Chapter 94: The Death of Ke Long

"I... I surrender!" the red‑robed mage, with Luo Jia's sword breaking through the shield and pressed to his own throat, trembled and spat out a few words in the final second.

The commander died and surrendered, and the remaining soldiers grew even more frantic; each of them tossed their weapons and stood bewildered in place, while only those foolish Undead continued to attack any living thing they saw aimlessly.

The flapping wings stirred a gale as Naimi Xisi landed on the ground, his massive draconic eyes fixed on the red‑robed mage before him, contemplating whether the other was truly surrendering.

"Swear to me, human, submit to the great White Mystery, and you shall gain rebirth."

The red‑robed mage clenched his teeth, raised his right hand, and swore to the deity.

Luo Jia, seeing the other party genuinely and cleanly surrender, breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed the sword that had been braced against his throat; if given a choice, he also hoped for a living mouth to obtain more war information.

Naimi Xisi was the same; he had long penetrated the opponent's memories with Mind Power, but the High-level Mage's Spiritual Power was too great, and he only obtained a few scattered fragments.

The great dragon nodded approvingly, and with authority asked its new servant, "Shi Naide, tell me everything you know—why is Sai Er launching this war?"

The red‑robed mage was extremely surprised that the dragon called out his name so plainly, but as a politician‑mage accustomed to Sai Er's bureaucratic system, Shi Naide knew that fulfilling his superior's orders was the primary answer.

Shi Naide was a gaunt mage; like most red‑robed mages, he bore deep dark circles under his eyelids, and his bulky skeleton even protruded through his thin cyan skin.

Facing the dragon's overwhelming might, the frail man had to swallow, stammering, "This... this is Sa Zhas·Tan's private deal with the regent grand magistrate of the Yinbu Tu Kingdom."

Luo Jia's complexion changed; he looked left and right, confirming no kingdom troops were nearby, then snarled forward, grabbed his collar, and demanded, "You lie! How could the regent grand magistrate possibly make a deal with that evil being Sa Zhas·Tan!"

Shi Naide strained with his arms as thin as twigs, painfully defending, "This—cough—this is true!"

Naimi Xisi helplessly swept the two aside with his massive dragon claws and rebuked Luo Jia, "Human, don't cause trouble; if your brain's filled with water, go jump aside and shake it out!"

Luo Jia glared angrily at Shi Naide; with the dragon's silent approval, the mage twisted his neck and continued explaining the reason.

"Sai Er's Conjuration chief—Nie Rong, he's gone mad."

"Since over a decade ago, he has repeatedly petitioned the council, claiming he received instructions from the Baro Flame Demon beneath the Yinbu Tu capital; he says that once released, it will submit to the leadership of the red‑robed mage guild for a thousand years."

"But Sa Zhas·Tan and other chiefs have always opposed it, arguing that the demon beneath Yinbu Tu is too unique—a corporeal demon residing on the primary material plane; if it causes too much trouble, divine intervention may follow."

"Nevertheless, Nie Rong persisted, continuously mobilizing his faction's resources to try to break the seal; the disaster that erupted in Degen City more than a year ago was his doing."

"Thus, Sa Zhas·Tan proactively contacted the regent grand magistrate and struck a deal."

The mage swallowed, glanced fearfully at Luo Jia, took a few steps toward the dragon, then resumed speaking.

"He pre‑informed the regent grand magistrate of Nie Rong's objectives, location, and weaknesses, and proactively helped the Yinbu Tu Kingdom construct a massive underground Dimensional Anchor array beneath the royal capital."

"Nie Rong will, when the war breaks out, exploit the royal capital's weakened forces to perform the ritual, and the already‑prepared Yinbu royal family will trap him like a turtle in a jar and kill Nie Rong outright."

Luo Jia sneered, "Do you think I'm a three‑year‑old child? What benefit does this give Sa Zhas·Tan? Killing a chief of his own faction only weakens his own power?"

Shi Naide ignored him and continued, "I don't know Sa Zhas·Tan's true motive for removing Nie Rong, but I know the royal family promised him certain benefits."

"Degen City, and Ge Ben Lan City," Shi Naide said word for word.

"Both cities were granted to the red‑robed mage guild by the royal family; we were supposed to lift the seal and release two ancient demons, and Sa Zhas·Tan would bind the demons with a ritual, enslaving them forever."

Shi Naide's words made Juan Ce Long gasp sharply, admiring the royal family's ruthlessness; the two cities, nearly a hundred thousand people, and the two released demons would certainly not behave like obedient babies.

Beside him, Luo Jia's eyes turned blood‑red as he shouted furiously, "You fucking fart!"

Saying that, he lunged again to choke his throat.

Shi Naide hurried toward Juan Ce Long's feet, and Naimi Xisi extended a dragon claw to block Luo Jia, like stopping a crazed howling Chihuahua, frowned and asked, "How do you intend to free the demons?"

"Degen City is my property; I don't care about Ge Ben Lan. Anyone who dares touch Degen City must weigh the consequences of crossing a Juan Ce Long!"

"In the original plan, the elite professionals guarding this, uh, fortress would almost all be reassigned under various pretexts; you cannot resist Sai Er's army's assault."

"After breaching Degen City, I will initiate the Abyssal Sacrifice ritual to awaken Fei Bo La Er. As for Ge Ben Lan City, it is overseen by another red‑robed mage, a level‑14 Protection Master who has been lurking there for over twenty years; the seal has long since been largely broken by her."

"Come to think of it," Shi Naide looked at Luo Jia and said ambiguously, "She was originally one of your Yinbu Tu Kingdom people."

"What?" Luo Jia, who had just calmed down, was stunned, not knowing what he meant.

"The regent grand magistrate's sister—Mi Ci Li, haha, she secretly joined us over twenty years ago. We originally planned to use this pawn later, but now it's convenient, so we activated her; after all, that Mage Tower in Ge Ben Lan is a troublesome thing."

"Calculate the time. She should have already broken the seal by now, right?"

"." Naimi Xisi was about to swear, noting that Ge Ben Lan is not far from Degen City, and no one knows whether Sa Zhas·Tan is just all talk; if he can't control that demon, "You stay here, disperse the Seske troops, then clean up the remaining Undead with them; I'll go to Ge Ben Lan to see." Naimi Xisi said to Shi Naide.

Beside them, Luo Jia anxiously called out, "Wait, take me with you—my father, General Ke Long, is my father, and he's also in Ge Ben Lan!"

Naimi Xisi was unsurprised; the two looked so alike, both being identical war‑shapeshifters—saying otherwise would be a problem.

"Grab my tail," Naimi Xisi instructed; the Mind Power teleport can carry at most one person, provided the target holds onto a part of the caster's body.

In a flash, Naimi Xisi repeatedly teleported with Luo Jia, rushing toward Ge Ben Lan. —At that moment, Ge Ben Lan was already engulfed in madness and bloodshed.

A massive black moon hung high in the sky, emitting a violet glimmer; wreckage and ruins littered Ge Ben Lan, and flames roared through the city, even igniting the pitch‑black night.

The Mage Tower in the city center had split into two sections, and a ten‑kilometer fissure scarred the ground from the outer district to the inner district, resembling an axe‑splintered wound.

"Cough—cough. Cough—cough"

General Ke Long strained to push aside the wooden board crushing him; a large gash opened in his abdomen, blood pouring out continuously, and 【Superfast Regeneration】 seemed ineffective, the wound's edges turning a faint black.

"W-... cough—cough—why!" Looking at the figure slowly striding toward him, Ke Long roared in anger, his teeth trembling, blood‑spattered eyes shedding a tear, and when the approaching silhouette came into view, his pupils snapped shut.

A five‑meter‑tall demon wielded a massive axe engraved with interlocking mysterious symbols and a ruby‑set tip, and stepped before him.

The demon had deep‑red skin, clawed palms, a snarling hyena‑like demonic head with saliva‑slick fangs; a twisted snake head protruded from one side of its neck, coiling menacingly and hissing.

The wolf‑head demon let out a low chuckle at the man's question, saying cruelly, "She's gone; I've completely digested her body, hehe."

Ke Long closed his eyes in pain; the demon stretched its body and laughed, "That human woman's body is quite useful; I've lived inside it for over twenty years and I'm reluctant to leave."

"Hahaha, my Ke Long, don't make it so melodramatic, as if you're sad. I know your story very well."

The cunning wolf‑head's eyes gleamed with excitement as it dissected their past word by word: "Weren't you the one who first abandoned her? You, like her foolish brother, both harbored improper thoughts toward the woman on the Throne; humans are laughable."

After a booming laugh, the demon oddly said, "Why didn't you quietly kill that aged, senile king, seize his Throne, take his woman—clearly you've thought of it, I can sense it, I can smell it, yet you never carried out this wonderful plan?"

Then its expression turned detached and cold: "Because you are such cowardly beings."

"Your inherently evil nature prevents you from confronting your inner darkness; you fear that embracing chaos will cause you to lose control—such cowardly thinking makes me even more eager to devour you."

The demon clenched its axe and greedily licked its tongue.

"Come, let me eat you, and you'll reunite with that woman; that would fulfill my promise to her, hahaha. Reunite inside my belly—at least it's warmer than out there."

Ke Long's face turned ashen; he knelt, as if surrendering all struggle, and wondered, for someone like him, why should he continue to live?

The ferocious demon's apparition appeared instantly before Kelon, a tremendous sonic boom trailed behind him, leaving a white streak; the ground cracked under his terrifying force, and the earth trembled.

And the axe in his hand steadily severed Kelon's neck.

"No!!!"

A mournful cry came from the sky; the demon looked up, and a huge silver dragon hovered in the sky.

(End of chapter)