Chapter 32: In the Face of a Dragon, You are but an Ant!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
However, in order for the tactic to succeed, strict requirements would have to be imposed for those who wished to be part of the light cavalry unit. In essence, they needed to be veterans who were unafraid of death and had rich combat experience.
After all, once deployed, most of them would not be able to return.
Some of the light cavalrymen would even be corrupted by the treasures of the dragon. They would steal the treasures and live a carefree life by themselves.
The bar of entry was high, their job was highly risky, and they could only be deployed once in most cases.
As such, Ardarian had went through great difficulty to train these cavalrymen.
Once the ordeal was over, the 1,200 cavalrymen would most likely be reduced to 10 or so members.
...
Ardarian walked to the front of the military formation and raised his sword.
Boom — Boom —
More than 1,000 cavalrymen responded to the lord’s salute. They knocked their pikes on the ground, and the warhorses under them neighed.
“My brave soldiers!”
Ardarian opened his arms and began his speech.
“I trust that all of you are familiar with the three heroes of the Pande kingdom, Tahir, Rafik, and Carvella.”
“Respectively, they are the role models of mages, amiable warriors, and beautiful heroines of our great kingdom.”
“However, they have been put to eternal slumber within the desert to the north of Longsong Alley! Their bodies remain unfound until now, and they are still slowly rotting away in the wind and sand!”
“Answer me! Who is responsible for this vile act!?”
Ardarian’s voice was pale but powerful, and the soldiers’ answers echoed in the sky — “DRAGONS!!”
“Good!” Aldarian continued roaring, “All of you present here are humanity’s greatest weapons against dragons! Are you mentally prepared to play the responsibility imposed on you?!”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
...
Under the lead of their mother, Max and Mia were heading towards the south.
Slowly, the scenery on the ground changed from a desert where it was difficult to find even a blade of grass to an oasis that could be seen occasionally. After flying south for a while, forests gradually came into view, and humans were more commonly sighted.
Sometime later, Max appeared in front of what seemed to be a human city.
From his lofty position in the sky, the city looked no larger than the little bird beside him. However, based on his prior knowledge as a human, Max was certain that the city was rather huge.
The city was built against a mountain. The mountain was like a palm that held up the entire city. A river flowed down from the mountain and ran through the entire city.
From his position in the air, Max heard a vague chant coming from the ground. It sounded as if a group of people were shouting in unison.
Agatha turned around. “This is called Longsong Alley. Let’s head down.”
Then, the three dragons swooped down toward the city.
Upon landing on the city walls, the impact from Agatha’s huge body immediately blew up several houses. Moreover, the guards on the city wall had also been blown away.
However, as Max had already expected such a scene, he pulled Mia back to avoid being hurt by the impact of their mother’s landing.
“ROAR—”
Agatha stood on the city wall and looked down at the city. Then she raised her head and let out a loud roar, as if announcing her arrival to the entire city.
Even Max was incapable of withstanding such a strong sound wave. He quickly covered his ears with his hands and covered Mia’s ears with his wings. After all, his klutzy sister’s reaction was always slightly delayed.
He did not know whether or not it was an illusion, but Max saw that the mountain tremble together with his mother’s roar. Water droplets jumped up from the river surface as if it was about to boil.
“It’s a dragon!”
“Quick, run!”
“God, please save me...”
...
Longsong Alley immediately fell into a state of panic.
Most of the people saw the figure of the dragon were stunned for a second. Then, they turned around and ran like ants. One by one, they rushed to the other side of their city, hoping to escape from the dragon’s wrath.
Some of the weaker humans went mad under Agatha’s roar. They crumpled on the ground and began muttering incoherent nonsense.
“Roar —”
Like his mother, Max also roared.
However, as a young dragon, Max’s roar naturally not as loud as his mother’s. If his mother’s roar was described as earth-shattering, then Max’s roar was like an irritating alarm.
“Roar —”
After watching her brother’s actions, Mia imitated him and roared as well.
However, with Mia’s body size, the sound she made was weaker than a common house pet’s.
“Not here,” Agatha commented.
“Remember, children, these are the lowest class of humans.”
“You can eat them if you’re hungry, but if it’s treasure you desire, don’t bother attacking them. They won’t drop any gold coins.”
“Where I’m about to bring you to is where the lord of these humans resides at. The lord is extremely wealthy, and he possesses a great wealth of treasures, hehe.”
Agatha spread her wings as she spoke.
Whoosh —
A strong wind blew over Max’s head, and Agatha flew up once more.
“A lord, huh...”
Max followed his mother, and at the same time, he looked around for the Lord that she had mentioned.
‘Sure enough, this is a medieval world, and the existence of a city lord is to be expected.’
Max turned around and looked at the entire city.
Their terror aside, most of the citizens looked emaciated, and their streets were dirty and dilapidated. The horses that were dragging goods had gone berserk, and as a result, most of their carriages had flipped over.
‘This city looks a little poor.’
Max thought to himself.
...
However, upon spotting the lord, Max immediately understood why this was the case.
Most of the income the city generated had been funneled into building up their military.
At this moment, he had already reached the lord’s inner castle.
The inner castle was the city within the city. It was surrounded by higher and thicker walls, and it was the lord’s living area.
A large army was lined up neatly there, and everyone was riding on top of a horse.
“Dragon!”
“A dragon is approaching! Run!”
“Don’t Panic! We are soldiers, we have to fight until... Oh my God! There are three of them! Run!”
“Oh Great Goddess of Order, Eunomia... Please bless me in defeating these great evils...”
Naturally, the neat military formation that was formed just moments ago had collapsed the moment they saw the dragons.
Many of them had fallen off their horses, as they shouted and scurried away.
A few soldiers raised their weapons and pointed them at Max, trembling.
However, once Max locked eyes with them, the soldiers immediately threw away their weapons and ran away.
Some even hid under the horses’ stomachs and cowered in fear.
It reminded Max of hiding under a table during an earthquake.
“Do you see, my children? Before our might, the tin cans that these soldiers are wearing mean nothing.”
Agatha mocked the soldiers and roared once again.
“ROAARR!”