Beneath the Red Dragon

In the thirteenth year of the Giant Dragon Calendar, deep in autumn, the sun and moon dimmed and changed, the stars shifted, and time flowed like a passing stream.

In the Northern Continent of Icaria, the winds rose, and clouds gathered. Within just two years, the world’s situation seemed to stir up waves on flat ground and change unpredictably.

From the perspective of history’s long river, war and merger are the eternally unchanged themes of the world.

Even the two Overlord Empires on the Central Continent experienced multiple wars of division, only to establish a unified hegemony under the overwhelming efforts of several wise rulers.

But even the Central Continent, dominated by humans’ two major empires, is still turbulent with undercurrents, let alone the contested territories and numerous races standing in other regions.

The ambitious Zor of the Dark Nest wished to extend their influence, growing increasingly conflicted with several kingdoms of elves always nestled in forests.

The Vampire Species of the Forest Kingdom, under the rule of the Vampire Prince, grew increasingly close to the Dragon Group.

Once limited by other kingdoms and civilization forces, leading to a somewhat lacking military edge in the Forest Kingdom, their legion’s strength grew stronger through trade with the Golden Empire, starting to step beyond their borders and extending their claws to more distant places.

Even the vast sea gave birth to the god-favored Deep Sea Naga, who began to emerge from their nests and declared war against their archenemies—the Deep Sea Fishmen.

The figures of Tidal Giants, descending from Ancient Giant bloodlines, also appeared in this war. They controlled the seawater, raising overwhelming waves and seizing the initiative in the war at sea.

Countless merchant fleets passing through sea routes often witnessed that scene of rolling waves, and thus this scene began spreading across various continents.

No one could ever see through the situation in the world of Icaria, and the truth behind the heavy fog may be either different races competing for living space or manipulation by behind-the-scenes schemers. It remains unknown.

In other continents, the winds and clouds surge, and in the Northern Territory, it’s also tumultuous with wind and rain.

The former Emperor of the Gata Empire, Charal Cesar, once fell from the peak to decline and then ascended back to the peak from decline.

No one knew where this former Emperor acquired such terrifying power; even the forces of the 23 Nobility in the Northern Continent were nothing but a grass dike before a flood under his legion.

No warrior or caster could withstand a single encounter with Charal Cesar.

Even the Holy Sanctuary Peak’s Grand Duke Bossivale, adorned with family-inherited enchanted battle armor and wielding a Holy Sword said to be blessed by the Church, was struck into pulp, blood spilling across the sky by Charal Cesar.

The coalition to resist Charal Cesar, formed by twenty-three great northern noble families, was completely defeated in one battle.

At least tens of thousands of warriors died in this battle, and the blood thoroughly dyed the rivers flowing across the land red, so this battle was named the ’Blood River Battle.’

The Northern Continent’s Northern Territory had no force capable of resisting Charal any longer; the remaining nobility forces were also completely swept away by Charal.

Thus, Charal returned with his Reconquista Army to Hobis, ascended to the imperial throne, and declared himself Charal Cesar I, establishing a brand-new empire—the Hobis Empire, reminiscing about his past achievements and setbacks while warning himself about his future conduct.

Many remnants of the nobility fled the Hobis Empire, drifting to other continents, and many nobles and the scattered High-level Mage Association chose to flee to the Golden Empire.

In the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range, Mogyes, the Many-Armed Giant, also began his conquest path, gathering numerous Giant Species and moving towards the throne of the King of Giants.

Initially, no one paid attention to what happened in the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range.

But from the Southern Continent, an adult Golden Dragon dispatched by the Good Dragon Alliance was sent to the Golden Empire for negotiations, demanding immediate release of the Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash; otherwise, the Southern Good Dragon Alliance would take appropriate measures.

However, this adult Golden Dragon might have stayed too long at the Southern Continent’s Good Dragon Alliance stronghold, to the point of forgetting that in the Northern Continent, few would care about the identity of a Golden Dragon, especially in the Wilderness Area.

Everything here is more bare than in other continents, and the survival law solely depends on the size of one’s fists in the present.

While flying over the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range, the adult Golden Dragon encountered Giant Species and attempted to forcibly enslave them, demanding their servitude.

The battle erupted, and though the Golden Dragon was the emperor among Metal Dragons, the Giants held a numerical advantage. The battle was fierce, even the peaks within the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range were severed in two by the adult Golden Dragon and the Giants.

This battle drew many curious eyes, yet the war’s shifting battlefield surprisingly angered the Legendary Giant Mogyes residing in the mountain’s center of the Giant Royal Palace.

Thus, Mogyes stood up from the mountains. With the overwhelming blood aura rising, he felled the adult Golden Dragon with a single punch.

From then, the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range crept back into the realm of many kingdoms and civilizations, and what happened within that mountain range gradually became known to numerous forces. The name of Mogyes, King of the Many-Armed Giants, began to echo across the continent.

And initially, the remote terrain of the Golden Empire, the Land of Dragons, which was free from external interference, now almost lies amidst zones of war.

South of the Golden Empire, across the sprawling Divine Forsaken Mountain Range stands the Giant Country established by the rising Many-Armed Giants. To the east on the sea, the once-enemy Beastman Empire, now paying reparations though still sharpening their blades.

The north of the Golden Empire, across the endless vast grassland, began to see traces of the Frost Giants ruling the Land of Frost from the Extreme North Icefield.

But the military force of the Golden Empire remained strong. Originally cruising the skies as the imperial celestial fortress, the Ascending Mage Tower saw increasing production after its first test flight.

Now, approximately every six months, an additional Mage Tower ascends, orbiting the imperial skies, patrolling and intimidating surrounding forces.

The legion warriors of the Golden Empire are exceptionally fierce, and no Extraordinarily Species or Giants drifting within the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range could pass through the "Red Compassion" stationed at Bay Stream City.

The only way to pass through this city is to become a prisoner or slave of the Golden Empire.

Even the northern Frost Giants tested the military might of the Golden Empire but were coincidentally encountered by the Roaming Domain’s "Deep Red Roar," Red Dragon Kedelos.

With the syndicated legion led by War Lizardman Reilly, summoned by "Deep Red Roar" Kedelos, two thousand formidable warriors, including a hundred Frost Giants, were beheaded by the Golden Empire’s soldiers, with only a few captured.

And upon the sea, the armored battleships produced by the imperial shipyard officially debuted on the world’s stage. These mobile continents, though cumbersome, can fully accommodate the Flying Dragon Battle Corps and giant dragons of the Golden Empire.

Within coastal waters, the empire’s warships are unstoppable. Pirate activity has nearly vanished a hundred miles around the Golden Empire’s waters, and the Shahua Fishmen have vanished without a trace.

Before such potent imperial military power, nobles and mages similarly fled to the Golden Empire, settling down.

Though these nobles, within the system of the Golden Empire, existed rather like chicken ribs—somewhat flavorless to eat but too valuable to discard due to their wealth and power.

Bronze Dragon Alina, the ruler of the Golden Empire, grudgingly accepted their pleas for protection, as the empire’s policies could not be arbitrarily changed based on individual preferences.

In the Northern Continent, the situation gradually stabilized amid the wind and rain.

Thus, the Monarch of the Beastman Empire, the Dragon Emperor of the Golden Empire, the King of Hobis Empire, and King Mogyes of the Many-Armed Giants, alongside the Frost Giant King of the Extreme North Icefield, were collectively referred to by outsiders as—the Rise of the Five Kings.