Lance. The Metal Fortress.
The h.o.a.rd brought back from Tempest Keep had already been organized, properly stored, and transported back to the World of Adepts.
This raid alone could bring as much as six to seven million worth of profit to the Crimson Clan. Furthermore, mixed amongst the many magical crystals, crystal cores, magical materials, and treasures were large numbers of mysterious items that were awaiting appraisal.
In particular, most of the magical equipment was not suited for the ma.s.sive physiques of the dragons but was still included in their h.o.a.rd like a collection of art pieces.
With the sharp eye of a Fourth Grade dragon, the lowest of this magical equipment would have to be Second Grade. Some of it might even be powerful Third or Fourth Grade equipment. Though the dragons couldn"t use these items, the adepts could easily make use of them with some slight modifications.
With the appearance of such a large number of exceptional items, the equipment of the Crimson adepts would definitely improve significantly!
Moreover, after performing a rough inventory of the dragon"s h.o.a.rd, Greem was surprised to find that most of the materials required to forge the other three Fire Throne set pieces had also been found. The remaining materials could easily be gathered in the World of Adepts with a few magical crystals.
Without hesitation, Greem set a deadline for Crimson Financial Manager Snorlax to collect these materials. He also a.s.signed a million magical crystals as capital for Snorlax to gather the long list of missing materials.
After all this time working together, the n.o.bles of the Goblin Plane had finally lowered their heads to the Crimson Clan. Some of the n.o.bles and merchants were trying their best to engage in more extensive cooperation with the adepts.
The five most famous goblin merchant groups had already sent as many as six hundred professionals to travel to the legendary World of Adepts. After enduring the harsh planar backlash, they rushed to various areas across the World of Adepts and set up shop everywhere under the banner of the Crimson Clan.
The Crimson Clan could even send apprentice adepts to follow along and guard these goblins in Zhentarim and the Northern Lands. However, the goblin merchants had to rely on elite magical machines to protect them when they entered the Silver Union and Adept"s a.s.sociation territories.
Fortunately, the World of Adepts had a complete and perfect system of governance. They were unlike lower planes where the natives would kill and slaughter outsiders like them as they liked.
Moreover, the Crimson Clan had now established themselves both in Zhentarim and the Northern Lands. Any adept or group that infringed upon the Crimson Clan"s benefits would have a hard time escaping retribution for their actions. As such, the goblin merchants" lives would be guaranteed as long as they didn"t go too far into chaotic, untamed areas.
This global expansion undoubtedly spread the Crimson Clan"s influence across the entire World of Adepts. It should have taken the Crimson Clan over a hundred years, and the lives of numerous adepts and apprentices, to achieve.
Yet now, with the support of countless goblin merchants, they had achieved astounding success in just six months.
Still, reports of raids were continually coming from all over the place. Instances of threats and extortion were also numerous. In fact, two goblin merchant groups had been completely exterminated. Not a single person had lived to tell the tale.
As subordinate members of the Crimson Clan, they could not die in vain.
Greem sent Soros and Windsor, the two blood knights, to hurry over in response. They were to start a series of extensive investigations to reveal the truth. Judging from the reports they had been sending back, they were getting closer to finding out the perpetrators. Greem estimated they would be able to find the murderers soon.
Once they discovered the murderers, the Crimson Clan would be able to use the incident as an excuse to raise a b.l.o.o.d.y storm of revenge in that location!
Greem dealt with all these little matters as quickly as he could. It was then that he turned all of his attention to the uproar in Lance.
Seventy-eight days after Tempest Keep was a.s.saulted and thirteen days after Arms came to Greem with his dragonflight, the dragons of Lance descended upon Stonetalon Mountains.
For a moment, lithe and muscular dragons could be seen all over the thousand kilometer stretch of the Stonetalon Mountains. They either circled high in the air or glided right above the forest canopy, leaving majestic silhouettes in the blue skies.
Over a hundred dragons of various attributes and grades roared as they circled the tallest peak of the Stonetalon Mountains. A dozen dragons stood atop the mountain, gathered around two exceptionally large dragons whose scales were of an entirely different color from the rest.
The golden scales of the dragon on the left was gleaming in the bright daylight. His body was muscular and ferocious, with a long beard on his long and narrow head. When he stood upright, his entire body appeared as if it had been sculpted out of pure gold. It radiated the intimidating and sacred magical aura of the dragons.
A gold dragon!
It was a terrifying Fourth Grade gold dragon!
Meanwhile, on the right side of the peak was a rare gem dragon.
Gem dragons were a unique branch of the various dragon races. Every one of them possessed powerful soul abilities. They could roughly be divided into the amethyst dragons, crystal dragons, topaz dragons, sapphire dragons, and a few others.
The dragon here had light purple scales that looked like crystals and glowed with brilliant color. It was a Fourth Grade amethyst dragon.
The most important reason amethyst dragons were cla.s.sified as gem dragons was their ability to embed magical gemstones on their own bodies. They would be able to activate the magical gemstones on their bodies in a fight and bombard an enemy with magic attacks.
Moreover, the strange scales on the amethyst dragons possessed a peculiar ability to turn them invisible. It made them all the more dangerous!
Such rare dragons were hardly ever seen, even in dragon planes.
Yet today, they had all left their comfortable lairs and gathered, silently making preparations for the vengeance of the dragons to come.
There were two Fourth Grade dragons and sixteen Third Grade dragons on this tiny mountain peak. Ordinary Second Grade dragons weren"t even qualified to set foot on this place. They could only circle the summit and await the orders of the high-grade dragon lords.
The two Fourth Grade dragons raised their bodies and silently listened to Third Grade Fire Dragon Philippa describe the situation of the outsiders in the mountains. She explained when they had appeared here and established themselves, which dragon lords they had hara.s.sed, and how Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms had come to a.s.sault the fire dragons when they were sieging the metal fortress.
One by one, Philippa described all of the events that had transpired. Almost half a day had pa.s.sed by the time Philippa was done.
Golden light glowed from the Fourth Grade gold dragon"s eyes after hearing Philippa"s descriptions. He roared, "The truth is clear now! These are invaders from the World of Adepts. They have broken into Lance and killed many of our brethren. I am now certain that they are the ones responsible for the attack on the lair of the Wings of Azure Skies. Toril, it"s our time to move now!"
The Fourth Grade amethyst dragon, Toril, narrowed his eyes as a savage smile appeared on his face.
"We have gathered here today to exact vengeance for Krille, the Wings of Azure Skies. With the evidence we have now, we can be certain the invading adepts are the ones responsible for Krille going missing. As such, there is no longer any need to continue waiting. Today, we will break through the enemy"s lair and kill all adepts who have invaded our home. Set out!"
"Set out!"
As the two Fourth Grade dragons gave their order, the one hundred dragons gathered around the mountains roared in unison. The deafening sound of their roars reverberated throughout the Stonetalon Mountains!
The dragons took to the skies and flew toward the enemy"s lair, which had long since been identified and marked.
The dragonflight attacked!
The fruits they had reaped earlier were so sweet, and the trouble that they had to endure now was so bitter.
The metal fortress that had most of its magical machine army and metal reserves relocated was still standing in the distance. There was no more combat personnel inside the empty fortress apart from ten thousand magical machines waiting on alert.
The metal fortress would fall eventually.
a.s.signing Crimson adepts there to die along with the fortress was meaningless.
Greem and Gazlowe did not attempt to move the last defensive forces after removing most of their resources and metal reserves. If the dragons believed the fortress was so easy to break through, they were welcome to try.
Though defeat was inevitable and capture was a matter of time, Gazlowe was confident that the impenetrable wall of the fortress and the ten-thousand-strong magical machine army would give the dragonflight a painful and memorable lesson!
That was the main reason that Greem had remained in the fortress along with Gazlowe!
…………
After seventeen grueling hours of waiting, the dragonflight arrived!
Dragon roars echoed outside as muscular dragons cut across the sky, diving past the cloud layer and charging at the mountain where the fortress was built.
There were no battlecries or insults. Both parties were engaged in mortal combat the moment they ran into each other.
The metal fortress had always been hidden inside the ma.s.sive mountain as a disguise.
With the belly of the mountain fully excavated, there was only a thin layer of several dozen meters of rock maintaining the structure of the mountain.
At this moment, several dozen dragons of various colors and attributes were unleashing their dragon"s breath upon the mountain. The mountain layer over the fortress melted like wax, revealing the shiny metal sh.e.l.l beneath.