Ashen Dragon

And the breathtakingly beautiful Elf Queen fell in a pool of blood, completely silent.

A heavy sorrow permeated the air; whether elf, dwarf, human, or dragon, all mourned the death of the king.

They were also mourning for their own fate, as despair spread through everyone's hearts.

Scarlet spider webs covered the sky, almost enveloping the entire Elf Forest, with terrifying spider monsters visible everywhere, creating an apocalyptic picture.

And the only one who could lead them to break through the chains of darkness, the Elf Queen, died just like that.

The Ancient Gold Dragon Titus also lowered his head, letting out another long sigh: "Her Majesty Catherine was a brave and fearless king. History will remember her contribution, and it will...remember our struggle."

Cassius, though pretending to be mournful and regretful, felt confident inside, having guessed the storyline's general direction.

In this Serinia coup, to ensure history followed its original path, he never made decisive interference, just watched it unfold, letting events develop naturally.

Now, even with Catherine 'dying', Cassius felt no waves in his heart.

"So this is how it is; everything aligns..."

He knew from memory that aside from being the 'Silver Moon Queen', Catherine also had the titles 'Master of Miracles' and 'Resurrected.'

And the Half-Elf Paladin Rhea was known as the 'Left Hand of the Moon God'.

For Cassius, or rather Titus, this most desperate moment was a good opportunity to gain fame in the good alignment.

Thinking of this, the Ancient Gold Dragon looked around and roared with authority: "Everyone, it's not over yet!"

"Do you want to watch those filthy monsters trample on your land? Do you want to be the cowards that the bards mock for being frightened by the evil god?"

"Even facing the true Divine, we will fight to the end! Never yield! Revenge for Her Majesty Catherine!

The Ancient Gold Dragon's speech first deeply resonated with the Silver Moon Elves, who began to shout hoarsely and with unwavering determination to avenge the queen, even at the cost of their lives.

"For Her Majesty Catherine!"

Subsequently, the dwarves and humans were also infected by this emotion. Ultimately, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Allied Forces brandished their weapons, shouting loudly, their voices like tidal waves.

"Never yield!"

"Revenge for Her Majesty Catherine!"

Under the blood-red full moon and the dark sky, the Allied Soldiers raised their torches, becoming rare beacons of light in the pitch-black forest.

Rhea slowly lifted her head, her eyes drained of tears, looking towards Rose's distant figure, her eyes filled with unforgettable hatred.

It is said that the army in grief must win.

Now, with Queen Catherine's sacrifice, the Elf Forest enshrouded by the Spider Web Demon Realm, even the very space was sealed, leaving the Allied Soldiers with no way out.

They could only choose to fight those ugly monsters to the end, preferring to die on the battlefield as warriors rather than be tainted by The Abyss.

Moreover, both the Silver Moon Elves and the dwarves and humans who came from afar to aid Serinia mostly stood by the courage of justice.

They surged with morale, issuing mighty battle cries as they charged towards the demon group, wrestling and slaughtering with many spider monsters.

"I'll smash this disgusting bug into pieces!"

A dwarf warrior swung his heavy hammer with all his might, crashing it down onto the giant spider's head, sending shattered carapace and filthy venom flying.

But soon, a Demon Hunting Spider appeared behind him, impaling the dwarf's chest with its blade-like sharp leg, the blood-stained tip emerging from his chest, hanging the entire dwarf on the spider's limb.

Yet the dwarf warrior erupted with astonishing will, shouting angrily with a mouthful of blood, twisting into a peculiar pose, and swinging his warhammer at the spider even while his chest was being shredded.

"Die!"

The spider's head carapace was bashed in, showing cracks that spurt out venom.

At that moment, another long-lying-in-wait dwarf warrior yelled "Revenge" as he leapt from behind, gripping onto the spider's back and splitting its already shattered head in half with an axe.

Similar scenes unfolded across the battlefield, where Allied Soldiers fought fearlessly, dragging abyssal demons to death with them even at the cost of their own lives.

"Tsk, mortal struggle..."

In the center of that whirlpool-like dense web, Rose smirked sarcastically, displaying disdain on her beautiful face.

She walked along the web, taking step by step toward Rhea and the rest with her eight ghastly limbs, casting greedy eyes on Catherine's body.

"Hahahaha, just one last step, the body of the Saint Shanee. Once I sacrifice her, I can escape The Abyss prison and descend into the world again!"

Buildings in the Lower District were mostly stone houses, comprising six districts: Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, and Branpton District. The middle class typically lived in Blonrich District, adjacent to the affluent Upper City, while the East Road District, near Stone Lizard Gate connecting the Outer City District, was relatively chaotic, hosting numerous lively bars and cheap inns. The Sea Tower District was the stationing area for Flame Fist Mercenary Group, with the group's headquarters Bodlan Sea Tower constructed on the largest rocky offshore island. Branpton District and Steep District were relatively rundown, belonging to the living quarters for sailors and laborers. The Outer City District stretched along the Chongsar River, gathering temporary structures and slum shanties. Its landmark was a stone bridge crossing the Chongsar River—Flying Dragon Crossroad, bustling with vendors even expanding the bridge deck with planks for additional buildings. Law and order barely existed, even though the Flame Fist could only protect a minimal range here, where displaced poor or criminals gathered. The sewer dome's moss gleamed infernally green under the dim phosphorescent lantern, with murky sewage splashing up to the boot soles, every step stirring a viscous "gurgle". Purple-black slime oozed from cracks across the walls, converging toward drains like veins—this was the signature nerve-corrosive substance of the Spirit Sucking Monster nest, inhaling which caused hallucinations, as if countless tiny tendrils wriggled inside the ear canal. Suddenly, a "click" of dislocated bones echoed from behind a broken iron pipe as if something was twisting through a narrow space. Spirit creatures burst from the water, their pale humanoid bodies wrapped in compost, with their octopus-like head tendrils trembling at high frequency, releasing visible purple mind shock waves. The leading guard's helmet dented, his eyeballs bursting into bloody mist from cranial pressure; a second person, before even screaming, had tendrils pierce into the ear canal, with the spinal cord extracted like a marionette string from the shell; the sole survivor stumbled back, the fire gun misfiring roar devoured by the low-frequency screech of the Spirit Monsters. These Spirit Sucking Monsters were evidently tactically trained. Two feigned attack individuals whipped the water with their tendrils, creating mist screens with corrosive liquid to obscure vision; a third descended from the ceiling, using a sucker to attach to a guard's skull, tendril tip precisely penetrating the foramen magnum— not immediately fatal but manipulating the captive like a puppet, forcing him to turn around and load ammunition into his comrade's firearm with trembling hands. Meanwhile, a fourth Spirit Sucking Monster used bone blades from its finger joints to carve open a fallen guard's chest, extracting the warm liver to stuff into its oral apparatus, pale yellow digestive juice dripping from the lower jaw, searing the floor into trails of green smoke. At this moment, three patrolling guards had just raised their lanterns when the sewage suddenly exploded! Four Spirit Sucking Monster parasites hadn't completely died. The wrecked corpses of the guards suddenly twitched and crawled up, with their neck split revealing half-transparent tendrils of Spirit Monster juveniles, with their pupils dilating into murky white. He grabbed a dagger, stabbing at former comrades, squeezing out an inhuman synthesized voice from the throat: "Skull...offer to the Hive Mind...". And the true horror was just starting to unfold—a distant sewage pool began boiling, with more pale figures surfacing, dragging with tendrils more than a dozen hostages wrapped in mucous cocoons, with those human faces distorting into silent screams beneath the chrysalides.