Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 500 - 500 498 The Renaissance

Chapter 500: Chapter 498: The Renaissance Chapter 500: Chapter 498: The Renaissance In the tavern of Furious Wind City, the noise was overwhelming as two Knights sat at the bar, drinking cheap black beer and chatting loudly.

“Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“The newly appointed Count Thunderflame, the night before last, he slew a Frost Giant! It’s in the gazette, the Frost Giant that attacked the Torrential Flood Dragon!”

“Really? A Frost Giant that even the Torrential Flood Dragon couldn’t defeat, killed by Lord Russell?”

“Absolutely true. My cousin’s wife’s brother, he’s on duty at the Elders’ Hall, heard it from Lord Volcanic Minister Welchi himself!”

“Impressive!”

“Busy with the Earl’s advancement ceremony during the day, and hunting Frost Giants at night, tsk tsk, I feel like the grand Duchy of Shadowflame is about to change!”

…

In a private room of a tea house outside Red Castle, a Duchy’s Lord invited a visiting lord, who had just attended the Earl’s promotion ceremony and had not returned home, for tea.

They talked about the recent big events.

“…could there be any doubt, today His Majesty Ares’s visit to Red Castle is clear evidence, if it weren’t for Earl Russell slaying the Snow Giant, why would the neighboring King himself come to congratulate, knowing that the King had visited Red Castle not so long ago!”

“This is too unbelievable, Earl Russell isn’t a Dragon Knight, how could he kill a Snow Giant?”

“How do you know Earl Russell isn’t a Dragon Knight?”

“Ah, what do you mean by that, could it be that Earl Russell is already a Dragon Knight?”

“Hehe, although Red Castle hasn’t clearly said anything, those with a discerning eye can guess that it’s only a matter of time before Earl Russell… becomes our country’s new Grand Duke!”

“What about the three candidates for the title?”

“Cold salad for them, the Dragon recognizes who, and they become the Grand Duke, don’t tell me you don’t even understand this logic. To tell you the truth, if not for the sake of the Flamecrest Dragonblood Family’s face, this news might have been announced already.”

“Sss, our Grand Duchy has another Dragon Knight again!”

“How else do you explain Earl Russell being able to kill a Snow Giant, and even the King himself rushing over to congratulate. Have you ever seen a Dragon Knight casually congratulate a Knight who wasn’t a Dragon Knight?”

“Exactly!”

“Prepare to swear allegiance to the new Grand Duke!”

…

“Back then, Sir Russell thrust his sword out, and countless thunders fell from the sky, each thunder leaving sword marks hundreds of meters deep on the ground…”

“Stop bluffing, I’ve seen the sword marks on the lawns of Evernight Castle, they’re only about ten meters deep.”

“Times change, when Sir Russell unsheathed his sword back then, he was only an ordinary Dragon Domain Lord, now he is a High Dragon Domain Lord, how can it be the same. The sword marks being hundreds of meters deep, that’s me being modest.”

At a manor near Shadowflame Volcano.

A few Knights, grabbing a moment of downtime, gathered together to shoot the breeze.

“Did you see it with your own eyes?”

“No, but I have a relative who works as a craftsman in the Blackflame Plains, and he told me this!”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Why don’t you believe it?”

“It’s only been three or four days, your relative, even if he could fly, wouldn’t be able to come tell you this,” a Knight with a good understanding of logic quickly deduced that the other was just spouting nonsense, “You must have heard this third-hand news from a city tavern.”

“Nonsense!” the other Knight’s face flushed red, “The Shadow Guards of Red Castle have been flying back and forth for several days now, how could the news not have reached here!”

Another Knight chimed in, “I believe it, King Ares had just come over to congratulate Earl Russell the other day, this news is definitely true. For Earl Russell, killing the Snow Giant and slashing out sword marks hundreds of meters deep is no big deal!”

“It wasn’t killing a Snow Giant, it was a Frost Giant named… right, ‘Ge’, whose strength was much weaker than a Snow Giant’s. I’ve read about it in the lord’s gazette, Frost Giants can control Snow Giants.”

The flushed-faced Knight yelled, “What Frost Giant, it was a Snow Giant!”

The knight adding his voice said, “Even if it wasn’t a Snow Giant, it’s pretty much the same, it’s all the same level!”

…

“Marquis, please tell me, what exactly happened in the battle between Lord Russell and the Frost Giant Ge?”

In Evernight Castle.

The up-and-coming playwright Nicholas was paying a visit to Marquis Arno’s study.

The portly Marquis Arno, leisurely lighting a Cloud Mist Cigar, took a few puffs before saying, “I say, Nicholas, you are very close with Lord Russell, why don’t you visit him yourself?”

“Ah, Lord Russell is too busy. After seeing His Majesty the King, he left Red Castle the very next day; I simply didn’t have the opportunity to visit.”

On the night of his Earl promotion ceremony, Russell had slain Frost Giant Ge.

A day later, King Ares rode over on his Fiery Dragon, firstly to congratulate Russell for killing Shuang Ge, and secondly to take the Ice Saint Artifact.

Russell, not yet officially a Dragon Knight, was someone King Ares did not trust to keep guarding the Ice Saint Artifact.

As Little Dream Dragon was in deep slumber, and Russell had lost the interest in fishing, he willingly parted with the Ice Saint Artifact.

“Well then, I shall tell you about it,” Marquis Arno put down his cigar, cleared his throat and continued, “I haven’t spoken to Lord Russell in detail about the specifics, I only heard others describe it while I was with His Majesty.”

Right then.

Marquis Arno recounted to Nicholas the details of that night’s battle, as much as he himself knew.

Nicholas wrote quickly, taking down every word meticulously in his notebook.

When he finished writing.

Marquis Arno asked, “You’ve found new inspiration, then?”

“Yes, I already have a rough outline for the third part of Su Luo series,” said Nicholas, patting his notebook, “Once I fill in these details, I can swiftly complete the writing… aiming for a release within the year!”

Nodding, Marquis Arno asked further, “What about the ‘Chronicles of Darkness’? Have you not revised it yet?”

Speaking of this drama, Nicholas sighed, “The material Lord Russell provided is excellent, but I always feel it lacks something. I’ve revised it over and over and even showed it to many people, including you, Marquis, but it never quite satisfies.”

“It does lack something,” Marquis Arno said, “After all, stories from the Dark Ages are nothing but wild guesswork…”

After a pause, Marquis Arno’s eyes suddenly lit up, “I could offer you a suggestion.”

“Please do, Marquis,” said Nicholas, opening his notebook again and preparing to take notes diligently.

“This time when I accompanied His Majesty to congratulate Lord Russell on slaying the Frost Giant, I heard an interesting notion. His Majesty and Lord Russell frequently discussed Swordsmanship… According to them, the humans of the Dark Ages had unparalleled Swordsmanship!”

“Please elaborate, Marquis,” implored Nicholas, pen poised over his notebook.

“His Majesty and Lord Russell both believe that it wasn’t just Phantom Beasts that allowed humans to survive through five thousand years of Dark Ages, but Swordsmanship as well. Once one comprehended the Secret Technique of Swordsmanship, reaching the level of Lord Russell, one could rival even a dragon!”

Marquis Arno finished speaking and added his own comments, “Truth be told, my Swordsmanship is mediocre at best. I prefer putting effort into battle aura martial techniques. But I must say, that sword strike was shocking.”

He gestured towards the outside.

Looking out from the study window, one could see a blackened sword mark on the lawn, enduring as ever.

Nicholas leaned over to look out the window.

He saw several servants with shovels, picks, torches, and other tools, working on maintaining the blackened sword mark.

If not maintained, the sword mark would have faded long ago after repeated heavy rainfalls.

As a frequent visitor to Evernight Castle, this sight was nothing new to Nicholas, but he simply said, “I don’t understand Swordsmanship at all.”

“Not understanding is no matter, you haven’t trained in battle aura either, yet don’t you understand knights? You still wrote ‘The Dragonriding Youth’ and ‘The Dragon Domain Strikes Down Thunder’… You may not understand, but I do,” reassured Marquis Arno. “Just include Swordsmanship in your writing, and consult me at any time. I guarantee ‘Chronicles of Darkness’ will be a hit!”

“Alright!” Nicholas nodded, “I will try revising it again.”

Marquis Arno, still enthusiastic, said, “Although there are few records from the Dark Ages, humans were always on the brink of survival. You could write about a Snow Giant charging towards a warm land, and then the protagonist uses Swordsmanship to slay the Snow Giant; just like Lord Russell did, I’m sure it will be a huge hit!”

As the master of Evernight Castle, Marquis Arno had forgotten his political mission, dedicated himself solely to providing support for the cultural renaissance of the Shadowflame Duchy.