Their bodies were curled up in the corner of the cage, like a group of helpless little animals.
With a gentle wave of Karl's finger, the iron lock snapped open with a 'click'.
"You can choose to leave on your own, stay, or follow me."
Having said that, Karl did not spare them another glance and turned to leave.
The cat-eared youths looked at each other, their eyes filled with both fear and hesitation.
Finally, a few of the bolder ones timidly stood up and followed closely behind him from a distance.
As Karl stepped out the gate, he saw hundreds of soldiers already formed into a battle array, their bows aimed at him.
The Commander gave the order: "Fire!"
Instantly, thousands of arrows flew, whistling through the air like an ominous cloud, mixed with various magic spells.
However, Karl felt his body's power boiling; unlike Hill, who was not good at one-on-many combat, as an Evil Dragon, facing such a group assault felt different.
It was as if there was some wondrous enhancement.
He took a deep breath, his chest expanded, and then he opened his mouth to spew a stream of black Dragon Flame.
The black flame instantly swept away the arrows and magic in the air, then the black flame landed among the crowd.
The flames clung to the soldiers' armor, igniting instantly with a sizzling sound.
The soldiers screamed and rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies.
But the black flame had a strong scorching effect; trying to put it out was futile.
Instead, the black flames spread to their companions' bodies, igniting again and causing widespread chaos.
The screams and cries of the soldiers intertwined, turning them into living torches, burning to ashes, a truly horrific scene.
"Hm?" Karl was also stunned for a moment.
Was I really this strong?
He was actually only a Rank 5, but his skill set, when facing clustered enemies weaker than himself, especially when soldiers were grouped together in a battle array, a single breath of Dragon Flame created a burning effect.
Directly destroying a battle array composed of hundreds of people.
Karl narrowed his golden vertical pupils, took a deep breath, and spewed another stream of black Dragon Flame, making the surrounding air crackle.
In this chaos, his golden vertical pupils accurately captured the Commander in the crowd, a Rank 4 knight wielding a longsword, who was trying to stabilize the soldiers.
Karl flapped the pair of massive black wings on his back, accelerating instantly, and swung his sharp dragon claws with a whistling sound that tore through the air.
He viciously clawed forward.
The Commander's eyes widened in horror, feeling the approach of death in an instant, and hastily raised the longsword in his hand, attempting to block this fatal blow.
"Clang!" With a loud crash, the longsword shattered instantly under the fierce strike of the dragon claws, sending fragments flying.
The dragon claws' momentum did not decrease, deeply embedding themselves into the Commander's chest.
The Commander let out a bloodcurdling scream; his body was lifted into the air by Karl, blood raining down.
Karl once again realized the explosive power of a dragon, which had a certain numerical beauty, and combined with his 7+5 strength, it elevated this numerical beauty to an incredibly terrifying level.
This terrifying scene instantly plummeted the morale of the other soldiers to rock bottom.
Already in fear and chaos due to the black flame and the tragic deaths of their comrades, they were now completely crushed, no longer able to muster any will to resist.
They abandoned their weapons one after another, screaming and scattering in all directions.
In the darkness, several figures emerged stealthily, clearly intending to go to Vladimir City for reinforcements, but as they hurried along, they suddenly saw several corpses lying on the ground.
Their hearts tightened, and an ominous premonition surged within them.
Just at that moment, a cold light flashed.
The stealthy figures were suddenly forced out of stealth, a red line appearing across their necks, blood gushing like fountains.
Their eyes showed confusion, then they collapsed weakly to the ground.
Hill revealed herself, flicked the blood from her dagger, and looked with complex emotions at the fire-lit farm.
"Karl, you really are an idiot."
Hill murmured to herself, she had always considered herself an emotionless assassin, but inexplicably, she hoped Karl would succeed.
The slaughter continued into the late night, until not a single soldier was left standing.
Only hundreds of beautiful mixed-race youths and maidens of various races stood timidly at a distance from Karl; they dared not approach.
"Hill, I'll leave this to you." Karl ignored these people, flapped his wings, and flew towards Vladimir City: "I will make sure Duke Sophie has no chance to pursue you."
On the other side, in Vladimir City.
Duke Sophie's face was ashen as she listened to her subordinate's report.
"Your Grace, we have confirmed that the enemy has left Vladimir City."
Chapter 191: Didn't Expect This, Did You?
Grand Duchess Sophie remained silent, and no one else dared to speak; someone had infiltrated the mansion and killed an heir.
The Oram Family, the largest noble family in the Northern Territory, had recently been like the most cost-effective courtesan on the street, anyone could come and consume their services.
Like a group purchase, and the people who came each time were different.
"My Lady Mother, I must tear him apart and devour him!!!" White Pheasant's eye whites were already a deep black, and fury burned in her eyes.
She had actually been played by that bandaged freak.
She stomped her foot hard on the ground, with such force that the stone floor cracked, forming fissures, just like her uncontrollable rage at that moment.
Not far away, Theresa's headless body lay quietly, a pool of red and white matter mixed with stone fragments beside it.
The newly appointed Commander, Count Fick, lay not far away, his eyes wide open in death.
Muse glanced at her furious elder sister, and her mother's cold expression, her siblings.
Suddenly, only she and her sister were left alive.
Compared to her sister, whose mind was full of combat, she felt she should display some strategy: "According to eyewitnesses, the attacker was completely wrapped in bandages, moved mysteriously, and was skilled with a dagger."
Her gaze swept towards Archmage Otto at her side.
This chief mage of the family had a clearer understanding of ordinary strong individuals than she did.
It was also a necessary ability for those in power to make good use of their subordinates.
Archmage Otto, with his aged face and tightly furrowed brows, was deep in thought, and after a long silence, he shook his head: "I have never heard of an assassin with such characteristics."
Muse was not surprised and analyzed: "That's a false identity."
Her gaze swept again over the damaged marks scattered around the room: "I don't think an assassin could compete with my sister in a test of strength without falling behind."
"I wasn't using my full strength, that despicable fellow…" White Pheasant immediately turned red with anger when the assassin was mentioned.
"Enough." Sophie's voice suddenly rang out, calm and cold; the temperature in the room seemed to drop sharply by several degrees.
An invisible pressure permeated the air, causing the other three present to involuntarily fall silent, their breathing becoming cautious.
They knew that their mother was truly furious this time.
Sophie's gaze swept over her son's cold corpse on the ground: "Four hundred years is too long for humans, so much so that this continent has forgotten the reverence it should have for our race."
Before she could finish speaking, a sudden clamor erupted outside.
"It's Dragon Flame! Quick, mages, immediately deploy the protective barrier!"
The urgent shouts from outside interrupted Sophie's words.
Muse's face instantly turned ashen; did he really think this was a public place, coming and going as he pleased, and each time the visitor was different?
"Bastard!" White Pheasant had already crashed through the half-destroyed door and rushed out.
Karl hovered in the sky a thousand meters high, his body transformed into a twenty-meter-long giant dragon, and he opened his massive maw.
Dense black flames condensed in his throat.
The Dragon Flame in his full dragon form had double the coverage of his half-dragon form, and of course, the magic consumption was also double.
The skill mechanism transformed into a super-large area-of-effect ability more inclined towards burst damage.
Like the end of days, with an aura of destroying everything, it poured down towards the ducal mansion below.
The moment the Dragon Flame was about to hit the lord's tower, a brilliant red energy shield suddenly rose from above the ducal mansion, tightly enveloping the entire estate.
The black flames met the red energy shield, and the two collided, black and red intertwining.
The black Dragon Flame burned furiously on the energy shield, trying to corrode the barrier, but the red light remained unyielding, forcibly nullifying all the black Dragon Flame.
"As expected, it's not that simple."
Karl murmured; being able to neutralize his attack so easily meant the opponent was at least a Rank 7 or higher.
"Forget it, time to bolt."
After spewing the Dragon Flame, without any hesitation, he flapped his wings and fled immediately after the attack.
The four-hundred-year-old family's foundation was by no means something he could easily contend with, especially on their territory, so he kept some distance in the fight.
The moment he turned, a white figure shot out from the lord's mansion, moving at an astonishing speed.
"So fast!"
Karl's heart jumped.
Fortunately, a dragon's dynamic vision was extremely powerful, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to track the figure's movement.
However, the white figure's speed was simply too great, and he had no time to dodge.
"Die!"
Karl violently swung his tail, smashing it towards the white figure.
"Bang!" A dull thud sounded.
Karl felt a sharp pain in his tail; he finally saw the appearance of the white figure: Grand Duchess Sophie!
She wore a white evening gown, revealing her fair back, draped in white fur, noble and elegant.
At this moment, her face was icy cold, and with one hand, she had broken through his black dragon scales, digging into the flesh of his tail.
"Damn it!"
Karl cursed inwardly, enduring the sharp pain, and instantly transformed into his half-human form.
Taking advantage of the change in their positions caused by the transformation, he threw a full-force punch at Grand Duchess Sophie's face.
Grand Duchess Sophie faced Karl's incoming punch, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes.
She raised her own fist, and her delicate fist collided with Karl's half-dragon form's massive, pot-sized fist in mid-air.
"Bang!" A loud noise, an ear-splitting sonic boom, erupted.
As they were in mid-air, both their bodies were sent flying backward.
Grand Duchess Sophie stabilized herself in the air, her arm already twisted, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.
The physical strength displayed by this dragon, even among Rank 7 powerhouses, was considered exceptional.
However, what puzzled her was that the Dragon Flame Karl had just spewed had only Rank 5 power at most.
A conspiracy?
Grand Duchess Sophie instinctively played it safe, not immediately pursuing.
Karl, meanwhile, flew backward in the opposite direction from her, while enduring the severe pain in his arm, and burst into wild laughter: "Didn't expect this, did you! This is my escape route!"
"…" Grand Duchess Sophie's eyes narrowed, and a pair of fleshy wings suddenly unfolded from her fair back, her arm simultaneously regenerating.
Her eye whites turned a terrifying black.
The elegant and noble Grand Duchess instantly gained a few touches of eerie ferocity.
×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×
Read Extra Chapter Visit My Patreon
I have only 1 tier
19$ Tier – Access to 40 advance chapters
patreon.com/Lempil
patreon.com/Lempil