Chapter 323: 322 “Jeliteli

Jeliteli.

This was a border city within the domain of Duke Sterling in the Mitra Kingdom.

It was the only city in Duke Sterling’s domain that sat on the borderline of the territory, bordered by the kingdom’s inland. Although it was a city within Duke Sterling’s domain, the fact that the other half of the city lay beyond the territory line made its affiliation with Duke Sterling’s domain somewhat delicate.

In the past, Sterling Family had numerous conflicts and disputes with the neighboring Marquis Lakasadis over the ownership of this city, which had even led to small-scale wars.

Eventually, due to Sterling being a Duke’s family, which held much higher privileges and status in the kingdom than an average Marquis Family, the kingdom reluctantly granted the city to the Sterling Family. However, its awkward location meant that Marquis Lakasadis’s domain next door still seemed to covet it.

In truth, this issue could have been resolved by simply redrawing the territorial boundaries.

For instance, by assigning the lands surrounding Jeliteli to one of the nobles, such issues wouldn’t have occurred.

But since neither Duke Sterling’s family nor Marquis Lakasadis was willing to cede their territory to the other, this problem had reached a stalemate, causing quite a headache for the kingdom.

Even the Royal Family had often complained about it, wondering what those in the past were thinking when they divided the land in such a way that created these disputes. Regardless, the general situation had been set, and the ownership problem of Jeliteli remained unsolved, left to linger as it was.

Precisely because of this, the defensive forces of Jeliteli were much stronger than those of a typical city. Stationed here was the Second Knight Order of Duke Sterling’s family, led by a Family Head from a Knight Viscount Family that served Duke Sterling. This Family Head boasted a high level of seventy-nine, a distinguished figure among the many knights of Duke Sterling’s family, just one step away from reaching the expert level of eighty.

However, today, this expert, along with the knights of the Knight Order, stood dumbfounded, staring at the sky, their weapons falling to the ground unbeknownst to them.

No, it was not only the people of the Knight Order but also the common folk of Jeliteli who looked up at the sky with faces of terror, screaming in panic, fleeing in all directions.

The entire Jeliteli was plunged into chaos in an instant.

And in the sky, a massive shadow descended slowly from above.

“Roar—-!!!”

The terrifying roar turned into a tangible sound wave, stirring up dust storms, and, like a shockwave, shook the entire Jeliteli.

The horrifying noise and the scary silhouette caused the knights to tremble, nearly turning and running away.

“Dragon!”

“It’s a dragon!”

“Oh my God!”

“The dragon has come!”

“There’s a dragon attacking Jeliteli!”

The surrounding people, devoid of any resolve, screamed and ran away in terror.

Triss, the Knight Commander of Duke Sterling’s Second Knight Order, gazed at the scene with a complexion ashen as iron.

“How is this possible…!?”

Why?

Why would a dragon appear?

Aren’t dragons the rarest of demons? Haven’t they been absent for hundreds of years?

Especially adult dragons, which had become as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in the Human Realm – so why would one suddenly show up here and even assault the city?

“No, now is not the time to think about these things…!”

Before that, it was necessary to organize a defense line to prevent the dragon from descending into Jeliteli.

Otherwise, Jeliteli might be turned into a Purgatory by Dragon Breath, welcoming a terrible disaster.

“Quick! Raise the Barrier!”

Triss tried to rally, issuing commands loudly.

Jeliteli was a very special city, possessing a considerably high-level Barrier, originally intended to deal with any army that Marquis Lakasadis might send here, but now it had to be used against a dragon instead.

“Buzz!”

The city walls around Jeliteli suddenly trembled, abruptly raising a Magic Power shield, encompassing the entire city within it.

With this Barrier, even the Dragon Breath, famed for being able to breach all defenses, should be somewhat resistible, right?

“Quick! Bring over the archers and Mages! Hurry!”

Triss shouted anxiously, constantly mobilizing troops, hoping that after the Barrier was breached, they could battle the dragon intent on a massive slaughter.

“It’s okay, that dragon is probably just newly adult, so it recklessly came into the Human Race’s city…”

If that was the case, then the dragon’s Level couldn’t be very high.

The Level of an adult dragon generally could reach eighty.

If this dragon was only Level eighty, then Triss believed that with his own Power and that of the Second Knight Order, they should be able to subdue it.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel.

“Roar—-!”

In the sky, the pitch-black giant dragon, seemingly irritated by the sudden Barrier, suddenly roared, its maw wide open, allowing incredible Magic Power to converge within.

The next second, a scorching Breath was expelled, turning into a fiery column plummeting from the sky onto Jeliteli’s Barrier.

“Boom!”

Without any suspense, the Barrier barely blocked for less than a second before completely shattering under the impact of the Dragon Breath, exploding into fragments.

The dragon’s Dragon Breath also became a magnificent spark, bursting around, causing the air temperature to shoot up rapidly.

“It’s over…”

As he watched the high-level Barrier meant to protect the city get decimated in one blow, the last bit of Triss’s luck vanished, turning into despair.

This dragon was not some inexperienced newly matured dragon; it was an adult for a long time, a terrifying demon with a Level well over ninety.

Such a creature could easily destroy a city single-handedly if it wished.

Jeliteli was about to become a Purgatory under the Dragon Breath, the ruins destroyed by the enormous dragon, Triss envisioned such a future.

Just then…

“I told you we can’t just ride a dragon into the city, right? Look! Now there’s trouble!”

“…You’re making a fuss over nothing. It’s just a dragon landing in the city, what’s there to be scared of?”

“Hey, you’re not talking about something that only happens in your territory in the Demon Realm, are you?”

“Yeah, in my domain, every city welcomes the arrival of dragons with open arms, and there are even squares specifically for dragons to rest. Whenever a dragon flies by, the city’s people cheer as if it’s a festival.”

“That only happens in your domain! This is the Human Realm!”

“Tch… The Human Realm is such a pain…”

Conversations like this suddenly started coming from the top of the dragon, causing the desperate Triss to freeze.

Not just Triss, but the members of the Knight Order and the city’s citizens were all stunned.

Until…

“Quick… look! There are people on that dragon!”

A sharp-eyed knight was the first to widen his eyes and shout in disbelief at the dragon in the sky.

At this outcry, everyone initially felt disbelief, but then they each widened their eyes as well.

The reason was that, indeed, several figures had appeared on the head of the dragon.

“Oh my God…”

“There are really people…?”

“Somebody’s riding the dragon over?”

“I… I’m going to faint…”

Everyone who saw this scene found what they were seeing to be so surreal.

Triss felt the same way, standing there frozen, unable to react for a long time.

Just then, those few figures on the dragon leapt down with a bound, landing right in front of Triss.

“Be on guard!”

Triss suddenly came to his senses, almost instinctively shouting out.

Immediately, the knights around him reacted, quickly lifting their weapons and spreading out.

Under such circumstances, those figures that had jumped down from the dragon landed on the ground and entered the circle surrounded by the Knight Order.

Only then did the people clearly see the full appearance of those figures.

It was a group consisting of one male and two females.

The male was a young man in his early twenties, with a sword at his waist and dressed rather plainly, looking like an ordinary Adventurer with nothing remarkable at first glance.

The females were a bit more peculiar, one was a little girl holding a pillow, and the other was a young girl in a maid’s outfit, one small and one big, their only common trait being their extraordinary beauty.

This trio of one male and two females, who had jumped down from the dragon, appeared in front of everyone, making the whole scene feel incredibly unbelievable.

But reality was as such, whether those present wished to admit it or not.

“Are you the person in charge here?”

The young man who appeared to be the leader swiftly spotted Triss from the crowd of people and focused his gaze on him.

Triss felt a tightening in his heart.

Although he didn’t know who the other party was, being able to quickly lock onto him and deduce his role as the leader amongst so many people was enough to prove that the other person was not as unremarkable as he seemed.

“I am the commander of the Sterling Family’s Second Knight Order, and also the Family Head of the Viscount Jijiale, named Triss Jijiale.”

Triss stepped forward, staring intently at the young man as he spoke in a deep voice.

“Who are you? Why have you ridden a dragon into Jeliteli? Is that dragon your mount?”

Triss fired off several questions in a row.

However, the young man did not respond to him; instead, upon hearing he was the Knight Commander of the Sterling Family’s Second Knight Order, the young man raised an eyebrow and began to smile in a somewhat mocking manner.

“Firstly, I apologize for riding the dragon into Jeliteli without much consideration.”

The young man offered his apology as a preliminary.

Then he continued with these words.

“My name is Shane. As you can see, this dragon is my mount, this here is my maid, and my… uh, sister. We’ve caused quite the commotion, and for that, I ask for your understanding.”

The young man named Shane said this.

“Shane?”

Triss frowned.

He felt like he had recently heard that name somewhere.

However, it was the cute little girl holding a pillow next to the young man named Shane who suddenly furrowed her brow.

“Sister?”

It seemed she was somewhat displeased with the title.

Were all these identities fabricated?

Triss’s alertness heightened.

On the other hand, the young man named Shane scratched his face.

“Well, for starters, let’s put down the weapons.”

Shane suddenly flashed a smile.

“Then, we can have a chat.”