Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System-Chapter 2073: Oda Nobunaga’s Great General
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Soldiers ran through the wooden floor of the remodeled Aquarius Castle, quickly prostrating before their Great General, a man that, despite being a human, stood as tall as three meters, with a slender and athletic complexion, and a young appearance despite his old age, as if he were on his mid-twenties.
He had a sharp, stoic expression, his black, blue eyes looking down at his soldiers as his pitch-black kabuto-styled armor covered his body from head to toe, his long black hair tied into a long ponytail being shown, the only thing he didn't wear was his helmet.
His snake-like eyes squinted as he noticed that the soldiers didn't bring the boy, nor the weapon he stole from his armory.
"You bring me nothing? What is the meaning of this? Where is the boy? Where is my weapon?"
"Y-Yes, Shibata-sama, we are deeply sorry!"
"We are not worthy of your forgiveness…!"
"What happened? Speak."
The soldiers felt a chill run down their spines, they dared not to look at the face of their general, as they knew his blue eyes were now completely red, his powerful, spectral, black aura overflowing everywhere like a black flame about to burn everything around him.
"T-The soldiers we sent disappeared…!"
"Every single one of them?"
The soldiers looked at one another, they knew how ridiculous this was but…
It was the truth.
"Y-Yes…!"
"What? This is… Surely, that boy would simply not be strong enough to defeat them all, and even if he did… corpses would be left. But you said there was not even a corpse left behind?"
"None, my lord…"
"Hmm, you do not lie… This can only mean one thing, someone else has arrived, someone strong."
"Someone… strong?"
Shibata smiled, his snake-like face becoming even more evil-looking as he seemed to be looking forward to whoever this intruder was.
Even though they had done all of this, no presence or aura was felt at all, they had incredible abilities, capable of suppressing their strong presences with ease, even from him.
"Interesting… very interesting! And I thought the people of this world were all weaklings and I was assigned a boring island to take over… Whoever this is, it must be strong. A worthy head to offer to my Emperor, Nobunaga-sama!"
"W-What should we do now, great general?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"Strengthen the defenses around the castle, we'll sit and wait for them to come to us. There is simply no reason for me to bother."
Shibata stood up, glancing at the concentration camps down below, as people of this world which he had abducted were being tested their Mana and other energies drained from their bodies inside of giant magic circles.
The Mana was being extracted from people's Mana Cores, constantly drying them until people started coughing blood and feeling agony as their Mana Cores gained cracks, falling unconscious and being tossed aside.
As this happened, large crystals began to be filled by this energy…
"This world's resources are for our Empire to take. That is our priority as of now, do not forget it. We must do as Nobunaga-sama wills."
"Y-Yes!"
"However, that doesn't mean we can't send them a greetings gift, right?"
The soldiers smiled, nodding.
.
.
.
SPLASH!
Drake's family quickly swam through the pristine blue sea surrounding the Aquarius Archipelago, which remained as beautiful as before even with all that annoying Mist covering half of the island.
They followed Coral, finally reaching the area where most of the people he and Rose could rescue were living through these last days.
It seemed that Coral had ventured outside on his own, seeking some sort of hope for everyone to latch into that weapon he believed might help them defeat this powerful foe.
"We're here…"
They quickly jumped out of the sea, stepping into the floor of the abandoned underwater temple, it looked just like Drake remembered, made out of blue stone, beautifully decorated with colorful corals and even seaweed growing everywhere.
"Well, this place is just how I remember it…" Benladra said with a smile.
"Hm, yeah," Kate nodded. "Is Rose in here, Coral?"
"Yeah, please come with me, I'll guide you! This place can become a bit labyrinthine, and you can even get lost if you aren't careful." Coral said.
As they walked through the corridors, Drake spoke with his family and the friends he brought along, his usual team.
…He was still missing Surtr and Emerald's groups, but he had to get over it eventually.
"So that's Coral, huh? This is my first time seeing him like this," Andromeda said. "I'm glad he has grown strong and healthy. He's Kate's friend after all."
"Yeah," Drake nodded. "We can do more proper introductions once we met with Rose again… Though, I wish we could hurry up. I'm worried…"
"Me too, but it's a priority to save these people first," Benladann said. "Also, those soldiers…"
"I put them inside my Divine Realm," Drake said. "I already stripped them off their armor and weapons and I am now analyzing their structure and everything. I'll probably keep them as living prisoners and extract as much info as I can, while studying their abilities."
"Pretty cruel to do that, huh? But I guess as the Dragon King that's what you have to do for Yggdrasil," Yuki said. "I'm also wondering how their powers work… I think they have things I don't remember as well, I bet not even Belle knows."
"No… it appears the power system and abilities of Zipangu's people have evolved quite a lot on our absence, Amaterasu-sama," Belle sighed. "Do you think you can extract info from them, Drake?"
"I'm on it already, I'm directly reading into their souls, the darkness suppressing my mind reading has weakened a lot after they got inside my divine realm," Drake said.
"Oh?! Coral! You're back!"
As Drake talked about various things, his eyes quickly moved to the origin of that voice, finding an adorable pink-haired mermaid girl walking towards Benladra, Kate, and Coral.
The girl hugged Coral and then gasped as she saw Benladra and Kate… Drake's daughters were amazed she had grown so beautifully; she resembled a real princess now.
"B-Benladra?! Kate?! Y-You're back!!!"
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