Ashen Dragon

He slowly opened that gaping maw, a dazzling light emerged from deep within his throat, surrounded by countless flowing flames.

Extreme Sun Breath!

"Boom——"

The world came to a halt, followed by a golden stream of flame pouring out like a waterfall, splitting the sky in two, that Breath carrying the destructive power of the sun, rushing towards the distant Frost Giants.

In the face of such an attack, even Koschech had to take it seriously, his expression exceptionally grave.

A powerful physique, comprehensive spellcasting ability, ever-changing divine power... This Red Dragon had far exceeded His expectations, no wonder Gelrazax was slain by him.

What's more, this Ashen Emperor seemed very young, rising up rapidly in the past few centuries, if left unchecked, would undoubtedly become an endless trouble!

Even if the Red Dragon managed to escape to the Material Plane, Koschech was not confident in defeating the opponent.

A swift and decisive battle is necessary!

Within moments, Koschech had made up his mind, determined to kill this Red Dragon in Aphernas, to eliminate the root of the trouble!

The Frost Giant's skin was covered with shimmering ice-blue runes, ice crystals protruded and formed into a hard armor, emitting an extremely cold white mist.

"Praise Koschech!"

"The great King of Frost Giants! He is the end of all things frozen, the sacred from the Abyss!"

The Frost Shaman and Frost Giant Warriors prayed loudly, the power of faith surged upwards, gathering on the tall and burly body of Koschech.

That frosty divine power surged like ripples, finally converging entirely on the axe blade of the "Heart of Cold Winter," releasing a terrifying chill that spread thousands of meters away.

"Boom——"

The battle axe swung in mid-air, a frost-white torrent extending thousands of meters appeared in the sky, colliding with the Sun Holy Flame released by the Red Dragon.

At the critical moment, the Red Dragon's pupils contracted, emitting a concentrated "Heart Burning Flame Burst"—a white-hot plasma, penetrating Koschech's Frost Armor, branding a charred hole in his chest.

Nearby the Sword Bay Region, there are several well-known cities, such as Waterdeep City (Waterdeep), Elturel, Neverwinter City (Neverwinter), etc. Waterdeep City is built on the former capital of the Elf Empire Ilfaen—Erin Vier, and has many divine temples. The Miracle Temple is the grandest Magic Goddess Temple in the game, with splendid towers and various paintings and magical decorations in a magnificent Baroque style, while Neverwinter City tends more towards Gothic architecture and is the earliest Human settlement, developed over nearly a century in Aegostor. The main city of the story, Bod Gate, is the largest and most prosperous trade city-state in the Sword Bay Region, mixed with nobles, commoners, and thieves, becoming a "hotbed of conspiracies" for adventurers. The name of Bod Gate originates from a Hero, Gray Port Adventurer Bodlan, who after exploring beyond the mainland of the Sword Sea, returned with wealth to Gray Port and led a team to build the city here.

According to the hierarchy of its residents, Bod Gate is divided into a noble Upper City and a commoner Lower City, along with an Outer City scattered around Chenyi Mountain. The gate that separates the Upper City and Lower City is called Bod Gate, and the entire city is named after it, also serving as a monument to the city's founder, Bodlan.

Currently, Bod Gate is ruled by a four-person council, and all four are Grand Dukes, with one serving as the council leader. If the vote is deadlocked, a decision is made by Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw. The Upper City's security is handled by the elite class official police force known as the Guard (Watch), while other areas are patrolled by a mercenary group called "Flaming Fist." Elder Ravenclaw, the Grand Duke, is also the highest leader of the mercenary group, whose headquarters is located at Bodlan Sea Tower, the strongest fortress of Bod Gate against maritime invasions. Meanwhile, like a crescent embracing Bod Gate's economic lifeline—Gray Harbor, hundreds of merchant ships come and go daily, bringing Gold Coins, as well as greed and vice.

The Upper City is situated on higher ground, consisting of the Castle District, Temple District, Manoburn District, and Wide Alley District, and is home to numerous religious buildings. The Miracle Hall and the Supreme Miracle House are the central churches of the God of Craft, Gund, in Bod Gate. The Miracle Hall showcases Gund's great inventions, while the Supreme Miracle House also functions as a workshop. The Lower City buildings are mostly stone houses, with six districts namely the Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, and Branpton District. The middle class generally resides in Blonrich District, near the upper-class areas of the Upper City, while the East Road District near the Stone Lizard Gate connecting to the Outer City is relatively more mixed. This district has many lively bars and cheap inns, the Sea Tower District is where the Flaming Fist mercenary group is stationed, and on the largest rocky offshore island near Sea Tower District, the headquarters of the mercenary group, Bodlan Sea Tower, is built. Branpton District and Steep District are relatively more run-down, communities where sailors and laborers live. The Outer City is distributed along the Chongsar River, with temporary buildings and slums gathered, and the landmark is a stone bridge crossing the Chongsar River—the Flying Dragon Crossroad, with many vendors, even extending the bridge surface with planks to add multiple buildings. Law and order do not exist here, and even the Flaming Fist's protective range is very limited. Many impoverished people or criminals who cannot be accommodated in the city gather here.

The moss on the sewer arches shone ghostly under the dim phosphorescent lantern, the murky sewage swallowed the bottoms of boots, each step stirring a thick "gurgle" sound. Purple-black slime oozed from the crevices in the walls, converging towards the drains like veins—this is the nerve-corrosive substance unique to the Spirit Sucking Monster Nest, inhalation by ordinary people could cause auditory hallucinations, as if countless tiny tentacles squirmed in the ear canal. Suddenly, a "crack" of bone misalignment echoed behind a section of fractured cast-iron pipe, like something was twisting and squeezing through a narrow space. The three patrolling guards just raised their lanterns when the sewage suddenly erupted! Four Spirit Sucking Monsters leapt from the water, their pale, humanoid bodies wrapped in detritus, octopus-like head tentacles vibrating at high frequency, releasing visible purple mind shock wave ripples. The helm of the foremost guard dented, his eyes burst into blood mist from increased pressure in the skull; the second was impaled by tentacles into his ear cavity before he could scream, his spine pulled out like a puppet's string; the only remaining survivor staggered backward, the booming echo of a misfired firearm was entirely swallowed by the subsonic screeches collectively emitted by the Spirit Sucking Monsters. These Spirit Sucking Monsters were clearly trained in tactics. Two decoy individuals slapped the water surface with their tentacles, creating a corrosive-liquid mist to obscure vision; the third dangled from the ceiling, using suctions to adhere to the guard's skull, the tentacle tips precisely pierced into the occipital foramen—not to kill instantly, but to manipulate the captive puppet-like, forcing him to turn, tremblingly reloading ammunition for his comrades' firearms. At this moment, the fourth Spirit Sucking Monster was carving open the fallen guard's chest with bone blades from its knuckles, extracting the warm liver and stuffing it into its oral device, pale yellow digestive fluid dripping from its chin, corroding the ground into wisps of green smoke. The parasitized had not completely died. The guard's ravaged body suddenly twitched up, translucent Spirit Sucking Monster larval tentacles crawled out from the neck fissure, his pupils spread into a milky white. He grabbed a dagger to stab at his former comrade, squeezing out an inhuman synthetic voice from his throat: "Skull... to the Brain Lord...". The real horror had just begun to surface—the distant sewage pond began to boil, more pale figures emerged from the water, dragging along a dozen captives wrapped in mucus cocoons, whose human faces twisted into silent screams beneath the shells. As the last gunshot faded, the sewer returned to stillness. Only the floating remnants of uniforms and the still-pulsing nerve-corrosive substance fungi blanket bore witness to the massacre. The Spirit Sucking Monsters dragged the captives into the depths of the drainage pipes, the mucus cocoons occasionally twitching, as if the "seeds" within would soon break through the shell. And in the mental network of the Brain Lord, the coordinates of these new corpses turned into a string of cold purple lights, converging into that pulsating giant shadow beneath Bod Gate.