CHAPTER 438: CHAPTER 24: EXPEDITION (4)_2

Some soldiers even climbed onto the black dragon’s head to urinate...

Not just that, Richie also allowed the soldiers to hoist up the black dragon’s massive tail, letting them inspect certain organs closely to satisfy their curiosity...

He allowed the soldiers to use sharp knives to dig out dragon scales as souvenirs...

"He is humiliating our kind! This is worse than killing them!" The Black Dragon Clan girl with black hair who had been staying next to Augustsburg was furious: "We can’t just watch this happen!"

"Yes, but what should we do? This is an obvious trap." Augustsburg replied softly.

Standing atop the tower of the newly conquered castle connected to the first wall, Richie exclaimed: "Black dragons! I know you’re in this city! I’ve known all along! I want to tell you, you are nothing but a bunch of lizards without dignity! I will torture every single one of you to death! Yes, torture you to death! Then I will make specimens out of you, and display them in museums and parks for people to see! Because you are not worthy of living in this world! You don’t even have the courage to appear before me!"

The black dragons gnashed their teeth in hatred, but were helpless.

"People of Gustav’s capital! I hope you clearly understand the nature of your so-called allies, or rather, your masters! They are nothing but my defeated foes! If you firmly decide to stand with them, your fate will be the same as theirs! If you surrender now, I will grant you mercy and forgive your past sins! After the war, you can still live freely in this place. But if you miss this opportunity, no matter who you are, you will only be able to beg for a quick death from me! By sunset, give me your final answer!"

With that, Richie turned and left the top of the castle tower.

The people and soldiers of Gustav stared blankly as they listened.

Yilin and Benedict II were shocked. The Southern Alliance lords were all too stunned to speak.

When Richie said those words, it was already noon.

In the afternoon, around 1 p.m., a group of Gustav’s soldiers climbed over the wall attempting to flee. However, before they entered the Southern Alliance’s controlled area, they were all shot dead by Gustav archers from the rear wall.

At 2 p.m., another batch of soldiers mixed with some civilians tried to escape over the wall. Most of them were killed by arrows from the rear, with only a few reaching the Southern Alliance’s territory.

Then, at 3 p.m., some Gustav soldiers initiated a rebellion, directly taking control of a section of the wall. The rebels then engaged in fierce fighting with those steadfastly supporting Emperor Gustav.

Benedict II rushed to find Richie, saying, "Should we send troops to support them? If we do it now, we can immediately capture the second wall."

"No need. Let them handle it themselves. Our focus was never on capturing the walls." Richie just stood on the wall and watched quietly.

By nightfall, almost every corner of the city was in turmoil, with flames rising into the sky. From time to time, people climbed over the walls, entering the territory controlled by the Southern Alliance.

After the previous night’s battle, especially after being attacked by the giant elephant, the first wall was already in ruins. There were rubble and charred land everywhere.

However, at this moment, other parts of Black Dragon City were in even worse condition than the breached wall.

The situation was completely out of control, with cries, screams, and fighting sounds everywhere.

Against the Southern Alliance, the Gustav soldiers, and the civilians were far less spirited than expected. After all, the control of Gustav by the black dragon was through the royal family, through secret manipulation. Who would truly obey a black dragon suddenly emerging? Especially after suffering heavy losses in the first battle.

In the original human understanding, black dragons were dark creatures like liches. The Southern liches’ reputation was cleaned up by Gray, but not the northern black dragons.

By the morning of the next day, at dawn, the Gustav troops in Black Dragon City were completely shattered. A vast number of civilians streamed out, seeking refuge within the Southern Alliance. Many were disguised Gustav soldiers, even those who had firmly stood by Emperor Gustav at the start of the unrest. But, what difference did it make?

Richie just arranged for a few liches to use spiritual power to scan everyone leaving the city. He was only concerned about concealed black dragons.

"Our enemy has never been humans." Richie repeatedly emphasized.

Quickly, the entire Black Dragon City became empty, devoid of people, with decaying corpses everywhere. Left behind were the few humans who stayed for various reasons besides the black dragons disguised as humans.

Yes, the Gustav Empire had collapsed. Before the final moment, Gustav Empire, renowned as the strongest human empire, had directly crumbled. People didn’t even know where their emperor and royal family members were. Before the power of the White Bone Holy Light Court, a human-formed nation was so fragile.

Black Dragon City turned into an empty city, and the next strategy became rather "predictable".

Richie ordered to advance bit by bit, unhurriedly. Using fifty black dragons at hand, day and night, he humiliated the Black Dragon Clan in every conceivable way.

The methods, unbearable not only for the black dragons but even for the people of the Southern Alliance.

For example, Huoersi in Yilin’s faction said, "I can’t believe these orders are given by the Holy Knight. Although he is now the Lich King, I still habitually call him the Holy Knight. At least the Holy Knight I know would never do such things, even to enemies, he was very respectful... Of course, this can be understood as his punishment for evil forces. But I still feel it’s a bit excessive."

*Huoersi clearly had no chance of intervening in Richie’s decisions. Not only Huoersi, but neither Yilin nor all Southern lords combined could intervene in Richie’s decisions.*

*They had just witnessed the collapse of the strongest human empire with their own eyes.*

*If before, their feelings for the Lich King were more of admiration and respect, now, there was an element of fear. Perhaps, even fear dominated.*

Camilla also had opinions: "He seems no longer like the Lich King I once knew... The Lich King I knew would never do this. He wouldn’t."

With complaints flying everywhere, Richie’s authority was still steadily growing.

*Of course, he didn’t care. To him, it was always about the black dragons. He remained ice cold.*

Half a month after arriving in Black Dragon City, the Undead Army and the Southern Alliance had completely secured all defenses around Black Dragon City, encircling the entire city-state. Nobody knew when Richie would launch the final attack.

On the successful day of encirclement, Richie finally executed the fifty black dragons he had tortured to near death.

"Break out, leave here. Gustav has completely fallen. Staying here is meaningless. Our task now is to leave safely and return to the Dragon’s Peak."

"Why didn’t you make this decision earlier?" asked the Black Dragon Clan girl with black hair: "If we were to leave, we should have done it sooner. We shouldn’t have come in the first place."

"He has been provoking us constantly, which puzzled me a lot." Augustsburg said while covering his forehead: "I don’t know how to express it."

"He wants us to deploy more troops against him as before. He wants a decisive battle."

"But don’t you think he made it too obvious? And if he wanted a decisive battle, he should have surrounded Black Dragon City quicker. But it took him fifteen days. The key point is, we haven’t seen any lich so far. Only himself, he’s like a moving bait, swaying before us every day as if we could capture him directly with one strike."

The Dragon Clan Girl quietly watched Augustsburg.

After a long silence, Augustsburg said softly: "Break out, abandon here. Inform the Dragon’s Peak to meet us."

"Yes." The Dragon Clan Girl replied softly.