Ashen Dragon-Chapter 1288 - 400: City of the Setting Sun (Part 2)

Chapter 1288: Chapter 400: City of the Setting Sun (Part 2)

"Understood, I will go."

Upon hearing that name, Adrian’s gaze instantly grew solemn: "Have they finally run out of patience..."

Months ago, after that war ended, the Kasander Empire sent envoys multiple times attempting to negotiate with the Exiled Noble Alliance of Seleucis, trying to gain control of Sunset City.

There were even scouts from Kasander who appeared in the border areas to probe, but they were captured by the Imperial Army stationed at the borders.

Soon, Adrian walked into the hall with several escort knights. The nobles on both sides of the long table inside the hall were fiercely arguing, with their luxurious garments disheveled as if a fight was imminent, showing no semblance of noble etiquette and solemnity.

"Your Grace, you’ve arrived."

A young noble knight stood up abruptly: "You all actually want to allow the Kingdom of Cassandra to station in Sunset City? This is a betrayal of the alliance, and a betrayal of the Seleucid Royal Family!"

He drew the longsword from his waist, pointing to the middle-aged man opposite, glaring fiercely, and said sharply: "The Kingdom of Cassandra is our enemy!

Duke Hawke, have you forgotten? Your father, the old Great Duke Hawke, died in the Battle of the Three Kings, killed by the Kassander people! Now you shamelessly want to offer the achievements of the allied forces to the Kassander people!"

"Bang!!"

Duke Hawke’s bloated face became somewhat twisted with anger, as the fist hitting the table trembled.

"What right do you have to speak against me? You’re just relying on those damn imperial people to back you up!

In the end, this country belongs to us, the Seleucid people! Everything here belongs to us!

And yet those imperial people have taken everything, my power, my position, my wealth have all vanished! Even regaining this territory from the Dragon Worship Church, what’s the use of it?"

Duke Hawke’s entire body trembled with anger.

He did inherit his father’s position, but his army was depleted in the war against the Dragon Worship Church.

Not only that, his original duchy was controlled by the imperial people, and he was just a nominal lord, devoid of real power.

How could he tolerate this?

Duke Hawke ranted, his words sharp: "I think you all are the ones who have lost your minds! In the end, those imperial people are nothing but retainers of giant dragons, how are they any different from those Tiamat cultists?"

"Silence!"

Duke Adrian coldly interrupted, his voice barely containing his anger: "The allied forces struggled and sacrificed immensely to reclaim this land from the Dragon Worship Church, releasing the Seleucid people from the fires of war! What right do you have to say such things!"

"Reclaim?"

Duke Hawke completely tore down the facade, pointing at the duke who had just entered the hall, and mercilessly mocked: "Clearly, you became a loyal dog of the Ashen Empire, kneeling before the giant dragon, offering our nation to the Red Dragon!"

"Watch your words, Your Grace."

"Indeed, there are many imperial spies nearby. If what you said is discovered..."

Upon hearing this, even the nobles who supported Duke Hawke were flustered, hurriedly speaking out to dissuade him. A beautiful noblewoman stepped forward to pull Hawke’s arm: "Your Grace, please calm down."

No matter what, the Ashen Empire is effectively the controller of this city. Even for them, openly opposing the imperial people was not wise.

During this period, everyone had come to a conclusion — angering the empire would not end well.

However, Hawke mercilessly shook off the woman’s hand, staring provocatively at Adrian.

The escort knights beside Adrian immediately drew their longswords, stepping forward with hostility.

Adrian, however, raised his hand to stop them, sat down in the hall with a rather casual demeanor, and coldly asked, "Duke Hawke, what do you want? As a high-ranking member of the allied forces, perhaps I can fulfill your request."

"I want to regain the ruling power over this land! I’m talking about actual control, not that parchment document those imperial people use to deceive children! Better to be a puppet than to return to two years ago!"

Hawke shouted, gasping for breath as if he had lost all reason.

"A predictable request, but... for what?"

Adrian lifted his head, his gaze extraordinarily cold.

Instantly, he thought of the relatives howling in the fire, the girl crying under dragonflame, the comrades crushed under claws, the altar littered with corpses, and the duke who fought the giant dragons to death...

The mere thought that Duke Hawke wanted to return to two years ago, to that nightmarish era, just for his power and position...

It’s an insult to everyone who died in that war!

Feeling Adrian’s gaze, Hawke gritted his teeth, his face exceptionally twisted.

That look again.

Those damn traitors regard the imperial people as saviors, looking at him with contempt, as if seeing an insignificant loser.

Yet he was the king’s nephew, the one most qualified to inherit the Seleucid throne after all the royal offspring were killed!

Hawke’s eyes turned crimson as he growled: "By virtue of the blood of the Sun God flowing through my veins! I am the king of this land!"

"Are you plotting to betray the allied forces?"

Adrian suddenly looked up, his pupils flashing with the light of the sun, as if ready to burn the person in front of him to ashes, his hand already on his Silver Sword.

"It was you who betrayed! You betrayed the Seleucid Royal Family! Siding with that damned Red Dragon."

Hawke cursed vehemently, eagerly turning to his back, patting his chest: "Madame Gante, you promised me, as long as I lured Adrian here, I would become the future king of the Kingdom of Seleucid!"

Adrian drew his Silver Sword, looking behind Duke Hawke, his pupils suddenly narrowing.

He saw a tall woman in a golden robe slowly emerge from the crowd, supporting herself with the Sun Wand, her light golden eyes filled with a spinning light wheel, casting an indifferent gaze at Adrian.

The sacred radiance emanated from her, an intense pressure filled the vast hall, many nobles knelt on the ground.

Even Adrian’s figure hunched slightly, staring at the woman with increasingly solemn eyes: "This is... the legendary priest of the Amanata Church?"

No.

Compared to the Amanata priests in his memory, the brilliance emanating from this woman was more scorching, more destructive, like the midday sun in the desert, ready to evaporate the blood in a person’s body.

He carefully observed the Sun Wheel Holy Emblem on her robe, and it differed significantly from what he remembered. The face in the center of that golden emblem glared angrily, as if ready to mete out punishment at any moment.

In his memory, the Sun God was just and merciless, not like this expression.

And that was not all.

In the vast hall, several figures shrouded in brilliance emerged, all adorned in heavy armor, standing close to five meters tall, with muscular physiques, resembling Giants.

Titan Divine Descendants.

The elite of the Kingdom of Cassandra, the direct line of Audis Aragon, rumored that each Titan Divine Descendant possessed power comparable to an angel.

Adrian gripped the longsword in his hand, unfurled golden wings behind him, and shouted harshly: "Indeed you are from the Kingdom of Cassandra — blasphemers, what is your purpose in infiltrating here?"

"To reclaim the power of our god, to recapture Sunset City."

Gante watched Adrian in front of her, looking at the wings behind him with cold eyes, and said: "Adrian, you were once chosen by the great Sun God, given this power that should not belong to you. And yet you betrayed the Seleucid Royal Family! Throwing yourself at the feet of the Red Dragon and offering our country to it!"