The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!
Chapter 380 - 324: The Dragon of Summit Palace

Chapter 380: Chapter 324: The Dragon of Summit Palace

The Rand Soldiers’ shield wall had formed a steel fortress, its smooth and shiny hemisphere facing the charge of the dragonized Royal Guards.

The first collision exploded with sound.

It was a true cavalry charge of this era, the lances piercing through shields like hounds’ long fangs, tearing a gap in the complete defense formation in an instant.

Thunder rolled overhead, lightning illuminating the clashing sides, and the impact of strength, magic, and mystic runes sent ripples surging.

The first shield shattered, its mystic rune-etched fragments following the ripples, scattering and ejecting all around.

The dragonized Royal Guards had breached the shield wall but failed to break through completely; when their momentum was halted, they faced a counterattack.

The strong shield strike sent men flying.

Bodies and horses tumbled everywhere.

Among the drifting black smoke, the sounds of close combat and screams echoed.

The Cavalry of the Royal Palace guarded tightly around the massive building harboring something terrifying; they were the sturdiest walls.

Unfortunately, the other dragonized Soldiers were almost completely wiped out, the lockstep formation had taken shape; Lind not only had close-combat infantry and Cavalry but Archers joined the battlefield rapidly, starting to fire arrows and various alchemic weapons.

The spherical turtle shell defense formation of the Rand Soldiers dispersed, seizing the opportunity to launch an attack.

In contrast, the dragon-scaled dragonized Cavalry were caught in a 360-degree bombardment. With no room to move, they were trapped in place, unable to exert their strength.

When a crack was pried into the sturdy scales, it signified the last line of defense was close to complete collapse.

The dragonized Cavalry began to retreat, slowly turning their vulnerability from all sides to facing the enemy only on one front.

The dragonized Cavalry gave up their charge, guarding every entrance to the Royal Palace, turning it swiftly into an impenetrable eggshell fortress.

For the attacking Rand Soldiers, a forward charge required more courage, as siege warfare meant massive deaths, demanding bravery to accompany peril.

With a charge, deaths were inevitable.

The commanders looked toward Lind, pondering whether to exchange further deaths for victory in war or to slow their advance.

But as cheers unsolicitedly reached the commanders’ ears, they turned to look.

Wen Ruien, with rapier in hand, rushed forward swiftly, spearheading the charge at the forefront.

Clad in her form-fitting knight’s light Armor, Wen was agile; her rapier was like a wasp’s stinger, drawing blood spray with every thrust.

Her high-ranked absolute domination meant that despite being weaker in strength, she could still harvest lives at high speed.

An immortal warrior, a one-hit kill warrior.

Perhaps from today for many years to come, many Soldiers, when speaking of the perfect assassin, would think of Wen.

Because she wouldn’t die, and if the first assassination failed, she would have a second chance, a third opportunity.

Undead Knight Wen.

Many had witnessed her battle with Lind, and the environment-destroying force mainly came from Lind, who had practically plowed the ground around several times.

Afterwards, Wen pledged allegiance to Lind, which implied Lind might become even stronger, even causing some to unconsciously underestimate her.

But when the dragonized syndrome Royal Guards, seemingly invincible like steel walls, were crushed by Wen at nearly a slaughter speed, they belatedly realized the difference between the two sides.

There may be differences between the strong, but also a commonality, they were both stronger than themselves.

Dragonized horse corpses and dragonized Cavalry piled up on the bridge, congested in groups, stacking into small mounds.

Mountains of bodies accumulated, unknown fluids mixed with spurting blood quickly moistening the ground.

Wen stood alone in the middle of the road, flicking the blood off her rapier with a swipe of her right hand, leaving behind clear radial splatters of fresh red on the ground.

Raising her left arm, she scrubbed the blade against the curve of her arm through her clothing, wiping away the last of the bloodstains.

In front of the mountainous pile of enormous corpses, the silhouette holding the sword seemed incredibly small, the stark contrast in size and the death stench hitting one’s face made it hard not to tremble.

After a moment of silence.

"Charge!!" came the roar.

The war raged on.

...

The defense inside the Royal Palace was even emptier than expected, with only the sound of thunder echoing through the grand and magnificent halls where numerous pillars supported the corridors, becoming the source of shadows flickering under the lightning.

In keeping with the Rand Kingdom’s aesthetic of "grandeur" and "gold," the architectural style was as imposing as ever.

The dense array of various halls occupied every corner, and even without the outside threat of Goliath, the Royal Palace itself was a military structure with comprehensive functions.

However, contrary to expectations, the army encountered no resistance within the palace, where only the figures of court ladies, hunched over in their long dresses, shuffled along, transformed by the dragon affliction.

When the soldiers raised their blades, these dragonized sufferers didn’t even know to dodge and were swiftly struck down.

It was as if their bodies, finally released from a drag of barnacles, laid down in silence, quietly accepting their death.

The army headed towards the highest building within the Royal Palace.

As they ascended, the rain began to fall again, and the rolling thunder clouds brought down sporadic droplets that struck Lind’s face, flowing down the contours of his cheeks.

Lind stood in front of the King’s Hall, the dragon-etched doors illuminated by lightning, as if two fierce dragons were roaring at him from either side.

Wen, the Crystal Mage, Lance, Marcus, Renzo, Reed, Leo, and others stood in the rain with Lind on the ascending stone steps.

The lightning stretched their shadows long.

Beneath were the Land Soldiers, bloodied and injured yet still clutching their weapons, wearing dirtied or damaged armor, looking up at the silhouette of the man who had advanced to the forefront.

There was an unspoken consensus among everyone here that something powerful awaited them beyond the great doors.

Lind turned to look behind him, where the wide avenue and stone steps were filled with people, some even squeezed to the edges.

The Golden Soldiers had filled the place.

One could see the soldiers’ eyelashes trembling with rainwater and droplets splashing on the wide brim of the Crystal Mage’s hat.

Lind even had the idle thought that if there were any Undead here, it might be worth recording this moment.

He turned toward the doors, where lightning still dazzled the sky.

A forked bolt again illuminated the doors, even slashing through the darkness of night.

Boom.

The soldiers were jolted alert, only then realizing it wasn’t thunder but Lord Lind pushing open the dragon-etched doors.

The light shone like a sword slashing down the centerline of a painting, splitting the doors in two. The rain stopped abruptly, and even the thunder paused for an instant.

It was as if the journey that had begun at Star Dragon Ridge, with all its encounters, was all for this moment, merely the prelude before stepping onto the stage.

The doors slowly opened, and the light grew wider and wider.

At the same time, the thunder also began to fade away.

The script tended to develop as planned, step by step from weakness to strength, overcoming evil and attaining ultimate victory.

The difference lay in the fact that it was not the Undead who embarked on this journey, but Lind, and it was Lind who stood here now.

There was no grand narrative of a foreigner from another realm embarking on a quest to defeat the Evil Overlord and save the world, just Lind, himself a representative of villainous evil, personally pulling back the curtain, then disregarding everyone’s feelings and forcefully taking the stage.

Utter silence reigned.

Everyone held their breath and stared at the doors, trying to glimpse what might emerge. They could feel that with the doors opening, darkness was also spreading within their hearts.

The sound of marching boots rose as Lind stepped forward into the doors, his body bathed in the explosive lightning from within, his shadow twisted into a rope and then stretched long, flung outside onto the stone steps.

Then, Lind’s voice came from within, and what he said sent every soldier’s heart sinking into the depths.

"Cote, my brother, you’re looking a bit worse for wear now."

Before Lind stood a colossal creature, its bulky and rotund body draped with a pair of ragged wings reminiscent of a cloak.

It stood on four legs, its body wrapped in thick scales, each as sturdy as the shields of Rand.

One’s eyes struggled to fully encompass the figure, its tail extending from the center of one’s gaze to the peripheries that the corner of the eye could not reach.

The thunder roared above, now uncapped, illuminating the massive silhouette.

Lind looked up at the gargantuan creature, akin to a miniature watchtower, its proud pair of long horns as if piercing the sky.

Kot Hedwin.

Now, he had mutated into a massive being, a dragon!