Giant Dragon Lord: Starting from Daily Intelligence-Chapter 224 - 218: Six-winged Angel "Fiery Sun
"I told him that when you’re courting a girl, you should give her a gift to show your good intentions. Don’t all Giant Dragons like shiny things? I had the royal craftsmen forge a crown of pure gold set with diamonds. That thing was worth a whole city!"
"But as a result, that rascal Astra thought the crown was too small and not grand enough. He went off on his own and robbed a neighboring kingdom of a Secret Silver Ore mine, piling it all up at her cave entrance! It nearly started a war between us and our neighbors!"
"In the end, I had no choice but to handle it myself."
Aiden Duke had a look of utter despair on his face.
"I took a delegation, prepared lavish gifts, and went to... negotiate with that female dragon, just like a matchmaker arranging a marriage proposal."
"That female dragon was actually quite reasonable, but her request was a bit outrageous. She said she’d taken a liking to the highest mountain peak east of the Thunder Dragon Duchy. The view was nice, and she wanted to move there. The problem was, that territory was occupied by a Molten Lava Dragon with an even fouler temper!"
Raylo was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
He just couldn’t reconcile the image of this master strategist, this mighty lord who commanded respect far and wide, with that of a frazzled matchmaker struggling to find a partner for his "pet."
"So..."
"So I took Astra and went to pick another fight."
Aiden Duke spread his hands, his voice full of resignation.
"The two of us teamed up, beat the snot out of that Molten Lava Dragon, and helped it ’move.’ For that little adventure, Astra ended up deep in my debt, and he still hasn’t paid it all off to this day."
At this, Aiden Duke couldn’t help but start laughing himself.
Hearty laughter echoed above the camp.
As the laughter died down, Aiden Duke’s expression turned serious once more.
He looked at Raylo, his gaze sweeping over the Mammoths, Griffins, and Pegasus Knights behind him.
"I’m not telling you all this to show off how tough I was in my youth."
His voice grew deep, carrying the weight of a solemn entrustment.
"Raylo, Astra’s and my era is entering its twilight."
He looked at the various Magical Beasts.
"Kid, I hope that someday in the future, you too can find your own ’Astra.’"
Aiden Duke slowly rose to his feet and walked out of the camp.
His tall figure cast a long shadow in the afterglow of the setting sun.
It was a rare moment of peace.
For the next half-month, Raylo threw himself into reorganizing and training the army with immense enthusiasm.
On the training grounds of Black Stone Territory, dust filled the air and the sky thundered with battle cries.
A group of Knights who had distinguished themselves in the battle against the Fiery Sun Kingdom received promotions and rewards.
Their faces, some young, some weathered, beamed with the glory and fervor of being recognized.
On the other side of the training grounds, the scene was entirely different.
Over a thousand captured Knights from the Fiery Sun Kingdom were to be integrated into the Black Stone Territory’s army as "Sin Soldiers."
Raylo’s promise to them was simple: wash away their past sins with the blood of their enemies, and earn their freedom and glory through military merit.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Under Raylo’s combination of an Iron Fist and a softer touch, the army of Black Stone Territory was transforming and integrating at an astonishing rate, its rough edges being ground down and its core being forged into steel.
「This day, at noon.」
At the Nu River Defense Line, the blazing sun hung high in the sky.
The river water evaporated under the sunlight, sending up rolling waves of heat that distorted the very air.
On opposite banks of the river, two great armies stood in a clear, distant standoff.
On one side was the army of the Thunder Dragon Duchy, its banners predominantly blue dragon flags. Within the grim formations, Knights gripped their reins and Weapons tightly, sweat trickling down their cheeks and dripping into the seams of their scorching Armor.
On the other side was the main royal army of the Fiery Sun Kingdom.
Their formation was even more immaculate, reflecting a blinding glare under the sun, like a flowing ocean of light.
The army of tens of thousands was dead silent. Only the countless Fiery Sun banners, rustling in the hot wind, exuded a suffocating pressure.
Raylo sat on his horse at the forefront of his formation.
He could clearly see the figure in the center of the enemy formation—the man riding a Fiery Sun Golden Eagle and wearing a golden crown was none other than the new king of the Fiery Sun Kingdom, Karachi.
The atmosphere was as taut as a fully drawn bowstring, threatening to snap at any moment.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
In the center of the Fiery Sun Kingdom’s formation, a ball of light more brilliant than the Sun erupted without warning.
The light carried a majesty and divinity that seemed to originate from the depths of the soul, compelling all who looked upon it to prostrate themselves in worship.
From within the light, a figure slowly ascended.
One pair, two pairs, three pairs...
Six pure white wings unfurled from his back, each feather seemingly condensed from the purest radiance.
He hovered in mid-air, draped in a magnificent golden Priest Robe. His face was handsome but expressionless, like a deity looking down upon the Mortal realm.
A pressure as vast as the sea and as overwhelming as hell itself instantly enveloped the entire battlefield.
Under this pressure, a commotion broke out in the ranks of the Thunder Dragon Duchy.
The warhorses whinnied in terror, and the Knights felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on their shoulders, making it difficult to even breathe.
The soldiers with weaker wills found their legs giving way, their Weapons slipping from their grasp.
Raylo’s face turned deathly pale. He felt that his Fighting Spirit was as insignificant as a candle flame in the wind before this Power.
It was a strength that surpassed the limits of comprehension, a divine might that no Mortal could possibly resist.
"A Six... a Six-winged Angel of Death..."
An elderly Knight uttered the name in a trembling voice, all the blood draining from his face.
A super war weapon modified by the Light Holy See in the name of God, a true Tier Six Catastrophe Level existence!
Its name was, in fact, "Fiery Sun."
The Fiery Sun Kingdom had been named as such precisely because of its existence.
It was the foundation upon which their kingdom had stood for centuries, the Fiery Sun Kingdom’s greatest trump card!
And today, at the very outset of the confrontation, the Fiery Sun Kingdom had revealed their strongest weapon.
Panic spread through the Thunder Dragon army like a plague.
At that very moment, a resounding dragon’s roar tore through the sky!
This roar did not come from the sky, but from within the heart of every person.
It was savage and untamable, filled with a primal wildness that was the complete antithesis of the divine pressure.
A colossal shadow swept across the land, obscuring the arrogant Fiery Sun.
Everyone looked up instinctively.
They saw a gargantuan Giant Dragon, its body nearly six hundred meters long, coiled in the sky above the Thunder Dragon army’s formation, having appeared from nowhere.
Its entire body was covered in deep blue, almost black, Scale Armor, and crackling arcs of electricity leaped from the edges of every scale.
Its menacing Dragon Horns pointed toward the heavens as Thunderbolt Power converged around it, forming a vast Domain that forcibly tore a huge gap in the sacred pressure.
It was none other than Aiden Duke’s contracted Giant Dragon partner, Astra!
Thunder Dragon Astra unleashed its Thunderbolt Domain, instantly transforming the sky above the Thunder Dragon Duchy’s army into a Sea of Thunderbolt.
