Duke Aiden stared at the bronze dragon portrait on the ancient book, muttered to himself, and clapped his hands in approval:
"That's great, that's great, I didn't expect there would be such a pleasant surprise."

Duke Aiden closed the "Guide to the Dragons of Fianso" in his hand and placed it on the table in front of him.

Then, he stood up from the sofa, stood with his hands behind his back in front of the wall with portraits of the Grand Dukes of the Silver Family, opened his arms, and couldn't help but sighed:
"My daughter, you might be able to bring us the friendship of an ancient bronze dragon, which is simply priceless!

The Silver family may benefit from this for hundreds of years to come!"

Hearing her father's excited words, even Heloise, who usually kept her emotions to herself, stood up, raised the corners of her mouth and smiled happily.

Duke Aiden turned around and continued to pace in the hall: "Heloweiss, you should have seen the magical image from the north, right?"

Heloise nodded gently: "Yes, father, Mr. Kaushik showed me that video a week ago.

If that wasn't an illusion, it could only mean that the Red Dragon Emperor of Anzeta was extremely terrifying, far beyond the reach of mortals. It was like..."

Thinking back to the giant dragon with wings that covered the sky, even Heloise's purple pupils revealed a hint of fear.

She paused before continuing, "It's like the monsters in myths and legends, like the World Devouring Snake and the Hundred-Armed Giant.
It should not have appeared in the Third Age when the gods were isolated and mortals ruled the earth."

Duke Aiden sighed and said in a heavy tone, “Yes, we cannot contend with a dragon like that.

If the Holy Fadlan Empire was still glorious, I would feel a little relieved. But now, the three kingdoms are in constant conflict, and the Burning Empire from the north is eyeing them covetously. I am afraid."

Duke Aiden raised his head and looked solemnly at the huge map of the Feanso continent on the wall:
“I’m afraid that one day in the future, the red dragon will invade the south and annex the Thracian Kingdom, and then we will completely lose our northern barrier.

Victoria Harbor is the most prosperous and wealthy empire in the entire Silver Moon Bay. After the greedy red dragon controls the north, the fate of our Silver family can be imagined. "

He looked at Heloise and said seriously, “Facing a red dragon like this, only those ancient metal dragons can contend with it.

Heloise, you may have found the only way out for the Silver family."

Heloise said: "Father, His Majesty Wilhelm of the Thracian Kingdom is a noble and powerful angel god, no less powerful than a dragon.

Moreover, it is still unknown whether the Burning Empire will go south. Some dragon scholars claim that the dragon is just a greedy lord, and as long as enough gold coins are offered, they can live in peace with it. "

Duke Aiden smiled bitterly and said, “I hope I’m overthinking it.

The giant dragon in the north, the three kingdoms in the east, the Cult of the Dragon in the south, the naga in the sea, the demons from the abyss, and the undead that are causing trouble.
The current chaos in the Feansuo continent really makes me nervous and unable to sleep day and night, fearing that the Silver family's hundreds of years of foundation will be destroyed in my hands."

Heloise came to Duke Aiden and whispered, "No, father."

In the hearts of the people of Victoria Harbor, the Duke of Aiden, the commander of the mercenary group, has always been a majestic and cold nobleman who poured all his tenderness into his only daughter.

Only when he was with Heloise would the Duke show a rare smile.

Duke Aiden suddenly noticed traces of dust on Heloise's body.

Only then did he remember that his eldest daughter had just encountered a long-planned ambush. If it weren't for the "hermit" who took action, she would probably have died there.

Duke Aiden's expression suddenly changed slightly, and his eyes showed a hint of coldness: "By the way, Heloise, can you describe the situation of that cult again?

You dared to ambush our Silver family's caravan near Victoria Harbor. You must be tired of living."

His tone was exceptionally cold.

Heloise replied, "Father, these heretics call themselves the Cult of the Lord God, and claim that their god is omniscient and omnipotent.

The leader of the cult possesses powerful psychic powers, at least at the level of a great wizard. The power of the black hole he created is no less than that of Teacher Kaushik’s spell.”

"The Lord God, I seem to have heard of this name."

Duke Aiden stroked his neat beard and lowered his head in thought.

After a while, he called the butler standing at the door and gave a brief and powerful instruction:
"Vicente, go to the family archives and find all the information about the so-called 'Dominant God'."

"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."

Hearing the order, Vincent nodded in agreement, turned around and left again, walking quickly towards the archives room.

As the largest and busiest port city in the entire Silver Moon Bay, Victoria Harbour is a mixed bag, with hundreds of armed forces and countless cult groups.

As the leader of the "Mithril Hand" mercenary group responsible for city security, Aiden stored all the intelligence collected by his men in the archives for emergency use and to better control the situation in the city.

In just a moment, Vicente pushed the door open and walked in, holding a stack of documents in his hand, including newspapers, search warrants, and reward warrants.

The butler reported: "Your Excellency the Duke, basically all the information about the Dominant God Cult is here.

This evil cult that believes in the 'God of Domination' first appeared eleven years ago, when it only absorbed some impoverished civilians from the downtown area.

Over the past ten years, this cult has been relatively unknown, far less famous than the Church of the Deep Sea Rulers, the Returners, the Baal Cult, and other evil cults."

Vicente took out a stack of documents from the pile and continued, "But since July last year, the activities of this sect have become extremely active, and twenty-one disappearances and twelve murders are related to it.

The Mithril Hand has conducted many searches but has not found their lair. Outside the city, they seem to be attracting goblins, ogres and other monsters as believers in large numbers.

My Lord Duke, this is about all the information we have about the cult of the Lord God."

Vincent presented all the information to Duke Aiden, then bowed slightly and stood quietly aside.

Duke Aiden flipped through the information casually and said in a deep voice: "Recruiting a large number of monsters as an army outside the city?
That makes sense. No wonder so many caravans on the northern roads have been robbed recently. It turns out that an organized army of monsters has appeared.

"Snapped."

Duke Aiden slammed the documents on the table with a cold voice.

Haha, they dared to do this near Victoria Harbour, they must have someone to rely on, and they even wanted to kidnap my daughter, which is unforgivable."

"Simon Amorim."

"grown ups."

The Knight Commander of the "Mithril Hand" who had been guarding the door for a long time pushed the door open, strode in, and half-knelt respectfully in front of Duke Aiden.

Simon looks to be only in his thirties, tall and strong, but he has a scar covering half of his face.

He was adopted by the Silver family during the war and received the best knight education since childhood. He has followed Duke Aiden for more than 20 years.

He is also known as "the sharpest blade of House Silver", possessing undisputed strength that is said to be close to legendary.

Duke Aiden threw the stack of documents in front of Simon and ordered, "Simon, I want you to mobilize the most elite forces of the Mithril Hand to thoroughly investigate this so-called 'Dominant God' cult.

He paused and continued, "But don't alert them. Try not to be discovered by them."

Simon picked up the paper with the information about the Lord of Domination printed on it, quickly glanced at the text on it, and said firmly: "Yes, sir." He has always been decisive in doing things, only obeying the orders of Duke Aiden, and not caring about anything else.

Suddenly, Heloise seemed to remember something and reminded: "Father, I suddenly remembered something -

That hermit called those cultists "bugs" and seemed to be quite familiar with them. This should not be his first encounter."

"Oh?"

Duke Aiden frowned immediately and his expression became more solemn.

You have to know that the "Hermit" of the ancient bronze dragon has been sleeping for at least four hundred years! Before he fell asleep, even Victoria Harbour did not exist.

If he is also familiar with this, it means that the Cult of the God of Domination is not a shallow cult, but an ancient force that appeared hundreds of years ago.

The newly born evil cult is completely different from the ancient sect that has been entrenched for hundreds of years. You have to know that the Silver family rose in the war only two hundred years ago.

Thinking of this, Duke Aiden's expression became even uglier. He asked in a low voice, "Heloweiss, is the hermit still in Victoria Harbor?"

Heloise replied, "Yes, Mr. Hermit said he wanted to stroll around Victoria Harbor."

"Can you contact him? It's time to meet this person who may become the future ally of the Silver Family."

"of course."

Heloise took out a turquoise ancient coin from her pocket and said, "This is a token given to me by the Hermit. He said that if I throw it up, he will appear here."

Duke Aiden raised his hand and said, "Wait, don't use this token yet."

He turned around and told Vicente, "Go and call Mr. Kaushik and the remaining two knight commanders."

"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."

Soon, a wizard in a dark blue robe and holding a mithril scepter pushed the door open and bowed gracefully to Duke Aiden.

He looked to be only in his forties, and was extremely neat and tidy.

"Good day, Duke Aiden. Sorry to have kept you waiting."

He is Kaushik Hayden, the chief wizard of the Silver family, the owner of the Coast Wizard Tower, a disciple of the great sage Trafranallo, and also a knowledgeable wizard.

You have to know that being called a "great wizard" in the continent of Feanso is only one step away from being a legendary wizard. All he lacks is a little inspiration and accumulation.

"Mr. Kaushik."

Duke Aiden nodded to the spellcaster and then looked at the door again.

Soon after, two knights, a man and a woman, dressed in silver armor hurried over and half-knelt in front of Duke Aiden.

"Your Majesty the Duke."

They are the other two leaders of the Mithril Hand mercenary group, Fyodor Pate and Jenny Aldis, who are equally loyal and powerful.

Kaushik looked at the two captains who came hurriedly with sweat on their faces and said with a smile: "Duke Aiden, you asked us to gather here, there must be something important."

"certainly.

This is not only a major matter, but it is also very likely to change the fate of the Silver family."

Kaushik's expression suddenly became serious, and the three captains also looked solemn, quietly waiting for the Duke to speak.

Duke Aiden nodded slightly, looked around at everyone in the hall, and said loudly: "Today, we are about to welcome a special guest.

You probably would never have guessed his identity—an ancient bronze dragon that had awakened from more than four hundred years of slumber."

"what?"

The few people in the hall who had just heard the news were immediately surprised, and Kaushik couldn't help but scream out.

Kaushik clenched the mithril scepter and added in a trembling voice: “Duke, with all due respect, I want to correct your conjecture.

As far as I know, ancient dragons are only 800 to 1,000 years old, and a bronze dragon that can sleep for more than 400 years at a time must be at least an ancient dragon."

An ancient bronze dragon.

As a disciple of Trafallo, he was well aware of the significance of the appearance of a dragon of this level in the world.

Osedro, the "Silver Wing" who solved the crisis of the main material plane and resisted the invasion of the abyss many times, was just a silver dragon in the ancient dragon stage.

Even his teacher Trafallo had to treat the "Silver Wing" as a guest of honor and even entertain him warmly with a humble attitude.

For the Silver family in Victoria Harbor, being able to ride on an ancient bronze dragon is definitely a high climb.

Thinking of this, Kaushik's breathing became a little rapid. He began to straighten his clothes, fearing that there would be something indecent in them.

The servants brought in a large amount of gold, and based on the information in the "Feansuo Dragon Guide", they found many items that bronze dragons might like and decorated the hall.

After a period of discussion and after Kaushik's instruction on the various etiquette for entertaining the dragon, everyone in the hall was ready to face the distinguished visitor.

Duke Aiden combed his beard again, styling it neatly, and then he told his eldest daughter, "Helovis, get ready."

"Yes, father."

Heloise nodded, took out the ancient bronze coin under everyone's nervous gaze, and tossed it up gently.

"Ding--"

A crisp metallic sound rang out, and everyone held their breath, waiting for this moment to come.

The space in the hall gradually distorted, and then shattered like glass.

The many prohibitions and warning spells that Kaushik had set up in the castle were completely ineffective at this moment, as if they were easily bypassed by that mysterious existence.

Suddenly, a gentle, deep male voice appeared in the hall.

"Ms. Heloise, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

But you are right, Victoria Harbour is indeed a nice city, I like it very much. ”

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man holding a bronze scepter and wearing a gray cloak walking out of the space crack. (End of this chapter)