are full of your subjects. We could drag them to the city gates."
"Right in front of you."
"Kill the men, violate the women. Would you just stand by and watch, Your Holiness?"
Gus remained silent. He glanced at his vice commander with surprise, somewhat taken aback.
This pig-brain had finally come up with a decent idea.
Exploiting Celestine's personality to force her surrender was indeed a brilliant plan.
"Your idea is quite clever."
"But you're all about to die."
A hoarse, deep roar like thunder brewing in dark clouds echoed across the city and the wilderness.
The mercenaries were shocked.
What kind of creature could produce such a deafening sound?
Then they remembered.
It seemed like just yesterday.
The black dragon that had attacked the Sacred Wall of Felinir.
Click! Click!
The sound of claws climbing on stone.
A massive dragon head slowly rose behind Celestine.
Armor-like scales, dazzling molten flame circuits.
Then came sharp dragon claws and an enormous dragon body.
The black dragon had climbed onto the tower of the city wall.
It spread its wide wings high, its pale golden dragon eyes looking down at the dense crowd of mercenaries outside the wall with savage majesty, like an emperor holding a butcher's knife, sitting high upon his throne.
"It's... it's that black dragon that attacked the Sacred Wall of Felinir! It's working with the Holy Maiden!"
"No wonder it attacked the Sacred Wall of Felinir! Damn it!"
The mercenaries began to lose heart at the sight of the imposing black dragon.
Just a day ago, the ground beneath the Sacred Wall of Felinir that had been burned to glass was still fresh in their minds.
"Indeed, it is I!"
Su Nian spread his wings and flew higher and higher until he blocked the sun above the mercenaries' heads.
"The sun is quite pleasant today."
"But your hearts are cold and filthy, so I'm delighted to help you with that."
"Vaporizing humans, scorching hearts~"
"ROAR——"
The intense cone-shaped Dragon Breath shot forth.
On this plain with no shelter, the Black Beast Mercenary Group became the perfect target.
After just two rounds of dragon breath, the mercenaries were wailing in agony in a sea of fire.
"Don't just stand there frozen, spread out!"
"This black dragon's breath is strange. If it touches you, take off your clothes immediately. If necessary, cut off the burning parts."
Gus's expression was grave as he flipped to his feet from the ground, commanding the chaotic mercenaries.
Although he normally commanded great respect, and many mercenaries immediately calmed down, there were still many who began to flee.
Most of those fleeing were humans.
The humanoid species mostly followed orders and stayed.
"The key issue now is how to control this giant dragon flying around in the sky."
"Otherwise, everyone here will die today."
Gus looked at the giant dragon roaring and circling in the sky, spewing dragon breath, burning with rage.
These mercenaries were his life's work!
"Bring the spears!"
Gus shouted, and immediately two goblins huffed and puffed as they carried two large baskets of spears.
"I am a fourth-rank warrior, and this dragon, judging by its size, should be a young dragon, but its aura is slightly weaker, probably also around fourth-rank."
"Both at fourth-rank, although humans are no match for dragons, I'm different! I am the battle-hardened commander of the Black Beast Mercenary Group."
"These spears! They are the best weapons!"
Gus picked up a spear made of fine iron, his eyes gleaming.
"Sometimes technique can compensate for differences in strength. Concentrate force on a single point, attack the enemy's weakest spot, and even if the opponent is a giant dragon..."
"It will still perish!"
Gus had mastered the use of spears. Before becoming the commander of the Black Beast Mercenary Group, he had been a warrior in a gladiatorial arena.
Many of the humanoid species following him were also brought from that arena.
As for the owner of that arena...
He had already been flayed alive, his bones scraped and flesh eaten. On the day Gus escaped the arena with the humanoid species, the owner had been turned into a pile of excrement.
Gus had fought against humans.
He had fought against fierce beasts, monsters, and even dragon beasts—over three thousand battles without a single defeat.
Now he was brimming with confidence.
His muscular hand gripped the spear tightly. Twisting his waist and raising his elbow, his muscles instantly contracted as he hurled it with all his might.
"Swoosh——"
The fine iron spear cut through the air, becoming a dark streak, flying with a piercing howl.
Gus's calculation was extremely precise.
This spear was right in the black dragon's flight path, precisely aimed to pierce the dragon's eye.
Even if the black dragon dodged...
It would still pierce its wing.
The foolish black dragon was only focused on slaughtering his mercenaries, paying no attention to the spear flying toward it.
Nine out of ten dragons die from arrogance.
The remaining one dies from greed.
Gus seemed to have already foreseen victory, a ferocious smile appearing on his pitch-black face, his white teeth gleaming menacingly.
The spear got closer and closer.
In an instant!
"Clang!"
The spear struck sparks against the dragon's body, then with a flap of the dragon's wing, the spear was knocked away.
"How is this possible!?"
Gus's eyes bulged, his face filled with dismay.
Had he become rusty from not using spears for so long?
Gus ruled out this reason, as he exercised his powerful arm daily to ensure it would be effective when needed.
But how could this black dragon have such strong scales?
What kind of monster was it?
Gus's face darkened.
He took out several more fine iron spears.
This time, he would use his strongest ranged technique, which he called "Remote Chain Spear Strike."
As the name suggests...
This technique involved exhausting his strength and power to throw multiple spears in an extremely short time.
These spears would basically form a line, ensuring attacks on the same spot.
Once a point was broken, what good were strong scales?
This giant dragon was as good as dead.
With this thought, Gus's confidence was restored.
At this moment, the stupid dragon still hadn't noticed him, just enthusiastically chasing and slaughtering his fleeing mercenaries.
As if those mercenaries were more appealing than him, the mercenary commander.
This was good!
The goddess of victory was smiling upon him.
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