681: The setting sun is blood-red, and so is the world

Looking at Ku Li Pa, whose skin was dry and cracked, lips devoid of color, and swollen eyes lacking any divine light, Yang Dian found it hard to connect him with the person he first met.

Though the young Kuli back then wasn't strong, he was full of passion, like an ox or horse that would never tire.

But what about now?

Decay, decadent, dejection, despair... just a glance was enough to feel countless negative Qi rushing forth, as if to completely drown a person.

"Have you given up already?"

"Think of the vows you made, and the teammates who followed you, yet died before you."

"If you give up like this..."

"Are you worthy of their sacrifice?"

"Are you worthy of the warriors who died under the Dragon's breath?"

"Are you worthy of the Human Race who, because you raised the banner of resistance, suffered undeserved calamity and died tragically under the Dragon's rampage?"

The barrage of questions echoed on the city wall, not only rekindling the light in Ku Li Pa's eyes but also attracting the Dragons circling nearby.

"My God..."

Ku Li Pa twisted his body a few times, as if grasping the only light in the night:

"You've finally appeared!"

As he spoke, a line of clear tears streamed from his nearly dry eyes:

"I..."

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But before the words could come out, they turned into sobs.

"Wuwuwu~"

"They're dead, all dead~"

"It's all my fault."

"If I had listened to Lei Wen and waited for you to appear before declaring war on the Dragon Clan, the outcome would definitely not have been like this."

"Wuwuwu~"

"My arrogance killed everyone..."

As Ku Li Pa cried out, Yang Dian suddenly saw wisps, like spider silk, invisible to ordinary people, detach from Ku Li Pa's body.

Some detached strands vanished directly, returning to the ethereal, never to be found again.

Some strands abruptly appeared in the distance, landing on ordinary people who survived the Dragon's rampage.

And some detached strands drifted towards Yang Dian with the wind.

He glanced at the dispirited Ku Li Pa before him, who was now only filled with sorrow.

He looked down at the strands that landed on him, as if trying to tightly entangle him.

Yang Dian suddenly reached out and clenched his fist.

"Boom~"

With a snapping sound at the Soul level, the continuously weeping Ku Li Pa suddenly felt something, opening his eyes to look at Yang Dian.

"God?"

Hearing his heartfelt question, Yang Dian curled his lips:

"This is not your fault."

It really wasn't Ku Li Pa's fault.

Yang Dian lightly squeezed the Emerald Dragon God with his thumb, then looked at the golden Dragon that had silently approached him, curiously observing him.

"This is a conspiracy of the Dragon Clan."

"It is also the choice of fate."

"When you left the dock, all gains already had a predetermined price."

As he spoke, Yang Dian looked at Emerald Dragon God Stia, whom he held in his palm:

"Don't you agree?"

"Your Eminence, the Emerald Dragon God Stia?"

The golden Dragon's eyes followed Yang Dian's gaze to his palm.

Then a foul, fishy stench accompanied by an angry Dragon's roar assailed the city wall:

"Roar~"

"You lowly Human Race, how dare you disrespect the Dragon God!"

Yang Dian used the Emerald Dragon God as a fan, fanning it near his nose as if to dispel the foul stench that assailed him.

"Your God is being used as a figurine by me, so who gave you the courage to open your mouth at me?"

He glanced at the crimson number 【≈ 1223350】 marked by Zero on the golden Dragon's head.

When Yang Dian reappeared, he was already on the golden Dragon's head.

Before the golden Dragon could think, his right foot was already raised, then stomped down hard.

"Bang~"

With a dull thud, a salty, slightly bloody gale swept across the land.

The world turned blood-red.

"This... this..."

"Is this what a God is?"

Looking at how the Golden Dragon King, whom he could barely contend with even with all his might, was stomped into blood foam with just a light stomp, tears flowed from Ku Li Pa's eyes again.

He was both joyful and regretful.

Joyful that Yang Dian had finally appeared, and the Human Race had hope.

Regretful that he had become arrogant after his smooth sailing, not listening to his companions, and not waiting for God to appear before resisting the Dragon Clan's rule.

"I am a sinner."

As Ku Li Pa muttered, more Dragons, smelling the blood, swooped towards the city gate tower.

Yang Dian didn't stand on ceremony with them either.

Any Dragon with a number > 100 on its head was stomped into a mist of blood by him.

Those with numbers < 100 had their wings broken and were thrown in front of the city wall, piled into a small mountain.

As for those with = 0?

These Dragons were simply knocked unconscious by Yang Dian and placed on a more distant open ground, spread out across it.

Clearly, the numbers marked by Zero on the Dragons' heads were the number of Human Race they had slaughtered, as recorded by Zero.

As for how many they killed before Zero started recording?

Yang Dian didn't know, nor did he care.

He wasn't trying to avenge the Emerald Humans.

It was simply that Dragons who had killed too many had too much wildness, were too troublesome to tame, and even if tamed, might rebel, so it was better to kill them off.

The Dragons that remained were those with less killing intent, suitable to become mounts.

"Speaking of which..."

"Actually, it seems like a few highly aggressive Dragons are needed as Breakthrough units?"

"No need to use them as mounts, just keep them as killing machines."

A hundred miles outside Maple Leaf City, Yang Dian casually tossed a white Dragon that controlled ice magic in an arc.

The white Dragon, tracing a perfect curve in the sky, landed with a "thump~" on the open ground in front of the city gate tower.

One couldn't really call it an open ground.

At this moment, countless Dragons had their wings broken, magic cores sealed, and joints restricted by Yang Dian, then were thrown in front of the city gate, forming a small mountain.

The height of this mountain of crippled Dragons even exceeded the several-hundred-meter-high city gate tower.

After being precisely thrown onto the Dragon mountain by Yang Dian, the white Dragon rolled a few times, finally crashing into the city gate, its bleeding snout almost touching Ku Li Pa.

Ku Li Pa, still hanging on the city gate tower, had long stopped crying.

After waiting a few seconds, seeing no new Dragons being thrown onto the Dragon mountain in front of the city gate tower, he looked up at the sky again, somewhat lost in thought.

The sky was hazy.

But it wasn't because of cold weather or a large temperature difference causing mist.

Those mists were blood mists.

Blood mists composed of the blood foam that floated in the sky after Dragons were blown apart.

Sunlight filtered through the blood mist into Maple Leaf City, making this imperial city, where countless Human Race had died under the Dragon's rampage, resemble Hell.

Surviving wild dogs howled by the roadside.

Corroded by Dragon blood, their fur fell out, their teeth became incredibly sharp, and hard Dragon scales grew on their bodies.

Death-telling crows stood on the city wall, their scaled claws digging tightly into the battlements.

Once incredibly noisy, they were now utterly silent, as if fearing the attention of some terrifying existence.

In the ruins, a child no more than a meter tall rose from a pool of Dragon blood, picked up a broken spear, stained crimson from being soaked in blood, and tried to stab it into the inverse scale of a Dragon pressed at the very bottom of the Dragon mountain.

He remembered its broken Dragon horn.

It was this Dragon, while playing with other Dragons, that had collapsed his family's house, killing his father, mother, and younger brother... Under the setting sun, the afterglow was like blood.

The world, too, was immersed in the blood mist...